The Sweetheart List - Contemporary Romance Review

Goodreads: The Sweetheart List (Sunrise Cove #4) by Jill Shalvis

Rating: Really Liked It! (4 Stars)
Source:   Publisher

Description:  When Harper Shaw’s life falls apart, she knows it’s time for a change. She removes everything that doesn’t spark joy—from her soul-sucking job to eating kale to making lists—and sets off for the last place she was happy, Lake Tahoe (who wouldn’t feel good there, right?) to fulfill her dream of opening her own bakery.

With her Sugar Pine Bakery in between a tavern, owned by sexy, grumpy Bodie Campbell, and a bookstore, run by her new BFF, she feels a peace she’s never experienced since…well, forever.. Then she meets Ivy, a teenage runaway, who barrels into her heart. She sees a lot of herself in Ivy and takes her under her wing, but the teenager has secrets…

When those secrets explode, it changes Harper’s new world, and she’ll learn, it’s never too late to start over, it’s never too late to figure out your life, and best of all, it’s never too late to let yourself believe in love.

Genre: Romance - Contemporary

Why I Picked This Book:  I have really enjoyed all the books that I've read by this author and I just could not resist the cover or the premise.  

My Impression:  This was such a fun summer read!  I loved Harper and Ivy and Bodie and all the rest of the Campbell family.    My favorite character was Hambone, the Bernese Mountain Dog who regularly stole the scene.  

One of my favorite tropes is the found family and I also love books that feature family dynamics.  This has a wonderful mix of both with almost all the characters at loose ends for one reason or another and all looking for somewhere to belong as well as sort out varying degrees of family dynamics.  I really liked that Harper's and Ivy's family situations are tricky at best and terribly strained at worst and that's contrasted with the close family of the Campbells and Shay and her Abuela.  But at the same time even the close families are finding their way with each other and love and family bonds don't make for a magic wand that makes all the troubles go away.  The relationship between Harper and Ivy was a trifle unrealistic but so wonderful that I couldn't resist falling for it and I loved the give and take dynamic of Harper and Bodie's conversations as they got to know each other.  I really loved the romance and rooted for them but what really sold the book for me was the nonromantic connections between all the different characters.  

This is the 4th Sunrise Cove book but only the 2nd that I have read and it is completely not an issue.  The books are only linked by the loosest of connections.  I'm so glad I picked this one up and am so looking forward to reading more from Jill Shalvis and seeing more of Sunrise Cove.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Absolutely!  I enjoyed this one from start to finish.

Would I Recommend this Book?  If you enjoy books involving found family and family dynamics with more than a dash of romance then this book is one not to miss.  

* I received this book in exchange for an honest review.  As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *