Rabid Reading
Book reviewer at The Demon Librarian. Evil Queen. Hater of slugs, clowns & the color pink. Pandora addict. Reading, always reading.
Favorite book genres: UF, PNR, Dystopian, YA/NA/Contemporary Romance, Fantasy, Sci-Fi Romance, and anything written by Karina Halle.
Good Romantic Fun
Rumor Has It is my first Jill Shalvis novel, and after reading it, all I can say is, "More, please!"
I seriously, seriously enjoyed this book. It's a light, sexy read with a perfect balance of humor and emotion, and it won me over so completely, I have already added all the other books in the series to my to-be-read list. Aaaaand I have added the first book in each of her other series too! Overkill? Maybe, but hey, what can I say? I know what I like, and I like Jill Shalvis' writing. A lot.
The story itself is about ex-soldier Griffin (Grif) Reid, who has been discharged from military service due to a combat injury. Grif's lucky to be alive, but lucky isn't what he's feeling when he returns to Sunshine. Despite its cheery name, this small Idaho town doesn't hold the best of memories for Grif. He doesn't want to be there, doesn't want to deal with his dad and their always-rocky relationship, and he sure as heck isn't looking for love.
That is, until he literally bumps into Kate Evans, his little sister's best friend.
Like Grif, Kate is looking for a way out of Sunshine. She's got one, too, courtesy of an elite graduate school program in another state that would take her away for an entire year and give her the chance to finally (finally!) do what she wants with her life. But Kate's got a dad and siblings to look after, students to help and teach, and what feels like a mile-long list of obligations, all of which conspire to keep her firmly tied to Sunshine. Being the care-taking soul that she is, Kate simply can't abandon the people who need her.
Then Grif Reid - the guy she's been secretly crushing on for years - shows up, and suddenly, it's like a door in Kate's life has been blown open. The question is, is she brave enough to walk through it?
The romance in Rumor Has It plays out beautifully. I loved that Kate took the initiative instead of playing the part of a shrinking violet, waiting for the guy to come to her. And Grif....yeah. Can you say wounded (but dead-sexy) warrior? Cue the sighs and swoons.
I also thoroughly enjoyed Kate's best friend, Ryan. Total charmer. He's getting his own book, right? RIGHT?!
So would I recommend Rumor Has It? YES! It is an engaging read and all-around good romantic fun. You can read it as a standalone, but do you really want to leave it all by its lonesome? Of course you don't. You want the entire series! (Trust me on this.) And while you're at it, check out Jill's other books too. She's written a TON of them and if they're anything like this one, you've got some great reading days ahead of you!
4 Stars ★★★★
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
