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South Village Singles #4
The Street Where She Lives
Read the final book in New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis’s classic series, South Village Singles.South Village was safe…or so she thought!The secure world that Rachel Wellers has carefully constructed is crumbling around her. Her sweet twelve-year-old daughter is turning into a sullen teenager before her eyes. The injuries she’s just sustained in a hit-and-run accident are jeopardizing her career. And worst of all, Ben Asher—the man she sent away thirteen years ago—is back, tipped off by her daughter that they need him. When Ben hears that Rachel has been injured, he panics. In an instant, he drops his obsession—photojournalism—and returns to the city that he swore he’d never visit again. He doesn’t want to question his motives for doing so…he only knows he has to protect Rachel. Suddenly he’s convinced the hit-and-run wasn’t an accident. Rachel might have been hurt because of him. But he doesn’t count on the feelings that get stirred up being with her…or how hard it will be to leave her again. Originally published in 2003.
259 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2003
132 people are currently reading
475 people want to read
About the author
Jill Shalvis
388 books13.8k followersJill Shalvis is a NYT, USA Today, and Amazon Top 100 bestselling author of small-town romance and romcoms, known for big feels, found family, and plenty of shenanigans.
If you love small-town chaos, meddling friends and neighbors, sizzling chemistry, and heroes who fall hard for the one woman they absolutely did not plan on, you’re in the right place. Jill’s books blend laugh-out-loud moments with emotional gut punches, slow-burn tension, and deeply earned happily ever afters.
She writes the stories she loves to read: small-town romance and romantic comedies packed with heart, heat, second chances, grumpy/sunshine sparks, and the kind of found-family vibes that make you want to move right into the pages. Many of her series are perfect for binge-reading, and a number of her books are available in Kindle Unlimited and at major retailers.
When she’s not writing, she’s probably plotting new ways to torture her characters, avoiding laundry, or daydreaming about fictional men and the strong, complicated women who bring them to their knees—and then making them work for it.
You can follow Jill here on Goodreads to keep up with new releases, add her books to your shelves, and discover which small town you want to get lost in next.
If you love small-town chaos, meddling friends and neighbors, sizzling chemistry, and heroes who fall hard for the one woman they absolutely did not plan on, you’re in the right place. Jill’s books blend laugh-out-loud moments with emotional gut punches, slow-burn tension, and deeply earned happily ever afters.
She writes the stories she loves to read: small-town romance and romantic comedies packed with heart, heat, second chances, grumpy/sunshine sparks, and the kind of found-family vibes that make you want to move right into the pages. Many of her series are perfect for binge-reading, and a number of her books are available in Kindle Unlimited and at major retailers.
When she’s not writing, she’s probably plotting new ways to torture her characters, avoiding laundry, or daydreaming about fictional men and the strong, complicated women who bring them to their knees—and then making them work for it.
You can follow Jill here on Goodreads to keep up with new releases, add her books to your shelves, and discover which small town you want to get lost in next.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 30, 2015
I am not very fond of abandonment-prodigal son themes in love stories. I feel like I am the type of person to really not see beyond the years of neglect and missed time with kids. Especially with love stories wherein, years have passed and they have acknowledged the child but chose themselves beyond that love.
July 4, 2018
I like Jill Shalvis's books. They are always intriguing and her sense of character keeps them from becoming repetitive and boring. In this one, Ben, the male MC, has a deep, dark secret that he does not want his ex-love Rachel, nor his daughter Emily, to know about. Unfortunately that secret affects their lives, and he has to try to make things right, which is not an easy thing for him to do. While nearly impossible for the two of them to sort things out, there is a HEA for those who like that type of ending.
August 9, 2015
I am torn on this how I feel about this story - it seems to be a reprinted Harlequin category story, so I went into the story expecting it to be kind of old Skool romance, which I think led to me enjoying it more than other reviews have noted. There was the smart precocious pre-teen daughter, and almost all of the issues could have been worked out if they had just talked. Based on their upbringing, both Ben and Rachel have a hard time letting others in and let their insecurities rule their lives, and how they have treated each other over the 13 years since Emily was conceived is pretty juvenile, especially for two otherwise fairly mature people. I do like how Rachel's convalescence was handled and I like Shalvis' reading style.
October 6, 2010
It didn't make me enjoy reading it, but I still finished it.
September 6, 2015
Such an odd read with characters who seem to be completely immature and insecure and silly. I skimmed the last 1/3.
August 8, 2015
2.5 stars. Both the main characters were annoying. I missed a couple of chapters.
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May 1, 2019Categories:
Contemporary Women's Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Romance, Contemporary Romance
Miniseries:
South Village Singles
Contemporary Women's Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Romance, Contemporary Romance
Miniseries:
South Village Singles
May 31, 2013
DNF just not in the mood to read POV from the evil characters.
July 13, 2019
Understanding that I’m writing a review on a book written approximately 16 years ago that even the author Jill Shalvis has forgotten, still….
If you purchased this the 4th and final book in the South Village Singles series because you enjoyed the first three you may, as I was be sorely disappointed. The only connection between this book and the first three is that the majority of it takes place in the imaginary town of South Village outside of L.A. None of the characters from the previous stories even make a cameo appearance. More importantly the tenor of this book is far darker than the first three which were fairly typical contemporary romances. We have Asada, an insane, murderous criminal bent on revenge stalking our main characters, Ben, a photo journalist, Rachel a cartoonist who is also the mother of Ben’s tween daughter Emily and Emily herself. There’s also Rachel’s older sister Melanie and her neighbor Garrett as secondary characters.
My biggest problem with this book was I could never fully understand the motivations for the two main characters Ben and Rachel? When they were both 17 and about to graduate high school they discover Rachel is pregnant. Ben wants Rachel to come with him to an intern job he’d just received with National Geographic to work in South America. Rachel who had never been able to call any place home for more than a year wanted to put roots down in South Village where she’d spent her final year of high school. So she tells Ben she doesn’t love him and to get out of her life. Broken hearted and desperate to get out of South Village and leave his past as an unwanted foster kid behind he goes. And Rachel spends the next 13 years hating him because of it. Ben for his part even after he builds a successful career as a world famous photo journalist who exposes corruption all over the world can’t overcome whatever his childhood issues were with South Village to settle there to be a full time father to his now 12 going on 13 year old daughter Emily. We get a couple of explanations as to why Ben had this wanderlust and couldn’t settle down and couldn’t bare the idea of South Village until he is forced to in order to protect Emily and Rachel. Unfortunately for me, none of the made any sense. Nor could I really understand why Rachel was so closed off or how closed off she remained and refused to allow herself to fully feel. Okay when she was a little girl her cold, work obsessed father had told her to buck up when she started to cry when she had to move again. Okay, she was always the new kid in school which meant making friends was difficult. But IMHO that still didn’t justify how even as a 30 year old adult she couldn’t express her emotions. Then as 30 year old adults and parents to the same child even when they both realize they are in love with the other, neither seems to get past their issues to reach out to the other. Even after Melanie spells it out for Rachel, Rachel refuses to reach out to Ben and tell him to stay. Even though Ben realizes he wants to settle down and make a life with Rachel and Emily he still insists on leaving. I get Ben’s guilt over Rachel being hurt in a deliberate hit and run attempt on her life but I couldn’t buy into his guilt over what happened to Emily. Oh, and why in the world did he wait so long to explain the danger she and Emily were in to Rachel? These two were just ridiculous. Emily deserved better.
Then there’s the little secondary romance between Mel and Garrett. How exactly can Garrett be in love with Melanie or for that matter how can he know so much about her when other than one night of great sex they’ve hardly spoken to one another? Yeah, his profession of love to her made absolutely no sense to me at all.
I’m going to give this story 2 stars because I didn’t hate it and had moments where I actually enjoyed it. I’m not sure what that says about me?
If you purchased this the 4th and final book in the South Village Singles series because you enjoyed the first three you may, as I was be sorely disappointed. The only connection between this book and the first three is that the majority of it takes place in the imaginary town of South Village outside of L.A. None of the characters from the previous stories even make a cameo appearance. More importantly the tenor of this book is far darker than the first three which were fairly typical contemporary romances. We have Asada, an insane, murderous criminal bent on revenge stalking our main characters, Ben, a photo journalist, Rachel a cartoonist who is also the mother of Ben’s tween daughter Emily and Emily herself. There’s also Rachel’s older sister Melanie and her neighbor Garrett as secondary characters.
My biggest problem with this book was I could never fully understand the motivations for the two main characters Ben and Rachel? When they were both 17 and about to graduate high school they discover Rachel is pregnant. Ben wants Rachel to come with him to an intern job he’d just received with National Geographic to work in South America. Rachel who had never been able to call any place home for more than a year wanted to put roots down in South Village where she’d spent her final year of high school. So she tells Ben she doesn’t love him and to get out of her life. Broken hearted and desperate to get out of South Village and leave his past as an unwanted foster kid behind he goes. And Rachel spends the next 13 years hating him because of it. Ben for his part even after he builds a successful career as a world famous photo journalist who exposes corruption all over the world can’t overcome whatever his childhood issues were with South Village to settle there to be a full time father to his now 12 going on 13 year old daughter Emily. We get a couple of explanations as to why Ben had this wanderlust and couldn’t settle down and couldn’t bare the idea of South Village until he is forced to in order to protect Emily and Rachel. Unfortunately for me, none of the made any sense. Nor could I really understand why Rachel was so closed off or how closed off she remained and refused to allow herself to fully feel. Okay when she was a little girl her cold, work obsessed father had told her to buck up when she started to cry when she had to move again. Okay, she was always the new kid in school which meant making friends was difficult. But IMHO that still didn’t justify how even as a 30 year old adult she couldn’t express her emotions. Then as 30 year old adults and parents to the same child even when they both realize they are in love with the other, neither seems to get past their issues to reach out to the other. Even after Melanie spells it out for Rachel, Rachel refuses to reach out to Ben and tell him to stay. Even though Ben realizes he wants to settle down and make a life with Rachel and Emily he still insists on leaving. I get Ben’s guilt over Rachel being hurt in a deliberate hit and run attempt on her life but I couldn’t buy into his guilt over what happened to Emily. Oh, and why in the world did he wait so long to explain the danger she and Emily were in to Rachel? These two were just ridiculous. Emily deserved better.
Then there’s the little secondary romance between Mel and Garrett. How exactly can Garrett be in love with Melanie or for that matter how can he know so much about her when other than one night of great sex they’ve hardly spoken to one another? Yeah, his profession of love to her made absolutely no sense to me at all.
I’m going to give this story 2 stars because I didn’t hate it and had moments where I actually enjoyed it. I’m not sure what that says about me?
May 9, 2017
leído el 06/12/2011
Protagonistas: Ben Asher y Rachel Wellers
Argumento:
El mundo que tan cuidadosamente había construido se estaba derrumbando a su alrededor...
Su dulce hija de doce años se estaba convirtiendo en una adolescente huraña sin que Rachel Wellers pudiera hacer nada. Las lesiones del accidente que había sufrido estaban poniendo en peligro su carrera de dibujante. Y lo peor de todo era que Ben Asher, el hombre al que había echado de su vida hacía trece años, había regresado respondiendo a la llamada de la niña.
Cuando se enteró de que Rachel había sufrido un accidente, Ben no dudó en dejar de lado su trabajo y acudir a la ciudad que había jurado no volver a visitar. Prefería no cuestionarse los motivos por los que lo estaba haciendo... sólo sabía que tenía que ayudar a Rachel. Y no tardó en darse cuenta de que lo ocurrido no había sido un accidente y que quizá él era responsable.
Lo que no imaginaba era lo que iba a volver a surgir entre ellos, ni lo difícil que sería volver a alejarse de Rachel...
Protagonistas: Ben Asher y Rachel Wellers
Argumento:
El mundo que tan cuidadosamente había construido se estaba derrumbando a su alrededor...
Su dulce hija de doce años se estaba convirtiendo en una adolescente huraña sin que Rachel Wellers pudiera hacer nada. Las lesiones del accidente que había sufrido estaban poniendo en peligro su carrera de dibujante. Y lo peor de todo era que Ben Asher, el hombre al que había echado de su vida hacía trece años, había regresado respondiendo a la llamada de la niña.
Cuando se enteró de que Rachel había sufrido un accidente, Ben no dudó en dejar de lado su trabajo y acudir a la ciudad que había jurado no volver a visitar. Prefería no cuestionarse los motivos por los que lo estaba haciendo... sólo sabía que tenía que ayudar a Rachel. Y no tardó en darse cuenta de que lo ocurrido no había sido un accidente y que quizá él era responsable.
Lo que no imaginaba era lo que iba a volver a surgir entre ellos, ni lo difícil que sería volver a alejarse de Rachel...
August 12, 2019
AMAZING Outcome For ME ! !
Very unexpected, this story, fit in with many parallel that occurred to me in my life time . My 1st real love, senior year on High School , 2 months, she ran off with an earlier boyfriend! ! 57 years later, I learn my older brother, plus my stepmother and others were very involved in little undercover subversion? SO, as I read this book, many of those memories came back. So 3 years ago, I wrote my 4th book about that problem. My first chapter is the facts that happened. There are true things through out this tail, witch ends as fiction. The book is called, Beyond Bullying... Many Great memories in your book, Thank You... Thomas Herrington
Very unexpected, this story, fit in with many parallel that occurred to me in my life time . My 1st real love, senior year on High School , 2 months, she ran off with an earlier boyfriend! ! 57 years later, I learn my older brother, plus my stepmother and others were very involved in little undercover subversion? SO, as I read this book, many of those memories came back. So 3 years ago, I wrote my 4th book about that problem. My first chapter is the facts that happened. There are true things through out this tail, witch ends as fiction. The book is called, Beyond Bullying... Many Great memories in your book, Thank You... Thomas Herrington
December 18, 2019
3.5 stars
May 6, 2020
A normal love story with a killer thrown in - easy read, but didn't hold my interest.
January 14, 2016
Globe Trotting Ben hasn't seen his ex in 13 years. That doesn't mean he's forgotten about her. An abandoned baby, he's used to hearing "Just Go Away." So when Rachel tells him she doesn't love him rather than tie him down with an unwanted pregnancy, he does just that. He goes away. Wanders the globe. No one has ever wanted him.
Rachel's father moved her family around frequently, so once she has the opportunity to put down roots, she does. Her and the daughter she is raising. Although Ben was the love of her life, they were at cross purposes and she won't tie him down.
When Rachel is hit by a car, her daughter calls on daddy to nurse mom back to health, hoping to rebuild her family. Ben discovers the hit-and-run was no accident, and comes back to watch over the people he loves, even if Rachel doesn't want anything to do with him.
Smart and sexy, as you would expect from Ms. Shalvis, she provides Ben and Rachel multiple opportunities to right the past, gives the characters room to grow. While the ending was satisfying, I envisioned a different route to get there, letting the two protagonists work together to surprise their daughter. They both had to compromise, and the conclusion is foreshadowed well enough that it could have been less of a "surprise."
All in all, another fabulous book by a fabulous author.
Rachel's father moved her family around frequently, so once she has the opportunity to put down roots, she does. Her and the daughter she is raising. Although Ben was the love of her life, they were at cross purposes and she won't tie him down.
When Rachel is hit by a car, her daughter calls on daddy to nurse mom back to health, hoping to rebuild her family. Ben discovers the hit-and-run was no accident, and comes back to watch over the people he loves, even if Rachel doesn't want anything to do with him.
Smart and sexy, as you would expect from Ms. Shalvis, she provides Ben and Rachel multiple opportunities to right the past, gives the characters room to grow. While the ending was satisfying, I envisioned a different route to get there, letting the two protagonists work together to surprise their daughter. They both had to compromise, and the conclusion is foreshadowed well enough that it could have been less of a "surprise."
All in all, another fabulous book by a fabulous author.
November 10, 2018
Go away , Ben. Go away . But when Ben went away , you hated him for leaving you .
The plot did nothing for me , their insecurities and the reasons behind them weren't convincible , and her sister is really something else .
13 years are long time for not growing up and for feelings\opinions to stay the same and not mature.
The plot did nothing for me , their insecurities and the reasons behind them weren't convincible , and her sister is really something else .
13 years are long time for not growing up and for feelings\opinions to stay the same and not mature.
January 12, 2021
They spent the whole book mis-communicating and having too stupid to live moments where they said and did the opposite of what they wanted because of fear and/or pride. ugh!! By the time they got together I was fed up with both of them.
March 3, 2012
another great read by Jill Shalvis !!
February 23, 2021
This series was ok. Hers are always an easy read.
March 18, 2016
3.5 stars
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews