Chasing Chrismas Eve Series: Heartbreaker Bay #4 on Sept. 26, 2017
Pages: 384
Purchase: Amazon
Add to Goodreads
Also in this series: One Snowy Night, Holiday Wishes, About That Kiss, Hot Winter Nights, Playing for Keeps
Meet cute...
Run for the hills—temporarily. That's Colbie Albright's plan when she flees New York for San Francisco. Wrangling her crazy family by day and writing a bestselling YA fantasy series by night has taken its toll. In short, Colbie's so over it that she's under it. She's also under the waters of a historic San Francisco fountain within an hour of arrival. Fortunately, the guy who fishes Colbie out has her looking forward to Christmas among strangers. But she's pretty sure Spencer Baldwin won't be a stranger for long.
Make merry...
Spence's commitment to hiding from the Ghosts of Relationships Past means he doesn't have to worry about the powerful—okay, crazy hot chemistry—he's got with Colbie. Just because she can laugh at anything, especially herself... just because she's gorgeous and a great listener just because she gets Spence immediately doesn't mean he won't be able to let Colbie go. Does it?
and hope for a miracle.
Now the clock's ticking for Colbie and Spence: Two weeks to cut loose. Two weeks to fall hard. Two weeks to figure out how to make this Christmas last a lifetime.
I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.
Review
Jill Shalvis’s latest Heartbreaker Bay novel is a fun, hopeful, holiday(ish) story of two people who have every reason to avoid getting involved, but can’t help falling in love. I enjoyed it and really liked both the main characters.
Colbie is an author whose runaway success has put unanticipated pressure on her — and that’s on top of her mother and brothers, who expect her to do and fix everything. Burnt out and unable to work, she flees New York for basically anywhere else, hoping to relax and rediscover her ability to write. Though she’s running from what her life has become, she knows it’s only for a few weeks; she has to be home in time for Christmas. I loved seeing writing through Colbie’s eyes, and her habit of writing everything she observes down on scraps of paper is not only endearing but accurate (as in, I’ve known authors who do that.)
Spence is a familiar but somewhat mysterious character to Heartbreaker Bay fans. He owns the building in which many of the gang (the series regulars) either live or work. A tech genius and a workaholic, Spence thinks he should avoid relationships because he torpedoed the last one by putting work first. He’s compassionate, intelligent, and wary, with an understandable paranoia about the press and a soft spot for Eddie, the laid-back, elderly, surprisingly insightful homeless guy who lives in the alley.
Two people who are both avoiding getting serious. Two people who can each lose themselves in work for hours, even days at a time. Doesn’t really sound like a match made in heaven, does it? But trust me, there’s some serious chemistry between these two, and I don’t just mean physically. They like each other, once they get past the initial awkwardness of their meeting. They understand each other, too, on an almost instinctual level. Theirs is very much one of those “I wasn’t looking for you, but I found you” relationships… though it takes each of them a while to realize it, and longer to be ready to take a chance on it.
Shalvis sprinkles in several funny scenes, particularly involving other members of Spence’s circle of friends, who tease and argue with each other but are always there whenever one of them needs something. As Spence’s building manager, Elle plays a significant role: she sees protecting Spence as part of her job as both employee and friend, and she can be pretty prickly about it. There are also some wonderful moments with Eddie (and one scene that’s both amusing and a little uncomfortable, involving marijuana-laced brownies.) But the main focus is on Spence and Colbie, whose relationship mingles friendship, romance, and a very strong physical attraction. Shalvis writes kisses with more heat than some authors invest in more intimate scenes; Spence and Colbie share a number of the former before turning the heat up several notches.
I did have a little trouble with the timing of the novel — not the pacing of the book itself, but the stated time durations within the book. Colbie is only in San Francisco for two weeks, yet it seemed longer than that, based on bridging sentences about “a few days” stuck in here and there. And toward the end of the book, what appears to be only a day or two from Colbie’s perspective is nearly a week from Spence’s; the timelines don’t seem to line up properly. But that’s a minor issue, and didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of the book.
Fans have more to look forward to, as well. There are at least two more Heartbreaker Bay books releasing soon: Holiday Wishes, a novella due out in November, and About That Kiss, which comes out in late January.
About 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, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold and visit her website, www.jillshalvis.com, for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- Tackle Your TBR Read-a-thon 2017
Lola
I also read this one and enjoyed it. These two were fun to read about. I also liked how Elle was so protective of Spence and how you see that side of her well in this book. And I agree it did feel longer than two weeks that Colbie was in San Francisco. Great review!
Lola recently posted…Sunday Post #249
Lark_Bookwyrm
Elle can be pretty fierce in defense of those she loves. 🙂
kimbacaffeinate
It did feel longer than two weeks, you are right.
kimbacaffeinate recently posted…#Giveaway Exclusive: Of Flame and Fate by Cecy Robson
Lark_Bookwyrm
But it was a fun read regardless!
Tanya @ Girl Plus Books
Confession time: I’ve never read anything by Shalvis. I know, I know, her books are *everywhere*! But she’s just one of those authors that I’ve yet to try. (I need more hours in the day, people!) This sounds like a fun story on the lighter side – not a lot of angst – and sometimes that’s just what you need. I can be a stickler for timelines in books so I probably would have noticed that, too – but, like you, it wouldn’t have ruined the experience for me.
Tanya @ Girl Plus Books recently posted…Review: We Now Return to Regular Life by Martin Wilson
Lark_Bookwyrm
No worries; there are lots of authors I see everywhere but haven’t gotten around to yet. Some of them I may never get around to! I need more hours in the day, more days in the year, and more years in a human lifespan…
Yes, I’d say that’s a good description: fun, light, not a lot of angst but just enough conflict to keep it interesting.
Jan @ Notes from a Readerholic
I’m looking for Christmas books to read this fall so am interested in this review! Thanks, Lark!
Jan @ Notes from a Readerholic recently posted…Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Lake Silence by Anne Bishop
Lark_Bookwyrm
I really like her books, particularly the Cold Creek, Hope’s Crossing, and Haven Point series. They’re unabashedly romantic, but grounded; they’re relatively short; and they leave me smiling. They are sweet in the sense of “emotionally pleasing,” though not always in the genre definition (i.e., no explicit scenes.) They always lean toward the lower end of the heat spectrum, though.
Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library
Those timeline issues can drive me crazy so I appreciate the heads up. I’m really excited to see Spence’s story. I loved him in Ellie’s and I’m really looking forward to his HEA. Colbie sounds like an interesting pairing for him.
Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library recently posted…Sleep Like a Baby – Mystery Review
Lark_Bookwyrm
The timeline thing isn’t horrible, but it felt a smidgen odd. And I think you will really love this pairing!