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A review by 33p3barpercent
Head Over Heels by Jill Shalvis
5.0
I love Jill Shalvis. Honestly. Love her. I love her style of writing, I love her stories, I love her humor, I love her characters, and I love how I can reread her books over and over again and it'll be just like the first time.
Jill Shalvis has written A LOT. And, like any writer who's been writing for a long time, some of her stories are not that good (but in Shalvis's case, the writing and humor totally save them anyway), some of them are super cute, and some of them are fantastic. Unbelievably awesome.
And this is where Head Over Heels comes in.
Head over Heels is the third in Shalvis's Lucky Harbor series. In the first, Maddie has just gotten out of a bad relationship and is trying to regain her confidence (have heard this story before, nothing new, but still super cute). In the second, Tara, Southern belle to the core, has just divorced her husband and is trying to fight the attraction she feels to a man who she had a child with when she was a teenager. She's also dealing with her guilt over getting rid of that child. (Also have heard this story before, and, again, the characters and loveliness make this story a keeper.)
But Head Over Heels is Chloe and Sawyer's story. And I love, love, love how it's told.
Chloe's been known as the "Wild Child". She's the one who traveled all over the country as a child, following her Dead Head mother. She's got tattoos, rides a Vespa, and is desperately trying to lose her reputation as someone who cuts and runs. She's feeling the roots start to grow out the bottom of her feet into the soil of Lucky Harbor.
I love Chloe. She's so uncomfortable with affection and outpourings of love that, when her sister, Maddie tells Chloe she loves her, Chloe responds with a wet willy. She's hilarious, and bold, and brave, and I love that she is always ready to toe the line. Her best friend has been battling cystic fibrosis, and there's an adorably, heartbreaking scene where Lance tells her he wants to see her settled before he goes. Lance has been trying to live it up while he's got the time, and Chloe has always been there, right beside him, holding the hang-glider... or the wire cutters. She's also got a debilitating asthma condition that makes her, well. Let's let Chloe explain it:
It was her asthma's fault. IT held her back, and because of it, she tended to push the envelope too far in other ways. She understood that, from the outside looking in, it might seem like she had a secret death wish but she didn't. It was just that when she was in the midst of an asthma attack, she often felt so close to death that she, well, dared it. But she just wanted to run or dance or laugh hard, or have sex without needing an inhaler and possibly an ambulance.
Not exactly a common problem, but one that often left her straddling a fine line between socially acceptable behavior and the wild yearnings her mother had always encouraged. Her sisters wanted her to stop pushing those boundaries and settle down a little. And it was that which bothered Chloe more than anything. The message was simple: If she wanted to be accepted, even love,d by those she'd come to care about, she'd need to change. But dammit, she wanted to be accepted just as she was, imperfections and all.
-pg 28
Chloe's whole thing is that she feels--no, she knows--that people want her to change her ways. They want her to stop leaving town whenever she wants to, want her to get a real job, want her to stop getting arrested, stop putting herself in danger, slow down, settle down, and stay put for once. But Chloe doesn't want to change. She likes who she is. And I love that. I love that she didn't change. I love that she was like, no, guys. I'm awesome the way I am. I don't have to change, I've just got to find people who like me the way I am. She's horribly mature that way, and it made me mad for her that people kept assuming she was immature.
Sawyer, on the other hand, has changed. He was a real troublemaker in his childhood--up til his teen years where something tragic happened and he turned his life around. He became a cop. He has issues with his father, who still sees him as that punk kid, and Sawyer is frustrated that he can't make his father see how much he's changed.
He's also frustrated at how Chloe makes him feel. Chloe is all wrong for him. She's what he would have liked when he was that rabble rouser back in his misbegotten youth. He doesn't want to be attracted to Chloe and her free-spirit ways. But he is.
One of my favorite things about Head Over Heels is that there isn't an overarching conflict that keeps the Hero and the Heroine apart, like she's only on vacation and the rest of her life is back in the Big City, across the country. I really liked that these two people could get together, it was just them, and what they thought they wanted and deserved that was standing between them.
But, those things didn't stand between them for long. Sawyer and Chloe didn't have a chance to resist. The chemistry was palpable. I love how Chloe pushed Sawyer's buttons, and I loved how taciturn Sawyer was with her, just to drive her crazy. I love how Shalvis showed them getting together, falling in love, but didn't say it. I liked how Chloe and Sawyer thought about how they felt about each other, but didn't have one of those "dissecting the relationship/what are we doing here/let's label this" conversation.
Love or lust? she asked herself again. And if she asked him, would he have any more of an idea than she? No. She didn't want to know. Because maybe it was a little bit of both. And, besides, it wasn't a question that needed answering now. She'd just take their odd mix of frustration, heat, affection, and desire and... enjoy it.
-pg 197
I hate those conversations where one character demands an answer to the question of How Do You Feel? Chloe and Sawyer dance around the issue, but they never have The Conversation, but you still had honest conversation. There were lines like this one that made my heart jump:
"Chloe," he said softly, watching her carefully. "You can't even tell your sisters how you feel about them. If I told you how I felt, you'd--"
"Have an asthma attack?" She put her hand to her very tight chest.
"Dammit."
-pg 201
I've never annotated books with "AW"s and "CUTE" and "ADORABLE" more than I do with Jill Shalvis books, and this one is no different. Unfortunately, I lost all my comments, so I can't add more excerpts, but maybe that's for the best. I would just type out the whole book.
One of my favorite things about this story is the fact that it's so real in its relationship building. There aren't any there's-a-stalker-and-I-must-move-in-for-your-protection type tropes. Or everyone-thinks-you're-a-screwup-but-I'm-the-only-one-that-knows-you-nurse-dying-puppies-back-to-life-and-rescue-victims-of-genocide-on-the-weekends get togethers. It's just a guy and a girl and their relationship unfolding beautifully before me.
Anyway. I could go on and on about this book, but I won't. Just buy it. It's adorable, and you won't regret it. I'm excited about the fact that Shalvis seems to have been setting up at least three more books for her Lucky Harbor series (she's mentioned quite a few new people, and the teaser definitely made me think at least three more are on the way), which I'm so happy about because I love Lucky Harbor, and I'm glad I don't have to leave it so soon.
Read more reviews at maggiehasabookproblem.blogspot.com
Jill Shalvis has written A LOT. And, like any writer who's been writing for a long time, some of her stories are not that good (but in Shalvis's case, the writing and humor totally save them anyway), some of them are super cute, and some of them are fantastic. Unbelievably awesome.
And this is where Head Over Heels comes in.
Head over Heels is the third in Shalvis's Lucky Harbor series. In the first, Maddie has just gotten out of a bad relationship and is trying to regain her confidence (have heard this story before, nothing new, but still super cute). In the second, Tara, Southern belle to the core, has just divorced her husband and is trying to fight the attraction she feels to a man who she had a child with when she was a teenager. She's also dealing with her guilt over getting rid of that child. (Also have heard this story before, and, again, the characters and loveliness make this story a keeper.)
But Head Over Heels is Chloe and Sawyer's story. And I love, love, love how it's told.
Chloe's been known as the "Wild Child". She's the one who traveled all over the country as a child, following her Dead Head mother. She's got tattoos, rides a Vespa, and is desperately trying to lose her reputation as someone who cuts and runs. She's feeling the roots start to grow out the bottom of her feet into the soil of Lucky Harbor.
I love Chloe. She's so uncomfortable with affection and outpourings of love that, when her sister, Maddie tells Chloe she loves her, Chloe responds with a wet willy. She's hilarious, and bold, and brave, and I love that she is always ready to toe the line. Her best friend has been battling cystic fibrosis, and there's an adorably, heartbreaking scene where Lance tells her he wants to see her settled before he goes. Lance has been trying to live it up while he's got the time, and Chloe has always been there, right beside him, holding the hang-glider... or the wire cutters. She's also got a debilitating asthma condition that makes her, well. Let's let Chloe explain it:
It was her asthma's fault. IT held her back, and because of it, she tended to push the envelope too far in other ways. She understood that, from the outside looking in, it might seem like she had a secret death wish but she didn't. It was just that when she was in the midst of an asthma attack, she often felt so close to death that she, well, dared it. But she just wanted to run or dance or laugh hard, or have sex without needing an inhaler and possibly an ambulance.
Not exactly a common problem, but one that often left her straddling a fine line between socially acceptable behavior and the wild yearnings her mother had always encouraged. Her sisters wanted her to stop pushing those boundaries and settle down a little. And it was that which bothered Chloe more than anything. The message was simple: If she wanted to be accepted, even love,d by those she'd come to care about, she'd need to change. But dammit, she wanted to be accepted just as she was, imperfections and all.
-pg 28
Chloe's whole thing is that she feels--no, she knows--that people want her to change her ways. They want her to stop leaving town whenever she wants to, want her to get a real job, want her to stop getting arrested, stop putting herself in danger, slow down, settle down, and stay put for once. But Chloe doesn't want to change. She likes who she is. And I love that. I love that she didn't change. I love that she was like, no, guys. I'm awesome the way I am. I don't have to change, I've just got to find people who like me the way I am. She's horribly mature that way, and it made me mad for her that people kept assuming she was immature.
Sawyer, on the other hand, has changed. He was a real troublemaker in his childhood--up til his teen years where something tragic happened and he turned his life around. He became a cop. He has issues with his father, who still sees him as that punk kid, and Sawyer is frustrated that he can't make his father see how much he's changed.
He's also frustrated at how Chloe makes him feel. Chloe is all wrong for him. She's what he would have liked when he was that rabble rouser back in his misbegotten youth. He doesn't want to be attracted to Chloe and her free-spirit ways. But he is.
One of my favorite things about Head Over Heels is that there isn't an overarching conflict that keeps the Hero and the Heroine apart, like she's only on vacation and the rest of her life is back in the Big City, across the country. I really liked that these two people could get together, it was just them, and what they thought they wanted and deserved that was standing between them.
But, those things didn't stand between them for long. Sawyer and Chloe didn't have a chance to resist. The chemistry was palpable. I love how Chloe pushed Sawyer's buttons, and I loved how taciturn Sawyer was with her, just to drive her crazy. I love how Shalvis showed them getting together, falling in love, but didn't say it. I liked how Chloe and Sawyer thought about how they felt about each other, but didn't have one of those "dissecting the relationship/what are we doing here/let's label this" conversation.
Love or lust? she asked herself again. And if she asked him, would he have any more of an idea than she? No. She didn't want to know. Because maybe it was a little bit of both. And, besides, it wasn't a question that needed answering now. She'd just take their odd mix of frustration, heat, affection, and desire and... enjoy it.
-pg 197
I hate those conversations where one character demands an answer to the question of How Do You Feel? Chloe and Sawyer dance around the issue, but they never have The Conversation, but you still had honest conversation. There were lines like this one that made my heart jump:
"Chloe," he said softly, watching her carefully. "You can't even tell your sisters how you feel about them. If I told you how I felt, you'd--"
"Have an asthma attack?" She put her hand to her very tight chest.
"Dammit."
-pg 201
I've never annotated books with "AW"s and "CUTE" and "ADORABLE" more than I do with Jill Shalvis books, and this one is no different. Unfortunately, I lost all my comments, so I can't add more excerpts, but maybe that's for the best. I would just type out the whole book.
One of my favorite things about this story is the fact that it's so real in its relationship building. There aren't any there's-a-stalker-and-I-must-move-in-for-your-protection type tropes. Or everyone-thinks-you're-a-screwup-but-I'm-the-only-one-that-knows-you-nurse-dying-puppies-back-to-life-and-rescue-victims-of-genocide-on-the-weekends get togethers. It's just a guy and a girl and their relationship unfolding beautifully before me.
Anyway. I could go on and on about this book, but I won't. Just buy it. It's adorable, and you won't regret it. I'm excited about the fact that Shalvis seems to have been setting up at least three more books for her Lucky Harbor series (she's mentioned quite a few new people, and the teaser definitely made me think at least three more are on the way), which I'm so happy about because I love Lucky Harbor, and I'm glad I don't have to leave it so soon.
Read more reviews at maggiehasabookproblem.blogspot.com