The Trouble with Mistletoe

I so loved this book! I had seen the movie version and truly enjoyed it, so I wanted to read the book. Books are usually better and this was exactly the case. Willa and Keane are both stubborn and afraid of being connected to someone. Keane doesn’t “get attached”—it’s not his family way. While Willa is full of love for the animals she takes care of and her friends/family, she is afraid of committing to a guy because when she’s invested in relationships before, she’s been severely burned. Yet there is this pull between them that is practically combustible and definitely irresistible. A wonderful holiday, or any day, story.

I like to pick one Christmas story to read at the holiday and I picked this one. Boy am I glad. This book was typical Jill Shalvis...great characters...great story....great happy ending! Willa Davis owns a pet shop and is one of the sweetest, nicest people anyone knows. So imagine her surprise when Keane Winters comes to her shop with a pink bedazzled cat carrier asking for help and doesn't even recognize her, even though he broke her heart back in high school. Keane is at his wits end. His great aunt asked him to watch her crazy, possessed cat. He tried taking her to work that didn't work out too well so now he is begging for help, even offering to pay more than normal. Keane tends to spend all of his time working and not into relationships. An occasional hookup is all he needs. What he did not expect was to be drawn to Willa and her brightness. After spending some time together, Willa starts to realize that Keane is not like the guy he was in high school. When she confronts him about actually knowing her, she finds out something that she never really knew. Her light is helping to remove his darkness in life and they start to realize that they could be good together. I just adored all of Willa's friends. They were such a hoot! I loved how protective they were of her. I really enjoyed the ride Willa and Keane went on to get to their happy ending. This story had wonderful characters, a great story and a happy ever after that will tug at your heart!

Every time I read a book by Jill Shalvis I am in love with the characters she creates and writes about; The Trouble with Mistletoe is no exception. It is another example of Shalvis’ sense of humor, her creativity, as well as her outstanding writing ability. This is the second book in her new Heartbreaker Bay series which takes place in San Francisco, where she created a small community of close knit friends who hang out together and support one another. It still has that small town feeling only now it is within a large city. Ms. Shalvis did an amazing job taking the reader through the craziness as Willa and Keane discover each other. Willa was in and out of the foster system growing up with an alcoholic mother who often could not parent. Keane was a late in life surprise to his parents, and his older sisters. Keane’s family all become scientists and professors and he did not quite fit in. Keane is all alpha. He builds things with his hands. In one scene, Willa tells Keane …” you just peed on me in public.” As if he was marking her as his. In another scene, Keane tells Willa, “You can say more with silence than any woman I’ve ever met.” Both Willa and Keane struggle with feeling loved. As Willa’s friend Haley stated to Keane, “She deserves love.” “She gives one hundred percent to everyone and everything but herself so we all knew it was going to be something big when she fell. Someone who knocked her off her feet.” Keane got all of this about Willa. Now if only Willa would accept his feelings or the fact that he loved her. The Trouble with Mistletoe was a fun and entertaining story with loveable characters that you want to support and cheer on hoping for that happy ending. The characters were well written, authentic, and complex. Shalvis is a talented writer, able to create a funny, romantic story that made it hard, at least for this reader, to put the book down. This is a must read for anyone who enjoys a good contemporary romance that contains a lot of humor mixed in with smexy.

When a book starts elbows deep in puppy poo and a hero carrying a bedazzled pink cat carrier, you know it’s going to be fun and light. But Trouble with Mistletoe has two characters with deeper, underlying emotional wounds that are not as apparent until you go deeper into the book and into their lives, making this book not only fun and sexy but emotional and touching at the same time. Willa Davis bounced from foster home to foster home and back to her own alcoholic mother throughout her childhood and now, as an adult, she collects other former foster kids and helps them, and a set of friends. She does say multiple times that she knows most don’t stay; her former fosters, once they get on their feet, move on, and her pets come and go through the revolving door of her store. But the one man she never expects to walk through her door is Keane Winters, the one man who unknowingly broke her fragile heart years ago when he rejected her. Keane Winters is a sexy man who flips houses, running his own construction type business. He was the surprise baby to an academic couple who had already finished with their two very well behaved children and didn’t expect an athletic, active little boy to come along. So Keane was cut adrift in his own life, not really getting the emotional connection he needed as he grew up, feeling unloved and unwanted throughout his whole life. As a result, flipping houses is perfect for him. He doesn’t live anywhere, just resides in one of them for a while until he sells it, and he doesn’t make any connections. He doesn’t even remember rejecting Willa all those years ago (or even remember Willa) but he knows there’s something special about her and he’s drawn to her like a moth to a flame. Willa doesn’t want to be hurt by him again (or anyone) and she tries to resist but its futile. I mean, the man takes on his great-aunt’s demonic cat at a moment’s notice (and he never even knew his great-aunt). How could you not fall for a guy like that? Both characters have emotional scars to overcome, family issues to deal with, and their own inherent fears about connecting. But their own attraction is white-hot and they just can’t resist. I loved how the characters were not how they appeared on the surface and the twist at the end was who had the most trouble with making the final connection. Keane, as with all sexy heroes, was tall, dark and sexy, protective of Willa and, once he decided he was all in, he went for it. Willa on the other, needed a bit more persuading. I loved how the secondary characters played a strong role, giving this book a strong community feel also.

Really enjoyed the newest installment of the Heartbreaker Bay series! Willa and Keane have great chemistry from the moment they come in contact. Like in most romances, they both have some issues to work through before they find their HEA, but nothing too dramatic. There is plenty of humor as well, which most of the time involves either the pets in Willa’s shop or the cat Keane is pet sitting. I love the group of friends in this series and I’m really looking forward to Archer and Ella’s story! 4.5 stars I received an ARC for the purpose of an honest review. I was not compensated for this review, all conclusions are my own.

Willa has watched, befriended, supported and found her calling with her pet shop the South Bark Mutt Shop. She’s still struggling with her childhood demons after spending time in the foster care system, and with a heart bigger than her petite size, she’s also tried to build a safe haven for other refugees from the system. She’s not interested in a man, so she keeps telling herself. But when hotter than Hades Keane Winters appears at the shop’s door carrying a bedazzled pink pet carrier with an overlarge Siamese cat and a larger chip on his shoulder, her world went topsy turvy. Keane is a self-made man, closed off from emotion and unwilling to admit he’s got a responsible streak a mile long, he’s watching his newly-found aunt Sally’s cat Petunia (Pita for short). Not a fan of cats, or Pita in particular, he’s convinced the Christmas Crazed pet shop owner is hot, cute and intriguing, despite her obvious disdain for him. These two have such a long way to go – these two arrive so broken, yet so full of potential. Both have engendered great loyalty, and fierce protectiveness from those who know them. If only they could move beyond their own issues and get it together. Logan is completely in tune with his no-attachment policies, and Willa, well she never managed to step out and away soon enough. But, just once she takes that chance… and one night isn’t near enough. For either of them. Shalvis tells us of the slow destruction of the walls both have built, and the gentle, and not so gentle advice, interference and support provided by friends – old and new. And friends they do have: Logan is, if not instantly, accepted into the group of Willa’s friends. A big feat as the boys in the group have overlarge egos, weapons and shovels. And even Pita discovers that a warm lap and a soft pillow can be found with Logan. There’s plenty to love about this story, with love laughter, friendship and a few moments with a curious cat, pockets full of dog treats and the lover’s wishing well, the story will leave you smiling and contemplating a move to San Francisco. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via Edelweiss for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Another great visit back to Heartbreak Bay and the cast of characters that live in and around there. In The Trouble with Mistletoe, the author introduces two flawed, "damaged" people who are practically perfect for each other. I love the introduction where our heroine, Willa, realizes early on that the man who has no idea who she is is the one who broke her heart, without even knowing it, in high school. Thus begins a journey for each of them that winds its way through their neuroses, friendships, fears, and hopes, and lands with the two of them in love with each other. Each has fear of commitments, but for different reasons, and each has to let go some of their control, and be willing to take a risk, in order for them to find happiness. The Trouble with Mistletoe includes lots of laughs, many animal hijinks, friends looking out for friends, and friends challenging each other to look beyond the surface for the reality, and the chance for love, that lurks just below the surface. Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4 1/2 STARS! An adorably fun read! Pet shop owner Willa Davis does favors for others every day. She loves her friends, she loves her pet clients, her neighbors, etc. ... but when a steamy hot man comes knocking on her door before the shop is even open, Willa can't stand the sight of him! Keane Winters has just been handed his great-aunt's demon spawn of a cat and doesn't have a clue what to do with her. He begs Willa for help because he needs her to pet sit for him. He can't understand why this gorgeous creature seems to be mad at him when he's never even met her before! Willa has to admit that Keane seems to be a different person than that year in high school ... she just doesn't know if she can trust her heart to him again.

Willa had a rough childhood. As the owner of South Bark Mutt Shop, she loves her animals and her friends. Those things are important to her and they always stood by her. Keane Winters walks back into her life. The boy who stood her up all those year ago in high school and he didn't even remember her. Keane didn't have the best childhood either. Something he has in common with Willa. I loved the sparks between these two and each of them figuring out that they can love and depend on each other for the long haul. Add the spice of one tempermental cat and some nosey but loving friends and this book had me laughing through the entire story! Can't wait for the next one!!

This is book # 2 in the Heartbreaker Bay series. This book can be read as a standalone novel. For reader enjoyment and understanding, I recommend reading this series in the order intended. Keane & Willa have a past. Not a good one, nothing worth remembering. So why is Willa so mad that Keane doesn't remember? Willa is surrounded by friends as her family now. She makes her own way in the world. Now, a sexy piece of her past has bulldozed his way back into her life. Can they learn to forgive and move on? This is such an amazing series. The characters are deep, the sexy scenes are HOT, and the friendships are forever. I am truly impressed and eagerly awaiting the next book. ***This ARC copy was given in exchange for an honest review.