Accidentally on Purpose: A Heartbreaker Bay Novel

Jill Shalvis

Jan 2017 · HarperAudio · Narrated by Karen White

About this audiobook

(A standalone Heartbreaker Bay novel)

There’s no such thing as a little in love . . .

Elle Wheaton’s priorities: friends, career, and kick-ass shoes. Then there’s the muscular wall of stubbornness that’s security expert Archer Hunt—who comes before everything else. No point in telling Mr. “Feels-Free Zone” that, though. Elle will just see other men until she gets over Archer . . . which should only take a lifetime . . . 

There’s no such thing as a little in lust . . .

Archer’s wanted the best for Elle ever since he sacrificed his law-enforcement career to save her. Their chemistry could start the next San Francisco earthquake and he craves her 24/7, but Archer doesn’t want to be responsible for the damage. The alternative? Watch her go out with guys who aren’t him . . .

There is such a thing as . . .

As far as Archer’s concerned, nobody is good enough for Elle. But when he sets out to prove it by sabotaging her dates, she gets mad—and things get hot as hell. Now Archer has a new mission: prove to Elle that her perfect man has been here all along . . .

Ratings and reviews

3.5 stars — This one had a lot of great moments, but in the end it dragged on a bit long and I started to lose interest. I’m not sure if it was repetitive, or it was just the pacing in general that didn’t work for me? It probably didn’t help that Archer and Elle were never going to be the characters I would connect the most with in this series, and while I was curious about their past, I don’t always understand the whole fighting push and pull romance thing. I’m not sure why, but I had a completely different theory of what happened in Elle’s past. I think from the hints in other books I’ve read in this series, I was expecting something more traumatizing…which is silly, because it’s not as though her childhood wasn’t traumatizing in its own way. I guess the little we got of “that night” just didn’t completely explain her reticence to talk about her past…but then again, she’s a completely different person to me. She and Archer both seem to thrive on the conflict and the arguing and the making up, and while that’s entertaining, it’s not a dynamic that I would ever find myself in. As such, I grew cranky with the stubbornness and the refusal to see what was right in front of them in this book. Probably a bit more with Elle than Archer, because at least in Archer’s perspective he wasn’t completely denying his feelings. Honestly? My favourite parts were the secondary cast parts. They’re just so much fun together, and I just love the way they interact with one another. They always make me laugh, and I feel like their friendships are genuine. I wouldn’t have minded a bit more moments, especially some heart to hearts with the girls. Spence just didn’t quite have that down. Ms. White’s narration was solid and consistent. Yeah. I’m sure I could have more to say, but this is probably enough. There was a super mild not body positive joke made early in the book (the usual “does this make me look fat?” nonsense where the man flounders trying to answer, assuring the woman that no OF COURSE they don’t look fat, as though fat is the worst thing they could be), and I’m wondering if that negatively impacted my enjoyment. It’s something I saw all the time in the past, but now I can’t just brush past it anymore. Anyways, regardless, this was not my fave in the series, but at least now I know the deal with these two!

About the author

New York Times 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, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s bestselling, award-winning novels wherever books are sold and visit her website, jillshalvis.com, for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.

Karen White is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-five novels, including Dreams of Falling and The Night the Lights Went Out. She has two grown children and currently lives near Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and two spoiled Havanese dogs.