Ali Winters is not having a good day. Her boyfriend left her, everyone in town thinks she’s a thief, and now she’s about to be kicked out of her home. Her only shot at keeping a roof over her head and clearing her name is to beg for help from a police detective who’s as sexy as he is stern….
After a high-profile case goes wrong, Luke Hanover returns to his hometown for some peace and quiet. Instead he finds a bombshell brunette in a heap of trouble. As he helps Ali put her world back together, the pieces of Luke’s own life finally seem to fall into place. Is this the start of a sizzling fling? Or are Luke and Ali on the brink of something big in a little town called Lucky Harbor?
Ali’s boyfriend Teddy is an Ass. Not only did he “forget” to pick her up for a town fundraiser but then she was outside his office when she heard him with another woman. She’s upset and pissed. She heads home and when she wakes up in the morning she finds a text from him breaking up with her. The nerve! Oh, and he happens to mention that he didn’t renew the lease on the house that they were both living in which means she had no boyfriend and nowhere to live. She heads to his office, talks the janitor into letting her in to Teddy’s office and then takes back the pottery she made for him. That was the nail in her coffin.
Luke Hanover is a cop from San Francisco who needs some time alone and he chose Lucky Harbor. He had spent every summer of his life in Lucky Harbor and he loves it there. His grandmother had left him the house when she died but as he felt so responsible for her death he hadn’t been back in 10 years. When he does get back he finds Ali in his house in just her underwear ranting to her ex-boyfriend on the phone. He wants nothing more than to be alone but he soon realizes HE would be the ass if he kicked out when she was down.
As if Ali’s life isn’t bad enough her ex shows up with 2 Sheriff’s in tow accusing her of stealing $50,000.00 from his office. Remember when I mentioned the nail in the coffin – yeah, her going into the office made her look bad and when they found a bill wrapper in the pottery she took it looks even worse. She’s determined to prove her innocence and despite Luke’s determination to not get involved he finds himself in the thick of things. They both have a lot of nothing to sort through as there just doesn’t seem to be any evidence to clear Ali’s name. During the process Ali finds out how bad Teddy really was – like having not one but 2 ladies on the side and finding out that he was telling everyone in town that he and Ali were just roommates. (Good thing they hadn’t slept together in a long time.) Despite all that they still manage to work out details and find the true culprit.
Ali and Luke hit it off after a rocky start and become friends. They’re incredibly attracted to each other but Luke tells Ali up front that A) he’s not good for her (as he thinks he hurts everyone he loves) and B) he’s heading back to San Francisco after his 3 weeks vacation is up. Ali tries really hard not to fall in love with Luke but it’s impossible and she finds herself falling – and is sure that Luke has fallen too. Unfortunately Luke has his emotions on lock-down and she’s not sure he can ever free them.
This was another great addition to the Lucky Harbor series. I really liked this one because Ali was so free and easy and….genuine. She had a spirit for life that I adored and I loved reading about her. I hated all of the bad things that had happened to her in her life but I could see that those things helped form the person she was in the book.
Luke was a great character as well. He carried a boat load of guilt around with him because of past events – and that caused the emotional walls to be put into place. I loved how fascinated he was with Ali because she was so opposite of him. He was closed up and she was free-spirited but instead of looking down on her for that he soaked it up like a sponge and let her help him change and heal.
While I don’t think this was the most emotional book in the series it definitely had its moments. It also contained some great humor, hot sex scenes and great writing, as is Shalvis’s usual. A great book that I definitely recommend.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Jill Shalvis
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