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    Rainy Day Friends: A Novel
    Rainy Day Friends: A Novel
    Rainy Day Friends: A Novel
    Audiobook10 hours

    Rainy Day Friends: A Novel

    Written by Jill Shalvis

    Narrated by Karen White

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Following the USA Today bestselling author of Lost and Found Sisters comes Jill Shalvis' moving story of heart, loss, betrayal, and friendship.

    Six months after Lanie Jacobs’ husband’s death, it’s hard to imagine anything could deepen her sense of pain and loss. But then Lanie discovers she isn’t the only one grieving his sudden passing. A serial adulterer, he left behind several other women who, like Lanie, each believe she was his legally wedded wife. 

    Rocked by the infidelity, Lanie is left to grapple with searing questions. How could she be so wrong about a man she thought she knew better than anyone? Will she ever be able to trust another person?  Can she even trust herself?

    Desperate to make a fresh start, Lanie impulsively takes a job at the family-run Capriotti Winery. At first, she feels like an outsider among the boisterous Capriottis. With no real family of her own, she’s bewildered by how quickly they all take her under their wing and make her feel like she belongs. Especially Mark Capriotti, a gruffly handsome Air Force veteran turned deputy sheriff who manages to wind his way into Lanie’s cold, broken heart—along with the rest of the clan.

    Everything is finally going well for her, but the arrival of River Brown changes all that. The fresh-faced twenty-one-year old seems as sweet as they come…until her dark secrets come to light—secrets that could destroy the new life Lanie’s only just begun to build.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJun 19, 2018
    ISBN9780062850539
    Rainy Day Friends: A Novel
    Author

    Jill Shalvis

    New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s bestselling, award-winning novels wherever books are sold and visit her website, jillshalvis.com, for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.

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    Reviews for Rainy Day Friends

    4.5/5

    146 ratings27 reviews

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    • 5/5
      - [ ] This story flows beautifully and has really sassy characters that make it fun and interesting during all the book. The main male character, Mark, is a little insensitive at first, but his attitude softens as the story develops. The change and immersion in the character’s problems give you a nice insight into their personalities. The italian Californian landscapes and environment of the family also gives a nice touch to whole plot. I think anyone who loves a good romance story will enjoy this book, so…bon appétit!!!!
    • 5/5

      Lainie's husband betrayed her in the worst possible way. Six months after his death she's still angry and devastated. Lainie found out she isn't her husband's only widow, he had a collection of wives who all believed they were legally married to him. Lainie was the first, but besides a little money in her bank account that doesn't give her much comfort. Lainie doesn't have any support, there's nobody she can lean on and she wonders if she's lovable at all. She desperately needs a fresh start and that is how she ends up with the Capriotti family at their winery. Will she find a way to heal there?

      The Capriottis are loud, intense and welcoming. Lainie isn't used to being included, but all family members are making sure she's being made part of the family. Lainie especially feels at ease with Mark, a single dad looking after his twin daughters with the help of his grandparents, parents and sisters. While Lainie is slowly finding a place among this lively family someone else is being added to their ranks. River seems to be a sweet girl, but she's keeping something that can break Lainie's heart all over again...

      Rainy Day Friends is a beautiful heartwarming story. I loved Lainie. She's kindhearted, gentle and vulnerable. She hasn't had much luck when it comes to being loved while she's such a wonderful person. Mark and his twins are making it difficult for her to keep her walls up and slowly Lainie learns how to let people in. She does the same with River. River is pregnant and alone. She's young and destitute. There's something she's not telling Lainie though and finding out what would happen if the truth would come to light kept me on the edge of my seat.

      Jill Shalvis has an amazing captivating writing style. Her stories are filled with the most precious quirky people. It's easy to fall in love with her main characters and whenever I read one of her stories I always have a big smile on my face. They are impossible to put down and I love their delightful atmosphere. Jill Shalvis knows how to portray people, she gets personalities and knows how to make her characters' flaws work in their favor. Her stories are always a true joy to read. Rainy Day Friends is absolutely amazing and I highly recommend it.
    • 5/5
      I received this book from Harper Collins as an Early Review copy. This is a great romance. It portrays real life characters with real feelings dealing with real issues. It has humor and deals with being an outsider looking in on a family of rambunctious, opinionated, nosy people. I had just about given up on the romance genre (other than a few faves). I got this as a review copy and after some recent lackluster romance reads, I had to push myself to read it. It was so worth it!
    • 4/5
      Imagine your husband dying and then several other women showing claiming they were his wives. Well, that is what happened to Lanie. She thought she had a typical marriage – OK one maybe where she was happy when he was away but she had no idea he was away because he had an addiction to marrying other women. For some reason that baffled my understanding these women seem to blame Lanie – whom he married first – for his predilection for bigamy. As if she knew and or could control himThat is only one of my problems with the book but I will get in to what I liked. It was a fast, easy read as you would expect. The women are all beautiful and the men are all gorgeous. This is escapist reading at its finest. Lanie hies it out of town to “find herself” by accepting a short term contract as a graphic designer at a family owned winery. The Capriottis are the family we all wish we had and worked for – in other words they are fictional characters. They were a joy to read. They give hope to anyone living in a crappy family.Lanie, who has sworn off love. Love but not sex meets the Capriotti son Mark who has sworn off love for reasons of his own. Love but not sex, so you can imagine what happens between these two.River is a pregnant young woman. living in her car who stumbles into the winery with an ulterior motive but she too is sucked into the Capriotti orbit. As her story unfolds and her connection to Lanie is revealed it threatens a burgeoning peace that Lanie was starting to feel.OK – what I didn’t like. I for the life of me didn’t understand why Lanie felt so burdened by her idiot dead husband’s actions. Why she felt it was her fault. So much of the plot rested on this and I just didn’t get it. I also didn’t get the other women hating on her for his idiocy. I am also not personally someone who wallows so I don’t get people who wallow. Get a grip, move on. Life sucks sometimes. Sometimes really badly.All in all I was entertained for an afternoon but also equally frustrated.
    • 4/5
      4.5 stars.

      Rainy Day Friends by Jill Shalvis  is a heartfelt novel of healing. This second installment in Wildstone series can easily be read as a standalone, but I highly recommend the previous books as well.

      Thirty year old widow Lanie Jacobs is in desperate need of a distraction from the shocking discovery her husband Kyle was a bigamist.  Taking a temporary job as a graphic designer at the Capriotti Winery, she is dismayed by how close-knit the family is.  Matriarch and CEO Cora is warmly inviting and full of wisdom.  But it is Cora's son Sheriff Mark Capriotti and his adorable six year old twin daughters who quickly inveigle their way past her defenses.  When Cora welcomes twenty-one year old River Brown into the fold, Lanie befriends the young woman only to later learn stunning information that sends her reeling. Will Lanie flee from Mark and the Capriotti's in order to protect herself from further heartbreak?

      Lanie still bears the wounds of her parents' emotional distance and hands' off approach to childrearing. She opened her heart to Kyle only to later find out she put her trust in the wrong person.  Trying to recover her equilibrium, she hopes the short term job at the Capriotti Winery will provide her the breathing room she needs to figure out what to do next. Lanie tries to keep an emotional distance from the caring family, but they easily sneak into her heart.  But can Lanie prevent herself from acting on her sizzling hot attraction to Mark?

      After his ex-wife walked away from him and their daughters, Sam and Sierra, Mark decides to steer clear of relationships until after his girls grow up.  He willingly gave up his Air Force career to return to home, but he does not plan to live with his family indefinitely. Mark works long hours in order to save up enough money to build a home of his own.  He is instantly attracted to Lanie, but will Mark convince her to agree to a no strings fling?

      River has a bit of a tragic past and she is astonished by how easily Cora and the rest of the Capriotti's welcome her into their lives.  She is even more guarded than Lanie and while she is open about some things in her life, she is very secretive about others. After River is caught in a very outrageous situation, her revelations devastate Lanie and threaten their friendship. Will Lanie find a way to forgive River and let her back into her life?

      A captivating addition to the Wildstone series, Rainy Day Friends by Jill Shalvis is a wonderful novel with a cast of endearing characters and an engaging storyline. Lanie and Mark are a wonderful couple but they are quite cautious about allowing their casual hook ups to deepen into a real relationship.  Mark is quite charming and he is quick to open up about his past whereas Lanie remains guarded with her defenses firmly in place. She becomes even more closed off when the truth about her marriage is revealed and her first instinct is to run. Will Mark convince Lanie to take a chance on building a future with him? Or is she too wounded by her past to risk her heart?
    • 5/5
      Heading back to Wildstone was just like coming home in the best ways possible.

      Lanie is in an impossible situation, only made slightly better by the fact that the person who caused it all is no longer within her reach. What do you do when your world is crumbling around you? Well, if you're Lanie, you pick up the pieces and try to start again. Her road to recovery leads her close to home, or rather what was originally her home, but also into the arms of a uniquely exceptional group of people that while nosy, loud, and in everyone else's business, are one of the best representations of a true family that I've ever seen. They are not all blood related, but that doesn't make them any less a part of the whole, and while Lanie gets her feet back under her, they'll serve as a safety net she was never expecting...and a means by which her heart can heal even though that's the furthest thing from her mind. Meanwhile, we have Mark...

      Mark has been suffering himself, though he himself is nothing to suffer. *ahem* His whole family dynamic changed at the drop of a hat, and while his big alpha male military self was a take charge kinda guy in the field, now he's braiding hair, attending dance recitals, and listening to bedtime stories from the mouths of babes. That's right, he's a single father with twins, though not by his own choice, and he wouldn't change their appearance in his life for the world. In truth, he's a great dad even when he has little time for it, and watching him with Sam and Sea will touch your heart, if it wasn't already melting for him already. Problem is, Lanie's arrival is going have him feeling things he doesn't want to feel, and exploring opportunities neither is fully ready for. Fear of something has never stopped him in the past,but what if that hesitation is from BOTH sides? Can walls be broken down that were so carefully constructed and will what's on the other side be ready to love again? Only one way to find out...

      Have I mentioned, I love this author's work? Because I do, I really do. I loved the whole lot of the Capriotti family, from the tall to the small, the cordial to the attitude driven, the collected to the those doing the collecting. They were loud, boisterous, full of life, and though they may not always do the right thing, their hearts are always in the right place. While our leads were outstanding, you can't help but fall for the secondary leads (River and Holden) too, as well as the extended family and friends (Cora, Mia, etc, etc). They work their way into your heart one well intended intrusion at a time and keep you steady when all else seems to fail...and let's not forget the sexy times because yes, there are a few of those too!

      The long and short of all it all is that its a wonderful addition to the series, managing to introduce a slew of new characters with so much potential for future exploration she could write their stories alone and have at least six more novels in the works. (Woot woot!) There's heart, there's humor, there's unintentional embarrassment, and giggles to spare, but beneath it all, there's a strength of family that keeps things running through thick and thin and with nary an expectation of payback no matter what the perceived cost.


      **copy received for review
    • 5/5
      Thanks to the publisher for a ARC copy to read and give my honest opinion. Looking for an absolutely wonderful book to take the the beach? This one is for you! The author does a wonderful job of making you love every character in this book, not to mention you get two HEA for the price of one book. Lanie accepts a job at a winery to get away from things for awhile. Recently made a widow and then finding out her husband had several other wives come forth. Lanie escapes to this winery full of love and laughter feeling like the odd person out. She tries to meld in to this beautiful family but still manages to feel like an outsider. The Capriotti family has enough love to go around ten fold as this huge family brings lost people in to their fold like its human nature. Lanie starts to fall for single dad Mark and his twin daughters, Sam and Sierra but will she be able to let herself love again if they find out her shameful secret. I love this series, book two, and a stand alone. This author just makes you love this family and want to belong. I seriously enjoyed the heck out of this book and would love to read more books in this series. Five huge stars of entertainment! Great book!
    • 5/5
      Happy that's what I feel when I finish a Jill Shalvis book. I love this family and want to have them adopt me. Imagine a big loving Italian family who own a very successful winery. They love to help up the underdogs in the world. This story is about underdogs drifting till they land on this families doorstep. If you love a good heart warming story about love, family, success, happiness, and trust, this is the author for you.
    • 4/5
      Rainy Day FriendsByJill ShalvisWhat it's all about...This book is a delightful fun romance drama filled book about the Capriottis...a big engaging family who own a winery in California. The most impressive thing about them is the way they take care of people that they care about. That is how Lanie, River and Holden became such an important part of this big robust family! Why I wanted to read it...I read a lovely review on another blog and I was just compelled to read this book! I literally read it in a day. What made me truly enjoy this book...I loved this family! They have cottages for workers who need a place to live, they have huge lunches every day where everyone connects but most of all I loved the relationship between Marcus and Lanie and his two twin daughters. The daughters were filled with funny antics that delighted me. Lanie and Marcus were full of sexy passion and beginning love...this book sparked with their relationship. This book had drama, too, involving Lanie and her dead husband. He had quite a few wives...one was River! Oh my! Why you should read it, too...Readers who want a page turning fun beach book...will love this one! I received an advance reader’s copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley and Amazon. It was my choice to read it and review it.
    • 4/5
      Last week, I read Ann Mah's The Lost Vintage, a dual timeline novel set at a family vineyard in the Burgundy region of France. It was a wonderful piece of literary fiction, and I learned a lot about life at a vineyard.This week, I read another book set at a family winery, this one in California wine country. Jill Shalvis' Rainy Day Friends opens with thirty year-old Lainie trying to deal with her anxiety long enough to make it through her interview at Capriotti Winery. She applied for a temporary freelance position as a graphic designer, working on marketing products, wine labels and website graphics for the family winery.The entire Capriotti family is eating their daily lunch out back, and invite Lainie to join them, which panics her. She meets Cora, the CEO of the winery, her daughters, parents, and two adorable, young twin granddaughters, Samantha and Sierra.The Capriotti Family is boisterous and they all work at the winery at various jobs; all except Samantha and Sierra's handsome father, Mark, who is a deputy sheriff. Sparks fly immediately between Mark and Lainie, but she is not ready for a relationship.Lainie is widowed, her husband Kyle having died of a heart condition. They had been married for five years when he died. After his death, Lainie discovers that Kyle was a bigamist and had four other wives. This shattered Lainie, and made her untrusting of not only others, but of her own instincts. She would not allow anyone to get close enough to hurt her again.But the Capriotti family took her in. She adored the twins, and looked forward to being with them. She also liked spending time with Mark, and while a physical relationship with him was hot and heavy, she was not going to get emotionally attached, particularly after Mark said that he wouldn't get involved with another woman until his girls were grown. (Mark's wife left him and the girls.)The Capriotti family takes in people and brings them into the fold. They took in Holden, a cowboy who cares for the horses at the winery and then one day a young very pregnant woman named River turns up, and Cora takes her in too.River is hiding the real reason she came to the winery, but she too is happy to become a part of the family. Her mother died and her baby's father abandoned her, and she and Lainie become fast friends as well.I enjoyed spending time at the Capriotti Winery, and as someone who comes from a big family, I found the Capriottis comforting. The way they tease (and harass) each other will be so familiar to anyone from a large family.Rainy Day Friends is quick, terrific beach read, and I smiled as one character said that this is "not a Hallmark movie" because I though all throughout the book that this would be a perfect Hallmark movie. If you're looking for a light, sexy story, Rainy Day Friends hits the spot. I recommend it.
    • 4/5
      Rainy Day Friends is the perfect summer, it's too hot to be outside story. I loved the story of Lanie escaping her life after finding out her husband was a husband to other women and finds herself pulled into the amazing family of the Capriottis. This family is wonderful. They are loud, obnoxious, nosy, and so welcoming. Anyone who comes to their winery is instantly taken under Cora's, the owner, protective wing and welcomed into their crazy family. When River arrived at the winery, peeking in the window, living in her car I knew that she would be accepted with open arms but I also knew that there was more to her story. It didn't take long for me to figure out what drew her to come to the winery and why she was interested in Lanie. I liked that Jill Shalvis had them become friends first then told the rest of their connection. I cannot blame River for coming to the winery. It was probably the only way that she could survive with her baby. Mark... oh Mark and his gorgeous,naughty, sweet, lovable twin girls. I loved the paragraphs that included the twins and Mark. Those twins were too much and I could picture their cute blonde heads, the two of them wandering the winery and causing havoc to the adults. And Mark with his big bad teddy bear attitude trying to keep them in line, going to work, and visiting Lanie all while to hide his heart. There was no doubt that his heart was going to bust open when he first set his eyes on Lanie and I was excited to see how long he could hold out and how he would convince Lanie that she could trust a man again. Jill Shalvis is so talented. She is a definite must-read author for me. I recommend picking up Rainy Day Friends and then going back and reading the rest of her books.
    • 4/5
      Imagine your husband dying and then several other women showing claiming they were his wives. Well, that is what happened to Lanie. She thought she had a typical marriage – OK one maybe where she was happy when he was away but she had no idea he was away because he had an addiction to marrying other women. For some reason that baffled my understanding these women seem to blame Lanie – whom he married first – for his predilection for bigamy. As if she knew and or could control himThat is only one of my problems with the book but I will get in to what I liked. It was a fast, easy read as you would expect. The women are all beautiful and the men are all gorgeous. This is escapist reading at its finest. Lanie hies it out of town to “find herself” by accepting a short term contract as a graphic designer at a family owned winery. The Capriottis are the family we all wish we had and worked for – in other words they are fictional characters. They were a joy to read. They give hope to anyone living in a crappy family.Lanie, who has sworn off love. Love but not sex meets the Capriotti son Mark who has sworn off love for reasons of his own. Love but not sex, so you can imagine what happens between these two.River is a pregnant young woman. living in her car who stumbles into the winery with an ulterior motive but she too is sucked into the Capriotti orbit. As her story unfolds and her connection to Lanie is revealed it threatens a burgeoning peace that Lanie was starting to feel.OK – what I didn’t like. I for the life of me didn’t understand why Lanie felt so burdened by her idiot dead husband’s actions. Why she felt it was her fault. So much of the plot rested on this and I just didn’t get it. I also didn’t get the other women hating on her for his idiocy. I am also not personally someone who wallows so I don’t get people who wallow. Get a grip, move on. Life sucks sometimes. Sometimes really badly.All in all I was entertained for an afternoon but also equally frustrated.
    • 4/5
      RAINY DAY FRIENDS in the third book in the Wildstone series but I had no problems reading it as a stand alone. I enjoyed it so much that I've just ordered the first two books in the series.Lanie has been a widow for 6 months but she has more anger than grief. After her husband's death, she found out that he was an adulterer who had several other wives. Because Lanie was the first wife, she felt that her husband's decisions meant that she was unlovable and unworthy of love. She led a very solitary life until she applied for a temporary job at the Capriotti winery to re-do their logos and website. Once she arrives, she is surrounded by loud and boisterous members of the family. As they take her into their family and as she begins to let down her guard - especially around their son, Mark, she begins to change her attitude toward other people. Can she totally change or will she continue to live her solitary life? Just when she thinks she can change, another new add to the work group threatens to ruin all of the progress she has made in her life.This is a wonderful book about love and friendship and family. It's about letting go of your past and learning to embrace the present.Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
    • 4/5
      First novel read by this author. I plan to read more of her books in the near future. I read this book on vacation. I enjoyed it very much.
    • 5/5
      4.5 stars. Thanks to William Morrow Paperbacks and LibraryThing Early Reviewers for my ARC. This was such an enjoyable contemporary romance. It has a sympathetic heroine, a yummy hero (and his wonderful extended family) and a crazy plot. If you love Jill Shalvis or if you're a fan of laugh-out-loud romance that will also tug your heartstrings you'll want to read Rainy Day Friends.
    • 4/5
      This is my first Jill Shalvis book and I really enjoyed it. I think it's a feel good story for when everything in your life seems to be at it's worse. The cast of characters are wonderful and it's really easy to fall in love with them, which makes it understandable that the main character does as well. The only thing I didn't enjoy in the book was the phrases/quotes at the beginning of each chapter about anxiety. I feel like they weren't really tied in with each chapter very well. Otherwise I really enjoyed this book!
    • 4/5
      Loved!Even though it's yet another widow-with-a-rat-bast@rd-dead-husband story (et tu, Jill Shalvis?) I tried really hard not to notice that aspect of it once Lanie and Mark and River and Sam and Sierra's story sucked me in. Each time I pick up one of Ms. Shalvis's Wildstone series books I fall a little more in love with the world and the people she has created here. The Capriottis (and all of their hangers-on) are no exception. I sincerely hope that Ms. Shalvis will let us come back and visit with this group again and again :)So. Many. Highlights. Here. Once again, Ms. Shalvis has written a book that had me laughing out loud and tearing up--oftentimes closer to each other than I would have thought possible. I loved Lanie's pre-chapter Anxiety Girl comments ("Anxiety Girl, able to jump to the worst conclusion in a single bound!" and "Why limit yourself to panicking in a crowd? Panic everywhere. Follow your wildest most anxious dreams" are just two of these gems) and virtually everything that came out of Mia's (Mark's younger sister) mouth was highlight worthy--because "this whole waking-up-every-morning thing isgetting a bit excessive." I hear you, sister. Plus, she's currently single--just sayin'. ;)If you're a fan of starting over stories about giving life and love another chance--as well as realistic characters that make you want to hug them slightly more often than you want to shake them--I can heartily recommend her Wildstone series. Though this book is the second in the series (third, if you count the novella) it absolutely works as a standalone.Rating: 4 stars / A-I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
    • 4/5
      This book sucked me in immediately and never let go. The characters were well developed. The romance was predictable but well done and enjoyable. This would make a great beach read-it reads fast.
    • 5/5
      Lanie finds herself in a real mess after her husband dies. Not only did he leave her a widow...he left several widows. Complete shock! She leaves her home for a job in a winery to escape the scandal and embarrassment. When Lanie reaches the winery, she is enveloped into one of the best families in fiction! I fell in love with the whole family! They are THE BOMB! The take in Lanie and make her feel special. Heck...they do this for everyone.
Lanie is having all kinds of confidence problems. She cannot forgive herself for being taken in by her past husband. She cannot believe she missed all the clues. This family, and especially Mark, help her find her way back to herself. Then...River shows up. This puts a twist in everyone's day, week and month!
Well! I have never read Jill Shavis before! How have I missed her? I have no idea! I follow her on all her social media and she is hilarious and why I have not picked up one of her books is beyond me.
This book is so good! It is quirky, cute and so sassy! The characters are super. It is a feel good, heartwarming, summer read not to be missed. Any book which has you grinning all the way through is something special.
    • 4/5
      I had a fantastic time reading this book! I just didn't want to put it down once I started reading. I fell in love with this wonderful group of characters and couldn't wait to see how things would work out for them. This is the second full length book in the Wildstone series but it really reads as a stand alone with little connection to the previous installments beyond being set in the same town. I expected great things when I picked up this book and I am happy to report that it lived up to all of them.Lanie hasn't had an easy time of things lately. Her husband died only six months ago. That is bad enough but after her husband's passing, she discovered that she wasn't the only wife. She takes a temporary position at the winery in Wildstone as a way to get away and regroup for a bit. She does not expect to be surrounded by a family like the Capriotti clan. I loved the characters in this book. The Capriotti family were all wonderful. They were all genuinely caring people that never hesitated to take those in need under their wing. They were all just a lot of fun. I thought that the banter between the family members added a level of authenticity to their characters. Usually when there is a large cast of characters, I have a bit of difficulty keeping everyone straight but these characters were all so unique and had very distinct personalities from the start of the story. I think that Shalvis did a fantastic job with the character development in this book.I loved Mark and Lanie together. They were just perfect together and complimented each other wonderfully. I like that they were both coming from a place where they didn't want a relationship but couldn't resist the draw towards each other. They had so much chemistry but the parts of the book that really made their relationship feel real were the more touching ones, such as Mark being there for Lanie when she needed him, or Lanie's interactions with Mark's girls. This book had no shortage of excitement. I liked River's character but I had a feeling that she would make things interesting as soon as she entered the story. River and Lanie have so much in common and I loved how all kinds of relationships were explored in this story. I felt like we really had the chance to see these characters grow and learn how to deal with some of the hardships that have been a part of their lives.I would highly recommend this book to others. I thought that this was a wonderfully written story filled with swoony and heartwarming moments. I can't wait to read more from Shalvis and I hope that we get to see some of these characters again in future installments in the series.I received a digital review copy of this book from William Morrow Paperbacks via Edelweiss.
    • 5/5
      Looking for a family to take you in? May I suggest the Capriottis? What a loving, accepting, wonderful, warm-hearted group of people spanning four generations live and work together at their vineyard and winery! And, how marvelous it was for Lainie, River and Holden to have met them when they did! Lainie has taken a job as a graphic artist and will live and work on the vineyard for two months. She has recently been widowed and found out that her husband was not the man she thought he was. If he weren’t dead she might have been tempted to kill him herself after learning all that she did about him. She is talented, a bit snarky, definitely guarded and uninterested in forever with a man when she arrives at the winery. That begins to change as one by one the Capriotti family begins to worm their way into her life and into her heart.Mark Capriotti left the family business for the Air Force only to return home to raise his twin six year old daughters with the help of his family when his wife scarpered off to Australia. He is a wonderful father and relative and oh so alpha male hot BUT he is not on the market for a woman to be part of his future. He works long hours on the local police force and has dreams of building a home for his family one day. When Lainie and Mark meet on her first day at work I felt like a fly on the wall…or picnic table…and enjoyed their interaction and the sizzle between them. That sizzle sputters for a bit but then the embers spark to life again…eventually. I enjoyed the way they became closer and also how they worked through their issues eventually ending up thoroughly happy together. Mark’s daughters are a delight and add so much to the lives of the characters in the book. I found them precocious and precious and wanted to scoop them up and play with them. River’s arrival and secrets that are eventually exposed rock Lainie’s world making her question more than she has before. There is so MUCH in this book that made me feel and care and wish I could be there. I wanted to give hugs as well as shake sense into some of the characters but in the end I didn’t want the story to end because it was just that good! Thank you to the author for the ARC – This is my honest review.
    • 5/5
      Rainy Day Friends by Jill Shalvis is her newest amazing book. In typical Jill fashion, you will be laughing out loud to some of the story and all of it will touch your heart. You will not only fall in love with some of the characters, but all of them for all of their differences and quirks. This is the third book in her Wildstone series.The book takes place in California in a family run winery and having visited wineries in California, I felt as if I was back there again and as if this was one of the wineries I have visited myself. There is of course the drama with a dead husband who was not faithful, and his devastated widow, Lanie, who until his death, did not realize how much of their life together was a lie. There is Mark, the cautious veteran turned sheriff who does what he can to make her realize that life is just getting started, and there is one of the women Lanie’s dead husband lied to who throws a monkey wrench into Lanie’s new start. You will just have to read this book to see how all the drama plays out. I am so glad that I did.
    • 5/5
      After Lainie’s husband Kyle died and she found out he had other wives besides her, Lainie needed to get away to figure things out and to settle on the truth of her own sham marriage. Thus, Lainie accepted a contract job at the family-run Capriotti Winery. Little did she know what she was getting into. The Capriotti family was huge and close, and everyone seemed to know what everyone else was up to while being totally accepting of everyone and all things. Lainie managed initially to hold herself back, to hide her scandalous secret about her now dead husband, but that did not last long. Before she knew it, she was becoming one of them, in particular, falling hard for the two young twins who were part of the family and who keep things lively as well as for their now-divorced father Mark. Both Lainie and Mark tried to hold their budding romance at bay, both having been hurt by exes as well as the challenges life had thrown at them, but life always has a way of changing things for us all. In addition, soon after Lainie’s arrival, another young woman, Rain, arrived and likewise was completely pulled into the Capriotti family. Lainie had a tough time accepting the huge family and their openness because, as an only child of a couple who really wanted nothing to do with their child, she did not know what to make of it all. Rain also had a secret, which almost destroyed herself, Lainie and the peaceful Capriotti family once revealed. This is the story of Lainie and Rain and their life and jobs at the winery. This was a pretty good story. It started out well and continued to hold my interest to the end. In particular, I enjoyed the motherless twin girls, who stole everyone’s hearts and souls, including mine, with their antics and comments. There was a real chemistry between Lainie and Mark from the get-go, though each fought their growing romance tooth and nail because of dark experiences in their respective pasts. The two were portrayed quite well in this relationship, as things grew and grew at a steady pace. The rest of the family all played great parts in everyone’s lives, the running of the winery and in their own intertwined lives. The ending was somewhat predictable but getting there was definitely interesting and made for a good read. Besides being a good romance, this is a story about family love, acceptance and redemption after working through a myriad of problems and past secrets. I highly recommend it. If I could give it more than five stars, I would. I received this from Library Thing to read and review.
    • 5/5
      To me, the mark of a truly great book is one that causes me to "live" in it, to feel all of the emotions the characters are feeling. Rainy Day Friends is a fantastic book. As I read, I was drawn into Lanie's life & feelings. I felt her hurt, anger & despair over the mess her dead husband had made of their life. I "ugly" cried when she finally broke. River - poor River - I felt devastated for her being so young & in her position. Mark had my sympathies for being left as a single parent & my admiration for stepping up & doing what needed done. Lanie, Mark & River had to travel a journey that actually was leading them to acceptance of what had happened to them & opening them up to recognizing & letting live back into their lives. Mark's family is the secondary characters & they are all complicated individuals but you find yourself loving everyone! Cora is the quintessential mother, Uncle Jack is the smart aleck & the sisters witty & hilarious. The plot leads the reader on a path with circles, twists & turns but keeps them deeply enthralled in what is happening. I would recommend making sure you have time to read the book from cover to cover & having a full box of tissues at hand before you sit down & start. This book is not a downer. There are moments I found myself smiling & chuckling too. This is a intense, highly charged emotional book & one of the best I've read in a while.
    • 4/5
      My summer started early with book! Lanie Jacobs is grieving her husband's death when she learns that she is not the only one. It turns out that her husband was a bigamist! Lanie looks for a fresh start and takes a job at a winery (I know - it is a little cliche!) and finds that she loves the place and the family that owns and runs the winery. Just when things are starting to turn around for Lanie, here comes a new someone with dark secrets that could turn the tide on Lanie again.This books is a quick read. I began it the day it arrived in the mail and finished the next day (it was just too hard to put down)! If you are looking for a book to read while you travel this summer, or need something to read at the beach, this is the book! Make sure that you like the genre and you will not be disappointed.
    • 4/5
      Rainy Day Friends by Jill Shavis is an excellent read, with a main character, Lanie, who is grappling with the sudden death of her husband and the later discovery that he had other wives in different cities. She escapes to a California winery to do a contract graphic arts job and begins to realize that there are people who can be trusted. Among the Capriotti Vineyards family is a handsome, single father of adorable twin girls, that challenges her to love again. The sudden appearance of a 21-year-old pregnant woman into the mix, brings Lanie's nightmare back to life. I found this book hard to put down.
    • 4/5
      I won this book in a giveaway. My ratings and reviews will be my own personal opinions and are in no way influenced by publishers or authors who may have sent me books to review.Jill Shalvis has been an author that I keep seeing and wanting to read. When I saw this new release (and that cover) I knew this had to be the one I grabbed for first. I am so glad it was!The first thing I loved about Rainy Day Friends was the family dynamics of the Capriotti family. They just seemed so real! They reminded me so much of my large Italian family. I found myself smiling and laughing and just loved that connection to my own life. I also loved how they really show that family is more than just blood. All of the family members were amazing and I hope the series will explore each of their individual stories more.I really loved the writing style as well. I picked this up one night and found myself over 100 pages. I only put it down since it was in the middle of the night. I was loving both Mark and Lanie and their relationship. I love how River is introduced and her story as well. Even though you will figure out how River and Lanie intertwine, it does not take away from the love of the characters. I found myself routing for their friendship just as much I was routing for the romances they each may get involved in. I really did love River and her story. Since the story is mostly around Lanie though, I think it took away from the development around River and her romance with Hudson. I wanted more around this relationship as I was loving it just as much I was loving Lanie and Mark. This had great characters and a great plot. Then you throw in some adorable twins and a big fluffy dog, so you can not go wrong with picking this up. You will laugh and you will cry. Overall, I loved this and I am needing more Jill Shalvis in my life.