My Kind of Wonderful by Jill Shalvis

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My Kind of Wonderful (Cedar Ridge #2) by Jill Shalvis
Published in December 2015 by Grand Central Publishing.

Links: Goodreads. Amazon.

Source: publisher via Netgalley. Thank you Grand Central Publishing for providing me with an e-copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Genre: contemporary romance.

My rating:

Bailey Moore has an agenda: skiing in the Rockies, exploring castles in Europe, ballroom dancing in Argentina. Now that she has a second lease on life, she’s determined not to miss a thing. What she doesn’t realize is that item #1 comes with a six-foot-one ski god hot enough to melt a polar ice cap. She doesn’t want to miss out on him either, but Hudson Kincaid isn’t the type of guy to love and let go. And as gorgeous as Cedar Ridge is, she’s not planning to stick around.As head of

As head of ski patrol at his family’s resort, Hud thinks he’s seen it all. But never has he run into someone like Bailey. She might look delicate, but her attitude is all firecracker. And her infectious joy touches something deep within him that he’s been missing far too long. Now he’ll just have to convince Bailey to take a chance on her biggest adventure yet . . . something rare and all kinds of wonderful.

srcek

This is the review of the second book in the series, though I don’t think it is truly necessary to read them in order. Here is my review of Second Chance Summer, the first book.

I love Jill Shalvis’s romances. This has been said time and again on this blog, even in the form of an Author Addiction post. And while Lucky Harbor and Animal Magnetism series might be my favourites (I think I prefer AM over LH, actually), Cedar Ridge is a fine new series to check out, especially if you’re already a fan of Shalvis’s work.

I liked Hudson and Bailey, they’re both very well-rounded characters which can often be a problem in the romance genre, where clichés abound and most people think romances are mindless entertainment. But I find that Jill Shalvis really writes great characters and that I’ll probably never stop reading her books because they’re my crack.

I especially enjoy her small town settings and big families. It’s always fun to read about characters you know and even though living in a small town with nosy neighbors sounds like my personal type of hell (especially in a place where being snowed in is an everyday occurrence in winter time), I like stories set in them.

Hudson and Bailey’s story might not be my absolute favourite – mostly because I initially had some trouble connecting with Bailey, that’s just a personal preference, not a flaw of the writing – but I still devoured the book and am craving more, so I’m really excited about the release of Jacob’s story, Nobody But You in March (Jacob’s one of the Kincaid brothers, he’s been away for a really long time… And now he’s back in Cedar Ridge, yay!).

srcek

Have you read My Kind of Wonderful? What did you think?

Do you live in a small town? Do you like the idea of knowing all your neighbors and having your family close? 

I’d love to hear from you! :)

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  • I really liked this one, actually. I liked it more than Second Chance Summer. I love small town romances, but I agree, I wouldn’t actually like to live in a little town where everyone knew my business. Although I can deal with the snow. I live in Syracuse, NY, which is the snowiest city (pop. over 100,000) in the U.S. almost every year. Although this year has been so mild. That said, we’re supposed to get hit with a snowstorm tonight.

    I’m glad you liked this, even if you struggled a bit to relate to Bailey.

    • Yeah, it WAS better than Second Chance Summer, I agree, but still not on the level of Animal Magnetism, I thought. Did you see she has a new series coming out in the summer? I’m really excited about that.

      Wow, the snowiest city? :D That sounds like a huge deal, considering how large the US is. (I had to google Syracuse to find it on the map!) I hope your snowstorm didn’t cause you too much trouble!

  • I think Shalvis’ series tend to gain momentum over time – I didn’t really fall for LH until the third book, which will forever be my favourite book in that series. You’re definitely right about AM: it’s her best series to date, at least in my opinion.

    It’s so hard to love a romance when you don’t connect to the heroine! That’s why I love Tessa Dare and Sarah MacLean’s historicals – I always adore their heroines.

    I’ve never lived in a small town but I really want to! But not close to nosy neighbours, I’d live in a cabin in the middle of nowhere and drive into town for work and groceries. Add to that a big fireplace, good books, and some boozy hot chocolate and you’ve got my idea of heaven! :)

  • I can’t believe I still haven’t read this one yet. I keep putting off buying it because I feel bad about all the books I haven’t read yet, which is silly because I know as soon as this arrives I will devour it in a matter of hours. I let the book buying guilt get to me at strange times, I think.

    This sounds just as good as Shalvis’s other books, though. I really enjoyed the first book in this series, although, am I the only one that thinks it seems very similar to her Wilder series? I know the writing was a lot better in the first Cedar Ridge book than the Wilder one, but it felt similar right? Not that I’m complaining, I’m fully committed to reading whatever Shalvis writes ever.

    I live in a town which is supposedly a large town, it’s definitely not as small as the towns Shalvis writes about. I always like the idea of knowing your neighbours, but then I remember I quite like my own space and I’d hate continually feeling obligated to chat with all the people I knew and kept bumping into. And I’d hate for them to be all up in my business, I’d want to tell them to back off without being rude.