The Lemon Sisters (Wildstone #3)(99)

Brooke tipped her head back and yelled, “Garretttttttt!”

A few seconds later, her husband—she was never going to get tired of thinking that—rounded the corner of the house with a ready smile. “What’s up?”

“Mindy’s in labor!”

He turned to Mindy, slid his hands in her hair, and pressed his forehead to hers. “You okay?”

“I’d be better with some more sweet lemon bread,” Mindy managed.

Garrett grinned and brushed a kiss on her cheek. “I’ll make sure you get whatever you need.” He turned to Brooke and tugged her into him so hard she had to throw her arms around his neck to stay upright. His smile was huge, his body humming with an energy she’d never felt from him before. “We’ve made it through our past,” he said softly. “And now our future’s here. You ready, babe?”

Her heart caught and swelled hard against her ribs.

“Always.”





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About the Author



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Meet Jill Shalvis


About the Book



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Author’s Note

Reading Group Guide


Read On



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Coming Soon . . . An Excerpt from Wrapped Up in You





About the Author


Meet Jill Shalvis

New York Times 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 books wherever romances are sold, and visit her website for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.

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About the Book


Author’s Note

For a long time, I’ve had floating around in my head the story of two sisters, each deeply unsatisfied with where her life had taken her, so much so that they wanted to exchange lives with each other. That’s not quite where I took The Lemon Sisters, but that was by accident, not design. Because when I started writing that story, I realized something.

Both Brooke and Mindy needed a wake-up call, needed to make some changes, but deep, deep down, they didn’t covet what the other had. They coveted what they had.

But oh my goodness, it took a while to get there. I started the book with Mindy showing up at her sister’s door a hot mess, which she basically dumped on Brooke. In real life, I don’t have a sister, but if I did, I hope we would have the sort of relationship where I could do exactly that. But I did do that to a boyfriend once. And yes, I was as messed up as Mindy was.

When I was in my early twenties, I was in a car wreck, and my car got totaled. This was way before the days of Uber, and I lived in LA, so having no car was a big problem. My job was a going-nowhere position at barely minimum wage, and I was going to college at night. I was exhausted all the time and poor. I was eating a lot of ramen and peanut butter and apples. I lived in a two-hundred-square-foot studio apartment in Hollywood, and my rent got raised the same week my car was totaled.

I was a hot mess.

But with no sister to go dump my life on, I did the only thing I had available. I showed up at my relatively new boyfriend’s apartment and completely lost it, sobbing and trying to talk at the same time. You know what I mean, right? When no one can understand a word you’re saying, but you just keep going until you’re doing that sort of hiccup-sobbing because you can no longer breathe? No? Just me?

My boyfriend put me on his couch and handed me a strawberry pie. I’ll never forget that strawberry pie. I ate a third of it like I was a goldfish. I took a nap. I woke up and ate some real food (handed to me by the boyfriend) and watched TV and then napped some more.

When I got myself together, the boyfriend and his cousin had found me a cheap but decent car to buy. I upgraded my job. Found a better, safer apartment. All with some encouragement and help.

And a year from the day I’d shown up on that poor guy’s doorstep, my life had turned itself around. So that old adage that things will get better? True. At least in my case, thankfully.

So it was fun going back to that time in my memories and having my characters sink as low as they could go in order to watch them work their way out of it. Brooke and Mindy took their own routes, of course, and there were a few steps forward and a few steps back, but they had each other to count on—even when they didn’t know it.

I hope you enjoy their journey. I sure did. Oh, and what happened to that poor guy from my past? I married him. ?

Best wishes,

Jill Shalvis





Reading Group Guide





Would you ever swap lives with anyone in your family? Why or why not?

Would you rather be Brooke or Mindy?

Do you think Garrett should have forgiven Brooke for leaving him without telling him why?

What are some of the things in your past for which you’d like a do-over?

What are some of the ways that our childhoods affect our present/future?

Do you think Millie will have an easier time coping with her OCD traits with Brooke in her life?