Always on My Mind (Lucky Harbor Series #8)

by Jill Shalvis

Overview

THERE'S NOTHING LIKE THE REAL THING

After dropping out of pastry school and messing up her big break on a reality cooking show, Leah Sullivan needs to accomplish something in her life. But when she returns home to Lucky Harbor, she finds herself distracted by her best friend, Jack Harper. In an effort to cheer up Jack's ailing mother, Dee, Leah tells a little fib - that she and Jack are more than just friends. Soon pretending to be hot-and-heavy with this hunky firefighter feels too real to handle . . .

No-strings attachments suit Jack just fine - perfect for keeping the risk of heartbreak away. But as Jack and Leah break every one of their "just friends" rules, he longs to turn their pretend relationship into something permanent. Do best friends know too much about each other to risk falling in love? Or will Jack and Leah discover something new about each other in a little town called Lucky Harbor?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455521104
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	09/24/2013
Series:	Lucky Harbor Series , #8
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	386,859
Product dimensions:	4.10(w) x 6.70(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill's bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold and visit her website for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.

You can learn more at:
JillShalvis.com
Twitter @jillshalvis
Facebook.com/jillshalvis

Editorial Reviews

In the charming and engaging eighth Lucky Harbor contemporary (after It Had to Be You), Leah Sullivan, full of secrets and longing for love, returns to the Pacific Northwest town to help her aging grandmother run her pastry shop. Leah is easing back into normal life after a stressful run on a popular baking reality show. Her best friend, Jack Harper, a well-liked local firefighter dealing with suspicious fires around town, has mixed emotions about seeing Leah again. When Dee, Jack’s ill mother, voices her concern over Jack’s future, Leah recklessly claims that she and Jack are an item. As the fib makes its way around town, Leah and Jack begin to act the part and wonder how life might be if it were real. Shalvis’s fans will devour the two friends’ introspective and passionate journey to love. Agent: Robin Rue, Writers House. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Top Pick! 4 1/2 Stars! Full of the warm and crazy characters who make up her tiny town, Always on My Mind has a sexy and tangled story that will put readers on the edge of their seats."—RT Book Reviews

"Charming and engaging... Shalvis's fans will devour the two friends' introspective and passionate journey to love."—Publishers Weekly

Shalvis adds another steamy, sassy episode to her popular Lucky Harbor series, and lovers of contemporary romance will be so glad she did.

—Booklist

"Shalvis makes me laugh, makes me cry, makes me sigh with pure pleasure."—Susan Andersen, New York Times bestselling author of Playing Dirty

"Count on Jill Shalvis for a witty, steamy, unputdownable love story."—Robyn Carr, New York Times bestselling author of Harvest Moon

"Shalvis writes with humor, heart, and sizzling heat!"—Carly Phillips, New York Times Bestselling Author

From the Publisher

"Shalvis writes with humor, heart, and sizzling heat!"

Carly Phillips

"Count on Jill Shalvis for a witty, steamy, unputdownable love story."

Robyn Carr

"Shalvis makes me laugh, makes me cry, makes me sigh with pure pleasure."

Susan Andersen

Shalvis adds another steamy, sassy episode to her popular Lucky Harbor series, and lovers of contemporary romance will be so glad she did.

Booklist

"Top Pick! 4 1/2 Stars! Full of the warm and crazy characters who make up her tiny town, Always on My Mind has a sexy and tangled story that will put readers on the edge of their seats."

RT Book Reviews

"Jill Shalvis is a total original! It doesn't get any better."

Suzanne Forster

"Top Pick! 4 1/2 Stars! Laughter is served in doses as generous as the chocolate the heroine relies on to get through the day. Readers will treasure each turn of the page and be sorry when this one is over."

RT Book Reviews on Forever and a Day

"4 Stars! Shalvis pens a tale rife with the three "H"s of romance: heat, heart and humor. LUCKY IN LOVE is a down-to-the-toes charmer..."

RT Book Reviews on Lucky in Love

"4 Stars! Shalvis's latest Lucky Harbor novel is a winner-full of laughter, snark and a super-hot attraction between the main characters. Shalvis has painted a wonderful world, full of entertaining supporting characters and beautiful scenery."

RT Book Reviews on At Last

2013-11-04
After yet another spectacular life failure, Leah Sullivan comes back to Lucky Harbor to help her grandmother and embroils herself in a pretend relationship with her best friend that she wishes more than anything could be real. Leah spent a miserable childhood listening to her father tell her she'd never amount to anything, so why is anyone surprised that she's lived down to his expectations? She knows she's a screw-up, and she'd be so happy, thank you very much, if everyone would stop trying to convince her that she can do something with her life or that she just might be worth loving. Then there's firefighter Jack Harper, the best friend she's always loved but isn't going to risk hurting, again, because she can't be depended on for anything. So why she decides to try to cheer his ailing mother up by announcing the two of them are a couple--when they definitely aren't--she'll never know. Perhaps it's wishful thinking. But when the white lie takes on a life of its own, Jack and Leah have a real challenge on their hands. Attraction between them has never been a problem, and being forced to spend time together to keep up appearances is like setting a match to a mountainside of dry brush. Frankly, Lucky Harbor has enough fires going on, what with a serial arsonist on the loose. Jack finds the investigation a welcome distraction from dealing with Leah, the girl who broke his teenage heart. He knows her better than anyone, and the second he makes her feel like he wants her for good is the second she'll turn and run. Shalvis pens a best-friends-to-lovers winner with Leah, a wounded, deer-in-headlights heroine who must first believe she is worthy of love before she can accept the devotion of hunky Jack, the hero who can have any woman in the world but chooses her--and would do anything to help her save herself. A sexy, textured winner.

Kirkus Reviews

Leah returns to Lucky Harbor and finds herself entangled with her old school friend, Jack Harper, who is now a firefighter. Narrator Annie Greene brings out Leah’s alternating spunk and self-doubt as she and Jack renew their friendship and explore new possibilities. Greene portrays the female characters and their dialogue with ease and credibility. However, at times, her awkward timing and excessive modulation disrupt the flow of the narrative, making it difficult to engage with the kindling romance, even during the steamy sex scenes. However, her pace does capture the tension in Jack’s search for an arsonist and in the story’s ending, a teaser for a sequel. M.F. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2013 - AudioFile