Title: Playing for Keeps (Heartbreaker Bay #7)
Author: Jill Shalvis
Publication: January 22nd 2019
Edition: Paperback (look, an actual paper book) 351 pages
Genre: Romance
Rating: B-
Bookit 2009 #7
Alright, this book took me a while to read, half because it was hard to stay into it at first, and half because the last two months have been crazy in my life and probably won’t let up for awhile. But that’s neither here or there when it comes to this review. The book was alright. There wasn’t anything I particularly hated or loved to be honest. Its not going to be going in my re-read pile. That being said, if someone asked me if I recommended it to them to read? I’d probably say sure, its a nice light read.
The plot of the book starts with Sadie Lane and Caleb Parker finding a stray/abandoned dog that they name Lollipop. They have been crushing on each other in their own way for about a year now, but Sadie has issues accepting emotional connection and Caleb has a few issues of his own. They navigate their relationship around these things.
I did like the fact that this book takes into note mental health issues, but I feel like it wasn’t the right vehicle for it. There always felt like we got the summary of things but nothing really in depth about these two characters. It was there just to keep the pair from being together long enough for it to be a novel.
And the adoption of Lollipop, a dog they find is actually far less involved then you would expect.
I’m hoping that alot of the minor details being missing is because this is book #7 and probably were mentioned in an earlier book but I honestly don’t know. There are a few lines I found difficult not to laugh at too not because they were ncessarily jokes, but because it was just awkward phrasing (The main one happens in one of the last chapters and involves psychic boobs).
So since I don’t feel particularly strong about this book in either way other then what I previously mentioned, I’m going to give this novel a B.
Sokorra Lewis 