Playing for Keeps (Heartbreaker Bay, #7) by Jill Shalvis
Series: Heartbreaker Bay #7
Also in this series: Sweet Little Lies (Heartbreaker Bay #1), The Trouble with Mistletoe, The Trouble with Mistletoe, One Snowy Night, Accidentally on Purpose, Chasing Christmas Eve (Heartbreaker Bay, #4), Chasing Christmas Eve, Holiday Wishes (Heartbreaker Bay, #4.5), Holiday Wishes, About That Kiss (Heartbreaker Bay, #5), About That Kiss, Hot Winter Nights (Heartbreaker Bay, #6)
Publisher: Harper Collins, Avon
Publication Date: January 22, 2019
Format: eARC
Source: Edelweiss
Point-of-View: Alternating Third
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 384
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Series Rating:
If you’re planning on falling in love…
When it comes to the confident, charismatic Caleb Parker, Sadie Lane feels the spark—the kind that comes from rubbing each other the wrong way. She’s a tattoo artist, he’s a straight-laced mogul. But after they accidentally co-rescue an abandoned dog from a storm, Sadie sees a vulnerable side to the seemingly invincible hottie.
you’d better be sure…
Caleb doesn’t do emotions. Growing up the underdog, he’s learned the hard way to build up an impenetrable wall. Perfect for business. Disastrous for relationships. He’s never worried about it before—not until he finally gets behind Sadie’s armor and begins to fall.
… someone is there to catch you.
Both guarded and vulnerable, Sadie and Caleb are complete opposites. Or are they? Shocked at their undeniable connection, can they ever admit to wanting more? That all depends on what they’re each willing to risk.
Playing for Keeps is the seventh book in Jill Shalvis’ Heartbreaker Bay series and it follows Caleb Parker and Sadie Lane. Caleb is Spence from Chasing Christmas Eve’s business partner and Sadie is a tattoo artist that works in the same building as everyone else. Caleb and Sadie have both been feeling the sizzling tug of awareness every time they’re around each other. The thing is Sadie is keeping her distance because she doesn’t have time for men right now and she doesn’t think that she has anything in common with someone who regularly wears fancy business suits. Caleb feels the sizzle around Sadie but with her obvious reluctance to go there, he keeps his distance…until they both end up co-parenting a cute little puppy named Lollipop.
Jill Shalvis does her thing with this one. I really enjoyed getting to know both Caleb and Sadie. They were always in the background of the other books so seeing them get their time to shine, front and center was a lot of fun for me. Sure there were times when I wanted to wring both of their necks, wring Caleb’s sister’s necks but for the most part, I enjoyed seeing these two come together in love. They both had past hurts that they struggled with and they both had such sturdy walls up to protect themselves from present and future hurts but I thought Shalvis handled their issues well.
This was a cute romance with a lot of heart and it’s always nice to see the gang back together again in each of these books. Caleb and Sadie were interesting characters who really shined in this book and I was super happy with the way their story came together. Jill Shalvis continues to shine with this series and I’m already looking forward to the next one.
Grade: 4 out of 5