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ARC Review: Lucky in Love by Jill Shalvis (Blog Tour!)
Mallory Quinn has had enough of playing it safe. As a nurse and devoted daughter, she takes care of everyone but herself. And as the local good girl, she’s expected to date Mr. Right. But for once, she’d like to take a risk on Mr. Wrong. And who could be more wrong than Ty Garrison? The mysterious new guy in town has made it clear that he’s only passing through, which suits Mallory just fine. Besides, his lean, hard body and sexy smile will give her plenty to remember once he’s gone . . .
For the first time in his life, Ty can’t bear to leave. Helping this sexy seductress-in-training walk on the wild side is making him desire things he shouldn?t?including leaving the military for good. As their just-for-fun fling becomes something more, Mallory and Ty wonder if they could really be this lucky in love. After all… anything can happen in a town called Lucky Harbor.
- Publisher: Forever (May 22, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 145550372X
- ISBN-13: 978-1455503728
- FTC Disclaimer: received from publisher for the purposes of an honest review
I don’t usually read books with military themes. Being former military, you’d think I’d leap at books with heroes (or heroines) who serve our country, but most of the time I end up either snot sobbing through all the drama (that isn’t as dramatic to all the civilians out there) or rolling my eyes at the inconsistencies between the different services or between military and civilian life. But because this is both a Jill Shalvis and a Lucky Harbor novel, I figured I’d give it a shot.
I was snot-sobbing by the end of the prologue.
Ty is a man that is haunted by his past. He was a medic for a SEAL team, and things went so horribly wrong on a mission that his team ended up dead and he was injured so badly that he was honorably discharged from the Navy. We didn’t get to see this, but the aftermath of it. Ty is trying (in his own way) to deal with his physical and mental pain by shutting everyone out and beating himself up with physical therapy. Makes for a great mental picture when reading about him swimming in the ocean and sparring with Matt (the sexy forest ranger who will star in the next Lucky Harbor book), but breaks my heart for him when I think about just how much he’s shutting out – friends, family (or the family he could have by developing those friendships).
Enter Mallory Quinn – the sweet, loving, take-care-of-everyone-in-town nurse. They’re immediately attracted to one another, despite the fact that they meet in the middle of a storm and Ty is concussed and bleeding all over her. I love the fact that Amy and Grace are cracking jokes in the middle of the storm while Mallory is taking care of Ty, talking about how he’s Mr. Wrong and putting him at the top of Mallory’s new list of men she’s going to jump – because looking for Mr. Right clearly hasn’t worked for her so far.
Ty and Mallory had immediate chemistry and it lit up the pages. I was almost afraid my hands were going to catch fire! But Ty was so freaking stubborn about going back to his life before coming to Lucky Harbor! I get the fact that he felt like he needed that life – most military people do (including me… I miss the adrenaline rush and even the daily routine of putting on the uniform and having to salute, although I’ll deny it to anyone else who asks). I wanted to shake him and make him realize that he was, in fact, falling in love with the sweet small town nurse. I ridiculously loved the fact that Mallory grew a backbone and learned to stand up for herself – even to Ty, himself (who was largely a part of why she grew that backbone to begin with). She wasn’t just some wallflower who took care of everyone else and let people walk all over her. She genuinely cared for the townspeople she took care of, but she also learned to stand up for herself and do things all on her own. That’s amazing in and of itself to me – because I know how hard it is to be your own woman when all you’ve done your whole life is take care of everyone else and be everyone’s rock.
Jill Shalvis has an amazing way of writing books that make you laugh, cry, and sometimes make you want to scream (usually when the hero or heroine is being stupid and you want to smack them and tell them to stop whatever they’re doing). Lucky in Love was no different. The cast of characters are hilarious and sweet (even mean ol’ Mrs. B). The only real issue I had was not having enough of Tara, Chloe, Maddie, Ford, Sawyer, and Jax. They were mentioned (Sawyer really was featured the most, since he’s the sheriff and there were a few things in the book that needed sheriff-ing) but not heavily. And I missed them! I guess I figured that since this was a Lucky Harbor novel that they’d be featured more. I know that they’re all living their happily ever afters, but I was really hoping to see more of them. Maybe have some hints as to their wedding plans or some babies coming along or something? Maybe I just read too many Nora Roberts books where we get to see so many siblings and friends across so many books with all her trilogies and series that I got spoiled.
Overall, this was a fabulous book that I couldn’t put down (except when I had to smack PK for interrupting me while I was reading – how dare he! Shouldn’t he know better by now?) I can’t wait to get my hands on the next two books. Amy and Grace’s stories look to be amazing, if the excerpts in Lucky in Love are half as good as the book themselves will be… 
Rating: 5 meows
