Rainy Day Friends. Jill Shalvis

Published:    HarperCollins
Date: June 19th 2018
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 384
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss/TLC Book Tours
Rating:

Purchase Links
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Six months after Lanie Jacobs’ husband death, it’s hard to imagine anything could deepen her sense of pain and loss. But then Lanie discovers she isn’t the only one grieving his sudden passing. A serial adulterer, he left behind several other women who, like Lanie, each believe she was his legally wedded wife. Rocked by the infidelity, Lanie is left to grapple with searing questions. How could she be so wrong about a man she thought she knew better than anyone? Will she ever be able to trust another person? Can she even trust herself?

Desperate to make a fresh start, Lanie impulsively takes a job at the family-run Capriotti Winery. At first, she feels like an outsider among the boisterous Capriottis. With no real family of her own, she’s bewildered by how quickly they all take her under their wing and make her feel like she belongs. Especially Mark Capriotti, a gruffly handsome Air Force veteran turned deputy sheriff who manages to wind his way into Lanie’s cold, broken heart—along with the rest of the clan.

Everything is finally going well for her, but the arrival of River Brown changes all that. The fresh-faced twenty-one-year old seems as sweet as they come…until her dark secrets come to light—secrets that could destroy the new life Lanie’s only just begun to build.

Rainy Day Friends is #2 in Jill Shalvis' Wildstone series.  It is a moving, fun, light read that still explores how those who have had some very bad experiences in their lives can heal and find life after heartbreak.

Lanie is a graphic designer who has come to work at the Capriotti winery. And oh my, when you walk into that family life is never the same afterwards. From the warm welcoming Cora, the boss lady, to Gracie the dog, they are such a fun, nosey, outspoken lot. I loved them. And would love to see Cora explored a little more in a book of her own. I know she seems very together, but ...  Anyway Lanie's dead husband was a ratfink.  He married four or five others as well unbeknown to Lanie - so trust issues now in capitals.

Mark the dad of twins Sierra and Samantha is pretty hot, plus he is the best most loving Dad out and those twin girls adore him. They have been through the mill as his wife and their mother walked out on them and now Sierra does not talk.  However Mark is not going to open his heart easily to anyone and put the girls at risk.

Add in River who arrives one day at the winery, on her last legs, and heavily pregnant. Immediately Cora takes her under her wing as she is apt to do. River seems to have some ulterior motive - easily guessed - and all that plays out. Lanie and herself develop a friendship that is beautiful but it could be fated to end badly.

There is plenty of warm family love, lots of laughter and some heart ache and poignant moments as this story reveals itself. I really enjoyed it and read it rapidly. It is sort of a cross between romance and women's fiction, which suited me fine.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jill Shalvis is the award winning author of over three dozen romance novels. Visit www.jillshalvis.com for a complete book list and a daily blog chronicling her I-Love-Lucy attempts at having it all; the writing, the kids, a life …

Find out more about Jill at her website, and connect with heron Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Tour schedule:

Thursday, June 28th: Staircase Wit

Monday, July 2nd: The Book Date

Tuesday, July 3rd: bookchickdi

Wednesday, July 4th: Broken Teepee

Friday, July 6th: A Soccer Mom's Book Blog

Monday, July 9th: Stranded in Chaos

Tuesday, July 10th: Jathan & Heather

Thursday, July 12th: Time 2 Read

Friday, July 13th: Girl Who Reads

Monday, July 16th: A Chick Who Reads

Tuesday, July 17th: Instagram: @Novelmombooks

Friday, July 20th: Not in Jersey