USA Today Bestseller
New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis does it once again with a heartfelt story of family, forgiveness, and secrets that have the power to change the course of more than one life.
When Maze returns to Wildstone for the wedding of her estranged bff and the sister of her heart, it’s also a reunion of a once ragtag team of teenagers who had only each other until a … of a once ragtag team of teenagers who had only each other until a tragedy tore them apart and scattered them wide.
Now as adults together again in the lake house, there are secrets and resentments mixed up in all the amazing childhood memories. Unexpectedly, they instantly fall back into their roles: Maze their reckless leader, Cat the den mother, Heather the beloved baby sister, and Walker, a man of mystery.
Life has changed all four of them in immeasurable ways. Maze and Cat must decide if they can rebuild their friendship, and Maze discovers her long-held attraction to Walker hasn’t faded with the years but has only grown stronger.
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I’m still wondering if Jill Shalvis will EVER write a book that I won’t just completely fall in love with? Is it possible? Her books focus on friends, family, and forgiveness, of ourselves and others. It always makes for the absolutely perfect combination from start to finish.
Just read the other raving reviews. Cat, Heather, Sammie, Jace, Walker and Maze were characters that were brought back together in Wildstone, and all had things they needed to work through together and separately.
LOVED this book and will be eagerly awaiting on the next!
3.25-3.5 stars. This was a pretty good book. The Forever Girl is book six in the Wildstone series. This is the story of Maze, Caitlyn , Heather and Walker. They spent one memorable year as foster children together until tragedy forever changed their lives and changed them all. They have been in touch sporadically since then and as adults, but they haven’t been as in touch and open with each other as they could have been. Now they have come back together for Caitlyn’s wedding week. Can they heal old wounds and create a new future with each other as family?
I did enjoy this story. Maze and Walker have a romantic history that neither of them ever really got over. They have a lot of pain to overcome and hurts to work out. Caitlyn has major doubts about her fiance and going through with her wedding. Heather arrives with a baby in tow and is a struggling single mom. I enjoyed all of the storylines. I did think the fact that they were only foster siblings for a year and were that close was not completely believable but I do know that they experienced a tragedy together that truly marked them. The timeline of their relationships over the years was a little vague and confusing. The characters were all fine, but just a little bland and lacking in chemistry, connection and love. The pace was a little slow and there was a little too much pushing away by certain characters.
Overall, I liked this book in general, but it was not my favorite of the series. I really miss Ms. Shalvis’s Heartbreaker Bay series. I hope for more books in that series to come in the future.
Family matters – even when it’s family not bound by DNA. Second chances matter – whether in life or love. But life has not always been kind to this group of friends. Is there a way for new beginnings to emerge despite the tragedy that tore them apart? Take the journey with Maze, Walker, Cat, and Heather as they navigate being adults and coming together once again. It’s been a long time, but maybe just long enough for them to learn that new beginnings are possible. It may just take sorting out life, love, second chances, and the importance of family.
4.5 stars – second chance love that may drive you crazy!
I adored these characters at the same time they drove me insane. Four friends who are family – “siblings of the heart” – came together years ago when 3 foster kids joined Caitlin’s family. Tragedy struck after a year together and they scattered. But the bonds they formed that monumental year remain today.
Caitlin gathers them together for her wedding. She is the steady one of the group, but seems to be unraveling a bit with wedding stress. Heather is the “baby” of the group, but has grown up a lot in the few years they’ve been apart. Maze is the adventurous, somewhat of an instigator, push away love member of this group and Walker is the steady hand that is reliable in all things…except maybe that one time.
Walker and Maze have a bond that has lasted all these years even as she fights against it. Misunderstandings and stubbornness have led them to where they are now. That made me want to scream at times!
Caitlin is struggling and for someone who is so level headed – she was very stubborn in not seeing things clearly. She also made me want to scream at times.
This group truly is a family with all the fights, laughs, and love. I found this story heartwarming in amongst the insanity.
I voluntarily requested and read an advance reader copy.
Favorite Quotes:
She’d grown up with big dogs, so she didn’t quite get the appeal of the little ones. They yipped. They had a Napoleon complex. Last week at the dog park, they’d terrorized a big dog into peeing on them.
She’d kept all this bottled in because . . . well, that’s what she did, always. There were lots of corked bottles of emotion deep inside her.
“Healthy relationships are about the three Cs.” “Calamity, cluelessness, and catastrophe?” Maze asked.
Somewhere along the way, she’d become the sidekick in her own story.
Oh my God… I can’t go to jail, who’ll take care of Sammie? And plus there’s scratchy toilet paper in jail, and I’m too short for the orange coveralls they make you wear!
You don’t need to be in the beginning of a child’s story to change the ending.
My Review:
This story carried considerably more angst than any Jill Shalvis book I’ve ever read. Not that I’ve read a lot of them, but it was a noticeable difference when contrasted with the brilliance of her previous works that I’ve been lucky enough to lay my greedy and grubby hands on. The majority of said angst radiated out of the main character of Maze, who was difficult for me to warm up to as Maze took stubbornness to a new level of tenacious obstinance. I grew to care for her, although I still wanted to periodically give her a few smacks with my Kindle to disrupt her egocentrism.
As always, Ms. Shalvis’s writing was easy to follow, cleverly nuanced, well-paced, and amusingly engaging with a compelling cast of complex and quirky characters. The storylines and issues combated were relevant and relatable to many regardless of family situation, as every family unit has at least a few obnoxious members if not an entire limb on the family tree, or as in the case of mine, riddled with a plethora of pervasive pestilence starting from the root level and extending to the very top leaf. 😉
What a wonderful story of overcoming tragedy, uncommon familial bonds, and new beginnings.
Caitlin, Walker, Maze, and Heather, a self-made family coming together for Caitlin’s wedding. Sharing their grief over young Michael’s death in a house fire years ago, and starting over by sharing secrets they’d kept to themselves. Heather brings her young daughter that some of their group didn’t know about. Walker and Maze finally admit their attraction to each other. Healing can happen and does in The Forever Girl.
Ms. Shalvis’ writing touches your heart. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Years ago these four individuals came together, three foster children and the daughter of the foster parents. The year they spent together was special, bonds formed, lives changed, and then a tragedy tore them all apart.
I liked how each character was so different from the others. It took me a while to warm up to Maze, her emotions were all over the place, and she seemed intent on hurting herself emotionally. I liked the other immediately, but while they all had strong ties, they had drifted apart. When Cat pulls them all to her cabin at the lake, they struggle to find themselves and open up to each other. It was such a wonderful story of drifting apart and then rediscovering what had been lost.
I received this ARC in exchange for a honest review.
Caitlin and Michael Walsh’s parents were loving, caring foster parents. Maze, Heather and Walker were blessed to live with them for the best year of their lives. That ended when they decided to sneak out though a basement window. Maze turned a space heater on to warm the basement a bit. On their way back to the house, they found the house was on fire. A small rug next to the space heater had caught fire. Their foster parents Jim and Shelly were safe but Michael was still in the house. Walker had to be held back from attempting to get Michael.
It was too late. Maze blamed herself. That and her horrible home life, left her mentally crippled. This book is worth reading but I was disappointed. Too much of the book was about everyone’s background. It was most of the book before Walker and Maze even kissed.
Maze was too weak for my taste, even given her horrible childhood. You may or may not agree with me. One thing is for sure, I wouldn’t have wanted to miss any book written by Jill Shalvis.
Being a family has different meanings for different groups of people. In this story, a traditional family (mom, dad, and kids) adds foster children to their family and treats them all as family. At least for as long as the kids will let them. Walker and Maze are two of those foster children who grow up with some heavy suitcases of baggage. Being a grown up doesn’t mean the baggage goes away. Everyone is brought together during Caitlin and Dillion’s pre-wedding activities. Maze and Walker need to face their past while coming to terms with their family of the heart.
Jill Shalvis creates the little town of Wildstone and all the various characters who live there. The stories in the series all have a connection to the town, but the town itself does not become a character. It’s time to reread the series to find any character connections I may have missed by reading them so far apart and only once.
4.5 star
I was pulled right into this story. The story has secrets, and second chances.
If you have not read the below I would recommend reading those books(s) first
Lost and Found Sisters (Wildstone, #1)
The Good Luck Sister (Wildstone #1.5)
Rainy Day Friends (Wildstone #2)
The Lemon Sisters (Wildstone #3)
Almost Just Friends (Wildstone #4)
The Summer Deal (Wildstone #5)
Mistletoe in Paradise (Wildstone #5.5)
This is Maze and Walker’s story. These two and their friends have been through a lot. They are still working through grief and survivor’s guilt. Walks and Maze love each other but she broke his heart are the tragedy. Now she is back in town. Can these friends finally get some closer and build back the friendship that they lost? Can Maze finally stop running away from the love Walker is trying to have with her? Will he finally get her to believe that the love they have for each other is everlasting?
I loved these characters and the side characters. I felt I could connect with the characters and the story was a great read.
I highly recommend this book and can’t wait for the next story from this author.
The Forever Girl explores the relationship between three women and one man who once lived as siblings. Caitlin was the child of the couple who took in the others as fosters. The story centers around the group gathering before Caitlin’s wedding. Secrets are uncovered, fears exposed, some dreams recognized as others fade. Author Jill Shalvis peels the layers of her characters’ personalities slowly drawing her readers completely into the story, while showing there’s more than one kind of second chance. I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. Most highly recommend.
Oh my heart! Jill Shalvis is a favorite and this book is a prime example of why. This is a heartwarming story featuring family by choice. Friends bonded by time, tragedy and love. I can’t recommend this enough. Fantastic.
“The Forever Girl” is written by Jill Shalvis, and it is the 6th book in her Wildstone series. It can be read as a stand alone book. It centers around Maze, Walker, Cat, and Heather with Maze and Walker being sort of the main characters.
Maze, Walker, Cat, and Heather all grew up together, but their relationship and friendship now is not quite the same. Or it’s not what it used to be. Some are still in communications, while another chose to run away from what happened. They were all very close, but an incident in the past where a fire was involved played a significant part in how they are today.
What happens when Cat is about to get married, and they are all together for the first time in awhile? How will they react when they find out Cat tricked them into staying an additional week? How will Maze react to seeing the others namely Walker? How does Walker react when he sees Maze with her boyfriend? What is the big secret that Walker hasn’t told Maze? Will everyone get their happily ever after?
Without giving too much a way, this story kept me in suspense and all the storylines intertwined nicely. I’m not always a fan of reading a story with several POVs, but I feel like in this story, having all the different POVs helped understand the dynamics of these characters and why their relationship changed as they got older. Jill Shalvis did a wonderful job with this story!
The Forever Girl is the sixth book in the Wildstone series by Jill Shalvis. I love the people who live in Wildstone and these characters just add to my love! Maze, Cat, Heather and Walker were best friends and family years ago. Cat’s family opened their house and hearts to Heather, Maze and Walker but they were all torn apart by an accident that Maze and Walker both blame themselves for. Caitlin is the only who knew a parents’ love. It’s hard to forget that you were never wanted as a child. Those fears followed them into adulthood. Now they are all back together for Caitlin’s wedding at her family’s lake house. They had such great memories there when they were kids and now that they are back together all the good, and bad times are coming back. Maze and Walker always had a thing for each other, but Maze always walked away. She’s happy and sad to hear Walker, Cat and Heather have kept in contact with each other. Being back home makes her realize she misses them and isn’t going to let time go by again. But she needs to let go of her past and learn from her mistakes. Walker isn’t going to let Maze walk away this time. Cat just wants everyone to be happy. But what if she’s not happy? Heather has a secret of her own and she wants her family around her more. Friendships are mended, forgiveness is given, I love yous are said. I love the mix between Walker and Maze’s story and Heather and Caitlyn’s. It’s like three for one! Overall, I laughed out loud, cried and smiled! Another feel good romance from Jill Shalvis.
What I love about the Wildstone series is that we get more than one story but they are completely interconnected. Maze and Walker are the primary couple with more history than most couples have. Their connection makes it hard for them to hold on to the hurts from the past. Caitlin, Heather, Jace, and Dillion all had important roles to play, but they were a bit more periphery. This story is very emotional because of the topics, misunderstandings, and history that these people had. This story was well written and the preview of the next book has my eagerly awaiting the next story. Definitely recommend this story.
Since I have read this series out of order I think that Maze and Walker’s story has been a long time coming. First, I really liked how this book wasn’t just about them. It was about everyone in this group of friends. Maze is such a damaged person, but pushes through and tries to care for others. Walker is the strong and silent type. I consider this book a slow-burn romance. The Vegas trip with these two was life-changing, but an isolated incident. At one point I couldn’t see how Shalvis was going to turn this romance in the right direction, but she expertly pulled it off. I love her books and you really need to read this one! 4 stars
The standalones of the Wildstone series from Jill Shalvis are releases that I look for as I have really been enjoying this family-oriented series. They have just the right amount of drama and romance and never fail to keep me turning the pages.
In The Forever Girl, four childhood siblings meet up again for a wedding. Caitlin, Maze, Heather and Walker have a bond formed by love and tragedy. It doesn’t matter that they are not related by blood or that the last time they were together they had a disagreement. Caitlin wants her family with her for her wedding, so she schemes to get everyone together for the entire week before the wedding. She’s the “fixer” of the group.
The story centers around Caitlin and her wedding and the tenuous romantic love between Maze and Walker. Of all of them, Maze carries a big emotional bag full of regrets and guilt over the incident that changed all of their lives. She’s not thrilled to be there, especially with Walker. She loves him, but a prior meeting in Las Vegas didn’t go quite as planned and they never really resolved their feelings and emotions from that fateful trip. Being together with him now is just painful for her now, mostly because she still loves him, but she doubts his feelings for her with good reason after the way they parted in Las Vegas.
It’s a story of misplaced guilt, unresolved conflicts and emotions and love. There is no doubt that there is great love between the four of them, and Caitlin’s wedding is just the catalyst to bring them together for resolution. I really loved Cat — she’s the mother of the group, always wanting to fix them. Over the course of the week together, they all find what they are looking for and by the end of the book, all of them are in a much better place.
I really did enjoy reading this story. At the same time, I did feel that this book is heavy in terms of all the history that needs to be shown between the four characters. Heather gets shorted a bit and I hope we get to read her story someday. I loved Maze and Walker, especially when they were together and how he expertly brought Maze around to seeing the truth of his love for her. Caitlin was a darling. There’s just so much in this story that I thought it didn’t dig as deep as it could. With four main characters to deal with, there was a lot to cover, which changed how I connected with the characters and story.
Overall another good addition to the Wildstone Series.
An ARC was provided by the publisher. This is my honest review.
Once again Jill wrote a book filled with humor, romance and family. The storyline and characters were well developed.
Although Maze and Walkers love story was interesting I didn’t really connect with their love story. I however did enjoy the story that Jill wrote between Cat, Heather, Maze and Walker as a family. In addition, I really enjoyed the love story between Heather and Maze’s boss that Jill was building. I actually could see her doing a novella maybe. 🙂 Their love story flowed more smoothly in my opinion. I would have rather read more about them.
I wouldn’t say this is my all time favorite book of Jill’s but it was definitely worth a read for those that like contemporary romance with family drama & humor added in. Can’t wait to read her next release.
Maze, Walker and Heather were brought together as foster children in the home of Cat’s parents. Cat was the one who took each under her wing and made them feel welcomed and part of her family when they were kids and moved into her home. They were together for just a year before a life altering event happened that ended up separating them. Cat kept them all in touch with each other until they had a falling out. Now they are all adults but have been estranged for 3 years. Well at least Maze has… she has been the one that seems to always mess up, screw things up for every one or at least that’s how she views it and she totally blames herself for the event that happened all those years ago so she’s stayed away from the others. When they all come together for Cat’s wedding, she decides maybe she can make up for some things she’s failed at in the past. Speaking of the past, she and Walker had feeling for each other and have a secret they kept from the others that now must be dealt with. Secrets? Well there’s many and now the four of them set about to make up for lost time and heal from their past while vowing to stay together in the future. Ms. Shalvis does a fantastic job of dealing with some very real and serious subject matter and putting some humor into the situations. I received an ARC and am voluntarily leaving my review.
This was a 5 star read for me. I lived and loved vicariously through these 4 friends with realistic problems and very real flaws. I really appreciate how the author helps these characters work through all life can through at us, together. Highly recommend.