About That Kiss by Jill Shalvis
Series: Heartbreaker Bay #5
Published by Avon on January 23, 2018
Pages: 384
Source: the publisher
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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.

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review:

I think the Heartbreaker Bay Series by Jill Shalvis gets better and better with each release. But honestly I’m at the point where every time I pick up a book by Jill Shalvis, I know I’m going to love it.

About That Kiss is the latest installment in the Heartbreaker Bay Series, this time featuring Joe and Kylie. Joe works with Archer in his investigative business and Kylie is an artist, working in the wood shop in the same building where all of the friends work/live/hang out on a daily basis. I’ve seen both Joe and Kylie in various scenes throughout the entire series, so I already feel like I know them somewhat. It is nice to get their backstories here and see them get their HEA.

Joe and Kylie recently shared a secret kiss outside of O’Riley’s Pub. While Kylie wants to pretend the kiss never happened, Joe wants to pursue Kylie and perhaps kiss again. Kylie re-lives that moment outside of the pub over and over in her head, but she is playing a serious game of hard-to-get. Even though she says she has no intention of being with Joe, Kylie actually hires Joe to do some investigative work for her…knowing that this puts the two of them working closely together. A lot. Which means that there are plenty of chances for kisses. And naturally it becomes difficult to not-kiss Joe again.

Joe and Kylie are both strong characters, and they are strong-willed. They’re both very good at their jobs. And they are both very set in their ways. They have each decided that they don’t want relationships. However, over the course of this “fling” or whatever you want to call it, one of them changes his/her views on relationships and commitment, which creates tension. Ms. Shalvis uses the rest of the the cast to develop the relationship, and I think it works out really well, especially since the rest of the cast is so trusted and well-loved by both Joe and Kylie.

The chemistry between these two is great and their banter is tons of fun. I love that I can expect this from a Jill Shalvis book. I love that the rest of the characters from the other Heartbreaker Bay books hovering around in the background. I adore these characters as a friend-group and have mentioned in just about all of my reviews for these books that I want them for my friends in real life. I think the actual investigation story line bordered on a little bit cheesy in some places, but since it was the device used to get Joe and Kylie together, I can forgive it.

I’m on board for the next Heartbreaker Bay book, but I’m not entirely sure who will be featured. Will it be Molly and Lucas this time? I hope so!

Check out my other reviews in the Heartbreaker Bay Series:

Sweet Little Lies | The Trouble with Mistletoe | One Snowy Night | Accidentally On Purpose
Chasing Christmas Eve | Holiday Wishes | About That Kiss
Hot Winter Nights | Playing For Keeps | Wrapped Up In You | Twist Of Fate