My Kind of Wonderful
Cedar Ridge, #2
By: Jill Shalvis
ISBN: 1455586781 (ISBN13: 9781455586783)
Author’s Website: http://jillshalvis.com
Review brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra
Synopsis: 
UNEXPECTED AND UNDENIABLE…
Bailey Moore has an agenda: skiing in the Rockies, exploring castles in Europe, ballroom dancing in Argentina. Now that she has a second lease on life, she’s determined not to miss a thing. What she doesn’t realize is that item #1 comes with a six-foot-one ski god hot enough to melt a polar ice cap. She doesn’t want to miss out on him either, but Hudson Kincaid isn’t the type of guy to love and let go. And as gorgeous as Cedar Ridge is, she’s not planning to stick around.
As head of ski patrol at his family’s resort, Hud thinks he’s seen it all. But never has he run into someone like Bailey. She might look delicate, but her attitude is all firecracker. And her infectious joy touches something deep within him that he’s been missing far too long. Now he’ll just have to convince Bailey to take a chance on her biggest adventure yet . . . something rare and all kinds of wonderful.
Review:
When I read the last word, my only thought was……WOW. My Kind of Wonderful is the second book in the new Cedar Ridge series written by Jill Shalvis. And what a book it is. From the opening paragraph to the last word, I was captivated. But, I should not be surprised by this as I have thoroughly enjoyed every book written by Jill Shalvis that I have read.
The story begins when Hudson (Hud) Kincaid gets news that someone is in trouble at the top of Devil’s Face. As head of ski patrol, he goes to investigate. Enter…Bailey Moore. She is sitting at the top of Devil’s Face, her skis stuck wildly in the snow by her side. Bailey is on the most challenging ski slope in probably the country – because she read the ski map wrong. In fact, Bailey was reading the map upside down. I love their introductory interactions – it made me really like both of these characters.
“I realize this is going to make me look bad, she said, but yes, yes, I’m here because I misread the map. If you must know the truth, I had it upside down.”
Hudson is a driven man, working as head of ski patrol at the family ski resort as well as a couple of shifts a week as a local cop. My first instinct when I learnt he was working so much….what is he running from? As it turns out, a big something. Hudson feels tremendous guilt over the fact that his identical twin Jacob left town and he did not go with him (as they planned all through high school). Hudson is the family fixer who will use any “family” related issue to keep himself from actually living his life fully. As we learn, the family is more than willing to help more, if only Hudson would let them.
Bailey is a sweet (and according to Hudson – hot) woman who has been dealt a tough blow in life with a diagnosis of cancer as a child. So her whole life has been spent fighting for her life. But beware; she is not fragile (though initially Hudson thinks so). With one clean follow-up behind her and the results of the second follow-up expected shortly, Bailey is attacking life, working through “her list”. But what Bailey will need to learn is that lists are evergreen, changing as life happens.
And what would be a love story without a jealous “ex”? Or a sickly, meddling mother? And of course, the hordes of other relatives that all live at the ski hill. I loved every one of them. They, in their own way, added SO much to the story. The interplay between the Kincaid siblings was engaging. And of course, their introduction will lead into their own stories. The courtship dance between Bailey and Hudson is cute, entertaining and I thoroughly enjoyed the journey they took me on. I chuckled each time Bailey increased the number of ‘play times’ she wanted with Hudson – while trying to keep their relationship as a purely physical one:
“I said one night?” she asked innocently, purposefully misunderstanding him “My mistake. I meant two.” She gave him a little push until his desk hit the backs of his thighs.
A wonderfully engaging contemporary romance, which will keep me on my path of reading each and every Jill Shalvis title….and of course, every title in this delightful series.
