Blog Tour + Giveaway + Review: Once in a Lifetime by Jill Shalvis

ONCE IN A LIFETIME by Jill Shalvis 

(February 18, 2014; Grand Central Publishing Mass Market; $6.00)

SOMETIMES WRONG IS OH-SO-RIGHT
After a wrenching loss, Ben McDaniel tried to escape his grief by working in dangerous, war-torn places like Africa and the Middle East. Now he's back in his hometown and face-to-face with Aubrey Wellington, the hot-as-hell woman who is trouble with a capital T. Family and friends insist she's not the one to ease his pain, but Aubrey sparks an intense desire that gives Ben hope for the future.

Determined to right the wrongs of her past, Aubrey is working hard to make amends. But by far, the toughest challenge to her plan is sexy, brooding Ben - even though he has absolutely no idea what she's done . . .

Can this unlikely couple defy the odds and win over the little town of Lucky Harbor?

My Thoughts:

I really should remember never start a Jill Shalvis book at night, because the next day I suffer serious consequence. All right, I started Once in a Lifetime and found myself not wanting to put it down. However, sleep beckon me at 2am.

Anyway, I seriously loved Ben and Aubrey's story. I absolutely adore Aubrey. Everyone in Lucky Harbor saw Aubrey as the same person as she was in high school. No one was willing to believe she had change. Especially, when she started going around town trying to make amends to everyone she wronged. As Ben and Aubrey start to hangout the town fears for Ben safety.

Back to my adoring Aubrey. She basically had to put on a thick skin, because most of Lucky Harbor saw her as a trouble maker that hasn't grown up. However, they couldn't get past her past. Yet, the more we got to know Aubrey the more we saw that she was more just a pretty face and that she really did cared about others. Plus, she really wanted to right her wrongs and move past her past.

Then you have Ben whose all broody and sexy, but doesn't want to let go of his memories of the past. However, the more time he spends with Aubrey he realizes that he needs her. Yet he still is holding on to past and afraid to let go.

I LOVE Once in a Lifetime because it had me laughing and crying. I'm serious about the crying, because Aubrey just get knocked down and I love how she's a fighter and gets back up. It's not the easiest thing to do, especially when you have a past that no one wants to let go. I love that Ben and Aubrey are opposite and it makes their coming together all the more sweeter.

Favorite Quote:

'"Life is one big fat gamble, and the odds are never in your favor. So you either go for it anyway and toss the dice or you don't play. But Playing?" She jabbed him in the bare chest with her finger. "That's the coward's way out. And I hadn't pegged you for a coward. Figure your shit out."'

Copy provided by ForeverRomance via NetGalley

Rating:

Purchase Links:

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ IndieBound ~ iTunes

About the author:

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 for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.

Social Media Links:

Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads

Excerpt from Once in a Lifetime:

Aubrey got a look at the man she’d inadvertently drenched and stopped breathing. Oh, God. Had she really thought her day couldn’t get any worse? Why would she tempt fate by even thinking that? Because of course things had gotten worse. They always did.

Ben McDaniel slowly stood up from his barstool, dripping vodka from his hair, eyelashes, nose… He was six feet plus of hard muscles and brute strength on a body that didn’t carry a single extra ounce of fat on him. For the past five years, he’d been in and out of a variety of Third World countries designing and building water systems with the Army Corp of Engineers. His last venture had been for the Department of Defense in Iraq, which Aubrey only knew because Lucky Harbor’s Facebook page was good as gospel.

He swiped his face with his arm, deceptively chill and laid-back.

In truth, he was about as badass as they came.

Aubrey should know, she’d seen him in action. But she managed to meet his gaze. Cool, casual even. One had to be with Ben, the man could spot a weakness a mile away. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“Are you?”

She felt herself flush. He’d always seemed to see right through her. And she was pretty sure he’d never cared for her. He had good reason for that, she reminded herself. He just didn’t know the half of it. “Yes, I am sorry,” she said. Her heart was pounding so loudly she was surprised she could hear herself speak. “Are you okay?”

He ran his fingers through a sexy disorder of sun-streaked brown hair. His eyes were the same color, light milk chocolate marbled with gold caramel. It was hard to make such a warm-colored gaze seem hard, but Ben managed it with no effort at all. “Need to work on your aim,” he said.

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