Rowena’s review of Head Over Heels (Lucky Harbor Series, Book 3) by Jill Shalvis.
Hero: Sawyer Thompson
Heroine: Chloe Traeger
Breaking 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?
The last of the sisters gets her happy ending. Out of all of the sisters, Chloe’s story was probably the story that I was most looking forward to because of the fireworks that popped off in the previous books every time her and the town Sheriff were in the same room together. Chloe is such a firecracker and Sawyer is so laid back, they had that whole opposites attract thing and I totally dug the whole thing.
Chloe Traeger has led a colorful life, not colorful in the sense that she’s a criminal or anything but she was homeschooled by her mother and they flitted from one town to the next, living like gypsies do and Chloe grew up, not wanting to be tied down. She came and went as she pleased and she liked her life that way. She’s got crazy asthma that makes it difficult to have a sex life but she’s used to it so she just kind of deals. When we first meet Chloe in Simply Irresistible, she comes off as bratty. She doesn’t do well with connecting with other people, her sisters mainly and she gets herself into trouble all over the place that keeps Sawyer on his toes. In this book, we see what Chloe is up to and why she does what she does. She’s kind of klutzy but she’s got a good head on her shoulders and she has a big heart.
And Sawyer is one of very few people that see Chloe’s big heart in the things that she does. She drives him crazy but she always keeps things interesting and he wants to bang her.
Watching Sawyer and Chloe get closer and closer together was very entertaining. Seeing Sawyer through his own thoughts was entertaining as well. I mean, in the other books he came off kind of tongue twisted and was always getting teased by Ford and Jax but getting to know him was a lot of fun. I loved the friendship that he had with Ford and Jax, they grew up together and their friendship stuck and I liked it.
As much as I liked their relationship, my favorite bond was the female bond between the three sisters. They were silly, they were cute and you saw just how far they each came from the first book. They were all pretty much thrown together in the first book, some of them didn’t want to be there but they made a home for themselves in Lucky Harbor and they planted roots. It made for great reading.
Of all of the heroes in this series, I think Sawyer is my favorite. The stuff that he went through for Chloe, to understand Chloe and to help her had me sighing all over the dang place. With her asthma and her need to save the world, one dog at a time, he had a lot on his plate with her but none of that scared him away. She was good and stuck with him and I really enjoyed seeing it all come to life through this story.
Overall, this story was another great addition to Jill Shalvis’ back list. It had all of the good stuff in it, a steamy romance with great characters and a small town that you’ll fall in love with. I definitely recommend this book to lovers of Jill Shalvis and contemporary romance.
Grade: 4.5 out of 5
Reading Order:
This book is available from Forever. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
It is def on my list.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Pat L.
I love Jill’s books, I hope to get his one for Christmas.