Wrapped Up in You by Jill Shalvis

August 11, 2023 Tobe Buffenbarger

Title: Playing for Keeps (Heartbreaker Bay #8)

Author: Jill Shalvis

Publisher: Avon 2019

Genre: Romance

Pages: 348

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

Spice Rating: 5

It’s love. Trust me.

After a lifetime on the move, Ivy Snow is an expert in all things temporary—schools, friends, and way too many Mr. Wrongs. Now that she owns a successful taco truck in San Francisco and an apartment to call home, Ivy’s reinvented life is on solid ground. And she’s guarded against anything that can rock it. Like the realities of a past she’s worked hard to cover up. And especially Kel O’Donnell. Too hot not to set off alarms, he screams temporary. If only his whispers weren’t so delightfully naughty and irresistible.

Kel, an Idaho sheriff and ranch owner, is on vacay, but Ivy’s a spicy reason to give his short-term plans a second thought. Best of all, she’s a tonic for his untrusting heart, burned once and still in repair. But when Ivy’s past intrudes on a perfect romance, Kel fears that everything she’s told him has been a perfect lie. Now, if only Ivy’s willing to share, Kel will fight for a true love story.

And we have come to the end of the Heartbreaker Bay series, or at least I assume it’s the end. I can’t actually find the two short stories that I haven’t read and I don’t think Shalvis has written any more with these characters. So we finally get a story featuring Ivy after being name dropped for the last few books. She gets a decent story involving Caleb’s cousin Kel. I did enjoy those two together, figuring out how to deal with their family dramas and learning to open up to each other. The overall action plot line wasn’t my favorite in the series, but it did add to the overall story. I did wish to see a bit more time between Ivy and Kel before they engaged in a relationship. I’m a sucker for tension and this book left me wanting more. But it was a fun breezy read for the week as I finish this series I started at Christmas last year.

Heartbreaker Bay

Next up on the TBR pile: