Review: Even Better Than The First
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 17, 2013
I really enjoyed Jilted, but I LOVED Bolted.In Jilted we were introduced to Josh who is worrying about his sister Greta (and everyone else) who disappeared after he got left at the alter.  Now in Bolted, we finally get to find out where she went and what she was doing after she vanished off the face of the earth!Poor Greta is the 'problem' child in her family.  Josh is the good kid, she's the disappointment. At least that's how she feels, and it doesn't help that her mother is often exasperated with her for her impulsive choices which only work out about a quarter of the time. When she'd come back to be a bridesmaid in "perfect" Josh and "perfect" Ally's wedding she knew that she would finally need to tell her family about her divorce.  Another mistake that her mother had told her not to make.  When everything falls apart at the wedding she runs, needing an escape from her own life.  She doesn't want to add to her mother's burden by letting her know how she's disappointed her again, she doesn't want to face the curious townspeople who won't mind their own business, and she has nothing to return to at home because she has no job and no husband.When she runs (impulsively) she happens upon Hank, who has managed to accidentally trap himself.  He's an archeologist and his intern has disappeared, leaving him to do the dig alone... and unfortunately a large rock has fallen and trapped his ankle in such a way that he can't get enough leverage to get it off him. Nor can he move. And his phone is too far away too reach. Oops.  Fortunately for him, Greta's impulsive walk through the woods has her coming upon his dig just as he's contemplating the various ways in which he might die while trapped there. She takes him back to the hotel that he's staying at, stays for dinner... and ends up offering her services as a chef to the hotel owners if she can stay there for the week.After all, she did very well in culinary school (which she dropped out of college to attend and never got to use her skills because her ex's family was too rich/snobby to be okay with his wife cooking).  And during that week, Greta begins to find herself and figure out who she really is. What she really wants. And things heat up between her and sexy Hank in a way that she'd never dreamed possible.Greta is a fantastic heroine, independent and flawed, completely relatable and wonderfully expressive. Hank is a major hunk and I cheered for him the whole book long.  It was an absolute pleasure to read about Greta's self-awakening as well as the sexy budding relationship.There's a great cast of side characters, the two hotel owners Alice and Nadia and Alice's granddaughter Hyacinth are all absolute trips.  When Greta's ex Ryan finally makes his appearance you just want to punch him... but at the same time he's not one of those exes that you think "What did she ever see in him?" Yeah he's not right for her, and he's got some major flaws, but he's got some good things about him too.And we get little glimpses into the the relationship between Greta & Josh's mom and Ally's Dad, which I absolutely LOVED.All in all, a lot of the questions that Jilted brought up for me were answered in Bolted (but not all - if you're looking for info about Devon and Josh or Ally and her dude it's not in here) and I felt a sense of pure happy satisfaction by the end of this book.  Absolutely loved it. Highly recommend it.  And I recommend that you read Jilted first because it's a darn good book.  Can't wait to see what comes out next... although I'm still not sure how I feel about Ally and I'm pretty sure she's what's next.