A Nix Review – It’s In His Kiss by Jill Shalvis (5 Stars)

It's in His Kiss by Jill Shalvis
Series: Lucky Harbor #10
Published by Grand Central Publishing on 2014-08-26
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 368
Format: eBook
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ONE KISS CAN LAST FOREVER

Becca Thorpe has uprooted her life and escaped to the beach. Now's her chance to get away from city living, throw caution to the ocean winds, and live in the moment. Especially if the moment includes the deliciously sexy surfer she meets shortly after arriving in Lucky Harbor. Something about the dark intensity of Sam's eyes and the thrill she gets at his touch convinces her to stay awhile.

Boatbuilder and investment genius Sam Brody is a self-made man who knows how dangerous it can be to mix business and pleasure. But he can't resist offering Becca a job just to hear her laugh and have her near. Yet when her brother comes to town asking for help, will he tempt her back to her glamorous life in the city? Or do Sam and little Lucky Harbor have a chance to win Becca's heart?

FTC: I requested this book for a fair and honest review. I have no relationship with the author, just a mild obsession with this series.

Well, Jill Shalvis has done it again. With a dreamy, stubborn hero and a sweet heroine, finally trying to take her life back, this one had the unique blend of charm, sweetness and heat that I have come to expect from this series. I have never been truly disappointed with a book from the Lucky Harbor series and this one is no different.

Becca Thorpe has been living her life in the shadow of her brother for far too long. When her family ignores something terrible that happens to her for the sake of her brother’s career, she decides enough is enough and moves out. Lucky Harbour is supposed to be a pit stop along the way but she soon realises that there is more to the little town than first meets the eye, not least the dreamy, yet completely grumpy, go-to guy Sam. As much as she doesn’t want to, she soon ends up getting more entangled than she expects. The question is, is it enough to make her set down roots of her own?

Becca is a great heroine.  I tend to think that Ms Shalvis tends to write certain types of heroines; sweet and dependable, tough on the outside/sweet on the inside or flighty but nice. Becca falls squarely in the sweet and dependable side, the problem is that this sweet and dependable side got her in a whole host of trouble as she got taken advantage of. Badly. I loved that she was taking a stand, loved that she was trying to find her own way after living so long for someone else and I adored the fact that she was so determined to succeed.

Sam has been living his life by keeping people at arm’s length. Bar the people he calls family, he keeps all other people as far away from his emotional centre as possible, even going so far as to be called “cold”. Then Becca “tough girl” Thorpe moves into the (dilapidated) factory next door to his workshop and suddenly his very carefully constructed world starts to fall apart. He starts mixing business with pleasure, he starts allowing other people to see the happy Sam and, finally, he starts to allow another person into his inner shell. All seems to be going well until he realises all these changes are taking place….

I adored Sam. His dry sense of humour made me chuckle throughout the book, his chivalry made me swoon and his devotion to the people he loved forever cemented his place of the “best-heroes-from-Jill-Shalvis” list.  He is a grumpy Alpha hero that wasn’t a complete asshole (can that even be possible?) because his ass-holish nature was due to a very broken background.  He was an absolute gent towards Becca and he was such a worthy hero that every single scene between them melted my heart.

There are plot twists, romance-barriers and all the other usual plot devices that make this book a more emotional journey but, this being a Jill Shalvis, I look at these things as a device to make our desire to see a HEA/HFN even stronger as I never really see them as a barrier, more an obstacle. It is a book that I’ve read more than once, it is a book that I will read again and it has stuck with me since I read it the first time. I don’t know where it ranks on my Jill Shalvis top 10 list, but I can tell you that it is there.

I loved this book from the moment they met. There is fun, chemistry and a whole heap of romance. This is the perfect feel-good romance and Jill Shalvis remains one of the elusive authors that can make me smile no matter how many times I’ve read the subject material.