Another cute small town romance from Jill Shalvis. This time three people reunite in Sunrise Cove when they jointly inherit an old inn and embark on fixing it up together. Along the way, they reconnect with each other and see their past in a new light.

I struggled to connect with this one. I didn’t think there was enough build up of the history and past between the three characters to really care about their second chance. I also felt there was very little chemistry between Knox and Alice so the romantic subplot fell flat for me. Probably my least favorite Jill Shalvis books I’ve read.

I voluntarily reviewed an early copy. All opinions are my own.

Alice, Knox and Lauren’s lives have been entwined since high school. Alice and Knox were dating, Lauren dated Alice’s brother Will, and Lauren and Alice were best friends. They were also connected to Eleanor, owner of The Last Chance Inn and a personal savior to each of them in different ways.

Eleanor has passed away and left the inn to the 3 of them, forcing them to look at the past and decide on a future. There are arguments, lots of rules, paint fights, mice, a cute dog and love spent getting the inn back into rental shape. After it’s ready, they’re all able to go back to their lives, but will they?

I enjoyed this book. I did read other Sunrise Cove books but this is close to being a standalone so don’t worry. Well-written, you might even learn a little about construction!

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

One good deed has earned her an unexpected gift, but the gift comes with some unexpected complications too... two people from her past that she doesn't have the best relationship with these days. One was her best friend and the other was the guy that broke her heart in two. According to the terms of the will, they must renovate the inn and partner together for one year or they run the risk of losing it all together. Now Alice must put her differences aside to do one last good deed... and in doing so she just might find the home she's always longed to find!

The pages of The Backup Plan hold a story that is destined to make you smile and touch your heart. In this one we meet three people who have lost touch and a good deed from a dear friend is about to reunite them once again. Each helped the owner of the inn years ago, and now that owner is wanting to return the favor... but it may not go off without a hitch or two. These three have a past that didn't end on a good note and they will be facing one another for the first time in a long while, old hurts are bound to add a little tension to the mix. But there is always a little room for forgiveness too!

As always Ms. Shalvis has given us a delightfully penned story that thoroughly entertains, characters that will continually have us smiling, and a romance that is bound to squeeze the heart! Highly recommend this one, it's pages will take you on a one of a kind escape!

I requested an advanced copy of this title from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving my honest and unbiased opinion.

The Backup Plan is a wonderful story about navigating through grief, broken friendships, the past and love. Each of the three main characters bring something different. Knox is strong, reliable and sexy. Lauren is sweet, kind and quirky and Alice is tough, closed off and sarcastic. It was interesting to see how each navigated coming back to their hometown and the past they left behind. It was enjoyable seeing how they all interacted with each other and even when there was anger, you could feel that there was love underneath. Some of the interactions between Alice and Lauren left me frustrated, I really wanted to yell at them to use their words! Their storyline definitely touches upon how secrets, running away and closing yourself off often does more damage than good. The romance felt right, a slow-burn that allows the reader to see how the characters come to understand and like each other. Would definitely recommend this if you're in the mood for some healing.

3.5 stars rounded up

Alice, Knox, and Lauren inherit a house from the late Eleanor. Alice and Lauren used to be best friends, until a tragedy tore them apart; while Alice had a childhood crush on Knox. They reunite to try and fix up the house to sell, and old issues arise when they have to work together.

This was a heart-warming book that was both fun and serious. Grief was something that each of our main characters had to go through, and their emotional journeys were satisfying. That said, some of the jokes and banter were repetitive and felt a little out of place at times.

Eleanor shared information via email drafts that the other characters discovered, and I thought that was a cool way to share details about the past. I didn't agree with all of the decisions the characters made, but this made the story feel more real.

The Backup Plan
by Jill Shalvis
Pub Date: January 17, 2023
Avon
Sunrise Cove #3
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. It is the third in a series.
Our library patrons love a funny, cute, warm, romantic book and this is one they will check out!!
Can't go wrong with this Jill Shalvis book!
4 stars

Readers will fall for this story of friendships regained and the family of the heart mended. Alice, Lauren, and Knox grew up together along with Alice’s brother Will who died in a car accident when they were younger. Alice only comes back because Eleanor, the matriarch of the ranch where she grew up has died and left the ranch to the three of them. Full of sadness, laugh out loud moments, love, anger, and he’s,in, this story is a winner.

This is a story of friendship, forgiveness, and healing. Alice, Lauren and Knox inherit an inn that needs refurbishing. According to the terms of the will they have to renovate and be partners in the inn for a year or lose their inheritance. All 3 have issues from the past they are struggling with. It will require patience and forgiveness to come together and address their issues. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

An enjoyable story of friends, friendship, heartbreak, coming back home and learning to live life again. With lots of humor Jill Shalvis opens the souls of her three main characters and lets us watch as they deal with past tragedy, present fears, and hope for the future. Very satisfying read.

The joy of the familiar. Jill Shlavis book feel like coming home - familiar, somewhat funny, somewhat positive and heartwarming. They sometimes feel repetitive and I need to be in the right, kind of sentimental mood to enjoy them.
I can say this was the right book for me at the right time.

Literally about coming home and rebuilding one's life. As most of this author's recent books, this has strong women's fiction element in the sense it focuses a lot on the journey of the leading characters (in this case, two women and one man) rather than just on the romance. Going in with the right expectations, it worked really well for me.

My minor complaint and I think it's something that sadly is common for most of Jill Shalvis' books is gendered language and some not-funny jokes around men/women and traditional views of masculinity and femininity. They just pop up here and there and the story would be just fine without them.

Overall, if you have enjoyed Jill Shalvis' recent books, there is a strong chance you will like this one as well.

I thought I knew where this was heading when I started reading and it turned a sharp left and never looked back. I'm not sure when I have laughed so hard when reading a book. This has so much snark and humor in it, that it's hard not to love the characters. Knox, Alice and Lauren find themselves owners of the inn that Eleanor willed to them without understanding why she left it to them. The characters are so very different from each other which makes it interesting. to learn about each of their personalities. The humor and snark counterbalance the emotional toll fixing up the inn and dealing with their pasts is taking on them. The writing is like riding a roller coaster where the characters emotions are waves of pain, joy and forgiveness. Beautifully written and leaves you smiling at the characters finding peace and happiness.

The Backup Plan by Jill Shalvis is the 3rd Book in The Sunrise Cove Series Releasing January 17 2023, I was able to read an advanced copy via Net Galley.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was the cutest small town romance I’ve ever read it was one of my favorites and one of the first books I’ve ever read by Jill I can’t wait to read many more books by her, the most adorable part of the book was the dog named Pickle. 😂

Jill Shalvis is my girl for women's fiction books. She always knows how to hook me in, and keep me interested. And The Back-Up Plan is no different.

The Back-Up Plan is the ultimate chaotic found family trope to read. It’s messy yet realistic when you drift apart from your former friends and hometown. And it never gets better when you avoid talking about the real issues at hand. It’s something that Alice, Lauren, and Knox will figure out when they renovate their inherited B&B.

With three main characters and their own povs, we get to read about their ongoing battle with each other and their struggles. And the main thing separating them is not addressing the main issue. It’s a bit of an avoiding game, but I kind of understand why though. Alice has been blamed for a lot when she shouldn’t have, and it does not help when Lauren wants to forget what happens. I find Lauren's character very annoying and unlikeable. She really shouldn’t blame Alice, it wasn’t her fault. I won’t go anymore because I don’t want to spoil anything. I will say that if you are looking for a messy found family women fiction read, then this book is the one to read.

The Backup Plan by Jill Shalvis is the third book in the Sunshine Cove series. Three people are drawn together after the death of Eleanor Graham, the owner of the Last Chance Inn. Eleanor left one third of the inn to Alice Moore who spent a lot of time at the inn in her youth helping her dad restore classic cars. Eleanor left one third of the inn to Knox Rawlings who spent much time during his youth at the inn doing repairs. The last third went to Eleanor's grandniece Lauren Scott who really didn't have a relationship with Eleanor. The inheritance required the three to rehab the inn and not sell it for a year. Working together in such close quarters shook up each of them. These three had lots of baggage to deal with and somehow Eleanor knew how to heal them. This was a heartwarming story. I really liked the three main characters. Ms. Shalvis writes characters so likable you really care about their happiness. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Thank you Avon, Harper Voyage and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC!

I have read the first two books in the Sunrise Cove series and loved them, so I was over the moon when I was granted the third book in the series. The Backup Plan may have been the best one yet in the series. I loved that it wasn't just one couple's stories that we were getting, but a group reunited. The growth of each character struck me as believable and the ways in which Alice, Lauren and Knox got to know each other (through many trials and tribulations) were true to life. I love how Jill Shalvis presents characters that feel like they could be your own friends, making it so easy to want to root for them to find their person. I am not sure if there will be another book in the Sunrise Cove series, but I know for sure I will always read the next Jill Shalvis book!

A feel-good, laugh out loud, and heartfelt story. I could not put this book down. The characters that Jill Shalvis has developed are flawed and hard to not fall in love with. It shows how things that happened in your early life can define you but only if you let them. The relationships range from romantic to friendship, and even to an "allergic" relationship.

Second in the Sunrise Cove series, THE BACKUP PLAN by Jill Shalvis explores old relationships and dark secrets of the heart. When Alice inherits a B&B from her childhood, she is stunned to learned that she must help run it with two strangers.

Now these two aren’t completely unknown to her, but it’s been years since she has had contact with the woman who was once her ex best friend and the man who broke her heart. Now they must learn how to get along and pull off a miracle.

There’s no doubt that Jill Shalvis has mastered the art of creating unique conflicts for her characters to endure and work through. I am always really impressed by her ability to come up with something different with each book. However, sometimes I do miss her old way of writing that was more Romance than Women’s Fiction.

While I love the additional storylines of friendship and romance running parallel in these books, sometimes I think the focus can get skewed when there’s so much going on. That being said, I do miss the old style of writing Shalvis had. But that’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy this book.

There’s still the same charm and humor that is evident in all Shalvis books. The settings are also fun and interactive and the situations that she puts her characters in never fail to entertain me. So all in all, it was still enjoyable.

Back to Sunrise Cove I go for the 3rd book in the series. I love this series and Jill Shalvis can always be depended on for warmth, humor, a little steam and a lot of love.

Alice, Lauren and Knox are unhappily reunited when they inherit 1/3 each if an old B&B once owned by a cranky woman who meant something to each of them. With plenty of shared history between them, deciding to ban together to fix up the old inn for reopening is a tough task. Each one of them is running from something. For Alice, it's the ghost of her dead brother and the guilt she has over his death. For Knox, it's his tough upbringing and the first girl who broke his heart. For Lauren, it's the death of her first love and being known as the town widow. Together, they find family and friendship.

Loved each of the characters and the setting of this book as well as the tone. The sarcastic quips and barbs had me laughing along and falling in love with their relationships along the way.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC.

It’s comforting to read stories from an author you can rely on for an interesting plot and believable characters. This latest book is dripping with sarcasm, wit, barbed comebacks, broken people, old wounds, former acquaintances and new possibilities. It is part of a series yet easy to read on it’s own.
It’s set in the Lake Tahoe area at a defunct Wild West Inn. The deceased former owner was a hardened woman who held a lifetime grudge. She never overcame betrayal or learned how to show love and affection. Her final wishes are meted out in the form of letters to three important people in her life. She also left equal ownership of the Inn to them.
Lauren is the only one of the three still living in the area and is a librarian. Even though It was her grandmother’s Inn, she never knew her. Complicated family wounds deprived her the truth and history. Alice has left her thriving construction business, driving in from Arizona, all to settle this unexpected inheritance quickly so she can leave. Her fond memories are tainted by guilt over her brother’s death. Then there’s ruggedly handsome Knox who has a successful company in Seattle, heavily invested in sustainability and green eco-friendly housing.
Each of them has distinct personalities with a fair amount of distrust. They must decide whether to keep or sell the Inn, of course they don’t agree. The process of discovering who their benefactor really was will make or break their precarious relationships. Subtle romance hides just beneath the surface for someone. The journey with them as they learn to face the past head on is full of emotion, life lessons and hope. The story was a great opportunity to be Introspective and put life’s obstacles in perspective.
My sincere thanks to NetGalley for the digital advance reader copy of “The Backup Plan” by Jill Shavis The Sunrise Cove Series 3, and to Harper Collins Publishers. These are all my own honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without compensation.

This one grabs your heart and never lets go. Knox, Alice and Lauren all come together at an Inn they each inherit and decide to take a month to fix it up before selling. Alice and Lauren were childhood friends until the loss of Alice's brother drives them apart. Alice always had a thing for Knox when she was younger and she finds that not much has changed in the years since she last saw him. As they all come together as adults, each needs to work through past hurts and losses to decide if and how their futures will intertwine.

Jill Shalvis always brings the best parts of humanity to her books. There are messy friendships that are also loyal and solid. There is romance based on more where two people figure out how to come together without losing themselves. There are characters learning how to overcome emotional loss and vulnerability to grow into stronger, more capable versions of themselves. And, of course, there is found family...the kind of family that is loving and fun and chaotic and heartwarming. This book, as with all her others, feels like a warm hug on the most difficult of days. There is easy banter and a wit to her writing that just flows flawlessly. I finished the book and, when trying to decide what to read next, looked back at it and realized I just wanted to return to these characters again to see how they're doing.

If you are looking for a book full of friendship and romance you will love this one. I would recommend this highly to anyone, but especially fans of Sarah Morgan and Kristan Higgins.