Thank you Harper Audio for the ALC and @GetRedPrBooks & Avon Books, #partner, for the finished copy of The Friendship Pact in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Avon Books / Harper Audio
Published: June 14, 2022
Summary:
New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis returns to Sunrise Cove with a powerful, moving story about a young woman on a quest to find the truth about her father who learns the meaning of true love along the way.
Alone in the world, Tae Holmes and her mother April pretty much raised each other, but as Tae starts asking questions about the father she’s never met, April, for the first time in her life, goes silent. To make matters worse, Tae is dangerously close to broke and just manages to avoid financial meltdown when she lands a shiny new contract with an adventure company for athletes with disabilities and wounded warriors.
Her first big fundraiser event falls flat, but what starts out as a terrible, horrible, no-good night turns into something else entirely when Tae finds herself face-to-face with Riggs Copeland. She hasn’t seen the former Marine since their brief fling in high school, and while still intensely drawn to him, she likes her past burned and buried, thank you very much. Hence their friendship pact.
But when April oddly refuses to help Tae track down her father, it’s Riggs who unexpectedly comes to her aid. On a hunt to unlock the past, the two of them find themselves on a wild ride and learn a shocking truth, while also reluctantly bonding in a way neither had seen coming. Now Tae must decide whether she’s going to choose love … or walk away from her own happiness.
My thoughts:
This is the second book I’ve read by Jill Shalvis and I have to say I am now a fan. Romance might not be my go-to genre anymore but her books are so much more than just a fun romcom…there’s substance here and I just love it!
While this book is the second installment in the Sunrise Cove series, the only aspect that makes it a series is the location. These books are all set in Lake Tahoe…that’s what is connecting them. I had hoped after reading the first book, that we would be getting the story of one of the secondary characters and perhaps at some point we will, but this particular installment gives us the story of brand new characters that had no connection to the first book.
I loved how the author explores different types of love here. We have parental love, relationship love, and sibling love. The characters are so richly drawn that it’s hard not to become emotionally attached t and invested in what is going on with them. And the way that humor is so seamlessly woven into the story – it’s subtle, yet it comes at such perfect moments.
This was such an enjoyable story and would make the perfect edition to your summer reading. I definitely plan to continue reading this series and will be curious to see who we meet next.
Audio thoughts:
This is the type of book I love to do on audio – it’s so engaging and easy to listen to. The narrator, Andi Arndt, really makes the story come alive and I just love listening to her. Her pacing and intonation are spot on and she does such a great job giving each of the characters their own unique voices and personalities. She isn’t the same narrator as the first book, but as these are different characters, it didn’t need to be the same narrator.
Books in this series:
- The Family You Make
- The Friendship Pact
- The Backup Plan – due out January 2023
