Review: The Backup Plan by Jill Shalvis

 

The Backup Plan (Sunrise Cove #3) by Jill Shalvis

Publication Date: January 17th 2023 by Avon Books

Pages: 384

Source: Publisher & Purchased Audiobook

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads | Audible

My Thoughts:

Inheriting an old inn forces three childhood friends to return to their hometown and mend fences.  I liked each of the three: Alice, a sassy, independent woman who’s been on the go, never in one place for long since her brother's death. Lauren, Alice’s ex-best friend, who stayed in Sunrise Cove, pitied as the sort of “widow” of Alice’s brother after he died. And then there’s Knox, Alice’s teenage crush, who left and went on to start a successful construction business. He loved the inn and Sunrise Cove, but has his own painful memories drudged up by coming home. 

The Backup Plan was a low-angst story with two romances, and a second-chance-at-bes-friends with Lauren and Alice. They let time and distance get between them but the forced proximity had them remembering how close they were, how much the friendship meant. Knox and Alice tip toe around mutual attraction while working on the inn, and Lauren finds love at the hardware store. Both romances made me smile.

I enjoyed the lessons they learned from Eleanor’s emails.  Some of the revelations they had from them were painful to hear but helped the three face things they wouldn’t have normally.

The story is book three of the series, but it’s not necessary to read the previous books to enjoy it.

The Backup Plan was a feel-good story with friendship, love, and the comfort of finding home again.

4 Stars

Book Description:

New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis returns to Sunrise Cove with a heartwarming tale of three people who are bought together when they're bequeathed an old Wild West inn that has the potential to pull their lives apart, but instead turns into the gift of a lifetime.


When Alice receives a call about an unexpected windfall, she's stunned to learn the gift is a falling-apart-at-the-seams old Wild West B&B she once considered home--and she's inherited it along with two strangers. Except they weren't always strangers. Once upon a time, they were friends. One is her ex-BFF Lauren. The other is Knox, the only guy to ever break her heart, all while never even knowing she existed.

It turns out their lives are unknowingly entangled because they once separately helped the same woman without expecting anything in return. Years later, Alice, Lauren, and Knox are broken in their own way, with their own history--and secrets-- causing them to start out on the wrong foot with each other. But according to the will, they must renovate and be partners in the inn for one year or else lose their inheritance.

Stuck together, they make a list of rules to keep the peace--rules that end up doing the opposite, but by some miracle they find what they didn't even know they were looking for--acceptance, true friendship, and in a case (or two!), true love.