Forever and a Day by Jill Shalvis

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Lucky Harbour #6
Publication Date: 31st July 2012
Pages: 400
Book Source: Grand Central Publishing & NetGalley

Synopsis: LOVE CAN HAPPEN IN A HEARTBEAT

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…

Karen's Thoughts:

I keep wondering how Ms Shalvis keeps delivering these delicious contemporary romance winners; each new book is just another delight to immerse myself in.

I keep telling myself surely this one won’t top the last….surely she can’t come up with another heart melting hero for us to swoon over….surely this one won’t have me snorting out loud over the snarky one liners and humorous undertones of the story.

Happy to say that Ms Shalvis just keeps on delivering the good stuff.

Forever and a Day tells the story of Dr Josh Scott, who we’ve come to know a little in the previous two stories, and Grace Brooks who makes up the Chocoholics trio with Mallory and Amy (you can read their stories in Lucky in Love and At Last respectively).

Dr Josh Scott is a gorgeous and dedicated ER Doctor, he also just happens to be a loving single father of an adorable 5 year old Jedi knight in training and an overbearing and overprotective brother to his 21 year old paraplegic sister.  Josh has been burdened with so many responsibilities since both his parents were killed in the car accident that left his sister in a wheelchair and his son Toby’s mother decided that mothering 24/7 just wasn’t what she wanted out of life and disappeared.  Josh works insane hours and has absolutely no time for himself and is slowly burning himself out trying to balance work life and home life.

Grace Brooks found herself in Lucky Harbor after leaving a job where her former employer expected some ‘benefits’ that didn’t quite fit Grace’s job description.  The adopted daughter of a Rocket Scientist and Research Biologist she’s hiding away in Lucky Harbor unable to admit to her parents that she is currently trying to make ends meet by delivering flowers and, after a bit of a misunderstanding, a dog walker.  Her plans are to stay in Lucky Harbour until one of the many job applications she sends out turns something her way.

Sparks fly between Josh and Grace as they spend more time together and he calls on her to help out with his son after the latest nanny leaves him high and dry.

Something that really struck a chord with me and I felt was a little different to any of Jill’s recent publications was that our main man in the story was a single father to a young boy.  I loved the relationship between Josh and his son and the interaction between them.  He essentially also was trying to father his 21 year old sister who is going through difficult times.

I just love the humour in Jill’s books.  If you follow Jill’s blog you’ll know she certainly has a fabulous sense of humour and that she also hates spiders.  I always find myself chuckling over her novels.

“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.”

Well that now marks the end of the latest Lucky Harbour trilogy and I can say that I’m sorry to say goodbye and can only hope that author Jill Shalvis may once again return to this sweet little seaside town.

Review by Karen Barr 

Want to know more about Jill Shalvis and her work? ~ Visit her website