ARC Review – All I Want (Animal Magnetism #7) by Jill Shalvis

I love when a romance can make me smile, make me laugh out loud, make me sigh, and okay give me some ideas for different ways to use my kitchen and All I Want by Jill Shalvis did that and so much more. ~ Slick, Guilty Pleasures 

Description:
Pilot-for-hire Zoe Stone is happy to call Sunshine, Idaho, her home base. But her quiet life is thrown for a loop when her brother’s friend Parker comes to stay with her for a week. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife special agent is a handsome flirt with a gift for getting under her skin. And the situation only escalates when Parker hires her to fly him around the area while he collects evidence on a suspected smuggler.

Now she has to live and work with the guy. But when they’re in the air, she sees another side of him. He’s driven, focused, and sharp. And while he enjoys giving commentary on her blind dates, she quickly realizes with a shock that it’s Parker who gets her engines going…

Review copy provided for an honest review

Its funny how sometimes a book can be so heart-warming yet so incredibly sexy and that is absolutely what author Jill Shalvis pulled off in All I Want. A woman who has lived her life making sure everyone she loves is taken care of, a man who has lived his life for himself and his job, a case of mistaken identity, and a kiss made this one fantastically written, funny and yet emotional love story and one of my favorites in this series to date.

Zoe Stone has watched her brother and sister fall in love and now that she’s all alone in the house their grandparents left them (well all alone except for her rescue dog, Oreo) she thinks she’s ready to find someone to share her life. Trust doesn’t come easy to Zoe who not only was left to practically parent her siblings but the one time she did open her heart to a man he stepped all over it and her bank account. On the advice of her sister, Zoe decides to act spontaneously for once and when her blind date comes to her door, she steps up and kisses him only to find out he’s not her blind date but her brother’s friend, Parker James, in town for vacation and renting a room from her so she can make some necessary repairs on her home.

Man did I love the heated looks, the verbal foreplay both obvious and not so obvious, the inner dialog and the way these two took to each other like a duck takes to water. Seriously there was something special about these two together and I think it was the way they were so at ease with one another from the start. There wasn’t a whole lot of posturing; they both kind of let it all hang out, they were themselves around each other and it was nice to see two people “get” one another from the beginning. Sure Parker went around Zoe’s house and “fixed” things she thought she could do but either hadn’t figured out or hadn’t had the money, time or inclination to do. Yes, Zoe managed to get him to open up more than he had to anyone in his past but the reality of their situation was Parker’s job was dangerous and he spent months away from any home base often without contact and Zoe was at the point where she wanted someone in her life fulltime. While they tried to stay apart for that obvious reason, their chemistry took them over the edge more than once even when they vowed to stay away from one another.

I loved both these characters so much; Zoe was a conundrum of sorts, she was responsible and rigid in some respects but in others she was a free spirit and had issues with completing tasks. Parker defined the word workaholic but in a sense his work defined him; while he was successful and dedicated it also became obvious he began to realize how much life he didn’t have because of his job. It also became evident he had a tender heart as he dealt with not only two kittens who needed a home (even though he thought only temporarily) and his much younger sister and her friend who both needed some tough love and guidance.

While we saw glimpses of the couples from past books they only enhanced the story without overtaking it. The relationship between Zoe and Parker was front and center, and well because this is a book by Jill Shalvis, it was also sideways and upside down but in the end it was really pretty damn wonderful.

I love when a romance can make me smile, make me laugh out loud, make me sigh, and okay give me some ideas for different ways to use my kitchen and All I Want by Jill Shalvis did that and so much more.

4.5 stars

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