FOREVER AND A DAY – Jill Shalvis
A Lucky Harbor Novel , Book 6
Forever
ISBN: 978-1-455-50369-8
August 2012
Contemporary Romance

Lucky Harbor, Washington – Present Day

Grace Brooks has spent several months in Lucky Harbor while she continues to look for a job, preferably in her field of work (banking) and probably in a larger city than small town Lucky Harbor. In the meantime, she's managed to snag a few temporary part time jobs that help her to pay the rent on the B and B where she's staying. When she gets a call from a stranger with a sexy voice to walk his dog, she's skeptical because she is pretty sure that wasn't one of the jobs she listed as being available for on her flyer. But Grace agrees, only to be met with a puppy that is literally out of control. Then she learns the man who hired her is hunky Dr. Josh Scott. How is she to explain to him that she may have accidentally drowned his dog?

Josh is harried, overworked, and just about burned out. He's raising his son, Toby, as a single father and has also the care of his twenty-one year-old disabled sister, Anna. Add in one lively puppy, and Josh feels his life spiraling out of control. He's had nanny/housekeepers quit on him when they've had to deal with his mix of mayhem, so it's not a surprise when the latest one abruptly leaves. Josh asks Grace if she'd temporarily take on the job until he can hire a replacement, even if she's clearly not qualified. But he's desperate, and Grace is resourceful and caring, to the point of franticness after his puppy gave her the slip that ended well. Besides, when he offers her an outrageous sum of money, how can Grace refuse?

Grace isn't afraid to stand up to Josh in FOREVER AND A DAY, even if she feels nearly tongue-tied being around him. Despite not having nanny qualifications, she does care for little Toby, even if the puppy, Tank, gives her fits, and Anna wants to drive her brother insane. Of course, the one who really gets her heart racing is Josh. Even with his demanding workload of a medical practice and working in the ER, he still finds time to spend it with his family and to interact with Grace. Their sizzling chemistry scares both of them because Grace can't stick around Lucky Harbor if she gets the job she wants, and Josh can't add in a relationship to his busy schedule. Besides, it seems like every time Grace and Josh start something, like kissing, Josh ends up getting an emergency call. He's a dedicated doctor, but is he overdoing it to the point of overextending himself? Grace continues to look for a job, and as she inches closer to that possibility, the harder she begins to imagine leaving Lucky Harbor—and Josh.

Grace's Chocoholic friends Mallory and Amy provide both moral support and chocolate whenever it's needed. They think Grace and Josh are meant for each other and she should give a romance with him a try. But Grace shoots them down, as she tells them she can't lose her heart to a man when it's only temporary. Yet she ends up not following her own ideology as she and Josh frantically and haphazardly (with his busy schedule) drift into an affair. Both know that as soon as Grace gets a job offer, she is gone. Josh finally reaches a decision on his practice. Will it lighten his load so that he can spend some personal time with his family—and escape into the arms of Grace?

Josh and Grace are two stubborn people who think they know where they are headed in life and that it doesn't include the other. Yet, as the days (and nights) move onward, the more apparent it is that they've fallen in love. Jill Shalvis is such a talented author that she brings to life characters who make you laugh, cry, and are a joy to read. In FOREVER AND A DAY, we fall for Grace and Josh and hope that their sizzling romance means the start of a future—forever and beyond.

Patti Fischer