The Backup Plan (Sunrise Cove #3)

Jill Shalvis

Blurb:

When Alice receives a call about an unexpected windfall, she's stunned to learn the gift is a falling-apart-at-the-seams old Wild West B&B she once considered home—and she's inherited it along with two strangers. Except they weren't always strangers. Once upon a time, they were friends. One is her ex-BFF Lauren. The other is Knox, the only guy to ever break her heart, all while never even knowing she existed.

It turns out their lives are unknowingly entangled because they once separately helped the same woman without expecting anything in return. Years later, Alice, Lauren, and Knox are broken in their own way, with their own history--and secrets-- causing them to start out on the wrong foot with each other. But according to the will, they must renovate and be partners in the inn for one year or else lose their inheritance.

Stuck together, they make a list of rules to keep the peace--rules that end up doing the opposite, but by some miracle they find what they didn't even know they were looking for--acceptance, true friendship, and in a case (or two!), true love.

Themes: Contemporary

Rating: 4 stars

Heat Rating:

Review:

As always, a Jill Shalvis romance is just what one needs to read when the heart is feeling a little deflated or you are in need or being reminded that there is kindness in the world. The Sunrise Cove series is one that is only very loosely connected and each story can definitely be read as a stand alone novel, but this third story is by far my favorite. Alice, Knox, and Lauren have been forced home to their small town, which they left years ago after Lauren’s brother’s death tore them apart, when their mentor Eleanor passes away and leave them all a third of the Inn that shaped their childhoods so much. Each of them is determined to do their best to bring the Inn back into shape and sell it so they can leave again, for their own reasons, but they know that being back and together will be difficult. Alice never really got of the death of her brother or the love she had for Knox, but being back now can’t be any more painful than being alone all these years, right? Knox and Lauren have kept in touch, but they both know that brining Alice back into the fold and helping her heal with be even more difficult than fixing up the Inn and solving the mystery that Eleanor has left behind for them. Lauren has been regarded as a widow since her fiancé, Alices brother, died, but she knows she needs to move on and find a way to live again. As they rekindle friendships and relationships, the three friends with come to understand the true value of love in all its forms and learn that with forgiveness and faith in that love they can find a way forward. Alice is definitely a broken woman when she returns to town, never having healed from the loss of her brother, but even more the loss of Knox and Lauren. She has become hard and her sarcasm and edginess hides a vulnerability and fear that only Lauren and Knox can help her to understand and heal. Knox was truly the perfect match for her in every way; he is gentle, sweet, kind and loving, but knew just when to push her and show her that she could count on them to be there for her even when she tried to push them away. It was obvious more than once that he was angry with her for deserting them, but he never let that anger color his interactions with her, instead leading with his love and hope that he could bring her back into the fold. Lauren has been in mourning for a long time, but she has finally decided its time to move on and I enjoyed seeing her working to get people to see her in that light. She thankfully gets her own little side romance, enhancing the storyline just that much more. The passion and intensity between Knox and Alice are there from the beginning even when they are arguing, but when they give in to one another was just as heated. I loved every moment of this story and I look forward to Jill giving us more in the series to enjoy.