Chasing Christmas Eve (Heartbreaker Bay, #4)

by Jill Shalvis

[stacey_is_sassy]

***IT'S ALIVE!!***

Sometimes you don’t need to chase love

I really do believe that finding your perfect match doesn’t just involve love, lust and attraction. I think that tolerance is one of the biggest components of a successful relationship. You can be seriously attracted to someone but the smell of their feet will turn you off. Sexual attraction can be rampant but their constant humming could send you over the edge. Loving someone who is good and kind could mean absolutely nothing if they pick their toe nails then flick the contents at your coffee cup (GROSS!!). Tolerance plays a huge part because if you love someone you put up with the gross stuff. Or, you share your disgust with the gross stuff and work together to fix/avoid the smelly feet, humming and picking toe nails. If they love you, they will willingly work towards not grossing you out.

Now, tolerance with family…that’s a different story. You’re kind of obliged to be tolerant when it comes to family members. The thing is though, with family, your tolerance could falter, and that’s OK. It’s different because you won’t hesitate to tell your sister that her feet stink, and she won’t hesitate to tell you to bugger off. If your brother hums constantly, threatening his life if he does it again will not have them running for the hills scared that you might actually mean it. More than likely he’ll tell you to bugger off AND hum louder. If your Dad picks his toes…ummm…I'd tell him it's gross and then probably tell my Mum on him.

I think we put up with a lot more from family members than we do from our partners, especially in the beginning stages of a relationship. If you love someone, family or partner, you will have an unlimited amount of tolerance. I would also be trying my hardest that they don’t need to use it if the situation was reversed.

Sometimes your perfect match is the person who doesn’t need tolerance to put up with the things you do that drive others crazy. The right person gets you, works with you and finds a way to make your issues work for them. Besides the toe picking, that's just gross.

I’ve rambled BIG TIME!! How bloody unusual.

I absolutely loved Chasing Christmas Eve. Colbie and Spence were the perfect matches for each other. In previous relationships, Spence forgot to make his partner a priority and instead focused on his work. Colbie didn’t have a lot of experience with previous relationships because her family and her job as a writer were her main focus. Neither Spence nor Colbie was happy and realised they were missing something important in their life. Turns out that they just needed each other.

This story made me laugh, cry and squirm. The Heartbreaker Bay gang are back and I loved catching up with them. I was a little sad for Colbie at times as she seemed to have lived a pretty lonely life up till meeting Spence. His good intentions led to Colbie feeling like a loser and all I wanted to do is climb into the book to give her a hug…and give Elle a kick up the butt. The sexy times for Colbie and Spence were steamy and sweet and I definitely felt the connection between them.

There’s just something magical about Jill Shalvis’s writing that leaves me satisfied. I always finish with a smile on my face and believe that the couple was meant to be. Chasing Christmas Eve was amazing and I think this is her best book…since the last one. 😉

Stacey is Sassy, received a complimentary copy of this story. The copy provided is not the final copy and may be subject to edits and changes.