Book Review: The Backup Plan by Jill Shalvis

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I am feeling really lethargic today. I looked at my health app on my phone and it is crazy the number of times I appear to have woken up during the night. I don't feel like doing anything today, but I want to get this review out of the way so, as bad as it might be (my writing, not the book), I'm forging ahead. ~~~~ When Alice receives a call about an unexpected windfall, she's stunned to learn the gift is a falling-apart-at-the-seams old Wild Best B and B she once considered home - and she has inherited it along with two strangers. Except they weren't always strangers. Once upon a time, they were friends. One is her ex BFF Lauren. The other is Knox, the only guy to ever break her heart while never knowing she existed. It turns out their lives are unknowingly entangled because they once separately helped the same woman without expecting anything in return. Years later, Alice, Lauren and Knox are broken in their own ways with their own history - and secrets - causing them to start out on the wrong foot with each other. But according to the will, they must renovate and be partners in the inn for one year or else lose their inheritance. Stuck together, they make a list of rules to keep the peace - rules that end up doing the opposite - but by some miracle they find what they didn't even know they were looking for: acceptance, true friendship, and in one case (or two), true love. ~~~~ The reason I so desperately wanted to read this book because it is the third book in The Sunrise Cove series of novels. With series books I kind of expect to see characters from previous books in the series. But a lot of series are called so because they take place in the same town. That is the case here. The Family You Make, and The Friendship Pact also take place in Sunrise Cove. None of the characters are the same so they can be read as standalones. As for The Backup Plan as a novel, I enjoyed it. The mystery behind the woman whose Inn they inherited is interesting. What is more interesting is the secrets that come out about all three characters. Eleanor knew what was going on in each of their lives and how they were connected. Slowly the threesome learn about each other's secrets in a series of "letters" Eleanor left behind for them. This was a well thought-out book. A little bit of mystery, a little bit of romance, and a tangled web that must have taken the author forever to work out. I can picture the post-it notes on her wall. And apparently she wrote this during covid locked down with her family. A nightmare I am sure. There is no way any reader could see what was coming, how these people's lives were entwined. That makes for a good read. Friendship, family, love and mystery... a great combination.