Review: Second Chance Summer by Jill Shalvis

Posted July 1, 2015 by Rowena in Reviews | 6 Comments

second chance summer
Rowena’s review of Second Chance Summer (Cedar Ridge #1) by Jill Shalvis.

RESCUE ME

Cedar Ridge, Colorado, is famous for crisp mountain air, clear blue skies, and pine-scented breezes. And it’s the last place Lily Danville wants to be. But she needs a job, and there’s an opening at the hottest resort in her hometown. What has her concerned is the other hot property in Cedar Ridge: Aidan Kincaid-firefighter, rescue worker, and heartbreaker. She never could resist that devastating smile . . .

The Kincaid brothers are as rough and rugged as the Rocky Mountains they call home. Aidan has always done things his own way, by his own rules. And never has he regretted anything more than letting Lily walk out of his life ten years ago. If anyone has ever been in need of rescuing, she has. What she needs more than anything are long hikes, slow dances, and sizzling kisses. But that can only happen if he can get her to give Cedar Ridge-and this bad boy-a second chance . . .

I took a break from reading anything by Shalvis because while I generally love her stuff, I was starting to feel like I was reading the same story with different characters so a break was needed.

Second Chance Summer is the first book in Shalvis’ new Cedar Ridge series. The series is set in a Colorado Mountain Town and it was the setting that made me eager to try these books out. I LOVE COLORADO! I love the crispness in the air, the people around town and the scenery…it’s so freaking beautiful out there.

The book starts out with Shalvis’ signature beginning, the heroine is down on her luck and embarrasses the hell out of herself in front of the sexy hero who has a perfect life (in her head) and got even sexier over the years (damn him) the first time she lays eyes on him in ten years.

Aidan Kincaid runs into a blast from the past while out getting some soda and before he knows what’s what, he’s involved with that same blast from the past and not sure how to stop himself from falling in love with her…again. Lily got screwed over in San Diego and is back in town to get her life back together again and runs into the guy that she walked away from after her sister died. Both Aidan and Lily have issues that are addressed and dealt with during the story and even though there were some things that just felt familiar (Shalvis heroines tend to be clumsy and lovable which is great but it feels like ALL of them are clumsy so a little mix up would be nice), I enjoyed the story and know that I will definitely be tuning in for more Kincaid family stories.

I’m curious about Hudson and I want to meet Jacob and I’m also wondering if their good for nothing father makes an appearance in the series. Curious minds really want to know. At least this one does.

One of my favorite things about Jill Shalvis books are her heroes. They never fail to make me all swoony over them. Aidan is no different. I really like that he was the one that was mooning over Lily all these years. He’s all hot and alpha male but he knew what he wanted the minute she came back into town and didn’t waste time running from love. I LOVED that about him. I also loved when Aiden was saying bye to Lily, he’d say, “Think of me” before kissing her. If Aiden was around me, I’d never forget to think of him.

Overall, this book was the cute contemporary romance that I’m used to from Jill Shalvis. She never fails to deliver the feel good kind of romances that have you laughing one minute and tearing up the next. The romance between Aidan and Lily was the grown folks kind of romance where there’s misunderstandings and boneheaded-ness but there are also apologies and make up sex. You know, the good stuff.

If you’re in the mood for a cute contemporary romance, this one will do the trick for you. A steamy romance with a hot firefighter hero, what more could you ask for?

Grade: 3.75 out of 5

This book is available from Grand Central Publishing. You can purchase it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.


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6 responses to “Review: Second Chance Summer by Jill Shalvis

  1. I’m reading this one right now. At the moment, I have issues reading, so I’m very choosy with the books I pick up to read. There are SOOOOO many characters in this book… I’m enjoying the read, but I wish maybe we could get intro’d to the series’ characters a bit slower. 🙂

    • Ooh, I’d love to know your thoughts on the book when you finish it. I didn’t mind all of the characters though I do understand your gripe. There are a lot to keep track of. I enjoyed this book a lot more than I did Still the One – that’s for sure. 🙂

      • Finished it, and it was good. Not something that will linger though. It’s a mid-star read for me. Makes me a bit sad. She’s moving to Hudson of course, and I’ll read that one as well – I’m just hoping by the time it comes out I’ll remember what’s going on. That’ll be the main issue with the character overload in this one.

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