Old flames reignite in Sunrise Cove in this charming enemies-to-lovers, second-chance, small-town, forced-proximity love story about family, friendships, and true love from New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis.
When Olive Porter’s off-the-grid parents go missing, she reluctantly seeks out Noah Turner, her ex and the only person she both trusts implicitly and not at all.
As a special investigative agent for the National Park Service, Noah’s used to living under intense pressure. Or he was until he got injured on the job. Now unhappily recuperating at home while being smothered by his loving but nosy family, he’d love nothing more than a good distraction.
So when Olive shows up looking like a million bucks, he has to do a gut and heart check. Because nope, no matter what, he can’t fall for her again, the woman who once blew up his entire life and never looked back. How ironic then that his own personal hell (Olive) is also his ticket out of town. The question is, will the risk be worth the reward?
Review:
Better Than Friends was exactly the comfort read I needed right now! I don’t know how Jill Shalvis continues to write characters that are perfectly flawed and so very deeply relatable, but I sure as heck hope she keeps right on doing it.
Olive and Noah’s (and Katie and Joe’s, and Joey’s, and Holmes and Pepper’s) story is comfortably familiar–it very much has the feel of all the other Sunrise Cove books–yet is still very much its own thing, just like its quirky collection of characters. It’s got a second chance romance with a generous dollop of close proximity and friends to lovers added in for flavor–and plenty of well-meaning, nosy friends and family (with their own drama, of course!) to keep things interesting.
Little Joey is absolutely darling, and the dog and cat could have been lifted from my own home.
But Olive and Noah? Those two were everything. Not to mention Katie and Joe are total #relationshipgoals And all the friendships? Absolutely pitch perfect.
Seriously, whatever flavor of unlimited potato chips/cookies and spider-killing services Ms Shalvis needs to keep writing these, I hope she gets them–because I need to keep reading these books like I need air to breathe.
(Though I also wouldn’t turn down a spider-killing service.)
As always, though this book is the 7th in the series, it truly is a standalone. A common geographic setting (and Ms Shalvis’s addictive writing style) are really all they have in common–each book has its own set of characters independent of the others.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.