SWEET LITTLE LIES

After losing her parents as a young teen, Pru Harris has spent her time and resources making amends for a tragedy she feels responsible for, which is why she can never fall for her intoxicating new neighbor Finn—except that she does.

Pru loves her life, mostly. She’s a captain for a San Francisco tour boat, she's rescued a dog who adores her, and she’s just moved into a new apartment that’s opened up her social life in a way she never hoped for. Her new circle of awesome friends includes pub owner Finn O’Riley, and despite a blazing attraction between them, Pru is determined to keep him at arm’s length, since she has a secret that connects them through a tragic accident that left her guilt-ridden and willing to sacrifice almost everything to help its victims. But thanks to a series of clumsy events that force Finn and Pru together, their relationship zooms past friendship, leaving Pru dazed, in love, and uncertain as to how to come clean about their shared past. Yet the longer she waits, the more untold secrets become trust issues. Shalvis begins a new series that revolves around a close group of friends and a fountain with a reputation as a wish-granting matchmaker. The concept is fun, the friends are engaging and good-natured, and the romance is sexy and touching, so readers will likely overlook the fact that the conflict is a little thin and almost completely created by Pru’s intense selflessness and misplaced guilt mixed with an inability to be honest and straightforward, then exacerbated by Finn’s odd inability to overlook her one misstep when she’s otherwise perfect for him. Which, in the end, makes it pretty easy to overcome.

Shalvis has created a love story romance fans can’t help but root for and grounds it in an affable community they’ll adore.