Review: The Sweetest Thing by Jill Shalvis.

Posted March 22, 2011 by Rowena in Reviews | 8 Comments

Rowena’s review of The Sweetest Thing by Jill Shalvis.

Hero: Ford Walker
Heroine: Tara Daniels

Two Men Are One Too Many . . .

Tara has a thousand good reasons not to return to the little coastal town of Lucky Harbor, Washington. Yet with her life doing a major crash-and-burn, anywhere away from her unfulfilled dreams and sexy ex-husband will do. As Tara helps her two sisters get their newly renovated inn up and running, she finally has a chance to get things under control and come up with a new plan for her life.

But a certain tanned, green-eyed sailor has his own ideas, such as keeping Tara hot, bothered . . . and in his bed. And when her ex wants Tara back, three is a crowd she can’t control-especially when her deepest secret reappears out of the blue. Now Tara must confront her past and discover what she really wants. If she’s lucky, she might just find that everything her heart desires is right here in Lucky Harbor.

When I first read Simply Irresistible by Jill Shalvis, I adored both Maddie and Jax but I was not a fan of Tara. Tara was the sister that had one foot out the door and was always ready to hit the road every chance she got in the first book and she was sort of a grumpy pants. It was no wonder I wasn’t all that keen on reading her book but I trusted Jill to turn things around for me where Tara was concerned and I wasn’t disappointed.

This book follows Tara Daniels and Ford Walker as they battle their way to their happy ending…the ending that was a long time coming. You see, Tara and Ford have a bit of history together from Tara’s time in Lucky Harbor when she was in her teens. That history finds them and brings them together and I thought it was adorable.

Jill Shalvis does a fabulous job of writing stories that make me fall right in love with all of the characters. She writes the stories that stay with me long after I’ve finished the book and her heroes are to die for! I totally and absolutely love Ford Walker. I loved his manly sexiness and I loved how he loved Tara. Warts and all because Tara wasn’t always an easy person to love with all of the back and forth but not once in this book did I think Tara was being ridiculous.

Jill made me love Tara as if she were one of my best friends. Like she was one of my sisters. Seeing what made Tara the person she is, made it easier to love her. She went through a lot, did what she thought was right and lived with regrets that held her back from living a full life. It was easy to see that she was punishing herself for the decisions of her past. When she finally deals with everything, I breathed a sigh of relief because she was finally ready for that happy ending and it was all so real to me. I was so happy for both her and Ford for finally getting things right and the relationship that bloomed between the two of them and with Mia made for one heck of a story.

You can count on Jill Shalvis to deliver a wonderful straight up contemporary romance and she certainly delivered another winner of a book this time around with The Sweetest Thing. Ford and Tara’s story was sweet and it was charming and it made me one happy reading. Fans of Jill and fans of contemporary romance will definitely love this one, it’s a winner!

Grade: 4.75 out of 5

This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here.