Customer Reviews

Instant Attraction

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After surviving a horrendous accident that nearly took her life, Katie Kramer decides that it's time to make some changes and take charge of her life and her future. Deciding to take a temporary bookkeeping job for an outdoor adventure business in the Sierras, she's pleased with her decision. Until, that is, one of the owners of the business arrives unannounced in the night, demanding to know why she's in his bed. Despite this initial misunderstanding, sparks fly between Katie and former snowboard champion Cameron Wilder and she soon finds herself in the middle of her very own fast-paced, wild adventure.
Cameron Wilder suffered a career-ending injury and is struggling with constant pain and a near addiction to pain meds. Having been estranged from his family for several months, his homecoming was a welcome surprise for everyone. Even more unexpected than his return is his instant attraction to Katie. He typically prefers low-intelligence snow bunnies, not smart, sensible, sweet girls like Katie Kramer. His family at Wilder Adventures repeatedly remind Cameron that employees are off-limits to the owners but Cameron can't help himself. He figures they're both adults, they both know that Katie's position is temporary, and when the time comes they'll simply move on. But that plan proves to be less than perfect when it's time for Katie to leave.
Jill Shalvis writes great emotion and has a real talent for injecting just the right amount of humor at just the right time. Cameron and Katie are irresistible. Both are slightly damaged and more than a little vulnerable - imperfect enough to be perfect for each other. Secondary characters with their own stories are an added bonus to the story. I highly recommend this book to all contemporary romance lovers. If you've enjoyed Jill's books in the past, you're going to love this one, and if you're new to Jill, this is the first book in a fun new series - there's no better place to start reading her work!

Instant Attraction By Jill Shalvis is spectacular. Its everything I enjoy from her books and so much more.

Katie Kramer's new motto is Live Life Balls Out is really put to the test when she takes a temporary job at Wilder Adventures. After surviving a terrible car accident Katie feels she has to push herself to the limit. Late one night she is shocked to find Cameron Wilder claiming she is in his bed. This wasn't at all what she was planning when she wanted new things.

Cameron Wilder has his own demons to deal with after a snow boarding accident. He wondered the world trying to get it out of his mind but has finally returned home to figure out what he truly wants. His first night back "goldilocks" is in his bed. Katie is so different from any other woman he has ever known. And her vow has him reevaluating his own world.

Katie and Cameron both work hard at keeping their problems close to their hearts. But soon realize another survivor like themselves will help them to heal. Their attraction is instant and hot enough to melt any snow. Once Katie's temp job is over will they fight to keep each other in their lives.

Jill Shalvis introduces readers to the fascinating Wilder clan in Instant Attraction. Katie and Cameron are complex characters and their chemistry is explosive. Then secondary romance of Annie and Nick is heartfelt and emotional. This is a well rounded novel and should be on everyone's list to buy.

Instant Attraction introduces the males of the Wilder family and this first novel features Cameron an ex-Snowboarding champion who was used to adulation, money and women falling into his lap until an accident ended his snowboarding days. Katie Kramer, the heroine, takes a temporary job at the Wilder resort after surviving a horrific bridge collapse that killed 30 others and left her the only one alive.

Many romance novels feature the hero/heroine, some type of plot, and the mechanisms that follow the couple until they fall in love for a happily ever after. Instant Attraction has those elements, but what sets it apart from many other romance novels is the growth of the two main characters. Both Cam and Katie are emotionally damaged individuals from their respective accidents. As their story and love affair progresses, the characters are very real in their feelings, their emotional issues from their accidents, and instead of coming together in an unrealistic fashion where their problems are swept under the rug and conquered by true love--you actually experience their healing and journey towards health and love with them.

Highly recommended if you like some substance to your romance novels!

I loved Instant Attraction by Jill Shalvis! Her fast paced writing, captivating characters and funny, but real situations made it so I didn't want to put the book down until I got to the end. Set in the Sierra's during winter, the landscape plays an integral part of the story, but the two main characters, Katie and Cameron, are what really bring the story to life. They've both been through traumatic events, and each has deeply personal motivations for being in the mountains, but as soon as their reasons collide, without hesitation they help each other overcome their fears. In the process a steamy, unforgettable romance blossoms and after a few bumps, of course they get their HEA. I can't wait for Jill's next book in this series!

This was a long awaited book on my list, and I wasn't disappointed. The main characters (Katie Kramer and Cam Wilder) are interesting and relative. They have great adventures together that bring them closer, though there are some bumps along the way, and they get their happily ever after that we all crave in a romance. It's a wild, hot, sexy ride from start to finish!
I can't wait for the next book in the series, Instant Gratification, starring Stone Wilder.
I'm a long time Shalvis fan, I've read almost all of her books, and I would recommend them all!

Yet again, Shalvis creates a wonderful story about two people who fall in love. Her characters are realistic and human- I found myself completely engrossed in Cam and Katie's struggle to overcome their fears and find love.

Even the secondary characters are well-drawn, furthering the world Shalvis has created and drawing the reader more deeply into the story.

After recently finishing The Sweetest Thing (A Lucky Harbor Novel) by Jill Shalvis recently (and thoroughly enjoying it!), I decided to read some of her older books and see if they were as good. I'm so glad I did! Shalvis is a master at creating characters (and families) that you can't get enough of. The sexy bad-boy Wilder brothers are part of just such a family. Men who had a crappy past, they've turned things around (mostly) and made something of themselves. Now they just need the perfect women to share their lives with.

Spunky Katie, who survived a serious accident and decides to live her life fearlessly from now on, is the perfect match for brooding Cam, who survived a serious accident and cut himself off from the world for the past year. Katie refuses to hide and forces Cam out of his protective shell to help her be the best she can be...all the while reminding him that his life didn't end with his accident.

The banter and relationships between characters are Shalvis's strength, as well as her ability to make readers laugh and cry at the same time. There's no shortage of emotion in this book, even as the humor shines. I couldn't wait to move on to the next book, Instant Gratification, so check out my review for that one also.

Katie barely survived a devastating bridge collapse. After hanging precariously for hours, she decides that she needs to make some changes in her sedate life, and heads for the Sierra mountains for a temporary gig at an adventure travel company. Awaking to find a stranger in her cabin, she discovers he's Cameron Wilder, an Olympic champion snow boarder and co-owner of the company and has just returned after a long absence. Cam is dealing with his own loss - a career ending injury has him wondering what to do next. Try as they might, neither can quite fight the attraction building, and the usually elusive Cameron finds himself falling for a woman who wants nothing more than to be a free spirit.

For the most part, I love all books by Shalvis (I can only think of one I didn't like). She mixes romance, sexual tension, humor, and plenty of spice to tell a fun story; the first in the Wilder series she is currently penning. The only thing that detracted in this story is the subplot romance featuring Cam's aunt Annie and her estranged husband - two people who could use a good lesson in communication.

© Tracy Vest, April 2009

The sole survivor of a fatal bridge collapse, Katie Kramer resolves to live her life "balls out" from now on. Determined to live her life traveling from one adventure to the next, Katie finds herself heading from Los Angeles to the Sierras, where she takes a temporary job at Wilder Adventures as the office manager. Living in one of the Wilders' cabins, Katie wakes up one night to find a mysterious, sexy stranger claiming she's in his bed.

After a terrible accident took away the life he once knew, Cameron Wilder left his home in Wishful, California to travel. Now home once more, he wants nothing more than to get some sleep. So when Cam finds someone in his bed, he's none-too-pleased, even if that someone is a gorgeous "Goldilocks." Though they get off to a rough start, passion and a thirst for excitement soon draw Katie and Cam closer together. But will their unwillingness to put their hearts on the line bring their newfound relationship to an end, or will two wary souls risk everything for what could be the greatest adventure of all?

Get ready for a fast-paced, meltingly sexy, heartwarming romance. As wild as the hero's name suggests, Instant Attraction grabbed my attention from the get-go and didn't let go until the very end.

Cam and Katie were characters you couldn't help but fall for. Each has been through a traumatic, life-changing accident which left its mark on them, and each deals with it in their own way. I admire Katie for opening herself up to new experiences, to living her life "balls out," as she is fond of saying. As for Cam, his withdrawing from the life he loved is understandable, given what he went through. I was captivated watching Katie draw him out, getting him to not only survive, but to truly live once more. They were a perfect fit, each being exactly what the other needed, in life, in bed, and in love.

Not only did I love Cam and Katie, I became extremely attached to the rest of the Wilder family. I loved the subplot of Cam's Aunt Annie trying to work things out with her husband, Nick. I was every bit as invested in their troubled relationship as I was to Katie and Cam's growing one. As for Cam's brothers, Jill Shalvis has made me incredibly impatient for Stone and T.J.'s stories. And given the sparks that began to fly the minute Emma was introduced, she and Stone are bound to heat up the page in the upcoming Instant Gratification. Filled with characters I adored and not one, but two romances I was invested in, Instant Attraction charmed me from the first page to the last, leaving me fully satisfied and hungry for Ms. Shalvis's next Wilder brother tale.

Shayna
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Instant Attraction, despite the frivolity of the title, is a sweet, romantic yet deep tale of two people who have been deeply hurt in their past, yet who inspired and encouraged each other to emerge victorious from the ashes. The resilience of the human spirit shone through in this story, how one may be beaten by life, but never defeated. There is no mystery to solve here or suspenseful moments with a murderer on the loose, and that in itself is refreshing. The attraction between the main characters itself is simple and honest.

Balls out. That's Katie Kramer's new motto in life. The quintessential good girl, she didn't really let herself live. However, after a devastating accident, she emerged a changed woman, one who is determined to live every second, having adventures and taking risks, doing the things she's never done before. You can see this in the way she always reminded herself, "Balls out", when she experienced hiccups in her situations. She left her safe, boring job as an accountant and she ended up in Wishful, California, where she worked in Wilder Adventures, not knowing she'd meet Cameron Wilder, who turned out to be her greatest adventure.

Cameron Wilder is a champion skier, a hunk and has no shortage of women. But a terrible accident left him adrift and lost and wandering the planet. Until he came back home to find a beautiful woman sleeping in his bed.

I found the pace slow at the start, but as more of Katie's character and personality were revealed, she won me over and the story flowed. I like her and her attitude toward life. Balls out. Seize the day, every moment, every opportunity. Even in her interaction with Cam, she told him up front that she wanted him and she left him in no doubt as to her feelings for him every step of the way. Sexually, that is. She pushed, but not overly so, when Cam seemed to retreat. I find this reversal a novelty to watch, as it is usually the guy who's more aggressive in pursuing physical intimacy than the woman. And Katie is just so adorable that I can understand how Cam couldn't help but be enchanted with her. She was just so open and expressive, the opposite of the Wilders who bottled up everything inside them.

And while both Katie and Cam may be happy to continue with their denials that it's just sex, their actions proved otherwise. It was there in the way they helped each other through the nightmares of their past, the way they comforted the other and gave each other the courage to push through the darkness into the freedom of light. "Weightless" and "lifted" were how Cam described those moments of freedom.

And lest I give you the impression that this is one serious book, I can assure you that it's not! Cam's and Katie's banter alone is fun to read, not to mention the scenes that involved the rest of the Wilder clan. The secondary plot involving Cam's aunt Annie's and her husband Nick's problem in marriage is both realistic and funny to read.

I also have to mention Serena, Cam's cheating ex-girlfriend. I like that there's no stereotype villainess here. No, Serena is gorgeous, as can be expected, and she's just a tad bitchy, but overall, she's nice. And she became Katie's friend. How does that grab you?

Despite the snow and the frigid air of winter in which this story is set, Instant Attraction will leave you imbued with warmth and a sigh of contentment as you reach the final pages of the book.