#Review: All I Want by Jill Shalvis - 4 Wine Glasses

Title:  ALL I WANT
Series: Animal Magnetism #7
Author: Jill Shalvis
Narrator: Karen White
Format: MP3 - Unabridged CD edition, 9 hrs and 10 mins
Published : Tantor Audio; (October 6, 2015)
ISBN: ISBN-10:1452668930 / ISBN-13:978-1452668932
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Audible
Reviewer: Linda
Source: Contest win
Rating:  4 out of 5 Wine Glasses

From the “awesomely, incredibly talented”* New York Timesbestselling author of Still the One, comes a sexy new Animal Magnetism novel set in Sunshine, Idaho, where the sky is the limit when it comes to love. - Jaci Burton

Pilot-for-hire Zoe Stone is happy to call Sunshine, Idaho, her home base. But her quiet life is thrown for a loop when her brother’s friend Parker comes to stay with her for a week. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife special agent is a handsome flirt with a gift for getting under her skin. And the situation only escalates when Parker hires her to fly him around the area while he collects evidence on a suspected smuggler.

Now she has to live and work with the guy. But when they’re in the air, she sees another side of him. He’s driven, focused, and sharp. And while he enjoys giving commentary on her blind dates, she quickly realizes with a shock that it’s Parker who gets her engines going…

Linda's Thoughts
“I’m not annoyed by you,” he said. 
“No?”
He smiled. “No.”
“What are you?” she whispered, still staring at his mouth.
“Lots of things.” He pulled her up and rubbed his thumb over the stain on her jaw, feeling a surge of satisfaction when her breath caught again. “Including turned on.”

ALL I WANT by Jill Shalvis is a delightful contemporary romance set in small-town Sunshine, Idaho. Even though it is the seventh installment in the author's Animal Magnetism series, I found it to be a very enjoyable read on its own. How has this series escaped me? ALL I WANT is well-written with sexy guys, strong women, cute animals and swoon worthy romance. Suffice it to say that I have added the whole series to my must-read-soon list as this one was deliciously fun! This was the story of pilot-for-hire Zoe Stone and U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent Parker James.

As the story opens, Zoe's brother's friend, Parker, needed a place to stay in Sunshine and her brother had volunteered Zoe's place. Parker is supposed to be on a much-needed vacation, but he's actually secretly tracking a bad guy from his last case which didn't end well. I had mentioned the romance, but this tale also included a mystery, plenty of suspense and danger.

I loved both the hero and the heroine. Zoe lives with Oreo, a Bernese Mountain dog she has rescued, in an old home that she's attempting to keep up and renovate. She does not excel at baking, nor at home repairs. As Parker said: “You can work on an airplane but you can’t fix anything here at the house?” Her favorite saying is "I've got this," even when she doesn't. Her positive attitude is how she's survived raising her siblings and making it on her own. She is tenacious with a good heart. Now that her brother and sister have moved on, she'd like to find someone to love too. She's made a list of attributes that the perfect candidate for her affections needs to possess. Parker does not fit her Mr. Right definition.

Parker has issues. He was a disappointment to his parents. He has a sister that he dearly loves, but his parents do not approve of his influence with her. He's a workaholic. On the good side, he's awesome to find in your kitchen in the morning.... you'll have to read this book to discover all the reasons why. The way he cares for both wild and tame animals melts my heart. He's very good with home repairs :-) And did I mention that he's HOT?

I really appreciated that Shalvis shined the spotlight on two difficult subjects in this story. Neither detracted from, nor overwhelmed the tale, but both are dear to my heart. The villain that Parker was tracking was an international animal poacher and trafficker of ivory, rhino horns and the like. AND Parker's sister and her best friend were both disabled. KUDOS to Shalvis for tackling both issues in such a wonderful way!

Following please find a few of my favorite quotes from this book:

“He doesn’t seem that nervous to me,” Parker said.
Oreo farted audibly.
Zoe fanned the air. “See? Nervous.”
Parker laughed. “My guess would be he’s eaten some of your cookies.”
---

“My shoes,” she said. “”I’ve got to take off my shoes.”
“Those aren’t shoes. Those are evil devices designed to blow a man’s mind, and they’re staying on,” he said in a very sexy voice.”
---

“She stilled in the early-morning sun and slowly turned to face Parker, who’d followed her out. He wore his clothes with the same ease he’d worn nothing at all. And dammit, she really needed to stop thinking about that.”

I had so many favorite scenes in this book! I'll mention one of the first to whet your appetite for more. The couple's first meeting was a major case of mistaken identity as Zoe thought Parker was her blind date. Her sister had dared Zoe to be bold and kiss her date right away to get  the awkward part of a blind date out of the way. This scene had me laughing so hard, I almost cried. Here's a very short snippet taken from just after she'd slammed the door in his face after mistakenly kissing him.
“Maybe she could just move to Iceland. Iceland might be far enough to escape the humiliation, but probably not. Dammit. She’d kissed a perfect stranger, just accosted him on her doorstep. And… now her heart hurt. Maybe an impending heart attack would explain her behavior.”

The audio was excellently narrated by Karen White. She delivered both female and male genuine-sounding voices differentiating between each, so I could always tell who was talking. She even voiced the animals - the silly dog, two cute and playful kittens, and the wacky parrot, Peanut- perfectly. Her performance was well-paced with proper pauses and expression of emotions and feelings. There was nothing that fell short with Karen's rendering and I look forward to listening to more audios she has narrated.

I dare you not to love this book! With cute animals, flirty dialogue, humorous moments and steamy scenes, this story is most definitely in my favorites folder. I highly recommend ALL I WANT to anyone who loves animals and enjoys fun contemporary romances with oodles of warm fuzzies.


Suggested Reading Order:
ANIMAL MAGNETISM (Book #1)
ANIMAL ATTRACTION (Book #2)
RESCUE MY HEART (Book #3)
RUMOR HAS IT (Book #4)
THEN CAME YOU (Book #5)
STILL THE ONE (Book #6)
ALL I WANT (Book #7)