I’ve been reading quite a bit because I’m sort of in this flux. I’m trying to decide what I want to do with my life as far as writing since I’ve been semi out of the game for a couple of years. I feel like I’m starting all over and I pretty much am. I’ve come close, but the story of my life seems to be that I get an editor interested in me and then they leave. Or worse, the line folds. But that’s depressing and well, these books aren’t!

One of my all-time favorite stories whether its movies or books are Romantic Comedies. I love them. Even the sappy slapstick ones of old. I think I love them because I can honestly say there’s a lot of laughter in this household. Love is funny and messy and well, the alternative is crying. I choose to laugh. This is why I absolutely love and adore Kristan Higgins. Her characters are three-dimensional. Her heroines are someone I can totally relate too because they all have dysfunctional quirks–some even mimic my own relatives. I’ve currently caught up on all my Kristan Higgins books and am anxiously awaiting her next release, along with Helen Brenna’s next Mirabelle Island Series. If you click on the covers, it links you to eHQ’s bookstore.

The Next Best Thing by Kristan Higgins

Lucy Lang isn’t looking for fireworks.

She’s looking for a nice, decent man. Someone who’ll mow the lawn, flip chicken on the barbecue, teach their future children to play soccer. But most important: someone who won’t inspire the slightest stirring in her heart…or anywhere else. A young widow, Lucy can’t risk that kind of loss again. But sharing her life with a cat named Fat Mikey and the Black Widows at the family bakery isn’t enough either. So it’s goodbye to Ethan, her hot but entirely inappropriate “friend with privileges” and hello to a man she can marry.

Too bad Ethan Mirabelli isn’t going anywhere. As far as he’s concerned, what she needs might be right under her nose. But can he convince her that the next best thing can really be forever?

This book almost reminded me of Practical Magic. It’s about a young woman whose unfortunately joined her mothers and aunts in a Black Widow club because her husband dies in a car accident. Her mother and aunts are crazy to say the least and the things they put poor Lucy through are hysterical because again, I can relate to crazy female relatives. I fell in love with Ethan from the start and I rooted for him and I don’t want to spoil it if you haven’t read this book, but it’s a helluva hook at the ending of chapter one as to who Ethan really is and well….let’s just leave it at that. Kristan always has an animal in her books and this is the first cat she’s used and while I’m not a cat person because I’m allergic, I almost wanted a cat like Fat Mikey–if for nothing else than his name, although I could totally do without the random hairball. I laughed out loud while reading this book more than once, but I also teared up in a couple of places–because of heartfelt moments or because I was laughing so hard–one of the many reasons my family thinks I’m crazy. But I also had a couple of moments that almost resulted in an ugly cry. Kristan just keeps getting better and better!

 Too Good To Be True by Kristan Higgins

When Grace Emerson’s ex-fiancé starts dating her younger sister, extreme measures are called for. To keep everyone from obsessing about her love life, Grace announces that she’s seeing someone. Someone wonderful. Someone handsome. Someone completely made up. Who is this Mr. Right? Someone…exactly unlike her renegade neighbor Callahan O’Shea. Well, someone with his looks, maybe. His hot body. His knife-sharp sense of humor. His smarts and big heart.

Whoa. No. Callahan O’Shea is not her perfect man! Not with his unsavory past. So why does Mr. Wrong feel so…right?

First, let me say that the pooch on the cover is Angus MacFangus. He’s a West Highland Terrier complete with an overbite of his bottom teeth. Angus cracked me up with his antics. There were bits in this that were slow for me and I think it’s only because history tends to bore me and Grace is a History teacher. She’s also fanatical about it–her and her father go to reenactments. There was also a couple of places where perhaps I had to dig deep within myself because there’s a character in the book that interacts with Grace that I kept wanting to say, “And you put up with her why?” But then, I’d be the pot calling the kettle black. Other than that, this is about the insecurities that come with having sisters–gorgeous, perfect sisters who were tall and svelte–I semi-have that. I’m the shortest one in my family, even if I don’t really have a relationship with my sisters. The hero in this is misunderstood and oozes of bad boy. I’m a total sucker for a bad boy. I did tear up at the end, because I thought this was going to be the first Kristan Higgins book that didn’t give me the HEA I craved, but she did and I loved her even more for it. I also loved this book for the Grandmother. She reminds me of mine.

Lastly is:

Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins

Being one of the guys isn’t all it’s cracked up to be…

So when journalist Chastity O’Neill returns to her hometown, she decides it’s time to start working on some of those feminine wiles. Two tiny problems: #1—she’s five feet eleven inches of rock-solid girl power, and #2—she’s cursed with four alpha male older brothers.

While doing a story on local heroes, she meets a hunky doctor and things start to look up. Now there’s only one problem: Trevor Meade, her first love and the one man she’s never quite gotten over—although he seems to have gotten over her just fine.

Yet the more time she spends with Dr. Perfect, the better Trevor looks. But even with the in-your-face competition, the irresistible Trevor just can’t seem to see Chastity as anything more than just one of the guys.…

I think this is my third favorite book of Kristan’s. Right up there with “Catch of the Day” and I think it’s because it’s a friends to lovers story. I could relate to this one because I grew up in a volunteer fire company. Daisy is the dog on the cover and she isn’t a Beagle, but she is lovable. I wanted to make her mind. I don’t want to ruin any parts of this story. You’ll just have to take my word for that this one is worth reading.