I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
Instant Attraction
by
Jill Shalvis
contemporary romance in Paperback edition that was published by Brava on February 1, 2009 and has 302 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Beach Blanket Bad Boys, Instant Gratification, Instant Temptation, The Night Before Christmas, "Under the Mistletoe", Animal Magnetism, It Had to Be You, Simply Irresistible, The Sweetest Thing, Animal Attraction, Rumor Has It, Rescue My Heart, It’s in His Kiss, Head Over Heels, Lucky in Love, , He's So Fine, At Last, One in a Million, Forever and a Day, Second Chance Summer, My Kind of Wonderful, "Wrapped in You", Get A Clue, The Trouble with Mistletoe, Chasing Christmas Eve, “One Snowy Night”, Rainy Day Friends, Merry and Bright, Always on My Mind
First in the Wilder romance series about the Wilder family and their mountaintop resort. The couple focus is on Cam Wilder and Katie Kramer with Nick and Annie as a secondary couple.
My Take
Well, it’s cute enough if you’re looking for a sweet romance that’s all on the surface. Or if you enjoy skiing, hiking, snowshoeing, boarding, climbing, winter camping, and more.
Don’t plan on any great tension or drama. I enjoyed the characters but never felt any great attachment to them. I did enjoy Shalvis’ take on Katie and her insistence that this romance thing is just for fun and she is definitely leaving at the end of her four weeks. Makes a nice twist on the usual girl plotting how to take the boy down even though Shalvis has Katie falling back into the “girl falls in love” rut. Katie does most of the chasing as well!
The plotline is more about taking a chance on life with Katie using her escape to avoid thinking about the guilt she feels for surviving while Cam is simply afraid of having to work at something. While Annie and Stone are worried about Cam being hurt when Katie leaves.
Katie is working on making Annie over and we get to enjoy a slew of crazy aprons with some really funny sayings on them.
The Story
No! No. No. No. He could be an ax murderer for all Katie knows! But nothing she says in the wee hours of the night will convince Cam to move and sleep somewhere else. When morning comes, Katie lets her bosses know about the invasion of her cabin. A most welcome invasion when Annie and Stone realize that the invader is Cam come home!
It’s a case of Cam fighting his attraction to someone who embraces life in spite of her fear even as Katie does her careful best to encourage him into her bed. All in between her stepping outside her comfort zone to drive a snowmobile, ski down a mountain while distracting Cam from his own concerns about getting back on a board, and enticing Chuck the cat to let her touch him. Katie also discovers what it’s like to feel as though she belongs, like she’s made friends.
The Characters
Katie Kramer is desperate to change her life around after having been in a horrific car accident. Well, actually it really was more than just a car accident. A bridge collapsed and she was the only survivor out of 30-some people. She was rescued after hanging upside down in her car where it was caught by two trees. A good enough excuse for getting radical.
Cameron Wilder was also in a life-changing accident. This one was his own fault as he was not concentrating on the race he was in and he took out his knee. From world champion to nothing.
Stone Wilder handles the paperwork as well as leading groups out ice climbing, snow camping, boarding, skiing, hiking…you name it. Annie Wilder is the chef and about to get divorced from Nick — even though they still love each other. Just some miscommunication and a lack of patience. Nick is their maintenance guy and helicopter pilot. T.J. Wilder is another brother and also leads groups. Riley is the office manager whom Katie is temporarily replacing while he’s on paternity leave.
Serena is Cam’s ex-girlfriend who runs Wishful Delights, a bakery in town. He had just found out she was sleeping around on him just before his race. Harley is the town mechanic pursuing a degree in biology. Doctor Emma Sinclair is replacing her dad as the town doctor.
The Cover
The cover is gorgeous with its winter setting of a lake and snow-dusted trees surrounding it and an unshaven Cam Wilder larger than life staring out at us and wearing a green henley, a blue-red-green plaid button-down, and a lined tan jacket.
The title is accurate enough, well, at least it’s Shalvis telling us that Cam and Katie have an Instant Attraction to each other.
