Tuesday, February 5, 2013

At Last by Jill Shalvis















Amy Michaels & Matt Bowers' book



At Last (Lucky Harbor book 5)

By Jill Shalvis


Book Blurb:HER LOVE HAS COME ALONG . . . Amy Michaels loves her new life in Lucky Harbor. A waitress in the local diner, she's looking forward to her first weekend hike through the mountains. But when a wrong turn takes her off the trail, she finds herself up close and personal with forest ranger Matt Bowers. And even though she's tempted to kiss that sexy smile right off his face, she won't make the mistake of getting involved with the town heartthrob.
A former cop whose life went south, Matt doesn't let anyone get too close. But something about the feisty beauty caught his eye the moment he first saw her in the diner. After a hot night under a starry sky, Matt can't deny their attraction-or the fact that for the first time in a long time, he feels the stirrings of something more. Now it's up to Matt to help Amy see that, no matter what is in their past, together they can build a future in Lucky Harbor.


Once again another fabulous installment of Jill Shalvis' Lucky Harbor series. I just adore the townsfolk of this Pacific Northwest town. At Last didn't ignore any of the secondary characters that the readers have grown to love. 

Amy's heart is sealed shut. Vaulted tight. Iced over. I honestly didn't know what it was about Amy that Matt thought was appealing. She barely smiled. She was short with her answers and really only had three chocoholic friends surrounding her. I'd like to think that maybe Matt had a hero thing going on and that he figured he needed to save her or something. BUT even when his sexy Park Ranger self had to save a lost Amy, she was annoyingly a "tough girl" and very ungrateful. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to like this heroine. Admittedly it took more than half way through the book before I started to thaw towards her. 


Jill Shalvis' inspiration for Matt
Matt. Oh Matt. Ranger Hot Buns. Enough said? Matt is the quintessential romance book hero. Navy turned cop turned park ranger. Matt and Amy do heat up the pages with some awesome sexual tension. I really liked that Amy was all "don't fall in love with me" and "lets have sex but only sex and not a relationship".  It was Matt who was craving the relationship. Personally I thought Amy was nuts but she clearly had personal issues that she needed to overcome before giving her heart to someone. Amy had major trust issues. 

To help Amy get over her issues I thought it was really interesting that Jill Shalvis used another character, eighteen year old Riley, to reflect and deflect Amy's history. I thought it was a cool angle and it was probably the quickest way to get Amy to discover through her own self recovery how to heal the past without the aid of a man to be the rescue hero. It is very fitting that the book is called, At Last

I do adore this Lucky Harbor series and I can't wait to read the next book, Forever and a Day.  

Teasers: Amy & Matt have the best friends ever, falling down; in the dark; while camping; to sneak away to go pee ends in (me with a smile) 



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