27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another solid, if similar read., October 25, 2011
This review is from: Until There Was You (Hqn) (Mass Market Paperback)
Let me start off by saying that I absolutely LOVE Kristan Higgins. I patiently wait for her new releases and begin stalking her website almost immediately after she publishes a book to see when the next one will arrive. This book is a standard Kristan Higgins - spunky heroine, fabulous supporting cast, and a leading man that you wish could be yours. That said, I didn't completely love it. It almost felt as if I had read parts of it before, the characters and situations were a bit too familiar. The relationship between Cordelia (aka Posey) and Liam reminded me at times of Maggie and Malone, which is a good thing but I never really got a distinct impression of them as an individual couple. Everything about this book seemed to be a throw back to previous Kristan Higgins books from the setting to the characters, even at times to the plot.
I won't go into details about the story line, because the product description is fairly spot on. However, it does not mention that Liam Murphy is a widower and has a 15 year-old daughter. This does play a significant role in the book as well as the fact that Cordelia and Emma (Liam's late wife) were friendly in high school. Unlike most stories about widowers, his wife was not a shrew nor a cheater. She, like all Kristan Higgins characters, is completely rounded.
If you have never read a Kristan Higgins book before, the slight repetition won't be a problem for you. If you have read her, this isn't one to skip. While the book may be a bit recycled and familiar, it is still a delightful read. Some of the best parts of the book are the relationships the main characters have with secondary characters - that is what makes a Kristan Higgins book so strong. While I may not go back and reread this book over and over like I do with Catch of the Day, All I Ever Wanted, Too Good To Be True, and Just One of the Guys, it is still a really good read and completely worth staying up until midnight to get!
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Higgans, but it's missing something, October 31, 2011
This review is from: Until There Was You (Hqn) (Mass Market Paperback)
Before you read any further, I want to go on record as saying that I think Kristan Higgans is, like, a romantic literary genius. I usually LOVE her books, pre-ordering them as soon as they're announced. That being said, I just wasn't feeling this one. The premise of the story is classic Higgans, with a quirky female lead, loveable yet offbeat family and friends living in a New England small town, and the sexy, out-of-reach hero. My problems with this book are this: Posey was so much of a pleaser, she let people walk all over her - her cousin Gretchen, the ex-boyfriend, and even Liam at one point. I get that she had a tough time in high school, I get that she's a tiny thing that can't gain weight, I even get the insecurities brought on by finding out about her birth mother. But she's a 34 year-old woman who should be strong enough at this point to know when people are using her.
My other problem is Liam, with his OCD and paranoid obsession with his teenaged daughter. Not a great hero, in my opinion, but then I'm a fan of the "alpha male" type of guy, which Liam is definitely not. I agree with another reviewer who said it was disturbing how often he reminisced about his love for his dead wife, how he felt the first time he saw her, how her skin felt, etc etc etc... It made it hard to buy that he was falling in love with Posey. Again, I get that he was shaken by his wife's death and his own accident later, and I totally understand a parent's fear of leaving their child alone. But it bothered me how he treated Posey, and how she let him - even pleaded with him at one point, begging him to see that she was "worth it."
The best scene in the book is between Posey and her mother near the end, where a long-held secret is revealed. THAT scene is what I look for in a Kristan Higgans book - emotional and real - and it was the only scene of its kind in the whole book. Even the prom scene later didn't ring true to me, and left me unsatisfied with the HEA ending.
I still love KH and I will still pre-order her books, but this is not one I'll be re-reading.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Hmmmm, October 26, 2011
Ive read all of her books and I was waiting for the release of this one.... Though its a very nice and sweet story I really think her previous books are better...
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