Review: My Kind of Wonderful

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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.

Genre: contemporary romance

Publishing date: December 2015

Offensive content: mature content in the form of several sex scenes

Review: 

My Kind of Wonderful is book 2 in Jill Shalvis' new Cedar Ridge Series and, in my opinion, it's even better than the first one. Second Chance Summer, published in June 2015, was a great read (check my review here), but My Kind of Wonderful raises the quality of the series a few notches. 

The Kincaid family interaction is still amazing, but because you remember them from book one, you're able to enjoy their bantering a lot more. Some of their conversations are positively hilarious, as is their ongoing challenge of getting strange gifts for each other, that have to be actually worn or the recipient or suffer the consequences (no spoilers, you need to read it, but it's totally worth it, I guarantee). 

Bailey is a wonderful addition to the story, and to the family, and she's really someone to admire and look up to. She lived for years with a death sentence over her head, but instead of becoming old and bitter, she learned to enjoy all aspects of life, even the smallest ones most of us take for granted. 

The chemistry between Bailey and Hudson is immediate and undeniable, though it takes them both quite some time to admit they belong together. Bailey because she made a list of things to do once she was declared cancer free and a serious relationship with anyone is not on the list. And Hudson because he lives for his job and believes he can't find time for anything else. Still, they are inflammable together.

My Kind of Wonderful can be read as a stand alone book, but if you've never read Second Chance Summer before, my advice would be to start with book 1. First because I don't think you should miss Second Chance Summer in any case, and half the joy of reading it will be gone if you read the series backwards. And second, because the Kincaid family dynamics, while very worth your time, is not necessarily easy to follow, and reading book 1 will prepare you to enjoy book 2 a lot more.

Now, one of the Kincaid brothers, Jacob, has been absent since book 1. He's mentioned a lot, but he's vanished, enrolled in military service and deployed overseas, and his brothers have been looking for him for quite some time. At the end of book 2 we understand he's finally been located. Well, Jacob is going to star in his own novel, Nobody But You, book 3 in the Cedar Ridge series, due to come out at the end of March 2016. And I, for one, will not miss it!

Back to My Kind of Wonderful, everything in this book is great, right down to the cover, so I totally recommend that you don't miss it!

Happy readings,