Sandy M’s review of Rescue My Heart (Animal Magnetism, Book 3) by Jill Shalvis
Contemporary Romance published by Berkley 6 Nov 12
It’s so good to be back with the folks at Belle Haven. I’ve had such fun with them since the series started. Jill Shalvis never disappoints when it comes to thoroughly likable characters and great romance to bring them together. And I’m so happy that the series is continuing with another book out in August.
Adam has returned to Belle Haven after tragedy hit his National Guard team. He’s still healing but also helps out as part of local rescue teams and trains rescue dogs. Having just come off a last-minute, out-of-the-blue rescue, Adam wants only to be alone to work out the demons that pop up every now and again. Relaxation is not to be, however, when a blast from his past shows up at his door, asking for a favor and stirring old emotions Adam knows he’s probably better off without.
Holly is also back in town, working with her father and licking the wounds her ex-husband caused.Worried that she hasn’t heard from her father since he left on one of his mountain treks, Holly goes to the one person she knows can find him. Adam is the best and she needs the best. Seeing him again will be difficult, but Holly is her own woman now and her dad has to come first.
It’s being together on such an emotional journey that brings all their past back to them, good and bad. Holly discovers why Adam left her so long ago, something he never wanted her to know. She deserves better than the broken man he’s become, but with her the darkness recedes and all things become possible. There’s a lot of history between them and this time they’re not going to be able to outrun their needs for each other. Jill Shalvis is so good at giving readers such real people with real and emotional issues. That pulls the emotion out of the reader, giving them a deeper understanding of the characters. Then add in all those little details – Adam’s PTSD; his best friends, his brothers and rescue dog; Holly’s father, brother, and ex-husband – and you are in the middle of a story that won’t let go until that longed-for happily ever after is finally acknowledged.
I enjoyed the interaction between Holly’s brother and best friend, and am hoping their story is in the making. This has been such a fun series, riddled with serious issues that only Shalvis love and romance can overcome. These are characters you won’t forget anytime soon. Who can resist an alpha male calming a hissing and spitting kitten or needing man’s best friend in a frightening black moment? I know I sure can’t.
Grade: A+
Read LauraC’s review here.
Summary:
After a tragic stint in the National Guards, Adam Connelly returns to Idaho and to Belle Haven, the animal shelter he owns with his brothers. All Adam wants is to be alone. Then he opens the door to the past—the woman whose heart he once broke. Still gorgeous, still tough-as-nails, but this time, unusually vulnerable.
Holly learned the hard way to never depend on a man for anything. Now, of all men, it’s the last one she wants to see, and the only one she needs. Her father has gone missing in the Bitterroot Mountains and she could use someone with tracking skills to help find him.
For Holly and Adam, each with their ghosts, a trek this desperate, this unpredictable, and this intimate, will have its share of risks—including opening their hearts one more time.
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
