I was both
thrilled and wary when I found out that I was going to get a copy of Forever
and a Day for review. I was thrilled
because I love this author, and I was wary because the third book of a trilogy
(and I consider this the third book of a trilogy within a larger series) is
always a bit of a foregone conclusion. The characters are set and everyone knows who
is going to end up together. The trick
for the author is making the journey worth the reader’s while.
The
relationship in this book developed at a perfect pace. Grace and Josh actually got to know each other
on a personal level as well as a physical level. They each had personal issues to work
through, as do all of Shalvis’ characters, but they dealt with them rather than
just wringing their hands and saying, “Woe is me.” These were adults dealing with adult issues,
and they handled them as such. It was
quite refreshing. Apparently I have been
reading too many YA books lately. ;-)
The best
part of reading a series or trilogy is getting to revisit the characters you
got to know in previous books. There was
a great balance of that in this book. The reader got to catch up with Ty,
Mallory, Matt and Amy without it overshadowing the story that was currently
happening. I loved the interaction of
the male characters. So many times, the
males are just there as a foil to the female characters. Relationships aren’t that way, and books
shouldn’t be that way either. It was
refreshing to see that the males were treated as fully functioning humans with
their own thoughts, feelings and relationships throughout this series.
All in all,
this is another winner for Jill Shalvis.
It is a great summer read full of witty dialogue, touching moments, and
great romance. I highly recommend it.
