Superb and Sexy -- Jill Shalvis

Book 3 (final) of Sky High Air

 

 

 

This Sky High book was clearly supposed to have been the big bang to end off the trilogy. It felt like it was supposed to be the best of the three books, but apparently I'm delusional and come up with weird ideas all the time.

That being said, Superb and Sexy was still, most certainly, enjoyable and entertaining. And then it started getting a little bit deliberate in its endeavor to be big and bad and better than the previous two books. Or, once again, maybe it wasn't really trying, but I felt like it was trying.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is:

Maddie Stone is a wonderful, kickass, strong female character that I can totally stand behind and love. Brody is the typical broody, main male character with Neanderthal thoughts even if no Neanderthal tendencies--the usual. And because this couple was actually pretty entertaining with a great romantic development and lots of fun, Jill Shalvis-level banter, I absolutely wanted them to be my favorite of the three Sky High couples. And they would have been, except for that all too familiar back-and-forth Noble Idiot™ device that kept lurking its way back into the plot time and time again.

Basically, Maddie's continued insistence on sacrificing her life for her sister while running away from Brody to keep him safe would have worked for me as part of the story's Suspense attractiveness. But then it kept getting reused throughout the whole book that it started getting annoyingly tiresome. Using that device once was enough; twice is pushing it; three or four times is just frustrating.

Nonetheless, the book was still very enjoyable and I still DID love Maddie a lot, if only because she's so kickass. Brody was a breath of fresh air in some aspects, but let's face it, he's the usual Jill Shalvis main male hero: big, muscled, broody, alpha, clueless. He's a great guy; he just doesn't stand out.

The rest of the book's story and the rest of the characters weren't bad either. I appreciate bringing Noah, Shayne, and Dani into the book, even if just briefly. I even enjoyed Leena's presence and the brief side tangent with her and Ben, even if it was also quite brief. And the story's build-up of suspense as a semi-crime thriller made a very valiant attempt as well.

In light of not wanting to ruin anything with spoilers, however, the only thing I'll say about the ending, was that it could have been better outlined. Instead, the conclusion came about like some cheesy family movie flick ending wherein we rush to some half-assed resolution that would really only make sense if we weren't really trying hard enough to think about it. And then we get a short epilogue sequence slash character curtain call that felt extremely narrated to death.

And some story tangents, once again, got left in the dust. I'm not even sure the underlying conflict between Leena and Ben got resolved so much as scrapped with a universal "love conquers all" stamp.

I'm not gonna lie--as much as I love HEAs, this one was a little pathetic. Granted, it was a nice little HEA. I don't dislike it. I guess I just kind of accepted it as the best that I'd get out of this trilogy.

In the meantime, I guess I'll just go back to the Lucky Harbor series. Maybe Ms. Shalvis was really meant to write contemporary more than anything else. After all, even with a Romantic Suspense tag on these three Sky High books, they really DID feel like they were more in the vein of a Contemporary Romance that just so happened to use a crime thriller base board to jump off of.

Not that that's a problem or anything, because I still enjoyed them. These were still enjoyable books with lovely characters and lots of steamy, hot sex. The Jill Shalvis charm is definitely there.

Except for Smart and Sexy. I might have to pretend that first book didn't happen the way that it did, Jill Shalvis charm or no.

***

2016 Reading Challenges:
• Goodreads Reading Challenge
• BookLikes Reading Challenge
• Bookish Resolutions Challenge

 

 

Title: Superb and Sexy [Sky High Series 3]

Author: Jill Shalvis

Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Suspense

Rating: 4 Stars

Description/Synopsis: Despite his brooding bad-boy attitude, Brody knows life has treated him pretty well. His luxury charter airline, Sky High, has given him financial security and the means to take to the skies whenever things on the ground get complicated. And lately, things have become very complicated, thanks to the insanely passionate, or perhaps just insane, kiss he shared with Sky High’s gorgeous, wisecracking concierge, Maddie. He’s tried to keep his distance, but now Maddie desperately needs help, and it’s triggering protective alpha-male urges Brody didn’t even know he had…

 

For months, Maddie hid her crush on sexy, exasperating Brody behind a cool, kick-ass exterior…and then blew that to smithereens by jumping him in the lobby. Yeah, real smooth. She’s tried to break her ties with Sky High, but Brody won’t let her walk away—especially now that he knows that Maddie and her twin sister Leena are in big-time trouble. To save Leena, Maddie and Brody must pose as husband and wife, and Maddie is amazed that the man she thought was oblivious to her existence knows her very well indeed. But that’s nothing compared to the way she’s about to get to know him—intimately, in depth, and over and over again…

 

WARNING - SPOILERS MAY ENSUE BEYOND THIS POINT - REVIEW BELOW

 

So let's start with the cover and title: They don't really have much to do with the actual book. It's marketing for the most part, so try not to take it too heavily in your book buying decisions. Once I'd actually gotten into the book, I was a little disappointed to realize that the cover did not reflect Maddie's appearance/personality. Sure, at one point she does have short, auburn hair... but she's one of those characters who changes her hair color almost daily. We're talking, blues, purples, weird colors. It would have been cool to see some of that spunk in the models.

 

That aside, this was a very good book. The narrative and dialog were extremely well written and the story flowed easily from page to page. I never felt like I was being rushed or jolted out of the story, and the story kept me turning the page.

 

The characters, particularly Maddie, were spunky, unique, and entertaining. I really liked Maddie and Brody. They were a cute couple, and you could definitely feel the attraction between the characters. The sex scenes were sizzling. Really, there isn't much I can say that isn't positive about them, except that perhaps Maddie's personality seemed a bit off to me.

 

From the very beginning of the book, we're told that she's kind of the duct-tape that holds Sky High Airlines together. She's tough, quirky, and confident - and definitely unique in her appearance. Unfortunately, I don't think I saw as much of that as I'd like to. There was very little interaction with the Airline or the other members of the crew at all. From nearly the beginning, she's been toned down into a normal-looking girl and spending all her time panicking about things from her past and present concerning her family (that apparently no one knew she had). What I saw, was a fairly normal-in-appearance girl who was stubborn, but afraid. Very afraid. Of her relationship with Brody, as well as her past experiences with her family. I didn't see the confident quirky girl I kept being told about.

 

Now as a little aside, I also had some trouble being convinced she was a twin. I can't blame the author much for this - because unless you are a twin, you wouldn't know these things. I happen to be an identical twin, so I know the shoes that Maddie is trying to fill. I honestly don't think an identical twin (who obviously still very dearly cared for her sister) would have left her in that situation with her uncle.. even to protect herself. Writers don't seem to get that the bond between twins is extremely strong - I know people always describe it as "being the other half of a person" but they aren't far off. Twins are together every second of the day from the time they're born to the time they're an adult for the most part. They have all the same memories, have been through the same experiences and conversations... They're almost the same person, just viewing the world through a slightly different viewpoint. It was odd to see Maddie leave her sister Leena behind. It was also really weird to see that no one she knew had any idea she had a twin. Take it from me, even if you leave your twin (like I did to move half-way across the country), you will still refer to yourself as "we" in conversation. It's a byproduct of always being together all the time. It's very hard to separate the "I" from experiences shared. Even to this day, 10 years after leaving my twin, when I refer to my childhood I say "we". I had a hard time believing Maddie was really a twin... but like I said, maybe that's because some of these points just aren't known to anyone who isn't already a twin.

 

Also, another sore point I had, was that it was never really explained why Maddie's uncle Rick hated her so much. He seemed to want to kill her on sight, but other than having left when she was 16... there doesn't seem to be a reason for him to hate her to that extent. Sadly, most of the tension in the book was based around the fact that he wanted to kill her.

 

Overall, it was a great book. It was a fun, steamy read. The things I found wrong with it were minor, and only detracted from the story a little bit. I'd definitely still recommend it to anyone looking for a slightly unconventional romance.

I really liked Maddie from the previous 2 books.  Who I didn't like was Leena.  Leena was TSTL quite a bit of the time.  She did get better by the end.  I didn't "get" Leena and Ben.  But, oh well!  I did like the end- Go Maddie!

18/6 - I immediately got the feeling that the book is telling me "You should have read the first two books first. You've been warned." They keep talking about past events and stuff I would've known if I'd read books one and two. I wish publishers would put series number/position on the publishers page or the 'other books by this author' page, it would be really useful to us readers who like to read a series in order.

Unless I go to the library with a plan of a book to borrow, not usually something I can do unless I've already put the book on hold beforehand, I have no idea what I'm going to borrow, it's just impulse and whatever strikes my fancy in that minute. Occasionally you get lucky and the first book in the series is right there waiting for you, but not often, and when I risk it I usually end up with a mid-series book (like with this book, I'd just picked up a Lucky Harbour book and thought I'd check out something else by Shalvis not in the same series). To be continued...

 

19/6 - In the end I liked him, but not so much her. I didn't understand her continued reticence towards a more long-term relationship with Brody, no proper explanation was given for why Maddie was more comfortable with a no-strings kind of thing, just that she was. He on the other hand was much more loveable, the alpha male who falls hard and says "I love you" first - always makes my heart melt when that happens.

I thought the 'danger' from uncle Rick was negligible, I didn't feel any tension or fear from any of the characters when they were discussing or interacting with him, or any of his goons. We're told they're the bad guys, but they felt so cardboardy that if I hadn't been told that he was a bad guy, I would never have known. Rick's compared to Tony Soprano and cement shoes are brought up, but it was a bit of a joke. If Tony ever met Rick he'd knock him out with one punch, tie him up in the basement (no need to worry about Rick's men, they'd take one look at a real 'dangerous man' and be on the first boat off the island) and teach him a thing or two about how to intimidate people. Thinking about Rick and his intimidation tactics makes me want to start singing "That Don't Impress Me Much" to his face.

Superb and Sexy (Sky High Air, #3) - Jil... The first book, [b:Smart and Sexy|305418|Smart and Sexy (Sky High Air, #1)|Jill Shalvis|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348197518s/305418.jpg|296418] was ok, the second book, [b:Strong and Sexy|519733|Strong and Sexy (Sky High Air, #2)|Jill Shalvis|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347624277s/519733.jpg|507641] was better and this was Brody’s book so I knew it would be the best. Well…I was a little let down with the beginning and the set up to the story. The Maddie from the first two books was a little different in this one, almost a little less. I guess the first two showed her as “on” and this one was her without all of her shields. I still liked her she just wasn’t the same. Her handling of Brody was a little off as well. Her thoughts on him that we got to see in the past were all “I have to have this man, he has to notice me” and now, here he is and well, it was a little contradictory. Now, that being said she has some drama going on so of course, she had to run. So, mostly I am forgiving of the set up because once she gave in and she and Brody formed a team I really enjoyed the story. Like the other two, this one was a little out there but still good. Oh, I can't forget to mention - Hot, Hot, HOT of course! Jill Shalvis is one of my favorite authors and I am glad I am discovering more books written by her.