Review: Forever and a Day by Jill Shalvis

Title: Forever and a Day (Lucky Harbor, #6)
Author: Jill Shalvis
Published: July 31, 2012 (Grand Central)
Format: Temporary egalley provided by Netgalley, physical finished copy provided by Grand Central Publishing. (Thanks!)
Summary: Grace never thought she’d be starting her life over from scratch. Losing everything has landed her in Lucky Harbor, working as a dog walker for overwhelmed ER doctor Josh Scott. But the day his nanny fails to show up, Grace goes from caring for Josh’s loveable mutt to caring for his rambunctious kids. Soon Grace is playing house with the sexy single dad… With so many people depending on him, Josh has no time for anything outside of his clinic and family–until Grace arrives in town. Now this brainy blonde is turning his life inside out and giving a whole new meaning to the phrase “good bedside manner.” Josh and Grace don’t know if what they have can last. But in a town like Lucky Harbor, a lifetime of love starts with just one day…

My Review: My feelings for Forever and a Day could probably be conveyed in a 200-character long capslock keymash. But as that would be of no help to anyone else, I'll attempt to be coherent in my love for this book. Okay, mainly Josh. But this book as a whole was great. It started off with Josh contacting Grace - by accident - to come be a dog-walker for his son's new dog. Grace, being strapped for cash as she was, agreed, even though she had little-to-no experience with dogs. The result was hilarious, and the book only got better from there.

I had such a wonderful time watching the relationship between Josh and Grace build. They had smoldering chemistry from page one - in fact, it started in small increments in the previous books - and it only grew steadily more intense until it finally exploded. Their romance was as heart-meltingly beautiful as it was hot, and their interactions felt very real to me. They could be serious, but they had some of the most entertaining exchanges ever. Exhibit A)

This stopped her cold. “You have more spiders?” “No,” he said without missing a beat. “No spiders.” “You said spiders,” she said. “And I saw a big one in the side yard, in the sprinkler well.” “That spider went south for the winter.” “It’s summer.” “He wanted to be the first to get out of town.”

What made this book even better, though, was that it was not just about Grace's relationship with Josh. It was about Grace and her own journey to happiness, developing her ability to make her own choices. It was about Josh and his struggle to balance work, family, and the wishes of his dead father. It was about Josh's son, Toby, and Josh's - and Grace's - relationship with the young boy. It was about Anna, Josh's younger, wheelchair-confined sister, her interactions with the two older adults, and her journey to finally coming to terms with what her life could be with her disability.

Now, I will devote a paragraph to Josh, because a review of this book would not be complete without it. Because seriously. I'm quite convinced that Shalvis just jumped into my head, pulled out every single thing that's a turn-on for me, and created Josh. Responsible. Single father. Fantastic, near eidetic memory. He was also just a little bit tortured, but with a great sense of humor and a huge heart to make up for it. Add in a whole heap of the sexy!pants factor, and my heart was going pitter-patter. Plus, he was a total nerd at heart, and just a little awkward with women - at least internally. He truly had a little bit of something for everyone, but he never seemed incomplete or scattered as a character. Probably my favorite hero in the entire Lucky Harbor series, which is saying something.

Like the first "trilogy" of the series, these three books also grew increasingly better with each installment. Forever and a Day was definitely my favorite of this second set of Lucky Harbor books. I would, without any reservations, recommend it if you have previously enjoyed the Lucky Harbor novels. I was going to end this review with a lament over the end of the Lucky Harbor, but today I received some fantastic news! According to Jill's post on her blog, there are three new Lucky Harbor novels in the works! Therefore, a lament is no longer in order. However, in the mean time until the next book comes out, Forever and a Day will be here to keep you company on July 31, and I would highly recommend going out and getting a copy.

Bonus! Included in Forever and a Day is the recipe for the Chocoholics' Cupcakes-Worth-the-Fat-Grams. I, of course, baking and chocolate enthusiast that I am, made these immediately after finishing the book. Whether it was because it was an egalley, or simply the digital formatting, I don't know, but some of the ingredient amounts did not display correctly, so I had to guess for some of it. The mixture wound up too runny, then I added way too much flour in my attempt to make it normal cupcake-batter-y. And I baked them a few minutes too long. Thus, the cupcakes wound up quite dry. But the taste was fantastic, and I can't wait to make more of these and improve them to perfection...by actually following the recipe.

P.S. Stop by for my interview with Jill Shalvis tomorrow, part of the Summer with Jill Shalvis Blog Tour!

He turned to say something and caught her staring. She quickly pretended to be watching her own feet. Look at that, her heels were looking a little worn. “Pretty hardwood floors,” she said. “You weren’t looking at the floor. You were looking at my ass.” Giving up, she sighed. “Okay, yes,” she said as primly as she could. “But it’s impolite of you to point it out.” Okay, so maybe chocolate doesn’t make the world go around, but it sure makes the trip worthwhile. There was just something about her that made him feel like a kid on Christmas morning. Like he couldn’t wait to see beyond the packaging, couldn’t wait to touch. And not just physically, which was what really disconcerted him. He wanted to touch her from the inside out, which made no fucking sense at all. So wake up and smell the damn cupcakes. “It’s because love is one of those really bossy bitches,” Amy said. “There’s no telling it what to do.” And on the Eighth day, God created chocolate.

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