USA Today Bestseller
New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis returns to Wildstone with the touching story of finding your place in the world—and the people who make it home.Piper Manning’s about as tough as they come, she’s had to be. She raised her siblings and they’ve thankfully flown the coop. All she has to do is finish fixing up the lake house her grandparents left her, sell it, and … coop. All she has to do is finish fixing up the lake house her grandparents left her, sell it, and then she’s free.
When a massive storm hits, she runs into a tall, dark and brooding stranger, Camden Reid. There’s a spark there, one that shocks her. Surprising her further, her sister and brother return, each of them holding their own secrets. The smart move would be for Piper to ignore them all but Cam unleashes emotions deep inside of her that she can’t deny, making her yearn for something she doesn’t understand. And her siblings…well, they need each other.
Only when the secrets come out, it changes everything Piper thinks she knows about her family, herself…and Cam. Can she find a way to outrun the demons? The answer is closer than she thinks—just as the new life she craves may have already begun.
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“Almost Just Friends” is written by Jill Shalvis, and it is the 4th book in the Wildstone series. It can be read as a stand-alone book. It features Piper Manning and Cam Reid.
Piper is about to be 30 years old. She’s an EMT, and she always writes her thoughts and makes a list in her journal. She has dreams of becoming a physician assistant, but first, she needs to fix and remodel the lake house her grandparents left her before she can move to Colorado for her studies. Piper had to grow up quickly and become the adult in her household at a young age after her parents died. She has always put others ahead of herself including her younger siblings, Gavin and Winnie.
The story begins on Piper’s birthday. Piper’s friend wants her to have a good time. It just so happens Piper’s friend approaches a random person at a bar and introduces Piper to him. This turns out to be Cam. He’s back in town for his father, Emmitt, as well as the promise he made to his late brother, Rowan. What made this story more interesting was the fact that Cam was staying with his father at the lake house next to where Piper was staying. And it just so happens that Piper always checks up on Emmitt, so it was shock to the both of them when they found out they were going to be neighbors!
From the get-go, there was instant attraction between Piper and Cam. I really enjoyed seeing their relationship progress. Their relationship was sincere, and they truly were there for each other throughout the way. Their story was beautiful. You can’t help, but root for this couple.
What happens when both Winnie and Gavin come back into town? How will this effect Piper and Cam? How long will Cam be deployed? Will Piper be able to study in Colorado?
“Almost Just Friends” is one of my favorite stories that I’ve read by Jill Shalvis. And that’s saying something since I’ve read many of her books. I read this story in one day because it was just that good! This story had everything you wanted. It will provide you laughs, but will also tug at your heartstrings. This story moved me. It was heartwarming. Definitely would recommend this book to anyone to read!
Almost Just Friends was an amazingly sweet, fun and emotional love story. There is a tissue warning. Jill Shalvis put all her heart into this story. I felt everything these characters felt and more. Wow. I seriously loved every moment. But my favorite part of this story is Cam. I want a Cam in my life. He was everything. What an amazing guy. And how he took care of Piper melted my heart. They were so adorable together. Her with her insecurities and him with his patience and unwavering support. Ah, he’s just so wonderful. But I didn’t love just Cam’s and Piper’s relationship. I also loved the family relationships too. So much sadness and heartache Piper and her siblings went through but their journey to make things work for them now wasn’t easy but their love for one another helped them along the way. And Gavin and his personal relationship with CJ, his first and only love. I loved this secondary second chance love story too. Gavin made some mistakes and CJ was still nursing his broken heart to trust Gavin again but I’m glad they got their HEA too. This was definitely a very sigh worthy story that will leave you so happy for everyone. I can’t still can’t stop smiling and thinking about this story.
*I voluntarily read an advance copy of this book*
Cam is a Hot military guy who has a tortured soul
Piper is a fixer who shoved all the feels away.
Together they shouldn’t work….but oh boy do they!
Wildstone is a place filled with heart aches, joy, laughter, LOVE and well life!
Excellent read!
This one intrigued me from the very beginning. I loved Piper’s struggles – to be a big sister and parental figure for her siblings, being a meticulous list writer, being determined not to fall for Hot Guy! And speaking of…Cam…what a fine man he was! He was solid, steady, and just the right man to balance out Piper! And I loved the flirty banter…swoon!!
This book was hot, steamy, and full of love in many forms! Father and son, sibling love, best friendships, and romantic love. In addition, another great element to a Jill Shalvis book is that you get multiple storylines in one book. Each one is thought out and makes the story even more enriching!
“Why do I love you? Easy. Your energy fuels my soul.” And this book fueled mine!
I voluntarily requested and read an uncorrected advance reader copy.
4.5 Stars
This is the fourth book in the series and one I had a hard time putting it down. I loved Piper and Cam right from the beginning. I love that they ground one another when things get tough. They were a couple times I teared up.This book pulls all the emotions out of me. I laughed, cried, and smiled. Along with Piper and Cam we get a secondary story of Piper’s brother Gavin. I enjoyed Gavin’s journey in this book because it’s one of recovery and redemption. You root for him and want him to get his HEA that he deserves. Piper has been taking care of everyone, but herself. She has a lot of inner struggles that she keeps under lock and key, but Cam brings out another side of her. I loved the epilogue so much!! It was the perfect touch to end this book on.
Another fabulous story from Jill Shalvis. This one was more than just a singular romance and I was so here for it!! While the romance between Cam and Piper was the main focus of the story, I really enjoyed the secondary plot of Piper as the mother figure for her younger siblings and the toll that the death of their parents has taken on their lives. It was interesting to get the POV of her siblings and the way that they have coped, or failed to cope with their loss.
I always appreciate a story where the characters aren’t without flaws and you get to see them grow as people right before your eyes. The way that both Gavin and Winnie pushed for Piper to finally live for herself was heartwarming, even if they took several missteps and kept far too many secrets from her along the way. The whole family dynamic aspect of this story only made it that much more special.
This was actually a pretty emotional read but didn’t weigh me down with angst or sadness and I laughed quite a bit at the banter between the siblings and between Cam and Piper. I couldn’t help but fall in love with this whole cast of characters.
I’ve come to expect a certain feeling when I finish a Jill Shalvis book and I’m happy to say that Almost Just Friends did not disappoint. My heart is full.
I really loved Cam! He and Piper were great together and the banter between them was hilarious. I didn’t want their story to end. Almost Just Friends was another entertaining read by Jill Shalvis, and I look forward to her next one.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary Advance Reader Copy.
It’s a Jill Shalvis book! What else is there to say.
Family dynamics, dramatics, secrets and reveals. The full gamut of sibs angst – regrets, reactions, misunderstandings, connections, and forgiveness. Love. Heartwarming. Plus, romance. Great characters. A good read…
You just turned 30 and you’ve got a job as an EMT and are in love with your journal and office supplies. No special man, please no…and you’re OK with that. A new life is what you’re after. Get your house sold, share the money with the siblings you raised, and shake the mud off your boots and finally get your education.
Then you get a surprise birthday party that you told everyone you didn’t want, your siblings are home…with no place else to go, you feel the need to journal and journal, and there is a new man in town and he might be interested in you. No please…NO!
Secrets and sadness abound in this book, but it is a romance and quite uplifting too. You can change. Going back to the beginning is difficult, but Camden, Piper, Gavin, and Winnie all must look back before they can move forward. They have to forgive themselves before love and personal growth can take hold.
Almost Just Friends is the latest in the Wildstone series by Jill Shalvis. As always, the issues are timely, the characters are well thought out, and the angst is real. Ms. Shalvis knows how to get in the head of her characters and write their stories so well, you’re sure there really is a place called Wildstone and you might want to live there!
Jill Shalvis is an auto-buy author for me. I love her writing style and how her stories show real life issues and ultimately answers, in a fabulous setting.
Format: Kindle Edition
Piper is ready to move to the next part of her life but then a storm hits and she meets Camden. Along with the storm, her sister and brother are back with secrets. Piper has to decide to let love in and her siblings to do what they need or lose it all.
The newest addition to the Wildstone series, Almost Just Friends , includes a host of unique characters. Pipper Manning has spent her teen years raising her younger brother and sister after the accidental death of their parents. Pipper controls her life with the help of her “always at her side” journal. The “new hot guy” Camden Hayes is temporary which works with Pipper’s plans. This is the first Shalvis book in a long time that I had trouble reading. There were just too many tragedies in too many characters. At one point, I went back to see if there were any characters who didn’t have a major problem. The book contains characters with accidental deaths, loss of parents, raising siblings, mental illness, addiction, unplanned pregnancy, loss of sibling, fatal car accident, death of lover, gun-shot wounds, murder of a friend, health issues, fear of water, rejection by family because of sexual orientation. Rereading the story did help to redeem in the novel. I did like the growth of the characters. The epilogue was realistic. Shalvis’ trademark humor shined through. “If you want to be humble, ask your brother how you look.”
Jill Shalvis is slowly warming me up for women’s fiction and her writing style. This family had me crying ugly tears. So much has happened to them from a young age that at times you couldn’t help but feel that maybe there won’t be a HEA for them. But then they slowly but surely manage to pick up the pieces and bond all over again. I absolutely loved Cam. That man is something special. The way he carried his guilt around but still manged to push Piper to open up not just to him but to her siblings. The way their relationship grew with each pages was mesmerising.
As said I really enjoyed myself and am looking forward to next Jill’s book.
***Review copy requested and reviewed on behalf of OMGReads Blog***
I have a feeling this is going to end up being one of my favourite books of 2020. You can read my full review at http://www.ramblingsofadaydreamer.com
Almost Just Friends is Jill Shalvis’ newest addition to the Wildstone series. I’m loving this series and these characters. This is a story about family, love, loss, hope and friendship. Piper has been taking care of her siblings since she was a teenager. They are all they have. But they are young and have made some mistakes and Piper is just glad they are on their own so she can finally follow her dreams. Until they both come back home. With secrets they aren’t ready to share with her yet. When she meets Camden, her neighbor’s son, she didn’t expect the chemistry to be so strong. There was just something about this sexy, stoic man who pushed all her buttons. And the perfect thing was he was temporary. He was leaving town and she was trying to get out. Then everything changes. Her siblings want to be home. She can’t stop wanting Cam. She’s scared out of her mind. She can’t control all the changes and you know it’s bad when she gives herself a timeout! What happens when dreams change? When people come into your life at the exact right moment and change you forever? I can’t even express how much I loved this story! Piper and Cam are perfect for each other. They never needed anyone, can take care of themselves and never depended on another person for anything. But now they are learning it’s ok to let someone else in. To allow them to care for you. It’s a hard lesson to learn though! And her brother and sister are so fantastic! It was four stories in one, including Cam’s dad and I couldn’t love these characters more! Overall, I love it! I laugh out loud, cried, cheered, smiled, snickered and swooned!
“You know if thought bubbles appeared over your head, you’d be screwed, right?
“You okay?”
“I think so.”
“You look surprised.”
“It was the kiss. Too bad you can’t bottle them up.”
She stared at the water and not at Cam. Because looking directly at Cam was oftentimes like looking at a whole pan of buttery soft double-chocolate brownies. Oh go good, and …oh so bad for her.
“I swear, nothing smells better than the person you love.”
“Have you ever walked by a Cinnabon?”
This book can be read as part of the Wildstone series or as a completely standalone novel. Jill Shalvis is one of my favorite authors. Her stories are always laced with witty banter, comedy and the drama that comes with being family. Her characters are complex and always draw you in holding your attention until the end.
The Manning Family has had a tough life. Piper, the matriarch of the family, is a fixer. She has spent most of her life raising her siblings, taking care of her community as an EMT, looking after her neighbor and putting their everyone else’s needs first. Piper’s siblings have moved out and on with their life. She has fulfilled her duties as their guardian and her dreams are finally within her reach. She just needs to spend the next two weeks spiffing up the property that her grandparents left them and then she will be able to sell it and split the money with her siblings. A massive storm blows in throwing her into Cam the new hottie and bringing her siblings back.
Cam is a Coastie who though never close to his brother is in Wildstone to fulfill his final wish. He has a take charge attitude and can handle himself in any situation. After years of holding everything in Piper starts to let go as her siblings secrets start to come out. Cam helps Piper work through everything and isn’t fazed by her crazy life. When you least expect it life gives you what you need which is not always what you thought you wanted.
This book is a must read, it has it all. Laughter, tears, anger, regret, forgiveness and redemption. There is so much going on and it is all tied up nicely in the end.
Book four of the series but is completely a standalone. Piper has spend part of her childhood and young adult life raising her two siblings. Now that they are out of the house and living their own life she wants to fix up the house sell it and continue on with her education to become a Physician’s Assistant. But on her birthday her sister comes home unexpectedly and her brother soon after and both say are home for good for reasons they won’t explain. Piper can feel herself slipping back into her old role but with the help of her new neighbor, Cam, she just might be able keep from becoming a mother hen again and become their sister and friend. But it’s easier said than done especially when her siblings are hiding something from her. That’s only part of the problem, Cam has waken a desire in her she has never felt before and knowing he plans to leave soon she tries to keep her heart out of the equation. Cam is trying to build a relationship with his father after the death of his brother and Piper is a good distraction. He knows as soon as he meets her that she is something special and the more he knows the more he wants her in his life.
Overall, it was a good read Cam was sweet and together things got pretty steamy. The story is emotional and funny at times. The two siblings are a hoot along with Cam’s Dad. It’s a heartwarming story of three siblings trying to find their path in life and learning it doesn’t always go as planned even though you wrote it in your bullet journal.
‘Almost Just Friends’ is definitely one of those books that makes you feel all kinds of emotions and I enjoyed every minute of it. Piper is one of those characters that you simple can’t not like. From a very young age she had to take care of her siblings, and she did that the best way she knew how. But losing your parents, having to be the grown up from your early teens.. well it scars you. And Piper is definitely a scarred or how she calls it a ‘broken’ person. When Piper meets Camden, she simple wants to ‘enjoy’ him for the short time he is in town. She simple wants to forget. But from the very beginning Piper and Camden have this connection that you simple cannot ignore.
The romance between Piper and Camden was just so good. I loved how it was slow, and well.. sweet. Camden really took his time in making Piper trust him and I loved that. There romance really gave me all the butterflies.
And although Piper’s siblings made me want to pull out my own hair at times, I loved the way we got to know them too. Although their stories might have been side stories, it made this story complete and I really enjoyed it.
Yes, ‘Almost Just Friends’ was a beautiful, touching, intense, romantic read that I simple couldn’t put down. Jill Shalvis did a great job in making these characters come to life. And I really feel like I got to know all these characters, and like I’m part of their family. A must read!
Almost Just Friends will warm your heart! This story dives right in to the family drama and pulls at your heart strings with every chapter. This book definitely had me crying more than laughing, but it was so worth the emotional ups and downs. Each character pulls you in a different direction, whether it’s through loss, drama, or addiction. Such a beautifully told story, I can’t recommend it enough! Almost Just Friends can be read as a stand alone, but you’ll find yourself wanting to experience everything in Wildstone, and coming back for more!
Piper has been more than just a big sister to her brother and sister, she finished raising them and kept the family together. Now that they are grown and on their own (or so she thinks) she’s ready to sell the family property and further her education. She’s waited a long time and it’s her turn. But things don’t exactly work out the way she’s hoped and planned. Piper meets Cam and he’s hot, really hot! Imagine her surprise when she finds that he’s the son of her neighbor! They are thrown together often and the attraction is strong and she fights it. When both her siblings return home, there are lots of secrets that come out. Cam is amazing at giving her space, helping her reach beyond her comfort zone, learn that she deserves to take care of her for a change and that they really are good together! As usual, Ms. Shalvis gives us such wonderful characters, a heartfelt story as well as some laughs and tears as we get to a HEA! I received an ARC and am voluntarily leaving my review.
This is the latest book in the Wildstone series (5th of 6) and though it’s part of this fantastic series, it can certainly be read as a standalone story. Piper Manning has always been the “adult” of her group, her family, her life. She became the parent to her siblings after the death of her parents and then her grandparents. Now that her younger brother and sister are finally out of the home and “on their own” – she is ready to put herself first, to live her life. She has always been the one who takes care of everyone else, who puts everyone’s needs and wants before hers. And then, on the night of her birthday, she meets the “hot guy” in town, who turns out to be her older neighbor’s son and shortly after, both her siblings unexpectedly return home….their lives turned upside down, though they choose not to let Piper in on their issues.
This is a great story that will grab you and won’t let go. As the relationship between Piper and Cam (“Hot Guy”) grows, Piper is struggling to start living for herself and to change the dynamic of the relationships between herself and her siblings. Will she be able to overcome her childhood thoughts on relationships, love and loss and find her true self and her ultimate happiness?
Jill Shalvis is one of my go-to authors and once again does not disappoint. You will enjoy this book tremendously!!