Always on My Mind

A Lucky Harbor Novel

By: Jill Shalvis

Narrated by: Annie Greene

Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

There's nothing like the real thing.

After dropping out of pastry school and messing up her big break on a reality cooking show, Leah Sullivan needs to accomplish something in her life. But when she returns home to Lucky Harbor, she finds herself distracted by her best friend, Jack Harper. In an effort to cheer up Jack's ailing mother, Dee, Leah tells a little fib - that she and Jack are more than just friends. Soon pretending to be hot-and-heavy with this hunky firefighter feels too real to handle…

No-strings attachments suit Jack just fine - perfect for keeping the risk of heartbreak away. But as Jack and Leah break every one of their "just friends" rules, he longs to turn their pretend relationship into something permanent. Do best friends know too much about each other to risk falling in love? Or will Jack and Leah discover something new about each other in a little town called Lucky Harbor?

©2013 Jill Shalvis (P)2013 Hachette Audio

Cute but Predictable

Would you try another book from Jill Shalvis and/or Annie Greene?

Sure, they were comfort reads, easy to follow and good characters

Would you be willing to try another book from Jill Shalvis? Why or why not?

Yes - I bought this one on the premise of the synopsis from an email and enjoyed it. This was my first book by here so I may not keep reading if the predictability is apparent in each book.

What about Annie Greene’s performance did you like?

Great narrator - very good.

Was Always on My Mind worth the listening time?

Yes - I read it straight through but had the situations figured out half way in. I loved her characterization and imagery. Ending was so-so. What wasn't worth the listening time - is the half hour at the end of the book dedicated to a preview of another book by Shalvis.

Bad Narrator

I love the Lucky Harbor series, but this narrator spoiled this one for me. She sounded like a little girl.

Disappointing

I love Jill Shalvis and her Lucky Harbor series, but books 7 and 8 in the series were a disappointment. The characters are not as engaging and the "mystery" in both books was totally predictable. I might get book 9 out of the library, but definitely won't waste an Audible credit. Hopefully, the next set in the series will be back up to the standard of the first 6 books.

Sweet if not predictable

Sometimes when a series gets this drawn out the story lines become predictable. This story was just that, predictable. There were a couple of twists and a bit of excitement, but over all it was a sweet story. I enjoyed it, though it really didn't hold my attention like some. I will listen to the next book, this was definitely worth the read and worth the credit, a nice light read, which can be a great change coming off something harder. I like to switch back and forth depending on my personal mood.

I think many people would call this a beach read, though not a short one, I liked the characters, though the indecision irritates from time to time. The character development was surface and really didn't dig too deeply. I would like to see more from previous characters, just a quick cameo from the originals with a mention isn't really enough. I'd like to know what they're up to as well.

Okay, this review I realize sounds negative, no coffee yet I guess, but I liked it, it was a nice book. If you've read the others this is the natural progression.

Heroine has too many issues

I liked the premise of the story and the fact that I knew Jack and Leah already but Leah Was just too damaged for me. I actually think if she really had a dad like the one that was described she would not have been able to have any kind of functional life!

Frustrating read. Not for me.

My take on this is that the characters’ actions and words do not fit their motivations. The main story is the romantic relationship between Leah and Jack. The entire book is full of I don’t want you. I don’t like you. This is just pretend. Lets have sex. The next day Leah says that was a mistake. We can’t do that any more. Then she buys condoms. Then they have sex again. This goes round and round for the whole book.

Jack’s thoughts are I’m not going to fall for her because if she leaves me it will kill me. Then he kisses her and keeps seeing her.

There were many misunderstandings, but the worst one was when Jack heard that Leah was leaving town, so he breaks up with her. He thinks she is leaving for good. She doesn’t tell him it’s temporary. She is just silent.

These things frustrate me. The unusualness here was that Leah had issues with perfection and failure. This caused her to never finish anything - to always be a quitter whether it’s school, work, or Jack. I guess that’s why every day she is quitting her relationship with Jack - but he’s the love of her life. Bottom line - it was not a good story for me.

The best part was Kevin the dog.

There are many books in the series. This is book 8. And even though I did not like this story, there is something valuable and enjoyable. It’s like you’re there, living in a small town on the ocean, being part of the community, knowing everyone. There’s fun in that.

AUDIOBOOK NARRATOR:
The narrator Annie Greene was very good as a performer/narrator, but she says contractions in a way that jars me. Instead of couldn’t, hadn’t, etc., she says couldet and hadet. If speaking slowly she says couldunt, hadant, woulden. Every time she did this my mind went “what’s she doing?” I’m sorry for complaining, but I really prefer generic TV anchor speak.

Genre: contemporary romance