*I received a free copy of Second Chance Summer from Grand Central Publishing via Netgalley. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review, which is honest and unbiased *

Second Chance Summer by Jill Shalvis
Series: Cedar Ridge #1
Published by Grand Central Publishing on 30 June 2015
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 368
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
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Cedar Ridge, Colorado, is famous for crisp mountain air, clear blue skies, and pine-scented breezes. And it's the last place Lily Danville wants to be. But she needs a job, and there's an opening at the hottest resort in her hometown. What has her concerned is the other hot property in Cedar Ridge: Aidan Kincaid-firefighter, rescue worker, and heartbreaker. She never could resist that devastating smile . . .

The Kincaid brothers are as rough and rugged as the Rocky Mountains they call home. Aidan has always done things his own way, by his own rules. And never has he regretted anything more than letting Lily walk out of his life ten years ago. If anyone has ever been in need of rescuing, she has. What she needs more than anything are long hikes, slow dances, and sizzling kisses. But that can only happen if he can get her to give Cedar Ridge-and this bad boy-a second chance . . .

Second Chance Summer is yet another winner from Shalvis! Amazing characters, a great story, and red-hot romance filled with both hope and a little dose of fear.

My Second Chance Summer review:

Everything that happened in Second Chance Summer appealed to me! I loved the characters, Lily and Aidan are both strong, stubborn people, and the characters surrounding them were well done and complex as well. The story itself was really good, Lily finally got back home to Cedar Ridge ten years after more or less fleeing and leaving everything and everyone she knew behind. And it was definitely easy to understand why she felt the need to leave. Her younger sister, Ashley, had been killed in a climbing accident, and at the funeral her dad was so upset he had a heart attack and died as well. The budding feelings between Lily and Aidan were tainted by guilt – because Lily knew Ashley really liked him as well.

Coming back to Cedar Ridge wasn’t exactly a choice for Lily, she was fired from her job as a cosmetologist to the stars in San Diego after an unfortunate incident with a leak to the paparazzi. The only place she could find a job was at the local resort spa in her hometown. Where all her ghosts were still very much around. Aidan, who used to be the bad-boy always looking for trouble was now a firefighter and also working for Search and Rescue, and he had never forgotten Lily and the feelings she had showed him were possible. Even after ten years, he was still kind of hooked on her, and seeing her again brought both elation and hurt to the surface.

I loved how complex the characters’ back story was in Second Chance Summer, because I really got to know them well, and was able to understand their reactions and reasonings. Even when I didn’t necessarily agree with them, I got where they were coming from. Of course, a second chance at love is one of my favorite romance tropes, because being able to maybe reach out and reconnect with someone who was important in the past is just so sweet and makes my heart swoon. That is not to say things were ever easy for Aidan and Lily, though, they both had their baggage, and they were both afraid to open their hearts. Lily even more so than Aidan, she had so securely hidden her heart it was hard for her to even realize how much she meant to Aidan, and how fantastic things could be for both of them if only she dared to actually let herself feel.

Of course, Shalvis’ writing is flawless, she always manages to touch my feelings and also have me try to figure things out. Written in third person point of view, Second Chance Summer made me get to know several characters very well, and I can’t wait to read more in the Cedar Ridge series.

Some of my favorite Second Chance Summer quotes:

Aidan ignored him, mostly because his brain was on overload. Lily. Back in town… He’d long ago convinced himself that whatever he’d felt for her all those years ago had been just a stupid teenage boy thing. Seemed he was going to get a chance to test out that theory, ready or not.

As she made it over the last summit before coming into town, Lily rolled down her window and sucked in the mountain breeze. Yep, June in the Rockies stil smelled like cedar and pine and air so fresh it hurt.

Clearly she was trying to avoid him – a plan he could get behind. He had no desire to take ta walk down Memory Road either, especially when that road had ended in a spectacular crash with no survivors.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• 2015 New Release Challenge

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