The Forever Girl
by Jill Shalvis
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Release Date: January 12, 2021
Reviewed by PJ
When Maze returns to Wildstone for the wedding of her estranged bff and the sister of her heart, it’s also a reunion of a once ragtag team of teenagers who had only each other until a tragedy tore them apart and scattered them wide.Now as adults together again in the lake house, there are secrets and resentments mixed up in all the amazing childhood memories. Unexpectedly, they instantly fall back into their roles: Maze their reckless leader, Cat the den mother, Heather the beloved baby sister, and Walker, a man of mystery.
Life has changed all four of them in immeasurable ways. Maze and Cat must decide if they can rebuild their friendship, and Maze discovers her long-held attraction to Walker hasn’t faded with the years but has only grown stronger.
PJ's Thoughts:
In The Forever Girl, Jill Shalvis has crafted a funny, endearing, emotional, sweet, and sexy, story of family found, second chances, forgiveness, self-acceptance, and learning to open your heart to love.
Each of the four main characters brings a different perspective to their group. Bound together by one year spent in Cat's family home as foster siblings, they made the choice to be family. While those chosen bonds have been put to the test over the years, they have never broken, though they are currently strained to the limit. Cat, on the eve of her marriage to a man she's sure is Mr. Right, but might be Mr. Wrong, is determined to bring her family together again and see those bonds strengthened, even while she's falling apart. Heather, the youngest, has grown up but still can't keep a secret...except the one she's been keeping for the past three years. Walker is still their strength, except for his vulnerable heart, which has always belonged to Maze. And Maze, the fiercest among them, while also the one with the most tender heart, is the one who most needs to open that heart to the love and forgiveness that has always been there for her. They all found a special place in my heart and I was there, laughing (out-loud, snort-laughing, more than once), crying (there are some incredibly poignant moments), and cheering them on to happy endings (however that looks for each of them).
Shalvis surrounds her main characters with a vividly-depicted secondary cast who provide conflict (mother-in-law from hell, anyone?), humor (the dog descriptions are hilarious), and steadfast friendship, then wraps them all up in a fun, sigh-worthy, and emotionally-satisfying story that has my enthusiastic recommendation.
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New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold and visit her website, www.jillshalvis.com, for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.
