Until There Was You by Kristan Higgins

I'm going to write a review just because I want to escape the horridness that is Accounting! Anyway, Until There Was You is Kristan Higgan's latest contemporary romance novel. This book... was quite different yet the entire feel and setting is totally the same. I didn't love it as much as her previous book, My One and Only, but it was really sweet and the hero is to die for! I mean who can resist a bad boy turn good named Liam Murphy? Our heroine, Posey Osterhagen, is probably one of the dorkiest and cutest that I've read from Higgans' books so far. See? They're already a match in heaven...?! Kidding aside, these two used to be the total opposites of one another. And when Liam finally realizes that he loves Posey? It's a must read for sure. And thank you NetGalley, for granting me this lovely arc when I was in the mood for a sweet story with a lovely yet cheesy ending!

Posey Osterhagen is our heroine of the story. She's your every day gal, right? Except for that fact that she's not the most beautiful girl in town, kind of plain, short, and she's actually adopted. The story starts out with her telling readers that she's used to be in love with this boy who ultimately broke her heart and never even realized it. Yes, it's another of those 'second chances at love' kind of stories and I love it. If you look at it from Posey's sixteen years old point of view... her love was tragic. The boy that she'd been crushing on was the 'God/Bad Boy' of the town, Liam Murphy, and he ended up falling in love with the town's 'Little Miss Sunshine/Good Girl' and they ended up happily ever after, right? Nope, I guess not since he's back! But it's actually more than that and we'll get to find out the real reason later on!

Liam Murphy is our hero and to be honest, I think he's the sexiest hero yet. He's a bad boy turned good due to the magical entity called 'love.' And yet, he's back in town as a widower/father to a teenager named Nichole. The moments when he tries to intefere with his daughter's social life were so hilarious! But anyway, he's back... and now it's time to face his past and live up some memories. Liam had never really thought much about Posey. She was the girl who used to crush on him... so when they meet again, he didn't exactly have any good old memories to recall with her. Well of course, until he starts noticing her lips. That changed the ball game entirely, don't you think? The side characters were all pretty amazing. I loved Jon, Posey's brother in law. Sidenote: Posey only has a brother and he's adopted as well. So brother-in-law? Haha! YES! Her brother Henry is gay and Jon and him have been married for 10 years. They're relationship is super cute and sometimes, the town tries to convert those two back to being straight.

Overall, this book was truly a stress reliever to my school days. It was cute, the characters had great depth-- even though I do have to admit that I didn't exactly feel Posey and Liam's chemistry together was that high. It was still a very good book and as always, I'm looking forward to Kristan Higgins' next book!

Rating: ★★★★☆

Just One Of The Guys by Kristan Higgins

Just One Of The Guys happens to be one of those books where the heroine has always been in love with her first love since the very beginning. It's sweet and I have a thing for that. But due to some difficult circumstances and misunderstandings... things just didn't work out. I've been a fan of Kristan Higgins for awhile now and I've loved every single one of her books. It's charming, witty, and just downright heartbreaking sometimes. I absolutely adored Chastity because even though she's a tomboy and is often "mistaken" for her brother Lucky, she still dreams of love and being married to the guy she loves and children! Trevor happens to be her one true love but unfortunately, because he's always been treated as another brother in her family, things... are definitely complicated. It was frustrating to see her not being with him while she was dating another guy name Ryan. Hah, that was a joke!

But yes, even though they didn't get together until the very end of the book (argh!), I still loved their relationship nonetheless. It was heartbreaking and seriously cute because he pops up when she least expects it! Oh no, Trevor's not her real brother by the way. Her childhood story involving him was very sweet... and I'm just going to leave it at that. And ever since then, he has been treated as family by her family members. I do believe the scene that cracked me up the most was the scene where Chas is on her date with Ryan and Trevor and Hayden (Trevor's ex-fiancee) happened to be there! She gets a green stain on her white blouse right on her breast. I mean what is this! Hahaha. Trevor ends up helping her out and quite frankly, the scene turns out to be hilarious.

Last but not least, there was another part in this story that was rather... very sad. You see, Chastity's mom ended up divorcing her dad because she wasn't able to "wait" for him anymore-- in other words, she had been telling him to retire but he keeps on refusing her. In the end, she ended up marrying another, even though she still loved her ex-husband, and that just breaks my heart. I wanted her to get back with her husband but that didn't end up happening. Overall, I truly enjoyed this book!! 4/5 stars.

Rating: ★★★★☆

All I Ever Wanted by Kristan Higgins

Kristan Higgins has always been a favorite of mine when it comes to contemporary romances. Her writing is funny, sweet, and even emotional at times! Well, after reading this lovely book, All I Ever Wanted... I would really like to have an Ian McFarland all to myself. Callie and Ian are two completely different people from different ends of the spectrum. Callie happens to have a very bubbly, nice, and talkitive personality while Ian is stiff, he doesn't talk much, and at times, he is very unfriendly! It's interesting to see how Callie eventually melts his cold persona and find her happily ever after in the end.

This was a really cute contemporary and to be honest, I wouldn't mind to read it again. It was cheesy, but it's the adorable kind of cheese. I loved Callie but she also has many faults as well. She often tries 'too hard' as Ian pointed out-- and in a way, it's true. She's so nice that people, especially her boss Mark, takes advantage of her! Argh. If you're looking for one of those cute families in books that love each other yet they bicker to one another, I think you should definitely read this! Noah, Callie's grandfather, was an amazing character and it was really sad that he had to go in the end. As for Ian and Callie's first meeting, well that was rather amusing! After having a terrible day at work (Callie thought that Mark was going to propose to her but instead, he broke up with her) and ending up in line at the DMV, Ian happens to be the jerk behind her! Ah, what a wonderful beginning.

Now Ian Macfarland, the town's vet who happens to be very stiff and unfriendly. It's cute to see his transformation from that into someone who is definitely more lovable. I loved how he learned to love from Callie because of how, in his own words, "alive" she is. She basically brings the life and emotion in his life. Isn't that just sweet?! This isn't those types of book where the H/Hr pretty much get together immediately. It wasn't until more than halfway into the book that they finally started 'going steady,' haha. It was lovely to see the reason why he has such a bitter perspective towards woman... and my heart reached out towards him. Thankfully, Callie came into his life and made him happy! What a lovely turn of events, eh? To sum it up, this was a very enjoyable book and if you're looking for something fun and summer-ish to read, I recommend this book!

Rating: ★★★★★

My One and Only by Kristan Higgins

My One and Only is one of those books about finding love again a second time. It's about forgiveness and realizing what went wrong in a love so strong that ended up in heart-break for more than 12 years. I've read a couple of Kristan Higgins' books before, and so far this is my favorite one! I absolutely loved it because it was a combination of humor, romance, and a little mystery (why Nick and Harper's love ended up dying instead of staying strong). I think I teared up a few times because even though this may seem like a typical contemporary on the outside, there is so much inside that is beautiful. This is definitely one of those books that'll be a keeper and I thank Netgalley for granting me this arc to read! Will be buying this one when it comes out March 29th for sure.

Harper James is the heroine of the story as well as the narrorator. Her personality consists of being humorous, cynical, a realist, someone without a heart, and very stunted according to Nick, her ex-husband. To be honest, I thought I wasn't going to like her at first because of her "cold bitch" personality but behind that layer lies a heart-broken girl who never truly understood the concept of falling in love. Yes, she did love Nick but because her relationship with her mom, it sort of strained her view of marriage and love. Finding out the real reason why they didn't work out was heart-wrenching because not only was she at fault, but Nick was as well. After their quick marriage, Harper was unsure of herself because Nick was never at home. And to make matters worse, the issue of her mom abandoning her when she was thirteen-years old didn't help. Even though Nick was her soulmate, she loved him from the bottom of her heart until everything changed. The flashbacks make up a lot of the story but there was also stuff happening in the present as well.

Nick Lowery is the main hero of this book and well... all I can say is, when we first get an introduction of him in the beginning (present-day) he had a very mysterious yet attractive air to him. Harper, even though it had been years since she'd last seen him, was still nonetheless attracted to him. I truly enjoyed his character because he was witty and it seems like whenever he and Harper are together, they end up bickering at one another in a flirtatious way! There were even some moments when I felt like they were tempting each other so sparks are definitely flying. When readers finally get a flashback of what happened back then... it was just sad because Nick blamed Harper for cheating on him (when she did not) and she blamed Nick because he was never at home and she felt like a check-boxed being checked off. You see, the very first time when Harper and Nick met he told her straight off the bat that he was going to marry her! After they got married, she became uncertain about their marriage. Ack! Yes, lots of misunderstandings, misconceptions, and definitely heart-break.

But thankfully, this ended up with a super sweet note like all of Kristan Higgins' books and everyone lived happily ever after!

Rating: ★★★★★