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Jill Shalvis

Sweet Little Lies (A Heartbreaker Bay Novel) Hardcover – Large Print, August 17, 2016

by Jill Shalvis (Author)

795 ratings

Book 1 of 8: Heartbreaker Bay

Editors' pick Best Romance

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A New York Times Bestselling AuthorBestselling author Jill Shalvis launches a fun, sexy new series featuring a boy, a girl, and one wily wishing well. . . . Pru wants Finn to be happy; it’s what she wishes for at the fountain that’s supposed to grant her heart’s desire. But wanting him for herself is a different story ― because Pru’s been keeping a secret.

Print length

447 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Thorndike Press Large Print
Publication date

August 17, 2016
Dimensions

5.5 x 1 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

9781410492531
ISBN-13

978-1410492531
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1410492532
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thorndike Press Large Print; Large Print edition (August 17, 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 447 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781410492531
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1410492531
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.15 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,364,604 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #137,251 in American Literature (Books)
- #215,158 in Contemporary Romance (Books)

Customer Reviews:
795 ratings

About the author

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Jill Shalvis

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Multiple New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is … mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s bestselling, award-winning heartwarming and full of humor novels wherever books are sold and visit her website for a complete book list and blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures. Her newest Sunrise Cove novel, THE BACKUP PLAN, will be out on January 17th, and THE SWEETHEART LIST comes out in June!

www.facebook.com/jillshalvis

www.twitter.com/jillshalvis

www.instagram.com/jillshalvis

http://jillshalvis.tumblr.com/

or email her at contact@jillshalvis.com

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

795 global ratings

5 star		73%
4 star		17%
3 star		6%
2 star		3%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Excellent beginning to the Heartbreaker Bay series

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 3, 2017

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Opening up the first book in a series is always, for me, filled with anticipation. Especially when it’s from one of my favorite Romance authors, – yes like most readers I have many favorites yet Jill Shalvis ranks right up there toward the top of that list. I crave the comfort of the types of stories I’ve loved before, but being a contrary human I also want something different, something I haven’t experienced from them yet. I wasn’t too far into Sweet Little Lies before I knew that this was the beginning of one enticing, engaging series. When you can hook me by the end of the first chapter into needing to know what happens to Finn and Pru – then you’ve started a journey for me that I will stick to until the end of that series and completely enjoy myself.

The Heartbreaker Bay series centers around a tight-knit group of friends who have seen each other through rough times, good times and are more comfortable with each other than family in many cases. Sweet Little Lies brings the focus on Finn and the Irish Pub he owns that is often the gathering place for everyone to touch base at. Finn’s and his brother Sean’s lives were touched by tragedy when Finn was just starting out in adult life. Their father’s death put him as the one person to make a good life for himself and his brother. Of course sacrifices, changes in plans had to be made but Finn never hesitated and to this day Finn and Sean have a tight if at times rocky relationship. Finn’s life is full, busy, satisfying and he’s not looking for romance especially after the way his most recent foray into dating ended as it did. Yet there’s something about the new girl in the square. Her eyes speak of sadness but her manner shouts of something indescribable and special… something that Finn is drawn to and surprisingly wants to discover more about. His gut tells him she’s going to be important – he simply doesn’t realize just how important yet.

For all of Pru’s adult life she has been on a mission to right wrongs done to so many others. Quietly, without fanfare simply doing what is right. She knows she can never make up for the actions of another but she can and will help where she can. Years ago she’d already helped Finn and Sean without them being aware of it. Yet she feels a need to know that Finn is alright, that his life has turned out the way he wanted. She wouldn’t have said she needed to be in his life but she did need to know that he was happy. It doesn’t make sense to her either but it’s how she’s felt for a long time now. What she hadn’t expected was the strong, fiery attraction between them or for it to blaze into flames so easily or quickly. Pru knows that she has to tell Finn the truth before they get in too deep, before hearts can be broken and lives changed… trouble is, they’re already in too deep and there’s no turning back now.

Sweet Little Lies will grab your attention, capture your heart and hold you hostage until the final page. Pru is, well she’s just a sweetheart. Strong even if she doesn’t always believe that of herself, set on a course that most people would have never taken. What she’s not telling Finn is huge and the longer she waits the more difficult it’s becoming. She hadn’t planned on falling for him and now that she fears she’s going to lose him her world is crashing in on her. Finn is definitely hot and stubborn and totally committed to Pru, even if he’s not using quite that word just yet. Together they are the perfect match with enough real quirks to make them totally believable. But this isn’t just a story about Pru and Finn, it’s also about their tribe, that group of people who make up a family that will be there for them throughout anything life tosses their way. The fun part is going to be discovering all of their stories along the way in the Heartbreaker Bay series.

If you enjoy believable, realistic stories with people who you could walk past in your own neighborhood, then Sweet Little Lies is a story that you’ll want to dive into. I’d recommend this one for any Romance reader who loves having the secondary characters be almost as important to the story as the main couple. It’s a really good story, and an excellent beginning to the series.

I own a Kindle edition of this story.

6 people found this helpful

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Catherine Sparks

Good book!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 19, 2022

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Jill Shalvis has some great books that are fun to read and have some nice love story parts too!

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RR

I keep thinking I should and will fall in love with Jill Shalvis's work like nearly every other romance/woman's ...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 13, 2017

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I keep thinking I should and will fall in love with Jill Shalvis's work like nearly every other romance/woman's fiction fan I know, and the other Heartbreaker Bay installment I read gave me hope that, at long last, I'd succeeded! Sadly, I then read two more that reminded me of why her work just doesn't work for me. Keep in mind these are all just my subjective opinions and in no way meant to disparage those who love her work. In fact, I'm jealous of those who do---I want nothing more than to find a contemporary series I can really fall in love with, especially as nearly everything else I read is set about 150 years ago :)

This is the most wildly subjective issue of the lot, but I just don't like Jill Shalvis's writing style. I'm all for short, simple sentences, but her writing is so basic, often so lacking in flair and color and with so many conspicuously missing punctuation marks (nerdy pet peeve, I realize!), that it reads almost as if a pre-teen wrote it. And it's not just the prose that I find lacking----it's the dialogue as well. These are alleged adults who spend most of their time fixating on "who's gettin' some" and having the kind of conversations about sex that my 12-year-old godson would find juvenile.

I'm all for humor and silliness, and obviously I do expect contemporary romance novels to make a lot of jokes and references to lust and love. It's a matter of type and degree, though: the humor doesn't feel remotely clever, just childish and not remotely resembling the thoughts and conversations of any adults I know. (And I do know plenty of adults who talk about love and sex---just not 99% of the time they open their mounths, and they tend to it with a LITTLE more wit, insight, etc.!) Also, I hope you like curse words...the ones this site won't permit me to type :) Shalvis uses them a lot, and while I'm not puritanical about these things, it just feels gratuitous and adds to the impression that giggling pre-adolescents wrote large sections of the book, trying to exploit this golden opportunity to curse constantly without being grounded :)

A very related criticism is that the characters and their relationships with one another, both the romantic and platonic ones, are about as shallow as a puddle. And here's the thing: I LOVE fluffy, light and even silly romances to the point where I won't even read the overly self-serious ones. Unfortunately, the characters in this and so many of Shalvis's other books feel so disappointingly flat and one-dimensional, and other than repeatedly exchanging the sort of unfunny comments about sex and various "hotties" that, again, would have even most junior high students rolling their eyes, there's little indication of who any of these people are and how they connect with each other. That's true of both the friendships AND the romances, unfortunately. Speaking of which...

I think it says something that I've gotten this far in critiquing a romance novel without really mentioning the central romance. As so often happens when I've tried Jill Shalvis's books, the dynamic between the H and h feels a whole lot more like lust than anything even resembling love. And that's not just because of the usual drawn out foreplay/sex scenes, but because of what ISN'T found in between those scenes: emotional and/or intellectual connections that feel authentic. As others have noted, Pru is defined almost solely by her guilt over a past incident that isn't even her own fault. Believe me, I get being guilt-ridden, so this should have made her relatable and sympathetic to me, but instead I found myself agreeing with the reviewers who just wanted her to get the heck over it already. As for the other elements of Pru's personality...well, there really aren't any, other than the usual 'likes food and sex and has a cute pet' thing we get from literally almost every Shalvis heroine. (Not to miminize said pet, of course---I'm not kidding when I say that the animals in Jill Shalvis's books are often by far the most lovable and enjoyable characters!) If you asked me to describe her personality, I think I'd just have to stare at you blankly, at a loss to come up with even one defining trait.

Similarly, Finn is indistinguishable from almost every single Shalvis hero I've ever encountered: the stock 'alpha.' She really is OBSESSED with alphas, and even has characters frequently remind us in stilted dialogue that said guys are 'such alphas,' which I guess readers are supposed to find so enthralling that they won't care when said alpha has no personality, quirks, layers, etc. The problem is that they're all alphas in the exact same generic, surprisingly dull ways: repressing their softer emotions, commitment phobic for most of the novel, super protective, tough, hardworking, like cursing and sex and beer like 'manly men' do...I mean, that's nice and all, but it doesn't make for an especially nuanced or memorable character, especially when she's written more or less the EXACT same hero so very, very, very many times!

And then we have the fact that this novel is almost 400 pages with maybe 25-30 pages worth of actual plot. As other reviewers have pointed out, these two rather lackluster characters just keep encountering each other and thinking the same exact lustful thoughts (which they then act on in rather rote foreplay/sex scenes, of course!) and have the same exhausting miscommunications. That's literally the "plot." The story technically hinges on when Pru will finally, finally, FINALLY reveal a not-nearly-as-interesting-as-the-author-thinks-it-is secret to Finn. The reader knows what this secret is so there's not even a shred of suspense there, and we're just impatiently waiting a gazillion or so pages for her to clue in Finn and the inevitable argument that arises from it. It makes for a tedious, frustrating reading experience.

My standards are comfortably low when it comes to plotting in romances---I read this genre for the characters, the dialogue, joy, humor, hope, and the feeling of being alive that the best ones provide. But this one somehow has even less actual story/plot than most, and the aforementioned dialogue, characters and overall tone and style aren't nearly good enough to compensate for it. I mostly enjoyed the sample, but that turned out to be the default highlight of a very dull and at times outright irritating book.

Anyway, I think I finally learned my lesson: I just don't like Jill Shalvis's writing. In case anyone else out there is in this tiny minority with me, just know that you're not alone! And even for readers who do like some of her books and her general writing style, characterizations, dialogue, etc., this really isn't one of the better ones she's done. And that's putting it politely :)

8 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Mrs. S. J. Parkes

Great start to a fabulous new series

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 10, 2017

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This is the first book in Jill Shalvis's Heartbreaker Bay series and it is a fantastic start.- one that draws you in to the place and makes you connect with the interesting people that live there and of course there is the fountain and Eddie.

If you want to start a new series that is thoroughly enjoyable then buy this - it is about Pru a cruise ship captain and Finn a bar owner. Pru has a major secret concerning the past about Finn that she should tell him before starting a relatiohnship but can not tell due to her growing feeling that she tries to fight and the fear of losing his friendship so this equals a great romance with a twist.

This book is about repaying debts, family, friends, laughs and love a great combination for a fabulous love story. The characters are engaging and lovable and I look forward to the rest of the series that I know will keep me entertained.

2 people found this helpful

missd24

Another brilliant series

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 22, 2017

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I love Jill Shalvis books and this one is no exception.
No matter what series of books i read of hers they are always brilliant, she draws you in to the stories and makes you care about the characters and what happens to them, you want to be their friends and you can't help laughing out loud at the antics they get up to and swooning over the romance, I swear my jaw always aches after reading her books as i've been smiling so long without even realising it half the time.
I love this new group of characters and i cannot wait to read the next one in the series.
If you love a good funny romance book and enjoy getting to know a group of characters and watching what happens to them all you wont be disappointed.

One person found this helpful

Claire Thake

This book was recommended to me by a friend

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 29, 2016

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This book was recommended to me by a friend, and I glad she did as I really enjoyed it!

This book is the first installment in the Heartbreaker Bay series and is about boat Captain Pru Harris and Finn O'Riley. All Pru wants in for Finn to find happiness for certain reasons, but as she gets to know him better things take a different turn.

This was a lovely, delightful read. The characters were well developed and you can't help but want to root for them from the beginning.

I will definitely be keeping my eyes out for book 2 in the series!

L beaver

Worth a read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 3, 2017

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It's written really well. Finn is the owner of a bar when Pru enters and there is a definite interest on his part. She has a secret that involves him and keeps putting off telling him. It's a slow burn and told really well.

Fishing Wife

Enjoyable

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 13, 2019

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Loved all the characters in this book but especially Pru and Finn the main characters pure escapism which is great

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