It Had to Be You by Jill Shalvis

 

Ali Winters is not having a good day. Her boyfriend left her, everyone in town thinks she's a thief, and now she's about to be kicked out of her home. Her only shot at keeping a roof over her head and clearing her name is to beg for help from a police detective who's as sexy as he is stern....

After a high-profile case goes wrong, Luke Hanover returns to his hometown for some peace and quiet. Instead he finds a bombshell brunette in a heap of trouble. As he helps Ali put her world back together, the pieces of Luke's own life finally seem to fall into place. Is this the start of a sizzling fling? Or are Luke and Ali on the brink of something big in a little town called Lucky Harbor?

*****

It Had to Be You, the latest addition to my Lucky Harbor addiction, further solidifies Jill Shalvis’ place on my list of top contemporary romance authors. Like all the books in the series, It Had to Be You is romantic, funny, and sexy, with a story that pulls you in and characters who keep you coming back for more, first page to the last.

Whenever I pick up a Lucky Harbor book I’m guaranteed to get a feel good story with people I care about. They make me smile, make me laugh, make me sigh, and sometimes even make me cry and, without a doubt, the time I spend reading is time well spent.

There are many things to love about It Had to Be You, but I think my favorite part of this story is how Luke and Ali, both people who are used to taking care of others and taking nothing for themselves, come together and give to each other exactly what they didn’t even know they were missing. I love their passion, their trials, their triumphs, but most importantly, I love their love!

The bottom line: If you haven’t yet read this series, stop whatever it is you’re doing, pick up the first book, Simply Irresistible, and find out what makes these stories so special. You don’t have to read them in order but so much of the pleasure that comes from these books is getting to know the people and places of Lucky Harbor, and then revisiting them all, time and time again. Trust me on this, you won’t be disappointed!

My thanks to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy of this wonderful story in exchange for an honest review. As always, my visit to Lucky Harbor has been an absolute delight!