The Book:
Love For Beginners by Jill Shalvis
Published June 8th 2021 by William Morrow
Date read: June 8, 2021
The Characters:
Emma
Ali
Simon
Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon
The Plot (from Goodreads):
When Emma Harris wakes up from a coma, she learns that her fiancé and her BFF have fallen in love, she’s lost her job, and the life she knew is gone. Overwhelmed but grateful to be alive, she decides to start over from scratch. Not as easy as it sounds, of course. But she’s never been a quitter, even if she wishes she could quit rehab, where her hot but evil physical therapist, Simon, puts her through the wringer.
Desperate for a new start, Emma opens a doggy daycare. Unfortunately, the only space she can afford is owned by her childhood nemesis Ali Pratt. But hey, she’s been through worse, right? She tries to roll with the punches, but a friend drops his grandpa off at the doggy daycare because he can’t find senior care. On top of that, she and Ali bring the term “frenemies” to a whole new level. And then another grandparent shows up. And another.
In the midst of all that, Emma realizes she’s accidentally fallen for her Evil PT. But the most horrifying thing of all is that Ali just might have turned into the best friend she’s ever had. And as Emma grows from the pain of her past and takes on her new path, she comes to learn that life isn’t what you’re given, it’s what you make of it.
The Review:
Thank you to Harper Audio for this advanced listener’s copy.
I didn’t realize that this was book seven of a series, and now I’m so excited to go back and read the rest of them! I’ve never read a Jill Shalvis book before, but I’m officially a fan.
The beginning of this book reminded me a lot of How To Walk Away: a woman recovering after a life-changing accident and a steamy PT. There were a lot of similar themes throughout the book, and I loved both of them.
The best part of this book though was Emma and Alison’s friendship. It didn’t start out that way, and they kind of had an enemies-to-lovers storyline friendship-style! It worked really well.
I’m a sucker for a canine sidekick, and Hog certainly stole my heart. I loved how Emma’s doggie daycare turned into a senior daycare–what a perfect combination!
