Summer Sundays - Forever and a Day

                   

Grace Brooks came to Lucky Harbor on a fluke. She lost her banking job and headed out to Seattle for a new opportunity that fell through. Running on her last tank of gas, she ends up in the small town, doing odd jobs until one of her job leads comes through.

Josh Scott is juggling a son, a disabled sister, his medical practice and shifts at the ER. With everyone depending on him, it’s hard to make time for anything else. Grace knows the feeling; she’s a Brooks and as such, as always had to live up to a certain ideal.

When Josh hires Grace to walk his dog and later as a temporary nanny, they both recognize the chemistry sparking between them but neither thinks it’s a good idea to get involved.  Before they know it, they are involved, and maybe  playing a little doctor, but can Grace find her own happiness or will she bow to the expectations she’s always had to live up to?

Grace and Josh just sizzled. They were really great characters separately and together, just perfect. They complimented each other beautifully. Both recognized in each other the person they wanted to be and helped each other be that person. I didn’t connect with Grace in the minor roles she played in the previous two books and I believed she wouldn’t be a strong lead, again, I was wrong.

Grace is sweet and determined. She’s struggling and doing what she needs to make ends meet, but she’s also tough as nails and doesn’t take crap. She cracks Anna right away and bonds with Toby. She juggles a variety of odd jobs and never complains, determined to come through the career rut and get back to banking. She’s always trying to live up to others expectations of her and never puts her own wants in front, until Lucky harbor and Josh, when she begins to see the choices she’s made weren’t what she wanted and how happy this town makes her.

I say this every time Jill Shalvis writes a new book and I hope I continue to say it for a long time to come, she’s done it again. With Forever and a Day, Shalvis has made it really hard for me to pick my favorite in her newest Lucky Harbor trilogy. I went into this thinking At Last was my favorite of the three new summer releases (with Lucky in Love) and my expectations were blown. I love love loved Grace and Josh. I loved the chemistry, I loved the characters. And now I’m left trying to figure out which book was my favorite – I think I’m going to call in a drawl, I loved them all.