Accidentally on Purpose

December 5, 2016
Shalvis’s San Francisco–based Heartbreaker Bay contemporary romance series started out strong, but this time around, property manager Elle Wheaton and romantic foil Archer Hunt have neither the quirky charm of Pru Harris and Finn O’Riley (Sweet Little Lies) nor the warm glow of Willa Davis and Keane Winters (The Trouble with Mistletoe). Elle and Archer do fulfill the overarching theme of the series: two people connected by complicated past issues who fight their mutual attraction against the backdrop of the city’s Cow Hollow District. Archer, an ex-cop, operates a security business that’s responsible for the safety of the building that Elle manages. He knew that the two of them working together was a bad idea—old baggage and all—yet he recommended her for the building manager job anyway. The daily torture of their close professional proximity is too slender a thread on which to hang the story, so Shalvis adds a subplot involving Elle’s black-sheep sister that lacks sufficient depth to be credible. Shalvis’s fans will still read this installment, but they know she can do better.

December 1, 2016
After a troubled childhood, Elle Wheaton is getting her degree and finding her way, with help from her friends and her job, and if her attraction to colleague Archer Hunt is a problem, it's one she's determined to ignore--in the same way he ignores her.Most days, Elle loves her job as the general manager of the Pacific Pier Building in San Francisco, and she definitely loves the circle of friends she's made in the businesses around her. She does not love the fact that she has to work directly with the head of Hunt Investigations, the building's security company. Archer is "big and tough, and frustrating beyond measure for so many reasons." Elle and Archer share a past, and after years of not having seen him, she was stunned to find him in the building where she landed the manager position a year ago. They've both avoided being alone together, though they've worked on projects and investigations with his team. When a freak electrical accident forces them to interact, however, Elle admits to herself that she's attracted to him and allows a thread of hope that he may feel the same way. Entering a new phase of a relationship that has always been complicated--they met when she was a minor, and he lost his job as a police officer when he sabotaged a mission to help her--the couple must grapple with their decision to explore a long-standing attraction while overcoming years' worth of baggage, then are thrown up against some dangerous old enemies when Elle's sister shows up seeking redemption. Shalvis continues her Heartbreak Bay series with Elle and Archer's roller-coaster romance that never confronts obstacles quite as difficult or dramatic as they choose to make them. For one thing, their individual decisions to protect themselves and each other from their attraction/romance/love with repetitive dramatic rejections grow tiresome. But using her signature witty banter, emotional back story, hot chemistry, and affecting romance, Shalvis pulls it off. Sexy, engaging, and fun despite some imperfections.

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December 1, 2016

Apartment manager and accounting student Elle Wheaton and security expert and former cop Archer Hunt have a history that goes back to Elle's teenage years, when he rescued her from disaster and set her on the right path. In the interim, he's never lost track of her, and she's never stopped feeling she owes him, something that creates a host of problems when the attraction between them becomes irresistible. Colorful continuing characters pepper the scene (a savvy alley dweller is a favorite), while a lethal, vindictive thug amps up the tension in an enjoyable romance that smoothly continues the series. VERDICT Sexy, touching, and often funny, this San Francisco-set romance brings the city to life and a superbly matched couple to their senses. The popular Shalvis never disappoints. Shalvis (The Trouble with Mistletoe) lives in the Sierras near Lake Tahoe.

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