I absolutely adored this book, it was such a humorous rom-com from the first page yet still brilliantly heartwarming.

I loved how the characters of Alice, Lauren and Knox developed individually and in their relationships.

I found this was a very enjoyable and cosy read that I read near enough in one day as I did not want to put it down.

A couple of my favourite lines/quotes from the book were:

“Alice’s to-do list: Buy potato chips. The family size bag. If anyone eats them act appropriately grief-stricken at their funeral."

“Alice Moore needed to make a pit stop to stretch her legs but ended up in a drive-thru instead. Hey, it wasn’t her fault that exercise and extra fries sounded alike."

I also really loved Pickle the dog, he was so cute and was a brilliant addition to the story.

The writing in this book was so easy to read and flowed so well. I loved how it was written and found the humour had me hooked. I can’t wait to pick up some more Jill Shalvis books.

Thank you to Hedline eternal and NetGalley for the eArc in exchange for and honest review.

Alice, Lauren and Knox are surprisingly gifted with an Inn from Eleanor. Eleanor meant something slightly different to each of them but, while running from their past, as well as each other, Eleanor brought them together from her grave to fix things. Not only will friendships be mended and the past revisited but relationships formed.

This is written in the third person through the point of view of the three main characters. I love how Shalvis gives these characters a different back story, which is easily intertwined throughout the novel.

I loved how the narrative was helped through the emails from Eleanor, which I think gave a clever insight into this specific character who isn't there. And I liked the little wall lists seeing how the characters added to them in a playful interaction.

I laughed at the funny one-liners and didn't want to put this novel down.

I am obsessed with this author! One of my definite go toos

Jill Shalvis has always written beautiful stories that touched me. From characters that work hard in finding themselves and what they want from life, to romance stories that bring a smile on my face.

The backup plan is no different than that.
Alice, Lauren and Knox are all given a second chance to discover their true meanings in life and become friends once again after so many years apart.
Knox had no idea how Alice felt about him years ago and I’m so happy to see how the friendship between Lauren and Alice has become stronger and more insightful. I guess it comes with age that their growth has changed them as adults.
The romance between Knox and Alice filled my heart with joy because it’s beautiful, a slow burn and a great banter.
It’s sad that they come together because Eleanor passed away but it’s beautiful to see how their lives changed in willing to come together and stick to the plan of rebuilding the beautiful B&B.

Perfect for any romance lovers.

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy and for my place in this blog tour.

The Backup Plan by Jill Shalvis was an absolute joy to read. Though it is book three in her Sunrise Cove series it was the first one I’ve had the pleasure of reading. I didn’t feel at all lost having not read the others and found that this was a perfect stand alone to read. You can be though, that I’ll be hunting down her back catalogue now though! 4.5 ⭐️

The Backup Plan is the story of Alex, Knox and Lauren, now like strangers to each other, but who were once friends in their youth. They’ve been brought back together by an unexpected windfall as they each inherit a run down Wild West B&B. A place that had once been like home to Alice and whose owner had helped both Alex and Knox when they needed it most. They need to work together to renovate the inn. But can this broken group come together, and will they end up fixing more than just the inn itself?

This was such a beautiful story. All three main characters, and even the deceased owner Eleanor who we come to meet through old emails, have been broken by tragedies in their past. Though they all keep going, there is something missing in each of them. This is a story of grief and great loss, but it’s also one of facing that loss, however long it may have taken, and finding yourself and who you want to be again. It’s a story about family and what it means to be home. For our characters that means a beautiful found family and the chance to make a home for themselves, with the people who make it so.

I really liked Alex, Knox and Lauren, they were all so different and yet they worked so well together. You could see how hard it was for the two best friends to come back to one another and I was so pleased with the healing journey they went on. Likewise the way Knox helped Alex to open up and allow herself to feel was so special. I loved that she also helped him to face the guilt and fears that had held him back. The trio was such a great team. The multiple pov worked perfectly here to allow us to hear from each of them throughout.

I also enjoyed the way Shalvis introduced us to Eleanor through the emails. She’s a complicated character who clearly had her heart in the right place and the best of intentions but yet didn’t always get it right.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would gladly recommend it.

Although I know she has been a well-known romance author for years, this was my first Jill Shalvis book. I am very grateful to the lovely Isabelle at Headline for sending me a copy dressed in its beautiful winter jacket as seen above and for giving me the opportunity to read it!

Alice is about to come into a big inheritance and it happens to be the delapidated Wild West themed B&B where she spent much of her childhood. She’s inheriting the place with two of her former friends because all three of them helped out the recently deceased owner Eleanor. Now Alice, her ex best friend Lauren and long-time crush Knox find themselves thrown together to renovate the place. They know that they’ll need to lay some rules down if they’re going to get along and survive the partnership. Little do they know that friendship, love and acceptance are all just around the corner.

As this is a romance with a forced proximity trope, I knew that the rules that they laid out would probably be broken. This predictability is something I love about rom-coms because it means they’re easy reads and my mind can pretty much relax while the story unravels. The drama is handed over to the characters and that’s exactly what happened.

Alice has dreams of following her passion for cars and opening her own mechanic shop, employing only women. Her love for cars is a hangover from her childhood when she spent many happy hours with her dad. Alice came across as very driven and stubborn, so I had no doubt that she would do whatever she set her mind to. I knew that the only thing that could possibly steer her off course would be a handsome face and a string of flirty comments.

Much of the humour comes from Lauren, the local historian and librarian. She was definitely my favourite character and I got really excited about her budding romance with local hardware store employee Ben. Lauren definitely has her secrets throughout the book and as a private person, I found her much easier to relate to than Alice. I couldn’t really understand all the reasons for her estrangement from Alice but I could tell they really cared about each other, so I was begging them to kiss and make up for the majority of the book!

A lovely little bonus was Pickle the Samoyed. I would have really appreciated some more Pickle content but I really enjoyed what I got. Any cute dog in a rom-com always needs to be amplified and Pickle fitted in perfectly with the cosy, warm vibes of the entire narrative.

The Backup Plan is a light-hearted romance with some lovely characters and some steamy sex scenes. It’s about patching up old wounds and finding where true happiness is, so if you’re looking for a very low-stakes, sweet story about friendship and found family, look no further!

I loved this book amazing characters and writing style. Loved every paged. I’ve read a few by Jill shalvis and I seem to love all her book. The author makes it as you read that you in the book with the characters. Brings the book to life. Such amazing writer.

4.5 stars

I requested this one on a whim as I had seen a couple of people talk about it and my god am I happy I did! I'm also gutted I didn't sign up for the book tour now haha!

While this is part of a series, it can easily be read as a standalone which is why I did and I never once felt confused or like I was missing any information.

This book was so good. I loved the romance and most of all I loved that this was a story about overcoming your past and moving on. It deals with grief in such a relatable way that I couldn't help but love this one and it's characters.

This may have been my first Jill Shalvis book but I can assure you it won't be my last!

The Backup Plan by Jill Shalvis

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review thanks to Headline Eternal and Netgalley.

Blurb

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.

My Opinion

I would like to start my review by saying that I have read this as a standalone but this in no way spoilt my enjoyment. I was hooked from the beginning and ended up reading nearly 300 pages in one sitting.

This is a cute and heart-warming book with some very relatable characters. Alice, Knox and Lauren have all inherited a share of the Last Chance Inn and must put aside their differences in order to restore the inn to its former glory.

A lovely read that I would highly recommend. This was my first book by Jill Shalvis but it is not going to be my last!

Rating: 5/5

This book was so lovely, it flowed really well and I could just enjoy the ride. I really loved the character growth throughout. The setting was one i am not usually drawn to, but I did like it and it was nice to have something new.

First things first, I adore Jill Shalvis. She has always been one of my favourite romance authors and I get excited when she brings out a new book so, when I was asked to be part of this blog tour I instantly had to say yes. This book was so wonderful with a mix of romance, friendship, found family and dealing with your past and I think Jill did such a fantastic job with this book.

In this book we follow Alice, Knox and Lauren. They have all been brought together as the knew co-owners of a B&B they all had spent time in as children given to them by the late Eleanor and each of them helped her in a way or another. But, time has past and all of them have changed and dealing with things from their past that have hurt them.

Alice has returned after leaving and not having contact with anyone especially her ex-bff Lauren. Seeing each other brings up a painful memory both of them are trying to move on from. Can this house and this journey heal old wounds and bring these friends back together? Knox is back after leaving years ago as he feels he owes it to Eleanor and wants to restore this B&B. Alice isn’t happy about seeing Knox either as he broker her heart. But, he just doesn’t know it. They all come together to fix it and give themselves a month to do it. In this time they will find out more about each other and themselves. While fixing this B&B can they fix themselves and each other?

I adored this story. These three have all grown up with not the best childhood but, Eleanor was their saving Grace. Someone who they could talk too and who took a shine to them. She believed in each of them. Alice is closed off and is hurt about what happened before she left so seeing Lauren and Knox again opens old wounds. Lauren is just as hurt seeing Alice since she left when she needed her the most. Knox left heartbroken and has returned as someone who closes off from others.

Jill has done a fantastic job with this book and I was instantly obsessed as soon as I started it. There is romance, the flirty banter between Alice and Knox, the way Alice and Lauren treat each other like sisters and even though they fight like sisters you can feel how much they love each other and I think Jill did a fantastic job with this story.

A beautiful story about returning back to a place that now has tainted memories and rebuilding on them. About three lost souls brought together for a reason. Romance, banter, found family and a few tears make this a wonderful read.

There was a lot in this story but I did think it wasn’t rushed, it had good pace and character development! I loved the friendship trio that was made within the group; two long lost best friends, Lucy and Alice, and Alice’s former crush, Knox. I think the different perspectives allowed to get a sense of the overall dynamic of the group, and that’s why it worked!

I think even though there is romance in the book, the majority of the book is mainly about each character’s journey in accepting their past, their future and mainly their struggles and flaws. I think I would pick up another book by Jill Shalvis if the opportunity arose as I did love this small-town based book!

A lovely sweet read, perfect for a rainy Sunday afternoon. The story and the characters flowed well. Thank you for the advance copy.

When circumstances bring Alice back to sunshine Cove, she ends up confronting her past and is able to finally move forward.
I enjoyed this book, it's an easy read, but it didn't grab me massively. Perhaps because the location/background of America and the wild west wouldn't be my choosing. I did enjoy the end and I'd maybe read others in the Sunshine Cove series though.

As the synopsis explains, this is a book about broken friendships and how difficult it can be to recover a relationship and trust once it’s lost. We are introduced to three characters whose lives had been deeply connected to the now-deceased Eleanor, who had been instrumental in the paths that their lives had taken. Possibly the most poignant was Lauren, who was Eleanor’s estranged great-niece and had been brought up thinking that Eleanor hadn’t cared for her.
The book gently examines the relationships between Eleanor and the three former friends. For both Alice and Knox, she had represented a maternal influence that they had both needed at that time.
Brought back together as the result of a specific bequest in Eleanor’s will, they are instructed to live and work together, for one year, in order to restore her former home; a rundown farmhouse that had featured in two television shows. They were provided with a generous budget to tackle the renovations before choosing a management company to run the farm as a tourist destination for the fanbases of the former shows. At the end of the year, they would each inherit a third of the revenues generated from either the sale of the farm or its ongoing operation as a hotel.
A fragile truce is called as they all agree to the terms and set about the task in hand. A set of rules is written, and they all agree to abide by those rules in order to keep the peace. Then the fun starts!
I loved each of the three characters, as well as getting to know more about Eleanor. Even as the truth of her influence was uncovered, I was intrigued to understand more about her. Alice, Lauren, and Knox were beautifully drawn, and I could almost imagine them in the room with me. Jill Shalvis doesn’t shy away from exploring every element of human relationships and laying them out for the reader to get a true understanding of the characters. As the secrets of their estrangements came to light, I was definitely rooting for them to find peace and rekindle their relationships.
This is a wonderful book that I really didn’t want to end. I think this may be my favourite yet and I can highly recommend it.

Lauren, Knox and Alice have a complicated history and haven’t seen each other for years. They are brought together following the death of Lauren’s great aunt Eleanor, who was also connected to Alice and Knox in different ways. I think the thing that struck me as particularly poignant was the circumstances that led to Eleanor’s world shrinking to just one room as she got older and more infirm, until she died alone. She was determined that Lauren, Knox and Alice’s turn out out differently, so set in motion a plan to bring them back together and unravel the secrets and fears that had kept them apart. A lot of healing happens for all of them, as they reflect on their shared past as well as Eleanor’s and learn how to trust and love once again. The book is beautifully written and deeply emotional. Although the three are all very different in terms of personalities, they are share the same universal need to find acceptance and be loved for who they are, complete with all the little idiosyncrasies that make them unique. I loved the story and the themes really resonated with me.

I loved every single character in this book! The character development was done beautifully and it had me rooting for everybody from the get go.
A truly feel good book that left my heart happy.

I found The Backup Plan to be a charming read with likeable characters. I read it over a couple of days. The plot flowed smoothly and it kept me entertained from start to finish. Thank you to NetGalley, Headline and the author for the chance to review.

Loved this funny, warm book. It was such a comfy read. I raced through it as I didn’t want to put it down at all. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'The Backup Plan' by Jill Shalvis.

I have read multiple Jill Shalvis books in my time and they always differ vastly no matter the series you read. 'The Backup Plan' is the third book in Shalvis' new standalone series set and I think this was probably my least favourite of the three. The romance was a perfect Shalvis, written well but it just didn't connect and grip me like her other works.

I loved this. The slowly unfolding story was really beautifully done. They each had secrets and baggage that they didn’t want to address and slowly they have to. They bond through the work of doing up the Inn and through learning about each others childhood and seeing them learn to trust each other and love each other was really nice. Knox and Alice have some serious chemistry and I loved watching them opening up to each other, Knox’s patience and absolute understanding of Alice really touched my heart. Seeing Lauren put herself out there when Ben shows an interest was great, and a bit funny at times, she finally gets to put her past with Will behind her.
Eleanor is an interesting character, and I particular liked her emails from the grave giving the trio no other choice but to face their demons and lay them to rest so they can move forward and be happy; and that lipstick had me laughing out loud a number of times.