Review: Instant Attraction by Jill Shalvis.

Posted January 7, 2009 by Rowena in Reviews | 6 Comments

Hero: Cam Wilder
Heroine: Katie Kramer
Grade: 5 out of 5

The first in a sensational new series, Jill Shalvis introduces Cameron, Stone, and T.J. Wilder – three bad-boy heroes who effortlessly mix breathtaking adventure and scorching sex appeal . . .

GET WILD . .. AND THEN GET WILDER . . .

Accountant Katie Kramer is a quintessential good girl – working hard, recycling diligently, all the while trying to ignore the feeling that she doesn’t fit in anywhere. That’s all she wants. Well, that – and amazing sex, and the kind of daredevil escapade she can look back on when she’s crunching numbers in a dusty cubicle. Which explains why she just took a job in Wishful, California, working for Wilder Adventures and Expeditions. Waking up to find a magnificently built stranger towering over her bed – that part defies explanation . . .

After wandering the planet for months following a life-changing accident, Cameron Wilder has come back to the only home he knows. Under other circumstances, he might be thrilled to find a gorgeous woman sleeping in his cabin, but now, while he’ll risk his body taking clients on adrenaline-drenched excursions, his heart is off limits. Still, Katie’s killer smile triggers something deep in his gut . . . among other places. Showing her how exhilarating it can be to stop balancing her life as if it was a checkbook is the biggest rush he’s ever felt – and an adventure Katie’s wishing would never end.

Have you ever read a story that left you all gooey inside with happiness? A book that put you in this goofy good mood for no other reason than it was just the perfect read for you? I have this goofy grin on my face that I can’t shake to save my life and it’s all Jill Shalvis’ fault. Scot, my coworker thinks I’ve gotten laid and that is what put this goofy grin on my face….oh how I wish that was true but unfortunately, it’s not.

Hot damn did I love this book. I loved everything about it, from Cam to Katie to Cam’s surly family and Annie’s aprons. This book had it all for me. It had romance between humans, a great storyline, a great cast of characters and it had that umph we all look for in an author to make us coming back for more.

I seriously have a girl crush on Jill Shalvis. Her personality shines through in her books and I just enjoyed the heck out of this one. I enjoyed the setting, the characters and the main couple.

What I like about Jill Shalvis is that her secondary characters, though they’re great in their own right, don’t overshadow the main characters in her books. As much as I loved Stone and T.J. and then Annie and Nick in this book and I loved them all a lot, it was Cam and Katie that had all of my attention. Right from the very first scene in Chapter One, I was hooked. It was fun, funny and right off the bat you got a feel for the main characters. I knew that Cam had to work through some things, he had a helluva year and Katie had her own issues that she had to work through and it paid off reading this book because we saw the both of them get to work on their problems and we saw them conquer their fears and then each other.

Damn this book was good.

Cam Wilder is an ex-athlete who had a very bad accident and took a year off to come to grips with losing the one thing in his life that meant so much to him. His career. He comes back home to find that his cabin is being occupied by the new temporary office manager, Katie Kramer who is dealing with her own set of issues. Together, a friendship of sorts form and they start falling for each other.

The journey these two go through to get to their happily ever after was so much fun. I can’t tell you enough how much I enjoyed this story.

Cam was such a strong hero and I really like heroes that are troubled because we see them when they’re weak (or when they think they’re weak) and we see them grow and build themselves up throughout the story and to see how far they’ve come from the beginning is fantastic. Cam wasn’t the perfect hero but because of that, he was perfect to me. I loved his manly man attitude and I loved everything about him. He was a smexy stud and a fab hero. I can’t wait to read about his brothers.

Katie was one of those heroines that grab at you. She’s not perfect, she’s a damsel in distress a lot of the time in this book but she’s not weak. Not at all. She went through some very trying times and to see her trying to put the pieces of her life back together again made for a very engaging story. She had stuff to deal with and Cam helped her deal with them and overcome them. She was strong without Cam but she was even stronger with Cam and I really enjoyed her character.

This is a really good book all around. I hella enjoyed it and I can’t wait for more. Stone Wilder here I come and TJ, I’m waiting for you!! Love these Wilder boys and can’t wait to find out more about them!

A definite pimp worthy series for those who just want straight up contemporary romance!

This book is available from Brava. You can pre-order it here.