Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Where did you get the book: e-ARC from publisher
Release date: Out now
Cedar Ridge, Colorado, is famous for crisp mountain air, clear blue skies, and pine-scented breezes. And it’s the last place Lily Danville wants to be. But she needs a job, and there’s an opening at the hottest resort in her hometown. What has her concerned is the other hot property in Cedar Ridge: Aidan Kincaid-firefighter, rescue worker, and heartbreaker. She never could resist that devastating smile . . .
The Kincaid brothers are as rough and rugged as the Rocky Mountains they call home. Aidan has always done things his own way, by his own rules. And never has he regretted anything more than letting Lily walk out of his life ten years ago. If anyone has ever been in need of rescuing, she has. What she needs more than anything are long hikes, slow dances, and sizzling kisses. But that can only happen if he can get her to give Cedar Ridge-and this bad boy-a second chance . . .
*blurb taken from Goodreads*
I don’t think it’s possible for Jill Shalvis to write a bad book. She’s so consistent and it’s a great feeling to have an author whose book you can pick up and know immediately you’ll enjoy it. Second Chance Summer was a lovely read that had all the hallmarks of a great Shalvis romance; lots of humour, sexy alpha heroes and sexy independent heroines, with fantastic secondary characters. The book is set in Colorado and I was amazed by learning how fast the temperature could drop drastically between the day and night. I loved the setting which is perfect for rugged mountain-rescue heroes. Rawr.
Lily had a terrible double tragedy a long time ago, losing both her sister and father. Feeling all sorts of misplaced guilt and unable to live in her home where the deaths occurred, Lily left for California. She worked her way up as a cosmetologist and became assistant manager of a beauty spa resort that catered towards the famous. In doing so, she left behind the one person that she was starting to grow a deep connection and attraction for, Aidan Kincaid. Lily’s resistance to Aidan throughout the book did get a little frustrating at times but when it was revealed why she felt she couldn’t have a relationship with Aidan, it was more understandable. It took time for Lily to work out her issues but when she did, it made her relationship with Aidan so much sweeter.
Aidan was sexy, funny, and a family man to boot. He never understood why Lily walked away when they were just starting something good and she did hurt him deeply. He’d always thought about her for years and when she arrived back, he had no intention of starting something up with Lily. But his attraction to her and her to him made it impossible for them to stay away from each other. And Aidan wanted Lily and she wasn’t going to stop him this time. I loved Aidan’s time with Lily and I also loved his interactions with the rest of his family. He loved them so much and along with Gray, his eldest brother, became their protector. His scenes with Lily were humorous and so sexy. The rugged mountain-man went through a facial just to get closer to Lily! There were so many scenes I loved with Aidan, especially his interactions with his mum. Gray and Aidan had me in stitches with their horror at the idea of their mum smexing it up with her date and the scene in the bar had me in stitches.
The conflict throughout the book is Aidan trying to push past Lily’s barriers and getting her to deal with the death of her sister and father. Aidan had to push hard on Lily and he never gave up. Aidan did pull a bonehead move later on in the book, and he deserved every bit of Lily’s anger but I loved how it was the catalyst that showed Lily what she was doing and had done to Aidan by leaving him all those years ago.
All in all I really enjoyed Second Chance Summer, and I can’t wait to see the rest of the Kincaid family get their own stories. The Kincaid’s are there for one another and I loved how despite their father being an awful, abusive bigamist, the kids all came together and they made a family for one another. I loved that theme. I did miss the animals! There wasn’t a cute fluffy animal in that I expect from a Shalvis novel. I expect to at least see one cute animal in the upcoming books!
I give Second Chance Summer a B+
I love that we enjoy so many of the same books here. You can see E and Minn’s reviews here and here.