Rowena’s review of At Last (Lucky Harbor #5) by Jill Shalvis.
Hero: Matt Bowers
Heroine: Amy Michaels
HER LOVE HAS COME ALONG . . .
Amy Michaels loves her new life in Lucky Harbor. A waitress in the local diner, she’s looking forward to her first weekend hike through the mountains. But when a wrong turn takes her off the trail, she finds herself up close and personal with forest ranger Matt Bowers. And even though she’s tempted to kiss that sexy smile right off his face, she won’t make the mistake of getting involved with the town heartthrob.
A former cop whose life went south, Matt doesn’t let anyone get too close. But something about the feisty beauty caught his eye the moment he first saw her in the diner. After a hot night under a starry sky, Matt can’t deny their attraction-or the fact that for the first time in a long time, he feels the stirrings of something more. Now it’s up to Matt to help Amy see that, no matter what is in their past, together they can build a future in Lucky Harbor.
This is the fifth book in the Lucky Harbor series by Jill Shalvis and it was yet another winner for me. This book follows Ranger Hot Buns and Amy Michaels to their happily ever after. The push and pull from the two of these guys was fabulous. I ate it all up.
Matt Bowers is the park ranger who used to be in the Navy and then used to work for the police force in Chicago and moved out west to get away from the city life and to just start over. He’s got the hots for the waitress over at Eat Me but she doesn’t seem to want any kind of attention from anyone so he’s biding his time. Amy Michaels swept into town on a mission to find herself. Her grandmother’s old journals from her time in Lucky Harbor is what brought Amy to town and she’s trying to find some peace and hope for the future so she’s following in her grandmother’s footsteps and trying to see what her grandmother saw.
Amy hasn’t had an easy life. She was an attitudy teen who lied, acted out and did whatever she wanted to do and she lied so much that when she finally told the truth, her own mother didn’t believe her. So Amy skips town and tries to go it on her own which wasn’t easy at all. She was a teenage runaway and she did whatever she needed to do to survive. She’s a survivor so when Matt brings Riley into town and goes to Amy for help…Amy gives it.
I really enjoyed this book because Shalvis has a way of writing the kinds of stories that I know I will love. She brings these characters into my life that I can’t help but cheer on. Her characters are always so real to me and their problems feel like my own problems and I love seeing them come into their own over the course of the story because I see the journey. I see the conflicts, the insecurities and I see them melt away until the characters are standing on their own in the end and that’s what it was like with Amy. She was hard and stubborn, totally independent but you see her struggle to trust Matt and make sense of her feelings for him. But you also see her grow and learn and I loved that she found Matt.
The romance between Matt and Amy was great. I loved seeing them grow closer and closer together, learning to trust each other. It wasn’t an easy road for them and I loved that by the end of the book, there was no doubt in my mind that they belonged together. It was another great addition to the series and I couldn’t wait to read the next installment. It’s Grace and Josh’s story. Yay! If you haven’t read this book, you’re going to like it. I just know it. =)
Grade: 4.5 out of 5
This book is available from Grand Central Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
I really liked this one too! So much fun.