Books Read: Lisa Kleypas - Crystal Cove

Justine Hoffman has made a safe and comfortable life for herself on the island of Friday Harbour but there is still something missing. Love. And after years of waiting and dreaming, she is willing to do whatever it takes to change her destiny. 

But when Justine discovers that someone cast a spell on her when she was born, with the result that she will never find her soul mate, she is determined to change her fate. But she could never have dreamt of the dangerous complications that will follow . . . 

Meeting the mysterious Jason Black, Justine unleashes a storm of desire and danger that threaten everything she holds dear - because Jason has secrets of his own, and he wants more from her than fate will ever allow.

Although Crystal Cove is the fourth book in the Friday Harbour series from Lisa Kleypas, it can be read as a standalone story as it's a completely new story with Justine Hoffman, who we've met previously, as the central character.

Justine has seen her friend and cousin Zoe fall in love with handsome Alex Nolan and she's finally ready to find true everlasting love for herself... but as she soon discovers this may not be possible as a spell had been cast on her when she was born that she would never to meet her soul mate. 

When the mysterious and elusive Jason Black arrives at her guest house, sparks fly between the two of them which makes Justine even more determined to find a solution to her problem so she does the one thing she's been told never to do, look at page 13 of the spellbook that she inherited and casts a spell which doesn't have quite the effect she was after... 

But Jason is hiding his own secrets and it soon becomes apparent that it was no coincidence that he happened to turn up at Friday Harbour.  

Out of all the characters we've met in the Friday Harbour series, Justine was definitely my favourite so I was definitely rooting for her to get her happy ever after ending even if I didn't particularly warm to Jason until towards the end. 

If you're a regular follower of the blog then you'll know that I don't normally like books with paranormal elements to them but this contemporary series had just the right balance between romance and mystical/magic powers.  I really enjoyed this book which was a fitting conclusion to the Friday Harbour series, unless Lisa Kleypas decides to introduce new characters to continue it in the future. 

I'd like to thank Frances at Little Brown Book Group for sending me a copy of this book to review.