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wanderinglibrarian 's review for:
The Friendship Pact
by Jill Shalvis
Second-chance and grumpy-sunshine romance with the female being the grumpy, guarded one. 2nd book in the Sunrise Cove series set in gorgeous Lake Tahoe.
Tae and Riggs met in high school where he was the popular football jock and she was the emo goth chick who was bullied and beaten. They had one night’s passion and then never spoke to each other again although he’d considered her his only real friend. Right after graduation, he joined the military and spent the next 12 years in service. When he gets out, his older brother asks him to spend the summer in Lake Tahoe, helping to run their jointly-owned adventure camp which caters to the disabled and wounded warriors. On his first night home, he reconnects with Tae, but she has her walls up. His solution? A friendship pact which protects them both but keeps her in his life. But will the intense chemistry between them ignite and, if it does, will they be able to keep it casual?
Both main characters have heavy baggage. Tae was raised by a loving single mother who had her at age 15, but there was incredible deprivation. She was told her father died in battle, but certain things don’t add up. Riggs’ mother died when he was young, and his father was an abusive alcoholic who beat on both sons, making them feel worthless. So both Tae and Riggs are understandably distrustful and afraid of love. The relationship between Riggs and Jake is definitely strained, mostly because Jake, paralyzed after an IED explosion, doesn’t want his brother’s pity and lashes out cruelly both to protect himself and to knock some sense into Riggs who has hardened his heart. Tae and her mother April’s relationship is loving, but very co-dependent. Shalvis has done a good job of portraying the hurt loved ones can unintentionally cause, often due to generational trauma. Fortunately, there isn’t an intense amount of angst; just enough to move the story along. Recommended.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Avon through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.
Tae and Riggs met in high school where he was the popular football jock and she was the emo goth chick who was bullied and beaten. They had one night’s passion and then never spoke to each other again although he’d considered her his only real friend. Right after graduation, he joined the military and spent the next 12 years in service. When he gets out, his older brother asks him to spend the summer in Lake Tahoe, helping to run their jointly-owned adventure camp which caters to the disabled and wounded warriors. On his first night home, he reconnects with Tae, but she has her walls up. His solution? A friendship pact which protects them both but keeps her in his life. But will the intense chemistry between them ignite and, if it does, will they be able to keep it casual?
Both main characters have heavy baggage. Tae was raised by a loving single mother who had her at age 15, but there was incredible deprivation. She was told her father died in battle, but certain things don’t add up. Riggs’ mother died when he was young, and his father was an abusive alcoholic who beat on both sons, making them feel worthless. So both Tae and Riggs are understandably distrustful and afraid of love. The relationship between Riggs and Jake is definitely strained, mostly because Jake, paralyzed after an IED explosion, doesn’t want his brother’s pity and lashes out cruelly both to protect himself and to knock some sense into Riggs who has hardened his heart. Tae and her mother April’s relationship is loving, but very co-dependent. Shalvis has done a good job of portraying the hurt loved ones can unintentionally cause, often due to generational trauma. Fortunately, there isn’t an intense amount of angst; just enough to move the story along. Recommended.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Avon through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.