“I want to drown in you.”

I wanted him to. We completed each other. We both had craters in our hearts, but we needed them mended in a different way. What he wanted to take, I wanted to give. He wanted to lose himself inside me; I wanted him to fill me.

Lily Baines will sweep you away with the first book in her new series, Riviera Shores. Set in the same world as her wonderful Riviera View series, Shores of Your Heart is interwoven with many of the favorite characters and locales from those books. The gorgeous California coastal area is a contrasting backdrop to the bleak struggles that plague childhood friends and soulmates, given another chance at love. January and Oliver were set on wildly different paths emotionally, economically and socially from the day they were born due to status and their parent’s choices. But, neither the scars of their childhood or life-choices nor the pressures of adulthood has dimineshed that heart level connection. When fate finally leads them back to each other in the place where it all began they are given a chance to find a love they never thought possible.

Lily has established a reputation of writing heart warming stories that will move you as they keep you entertained from beginning to end. She delivers again with January and Oliver’s relationship in Shores of Your Heart. Both are mature people who have the physical and emotional dents and scratches that come with life, who have learned to protect themselves by locking away their hearts behind walls of coldness or self-doubt. They have such a real and tangible bond that started when they were small children but which grew quickly after a Lego Duck incident, cementing a real and intimate view of each other, not as the world or others defined them. I was a wonderful experience to feel this connection when they encounter each other unexpectedly after many years. I guarantee you will be emotionally invested in the development of their relationship for the whole book.

“You are, January. You’re everything. You’re worth everything, you deserve everything, you are everything! I loved you without even knowing what love was. You define love for me.” – Oliver

From when I first read her debut book I’ve been impressed with Lily’s ability to connect her readers to her character’s love story. She draws you into their relationship in a way that feels like you naturally belong there and takes you on the emotional roller coaster that occurs in an authentic love story. One of my favorite aspects is how January and Oliver come across as real people with real pasts and issues that they are having to deal with. I’m also a huge fan of how they progress in their honesty with each other and their situation. Their issues are a big enough obstacle without Lily having either of them create drama for the sake of raising the reader’s anticipation (I really dislike when characters make poor choices just so that there can be reconciliation between them). But most of all I love that her characters always find a way to a happily ever after. Lily’s easy to read writing style, great story and characters, as well as it being the perfect length book for a weekend read means it is everything you could want in a contemporary romance. Don’t miss out on Shores of Your Heart or any book by Lily Baines.