Lucky in Love by Jill Shalvis

Ty Garrison is the man that Lucky Harbor  is calling “Mysterious Cute Guy.” Apparently the town’s Facebook page is half reportings about seeing him out and about. He’s actually in town trying to recuperate from an accident that injured him and left four of his coworkers dead. Mostly he’s just trying to keep his head down and finish some car repairs.

Mallory is the town good girl. A nurse with an unending well of patience, she’s the “white sheep” in a family of children who liked to cross the line. She’s also working on opening up a health services clinic so that people in need, like her sister who died at eighteen, would be able to get the help that they need without having to pay Emergency Room costs. I like Mallory. She's a good heroine, but not <i>too</i> perfect (that's just annoying in a heroine.)

However, like any good romance heroine. Mallory is ready for a walk on the wild side (as we’re told more than once) and she thinks Ty might be the perfect man. Short-term and just a little dangerous, he’s not interested in setting up with a dog, 2.3 kids, and a white picket fence. “She knew he didn’t want to be her hero.” But she can’t stop herself from going back again and again.

Of course, he can’t either. He finds himself stopping at her car wash, going by her house, replacing her alternator. “Probably he needed to work harder on keeping his distance.” 

It could be such a trite story but Shalvis weaves humor with a good dose of common sense and reality checks (e.g. we can’t just let our veterans fend for themselves after they’ve fought to protect our freedoms.