ONCE IN A LIFETIME: HUBBY'S REVIEW

ONCE IN A LIFETIME                              JILL SHALVIS
Posted:  Feb. 24, 2014

  SOMETIMES WRONG IS OH-SO-RIGHT

After a wrenching loss, Ben McDaniel tried to escape his grief by working in dangerous, war-torn places like Africa and the Middle East. Now he's back in his hometown and face-to-face with Aubrey Wellington, the hot-as-hell woman who is trouble with a capital T. Family and friends insist she's not the one to ease his pain, but Aubrey sparks an intense desire that gives Ben hope for the future.

Determined to right the wrongs of her past, Aubrey is working hard to make amends. But by far, the toughest challenge to her plan is sexy, brooding Ben - even though he has absolutely no idea what she's done . . .

Can this unlikely couple defy the odds and win over the little town of Lucky Harbor?

HUBBY'S REVIEW:

This story begins with Ben, who after 5 years of working with the Army Corps of Engineers and the DOD, he has come home. His two best friends are trying to get him to date since the reason he left is that his wife was killed. Jack seems to be the closet to Ben of the two friends and he spends a lot of time at the bakery. Where it happens that Ben spots Aubrey who he feels an attraction to. Aubrey is coming out of a very bad situation, you cannot call it a relationship. The so called man who was the city manager embezzled from the city yet made it out like it was her fault and was dating her and one of her friends at the same time. People in the town though are blaming her even after he wrote a book. Mainly because when she was younger she was always getting into trouble. This part of the story pissed me off, oh well moving on. She decides to reopen her aunts’ old book store but it does need to be fixed up a bit. Her grandfather hires Ben to do the remodel without telling Aubrey. Then before he can tell her that she runs into the ass at a bar and throws a drink at him he ducks and the drink hits Ben in the face. It should be noted that she has had a crush on Ben since high school even though she was two years behind him. She runs out of the bar and realizes that Ben is following her so she hides in a church not knowing that an AA meeting is taking place. She stays not wanting to be seen by Ben. They are working on making a list of the people you have wronged and asking for forgiveness. She makes a list and one of the people on the list is Ben. He finally catches up to her and finds the list and starts to ask her question after question about the names on the list. She finally gives him answer to get the list back and he tells her that her grandfather hired him to do the changes to the store. From there the first night he works there they end up kissing and for both of them it is like nothing either one has ever experienced before. It was caught on video and posted by the local face book person. Over the next few days he finds a way to be with her to take to some of the places where she talks to people about forgiveness. This is very difficult for her and takes a lot of courage. You don’t know how someone is going to react. For her she gets some negative but she some positive as well. And by the time her father shows up because of something that first jerk did she is able to stand up to him and tell him she did that because he left her and her mom and she paid for college without calling him for he was not the farther she excepted. She and Ben had some very hot and passionate moments but the thing that she told him he had to work through it. Finally some people who were in her corner told him the truth which I think he knew it just took him awhile to admit it. A good story. I got this book from net galley.