Laura C’s review of Rescue My Heart by Jill Shalvis
Contemporary Romance published by Berkley 06 Nov 12
Jill Shalvis always manages to surprise and entertain, even in a story where you think you know exactly where it’s going.
If you like your heroes wounded, Adam Connelly is your man. He’s returned to Belle Haven a changed man—suffering from PTSD, though he doesn’t talk about it—and although he’s taken up his job in search and rescue, he’s really training others to do the job more often than doing it himself. He’s not ready to go out on a rescue trek, and he’s even less ready to go on one with Holly.
Holly Reid would rather chew nails than ask for help, especially from Adam, but he’s the only one who can do the job she needs done. And she’s decided it’s time to change a few things in her life…like facing up to the things she hasn’t wanted to deal with instead of hiding from them. So she grits her teeth and resolves to “deal with” Adam.
The one thing neither of them wants is a return of the hot and heavy feelings from the past. But, of course, you always get exactly what you don’t want. And often, the thing you don’t want is just what you need. Adam’s brothers have been treating him with kid gloves because they have a good idea what he’s been through. Holly doesn’t know anything about his traumas, so she treats him almost aggressively, which is actually far better for him.
This novel’s only fault for me is that it moves a bit too slowly. I love all the characters (especially the dogs, of course) and the romance is typically Shalvis—warm, funny at times, with enough angst to keep it from getting dull—but I did find myself getting a wee bit frustrated with the pace. It’s still a fine read, it’s just not the usual Shalvis A.
Grade: B
Summary:
After a tragic stint in the National Guard, 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, Adam is 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.
Other books in this series:
