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gingerspice's review
5.0
4.5 rounded up!
Iâve been dying for Jacksonâs book since I read book one last month and it did NOT disappoint! Jackson is such a broken grump and I LOVED him! I loved his arc and watching him come out of his shell and grow! Man the growth in this book was amazing! Shiloh is the sunshine in his dark days and she pulls him out! Jenny does such a great job of weaving these little pieces in through the story and seeing them come full circle in the end just makes you say wow! I loved this so much! The only reason for the half star off is Shiloh sometimes came off super immature in her internal dialogue. But this book was amazing and I canât wait for Emilyâs story!
Iâve been dying for Jacksonâs book since I read book one last month and it did NOT disappoint! Jackson is such a broken grump and I LOVED him! I loved his arc and watching him come out of his shell and grow! Man the growth in this book was amazing! Shiloh is the sunshine in his dark days and she pulls him out! Jenny does such a great job of weaving these little pieces in through the story and seeing them come full circle in the end just makes you say wow! I loved this so much! The only reason for the half star off is Shiloh sometimes came off super immature in her internal dialogue. But this book was amazing and I canât wait for Emilyâs story!
thedudereads's review
5.0
This was such a great book. It was a bit of a slow burn until it caught on fire fully and then wooooooo doggy. There were so many times I just found myself laughing.
marissajames's review
4.0
Enjoyed the book. Loved Jackson. I wasnât a fan of Shiloh in the beginning but she grew on me. Some of her motives didnât make sense to me - she seemed really immature in the beginning & annoyed me and than all of a sudden she was better/less immature. I do wish the story had been a bit slower because it felt a little rushed at points especially as it relates to Jacksonâs character arc/change. Emotional read at times. Check TW/CW. Loved seeing the characters from the other books in the series. Canât wait for Emilyâs book.
cokiereads's review
5.0
I love, love, love the Finch family.
I knew this would be a little bit heartbreaking . I mean, inspired by A Walk to Remember? Yes. Anyways there was a lot of grief in this book, but thats to be expected.
Sweet Shiloh has some things thats hurt her in her past too. I cant believe she was so sunshine. <3 Oh where she questions bringing clothes
I knew this would be a little bit heartbreaking . I mean, inspired by A Walk to Remember? Yes. Anyways there was a lot of grief in this book, but thats to be expected.
Sweet Shiloh has some things thats hurt her in her past too. I cant believe she was so sunshine. <3 Oh where she questions bringing clothes
chulaisreadingromance's review
5.0
âJackson Finch, I will make you like me.â
âThatâs quite a challenge. Because I donât like anyone.â
Let me tell you about a book that blew my mother-effing mind. A beautiful, heartfelt and emotional read that pulled my heartstrings so hard and so deliciously that I needed to slow down, because otherwise I was going to devour the book instead of savoring it as it should be. A story so gorgeously and delightfully written that replaced every single tear I shed with true joy and hope.
My friends, our dear Jenny Bunting outdid herself with this book. I've been saying this for the last few books, I've seen her writing getting stronger and this book is such an amazing example of that. It was definitely different than the rest. I still made me laugh out loud (because, come on! Freaking racoons attacking people and all the banter and shenanigans of the Finch family? There's no way I wouldn't laugh), but the plot, the backstory, the themes it dealt with and the overall heart of the story made me sob. Really sob! I didn't know I could be crying in one page and then laugh at the next one and then swoon in the next.
âHappiness is hard work. You have to choose it, every day. Life doesnât make it easy."
I was intrigued by Jackson since book 1. Jenny built the expectation so well and delivered it so beautifully. I fell completely in love with him. Seeing everything through his POV, his family, the town and his own seclusion made me feel for him so hard and understand his grief and sadness so well. I think one of my favorite things about him was his ability to understand others, his pain made him able to connect with the pain of other people and develop a compassion so genuine and natural on page that made me want to be a better person myself. He was kind, giving and even in his own little world, he was always thinking of others. Getting to know Shiloh through him was also a different experience. The way that man saw her made my heart melt completely. His heart was surrounded by a concrete wall with an electric fence around it, but Shiloh made it her mission to be the hammer of sweetness that would demolish it all.
Shiloh is now in my top 5 favorite Sunshine characters. She was the most selfless, compassionate and kind person ever. She was the epitome of Sunshine. The type of heroine who sees the light before she even gets to the end of the tunnel. She fell in love with Jackson's darkness before she even got to know his best side. I flew through the pages with her POV. She was such a fun and charming character, the type that you wish was real so you could be best friends with her. Her level of selflessness is definitely human being's goals. Still, I felt so encouraged to see that she always put herself first, even when it hurt her (and me, who was witnessing everything.) I loved how she embraced the town, the family, friends and connections she made and how they embraced her.
I loved the friendship they created before knowing they were falling in love with each other. It was beautiful and natural. They both needed each other's company and understanding before they needed each other romantically. Although, the sexual tension they had going on... daaaaaaayum. There were a couple of scenes that made me want to skip to the good part so hard, but the slow burn was more than satisfying. All that incredible physical attraction plus the emotional intimacy and healthy dependency they developed in the little actions, heart-melting moments, details and conversations they had with each other, even if it was painful for any of them what made it all a bundle of swoon and goodness!
"What I feel for Shiloh does not fit in the box I called love. Itâs calm, peaceful. Every time I was around her, I felt comfort and support. She made me laugh unlike anyone else. I could say anything to her, and I was accepted for exactly who I was."
It was heavy in some parts. The theme of grief was a cornerstone in the plot of this book. It was a realistic journey towards healing. It hurt in a good way. The moments Jackson had in order for him to move forward with his life hit me so hard, I shed tears of sadness for him, for what he went through and what he had to deal with, but I also cried happy tears as he allowed himself to heal and find hope in new beginnings by facing the past. I also want to thank Jenny for talking about how hard it is to grief a pet. Some people still don't understand that losing a furry baby hurts as much as losing a person and the process to heal from that can take the same time. The same effort and the pain isn't less valid just because it was "just an animal". Jenny did a beautiful job painting this picture in this story.
As I said, the laughter didn't lack in this book. After all, it's the Finch family we're talking about. These siblings and Olive, their little niece always steal the show when they're all together. I loved seeing everyone else and the beautiful bond that this family has. And my heart jumped seeing how they made Shiloh part of the family so fast and so lovingly. I love everything about them and can't wait for Emily's book! The anticipation is killing me now!
In the meantime, I'll be impatiently waiting to get this in paperback! The mix of emotions, the beauty and genuineness of the main characters and their journey made this book the masterpiece I knew it was going to be and even more. I'm sincerely at awe with everything Jenny did with this book, which I think is her best book yet.
If you haven't read anything by Jenny Bunting, all of her backlist is available in KU, including the first two books in the Finch Family series! Golden Hour releases December 30th and it's available to pre-order.
As always, a million thanks to Jenny Bunting for gifting me an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
letstalksmut_chill's review
5.0
This sunshine grumpy romance was fantastic to read! This is the first book ive read by this author and will be definitely checking out more. Something about the words just falls off the pages as you read!.
hayleysnextpage's review
4.0
"If I did believe in destiny, Shiloh was meant to find me at this moment."
The vibes:
- Grumpy/sunshine
- Workplace romance
- Small-town romance
- Dual perspectives
- Age gap (10 years)
- Slow burn
- Friends to lovers
- The ultimate grand gesture
- Lots of cute dogs
Well, I think this is officially my favourite book in this series. I loved Jackson and Shiloh's relationship. They reluctantly start off as friends (thanks to Shiloh's sunshine personality and persistence) and her friendship was exactly what Jackson needed. In his words, "you brought me back to life." To avoid spoilers, all I'm going to say is his character development was one of my favourite parts
The vibes:
- Grumpy/sunshine
- Workplace romance
- Small-town romance
- Dual perspectives
- Age gap (10 years)
- Slow burn
- Friends to lovers
- The ultimate grand gesture
- Lots of cute dogs
Well, I think this is officially my favourite book in this series. I loved Jackson and Shiloh's relationship. They reluctantly start off as friends (thanks to Shiloh's sunshine personality and persistence) and her friendship was exactly what Jackson needed. In his words, "you brought me back to life." To avoid spoilers, all I'm going to say is his character development was one of my favourite parts