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About That Kiss
by Jill ShalvisSeries: Heartbreaker Bay #5
Published by Avon on January 23, 2018
SubGenres: Contemporary Romance
Format: AudioBook, Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 384
Narrator: Karen White
Length: 9 Hours And 26 Minutes
Source: Library - Libby, Purchased
Audience: 18+/Adult
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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 read About That Kiss by Jill Shalvis eight years ago but realized I never reviewed it, so I decided to read it again to review it. Thank goodness I did because after reading it a second time, I realized how much I enjoy Jill Shalvis’s stories, especially the Heartbreaker Bay series that introduced me to her books. Each book introduces characters that feel like family and a great blend of humor and mystery, just like About That Kiss.
Brief Storyline: When Kylie has something precious stolen, she asks the one guy who gave her an unforgettable kiss to help track it down. The same guy who never called her after that kiss. Joe never called Kylie after their kiss for good reasons because he doesn’t do forevers. But when Kylie asks for his help, he can’t refuse, even though he knows it’s a bad idea, especially since he can’t shake his feelings for her. The more time they spend together, the more he realizes he can’t do his job properly because she distracts him from things he shouldn’t think of.
My Thoughts: I loved revisiting Kylie and Joe’s story because it had some of my favorite tropes, friends to lovers and slow burn, and mutual pining where the two leads have feelings but fight that attraction until forced together. I can’t help but love these stories due to the constant banter between the characters, which is exactly what happens with Kylie and Joe’s love story.
Jill Shalvis dives into Kylie and Joe’s backstories, which made me feel for both characters and made it obvious they need to work through some things, and they did it together. I loved them individually too. Joe with his protective nature, which he has a reason to be protective of, and Kylie’s determination to find who stole from her, even though she’s putting herself at risk. She did drive me crazy toward the end and the decision she made, not to wait for Joe. It works out in the end, but that’s after something happens.
I really enjoyed reading Kylie and Joe’s relationship grow from friendship to more, even if Joe had issues moving forward with Kylie. He has reasons. I had a minor issue at the beginning with Kylie liking another guy before pursuing Joe, but that works out in the end. It was that unforgettable kiss that made Kylie want Joe more, plus other reasons, and I was here for these two to be together.
The mystery behind the stolen object kept me engaged because I wanted to know who stole it and why. I was genuinely surprised to find out who was behind it. Jill definitely wrote a very dramatic ending, though that kept me on the edge of my seat.
One of my favorite parts was when Joe introduced Kylie to his father and how Kylie surprised Joe by how she handled him. His father has PTSD, which Jill Shalvis did a great job addressing and showing how it impacts military veterans returning from war. It definitely was a challenge for Joe, and I could tell whenever he visited his father, but he knew how to handle his father and didn’t expect Kylie to handle it so well too. I loved how his father called Joe out on his crap too when something happened between him and Kylie.
I also loved the secondary characters and how they played a role in Joe and Kylie’s relationship. Some characters I’ve already read their HEAs for, while others I can’t wait to catch up on. Every character in the Heartbreaker Bay series is family, and I loved that about this series.
Overall, I give this book four stars and am glad I reread Kylie and Joe’s love story. This book made me realize how much I love Jill Shalvis’s books. I’ll need to catch up on this series and check out other books I’ve missed from Jill.
Standalone or Part of Series: It’s an interconnected standalone in the Heartbreaker Bay series.
POV: Third Person (Dual POV)
Would I recommend this book/series? If you enjoy reading Contemporary Romance that has a great blend of humor, mystery, and romance, then check out About That Kiss and all the other books in the Heartbreaker Bay series.
What to Expect:
🩷Friends to Lovers
🩷One Unforgettable Kiss
🩷Found Family
🩷Slow Burn
About Jill Shalvis
Multiple New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is … mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s bestselling, award-winning heartwarming and full of humor novels wherever books are sold and visit her website for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures. Her most recent book, Almost Just Friends, was just published last month and her next book, The Summer Deal, comes out in June.
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