Reviews

About That Kiss: A Heartbreaker Bay Novel by Jill Shalvis

leanner's review against another edition

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5.0

I love this series and the quirky little town and its characters.
Kylie is a master craftswoman with her woodworking skills and Joe is a local expert at finding people and things. She's on the hunt for a stolen possession and he's determined to help her. The chemistry between these two is explosive...and funny as they are kind of in denial.
A mystery, a budding romance, crazy family members, interfering friends in a loving way, small town atmosphere, what more do you need? Great story, I loved it.

taisie22's review against another edition

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3.0

Kylie is a woodworker in the same complex where Joe, a security/private contractor, works. They hang out with the same group of friends until the night Kylie and Joe share a steamy kiss. So when Kylie comes to Joe for help because an heirloom was stolen and is being held for ransom, he's glad to volunteer as he wants more of those kisses.
I usually like Jill Shalvis because the romance is great and the stories have their funny moments. I liked Kylie and Joe both a lot, but I had some trouble seeing them together. There was something that just didn't seem to mesh (for me, anyway). The secondary characters are fun, especially Vinnie the dog and Joe's father. But the search for the missing heirloom seemed more contrived than dangerous; I kept expecting it to turn into a scavenger hunt prank by the friends rather than ending up with guns and arson, something I don't usually get from a Shalvis novel.
I also was distracted by some poor editing. They get undressed but leave their work boots on; I was taken out of the moment trying to figure out how they got their jeans and underwear off over the boots. Vinnie the dog is in Joe's truck, but when Joe walks Kylie to the door and there's a scene there, Vinnie is nowhere to be found. So I'm wondering if Joe is taking Vinnie home or if he's running around the yard rather than paying much attention to the dialogue happening at the door. Stuff like this takes the reader out of the story, and I don't usually see this in Ms. Shalvis's books.
Anyway, I am looking forward to the next book which I think is Molly and Lucas.

jemifraser's review against another edition

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Loved it! Another fabulous addition to this series.

cheermio's review against another edition

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3.0

I didn't hugely like either of the characters most of the time? But, that said, it had its moments.

the cast of characters is kind of getting too big though. how many more people need to find love in heartbreaker bay?

bookboss85's review against another edition

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5.0

Original copy of this review can be found at: http://www.nerdprobs.com/books/book-review-about-that-kiss-by-jill-shalvis/

**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.**

When my editor approached me with this book request from the publisher I hesitated at first. Romances, read as bodice rippers, are not usually my go-to choice. However, after reading the book description and hemming and hawing a bit I decided why not?! The book didn’t sound all bad and the publisher stated that even though it is a series book you didn’t need to have read the rest of the books to read this one. Boy, I was glad that I said yes. I read this book in about 1.5 days thanks to how good it was and a little bit of insomnia.

Kylie has been trying at all costs to avoid Joe. He is a super hot, sexy, hunky private investigator guy whose office is above the woodworking shop where she works. She had been doing a pretty good job until he stopped in to buy a birthday present for his sister. She is avoiding him because they shared a hot steamy kiss by the fountain in the courtyard of the business park they work in and he never called her after. She feels jilted I suppose, I know I would. She finally looks at him and sees something in his eyes she can’t quite read. When he tries to buy a mirror, that she made, as a present for his sister she takes great glee in telling him that the mirror is sold already and that he isn’t allowed to buy it. Fast forward to later in the evening as Kylie is leaving work for the night. She finds her purse knocked over and some of the contents scattered on the shelf. As she is picking the stuff up and putting in back in her purse she notices that her prized possession, a little wood penguin that her Grandfather carved for her, is missing. She knows that it was in her purse that morning. When she gets home she finds an envelope with a Polaroid picture of her little penguin on the Golden Gate bridge sitting precariously close to the edge. The next day she approaches Joe about hiring him to help her locate the missing penguin. He thinks she is kidding at first until he sees her face and realizes that she is serious. To sweeten the pot, she promises that she will make his sister the mirror that he wanted for her birthday. He reluctantly agrees, even after she tacks on the “I will be helping you solve this” clause. As time and the case progress, they realize that they have more than professional feelings for each other. Will they set their personal baggage aside and realize they have found “The One” with each other? Will Kylie succeed in helping Joe find her missing penguin before its too late?

Oh, lawd this book! I stayed up until 1 AM reading it! I just wanted to know what happened next. The writing was enjoyable. It made me laugh out loud several times, and it flowed easily. I loved the characters. They had their issues but in their life but they didn’t really let that stop them from succeeding. Yes, it may have hampered them in their relationships with people but they worked through that with each other. The romance was minimal and when there was sex it wasn’t grossly in depth and crude. I understand that I may be a prude but sometimes they over detail things to the point of being somewhat pornographic. The other thing that I loved was the chapter titles. They read as the very hip hashtag trend. I may have to the check out the other books by this author in the near future.

missriki's review against another edition

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5.0

I just love this whole series and this one was just as sweet and uplifting as the rest, with the added bonus of a little mystery thrown in. Joe is a badass and Kylie is his perfect match, and I just loved the espionage and drama of this story. True to Jill Shalvis form, the HEA is swoony and perfect and I loved this book

bookscoffeeandpassion's review against another edition

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5.0

This series is amazing! I've been hooked since Pru and Finn's story and love it!
Kylie  is really sweet, she's been through a lot in her life and she's a survivor. She's a woodworker, an art that her grandfather taught her, she has awesome friends, her dog is loving, loyal and hilarious and lately she's been trying to avoid Joe... you know after that kiss.
Joe is a hot, sexy, alpha who isn't afraid of anything. Well, at least he thought so but that chemistry between him and Kylie is freaking him out and he just can't get her out of his mind. It doesn't matter if she has dust all over her or even if she's wearing work boots, he's just drawn to her specially after that kiss.
Kylie and Joe have an insane chemistry! The push and pull, the way their relationship was slowly changing, how they couldn't resist and keep their hands of each other, their stubbornness, the hilarious stake outs, Joe opening up to Kylie and those kisses made their story unique, fresh and perfectly balanced between heat, heart, friendship, family (I loved Joe's dad), suspense and action. Joe is now my second favorite in this series (yes, Archer is still #1!). 
Overall, a very sweet, funny, sexy and entertaining contemporary romance with amazing characters that will make you want to move to Heartbreaker Bay (I think I've said that in every review I've written about this series, honestly it's just that I get that Friends - yes the TV show - vibe every single time and I love it so, so much!), can't wait for Lucas and Molly's story - oh yeah, those looks between them and the sizzling  chemistry are very promising. About that Kiss is a must read and I definitely recommend the entire series.

stephanywrites's review against another edition

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3.0

There was something... off... about this romance. Jill Shalvis is always, always a winner for me, but this one felt a little boring and the chemistry between Joe and Kylie wasn't really there. Meh.

jaimereadsromance's review against another edition

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4.0

It should come as no surprise that I liked this book since, as I’ve said time and time again, Jill Shalvis is my favorite go-to, always reliable author. Surprisingly the Heartbreaker Bay series is the first series of hers that I’ve read in order, as they release and, frankly, I’m thoroughly enjoying the journey.

Joe and Kylie were a really fun couple to see come together. Kylie is headstrong and brave and just the perfect person to keep Joe on his toes. Both of them are harboring secret guilt but an overt sexual attraction and a strong instant chemistry might be just what they both need to get over themselves.

What I like about Jill Shalvis is how she is able to take a pretty standard romance formula and somehow manage to make each of her stories, and it’s characters unique and special. There were times in this book where I thought I had the mystery of who stole the wooden penguin and their motive all figured out, but I was totally off-base. I love that she was able to take a formulaic romance and add a dash of suspense/mystery without making it overly dramatic and predictable. I once said that I wish that somehow Jill Shalvis was in charge of creating the personalities for all the men of the world and I stand by that statement to this day.

*I received an ARC from the author for voluntary review

ssejig's review against another edition

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3.0

Kylie, a woodworker, is somewhat peeved that Joe Malone never called after they shared a pretty darn good kiss. Just because she's had a crush on her boss, Gib, since she was a teenager, doesn't mean she can't figure out the difference between teen wanting and adult lust (which we are told more than a few times over the course of the story.) Yes, that even holds up when Gib notices the sparks between Kylie and Joe and decides to finally make a move.
Joe isn't sure what to think when Kylie hires him to find the wood carving of a penguin her grandfather made for her. He knows that the woman can make him laugh when no one else can. She doesn't flip out around his father who's had PTSD since the Gulf War. And she's good friends with his sister, the one he still feels like he let her down.
There was too much going on in this story to make it feel like any one thing was well-developed. There's the mysterious kid napping of Kylie's penguin, Joe's issues, Kylie's issues, her mom's issues... It's an okay Shalvis book but she's written better.