Typical awesome Shalvis romance - cool setting, superb family relationship development, well written secondary romances, and a to-die-for alpha male hero. Especially liked the Gavin/Winnie/Piper sibling relationship and Shalvis’ handle on including social issues without being preachy or pushy. Favorite scenes: every scene with Piper’s journal, the Shirley Temples at the bar, and Cam walking across the muddy field like the baddie he is.

*I received an arc from Netgalley & HarperCollins Publishing for an honest review* Almost Just Friends (Wildstone series Book #5) blew me away, Jill Shalvis wrote an incredible, amazing, extraordinary book. Cam who returns home to check on his father Emmitt after the tragic loss of his brother Rowan and Piper who lost her parents at a young age leaving her to raise her younger brother Gavin & sister Winnie meet at the local bar the night a storm hits. This book had all the feels. It was funny, sexy, emotional, tragic, honest. You will laugh, cry & feel like you are experiencing everything the characters are feeling including the extended family. Piper thinks her siblings are off on their own successfully so she can finally have a life of her own until they both come home with secrets they don’t want to tell her because they don’t want to disappoint her. All the while Piper has kept her emotions in check (& never grieving her parents death) to stay strong for her siblings. While Cam & Emmitt are dealing with the grief & guilt over Rowan and trying to repair their own relationship. Piper & Cam help each other heal to get their HEA but it’s not an easy road and neither is it easy for Piper & her siblings to finally get to a good place where they are all finally being open & honest with each other to work through their issues. Gavin also has his second chance with CJ who’s now a town cop, also emotional! This book shows that with love, honesty & perseverance a family that loves each other can work things out if they are willing & same goes for the relationships in the book. Also can’t forget Chance the rescue dog. I highly recommend this book & author, you won’t be disappointed!!

I loved this story. Ms. Shalvis has an incredible talent for creating believable and lovable characters.
Piper Manning has raised his siblings and is looking forward to being able to go forward in her plans to go to college...not so fast Piper, life isn't always amenable to YOUR plans.
Plan 1..no men.
Part 2 Sell the homestead and go back to college.
A hot sexy seal moves next door and the sibs return with secrets of their own.
The author brings to life their history and the reason for their current situation and brings it to a wonderful heartwarming close.
I requested and received a Netgalley ARC because...it's Jill Shalvis and offer my opinion freely.

This was my first Jill Shavlis book and it didn’t disappoint. The characters were interesting and the focus on relationships between them kept me invested. The story moved along quickly even as the focus on relationships between characters became the focus.
Thanks to netgalley for the e-ARC.

I received a copy of Almost Just Friends by Jill Shalvis from Harper Collins Publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

I give this book 5 stars!!! Jill Shalvis is one of my all time favorite authors and I expected nothing short of another masterpiece with her latest novel. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK!!! You will not be disappointed,

Jill Shalvis knows how to write relationships, and the romance between Piper and Cam is both complicated and satisfying. But this book is also about family, how to overcome past mistakes, resolve major issues, and move forward into a happy future. The secondary characters play a real part in this story, and I enjoyed all of the different threads. Recommended!

Jill does it again. I always love how life like and relate able her characters are. This 4th book in the series is my favorite by far. I laughed at the family dynamics.

Great book!

4.5/5

This was such an honest look at how many women put others needs before their own and the difficulties of family. We love them but we don't always really like them. These characters felt real in their interactions and how it showed family dynamics. I really liked this book and was drawn into their lives. Way to go Ms. Shalvis.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Upon turning 30, Piper decided her "job" raising her siblings was complete. Her brother was off in Arizona with a career, and her sister had almost earned her college degree. Now, Piper would be able to sell her grandparents' property, and begin her own life. However, her siblings' return to Wildstone, and Piper's attraction to the neighbor's son, may force her to alter her plans.

I say this every time, but I am saying it again! I will never NOT want to read a Jill Shalvis book, because plain and simple, her books make me happy. She always packs them with great characters, fantastic romance, and a multitude of feels.

One of the things I have grown to LOVE about this, the Wildstone series, is her focus on family. Each book has featured a pretty special clan, and I got that once again in Almost Just Friends. It was fantastic seeing the Manning family unpack all their baggage, while finding their way to themselves and to each other.

The Manning family members shared an interesting dynamic. After their parents died, Piper, the eldest sibling, was sort of forced to be the de facto parent. She put her siblings' needs before her own, and basically was their mother. I watched her struggle with choosing to abandon her family or her dreams, and the entire situation required Piper to assume a whole new role in her siblings lives. It was time for her to stop being their parent, and start being their sister. It was really beautiful watching these three work through all their issues. They confronted their past, their present, and their future, and they did it together.

I was also treated to not one, but TWO romances, and I am telling you right now, I was delighted by both of them.

Cam and Piper were two wounded people, who did not tend to allow others into their lives. But, for some reason, they were able to open up to one another in a way they couldn't with other people. This lust at first sight attraction quickly turned into something deeper and real, and I was 100% on board with it. The pair were fire together, and watching Cam, slowly, break down Piper's defenses made me really happy, because it was so easy to see how well they fit together.

Now, the other romance was my favorite kind - second chance! I absolutely needed these two to happen. I cannot believe how important it was for me. I was bent on them working through their past, because I saw such a wonderful future for them. Shalvis treated me to so many beautiful and tender moments between these two, and because I can never stop rooting for love, I found myself excited about every small step they took back to each other.

Shalvis did such a beautiful job blending the two romances in with the family drama. It all flowed so well, and, as always, the balance of romance, drama, and humor was perfect. There were many fun moments, accompanied by many touching and heartfelt moments. And, from me, there was laughter, tears, and swoons.

Overall: Another fantastic addition to a series that gets better and better with every book.

Another adorable read by Jill Shalvis. If I'm ever needing laughter (and sometimes tears), I go to her books. Really enjoyed the characters. One of my favorite things about Shalvis' books is the fact that friends become family... even if you have great family, it's all right to make another one with your friends.

I am a big fan of Jill Shalvis. I will read her anytime I can. This book was good/ok. It was not my favorite nor did I hate it. I read it in 24 hours (which is usual for me with her books) but I was able to put it down and walk away. The story was about a girl who put her life on hold in order to raise her siblings when a tragic event took their parents lives. It showed how she blossomed from being closed off to open for love. I received an advanced copy from the publisher and Netgalley and this is my honest review.

You may not always like your siblings, but you'll always love them.
Piper Manning has been the parent to her younger brother, Gavin, and younger sister, Winnie, since she was thirteen. After their parents were killed in flooding in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and they were sent to live with their only living relatives - their grandparents - Piper has felt responsible for Gavin and Winnie. But when they both turn up at the house left to them when their grandparents die, Piper doesn't know what to do. She was so close to finally getting to live her own life and pursue her dreams of becoming a PA. Factor in New Hot Guy, Cam, and Piper's whole world is tilted on its axis.
When she finds out that Gavin has been hiding a drug addiction and rehab stint for the last three years, followed by Winnie's admission that she's pregnant and refusing to divulge who the baby's daddy is, Piper seeks refuge with Cam. Everything she thought her life would finally be becoming is going up in flames right before her eyes, and despite her siblings assurances that they're adults now and she doesn't need to look out for them, old habits die hard.
Almost Just Friends is a perfect family vacation read. Piper's character is particularly relatable. She's flawed, but she's doing her best in a life that keeps throwing her curve ball after curve ball. Shalvis develops characters who are real, who are just like readers, who make mistakes, and are just trying to navigate the world. Her characters demonstrate raw emotions, and it really drew me into the story.
Piper's character was easy to relate to, from her insistence on endless lists to her MO of shutting down her emotions when she got scared, for a Type-A personality reader.
This was the perfect reminder that, while family can be messy, you can't choose them, and you'll always love them, regardless of what happens.
Almost Just Friends was the first Jill Shalvis book I've read, but I'm looking forward to adding more of her works to me TBR list. This would be a perfect beach read, and I look forward to recommending it to several friends!

Piper Manning has had to be tough. She raised her siblings and they have all grown up and left home. Now she has to finish fixing up the lake house her grandparents left them and sell it and she will finally be free to do whatever she wants.

Caught in a massive storm she runs into a tall, dark and brooding stranger, Camden Reid. There is an immediate spark between them. Surprising secrets are revealed when her sister and brother return home. Cam wakes up emotions deep inside of her that she can’t deny and some yearnings that she can't understand.

But when the secrets are revealed it will change everything that she thought she knew about her family and herself. Will she find a way to face her demons?

During this holiday season, I needed a GOOD book to read to take me away & this book delivered! Jill Shalvis writes characters that you can relate to and feel strong emotions for, as well as storylines that you can identify with. Once I started reading this book, I could not put it down until I finished it. It was a WONDERFUL read!

Piper has spent most of her life taking care of her siblings. They lost their parents at a very young age and they all have issues that follow them. Piper can not hold onto a relationship because of her fears. Her brother Gavin is fighting his guilt and mistakes in life. Winnie is keeping a secret to who her baby's father is and her sense of failure. Piper checks in on the neighbor Emmitt frequently for his diabetes and realizes his son Cam is the same guy who hit on her in a bar. Even with tough times and mistakes in life they all work together to make it work. That's the beauty of family. Fear, Guilt, Mistakes and Failure are all part of life. Not one is perfect but if everyone works together it will all work out.

Almost Just Friends is another book in the Wildstone Series by Jill Shalvis but it is a stand alone story not dependent on the others in the series. In this book, Piper Manning is a young woman who unfortunately had to raise her siblings beginning at a very young age due to her parents untimely death. She raised her brother and sister as both mother and father and never had time to be an actual 'sibling' or even truly grieve her parents' death. She put all her time and effort into raising her family never taking time for herself and always keeping her feelings and emotions locked away, using journaling and list making as her one coping mechanism. Her siblings have finally left the nest though and she is looking forward to 'starting her own life'. The story begins as Piper is trying to get the lake house (left to her and her siblings by her grandparents) ready for sale so that the money can be split between Piper and her two siblings and she can use the proceeds to put herself through school to become a physician's assistant (she is a paramedic now). After a terrible storm, her siblings return along with her neighbor's son and therein begins mild chaos and the revelation of many secrets that her siblings have kept from her, along with a man who can finally break through Piper's emotional barriers. The characters are well developed and I felt a strong emotional connection with Piper from page 1! The storyline kept the reader interested and invested in outcomes for all the characters!

“Chin up, Princess, or the crown slips.”

My review…

This book was definitely not an normal HEA I would say it more leans toward women’s fiction with romance included. Piper starts out as a normal female protagonist character I enjoy, very sure of herself, can take care of anything that comes up doesn’t need any man. That is completely fine with me, however after reading the book for a couple chapters you realize that she has completely locked up all of her emotions while raising her younger siblings. I absolutely adored meeting her siblings and seeing their interactions. You could see how hard it was for her balancing being a sister and being in mom mode. Piper cares for everyone in this book not just her siblings, her neighbor, the people she works on as an EMT, she is a very compassionate person.

Cam coming to town was really when everything started to really open up, he seemed to be the real center for the whole family. Everyone seemed to be able to trust Cam and rely on him. Which for him was also an eye opener, even though he was already dependable because of his job. Now Cam was dependable for other reasons. Of course he was working through his own demons, but Piper seems to help him through that, he is trying to help her work through hers but family matters keep getting in the way.

I really loved everything about this book, the whole “broken” family coming together and learning how to be a family. The learning to lean on others, they all evolved not just the main characters, I loved all of the characters. I haven’t cried this hard about characters in a long while. Each chapter started with some really great one liners and I loved all of them. Jill Shalvis just continually knocks it out of the park for me and will always be an auto buy author.

Thank you to Jill Shalvis, NetGalley, and Harper Collins for my copy in lieu of my honest review..



Gavin’s heart tripped. “What?”

“I brought food.”

Gavin nearly collapsed in relief. “The way to my heart.”

“It’s the makings for taco’s”

Gavin felt the last little pieces of himself fall into place. “A love story in five words.”

I loved everything about this book. Piper has had to be strong for so long she doesn't know how to enjoy herself or depend on anyone else. Raising her siblings after their parents died has taken a harsh toll on her. Her brother and sister love Piper but also fear disappointing her so they keep secrets which causes hurt feelings as they come to light. When Piper meets the new "Hot Guy", according to her friends, she's immediately attracted to him but can't let herself get too close. Cam has been through a lot on his deployments and with his fractured family so he feels a strong kinship with Piper. Their love story is sweet, hot, and satisfying. I really enjoyed all of the characters in this book and their backstories. Highly recommended.

Having found the Wildstone series to be uneven thus far, I feel confident naming Almost Just Friends as my favorite of this series yet. The plotline is much tighter (and the story didn't feel like it dragged on for the sake of filling out the book), and the relationships felt realistic and like they went through a true progression. Piper's relationship with her siblings felt very true to the burden and love she would have felt having to take on the role of caretaker far too young, and their willingness to own up to the fact that they hadn't always recognized the toll it took on her to keep them together was so sweet to see come alive. This one really felt like it defined the series.

In “Almost Just Friends (Wildstone, #4)” by Jill Shalvis we are thrown into the lives of the Mannings. Piper had to grow up fast after a tragic accident killed her parents so she could raise her 2 siblings. Now that everyone is grown its time for her to put herself first, something she has never done. But the concept sounds easier than the execution when secrets come out and the new “Hot Guy” in town seems to stir feelings in Piper she was sure she buried deep.

Could the life she dreamed about be falling through her fingers? Or is it forming right in front of her?

I received an ARC of this book and this is my honest opinion.