I've had this book on my tbr list for a while, and now I don't know why I didn't read it earlier. It was a great book full of interesting characters who drew you in to the story. I found the end of the book quite emotional, and can't wait to read the rest of this series.
First book I have read by this author and looking forward to reading more.

Wow I feel like I’ve been through an emotional mangle, this book had me laughing and crying at the same time!!

Lanie’s husband has died so she moves to Wildstone to work as a graphic artist at a Vinery for 2 months, to escape the lies and deceit her late husband left her with.

The Capriotti’s welcome her into the bosom of their family, you can’t help but love this family. They may be nosy and have their faults but they stick together and the twins Samantha and Sierra are adorable.

What wasn’t there to love about Mark, good looking and his gentle way he is around his twin girls would melt anybody’s heart. But Lanie has been hurt before and is reluctant to make that mistake again!!

River turns up at the Vinery heavily pregnant and alone, she is also taken in by the Capriotti family, but she is hiding a secret which may be why she is there in the first place!!

This is a feel good book, I sank into this family drama like sliding into a hot bath, warm and comforting. I wanted to find out how it all ends but at the same time I didn’t want to leave this great family. Adopt me please!!

Love to find out what happens with River and Holden. Definitely won’t be my first and last Jill Shalvis book.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

5* Second Chance Stars

This is my first read by Jill Shalvis and I absolutely loved and devoured this heart-warming story.

This story is told from several points of view but primarily from Lanie Jacobs. After the death of her husband and dealing with his betrayal, Lanie decides to start fresh by taking up a 2 month working contract at the Capriotti Family Winery. Her hopes to be invisible and blend in quietly are quashed when she meets and starts working with the Capriotti family. They are infectious, loving and extremely faithful, all the traits that Lanie has not had bestowed upon her.

The characters in this book are wonderful! You will fall in love with each and every one of them. Mark was so patient and kind to Lanie and I had a very soft spot for his twins, Sam and Sierra, they were so real, loveable and funny.

I highly recommend this love story, which deals with friendship, forgiveness, family and second chances in life and love.

Many thanks to Headline Publishers and NetGalley for my copy of Rainy Day Friends to read and review.

Reading a Jill Shalvis book is like being enfolded in a warm hug from an old friend! The story is fresh and original, yet with Jill’s trademark cast of eccentric elders, adorable kids and the kind of community we all secretly long to belong to. I have read and loved all her previous books and this one is the best yet. Jill has a knack for creating flawed yet lovable characters that will stay with you long after the book is finished. Lanie and River’s story unfolds with both humor and compassion, allowing their personalities to jump off the page and into your heart. Both of them have secrets to hide and arrive at the Capriotti’s winery in need of a fresh start and a chance of redemption. As they learn to let go of the past, they both find a way to build new relationships through some frankly hilarious encounters with the Capriotti clan. Can’t wait to read the next book in the Wildstone series!

​Fabulous book, I absolutely loved it! I'm a big Jill Shalvis fan anyway, but this one is one of my favourites to date, there are just so many wonderful characters in it that it that I really hope it's going to be a long-running series with the Capriotti family at the core.

This book is the second in the series but is a completely stand-alone story with the town of Wildstone being the only thing in common. This book is about graphic designer Lanie who is fairly recently widowed, but then finds out her husband had other wives too, so she is feeling really stupid and let down. She is offered a design contract at the Capriotti Winery in Wildstone, which includes accomodation and living on site for the duration of her contract, and so jumps at the chance to get away for a few months.

Once there she meets the Capriotti family, who are just such a wonderful big, mad, hilarious, friendly, welcoming group of people who suck everyone in and make them part of their extended family. Lanie resists of course, but is no match for them, especially the extremely cute Sam and Sierra, the 6-year old twins of Mark Capriotti (deputy sheriff/single father). There are instant sparks between Lanie and Mark and the slow burning romance is so lovely, and there are also very funny moments when the twins and other family members get involved.

Then River arrives (21 year old/pregnant/living out of her car), just to check out the Capriotti Winery, and again get sucked into the Capriotti family by being given a receptionist job and accommodation. River has ulterior motives for being there though, but is also a great character who has had a hard life and isn't a bad person.

This is just such a fabulous story, and of course includes all the warm, funny, snarky characters that you would expect from a Jill Shalvis book, with lots of emotion too. I really hope that this series continues with more from the Capriotti family as I adore the whole mad lot of them! An absolutely perfect read that I didn't want to end.

Rainy Day Friends: Wildstone Book 2, Jill Shalvis

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Romance

This was a fun read, I've read a few of Jill's novels now and they're consistently quality reads.
Its not a deep dark drama, nothing over exciting either but some very real characters with some very real issues. Poor Lanie, thinking she's the love of her late husbands life, that's what he's always told her, to find out some months after his death he had four other wives....what a nightmare. Its hard to imagine that but it does happen and I so felt for her. When she takes the winery job she's very reserved, closed, keeps herself insulated from the world trying to avoid more hurt. They're a family who are full on though, who open arms and hearts and just absorb people and Lanie finds they spring slowly under her defences. Someone else comes along too that's struggling and Lanie slowly befriends her only to find an appalling shock. I felt for River, but understood Lanie's anger and sense of betrayal too. They were both cheated in life and deserved better but they have to move forward and sadly all the hurt that comes with it.
I loved all the characters here, a real mixed bunch, and each had their own problems. I adored the twins, precocious but so cute! Its an easy read, a perfect summer beach read ( if we ever get some sunshine here in UK!) and one that makes the reader feel satisfied at the end.

Stars: Four, a fun and light read, with some very real people.

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers

5 - "Still wow." Stars!

We return to Wildstone for the second book in Jill Shalvis’ series of the same name. And I can hands-down say that Rainy Day Friends is one of the best books I have read by this author.

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From the introduction to the whole of the Capriotti family and their winery business in general, to Lanie Jacobs and Mark Capriotti, and their relationship specifically. There aren’t many authors that can tell a story with such heavy themes with so lightness of hand.

She was away from the city and she was in a gorgeous place with a fun job, and she was going to take her first deep breath in months and find herself again…

Lanie arrives in Wildstone to take up a short-term marketing position at the winery, cutting a solitary figure, and holding onto more secrets than she is looking to or even willing share, it comes as quite a shock at how quickly she finds herself immersed in all things Capriotti, from family Matriarch Cora all the way down to Mark’s twin daughters Sam and Sierra, they all manage to gradually worm their way into her heart as the story progresses.

"It’s not blood that connects us… "

Told from several points of view, although mainly from Lanie, you are given the full HD Shalvis writing experience in this one. Both Mark and Lanie are not looking for commitment, but as I have come to expect with a hero written by this author, I still fell in love with him from his first introduction. Full on Alpha, and a bit grouchy to begin with, I don’t know how she does it, but just his mere presence on the page gives-good-tingle to the reader, and this single daddy had all my important lady parts standing to attention and swooning with lust/love and all the in-between as he worked through the fact that not all women, and Lanie in particular are like his ex-wife. I think seeing his daughters fall in love with her gave him the push he needed, but working through everything as he does while Lanie’s story plays out as well, just kept me hooked.

"We share orgasms when it suits us, but we’re not sharing emotions, remember…? You decreed that."

You cannot help but like each and every character, and although the issues from Lanie’s past, ones that she’s spent six months unsuccessfully trying to run from are pretty much the main theme of the book this is a story that encompasses a lot of people. But with lines blurring between Lanie and Mark relationship wise, as well as Lanie’s inclusion (albeit with reluctance initially) into the family in general it covers a lot of characters in its telling.

"There’s more for you here if you want it and you know that."

Heavily pregnant and somewhat elusive River Green is a young woman whose story as it is revealed just pulls at your heart strings, and I hope that Jill sees fit to give her and Holden a novella at some point in the future.

"You’re a part of us now."

If you have read a book by this author before, you are not going to be disappointed this is some of her best writing to date, if you haven’t then I think this would be the perfect introduction to her awesome story-telling skills. There is nothing, and I mean nothing I did not love about this book. The drama was relevant, the characters in all their individuality were likeable, relatable and people you wanted to get to know. The banter entertaining, and the locale somewhere I wish I could move to myself. It was perfect, I cannot wait for more.