Animal Magentism Book Review *Jill Shalvis*

Brady Miller is spending a few weeks relaxing in the small town of Sunshine, Idaho where his two foster brothers, Dell and Adam live. Brady has just come back from fighting in Afghanistan. As Brady is picking up his breakfast at the local 7-Eleven, a woman rear-ends his truck.

The driver, Lilah Young, the co-owner of the only animal kennel in town has her hands full with not only two puppies and a potbellied pig in the car, but a mallard duck who won’t quit it’s squawking. A car accident is the last thing Lilah needs since she’s low on cash. And when she meets the attractive owner, who she feels is passing judgment on her, she’s not certain how she can make amends. But then the man, who introduces himself as Brady, offers her a ride and has the power to make her duck obedient, she can’t help but quickly become attracted to him. Maybe the reason is because she hasn’t had any sex a long time due to her working long hours at the kennel to keep it up and running.

Because Lilah is good friends with Dell and Adam, she comes in contact with Brady almost every day. They both flirt outrageously with one another to the point they want to do much more than just innocent flirting. Since Brady is only in Sunshine for a short while, he doesn’t want to start a relationship with the adorable Lilah, who wears her heart on her sleeve whenever it comes to the animals she takes care of. And Lilah is reading willing and able to have a no-strings affair with him, he takes her up on that offer. Unfortunately his heart gets involved with this small town woman who he dreams of possibly having forever with.

Animal Magnetism is perfect for those readers who enjoy reading small town romances with larger than life men. Brady acts tough and distant because of his past where he was passed from foster home to foster home, and then becoming a military pilot with no real place to call his home. When he meets Lilah, his opinion about settling down slowly starts to change.

Unfortunately this latest by Jill Shalvis didn’t work for me. Animal Magnetism is more of a character driven novel since there isn’t a great deal of action or suspense. Everything rests upon the build of attraction between Brady and Lilah. But it falls flat. I just didn’t feel the connection between these two at all. And even when they both get together and hop on the sheets and have their physical fun, even those love scenes were lacking. Jill does trying to show a well-rounded Brady and Lilah with their personalities and interactions, but it didn’t come across that well on the pages.

Animal Magnetism was pretty ho-hum in my case. I was waiting for something exciting to happen but it never came. I also grew annoyed with Brady, who didn’t seem true, as if he was putting on an act the entire time. I guess this could be because he didn’t want anyone to get close to him, but it seemed as if he was trying too hard. Also the secondary characters didn’t really bring much to the story as a whole.

While I have enjoyed Jill’s other books in the past, the only real positive I can say about Animal Magnetism is the cover with the hot man holding the adorable puppy. If you’re looking for a well-rounded, satisfying romance, I’d look elsewhere. (Berkley)

Final Grade: C