2014 – Book #99

Posted in Blue Heron series, Book reviews, Book series, Contemporary romance by rebeccabook17

The ninety-ninth book I read in 2014 was In Your Dreams by Kristan Higgins. I have been very excited about this book for awhile (in fact, here is my “Waiting on Wednesday” post on the book) and couldn’t wait to start reading it. And once I started I couldn’t seem to put it down! I finished this book on 11/3/14. I rated this book 5 stars out of a scale of 5. This is the fourth book in the Blue Heron series. I have read the previous three books in the series as well and loved them all, though only one is discussed on this blog since the others were read prior to 2014. You can read my post on the other book in the series here. This really is just such a great series by one of my favorite authors and I highly recommend it!! I devour her books, I already can’t wait for the next in the series (hopefully Connor’s story!) to come out!!!

So, In Your Dreams is about police woman Emmaline Neal and town favorite Jack Holland. (Just for reference, Jack is brother to Faith and Honor, who were the heroines in books #1 and #2 in the series.) Emmaline had her heart squashed by her fiance 3 years ago and moved to Manningsport, NY to start over. Unfortunately, the dating pool is limited in the area so when she receives an invitation to her ex-fiance’s wedding, she has to find a man and fast. Luckily, Jack is skilled in helping out damsels in distress. He has been a last minute date for many functions in the past for various women in town, though he doesn’t expect to enjoy spending time with Emmaline quite so much.

Hoenstly I just loved this book. I literally couldn’t put it down, I read it in two nights because I got lost in the world that Higgins created. She is so gifted in character development and drawing you into the story. I love the characters she’s formed in this series and I love their individual stories. It was a great read and I would highly recommend trying it! For that matter, I would highly recommend the whole series!!

Link to author website: http://www.kristanhiggins.com/index.html

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Your-Dreams-Blue-Heron-Series/dp/0373779313/ref=tmm_mmp_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1415105684&sr=8-1

27Aug2014

“Waiting On” Wednesday (1): In Your Dreams by Kristan Higgins

Posted in "Waiting On" Wednesday, For the love of books by rebeccabook17

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights eagerly anticipated upcoming releases.

This week’s spotlight is on:

In Your Dreams by Kristan Higgins.

Release date: Sept 30, 2014

Blurb from the cover (on Amazon):

Everyone loves Jack Holland, but Emmaline Neal needs him. Her ex-fiancé is getting married in Malibu and, obviously, she can’t go to the wedding alone. In Manningsport, New York, tall, blond and gorgeous Jack Holland is practically a cottage industry when it comes to rescuing desperate women. He knows the drill, Em figures, so he won’t get the wrong idea.

What Jack needs is an excuse to leave town. Ever since rescuing four teenagers from a car wreck, he’s been hailed as a hero and the attention is making him itchy, especially since his too-pretty ex-wife is back, angling for a reunion. He’s always liked Emmaline. She needs a weekend date? No problem.

So when they wind up in bed together, Em chalks it up to red wine and chocolate cake, just one impulsive night not to be repeated. But Jack’s pushing for more, and if she lets down her guard, either she’ll get her heart crushed again, or discover that Jack’s worth more than just dreaming about.

Why Am I Waiting?

I am a huge fan of Kristan Higgins. She writes romantic and sweet love stories that can reach into your chest and grab your heart and squeeze. You’ll laugh out loud and cry your eyes out and you’ll love it the whole time its happening. This is her fourth book in the Blue Heron series, and I can’t wait to read it! To see my other reviews on books in the Blue Heron series, go to https://rebeccabookreview.wordpress.com/category/book-reviews/book-series-book-reviews/blue-heron-series/.

Link to author website: http://www.kristanhiggins.com/index.html

Link to Amazon (pre-order): http://www.amazon.com/Your-Dreams-Blue-Heron-Series/dp/0373779313/ref=tmm_mmp_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1409150107&sr=8-1

17May2014

Book talk and signing

Posted in For the love of books by rebeccabook17

So last night I went to a book talk and signing with Kristan Higgins at the Durham Public Library. She talked about her two most recent books, The Perfect Match and Waiting on You. Her talk was just awesome! I figured out why her books are so funny, she is just hilarious! She talked about her process with writing the two books (two most recent books in her Blue Heron series) and the part I found most interesting I think was when she talked about the different things she had to research when writing the books.

Kristan discussed the research she had to do for her two most recently published books. For The Perfect Match she had to research immigration laws, toxic friendships, and boxing. For Waiting on You she had to research kidney failure, Chicago, and fraternal twins. I never really considered before how much work and research has to be put into each novel for it to work and make sense. I thought it was fun that she got to research vineyards while she was looking for the right setting for the Blue Heron series. Who doesn’t want to do research at a winery? I think it might be interesting to try and write a book. Obviously it is extremely difficult and I’m not really sure I could manage but it might be interesting to try.

Kristan also talked about her writing process and how she finds a celebrity guy to crush on when she’s first forming the hero’s character in the book. I thought this was funny, she even included some pictures of cute celebrities in her PowerPoint! I also liked how she connects a lot of things from her life into the books. Like one of her books has a teenage girl in it and at the time she was writing this book her daughter was just entering teenage age. Kristan was very personable and gave such a great presentation!

What a great talk, Kristan kept me interested the whole time! And then I got my book signed, I felt like I was meeting a celebrity I was so nervous 🙂

And surprise Mom (in case you read this before tomorrow) but I got a signed copy for you in addition to my signed copy!

Link to review on Waiting on You: https://rebeccabookreview.wordpress.com/2014/04/08/2014-book-24/

Link to author website: http://www.kristanhiggins.com

Link to author’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/KristanHigginsBooks

8Apr2014

2014 – Book #24

Posted in Blue Heron series, Book reviews, Book series, Contemporary romance by rebeccabook17

The twenty-fourth book I finished in 2014 was Waiting on You by Kristan Higgins. I finished this book on 4/8/14. This is the 3rd book in the Blue Heron series by this author. I have previously read the other two books in the series, though not in 2014 so they are not discussed in a previous blog posting. Other books by Kristan Higgins are discussed in previous posts though if you are looking for other reviews of books by her. I rated this book 4.75 stars out of a scale of 5.

This book tells the story of Colleen O’Rourke (co-owner of the Manningsport bar O’Rourke’s with her twin Connor) and her first love Lucas Campbell. Lucas had broken her heart 10 years ago by marrying another woman, and she’s never quite recovered. Lucas comes back to Manningsport at the request of his dying uncle, who asks Lucas to help his cousin Bryce get settled. Manningsport being the small town that it is, Lucas can’t help but run into Colleen from time to time. And while he’s hidden his feelings for the 8 years he was married (he’s divorced now), he never stopped loving Colleen either.

This was just such a fantastic story. I don’t remember laughing out loud that much with any other book I’ve read. The only thing that let me down a tiny bit in the story is that I felt like the hero should’ve had to grovel a little more in the very end, he was a pretty big jerk to the heroine but she just takes him back because he said he loved her, I felt like there should’ve been a little more there. But the emotions running through this book were just amazing. I laughed, I cried, I laughed again, I cried again. It was touching, poignant, funny, and also somehow riveting even though underneath it all it was just a normal story of love. I couldn’t put it down though. This was probably my favorite (or one of, all of hers are really good) book so far. I would highly recommend!

Link to author website: http://www.kristanhiggins.com/index.html

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Waiting-You-Hqn-Kristan-Higgins/dp/0373778589/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396965283&sr=8-1&keywords=waiting+on+you

2014 – Book #9

Posted in Book reviews, Contemporary romance by rebeccabook17

The ninth book I finished in 2014 was Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins. I finished this book on 2/8/14. I rated this book 4.25 stars out of a scale of 5.

I mentioned in an earlier post that Higgins’ books are those rare kind of stories that are able to make you laugh out loud and cry your eyes out. Her stories draw emotions so easily from the reader and its impossible not to get swept up in the tension and the heartaches of the characters. This novel definitely didn’t disappoint as I found myself lost in the characters and the journey of our heroine as she falls in love with her hero.
And in this story hero is the right word for it as our lead male character, and most of the other male characters in the book come to think of it, are firefighters. Chastity is the only girl in a family of 5 siblings, who falls in love with a family friend, Trevor Meade. The only thing that bugged me about this story was that if they could’ve just communicated better they probably could’ve gotten together a long time ago. Of course, realistically men and women don’t communicate well at all so it probably makes more sense than if the guy could magically know what the girl was thinking all the time.

The family in this story reminded me a lot of my family. Chastity had 4 brothers who were all married with small children and many times in the story it talks about her interacting with the little kids. And while I am an only child, my family is very close and I see my cousins, who are all married with small children, quite often. The way Chastity described her family dinners at her mother’s house reminded me a lot of family dinners at my grandfather’s house, kids running around screaming and what-not. What the author was describing was a house full of love and it made the story all the more wonderful to read.

Overall this was a very sweet and touching love story and I would highly recommend. As I said in my earlier post on another of Higgins’ books, if you’re looking for steamy you’re not in the right place. But if you’re looking for a reminder of what being vulnerable to love and what real love is, you’ll find it.

Link to author site: http://www.kristanhiggins.com/

Link to Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/Just-One-Guys-Kristan-Higgins/dp/0373777035/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1393023904&sr=8-2&keywords=just+one+of+the+guys

19Feb2014

2014 – Book #7

Posted in Book reviews, Contemporary romance by rebeccabook17

The seventh book I finished in 2014 was Too Good To Be True by Kristan Higgins. I finished this book on 1/22/14. I rated this book 4.5 stars out of a scale of 5.

Kristan Higgins is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Her books always make me laugh out loud while I am reading them. They’re definitely not what I would call a steamy romance novel but the stories she writes are very sweet love stories. And many of her books remind the reader that love is not perfect, that not all love stories involve two perfectly chipper loving people. Sometimes love involves people who are cranky but they find that one person who can make them laugh. I guess what I’m trying to say is that her idea of love and romance is a little more realistic than some of the other romance novels I read. And maybe because of that they are truly touching love stories that reach deep inside the reader and grab a hold of your heart and squeeze.

Too Good To Be True is the story of a woman named Grace who is trying to move past the fact that her fiancee dumped her for her younger sister. She’s on the hunt for a new man in her life when a very attractive man moves into the house next door to her. She soon finds our however that he is an ex-convict (don’t fret, he did two years for a white collar-crime that, well, read the book and find out I guess). All of the characters in this story (in my opinion even the characters with smaller parts) are well-developed and draw emotions from the reader. While a tad slow in a couple parts, overall this book is a great read. Higgins is one of the few who can make me laugh out loud and cry my eyes out in the same book. Great author and a great book!

Link to author website: http://www.kristanhiggins.com/index.html

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Too-Good-Be-True-Hqn/dp/0373777914/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392852081&sr=8-1&keywords=too+good+to+be+true