Review: Head Over Heels by Jill Shalvis
Author: Jill Shalvis
Book: Head Over Heels
Series: Lucky Harbor #3
Release: December 1, 2011
Reviewer: Lil
Source: Personal Library
Purchase: – Barnes & NobleBreaking rules and breaking hearts…
Free-spirited Chloe lives life on the edge. Unlike her soon-to-be married sisters, she isn’t ready to settle into a quiet life running their family’s newly renovated inn. But soon her love of trouble—and trouble with love-draws the attention of the very stern, very sexy sheriff who’d like nothing better than to tame her wild ways.
Suddenly Chloe can’t take a misstep without the sheriff hot on her heels. His rugged swagger and his enigmatic smile are enough to make a girl beg to be handcuffed. For the first time, instead of avoiding the law, Chloe dreams of surrender. Can this rebel find a way to keep the peace with the straitlaced sheriff? Or will Chloe’s colorful past keep her from a love that lasts . . . and the safe haven she truly wants in a town called Lucky Harbor?
I have been waiting for the third addition to the Lucky Harbor series for months. My wait was well worth it. I was nervous for Chloe and Sawyer they had a lot to live up to. After all they had to Ford and Tara’s complex love story. The Sweetest Thing easily made my top 10 of 2011 and I was worried Head Over Heels would fall short or worse jump the shark.
Head Over Heels was exactly what it needed to be. This book had me laughing. It made me squirm in my seat. And Sawyer is just as yummy as I thought he would be. A town sheriff that walks well on the right side of the line, Sawyer proves that the good guy is just as sexy and smoldering as the guy from the wrong side of the tracks. And what makes Sawyer even more compelling is he wasn’t always on the right side of the law. A rebellious adolescent became a hard to handle teen who was fast on his way to not having a future. After being swayed down a stabler path Sawyer spends his adult years trying to make up for his past. As a reader I couldn’t help but to fall for him. He’s a well developed character who has a realistic thought process. So refreshing in a contemporary romance. I can’t tell you how many times I have yelled at a book because the only form of angst an author could come up with was a completely unrealistic obstacle for a couple not to get together. It disrupts the flow of a book if I’m constantly rolling my eyes.
Since book one of this series I have loved the dynamics of the sisters’ relationship. They have come a long way over the course of the three books and I was happy Shalvis did not abandon the ever evolving family story. I have two sisters of my own and we have experienced moments of true anger, annoyance, love, and acceptance in one conversation. The relationships in the Lucky Harbor series are based in reality and though I love to use my imagination, I can’t stomach when an author tries to force feed an unnatural emotional response down my throat.
Chloe is a fun girl. She makes me laugh and her life lesson quotes made me snicker several times. She of course is just as stubborn as her sisters yet she is much more vulnerable. Yes all three sisters have the same flighty, selfish mother but only Chloe was left to deal with the constant whims of her mother. Chloe does know who her dad is. Her sisters had semi-stable childhoods with their fathers and the three siblings had very limited time together as kids. Chloe did inherent the roaming gene from her mother or did she? I got the sense Chloe traveled and didn’t stay in one place for long only because it was all she ever knew. As a child she never had the opportunity to settle into a home and find acceptance. As an adult she doesn’t believe anyone can love her unless she changes everything she is. She doesn’t see herself as lovable. That breaks my heart and it rings true. Her own mother always chose someone else or something else over her. Her father was never there. Her sisters were taken away by men who did not want her too. Chloe’s especially doesn’t believe things with her crush Sawyer could ever work out since she is always finding herself dipping her toe on the wrong side of the line, even if it’s for compassionate and honorable reasons.
Shalvis is a master at painting a scene and she always seems to be able to pull me into the world as she sees it. I never want to check Facebook or email when reading a Lucky Harbor book and Head Over Heels was no exception. Sawyer and Chloe had big shoes to fill and what I learned was they were not part of a BOGO, they had their own path and they didn’t even bother with shoes.
~Lil
I still have yet to read her work, but because you seem to love them so much I am going to make sure to read one the next time I get into a romance mood:) Thanks for the review Lil!