4*
Two damaged women, one due to parental abandonment and the other due to a traumatic event in her teens, have shut themselves off from love. Their friendship has been the one relationship where they’ve both opened up and found (platonic) love, but they can’t see that this is proof that they’re capable of romantic love. Luckily for them, they’ve both found men who are kind, loving, patient, and understanding. They both just need to believe that they’re worthy of love.
I really appreciated the terrifying meet-cute between Levi and Jane, when a near-death experience bonds them in a way nothing less could. In that short time in the swinging gondola, they expose their true selves. When they embark on a fake relationship, it’s inevitable that strong feelings will grow and that Jane will have to make a choice.
As for Charlotte and Mateo, theirs is an enemies-to-lovers tale but Mateo never saw her as the enemy. It was more like a Taming of the Shrew scenario where Charlotte is trying to protect herself from further emotional damage from a man. So, it doesn’t make sense when she uses the excuse that people you love leave when this was Jane’s reality, not hers. In fact, she has family that love and miss her.
Overall, this was a beautiful dual love story in which female friends who choose each other as family agree to support each other in overcoming trauma and opening to the possibility of life. It’s also about chosen family and forgiveness. These women are fortunate to find men who come from loving families, so that when they and their partners eventually choose each other, the familial embrace is expansive and hugely heartwarming.
Shalvis proves, once again, why she is one of the reining queens of contemporary romance. This is the first in her new series Sunrise Cove, set in the Lake Tahoe area, so her fans have much to look forward to.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from William Morrow through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.
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