Tracy’s review of Animal Magnetism by Jill Shalvis.
Co-owner of the town’s only kennel, Lilah Young has lived in Sunshine, Idaho, all her life. Pilot-for-hire Brady Miller is just passing through. But he soon has Lilah abandoning her instincts and giving in to a primal desire.
It’s Brady’s nature to resist being tied down, but there’s something about Lilah and her menagerie that keeps him coming back for more.
Lilah has played life pretty much on the safe side. She’s lived in Sunshine, Idaho her whole life and the one time she left for the big city, Las Vegas no less, she had a horrible experience. Now she’s just happy to live her life taking care of her animals and the friends that she considers her family.
Then there’s Brady who wanted so much to have a family of his own when he was growing up but after many bad experiences became a man who had no roots. He loves being a pilot and flying to far off places as a pilot for hire. He’s in Sunshine on the request of the two people he truly considers friends, Dell and Adam. They were in the same foster home as he was and they’re not willing to let go of the link that holds the three men together.
When Brady and Lilah meet there is undeniable sexual attraction but as the two continue to see each other some other emotions get involved and it’s not what either of them expected.
Let me start with Brady because I think he was my favorite part of the book. I just wanted to hug this man to death. He was so adept at keeping people at arms length emotionally I just wanted to hug him to death. When Lilah tricks him into keeping a stray dog with him he couldn’t even cuddle it. But he was such a nice person. He did things for Lilah in the way he knew how and since it came straight from the heart – whether he knew it or not – it meant so much more. I just wanted to gobble this guy up.
Lilah was great too. She was pretty secretive about her life and when she did do the big reveal I was a bit surprised that there wasn’t more too it. But with her having been the one to live through it all I could see that it would be traumatic for her and understood that she didn’t want to be too forthcoming about her past. She was a strong heroine without being too bossy and I really liked her.
This was a great book. It was a wonderful contemporary romance that when all was said and done was pretty uncomplicated. I love angst as much as the next person but sometimes it’s just nice to read a straightforward boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl story. I’m looking forward to reading about Dell and Adam in future books.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place
This book is available from Berkley Sensation. You can buy it here
Jennifer – Thank you! 🙂
The dog is adorable isn’t it?
That dog on the cover is precious! Great review–not unprofessional at all. *grins*
Great review!
I can’t even imagine NOT liking a Jill Shalvis book. Believe it or not, I first encountered her work when I picked up a couple of Harlequin books at the secondhand bookstore, but have been delighted with all the newer books as well. Very, very nice review, Tracy, and one that explained both the book and your responses to it very well. Good joy, kid . . .