The Good Luck Sister (Wildstone)

by Jill Shalvis

[nitzan_schwarz]

My rating for this one, unfortunately, is more around a 2.5 stars than a three. I loved Dylan and Tilly in The Lost and Found Sisters, and I still really like them, but this novella was really really meh for me.

First of all, a third of this novells is reading exact scenes from Lost and Found Sisters. Not from a different pov or something, which could have been interesting, but almost word for word. The only difference was that some got cut down a bit. That was... so unnecessary. I guess I could see that it tries to connect people who haven't read the first one to this story, but I also feel like... why would someone who hasn't read the first one read this one?

Second, I felt like this was Shalvis rehashing plot-lines she has done before, and done better (for example, Rescue My Heart which I read earlier this year and is pretty much the exact same set up only far more fleshed out). I wrote this is my review for the first one - it was obvious that if Tilly and Dylan got their own story, it would be because they have separated, which I didn't really want to happen. And, of course, it did. And for the exact same reason, I feared it would.

Now, I feel like this COULD'VE worked as a full novel. Perhaps we could see scenes from their past that we HAVEN'T seen before. Dylan and Tilly were an item for at least two years before they separated - that gives us a lot of time to pool from that would let us understand and feel the strong emotions that they used to share--and still do. It would help explain it.

It would also give Tilly more time to accept Dylan's love. Like, she didn't want to be attracted to him. She was. She made his logo. She saw him with some kids. His friends told her the real reason he left and for an added bonus told her how bad he got hurt (which I feel like shouldn't matter? Why does the fact he got hurt change anything, like the fact he left without telling her?). Then everything is forgiven and suddenly it's the next morning but also "by this time she knew his routine" which is like, how? what happened? the timeline doesn't really add up?? Also didn't they become friends long before she was 15?? why did they suddenly meet when she was 15??? tHIS TIME LINE DOESN't WORK??? And it even ends with a proposal but it also feels like it has literally been two weeks or something and whaaa?

I really wasn't feeling it. I wanted more time for their relationship to develop--it's been eight years, for god's sake!--I wanted to see NEW things from their past and not the same things I've already read (like, for example, the FIRST time Dylan crawled through Tilly's window when they were kids because, hello, that would be awesome. Or the first time she found out about his abusive daddy, or their prom, or the day he left her, ect).

So, this one is kind of a no no for me. Definitely not Shalvis at her best....