I just love the Kincaids and Jacob was no different.  I felt so bad that he was so uneasy around his family.  The guilt that he had because of him leaving could have made him so bitter, but he was so willing and wanting to help and get back in.  He just didn't realize that he was already back in.  All he had to do was show up and the family was ready to take him back in the fold.  I'm glad he got that back.

Sophie was a hoot.  I know how it can be for some people to really get themselves together, and she was struggling a bit.  But, I loved her personality and her spirit.  I was so glad that she found someone like Jacob who was believed in her 100% and with no conditions.  

The ending was just perfect!  I can't wait to see what adventures the big reveal will bring.  I was surprised at their wedding.  I would have thought their families would have been a part.

Now all the Kincaid men are attached.  Next up in Kenna.  I am really interested in what her story is going to bring.  I hope she gets a story.  **hint, hint**

First thing first, Kenna doesn't get her own story?!?

Overall, meh. Sexy, understanding, funny, and a little bit clueless hero with life falling apart, sexy, and a bit wack-a-doodle heroine. They meet-cute, lust, misunderstand, and fall in love. It's Shalvis good but oh boy is my closet overflowing with the done there t-shirts I have from this author. I hope the Heartbreaker series has a bit more individuality or spark...or Lucky Harbor Sheriff Sawyer, I can always take more Sawyer.

Jill Shalvis is one of my go to authors for happy feel good reads. Cedar Ridge is a wonderful place to live, work and what a family ! There is not a single member of this family that I haven't adored. This is Jacob's story, the long lost twin finally returns home.
Jacob is back, and he's brought some baggage along with him. Baggage not so much from the war, but from his last dealings with his family. He was a coward, and he knows it's time to face up to it, but he is distracted by a red headed woman who keeps drawing his attention and stealing his dock. He must deal with his lust, that might be more, his family that he can't let in yet and his past.
The lady red is Sophie, and she is a broke woman in more ways than financial. Freshly divorced from a cheating husband who only degraded her for years, she is fighting for her footing in a new life. She is an amazing character, hard working and seeming to have endless energy and positive outlook.
What a wonderful uplifting story of family drama, love, respect, forgiveness, and moving on in life. Jacob is one of the good ones and his HEA with Sophie is a beautiful thing :D

Lily Danville grew up in Cedar Ridge, Colorado, and loved hiking the mountain trails or climbing the rock faces in the summer, or skiing the challenging slopes in the winter. She was happy there, until tragedy struck and she lost half her family over the course of a few weeks. She's never forgiven herself and wasn't ever planning on returning. Having lost her job in a fashionable salon in San Diego and pretty much been blacklisted in the industry, she desperately needs a job, and has no choice but to return to her home town, to work for her friend Jonathan. She dreads going back for a number of reasons, but most of all because it will mean seeing Aidan Kincaid again, the guy she used to dream of, but could never have.

Aidan Kincaid is part of a large and close-knit family. He and his brothers run the Cedar Ridge Resort, which they're trying to keep afloat, despite some serious difficulties thanks to debts run up by their dead-beat dad. Aidan works as a firefighter and volunteers for the local Search and Rescue-service, when he's not co-managing the resort and trying to keep his younger siblings out of trouble. He's got a reputation as a ladies' man, not one for serious commitment, but that's because part of him has been pining for Lily, since the summer when she disappeared from the Ridge. Now she's back and he's more attracted to her than ever. But how long is she going to stay this time? Is she going to leave and break his heart once more?

The blurb of the book led me to believe that Lily and Aidan had shared much more of a passionate romance before Lily left Cedar Ridge, when the fact is that they were both teenagers, who spent quite a lot of time together, but only really had anything romantic going at one school dance. Lily, always in competition with her sister, who had admitted to fancying Aidan, as a result never really let herself get too close to him. Once the tragic events that tore her life to pieces occurred, she is incapable of forgiving herself, and she certainly can't allow herself to have feelings for Aidan, as that would feel like a betrayal to her sister. 

Aidan never knew about Lily's sister's feelings and wasn't able to act on his infatuation to Lily until that dance. Shortly after, she left town, before he had time to tell her how he felt and for ten years, he's been trying to tell himself that it was probably for the best. Nonetheless, when she returns, the normally very level-headed man gets all out of sorts (to the amusement of his various relatives) and it doesn't take all that long before he's confirmed that the spark is most certainly still there between him and Lily. 

This is the first book in the Cedar Ridge series and there are more than enough Kincaid siblings to provide fodder for multiple sequels. The only other Shalvis I've ever read is Rumor Has It, which I read for the RITA Reader Challenge back in 2014. As far as I can tell from the two books I've now read by her, and some general reading on the internet, Ms. Shalvis excels at cosy, comfortable contemporary romances, set in small towns, featuring generally well-rounded protagonists, without too much angst to complicate things.

In this book, Aidan has his fair share of troubles, relating to his father, but is really quite a stand-up guy. He's very much a protector, for his family and working both as a firefighter AND in search and rescue. For the past ten years, he's has a number of never-too-serious relationships, but he's always been up front about not wanting long-term commitment and once Lily returns to Cedar Ridge, it's obvious that deep down he was just hoping she'd come back and that with her, he pretty much wants nothing but commitment. 

Lily struggles with guilt and grief and has a hard time being back in a place where she suffered such powerful losses. She's pretty determined that her stay is only short-term, covering at her childhood friend Jonathan's salon while one of his employees is on maternity leave. She keeps sending out her resumés, hoping for a job somewhere else, with no wish to settle back in her home town, no matter how tempting the presence of Aidan is. Her attraction to him is also all mixed up in guilt and an overwhelming sense of loyalty to her sister, which is what provides the main obstacle to the romance of the book.

I pretty much loved the setting (despite not being an outdoors person at ALL) and the various supporting characters. I liked that what complications and low-level angst there was in the relationship between Lily and Aidan was handled without too much drama, even though both of them clearly had some lessons to learn about communication and not sending mixed signals. I suspect I will be checking out more books in this series, as going back to the fictional town of Cedar Ridge and getting better acquainted with more of Aidan's siblings will provide me with many hours of relaxing summer reading.

Judging a book by its cover: There are two different covers for this book. The one I read (featured here), has a rugged man in a rescue service t-shirt and cargo pants, with a rope and what looks like assorted mountain-climbing gear strapped to his side, photo-shopped onto a background of mountains and blue sky. The other cover is a twee watercolour image, full of flowers and mutet pastel colours, more suitable for a children's book than a romance, if you ask me. It also features the hokey tag line: "Sometimes only going home can set you free". Big bowl of nope on that one. I'll take my rugged mountain man any day of the week.

She eyed the bench a long beat but did eventually sit, perching primly as far from him as she could get and yet still be close enough to grab the bottle.

 

Smart woman.

 

She took the Scotch and drank. Her eyes watered and she coughed as she handed it to him. With a sigh, she leaned back to study the night sky. Her bared throat was slim and creamy smooth. An unexpected temptation. Remembering the flash of pain and vulnerability she’d unwittingly revealed, and that for whatever reason he’d somehow added to it, he spoke. “I’m sorry.”

 

She glanced at him as if she’d never heard a man apologize before in her life. “For…breathing?” she asked. “Having a penis? What?”

 

“You were upset because you didn’t know I was a Kincaid.”

 

She sighed. “That was just me looking for a reason to be mad at you so I wouldn’t…”

 

She bit her lower lip, clearly not wanting to go on.

 

But now he had to know. “So you wouldn’t what?”

 

“Nothing,” she said. “It’s just that I’m trying to make better choices.”

 

“Of which I wouldn’t be one.”

 

“It’s not necessarily your fault,” she said. “It’s that you’re a man.”

 

“Guilty as charged.”

 

“And I’m off men right now.”

 

“And on…women?” he asked with admittedly more than a little fascination.

 

She rolled her eyes. “I’m on no one, but thank you for proving my point on men.”

 

“I get that,” he said. “But being off men doesn’t seem to be making you very happy, or sound like a whole lot of fun.”

 

“Maybe I don’t need fun.”

 

He understood that. He’d felt the same way since Brett died. “What do you need?” he asked, honestly wanting to know more about her.

 

Instead of answering, she reached for the bottle. He waited until she met his gaze before letting go.

“Nothing,” she said a little too quickly. “Everything’s…perfect.”

 

“And your glass is half full,” he said. “So you’ve said.”

 

But he didn’t believe her. “How about a game?”

 

“I don’t play games.”

 

Now, that wasn’t exactly true. Whether she knew it or not, she’d been playing with his head since he’d first laid eyes on her. “Three truths and a lie,” he said.

 

She stared at him. “As in you tell me three truths and a lie, and I pick out the lie?”

 

“Yes.”

 

She considered this. “What do I get if I win?”

 

“What do you want?”

 

For the briefest of beats, her gaze dropped to his mouth.

 

Oh, hell yeah, he thought. Want me…

 

“My first boyfriend taught me that game,” she said.

 

“What did the winner get?”

 

“A kiss.”

 

Definitely still playing with his head… “Is that what you want, Sophie? A kiss?”

 

Again she stared at his mouth before dropping eye contact and wrapping that eye-stopping pink robe tighter around her body. “Do you?” she asked.

 

“Hell yes.”

 

Her gaze flew to his.

 

“Problem is,” he said conversationally, “if I kissed you, I don’t think I’d be able to stop.”

 

Her mouth literally fell open. The pulse at the base of her throat jumped. And she seemed to lose her words.

 

He went on. “But you should know, I don’t lose. That means you’ll have to tell me three truths and a lie.” And he’d hopefully get to know more about her.

She closed her mouth to bite her lower lip in what could’ve been indecision or excitement. Obviously he was hoping for the latter. “But hey, if you’re not sure you can handle losing, we can just forget about it,” he said.

 

The challenge lifted her chin and put sparks in her eyes. That’s it, babe. Show me what you’ve got.

 

“Bring it,” she said.

 

 

 

 

Nobody But You by Jill Shalvis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the 3rd book in the Cedar Ridge series. This book can be read as a standalone novel. For reader enjoyment and full understanding, please read in order.

Jacob returns like the prodigal son, only to find there is someone right outside his door who would rather be left alone herself. Sophie has wounds that go deep and keep her from opening up, much like he does. They truly are a set match.

Sophie and Jacob both have secrets and pain that they hide from the world. Right from the start, they have trouble hiding their feelings for each other. Can someone who relies only on themselves ever learn to lean on another person? They both need to meet halfway to make this relationship real.

Truly another fabulous book by the amazing author! The characters are complex. The sexy heat is a strong slow burn right from the beginning. The other characters we love from this series are here for comic relief. It is a well written story with heat and love.


***This ARC copy was given from Netgalley and its publishers in exchange for an honest review.

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