Forever and a Day by Jill Shalvis (Lucky Harbor #6)
July 31, 2012
Contemporary Romance
Grand Central

Reviewed by Mandi

Favorite Quote #1: “You going to work like that?” she asked.

He looked down at his hard-on. “That bad?”

“Boy scouts could camp in there.”

Favorite Quote #2: “Did either of you know there’s ninety-nine ways to give a blow job? That’s ninety-nine nights of blow jobs.

“Look at you with the math skills,” Josh said.

Let me tell you something – Jill Shalvis knows how to write a sexy hero. Josh gave my favorite Shalvis hero, Ford (from The Sweetest Thing) a run for the #1 spot. I have a thing for heroes that are exhausted and just worn out from the daily stresses of life. Another example that pops into my head is Mark Wolfe from Twisted by Laura Griffin. They have this jaded edge to them and it is something about the way the heroine eases some of their burden, that I really enjoy watching.

Josh is an ER doctor and has his own practice handed down from his father in the small town of Lucky Harbor. He is a big guy – 6’4 and looks more like a football player than a doctor. A few years ago, his parents died in a car crash and his 16 year old sister at the time was paralyzed from the waist down. Also right at that time he had a rare one night stand, resulting in a son with a mother who ups and leaves. Now five years later, he has a rambunctious kindergartner, a 21 year old wheelchair-bound sister who has massive anger issues, and a job that has him working a gazillion hours a week. Oh, and a brand new puppy named Tank that causes chaos 24 hours a day.

Through a series of events, Grace ends up becoming Josh’s dog-walker/part-time nanny until he can hire someone full-time. Grace has only been in Lucky Harbor for a short time. Coming in from Seattle, where she was on path in her investment banking career, until her boss asked her for a sexual favor. Fed up, she got in her car and drove until she ran out of gas, ending up in Lucky Harbor. While she has been trying to set up interviews in the Seattle/Portland area for another big job, in the mean time she takes whatever temp job she can find. Becoming fast friends with Amy and Mallory (the previous two heroines) she actually enjoys Lucky Harbor, but doesn’t want to disappoint her parents by not having a high-powered career. As she starts to babysit and care for Josh’s family, they grow close and a very sexy romance starts.

While there is drama with Josh’s paralyzed sister, as she has never really come to terms with what has happened with her, what I like about this book is so much time is spent with just Josh and Grace getting to know each other. It doesn’t hurt that she moves into his guest house, to make things easier for to watch his son, as he works really late hours. This also provides many opportunities for the naughty smexin’ to occur. Josh is a very devoted father, brother and doctor. It doesn’t leave him much time for fun in his life, but as he tells Grace, he still has some fun in him:

“And you think I’m not,” he said with a hint of disbelief, “fun.”

“It’s nothing personal.”

“Hmm.” He took a step toward her, and since there was already no place to go, she found herself once again sandwiched between the door and his deliciously hard body. His hands went to her hips, where they squeezed lightly and then slid up her sides, past her ribs, to her arms and her shoulders. By the time he got to her throat and cupped her face, her bones had gone AWOL.

“What are you doing?” she managed.

“Showing you how much fun I can be.”

Oh boy. Just his husky whisper sent a shiver down her spine, the sort of shiver a woman wasn’t supposed to get for a man she didn’t want to be attracted to. And then her body strained a little closer to him.

Bad body!

I adored Grace. She is kind of forward in her intentions towards Josh. There are times he jokingly says he would kiss her for watching his puppy, and she turns on the flirtation and expects that kiss. I really liked that about her. While she goes back and forth, not sure of what she wants with her career, it never became annoying. She has a great friendship with the previous two heroines, and their scenes together are very cute.

I think Jill Shalvis writes a great blend of sexual tension and romance in this book. She builds it up, and then gives us the dirty deeds that she writes oh so hot. Filled with likable characters and some funny lines, I really recommend this one.

Rating: B+

Recent Reviews:
Romance Around the Corner – 3/5
The Book Pushers – A-
All About Romance – B-
Tracy’s Place – 5/5
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