Also, since it's the first of the month, that means I have listed the new releases that I'm looking forward to over at Breezing Through with Ames and Monroe. Click here to take a look :) Some great books coming out, can't wait!
published by Grand Central Publishing in August 2012
Love can happen in one heartbeat.Genre: Contemporary romance
Grace never thought she’d be starting her life over from scratch. Losing everything has landed her in Lucky Harbor, working as a dog walker for overwhelmed ER doctor Josh Scott. But the day his nanny fails to show up, Grace goes from caring for Josh’s loveable mutt to caring for his rambunctious kids. Soon Grace is playing house with the sexy single dad...
With so many people depending on him, Josh has no time for anything outside of his clinic and family–until Grace arrives in town. Now this brainy blonde is turning his life inside out and giving a whole new meaning to the phrase “good bedside manner.” Josh and Grace don’t know if what they have can last. But in a town like Lucky Harbor, a lifetime of love starts with just one day...
Series: Lucky Habor, Book #6
What do you need to know? There's been a lot of reviews for this book, but just in case you haven't read them... Forever and a Day is Grace Brooks', the third member of the Chocoholics Club, book. She was let go from her previous job and headed West, hoping she'd have more luck finding a job that suited her experience... and that measured up to her genius adoptive parents' expectations. In between interviews, Grace has been taking odd jobs in Lucky Harbor. When Dr. Joshua Scott mistakenly calls her to hire her as a dog walker, Grace seizes the opportunity. Soon, not only is she walking Josh's demonic puppy, but also looking after his son Toby and his sister Anna, who was in a car accident five years which killed their parents and left her a highly functioning paraplegic... and falling in love with Josh.
Josh has a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders and is over-worked. He has his shifts at the hospital, his father's practice to maintain and the hospital's board of directors on his back to buy him out. He practically has no time for his son who lately only barks and doesn't talk. Add to it all that his relationship with his sister is not good, actually very tense because of whom she's dating and the lack of direction in her life... The last thing on his mind is meeting an attractive woman and falling in love with her... but love doesn't wait.
Why this book? I was originally interested in Josh and Grace's characters and reading the excerpt of Forever and a Day at the end of Lucky in Love sealed the deal for me :)
What did I like? Well I did end up enjoying Forever and a Day a lot more than I expected, which is always a good thing :) I think what worked for me in this book was the humor and the funny scenes. There were quite a few LOL scenes such as the opening when Grace dog-walked Tank and thought he drowned in the sea, the nude modeling and Amy asking Grace for accounting help. I could totally see Grace's incredulous face when she received the shoe box and saw the napkin LOL.
I also liked Josh and his family. I felt they were portrayed realistically, not too stereotypical. I liked that Grace didn't immediately connected with Toby, Anna or Tank as well. She wasn't Mary Poppins with answers to every questions, I liked that she was out of her depth from time to time. As for Josh, while he should have realized he was way over his head earlier, I liked that despite everything, he tried to be a good father.
Finally, while the town was still presence, I felt it wasn't as obtrusive as in previous books and that was a good thing for me - wasn't as annoyed with the town Facebook page.
What didn't work? In a way, I thought both Grace and Josh were too stubborn. They had an idea in their head and what they did had to match to that idea. They didn't take a minute to take a look at their reality. I was very annoyed that Grace kept speaking about getting a high-paying job when it was clear that she was happy in Lucky Harbor and was actually building a business. I'm glad that Ms Shalvis showed us why, the source of her obsession... but at the same time, I would have liked her to elaborate that part. I wished we've had seen Grace confront her parents, for her to realize that it was okay. At the end of it, I guess she did it for love, to stay in Lucky Harbor with Josh and his family... but I would have liked if she had done it for herself.
As for the romance, I was glad that Josh and Grace tried to fight off the attraction a little bit. However, I don't know, I didn't feel it. It was once again the kind of romance the two parties embark in, not expecting anything and realizing oups, I fell in love somewhere along the way. I also got really tired that everyone around Josh and Grace pointed out that they were in love.
My Grade? B. Forever and a Day was a solid book in my opinion.
