It Had to Be You by Jill Shalvis

Title: It Had to Be You

Series: Lucky Harbor bk 7

Author: Jill Shalvis

Genre: Contemporary

IT HAD TO BE YOU

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?

BLUE FLAME
After San Diego firefighter Jake Rawlings is injured in a heroic, high-profile rescue, he decides to hide from the media and recover in solitude. So he retreats to the Blue Flame, the Arizona guest ranch he inherited from his father. The remote oasis under a clear azure sky might seem like a bit of heaven, but Jake finds himself longing to return to the city, where he can be lost in a crowd instead of alone with his thoughts-or his spread’s temptress manager.

Callie Hayes has put into the Blue Flame her heart and soul-both of which are shaken when her wildly sexy employer returns, rekindling memories of the stormy past they shared. But Jake’s a different man, and soon he’s setting off sparks that could lead to a love hot enough to change both their lives.

I’m a huge fan of small town romances and Jill Shalvis Lucky Harbor series is one of my favorites.

Ali and Luke are one of those couples you fall instantly in love with because they are so perfect for each other.

One of the things I love about this series is that while there are now nine books in the series they way that Jill has written them we aren’t overwhelmed by the past characters. We get little pieces of them because this is a small town but each set of books has it’s key characters and so that is what we see.

Luke is a guy who has the world on his shoulders, or so he thinks. When he escapes to Lucky Harbor he’s immediately drawn into Ali’s wreck of a life, though it’s not her fault, and bribed with pie to help her out. Not that he wasn’t going to anyways. Not only does he have Ali in his business, he has his best friend Jack, his grandfather who lives next door, and all the seniors at the senior center doing everything they can to keep him in Lucky Harbor.

Ali…when I think of Ali I think of the song from Annie, It’s a Hard Knock Life. She hasn’t had an easy life, but she refuses to let it make her miserable. Everyday she chooses to smile and be happy. No matter what life throws at her. And it has just thrown her an entire tub of rotten apples. The last thing she needs is her super sexy landlord feeling sorry for her. If it wasn’t for their explosive chemistry, and how at ease they are with each other she would ignore him.

This is another excellent addition to Jill’s Lucky Harbor series. The angst between Luke and Ali is heartfelt and hilarious at times. When you add in all the quirky characters from the past books, Lucille and her facebook updates, you get a story that makes you feel good and want to read it again when you’re done.  You feel for Luke each time he says he’s not staying and can’t give anything to Ali, because you know he’s fighting himself and some  demons from his past. You want to be Ali’s friend and help her figure out who framed her and tell her to be patient Luke will come around.

If you haven’t read the other books in the series you don’t need to as this book is the first in this set of three. If you’re looking for a fun, feel good, easy read then you will want to pick this book up. I also recommend reading the other books in the series as they are just as good.

Grade A