First I have to start by saying I have a new book boyfriend crush, and his name is Sawyer. He's been in the background during the first 2 books in this series as we watched his best friends, Jax and Ford, fall in love, and Sawyer found himself still single yet drawn to Chloe, the half-sister of Maddie and Tara, the women his best friends fell for. Chloe is a bit of a wild child, not in a bad way, but she has a hard time settling down, having grown up in a van traveling around with her mom. She is also very resistant to letting Maddie and Tara in, she's convinced that people will just come and go, and getting attached or even worse, loving someone, will only lead to disappointment and heartbreak. But the sisters are all now committed to making their inn a success and Chloe finds herself wanting to stick around more and more and starts having plans of her own in Lucky Harbor.
Sawyer is the kind of hero that I absolutely love reading about. He had a bit of a troubled past, causing problems as a teen and on one horrible night was involved in a crash that killed his 2 friends and ended a friendship with another. It was a wake-up call for him, and with no support from his dad, he turned his life around and now as the town sheriff, he tries so hard to be the perfect person for Lucky Harbor. He goes above and beyond in his job and it's wearing him down. He tries to be everything to everyone and he stops having fun and doesn't have a reason to enjoy life, until Chloe comes around. He's a strong, silent hero that is always there for his friends and family, even when said family doesn't want him there, and on top of all that, he's damn sexy. How can you not love a guy like this?
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Chloe stood there, her back to their little circle, lit by the glow of the flames as she squinted to see into the woods. She was waiting, the concern etched on her face.
For him.
That was different. He's always been the one to look after people and wasn't used to it going the other way. And yet he could see it plain as day. Tough as she was, she let her emotions show, every single one of them.
He wasn't good at that and didn't want to be. He hadn't managed to stay alive on the job by being an open book. Anything he felt, he kept to himself. And actually, sometimes he wasn't sure he even had any emotions to hide.
But all he had to do was look at Chloe and know that he did. He had way too many feelings. It'd been a damn long time since he'd let anything penetrate, but she'd gotten through. In fact, what he felt for her had invaded his life.
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Chloe has been struggling to fit in to the family her sisters are trying to make in Lucky Harbor. She's always been a wanderer and actually having roots somewhere and staying for the long haul is a horribly scary prospect for her and she fights it initially. She helps out at the inn, still travels as she builds up her spa business, but she starts to have these crazy plans, crazy for her, of opening up a spa at the inn and making a long term commitment. The sisters aren't too sure at first, they're not convinced that Chloe will really stick around, but she sets out to prove that this is something she can commit to. It's really the start of her looking at her life differently and she begins to let people in a little bit more when she had been so used to keeping everyone at arms length.
Chloe is sarcastic, uses humor to lighten any situation and she had me laughing through the whole book. She brings fun and energy into Sawyer's life and together they were such an enjoyable, sexy couple to read about. Chloe battles with severe asthma, and one of the sweetest scenes was when they were in bed and Sawyer tells her that he researched asthma and learned about ways they could still be together without compromising her health and breathing. It was beyond sweet and it was nice to see that her asthma isn't something that's pushed aside in the story, it's a big issue for Chloe and with Sawyer's help, she's able to enjoy moments that she had never thought possible.
Jill Shalvis writes couples so well, and the humor and love between Sawyer and Chloe grabbed me from the beginning, but I also love the way the sisters are written. They have some touching and hilarious scenes, and even as they get closer as the book goes on, Chloe doesn't lose that sarcastic edge. While we can see that Chloe is changing, wanting things that she's never wanted before with regards to her family and the inn, she's still Chloe deep down and doesn't think twice about giving a wet willy to someone or driving her drunk sisters up to the mud springs for a little midnight dip.
This is a wonderful addition to the Lucky Harbor series and while I'm sad to see the sisters stories come to an end, I'm so happy that Shalvis is keeping the small town series going with more books coming next year. There are a few characters that show up in HEAD OVER HEELS that I'd love to know more about. Amy, who works at Eat Me, the local diner and "Cute Guy"...who wouldn't be curious about a guy who's only known in the town as "Cute Guy"?! This book is going on the keeper shelf and I already can't wait to reread and enjoy it again.
Blog Rating: 4.5/5 stars
