Pack Up the Moon by Kristan Higgins

This book absolutely wrecked me in the best possible way. I wept through most of it even though it used a trope (time hopping) that I usually do not enjoy. It was just a little too woo for me and that brought it down but it was overall a highly enjoyable read. Higgins is usually a romance writer and, while I wouldn't put this book firmly in that category, regular readers won't be disappointed.

Joshua is on the autism spectrum and he knows that he will never find anyone who understands him as well as his wife Lauren. But Lauren is now dead having passed away from an incurable disease that slowly robbed her of her ability to breathe. It was a drawn-out process that hurt them both but also left Lauren enough time to leave Joshua a series of letters to be delivered roughly monthly. She knew that he would have time adapting and she wanted to make sure he had a life after her death. Some of the tasks are small, some are larger, but she hopes that they will help him recognize that there is life after death and that his next great love might have been in front of him all along.

Four stars

This book come out June 8th

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Always the Last to Know by Kristan Higgins

 

The Frost family has always had their issues. Barb doted on older daughter Juliet while John connected more with their younger child Sadie. Now in their seventies, it sometimes seems like the Frost parents are living parallel but very separate lives. Then John suffers a catastrophic stroke while riding his bike and all of the family secrets are bubbling to the top of the pot as are the resentments of a lifetime. 
Juliet is struggling with a new up and comer at work who is gunning for her job. Sadie can’t make her family take her art seriously. And being back in her hometown means she’s in close contact with the boy (now very much a man) who she left behind. 
I cried so hard reading this book and it was a good cry. Family drama, lives changing, and a happily for at least right now made me happy. Maybe not all of the characters were fully developed and good characterization is usually what makes a book for me but the story was so good I just didn’t care.

Four stars

This book came out June 9th

Borrowed book from library

Opinions are my own

Life and Other Inconveniences by Kristan Higgins

Taking a page from innumerable contemporary romances at the moment, this book is told from alternating first person narrators. The person we hear from the most is Emma London. When her mother died, her father dumped her with his mother, the incredibly well-known designer, Genevieve London. She never quite feels like she belongs. And it becomes official when, at 18, Emma gets pregnant. Suddenly, she is out on the streets without a penny to her name so she goes to live with her maternal grandfather.
Years later, Emma gets a call from Genevieve; Genevieve is dying and wants to surround herself with family in her last days. Emma doesn't want to leave her burgeoning psychiatry practice but a series of events, including her now-teenage daughter, Riley, being bullied by her former group of friends. Now Emma, Riley, and Emma's grandfather are all going to live with Genevieve.
Like many Higgins books, there's a lot going on in this novel. Maybe too much... there are a lot of Big Themes and trying to deal with all of these leaves little room for character or relationship development. I would have thought that Emma and her romantic interest would have been more of a focus... except that this book is categorized in Women's Fiction. And that made it less interesting than Higgins' other books. She's good at big emotions but they hit more with the reader when they're tied to people we care about. And that just didn't happen in this particular Higgins book.

Three stars
This book came out August 6th
ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Good Luck with That by Kristan Higgins

Within three paragraphs of starting this book, I knew that Kristan Higgins was probably going to make me cry. It starts with three friends at a fat camp deciding what they would do if they ever became skinny. Sixteen years later, and one of them is dying. Her last wish? That the other two fulfill all of the points on their list.
Marley is a chef. She is amazingly healthy. Except that people always look at her and judge her. Or, that's what she assumes. But she is ready to break out of the rut she's in and go after the man of her dreams. But what if he's not actually the man she needs?
Georgia grew up with a mother and brother who poked and prodded and outright made fun of her size her entire life. It made her have a lot of issues with food and with who she is as a person. She has a father and step-mother and half sisters who love her as does her nephew but her brother is still a jerk.
This book definitely pulled on the heart strings. There was a little too much generalization about "What a Fat Person Thinks" but overall a lovely book.

Four Stars
This book comes out August 7
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins

The book opens with Nora Stuart believing that she is dying. But then, she realizes that she's overhearing her current boyfriend hit on the ER nurse. That opens up her eyes that maybe she's not quite on the track that she wants to be with her life. Yes, she's an awesome gastroenterologist who graduate from Tufts and lives in Boston but... there are things left unraveled in her life.
She decides to go back to the island where she grew up, Scupper. Even if it means facing up to the demons she hasn't quite left behind; the mother who's not exactly warm and fuzzy, the daughter of her sister who is in jail, the town that thinks she had something to do with the meteoric fall of her grade's golden boy.
This was an okay story, but not up to the regular Higgins standard. I'm used to a little tears, maybe a chuckle. This book... was fairly static in the emotional ups and downs.

Three stars
This book comes out December 26
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

On Second Thought by Kristan Higgins

Damn it, Kristan Higgins. Why must write such wonderful books full of so many feels? All the feels. I think I started crying around page 10 and then just kept going. I loved the characters in this book, even the ones we didn't really get to know (Nate). Even the despicable Eric could have been painted as much more a two-dimensional villain but came off as more deluded than anything else. Ainsley was maybe a little (a LITTLE) too goody two-shoes but she also let a guy walk all over her for too many years so it was nice to see her develop a spine. Especially nice that it was for herself and not because of some new relationship.
The book opens with newlywed Kate reflecting back on the last day with her husband, Nate. They were heading off to a cancer-free celebration for her (half)-sister's boyfriend. We get a rich picture of all four of them almost at once. Kate and Nate (just realized how twee that is!), both older, in a whirlwind romance that they're just figuring out after being married for four months; her sister Ainsley who never really had a chance to fit in with the rest of the family, being a result of a father who cheated on his first wife, then happily gave her the responsibility of raising his second wife's daughter when the second wife died and he re-married the first wife; and Eric, a fairly narcissistic man who is used to being adored by one and all.

Four and a half stars
This book comes out January 31

Anything for You by Kristan Higgins

LOVED this book. Loved it. 4 1/2 stars. There was a B story that I felt was distracting and not needed but we finally get to see restaurant owner Connor find his HEA. He's already found his true love. Hell, he found her 21 years ago. But they've had a rocky road and Jessica has very valid reasons for why she doesn't want to have a "real" relationship and we get to see many of those reasons as we skip along their relationship's past. And Higgins once again tugs on the heart strings while creating a truly happy-ever-after.

Four and a half stars
Comes out on Dec. 22, 2015
Follows: In Your Dreams

If You Only Knew by Kristan Higgins

A recent "Smart Bitches, Trash Books" podcast episode called Kristan Higgins an author who writes "all the feelings" (or something close to that) and this book certainly brings them all out.

The book is about the changes two sisters are going through, different points in their life. Jenny Tate is a well-known wedding dress designer. She's had a modern divorce; she's still friends with her ex and his new wife. In fact, the book opens with Jenny attending the new wife's baby shower. And yes, the ex didn't want to have kids while he was with her. But she's moving out of town, and hopefully these meet ups will lessen. And luckily, she has a hot new landlord to distract her. A hot, new landlord with a tragic backstory.
But Jenny's story line pale for me in comparison to that of her sister, Rachel. Rachel has what appears to be a perfect marriage. A man she loves, two gorgeous little girls, house, etc. But an unexpected text reveals that her marriage isn't as picture-perfect as she had thought.
Are their stories ones we've read in romance before? Certainly. But with her usual flair, Higgins manages to make something old fresh again.

In your Dreams by Kristan Higgins

I absolutely devoured this book. Read it all in one sitting. While I was reading it, I was loving it. But thinking back, I have a few issues. I'll hide those behind spoilers in case other people don't share my opinions. I don't want to infect you if you didn't notice them.
First things first. What was with the prologue and epilogue. It would have been a good hook had it been done in the rest of the series, but it just seems odd coming up now. The good news is, you don't have to have read the rest of the series to get into this book.
Jack Holland is the perfect man. Built like a Greek god, good to his family, a conscientious entrepreneur (wine, hello!), and honest-to-God hero. It's that act of heroism that's currently haunting him. When Emmaline Neal, policewoman, part of his hockey team, needs an out-of-town date, he's only too happy to leave town.
Definitely in line with the rest of the Blue Heron series. The past characters are involved, but in ways that totally make sense with te story, nobody shoehorned in. Definitely worth reading.

I had this nagging feeling that Jack was too perfect. But then I remembered how he dicked Emmaline over when it came to his ex-wife being locked in a cell. I guess that was my problem. He was soooo perfect in every other aspect and then comes up a dick? It was jarring.
And Emmaline, though a strong woman, we saw waaaaay to much of her issues. It's fine for real women to have issues. It's good for fictional heroines to have issues. But when she stutters, can't get over her ex, is a little too whiny, and her relationship with her family is just painful... especially in comparison to the Greek god. It just didn't seem like an equal match.

Followed by: Anything for You (posts on Dec. 22)

Waiting on You by Kristan Higgins

Image linked from Goodreads

I've been looking forward to this book for awhile. Colleen O'Rourke, local bartender (bar owner, really), has been a B character in other Blue Heron books but she has seemed like a confident woman who is comfortable in her own skin. Even better, it's hinted that she has had "relationships" with many of the men that come into the bar (though Higgins does have to mention that her reputation is hugely inflated. Why can't we just have a confident woman who actually deserves her reputation?) but her friends don't think less of her for it and she doesn't think less of herself.
For four years, she dated Lucas Campbell while they were in high school and even while starting college. Then

she found out that he knew her father was cheating and didn't tell her. Also, he had issues saying "I love you" and just sharing emotions in general

her world fell apart and so did their relationship. While she hasn't lost faith in love, she's lost the idea of it for herself.
This book was three stars for me until the ending. I didn't love

that Joe was such a douche about Colleen sleeping with his cousin but you do have to factor in that his world had just shifted with the loss of his uncle

but the fact that he sort of figured it out on his own was a nice touch and, oh, the feels.
This book comes out on March 25, 2014 and is most definitely a book worth reading.

The Perfect Match by Kristan Higgins

Wow. I have to say, I was predisposed not to like this book when it opened with a family friend/gynecologist telling Hope that, at 35, her eggs are dying and she has to have kids now!!!!! Um, okay. This sends Hope into a spiral and she decides that the guy that she’s been having a friends-with-benefits-relationship with for almost 20 years is going to her one and only. Really? She’s known for a looooong time that he’s not interested in being in a real relationship but now she’s going to leap into the marriage question?

Granted, she’s pushed into asking by a frenemy who really wants said guy for herself but… okay

It’s a testament to Kristan Higgins writing skills that I not only kept reading the book but really, really enjoyed it. And that as I write this review, I keep thinking of more and more things about the book that bothered me but I still have warm fuzzies and will re-read this book before the gods of NetGalley push its expiration date.

Hope is kind of in a rut. And we’ve all experienced this, where we think life is going okay and suddenly it’s x number of years later and we haven’t at all accomplished what we thought we were going to.

I also liked her hero, Tom. He desperately needs to stay in the country in order to remain physically close to the boy who was almost his stepson. However, he finds out that the university where he’s teaching can’t afford to renew his greencard

another peeve here-even though there’s a last minute change and suddenly there’s no need for Hope and Tom to marry… unless it’s truly love…-why hinge the whole book on a premise that’s gone at the end?

He’s got issues (ahem, the drinking) but he’s aware of and working on many of them. And he really loves his stepson.

Somebody to Love by Kristan Higgins

I loved this book, mainly because I liked seeing the evolution of Parker Welles. She was always a good erson and I had hoped that this character introduced in Next Best Thing would get her own story. She had a child out of wedlock with a man who ended up marrying her best friend. Yes, it's hard for her to see the two of them so happy, but she's also generous enough to be as happy as she can for them. They've taken her son with them on a vacation so Parker is especially lonely.

Of course, the other aspects of her life aren't going so well for her right now.  She grew up wealthy but hasn't really talked to her father in almost two decades and now he's lost all of the family money, including her son's. All she has left is a house left to her by an eccentric aunt she never knew. As for her career... she's finally finished up a successful series of books (which she hated), all of the proceeds of which were given to her favorite charity and she's now in the middle of some extreme writer's block. Now, her father's lawyer, nicknamed Thing One, has followed her up to the... well, it's a shack... and is hanging around trying to help Parker out.

Thing One, er, James Cahill, has a complicated past with Parker. He has been the son that Parker's father always wanted and has been closer to him than Parker was. I did like the fact that James had his own complicated back story and wasn't just the he-man alpha male that he could have been.

Kristan Higgins is a wonderful contemporary author and proves that yet again in this story, weaving humor, romance, and even some serious topics with a deft touch that has you hoping that this story won't end, even as you turn the last page.

Readalikes: Suzanne Elizabeth Phillips, Jennifer Crusie