Review: About That Kiss – Jill Shalvis

Posted 17 January, 2018 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 14 Comments

*I received a free copy of About That Kiss from Avon via Edelweiss. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review, which is honest and unbiased *


Warning: This book includes mature content such as: sexual content, and/or drug and/or alcohol use, and/or violence.
Review: About That Kiss – Jill ShalvisAbout That Kiss by Jill Shalvis
Series: Heartbreaker Bay #5
Published by Avon on 23 January 2018
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 384
Format: eARC
Source: Edelweiss
5 Stars

When love drives you crazy . . .
When sexy Joe Malone never calls after their explosive kiss, Kylie shoves him out of her mind. Until she needs a favor, and it’s a doozy. Something precious to her has been stolen and there’s only one person with unique finder-and-fixer skills that can help—Joe. It means swallowing her pride and somehow trying to avoid the temptation to throttle him—or seduce him.
the best thing to do . . .
No, Joe didn’t call after the kiss. He’s the fun time guy, not the forever guy. And Kylie, after all she’s been through, deserves a good man who will stay. But everything about Kylie makes it damned hard to focus, and though his brain knows what he has to do, his heart isn’t getting the memo.
… is enjoy the ride.
As Kylie and Joe go on the scavenger hunt of their lives, they discover surprising things about each other. Now, the best way for them to get over “that kiss” might just be to replace it with a hundred more.

Adult - (un)Conventional Bookviews Contemporary - (un)Conventional Bookviews

About That Kiss brought out the feels. You know how it is when you pick up a book, and it feels like you’re hanging out with your best friends? Living through their struggles and their good times right there with them? Shalvis does that to me. With every book she writes – no matter if there are characters I’ve already met or if they are completely new to me.

Review - (un)Conventional Bookviews

Story:

About That Kiss has a very slow-burning romance, all the friendships, and a very good mystery. I loved getting to know Joe Malone better, and Kylie was the perfect match for him. With her unconventional profession as a wood worker, she managed to see through his tough exterior and find a heart hidden away.

As always, hanging out with my friends in Heartbreaker Bay was a treat. About That Kiss included all the characters from prior books – even if some were just mentioned in passing. The mystery with Kylie’s stolen wood penguin worked really well. And I loved how stubborn Kylie was about being a part of the investigation.

As Joe and Kylie got to know each other better, their chemistry kept building. Kylie didn’t want only a part of Joe, though, and when push came to shove, she put herself first. That is a thing we don’t see in heroines too often, and it made About That Kiss even better in my opinion.

With both action and sweet moments, the overall story and plot made my toes curl in pleasure. The character development was really well done, and I have two new friends in the Bay area now 😉

Characters:

Kylie grew up with her grandfather, and learned to work with wood under his care. Making a profession out of it, and being really good at it just made her an even more interesting character. With a strong mind, and a good sense of self worth, I would love to hang out with Kylie one day.

Joe appeared to be a total alpha macho man at first. However, he was not unable to see things from Kylie’s perspective, and he learned from his mistakes. While he wanted to protect her, he also understood the importance of her needs and feelings.

Writing style :

About That Kiss is written in third person point of view, but still closely from either Joe’s or Kylie’s perspective. The many dialogues brought both the characters and the story to life.

Feels :

My feels were all invested in this story. I got my romance, all the hope, a lot of suspense, some sadness, a tad of anger, and also the friendship I enjoy in this series.

Fave Quotes - (un)Conventional Bookviews

On the best of days, he made her feel things she liked to shove deep, deep down, because going there with him would be like jumping out of a plane – thrilling, exciting… and then certain dismemberment and death.

Kylie, the fashion outcast, was in jeans, a Golden State Warriors sweatshirt, and some residual wood shavings. The fact that she had more clothes to sleep in than to go out in said a lot about her.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

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14 responses to “Review: About That Kiss – Jill Shalvis

  1. Carey Fletcher

    I really like your review style. I’m always searching for a template to put my reviews in to help in the writing of the review. Plus this book sounds really good and your review helps me to decide that I need to add it to my TBR.

    • Thank you Carey! It took me a while to get to this one… It does help me write my reviews a bit faster, and I have included the things that are important to me when I read a book 🙂
      This book is awesome! I hope you’ll enjoy it, too!

  2. The fact that she had more clothes to sleep in than to go out in said a lot about her…..
    Hmm… I may have a similar problem ?

  3. Oh wow, another great sounding book. You did have a fantastic reading week. I want this one too. I have one of the author’s books and am planning to read it soon but I think I need to jump into this one first. Awesome review! ?❤️??

  4. Putting yourself first is really something which is challenging to do and not easy at all, so kudos to the main character in this one doing so. If you want more of a relationship than the other half is willing to give you shouldn’t stay in it, and it seems like that got resolved really well here. And I’m liking the sound of the writing style and the dialogue being done well too. Great review!

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