Read an #Excerpt from The Sweetheart List by Jill Shalvis

I am excited to share THE SWEETHEART LIST, the latest standalone in New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis’ Sunrise Cove series. This novel is the perfect recipe for your next beach read, as it features: a charming small town in Lake Tahoe, a quaint bakery (that of course sells mouth-watering treats!) quirky characters, and true love.

About the Book

The Sweetheart List
Sunrise Cove #4
by Jill Shalvis
Format 352 pages, Paperback
Published June 13, 2023 by Avon
ISBN 9780063235694 

What makes life sweet?

-Freshly baked bread
-A cool lake on a hot summer day
-The comfort of a cozy bookstore
-Second chances and new beginnings

When Harper Shaw’s life falls apart, she knows it’s time for a change. She removes everything that doesn’t spark joy—from her soul-sucking job to eating kale to making lists—and sets off for the last place she was happy, Lake Tahoe (who wouldn’t feel good there, right?) to fulfill her dream of opening her own bakery.

With her Sugar Pine Bakery in between a tavern, owned by sexy, grumpy Bodie Campbell, and a bookstore, run by her new BFF, she feels a peace she’s never experienced since…well, forever.. Then she meets Ivy, a teenage runaway, who barrels into her heart. She sees a lot of herself in Ivy and takes her under her wing, but the teenager has secrets…

When those secrets explode, it changes Harper’s new world, and she’ll learn, it’s never too late to start over, it’s never too late to figure out your life, and best of all, it’s never too late to let yourself believe in love.

AMAZON | B&N 

Excerpt

Harper Shaw was a single snack-getting-stuck-in-a-vending-machine away from an anxiety attack. But hey, that was what happened when you decided nothing in your life sparked joy. You wiped your slate clean like an Etch A Sketch and started over.
A heavy sigh came from the shotgun position of her car.
“I know, I know.” Harper leaned forward a little, squinting into the dark night, broken up only by the white slashes of snow coming down. “We’ve been on the road for twelve hours and you’re hungry and bored. I get it, believe me. Who knew it could snow in Tahoe in July? But hey, it’s pretty, right?”
No response from the peanut gallery, so she reached into the passenger seat for her skinny popcorn, pulling the huge, one-pound bag into her lap to munch on. “The point is, we agreed to stop being Eeyore. It never gets us anywhere or anything but heartbroken and shoved aside. We’re done with that. We’re only looking at the silver linings now. Positive thinking. Gotta dream it to live it and all that crap.” Sure, she was exhausted and frazzled on the inside, but she meant it. She’d just turned thirty and a corner on her life path. If it didn’t bring her joy, then forgetaboutit. And speaking of joy, she found some driving over the majestic summit, taking in the staggeringly high peaks that were nothing but inky outlines against the stormy night sky.
She was pretty sure her beat-up sneaks weren’t going to stand up to this storm, and she didn’t have any sort of warm boots. She reached for her phone to access her notes and start a new list before she remembered—she no longer made lists.
They hadn’t brought her joy. They, along with her ex-almost- fiancé, Daniel, had brought only pressure, unrealistic expectations, and heartbreak.
But she still had Ham. Aka Hambone, her 125-pound, five-year-old perpetual puppy Bernese Mountain rescue. The perfect male, he was loyal, sweet, and always kind. His only fault was that he got carsick—like, really carsick—unless he had his huge head out the window. This meant Harper was currently freezing, even with her heater blasting.
Most of her belongings were in a moving pod that would arrive next week. But the things that mattered most to her were in this car. Ham, of course. Her mom’s recipes—one
of only two things she had of the woman she’d loved more than anything. She also had her own beloved and essential baking tools, including her mixer and food processor, not to mention her jar of homegrown, irreplaceable sourdough starter and a tin of her chocolate and mint chip cookies, both out of this world, if she said so herself. She planned to use them to bribe people into wanting to be friends with her, because she could really use some. Or even one.
And then there was the small building she’d rented to open her own bakery. Scary, but as she had zero regrets, also incredibly thrilling. She’d happily walked away from her stressful job at the busiest bakery in all of San Diego, then also walked from things she’d considered her responsibilities, like helping her ex-almost- fiancé through law school or making sure her dad was happy, as she’d promised her mom she’d do. But since Daniel had graduated and dumped her, and her dad had remarried and moved on, she was free.
And looking forward to living life as she wanted—without obligations or anything that preyed on or drained her emotions.
Not that anything could drain them at the moment. Nope, her emotional gas tank was currently on E for Empty.

The Sunrise Cove

About the Author

Multiple New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is … mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s bestselling, award-winning heartwarming and full of humor novels wherever books are sold and visit her website for a complete book list and blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures. Her newest Sunrise Cove novel, THE SWEETHEART LIST, is out now, and THE BRIGHT SPOT comes out in January!

Look for Jill's bestselling, award-winning novels wherever books are sold. Visit http://www.jillshalvis.com for a complete book list and fun blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.