Customer Reviews

Instant Gratification

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a Jill Shalvis fan! So far none of the books I've read by her have disappointed me. Fun, fast-paced, steamy, awesome books!

Stone Wilder is the glue that keeps the Wilder family from utter chaos. He's strong, reliable, smart, and on the verge of a burnout.
Dr. Emma Sinclair is only in Wishful to take care of her father's medical practice while he recovers from a heart attack. Then she is on her way back to the bright lights and fast pace of New York City.
Stone and Emma collide and are complete opposites. She's uptight and stuffy while he is relaxed and fun. Somehow, though, opposites attract.

As usual, I love Jill Shalvis' writing. It is witty and fun and it draws you into the characters. Even though many of her male characters are similar, I find myself still liking the stories and situations she puts them in. I really liked Emma despite her overly stuffy attitude.

It is not necessary to have read the first in the Wilder series (Instant Attraction), but you probably will want to after reading this one. :) Also, it continues the setup for the 3rd Wilder book, Instant Temptation. I can't wait to read the final installment of the trilogy to learn TJ and Harley's story.

Instant Gratification

Author: [...]

Publisher: Brava
ISBN-10: 0758231253
ISBN-13: 978-0758231253
Genre: Romance

Emma Sinclair thinks she's returning to Mayberry USA, aka Wishful, California, to run her father's medical clinic while he recuperates from a mild heart attack. What she didn't count on is her father not giving her the full story of his almost certain brush with death, the citizens of Wishful ignoring the fact that she is indeed a "real" doctor, and the horrors of no Starbucks or Thai take-out restaurant for miles. Hell, there isn't ANY fast food period. Then there's Stone Wilder. The man is hotter than hot and wilder than his name implies. At least that's what he leads her to believe. When she starts to peel away the layers and sees the real man behind the ski and mountain bum façade, she finds a solid guy who happens to be the backbone keeping his family together. But is he enough to keep the big city girl rooted and happy in a po-dunk town? Who knows, but they're having a hell of a time playing "doctor."

Jill Shalvis is a brilliant story teller. No matter which book I pick up, I know I'll be immersed into the picturesque settings as well as the drama happening with her characters. Instant Gratification is the second book in a trilogy about the Wilder brothers and their outdoor adventure/expedition company. Right from the start, I felt like I was a part of this magnificent country, sweating in the sweltering heat and cringing from the pain as Emma patches up Stone after one if his many accidents. Ms. Shalvis has a knack for putting it all into her books and making the reader feel like they are living life right alongside the characters.

Reviewer: Tami Brothers
Rating(s): 4 Petit Fours and 3 Hot Tamales
[...]

This is the first Jill Shalvis book I've read, as well as this type of genre. I picked it up on a whim. What I can say about it is that it was fun to read and it took me out of my head. I did find the sex scenes a bit too long, and Stone's physical description over the top. Yeah, I got that he was good looking and built, but I didn't need to read it so often. I found it quite repetitive. Despite that, I kept wanting to read it. And while I knew pretty much how it was going to end, the book served its purpose, a way for me to escape the daily grind of life. So much so, that I went and bought Instant Attraction, which is really the first book in the series. There was one thing that, as a writer, disturbed me, and that was that toward the end of the book, Shalvis gave one of the characters his own point of view. If this had been done throughout the book, it would have been fine, but to read the book through his eyes when he was minor character's who hadn't had a POV until the end of the book, seemed odd to me.

Despite all that, I would still recommend it for something fun and light to read.

I'm a huge Jill Shalvis fan. She is one of my top 5 romance authors, but Instant Gratification missed the mark for me. It was just mediocre, but I am still highly looking forward to TJ's story next.

Dr. Emma Sinclair comes back to Wishful, California to take care of her estranged father who has had a major heart attack. But she is already chomping at the bit to get back to her fast life and ER job in New York City. That is until she meets Stone Wilder, the middle Wilder brother. Stone tries to introduce Emma to his laid-back outdoorsy lifestyle when he is not getting hurt in an accident which requires Emma's attention. Emma just doesn't know how to loosen up and have fun though. My main problem with the book is I just didn't care for the heroine all that much. Usually what I love best about Jill's books is her ability to make me sigh when I am reading the dialogue between hero and heroine. This book had very little sigh ability to it for me. The dialogue was pretty repetitive and boring. But I can see where she is setting things up for Harley and TJ's story (book three) which I know will be good. Instant Gratification - 3 1/2 stars!

Continuing my Jill Shalvis kick, I moved on to Instant Gratification...actually worried that it wouldn't live up to the first one of the Wilder brothers' series, Instant Attraction. I didn't need to worry at all. Emma and Stone's story was just as great! I think one of the things I enjoy most about Jill Shalvis's books (besides the humor and emotion and great banter between realistic characters) is the fact that they are VERY sexy without being over-the-top. They are more about the sexual tension between the characters than the act itself, which is a big bonus to me. I'm not into erotic romances and tend to get bored if they spend all their time in bed. But Shalvis makes every love scene important to the story...the characters change and grow with each encounter. It's about hearts and minds, not just bodies. You have time to fall in love with the characters as they fall in love with each other.

Also, again, the families Shalvis builds are the best! So real they could be your neighbors (or even your own family). I couldn't wait for the last Wilder brothers book, Instant Temptation.

There's something about this author's writing I love so much. Many writers can be `hit or miss', but for me Jill Shalvis is always a winner. Her writing is hilarious, light-hearted, and yet always manages to deal with major emotions and different relationships. This is the second book in the Wilder Brothers trilogy, and while it holds up nicely on its own, you should really read the books in order (you won't regret it).

First of all, the cover is creepy. The other two Wilder Brothers covers are just great. But this one...if you see it in full size the guy has frightening black eyes like something from a science fiction movie. Don't let it turn you off, and when you read, make sure you imagine someone who isn't from Star Wars.

Big brother TJ, middle brother Stone and baby brother Cam run `Wilder Adventures' in the Sierras. They take people on adventure trips of all kinds. This book is about Stone - the one who keeps everyone together and the one who takes on responsibility for everyone in his life. Emma Sinclair is a doctor from New York, and returns to her small mountain hometown to keep her father's small practice going while the man recovers from a heart attack. She's the absolute, complete opposite of Stone, and it's hard work getting the two of them together.

Jill Shalvis writes contemporary romance - no suspense or paranormal stuff in sight. I love all genres, but straight contemporary is a subgenre I have trouble finding good books in. This series is especially great because you have so much fun while reading. Shalvis' characters are never carbon copies of each other. Stone is an excellent businessman, great at restoring houses, fantastic at adventure sport. He's also terrified of needles - he used superglue on a gash on his face so he wouldn't need to get stitches. He's so busy making plans for everyone else he's run out of time to do the things he wants. But he's determined to show Emma she might just be able to find a place of her own in the small community.
Emma is uptight - a serious planner - and has absolutely no idea about all the things that happened between her parents. She arrives in town full of assumptions about everybody and everything, and she has a lot of learning to do. She's strong enough to admit when she's wrong - which is quite the admirable quality in a heroine.

I absolutely adored the first book in the series, Instant Attraction - ditto for the third book, Instant Temptation. If you read one of these books you should read them all. They're all self-contained stories, but there's a lot more to this town to find out. This might be Jill Shalvis' best series, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

Wishful, California may only be 3,000 miles away from New York City, but for Dr. Emma Sinclair, Wishful, with it's small town atmosphere, lack of Thai takeout, and bears she's sure are waiting to attack, well, it might as well be a million miles away. After her father suffers a heart attack, Emma takes a temporary leave from her busy life at a NYC ER to run her father's clinic in Wishful and the change couldn't have made her crazier. Urgent Care in Wishful means treating bee stings, the occasional broken arm, and the ever-irritating Stone Wilder. The laid-back mountain bum drives Emma mad...when she isn't dreaming about him naked, that is. Yet even as Emma counts down the days until she can leave Wishful, she can't help but notice Stone seems to have set his eyes on her. What's more, the more she gets to know Stone, the more she realizes he's more complex than she ever could have imagined. But can Emma let go long enough to give into her desire for Stone, knowing she's not in Wishful to stay?

Jill Shalvis ups the ante in this second Wilder brothers book. Instant Gratification is even better than its predecessor, Instant Attraction. Stone and Emma lock horns, then limbs, giving Instant Gratification a pulsing energy that I loved. Stone is a hero anyone would fall for. While he looks like the mountain bum Emma first takes him for, beneath the laid-back exterior is a hard-working, deeply caring man who easily won my heart. Though she wasn't as easily won as I, I flat-out adored Emma as a heroine. She's brilliant but uptight, masking a vulnerability garnered by past hurts. I loved watching Stone help her learn to relax and to let herself care. These two were a perfect match in every way and I read Instant Gratification late into the night, unable to put the book down.

While Instant Gratification is the second Wilder book, each story stands on its own. Still, the Wilder family is very much involved in each other's lives and I loved watching them interact with one another. Furthermore, in Instant Gratification Ms. Shalvis teases with the friction between the third Wilder brother, TJ, and the woman who is sure to be his heroine. I finished Instant Gratification eager for TJ's book, Instant Temptation and, yes, gratified by the story of Emma and Stone's romance.


Shayna
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

I was very disappointed with this book. Very repetitious and at times boring. There was very little romance. Not worth the price I paid.

Instant Gratification is a solid romance, but not as satisfying as the first in the series: Instant Attraction.

Set again in the small town of Wishful, California, the story finds Dr. Emma Sinclair returning to her childhood home to replace her father Old Dr. Sinclair as the town MD while he recuperates from a massive heart attack. This story features the Wilder brother Stone as the romantic hero.

Stone appears to be very laid back and unmotivated, but as the Type A workaholic Emma discovers, he is anything but! Stone is the family peacemaker, gives the shirt off his back to help anyone type of guy, and the glue that holds the business together.

Stone and Emma have an undeniable attraction which neither wants to recognize at first. Emma is returning to New York City and her life as a doctor there when her Dad is well. Stone knows it.

Although there were some funny scenes in the book, some nicely put together romantic scenes, I felt the book echoed Instant Attraction and found that to be disappointing and repetitive, although to be fair I did read the two books back-to-back. As with Instant Attraction, the heroine was in Wishful temporarily and was going to leave. The Wilder brother in each story did not want to love the heroine, but did and was going to bravely let them go. Some of the dialogue could have been interchanged in the two books, personally I would have preferred a little more character development for both Stone and Emma. Emma's character did not seem to grow, but rather changed because the author was resolving the story. After the great character development in Instant Attraction, this was a let down.

However, Instant Gratification is a good solid read in this trilogy. I believe the third book in the series, Instant Temptation comes out in April of 2010 according to Shalvis's website which is the story of TJ Wilder and Harley who are minor characters in this book.

This reminds me of the other two books about the Wilder brothers...only with a different brother and a different girl. Same story - different scenario. I was hoping for more from this book - as the last two left me disappointed. The story itself is very romantic as the characters figure out that they are more than just "friends", but it lacks in the "hot" department. I kept hoping it would sizzle but just smoldered. It's an "ok" book but nothing spectacular.