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Blue Heron #3
Waiting on You
Is your first love worth a second chance...?
Colleen O'Rourke is in love with love...just not when it comes to herself. Most nights, she can be found behind the bar at the Manningsport, New York, tavern she owns with her twin brother, doling out romantic advice to the lovelorn, mixing martinis and staying more or less happily single. See, ten years ago, Lucas Campbell broke her heart...an experience Colleen doesn't want to have again, thanks. Since then, she's been happy with a fling here and there, some elite-level flirting and playing matchmaker to her friends.
But a family emergency has brought Lucas back to town, handsome as ever and still the only man who's ever been able to crack her defenses. Seems like maybe they've got some unfinished business waiting for them--but to find out, Colleen has to let her guard down, or risk losing a second chance with the only man she's ever loved.
Colleen O'Rourke is in love with love...just not when it comes to herself. Most nights, she can be found behind the bar at the Manningsport, New York, tavern she owns with her twin brother, doling out romantic advice to the lovelorn, mixing martinis and staying more or less happily single. See, ten years ago, Lucas Campbell broke her heart...an experience Colleen doesn't want to have again, thanks. Since then, she's been happy with a fling here and there, some elite-level flirting and playing matchmaker to her friends.
But a family emergency has brought Lucas back to town, handsome as ever and still the only man who's ever been able to crack her defenses. Seems like maybe they've got some unfinished business waiting for them--but to find out, Colleen has to let her guard down, or risk losing a second chance with the only man she's ever loved.
464 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 25, 2014
About the author
Kristan Higgins
51 books12.4k followersKristan Higgins is the New York Times, USA TODAY and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than twenty novels, which have been translated into more than two dozen languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide. If you want to receive a free short story and be notified when Kristan releases a new book, sign up at kristanhiggins.com.
Kristan enjoys gardening, mixology, the National Parks and complimenting strangers on their children. The mother of two entertaining and wonderful humans, and the grandmother of one perfect child, Kristan lives in Connecticut with her heroic firefighter husband, cuddly dog and indifferent cat.
Kristan enjoys gardening, mixology, the National Parks and complimenting strangers on their children. The mother of two entertaining and wonderful humans, and the grandmother of one perfect child, Kristan lives in Connecticut with her heroic firefighter husband, cuddly dog and indifferent cat.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,317 reviews
September 5, 2014
This book was a real page turner for me and I kind of wished it didn’t end yet after I read the last page. Unfortunately, I make these comments for the wrong reasons...
It’s a page turner for me because I couldn’t stand a lot of the scenes, particularly the ones where the author was probably trying to set up funny moments (eg any scene involving Paulie and Bryce or Colleen trying to cook dinner for Lucas). A lot of other readers may find them funny, but they just made me cringe and feel immensely embarrassed for the characters involved. So I just had to skim through them and go to the next pages.
I didn’t want the story to end on the page it did, because even though the ending was a “Happily Ever After”, the road to get there wasn’t convincing and satisfying at all. Maybe, if the author replaced some of the annoying LOL moments with the minor characters (eg again Bryce and Paulie; the team Menopause crowd) with more pages showing more interaction between Colleen and Lucas instead, then I would have probably been more satisfied with the ending, rather than feel cheated and frustrated.
I apologise for the spoilers, but I have to note them down to give an honest opinion about this book. Anyway, a lot of other reviewers have mentioned them already.
In the beginning, the book really got me hooked. I liked how Colleen’s and Lucas’ passionate love story started and the very sad way they broke up. Unfortunately, as the story unfolded, I just got more and more frustrated by the actions of both characters.
A hero not worth pining for
The character of Lucas for me is one of the most unlikeable romance hero I’ve ever read... and that’s quite something because I’ve read dozens of romance and chick lit novels. While I can understand why a lot of the other readers are swooning over him (I was at the beginning as well), I cannot understand how any woman (including Colleen) would ever want him back or pine for him for such a long time. Based on his actions and thoughts, and even the happy ending, I still can’t be totally sure if he truly loved Colleen or he still has a thing for his ex-wife Ellen. Seriously, when I finished the book, I couldn’t help but think of this scenario, if Ellen and Colleen were trapped in a sinking car, who would he save first? If this novel had a more convincing ending, I’d say Colleen, but honestly, I don’t know...
1) Through all the years he was with Colleen, before the big break-up, he never once said he loved her. Ok, maybe he showed it, but sorry, if I was his girlfriend, I still would have wanted him to say it. Especially, when years later, he doesn’t hesitate declaring his love for the woman he married whom he only dated once then married.
2) When they had their first fight, he doesn’t make any solid effort to reconcile and he gives up immediately on Colleen after he sees her flirting with some guy. Given their intense history, you would have thought, he could have/should have tried harder to reconcile.
3) With Colleen he always insisted on them using two types of birth control because of his fear of making her pregnant. But with Ellen, he didn’t mind going ahead having sex with her and taking her word that she was on the Pill. (Ok, he was distraught at the time because of how things were with him and Colleen, but still, given his genuine fear, I couldn’t believe he was ok with Ellen saying she was on the Pill.)
4) He tells Colleen he doesn’t want to marry while they’re young, when he couldn’t support them, etc., etc., but two months later he doesn’t hesitate asking Ellen to marry him when he finds out their one-night stand led to her pregnancy. I suppose, it helps that Ellen’s family is rich, so...
5) He lies to Colleen at first on the real reason he was going to marry Ellen. That is, he doesn’t tell Colleen that he was only marrying Ellen because he knocked her up. So if you were Colleen, how would you feel if the guy who refused to get married to you just two months before, now tells you he’s marrying someone else who by the way just happens to come from a very wealthy family? To top it off, the real reason he doesn’t tell the truth is because Ellen requested him not to tell anyone else about her condition. Seriously?! He honours the wish of this girl whom he only had a one-night stand, but never once thought that his girlfriend of more than 4 years, the one he claims he really loves, deserves to know the truth?! Didn’t he think for one second, the blow would be less hurting if Colleen knew he was only marrying the girl because she was pregnant and not give the impression that he loved this girl more than Colleen?
6) So alright, he has a sense of honor. He marries and stays with Ellen even after she miscarries a month after they got married! But he stays with her for 6 years and tries hard to make their marriage work, even if most of his nights, he thinks of Colleen and feels he’s cheating on her! In the end, it is Ellen who calls it quits on their marriage. Wow! Now remember, as a reader, you know he was pining for Colleen, but as Colleen (or as a non-mind reading person), you wouldn’t know this pining was going on. In fact, from Colleen’s perspective she never knew, because guess what... he never said so. There was a scene somewhere in the book when they reconnected and Colleen asked why he got divorced if he loved Ellen, and his response was that, “he didn’t love her enough”. Now I don’t know about you, but from my perspective that’s a very ambiguous answer. Since I’m not a mind reader (so is Colleen) and didn’t know all the pining he was doing those past 6 years, I couldn’t immediately conclude it was because he loved Colleen more. His words could easily imply that his wife felt that he didn’t love her enough and told him so, so she left him. Note that there were also passages in the book wherein he expressed his worry that he “didn’t do a good job” of being a husband to Ellen. If he really loved Colleen wouldn’t it be better if he just said, “Because I couldn’t get you out of my mind” or “Because I didn’t feel the same way I felt about you” or “Because I loved you more”. You know, less ambiguous!
7) When he and his wife get divorced, does he seek out Colleen? Nope. Instead, 2 years and 3 months later, he only returns to Manningsport because his dying uncle requested him to come home. When Colleen confronts him about this, does he provide a good explanation why he didn’t seek her out? Nope.
8) When he returns to Manningsport, he just swoops down on Colleen as if he has every right to do so, as if what he did to her didn’t happen. I mean, shortly after he returns, he kisses her in public like he owns her. Then later on, he makes statements like “You and me are going to happen, it’s just a matter of when...” Seriously?! No attempt first to say he’s sorry for everything that has happened, and just assumes he could easily just hook up with Colleen (not that Colleen was any good at playing hard-to-get... more on this later).
9) All throughout his stay in Manningsport, even though he tells Colleen that he wants more than just a fling with her, he doesn’t do anything to reassure her that he wants a more solid permanent relationship. He doesn’t instigate discussions on whether he’ll stay, or propose to Colleen to come with him. He ponders on how to make their relationship work, but doesn’t make any solid steps to do so.
10) Neither did he make any steps to show Colleen that he is completely over Ellen and reassure her that she is the ONE, not Ellen, which was quite obvious Colleen needed given her insecurities about Ellen. In fact if there is anything consistent about Lucas, it’s the fact that he seems more determined to show how much he cared for Ellen when she was his wife and how he still cared for her after they divorced because she was still his “best friend”.
a) In one instance when Colleen just makes a comment about him and Ellen, he immediately barks to defend Ellen even though Colleen’s comments were hardly critical.
b) All throughout the book he never once told Ellen how he really felt about Colleen. Granted he was justified to lie to Ellen in the early years of their marriage, it didn’t make sense he never came clean about it later on given that i) it was implied even Ellen knew his heart was not in their marriage; ii) Ellen had confessed her feelings for another man she met; iii) Lucas was dating Colleen again. I mean in that scene when Ellen suddenly arrived in his apartment because of problems with the booking she made with a local B&B and Colleen was obviously upset about this, Lucas hardly made an effort to reassure Colleen, apart from a half-hearted Romeo scene wherein he tried weasling out of the situation by making light fun of it. It would’ve been nice if he stayed over at Colleen’s apartment instead and had a heart to heart talk with her. But nooo... he goes back to his own apartment to reassure Ellen that Colleen wasn’t upset (even though she was). Then when Ellen starts talking about how her father misses Lucas and smugly states that he would be back in Chicago in the near future, not once did Lucas say anything about his feelings about Colleen, that he may want to stay in Manningsport or convince Colleen to come with him to Chicago.
c) During his Uncle Joe’s wake, he never made the effort to show Ellen and his family that he is indeed with Colleen already. Apart from giving her a few looks, he didn’t ask her to stand by his side to greet the attendees, properly introduce her to her former in-laws and just stood by as she acted like a waitress during the wake.
d) Finally, there was also this scene when he felt a “pang” when he saw how Levi cared for his pregnant wife, Faith. When he sees this, what does he think? Does he think about a future wherein perhaps one day he too will be in a similar situation with Colleen? You would think so if he really thought she is the ONE. But nooo... he thinks about the time when he was caring for pregnant Ellen, and the trauma of her miscarriage, then goes off to pray that this time around he hoped Ellen’s pregnancy would go smoothly and not end as tragically. Yes, noble thoughts, but still gives the impression he’s thinking more of his ex than a future with Colleen.
11) When he finally declares to Colleen that she is “his everything”, he only does so because he got all distraught because his beloved uncle didn’t want him in the room during his last few minutes alive. In other words, he felt rejected by someone else. I don’t know, somehow, I would have liked his declaration more if it was said because he thought about this himself and not spurred on by some tragic event.
12) Unfortunately, shortly after his declaration, he finds out that Colleen slept with his cousin. How does he react? He erupts like a volcano and start looking at her like she was a slut, regardless of the fact that Colleen did this when he was still MARRIED to Ellen. Seriously?! He sleeps with another girl and marries her less than three months after telling Colleen he doesn’t want to marry her, but he gets upset with Colleen when she sleeps with his cousin years after they broke up and he’s married to someone else. Talk about double standards! If his standards were that high, why then did he not get pissed with his ex-wife when she revealed she was seeing someone else already on the day their divorce was getting finalised? Doesn’t it imply that she was seeing this new guy while they were still married and was probably why she called it quits on their marriage? Doesn’t it bother him that while there he was trying hard to make their marriage work, she’s out there already playing the field? Nope. He’s quite happy to hear his ex-wife has moved on to be happy. But hey, with Colleen, God forbid she was out there playing the field so she herself could be happy when he dumped her!
13)In the end, he only reconciles fully with Colleen only after he receives a pep talk from his cousin and his sister, and receives some final words from his dead uncle through a letter he wrote. Wow! Despite his intense relationship with Colleen and their history, it would take all of these people to convince him to come back to Colleen. And what a comeback too! Just another stupid declaration at the bar for the entire town to see, rather than him working hard to gain her back (but then what do you expect when you only have a few pages left on the novel after wasting it on silly side stories!).
You know how in a typical romance story, the reader is introduced to a third party (other woman) character that keeps the hero away from the heroine. Often, that third party is portrayed as a character with questionable morals, unpleasant, and often times it is revealed the hero doesn’t really love this character. I have this suspicion that the author here wanted so badly to avoid this cliché, so she tried hard to portray Ellen as a “decent” person whom Lucas loves and continues to have a very friendly relationship even after their divorce (hey at one point he even cites Ellen as his best friend as one of the reasons he ought to return to Chicago and not stay in Manningsport!) In my opinion, this ploy kind of backfired because to me it looked more like Lucas had more of a thing with Ellen and made me doubt of his true feelings for Colleen.
The supposedly sassy heroine who acts more like a doormat
If Lucas is annoying, Colleen is equally irritating. All throughout the novel, the author took great pains to point out that she is a confident, sassy, strong, intelligent woman who has managed to get over her disastrous love affair 1) through humor; 2) by constantly letting the world know that she is aware of her beauty; 3) by flirting with lots of men and not at all being bothered by the fact she has built up a reputation of being a tramp; 4) by being a matchmaker. Well here’s the thing, I don’t think I was ever convinced she is that strong given that she seems to excel more in becoming a doormat for a lot of people and acting like an idiot when Lucas was around.
1) Despite a few feelings of jealousy, she didn’t show enough anger towards Lucas’s relationship with Ellen. For example, in that scene wherein Ellen suddenly shows up and she got really mad at Lucas about this, she lets him easily off the hook after a pathetic Romeo act from him.
2) She never pursued the issue as to why Lucas never came back sooner or sought her out after his divorce.
3) Despite a few pathetic attempts of resistance (ie saying it wasn’t a good idea for her and Lucas to get together but almost all the time she acts like an idiot or an animal in heat whenever he’s around), it doesn’t take long for her to allow him to sleep with her. Note that not once did he show remorse or say sorry to her for breaking her heart! She then goes on with the relationship without him showing any real signs he is there for a real long term relationship.
4) What was the point of cooking dinner for Lucas?. What exactly was she trying to prove? To be worthy of him again, she ought to cook him dinner even if she hardly has any culinary skills or knowledge? And by the way, wasn’t he the same guy who broke her heart, so why should she be the one making all this effort? (If the primary reason is to draw a few laughs from the readers at Colleen’s expense, well sorry, the entire scene was simply painful than funny!)
5) By the way, wasn’t she trained as a nurse? How did she pass being a nurse when she faints upon seeing Bryce’s bloody hand after he has an accident with a nail gun while helping Lucas with a building project? (Again another LOL moment that is not really funny.)
6)When Lucas became mad at her when he found out she slept with his cousin, she didn’t defend herself enough, tried to joke around and then took great pains to apologise for what she’s done, even though it was so clear Lucas had no right to judge her given he was married at that time!
7) In the end, she just accepts his few words of “sorry”, and “I love you” and that’s it. I don’t care if she says, “I’m easy”. I just wanted to shake her and say, “Have some pride, woman! Make him work a little bit harder because he treated you like sh&*!”
8) Even with her Dad, she is like this. She goes off her brain blaming Lucas for her parents’ marriage breakdown when it was hardly his fault, but doesn’t show the same strength to tell her Dad truthfully of how she feels about his betrayal. Noooo... Instead when her Dad invites her to dinner so she could meet his soon-to-be-new wife and he shows no remorse or guilt for what he’s done, and demands she show up without being uncivil, otherwise she’ll be cut off, how does she react? She shows up for dinner without any sign of being angry.
9) After years of being angry with Gail, Gail just makes a few “Boo-hoo-hoo” whinges about her pitiful circumstances (when Colleen’s Dad’s started the process of divorcing her), and suddenly she decides she “will try to be Gail’s friend”.
Lastly, the annoying matchmaking activity. I don’t know how she could be considered an excellent matchmaker when she plots Paulie’s match up with a loser like Bryce. I’m sorry, despite his “animal lover” redeeming character, he’s a slacker and loser whom I have no doubt is likely going to end up being like Colleen’s Dad who would dump Paulie in the future for a bimbo. You know, a lot of comparison has been made about Colleen and Jane Austen’s Emma character. But at least, even Austen wrote Emma making a huge mistake in some of her matchmaking attempts. It would’ve been more interesting (and realistic) if Colleen makes a huge mistake with Paulie and Bryce, and Paulie found someone better on her own because she deserves someone better!
Too many annoying minor characters with uninteresting sub-stories
Normally, I don’t mind a large cast or a multitude of plotlines in a novel (I’ve read and enjoyed a couple of Maeve Binchy novels), but in this novel I found myself agreeing with other reviewers’ opinion that most of the characters and some of the sub-plots were just irritating! It was extremely frustrating when just as you are getting into an important development in the relationship between Lucas and Colleen, you are forced to read through another minor character’s story and sub-plot. For example:
1) Bryce who despite his “redemption” towards the end of the novel, never really felt the full consequences of his stupid acts (such as having a brief affair with a bride trying on a wedding dress)
2) Paulie who despite her physical strength and brains acted like a complete idiot when she’s around with Bryce (I wonder if the author deliberately made this character pathetic or needed another comic relief when she already had so many)
3) Gail the Tail – the trophy wife who still expects sympathy from Colleen despite the fact that she is the other woman who broke Colleen’s parents’ marriage. Granted, Colleen’s Dad wasn’t honest with her about his real marital status (didn’t tell her he was married) and the real circumstances of his relationship with his then wife (he claims he was in the process of a divorce when he was not), she still marries him anyway and expected absolute fidelity from him? Sheesh! I’m really sick of mistress characters like these who act all surprised when the married guy they eventually marry end up cheating on them, then expects sympathy without feeling a single smidgen of remorse or guilt for what they did to the first wife and the first family!
I probably wouldn’t have minded these minor character and sub-plots at all if the hero and heroine were appealing enough... Sadly they were not.
I’d rather read Jennifer Crusie
This is the first novel I’ve read from Kristan Higgins. I am seriously wondering if I should bother reading her other books or go back to reading Jennifer Crusie for funny contemporary romance stories.
It’s a page turner for me because I couldn’t stand a lot of the scenes, particularly the ones where the author was probably trying to set up funny moments (eg any scene involving Paulie and Bryce or Colleen trying to cook dinner for Lucas). A lot of other readers may find them funny, but they just made me cringe and feel immensely embarrassed for the characters involved. So I just had to skim through them and go to the next pages.
I didn’t want the story to end on the page it did, because even though the ending was a “Happily Ever After”, the road to get there wasn’t convincing and satisfying at all. Maybe, if the author replaced some of the annoying LOL moments with the minor characters (eg again Bryce and Paulie; the team Menopause crowd) with more pages showing more interaction between Colleen and Lucas instead, then I would have probably been more satisfied with the ending, rather than feel cheated and frustrated.
I apologise for the spoilers, but I have to note them down to give an honest opinion about this book. Anyway, a lot of other reviewers have mentioned them already.
In the beginning, the book really got me hooked. I liked how Colleen’s and Lucas’ passionate love story started and the very sad way they broke up. Unfortunately, as the story unfolded, I just got more and more frustrated by the actions of both characters.
A hero not worth pining for
The character of Lucas for me is one of the most unlikeable romance hero I’ve ever read... and that’s quite something because I’ve read dozens of romance and chick lit novels. While I can understand why a lot of the other readers are swooning over him (I was at the beginning as well), I cannot understand how any woman (including Colleen) would ever want him back or pine for him for such a long time. Based on his actions and thoughts, and even the happy ending, I still can’t be totally sure if he truly loved Colleen or he still has a thing for his ex-wife Ellen. Seriously, when I finished the book, I couldn’t help but think of this scenario, if Ellen and Colleen were trapped in a sinking car, who would he save first? If this novel had a more convincing ending, I’d say Colleen, but honestly, I don’t know...
1) Through all the years he was with Colleen, before the big break-up, he never once said he loved her. Ok, maybe he showed it, but sorry, if I was his girlfriend, I still would have wanted him to say it. Especially, when years later, he doesn’t hesitate declaring his love for the woman he married whom he only dated once then married.
2) When they had their first fight, he doesn’t make any solid effort to reconcile and he gives up immediately on Colleen after he sees her flirting with some guy. Given their intense history, you would have thought, he could have/should have tried harder to reconcile.
3) With Colleen he always insisted on them using two types of birth control because of his fear of making her pregnant. But with Ellen, he didn’t mind going ahead having sex with her and taking her word that she was on the Pill. (Ok, he was distraught at the time because of how things were with him and Colleen, but still, given his genuine fear, I couldn’t believe he was ok with Ellen saying she was on the Pill.)
4) He tells Colleen he doesn’t want to marry while they’re young, when he couldn’t support them, etc., etc., but two months later he doesn’t hesitate asking Ellen to marry him when he finds out their one-night stand led to her pregnancy. I suppose, it helps that Ellen’s family is rich, so...
5) He lies to Colleen at first on the real reason he was going to marry Ellen. That is, he doesn’t tell Colleen that he was only marrying Ellen because he knocked her up. So if you were Colleen, how would you feel if the guy who refused to get married to you just two months before, now tells you he’s marrying someone else who by the way just happens to come from a very wealthy family? To top it off, the real reason he doesn’t tell the truth is because Ellen requested him not to tell anyone else about her condition. Seriously?! He honours the wish of this girl whom he only had a one-night stand, but never once thought that his girlfriend of more than 4 years, the one he claims he really loves, deserves to know the truth?! Didn’t he think for one second, the blow would be less hurting if Colleen knew he was only marrying the girl because she was pregnant and not give the impression that he loved this girl more than Colleen?
6) So alright, he has a sense of honor. He marries and stays with Ellen even after she miscarries a month after they got married! But he stays with her for 6 years and tries hard to make their marriage work, even if most of his nights, he thinks of Colleen and feels he’s cheating on her! In the end, it is Ellen who calls it quits on their marriage. Wow! Now remember, as a reader, you know he was pining for Colleen, but as Colleen (or as a non-mind reading person), you wouldn’t know this pining was going on. In fact, from Colleen’s perspective she never knew, because guess what... he never said so. There was a scene somewhere in the book when they reconnected and Colleen asked why he got divorced if he loved Ellen, and his response was that, “he didn’t love her enough”. Now I don’t know about you, but from my perspective that’s a very ambiguous answer. Since I’m not a mind reader (so is Colleen) and didn’t know all the pining he was doing those past 6 years, I couldn’t immediately conclude it was because he loved Colleen more. His words could easily imply that his wife felt that he didn’t love her enough and told him so, so she left him. Note that there were also passages in the book wherein he expressed his worry that he “didn’t do a good job” of being a husband to Ellen. If he really loved Colleen wouldn’t it be better if he just said, “Because I couldn’t get you out of my mind” or “Because I didn’t feel the same way I felt about you” or “Because I loved you more”. You know, less ambiguous!
7) When he and his wife get divorced, does he seek out Colleen? Nope. Instead, 2 years and 3 months later, he only returns to Manningsport because his dying uncle requested him to come home. When Colleen confronts him about this, does he provide a good explanation why he didn’t seek her out? Nope.
8) When he returns to Manningsport, he just swoops down on Colleen as if he has every right to do so, as if what he did to her didn’t happen. I mean, shortly after he returns, he kisses her in public like he owns her. Then later on, he makes statements like “You and me are going to happen, it’s just a matter of when...” Seriously?! No attempt first to say he’s sorry for everything that has happened, and just assumes he could easily just hook up with Colleen (not that Colleen was any good at playing hard-to-get... more on this later).
9) All throughout his stay in Manningsport, even though he tells Colleen that he wants more than just a fling with her, he doesn’t do anything to reassure her that he wants a more solid permanent relationship. He doesn’t instigate discussions on whether he’ll stay, or propose to Colleen to come with him. He ponders on how to make their relationship work, but doesn’t make any solid steps to do so.
10) Neither did he make any steps to show Colleen that he is completely over Ellen and reassure her that she is the ONE, not Ellen, which was quite obvious Colleen needed given her insecurities about Ellen. In fact if there is anything consistent about Lucas, it’s the fact that he seems more determined to show how much he cared for Ellen when she was his wife and how he still cared for her after they divorced because she was still his “best friend”.
a) In one instance when Colleen just makes a comment about him and Ellen, he immediately barks to defend Ellen even though Colleen’s comments were hardly critical.
b) All throughout the book he never once told Ellen how he really felt about Colleen. Granted he was justified to lie to Ellen in the early years of their marriage, it didn’t make sense he never came clean about it later on given that i) it was implied even Ellen knew his heart was not in their marriage; ii) Ellen had confessed her feelings for another man she met; iii) Lucas was dating Colleen again. I mean in that scene when Ellen suddenly arrived in his apartment because of problems with the booking she made with a local B&B and Colleen was obviously upset about this, Lucas hardly made an effort to reassure Colleen, apart from a half-hearted Romeo scene wherein he tried weasling out of the situation by making light fun of it. It would’ve been nice if he stayed over at Colleen’s apartment instead and had a heart to heart talk with her. But nooo... he goes back to his own apartment to reassure Ellen that Colleen wasn’t upset (even though she was). Then when Ellen starts talking about how her father misses Lucas and smugly states that he would be back in Chicago in the near future, not once did Lucas say anything about his feelings about Colleen, that he may want to stay in Manningsport or convince Colleen to come with him to Chicago.
c) During his Uncle Joe’s wake, he never made the effort to show Ellen and his family that he is indeed with Colleen already. Apart from giving her a few looks, he didn’t ask her to stand by his side to greet the attendees, properly introduce her to her former in-laws and just stood by as she acted like a waitress during the wake.
d) Finally, there was also this scene when he felt a “pang” when he saw how Levi cared for his pregnant wife, Faith. When he sees this, what does he think? Does he think about a future wherein perhaps one day he too will be in a similar situation with Colleen? You would think so if he really thought she is the ONE. But nooo... he thinks about the time when he was caring for pregnant Ellen, and the trauma of her miscarriage, then goes off to pray that this time around he hoped Ellen’s pregnancy would go smoothly and not end as tragically. Yes, noble thoughts, but still gives the impression he’s thinking more of his ex than a future with Colleen.
11) When he finally declares to Colleen that she is “his everything”, he only does so because he got all distraught because his beloved uncle didn’t want him in the room during his last few minutes alive. In other words, he felt rejected by someone else. I don’t know, somehow, I would have liked his declaration more if it was said because he thought about this himself and not spurred on by some tragic event.
12) Unfortunately, shortly after his declaration, he finds out that Colleen slept with his cousin. How does he react? He erupts like a volcano and start looking at her like she was a slut, regardless of the fact that Colleen did this when he was still MARRIED to Ellen. Seriously?! He sleeps with another girl and marries her less than three months after telling Colleen he doesn’t want to marry her, but he gets upset with Colleen when she sleeps with his cousin years after they broke up and he’s married to someone else. Talk about double standards! If his standards were that high, why then did he not get pissed with his ex-wife when she revealed she was seeing someone else already on the day their divorce was getting finalised? Doesn’t it imply that she was seeing this new guy while they were still married and was probably why she called it quits on their marriage? Doesn’t it bother him that while there he was trying hard to make their marriage work, she’s out there already playing the field? Nope. He’s quite happy to hear his ex-wife has moved on to be happy. But hey, with Colleen, God forbid she was out there playing the field so she herself could be happy when he dumped her!
13)In the end, he only reconciles fully with Colleen only after he receives a pep talk from his cousin and his sister, and receives some final words from his dead uncle through a letter he wrote. Wow! Despite his intense relationship with Colleen and their history, it would take all of these people to convince him to come back to Colleen. And what a comeback too! Just another stupid declaration at the bar for the entire town to see, rather than him working hard to gain her back (but then what do you expect when you only have a few pages left on the novel after wasting it on silly side stories!).
You know how in a typical romance story, the reader is introduced to a third party (other woman) character that keeps the hero away from the heroine. Often, that third party is portrayed as a character with questionable morals, unpleasant, and often times it is revealed the hero doesn’t really love this character. I have this suspicion that the author here wanted so badly to avoid this cliché, so she tried hard to portray Ellen as a “decent” person whom Lucas loves and continues to have a very friendly relationship even after their divorce (hey at one point he even cites Ellen as his best friend as one of the reasons he ought to return to Chicago and not stay in Manningsport!) In my opinion, this ploy kind of backfired because to me it looked more like Lucas had more of a thing with Ellen and made me doubt of his true feelings for Colleen.
The supposedly sassy heroine who acts more like a doormat
If Lucas is annoying, Colleen is equally irritating. All throughout the novel, the author took great pains to point out that she is a confident, sassy, strong, intelligent woman who has managed to get over her disastrous love affair 1) through humor; 2) by constantly letting the world know that she is aware of her beauty; 3) by flirting with lots of men and not at all being bothered by the fact she has built up a reputation of being a tramp; 4) by being a matchmaker. Well here’s the thing, I don’t think I was ever convinced she is that strong given that she seems to excel more in becoming a doormat for a lot of people and acting like an idiot when Lucas was around.
1) Despite a few feelings of jealousy, she didn’t show enough anger towards Lucas’s relationship with Ellen. For example, in that scene wherein Ellen suddenly shows up and she got really mad at Lucas about this, she lets him easily off the hook after a pathetic Romeo act from him.
2) She never pursued the issue as to why Lucas never came back sooner or sought her out after his divorce.
3) Despite a few pathetic attempts of resistance (ie saying it wasn’t a good idea for her and Lucas to get together but almost all the time she acts like an idiot or an animal in heat whenever he’s around), it doesn’t take long for her to allow him to sleep with her. Note that not once did he show remorse or say sorry to her for breaking her heart! She then goes on with the relationship without him showing any real signs he is there for a real long term relationship.
4) What was the point of cooking dinner for Lucas?. What exactly was she trying to prove? To be worthy of him again, she ought to cook him dinner even if she hardly has any culinary skills or knowledge? And by the way, wasn’t he the same guy who broke her heart, so why should she be the one making all this effort? (If the primary reason is to draw a few laughs from the readers at Colleen’s expense, well sorry, the entire scene was simply painful than funny!)
5) By the way, wasn’t she trained as a nurse? How did she pass being a nurse when she faints upon seeing Bryce’s bloody hand after he has an accident with a nail gun while helping Lucas with a building project? (Again another LOL moment that is not really funny.)
6)When Lucas became mad at her when he found out she slept with his cousin, she didn’t defend herself enough, tried to joke around and then took great pains to apologise for what she’s done, even though it was so clear Lucas had no right to judge her given he was married at that time!
7) In the end, she just accepts his few words of “sorry”, and “I love you” and that’s it. I don’t care if she says, “I’m easy”. I just wanted to shake her and say, “Have some pride, woman! Make him work a little bit harder because he treated you like sh&*!”
8) Even with her Dad, she is like this. She goes off her brain blaming Lucas for her parents’ marriage breakdown when it was hardly his fault, but doesn’t show the same strength to tell her Dad truthfully of how she feels about his betrayal. Noooo... Instead when her Dad invites her to dinner so she could meet his soon-to-be-new wife and he shows no remorse or guilt for what he’s done, and demands she show up without being uncivil, otherwise she’ll be cut off, how does she react? She shows up for dinner without any sign of being angry.
9) After years of being angry with Gail, Gail just makes a few “Boo-hoo-hoo” whinges about her pitiful circumstances (when Colleen’s Dad’s started the process of divorcing her), and suddenly she decides she “will try to be Gail’s friend”.
Lastly, the annoying matchmaking activity. I don’t know how she could be considered an excellent matchmaker when she plots Paulie’s match up with a loser like Bryce. I’m sorry, despite his “animal lover” redeeming character, he’s a slacker and loser whom I have no doubt is likely going to end up being like Colleen’s Dad who would dump Paulie in the future for a bimbo. You know, a lot of comparison has been made about Colleen and Jane Austen’s Emma character. But at least, even Austen wrote Emma making a huge mistake in some of her matchmaking attempts. It would’ve been more interesting (and realistic) if Colleen makes a huge mistake with Paulie and Bryce, and Paulie found someone better on her own because she deserves someone better!
Too many annoying minor characters with uninteresting sub-stories
Normally, I don’t mind a large cast or a multitude of plotlines in a novel (I’ve read and enjoyed a couple of Maeve Binchy novels), but in this novel I found myself agreeing with other reviewers’ opinion that most of the characters and some of the sub-plots were just irritating! It was extremely frustrating when just as you are getting into an important development in the relationship between Lucas and Colleen, you are forced to read through another minor character’s story and sub-plot. For example:
1) Bryce who despite his “redemption” towards the end of the novel, never really felt the full consequences of his stupid acts (such as having a brief affair with a bride trying on a wedding dress)
2) Paulie who despite her physical strength and brains acted like a complete idiot when she’s around with Bryce (I wonder if the author deliberately made this character pathetic or needed another comic relief when she already had so many)
3) Gail the Tail – the trophy wife who still expects sympathy from Colleen despite the fact that she is the other woman who broke Colleen’s parents’ marriage. Granted, Colleen’s Dad wasn’t honest with her about his real marital status (didn’t tell her he was married) and the real circumstances of his relationship with his then wife (he claims he was in the process of a divorce when he was not), she still marries him anyway and expected absolute fidelity from him? Sheesh! I’m really sick of mistress characters like these who act all surprised when the married guy they eventually marry end up cheating on them, then expects sympathy without feeling a single smidgen of remorse or guilt for what they did to the first wife and the first family!
I probably wouldn’t have minded these minor character and sub-plots at all if the hero and heroine were appealing enough... Sadly they were not.
I’d rather read Jennifer Crusie
This is the first novel I’ve read from Kristan Higgins. I am seriously wondering if I should bother reading her other books or go back to reading Jennifer Crusie for funny contemporary romance stories.
July 11, 2020
Colleen was popular;
not mean-girl popular,
just really well liked
I think I have read almost all the books that Ms Higgins has written. I have loved them all and she is an auto-buy for me. This one was no exception. Actually this one was nearly better than all her other good books.
She’d forgotten how he looked, like a pirate, like Heathcliff of the moors, dark and slightly dangerous … except for his eyes, which could be so sad. And so happy, too.
Colleen O'Rourke is in love with love... Colleen and her twin brother own O’Rourke’s Bar in Manningsport, New York. She loves giving advice to her friends, doing a bit of matchmaking. Lucas Campbell, was her first love and he broke her heart...
Lucas is back to town, for a family emergency and he still has the power to get to Coleen. Will it work out for them second time round?
The thing I love about Kristan Higgin’s books is that the heroines are always strong, there is always humour in the books, sex scenes are non-existent, families come across as normal. Some of the stuff in the book had me laughing out loud. So funny. Of course with a name like O’Rourke, there is the Irish connection which usually will keep me happy.
I really liked the Mom, She really came through in the end for me.
She grinned and Lucas felt it like an electric shock.
Once, Colleen had been the prettiest girl around.
Now, she was beautiful.
And not a girl anymore.
”I’m trying, Coleen,” Mom said, sighing as only a Cataholic could.
Maybe it is the Catholic in me that so GETS lines like that!
Lucas didn’t have an easy life growing up. He lived with his Uncle Joe and cousin Bryce for a while. This is how he came from the South Side of Chicago to Manningsport. I won’t mention Didi, the bitch. Bryce was fairly immature but I suppose he had been spoiled all his life.
Colleen was Manningsport. She was the heart of the town and she wouldn’t leave, and he wouldn’t stay
Would they be able to work out whatever hurdles were in their way and find their Happy Ever After?
Don’t bullshit a bullshitter, Lucas
The stars burned and blazed overhead, the night was soft and dark …
But.
She was always there, that river of dark, fast water.
There was one part towards the end, in an exchange between Lucas and Bryce, if that doesn’t have you shedding a little tear, I don’t know what would.
Seriously, if you have never read anything by this author, go and check her out. You won’t be sorry.
November 10, 2017
★★★½
Waiting on You is the third installment in Kristan Higgins's adult contemporary romance series titled: Blue Heron. This was another very likable addition to a sweet and romantic series. Waiting on You incorporated complicated family dynamics in regards to the hero which made me tear up a bit. With palpable emotions and a few pretty laughable scenes, this one was a great addition to the series.
My favorite quote:
“I’ve found that if you expect the best of a person, you generally get it.”
“What happens when you don’t?”
“Live and learn. Emphasis on learn.”
The Blue Heron is a series of romances set in the community of Blue Heron. Each book showcases a different couple with cameos from past/future characters. The series includes the following installments as of November 2017:
#1-The Best Man
#2-The Perfect Match
#3-Waiting on You
#4-In Your Dreams
#5-Anything for You
Waiting on You is the third installment in Kristan Higgins's adult contemporary romance series titled: Blue Heron. This was another very likable addition to a sweet and romantic series. Waiting on You incorporated complicated family dynamics in regards to the hero which made me tear up a bit. With palpable emotions and a few pretty laughable scenes, this one was a great addition to the series.
My favorite quote:
“I’ve found that if you expect the best of a person, you generally get it.”
“What happens when you don’t?”
“Live and learn. Emphasis on learn.”
The Blue Heron is a series of romances set in the community of Blue Heron. Each book showcases a different couple with cameos from past/future characters. The series includes the following installments as of November 2017:
#1-The Best Man
#2-The Perfect Match
#3-Waiting on You
#4-In Your Dreams
#5-Anything for You
March 28, 2014
I've debated with myself about even writing a review, but I'm just too frustrated! I love Kristan Higgins. This is the only book of hers that I've read that has frustrated me so much. Colleen O'Roarke is a tough, take charge woman, who doesn't take any crap from anyone. Except when it comes to her first love Lucas Campbell. Even though as far as she knew he married someone 2 months after Colleen ended their 4 year relationship because he refused to tell her that he loved her and completely freaked out when she mentioned marriage, she's still carrying a torch for him 10 years later and doesn't mind telling him so. Of course he only got married because he accidentally knocked up a one night stand that he had when he saw Colleen kiss a guy while they were "on a break." But here's the kicker, even though he says he still loved Colleen, and that she was his one true love and that the entire time he was with his ex he felt like he was cheating on Colleen, he still stayed married for 6 years, even after his wife had a miscarriage 12 weeks into their marriage. 6 YEARS! Even then it was his wife who ended the marriage, not him! Then when he finally comes back to town, Colleen honestly doesn't make it too hard on him to win her back. She halfheartedly makes a few protests, but eventually goes back to him without much of a fight. Then she starts acting like SHE'S not worthy of HIS love. She tells him that he's her one true love, and when he flips out when he finds out that she slept with his cousin ONCE, 6 years ago, while he was still MARRIED, she begs him to stay, but he goes anyway. When he realizes that he still wants her (but only after a pep talk from his sister) he goes rushing back home to her, and she takes him back. Just. Like. That. The story had it's good points, and I laughed out loud quite a bit, but I was just so distracted by my frustration at Colleen and dislike of Luke, that it just ruined the whole book for me. I ADORE Kristan Higgins, but if this book had been a paper copy, not an ebook, I would have probably thrown it at the wall a couple of times out of frustration. Over 24 hours :-(
March 17, 2014
I truly think this is Kristan Higgins best book that she's written so far. No lags in pacing, her characters are multi-layered and down to earth, and there just seemed to be so much depth to this entire story...so many people involved and yet they all played a decisive role in how this book played out.
My heart is thumping in my chest...what an ending, what a story!
This is my first five star read by this author and it just blew me away. This is quality writing... laced with more than a touch of humor, inundated with heartfelt emotions and a large, endearing cast of secondary characters, it's the type of story that sets the bar high on women's fiction.
This is a second chance romance for a couple that has always loved each other passionately. Colleen and Lucas obviously belong together. Often with second chance romances, the initial conflict that tears them apart seems contrived for drama. But this conflict, while able to be attributed to their young ages and immature actions, is one that could play out between many a young couple. At first, it seems to be something that they can overcome quite easily but add in a few unexpected factors and misunderstandings, and you have a couple who is ripped apart unfairly...then reunited by fate a decade later.
Lucas was the kid from the wrong side of the tracks, Colleen the popular girl who accepted her lot in life but never acted better than anyone else.
Oh, Lucas...my heart broke for him. He's such a good guy. Never trying to be liked or even loved but he deserves so much. Colleen was his everything for a few short months. As was he to her...they are just so meant to be! Colleen has stayed in her little hometown, and puts on quite a show for the residents who frequent the bar that she and her twin brother own. Everyone thinks that she's happy. Even Colleen thinks that she's happy, until Lucas comes back into town and she realizes how deeply she still loves him.
But meshing their adult lives is even harder now than it was back then. Lucas' dying uncle and good ole boy cousin need his help and guidance, and Colleen's cheating father, nerdy but sweet little sister, and needy mother need her shoulder as well. Amid the chaos that is life, will these two be able to hold on to the love that they both know is...and always will be...the one?
Five huge stars. I'm officially addicted to Kristan Higgins.
Advance Copy provided by Harlequin HQN via NetGalley
My heart is thumping in my chest...what an ending, what a story!
This is my first five star read by this author and it just blew me away. This is quality writing... laced with more than a touch of humor, inundated with heartfelt emotions and a large, endearing cast of secondary characters, it's the type of story that sets the bar high on women's fiction.
This is a second chance romance for a couple that has always loved each other passionately. Colleen and Lucas obviously belong together. Often with second chance romances, the initial conflict that tears them apart seems contrived for drama. But this conflict, while able to be attributed to their young ages and immature actions, is one that could play out between many a young couple. At first, it seems to be something that they can overcome quite easily but add in a few unexpected factors and misunderstandings, and you have a couple who is ripped apart unfairly...then reunited by fate a decade later.
Lucas was the kid from the wrong side of the tracks, Colleen the popular girl who accepted her lot in life but never acted better than anyone else.
Oh, Lucas...my heart broke for him. He's such a good guy. Never trying to be liked or even loved but he deserves so much. Colleen was his everything for a few short months. As was he to her...they are just so meant to be! Colleen has stayed in her little hometown, and puts on quite a show for the residents who frequent the bar that she and her twin brother own. Everyone thinks that she's happy. Even Colleen thinks that she's happy, until Lucas comes back into town and she realizes how deeply she still loves him.
But meshing their adult lives is even harder now than it was back then. Lucas' dying uncle and good ole boy cousin need his help and guidance, and Colleen's cheating father, nerdy but sweet little sister, and needy mother need her shoulder as well. Amid the chaos that is life, will these two be able to hold on to the love that they both know is...and always will be...the one?
Five huge stars. I'm officially addicted to Kristan Higgins.
Advance Copy provided by Harlequin HQN via NetGalley
December 29, 2014
5 second-chance stars!
Ten years ago, Lucas Campbell broke Colleen O'Rourke's heart. It was devastating. Colleen had moved on for the most part, but fate intervened when Lucas comes back to Manningsport to take care of family business. Suddenly, Colleen's walls are tested especially when Lucas seems intent on winning her back.
What followed is one of the most wonderfully bittersweet story about love second chances, forgiveness, family and community. This book hits all the right spot for me.
Colleen was a wonderful heroine. She's not perfect. She's a huge flirt and she got a reputation for getting around quite a bit. Even though that was just a reputation, she wore it like a badge.
Lucas is gorgeous, infuriating, noble and stubborn. He's one of those heroes that seems to do all the right things until they fuck up. Like real bad. Lucas was like that.
The secondary characters were wonderful and the small town of Manningsport was the perfect setting. There were a lot hilarious moments and also somber ones. The chemistry between Colleen and Lucas was off-the-charts hot. And did I mention that this book was a angsty? Yeah. It was, and I loved it.
I was so involved and engrossed with the characters that I totally didn't miss that this book didn't have one iota of a sex scene. It's all fade to black. But it was still unbelievably sexy and hot.
In other words, the stars aligned and everything about this book was perfect for me.
Ten years ago, Lucas Campbell broke Colleen O'Rourke's heart. It was devastating. Colleen had moved on for the most part, but fate intervened when Lucas comes back to Manningsport to take care of family business. Suddenly, Colleen's walls are tested especially when Lucas seems intent on winning her back.
What followed is one of the most wonderfully bittersweet story about love second chances, forgiveness, family and community. This book hits all the right spot for me.
Colleen was a wonderful heroine. She's not perfect. She's a huge flirt and she got a reputation for getting around quite a bit. Even though that was just a reputation, she wore it like a badge.
Lucas is gorgeous, infuriating, noble and stubborn. He's one of those heroes that seems to do all the right things until they fuck up. Like real bad. Lucas was like that.
The secondary characters were wonderful and the small town of Manningsport was the perfect setting. There were a lot hilarious moments and also somber ones. The chemistry between Colleen and Lucas was off-the-charts hot. And did I mention that this book was a angsty? Yeah. It was, and I loved it.
I was so involved and engrossed with the characters that I totally didn't miss that this book didn't have one iota of a sex scene. It's all fade to black. But it was still unbelievably sexy and hot.
In other words, the stars aligned and everything about this book was perfect for me.
March 5, 2017
5 STARS
Another winner.
Another winner.
September 2, 2020
2.5 Stars
Overall Opinion: I found this book when I was looking for angsty reads in the goodreads lists. I like those lists, but there have been some flops to go along with the successes that I’ve gotten from them. This wasn’t my favorite. I like the small town vibes. I like the quirky side characters. I like the idea of the overall storyline. I just don’t feel like it was as good as it could’ve been. Too much focus was on other things and other people. The conflict that caused their separation was continuously pushed aside (and never really fully addressed IMO) and then the additional conflict at the very end (91%) that was not resolved until the very very end (97%) putting us directly into an epilogue (that wasn’t the best either). I wanted angsty goodness! I wanted unrequited love! It did strip a few tears out of me, but sadly, not like I had wanted. Bummer.
Brief Summary of the Storyline: This is Colleen and Lucas’s story. Lucas moves to a new town with his uncle and cousin in the middle of their senior year of high school. Colleen isn’t interested in being the boy crazy girl that most high schoolers are, but the day she sees Lucas it’s love at first sight for both of them. They have a whirlwind romance that gets interrupted by the rest of their world and they separate. Years later, Lucas returns to help his uncle during his last days of suffering from cancer. They cannot deny the pull they feel towards one another, but they also know that it didn’t end well last time. There are some cute side characters and stories, some funny moments, and some sad scenes...and they get a HEA ending.
Point Of View (POV): This alternated between focusing on Colleen and Lucas in 3rd person narrative.
Overall Pace of Story: Good except for the ending. It has some sections that are flashback to their relationship before their separation and I think the author did that well. I never skimmed and I thought it mostly flowed well.
Instalove: Yes, and strong feelings are already developed when this story begins.
H (Hero) rating: 2 stars. Lucas. I get that he had a tragic upbringing, but I didn’t like the way he treated the h.
h (heroine) rating: 3 stars. Colleen. I liked her but I also wanted her to demand more from the H.
Sadness level: Low/moderate. I shed some tears for a few of the unrequited love type scenes, but I never needed any tissues.
Push/Pull: Yes
Heat level: Low. They have some tension and chemistry -- but not that lead to descriptive scenes and not so much it takes away from the story (also doesn’t happen until about 3/4 into the book)
Descriptive sex: No, more like fade to black.
OW (Other Woman)/OM (Other Man) drama: Yes
Sex scene with OW or OM: No
Cheating: Only with side characters
Separation: Yes
Possible Triggers: Yes
Closure: This ended abruptly with what I would reluctantly still call a HEA ending . I felt like it was way too abrupt and too quick after the conflict was resolved.
Safety: This one should be either Safe or Safe with Exception for most safety gang readers depending on personal preferences.
Overall Opinion: I found this book when I was looking for angsty reads in the goodreads lists. I like those lists, but there have been some flops to go along with the successes that I’ve gotten from them. This wasn’t my favorite. I like the small town vibes. I like the quirky side characters. I like the idea of the overall storyline. I just don’t feel like it was as good as it could’ve been. Too much focus was on other things and other people. The conflict that caused their separation was continuously pushed aside (and never really fully addressed IMO) and then the additional conflict at the very end (91%) that was not resolved until the very very end (97%) putting us directly into an epilogue (that wasn’t the best either). I wanted angsty goodness! I wanted unrequited love! It did strip a few tears out of me, but sadly, not like I had wanted. Bummer.
Brief Summary of the Storyline: This is Colleen and Lucas’s story. Lucas moves to a new town with his uncle and cousin in the middle of their senior year of high school. Colleen isn’t interested in being the boy crazy girl that most high schoolers are, but the day she sees Lucas it’s love at first sight for both of them. They have a whirlwind romance that gets interrupted by the rest of their world and they separate. Years later, Lucas returns to help his uncle during his last days of suffering from cancer. They cannot deny the pull they feel towards one another, but they also know that it didn’t end well last time. There are some cute side characters and stories, some funny moments, and some sad scenes...and they get a HEA ending.
Point Of View (POV): This alternated between focusing on Colleen and Lucas in 3rd person narrative.
Overall Pace of Story: Good except for the ending. It has some sections that are flashback to their relationship before their separation and I think the author did that well. I never skimmed and I thought it mostly flowed well.
Instalove: Yes, and strong feelings are already developed when this story begins.
H (Hero) rating: 2 stars. Lucas. I get that he had a tragic upbringing, but I didn’t like the way he treated the h.
h (heroine) rating: 3 stars. Colleen. I liked her but I also wanted her to demand more from the H.
Sadness level: Low/moderate. I shed some tears for a few of the unrequited love type scenes, but I never needed any tissues.
Push/Pull: Yes
Heat level: Low. They have some tension and chemistry -- but not that lead to descriptive scenes and not so much it takes away from the story (also doesn’t happen until about 3/4 into the book)
Descriptive sex: No, more like fade to black.
OW (Other Woman)/OM (Other Man) drama: Yes
Sex scene with OW or OM: No
Cheating: Only with side characters
Separation: Yes
Possible Triggers: Yes
Closure: This ended abruptly with what I would reluctantly still call a HEA ending . I felt like it was way too abrupt and too quick after the conflict was resolved.
Safety: This one should be either Safe or Safe with Exception for most safety gang readers depending on personal preferences.
February 3, 2020
Ugh, the heroine.
I don’t think I am cut out for Contemporary Romance or maybe it’s Kristan Higgins.
I felt really bad despising the heroine with so many reviews saying, “Poor girl.” “The H doesn’t deserver her.”, but at the 80-something% the big shoe drops so to hell with all that.
PLOT:
The h and H were high school lovers, soul mates. The H had a rough deal after his parents died and was raised by a wimpy uncle with a cousin that thinks the H is aces, and the She-wolf of an aunt. His dad dies in prison before he can visit him because his aunt is such a bitch and his cousin is a happy go lucky loser.
The romance goes awry when the H sees the heroine’s beloved father with his side piece and doesn’t tell the heroine. When she finds out she dumps the H for what she sees as his betrayal. He takes a bus to convince her to take him back when he sees her kissing another man. He goes back to college and finds solace with a really nice rich girl with faulty birth control who he then marries. Time and time again, he’s made out to be the bad guy. Okay, the heroine regretted kissing the other guy, but ….ugh.
She dumped HIM and refused to speak to him. He chases her only to find her flirting big time.
Ten years later and the divorced hero is back in town to check on his dying uncle. They get back together and it’s the typical push/pull thing. The heroine has her moments, but her back-patting about how many couples she’s brought together and how awesome she is got very old. She has to endure her annoying parents, but she and her twin brother are very cute with her little step-sister.
No going back for me
The whole romance and heroine entitlement left a bad taste for me.
I don’t think I am cut out for Contemporary Romance or maybe it’s Kristan Higgins.
I felt really bad despising the heroine with so many reviews saying, “Poor girl.” “The H doesn’t deserver her.”, but at the 80-something% the big shoe drops so to hell with all that.
PLOT:
The h and H were high school lovers, soul mates. The H had a rough deal after his parents died and was raised by a wimpy uncle with a cousin that thinks the H is aces, and the She-wolf of an aunt. His dad dies in prison before he can visit him because his aunt is such a bitch and his cousin is a happy go lucky loser.
The romance goes awry when the H sees the heroine’s beloved father with his side piece and doesn’t tell the heroine. When she finds out she dumps the H for what she sees as his betrayal. He takes a bus to convince her to take him back when he sees her kissing another man. He goes back to college and finds solace with a really nice rich girl with faulty birth control who he then marries. Time and time again, he’s made out to be the bad guy. Okay, the heroine regretted kissing the other guy, but ….ugh.
She dumped HIM and refused to speak to him. He chases her only to find her flirting big time.
Ten years later and the divorced hero is back in town to check on his dying uncle. They get back together and it’s the typical push/pull thing. The heroine has her moments, but her back-patting about how many couples she’s brought together and how awesome she is got very old. She has to endure her annoying parents, but she and her twin brother are very cute with her little step-sister.
No going back for me
The whole romance and heroine entitlement left a bad taste for me.
November 5, 2017
I am in serious love with this author.
March 30, 2014
10 ++++++ STARS!!
How do you write a review about a book so perfect, you can't stop thinking about it? Crying happy tears about it? Wishing you could tell the world about it?
Giving this book 5 stars doesn't seem fitting. It isn't enough of a rating to justify how I felt reading it. LOVED IT! This is the 3rd book in KH's Blue Heron series and although I fell in love with the first one, The Best Man, this is probably the best of the series so far. We finally get Colleen's story, the vivacious and flirty owner and bartender at O'Rourkes in beautiful Manningsport, NY.
Colleen is the single and outrageously flirty bestie to Faith Holland. She's also the town matchmaker, setting everyone else up except herself. See, years ago, Colleen fell in love with Lucas Campbell. And he broke her heart.
She's never gotten over it, over him. Until a family situation calls him back to the town where he fell for beautiful Colleen. Now he's back...can a second chance be on the horizon for this lovelorn couple?
Kristan Higgins, YOU'RE A GENIUS. This woman writes, I read. If you've never read this author...you really should. Her novels are so complete, so thorough, so heart wrenchingly beautiful and captivating. She's the only author that I love that uses the fade to black for sex scenes. But she is that good, THAT GOOD, that you don't notice. The story is too perfect and emotional for you to give a care.
Colleen and Lucas's story broke my heart. Their respective upbringings were so different yet they were so perfect for each other. Colleen had never really had to work in getting noticed but 'the dark prince' as she calls Lucas, changed her world, made her notice HIM.
When he returns to Manningsport, his presence is engulfing and distressing and she finds herself right back where she was 10 years prior. And holy crap, Lucas sounds WOW!
Dark, gypsy hair, dark, soulful eyes that speak volumes, a voice evocative of dark chocolate....NEED I SAY MORE??
I think Lucas is KH's sexiest and most alluring male hero so far. All her hero's possess similar qualities: quiet intensity, a strong and determined presence and an unequivocal, heart stopping love for the heroine. Seriously, I love this author!
Her books also always have strong secondary back stories. It adds richness to a book, fleshing out the characters like nobody's business...GAH! Can't say enough! And her backdrop? Can I move my family to Manningsport? Endless acres of vineyards, forests and natural living, sigh.
And it's not just gorgeous storytelling, compelling backgrounds and emotional attachments in this book. It was freaking hilarious! Several scenes had me gasping for air because I was laughing so hard, wheezing with the effort!!! Lovely, fantastic, incredible book, L-O-V-E-D I-T!!!! Highly recommended! Now I can't wait for Jack Hollands story and Jessica Dunns story!!!!, the next books in this wonderful series!
How do you write a review about a book so perfect, you can't stop thinking about it? Crying happy tears about it? Wishing you could tell the world about it?
Giving this book 5 stars doesn't seem fitting. It isn't enough of a rating to justify how I felt reading it. LOVED IT! This is the 3rd book in KH's Blue Heron series and although I fell in love with the first one, The Best Man, this is probably the best of the series so far. We finally get Colleen's story, the vivacious and flirty owner and bartender at O'Rourkes in beautiful Manningsport, NY.
Colleen is the single and outrageously flirty bestie to Faith Holland. She's also the town matchmaker, setting everyone else up except herself. See, years ago, Colleen fell in love with Lucas Campbell. And he broke her heart.
She's never gotten over it, over him. Until a family situation calls him back to the town where he fell for beautiful Colleen. Now he's back...can a second chance be on the horizon for this lovelorn couple?
Kristan Higgins, YOU'RE A GENIUS. This woman writes, I read. If you've never read this author...you really should. Her novels are so complete, so thorough, so heart wrenchingly beautiful and captivating. She's the only author that I love that uses the fade to black for sex scenes. But she is that good, THAT GOOD, that you don't notice. The story is too perfect and emotional for you to give a care.
Colleen and Lucas's story broke my heart. Their respective upbringings were so different yet they were so perfect for each other. Colleen had never really had to work in getting noticed but 'the dark prince' as she calls Lucas, changed her world, made her notice HIM.
When he returns to Manningsport, his presence is engulfing and distressing and she finds herself right back where she was 10 years prior. And holy crap, Lucas sounds WOW!
Dark, gypsy hair, dark, soulful eyes that speak volumes, a voice evocative of dark chocolate....NEED I SAY MORE??
I think Lucas is KH's sexiest and most alluring male hero so far. All her hero's possess similar qualities: quiet intensity, a strong and determined presence and an unequivocal, heart stopping love for the heroine. Seriously, I love this author!
Her books also always have strong secondary back stories. It adds richness to a book, fleshing out the characters like nobody's business...GAH! Can't say enough! And her backdrop? Can I move my family to Manningsport? Endless acres of vineyards, forests and natural living, sigh.
And it's not just gorgeous storytelling, compelling backgrounds and emotional attachments in this book. It was freaking hilarious! Several scenes had me gasping for air because I was laughing so hard, wheezing with the effort!!! Lovely, fantastic, incredible book, L-O-V-E-D I-T!!!! Highly recommended! Now I can't wait for Jack Hollands story and Jessica Dunns story!!!!, the next books in this wonderful series!
May 6, 2014
I love the way Kristan Higgins writes. Her writing offers more style, flair, wit and warmth than pretty much any other contemporary romance author out there. (Speaking of which, prospective readers should know that she focuses so heavily on the characters' friends, relatives and various subplots that many have always considered KH's work 'chick lit'/woman's-centric fiction rather than actual romance anyway.) The fact that I love the way this author writes helps explain why I continue to try her books despite often not liking *what* she writes.
The Blue Heron series has proven sadly disappointing for me so far, and this book may have been my least favorite of the three. I took an unusually strong and immediate dislike to the 'heroine', Colleen. One very common criticism of KH's other books is that so many of her heroines are pitifully insecure, spineless doormats who are cringe-inducingly desperate in their pursuit of the hero. This heroine felt almost like a deliberate response to that criticism, but it it took us so far to the other, more unpleasant extreme that I found myself yearning for the doormat-y heroines of her other novels! Colleen is 'sassy', gorgeous and ever so sexy. We know this because she reminds herself and the readers of this many, many, MANY times. Everyone worships Colleen (for reasons that never became quite clear to this reader, by the way!), and no one more than Colleen herself, who has to be among the more arrogant heroines I've ever come across. Harper, the heroine of KH's My One and Only, was also a physically beautiful character and not immediately 'likable', but she had a lovely arc during which she developed into a better person, By contrast, Colleen thinks she's ridiculously awesome from the start, and nothing and no one ever compels her to call that into question. She doesn't grow, she doesn't change...she just stays really annoying and laughably conceited in a way that I think is supposed to pass for 'admirable confidence' but crosses the line. She's also, as other reviewers have noted, a total 'player,' a trait I like in neither my heroines nor my heroes.
Oh yeah, speaking of heroes...Lucas is an okay but thoroughly unmemorable man who married someone he impregnated because he's just that much of a 'good guy,' though apparently not too good a guy to gush all over Colleen while he's still married. He wants Colleen, of course---what male on this planet doesn't?!---but I found myself wishing he'd travel back to where he came from and find someone else. At one point towards the end he just sort of throws up his hands and gives up on Colleen entirely, which I found unintentionally amusing but which probably won't sit well with people who like their heroes to ardently pursue their heroines without ever wavering :)
Even when my overall reaction is disappointment, I nearly always find at least *something* to love about KH's books: either the heroine or the hero, some of the familial relationships and friendships, a few of the minor characters, or at least the humor. In this instance, while the writing itself was typically strong, I just didn't connect with the characters or their world. Hope springs eternal, though, so I'm trying to muster some optimism that I'll enjoy KH's next novel as much as I did some of her earlier ones!
The Blue Heron series has proven sadly disappointing for me so far, and this book may have been my least favorite of the three. I took an unusually strong and immediate dislike to the 'heroine', Colleen. One very common criticism of KH's other books is that so many of her heroines are pitifully insecure, spineless doormats who are cringe-inducingly desperate in their pursuit of the hero. This heroine felt almost like a deliberate response to that criticism, but it it took us so far to the other, more unpleasant extreme that I found myself yearning for the doormat-y heroines of her other novels! Colleen is 'sassy', gorgeous and ever so sexy. We know this because she reminds herself and the readers of this many, many, MANY times. Everyone worships Colleen (for reasons that never became quite clear to this reader, by the way!), and no one more than Colleen herself, who has to be among the more arrogant heroines I've ever come across. Harper, the heroine of KH's My One and Only, was also a physically beautiful character and not immediately 'likable', but she had a lovely arc during which she developed into a better person, By contrast, Colleen thinks she's ridiculously awesome from the start, and nothing and no one ever compels her to call that into question. She doesn't grow, she doesn't change...she just stays really annoying and laughably conceited in a way that I think is supposed to pass for 'admirable confidence' but crosses the line. She's also, as other reviewers have noted, a total 'player,' a trait I like in neither my heroines nor my heroes.
Oh yeah, speaking of heroes...Lucas is an okay but thoroughly unmemorable man who married someone he impregnated because he's just that much of a 'good guy,' though apparently not too good a guy to gush all over Colleen while he's still married. He wants Colleen, of course---what male on this planet doesn't?!---but I found myself wishing he'd travel back to where he came from and find someone else. At one point towards the end he just sort of throws up his hands and gives up on Colleen entirely, which I found unintentionally amusing but which probably won't sit well with people who like their heroes to ardently pursue their heroines without ever wavering :)
Even when my overall reaction is disappointment, I nearly always find at least *something* to love about KH's books: either the heroine or the hero, some of the familial relationships and friendships, a few of the minor characters, or at least the humor. In this instance, while the writing itself was typically strong, I just didn't connect with the characters or their world. Hope springs eternal, though, so I'm trying to muster some optimism that I'll enjoy KH's next novel as much as I did some of her earlier ones!
November 2, 2024
Hero Marie’s another woman after getting her pregnant not even one month after him and the heroine broke up, he was with the heroine four years and he told her he didn’t want to marry her yet, but he married ow two months later. He stayed married to her after she miscarried, said he loved her. His wife asked for divorce after six years either he would have stayed married and made a family with her. He didn’t go willingly to the heroine, but three years later he had to go back to the town where she lived because his uncle was dying. I never felt like he loved her, I felt he loved his wife much more, he would have never gone back with her other wise, so what’s the point of this book? He never said ily to the heroine in four years together. The heroine never moved on, only had some flings and ONS, I found her pathetic. I can’t stand when these women who have been abused and discarded as yesterday garbage stay frozen and in love with these same man who treated like shit. Well, if a woman don’t keep herself in high value and doesn’t respect herself enough to be able to get free of the feelings she had for a man who’s clearly unworthy and who treated her like shit, she deserves to be treated like shit. Anyway, I never felt that the hero loved her, never. He only felt a connection, a pull, nothing more. It was cold, unfeeling and I felt second hand embarrassment for her. A lot of side characters that were too stereotypical to be true. Bryce the cousin who looks like he’s mentally retarded, Paulie the friend who is not attractive and is clumpy and smells and is in love with Bryce forever, uncle Joe, the good one, the heroines father, a selfish manwhore, her mother, a silly woman unable to move on after her husband left her for a younger model, Gail the tail, the blonde bimbo her father married, and so on. It looks like too many and too mono dimensional to be true. And the heroine who should be feisty and a flirt but she’s a pathetic woman who can’t fall in love with anyone after her useless boyfriend of four years dumped her sorry ass. And the hero, who should be brooding but he’s only boring and grumpy. God save from those, life is hard enough without a brooding negative man beside you. Oh and nothing was ever solved. He didn’t even think about her that much after he married ow, which is quite bizarre because you know, even if you had your heart broken, and you’ve been hurt, if you’re in love shutting the person you love in one month time is basically impossible, but that’s exactly what he did. What was it, Guinness record or maybe he never loved her in the first place.
Disappointing as hell.
Disappointing as hell.
April 2, 2014
Originally posted at The Book Nympho
The Matchmaker gets matched!
The set up
Colleen O'Rourke has a breezy personality with a witty, flirty retort for everybody. But underneath that generous heart is a serious bruise, created when the love of her life, Lucas Campbell, the only man she's ever loved, left her 14 years ago. Now he's back in town for a brief stay and he still takes her breath away.
The issues
No one understood why Lucas left Colleen so abruptly, including her. He had his reasons but they had nothing to do with him not still loving her. Though she's Googled him a little bit, Colleen really doesn't know what's happened in his life the last few years. He definitely hasn't a clue about her life but Lucas was a bit unprepared to face his unresolved feelings about her either.
What I loved about this story
Everything. No, seriously, everything. There's not a perfect person in it and most are pretty likable. I laughed my butt off, cried a lot, got angry occasionally and had a few "aww" moments.
I loved Colleen whose mission in life is to see everyone matched with their soulmate and she's got quite the track record to back up her success. No matter how many times life punched her, she persevered and came back with her head held high. Lucas drove me nuts on occasion but he's a really great guy despite his harsh upbringing. Those important in their lives play substantive roles in the story and are completely fleshed out.
The bottom line
I loved these two characters and their messy lives and romance. Lucas is über sexy and Colleen is just the dream heroine but is definitely no angel. There's a surprise punch near the end but I was prepared for it and it just made the story richer. This is will always be one of my favorites as I couldn't get enough of these two and the crazy people around them.
(I received an ARC from NetGalley)
The Matchmaker gets matched!
The set up
Colleen O'Rourke has a breezy personality with a witty, flirty retort for everybody. But underneath that generous heart is a serious bruise, created when the love of her life, Lucas Campbell, the only man she's ever loved, left her 14 years ago. Now he's back in town for a brief stay and he still takes her breath away.
The issues
No one understood why Lucas left Colleen so abruptly, including her. He had his reasons but they had nothing to do with him not still loving her. Though she's Googled him a little bit, Colleen really doesn't know what's happened in his life the last few years. He definitely hasn't a clue about her life but Lucas was a bit unprepared to face his unresolved feelings about her either.
What I loved about this story
Everything. No, seriously, everything. There's not a perfect person in it and most are pretty likable. I laughed my butt off, cried a lot, got angry occasionally and had a few "aww" moments.
I loved Colleen whose mission in life is to see everyone matched with their soulmate and she's got quite the track record to back up her success. No matter how many times life punched her, she persevered and came back with her head held high. Lucas drove me nuts on occasion but he's a really great guy despite his harsh upbringing. Those important in their lives play substantive roles in the story and are completely fleshed out.
The bottom line
I loved these two characters and their messy lives and romance. Lucas is über sexy and Colleen is just the dream heroine but is definitely no angel. There's a surprise punch near the end but I was prepared for it and it just made the story richer. This is will always be one of my favorites as I couldn't get enough of these two and the crazy people around them.
(I received an ARC from NetGalley)
June 25, 2016
4,75 porque me ha hecho pasar tannnnnnn buen rato, me he reído tanto y también me ha tocado el corazoncito.
Me encantan Colleen y Lucas.
Me he reído lo que no está escrito. La verdad es que me ha encantado porque tiene unos momentos de risa que bueno, bueno... y a la vez tiene su punto profundo que me ha hecho querer mucho a Lucas y también a Colleen.
Todos los personajes te sacan una carcajada en algún momento.
Me lo estoy pasando pipa con esta serie y me han gustado todos perooooo, de momento, este el que más.
Olga gracias por acompañarme con esta serie porque lo estamos pasando tan bien que esto no se nos olvida, estas risas siempre merecen la pena.
Me encantan Colleen y Lucas.
Me he reído lo que no está escrito. La verdad es que me ha encantado porque tiene unos momentos de risa que bueno, bueno... y a la vez tiene su punto profundo que me ha hecho querer mucho a Lucas y también a Colleen.
Todos los personajes te sacan una carcajada en algún momento.
Me lo estoy pasando pipa con esta serie y me han gustado todos perooooo, de momento, este el que más.
Olga gracias por acompañarme con esta serie porque lo estamos pasando tan bien que esto no se nos olvida, estas risas siempre merecen la pena.
February 22, 2017
Como todos lo de esta saga, es un libro para reir ( mucho, muchisimo), sonreir e incluso tener un momento de reflexion sobre la vida de los personajes... Es el libro que mas me he reido por las ocurrencias de la madre (y demas menopausicas), las situaciones de intentar hacer de casamentera y los pensamientos de Colleen.... Leer libros asi da gusto, te deja con una sonrisa en la cara para todo el dia y eso se agradece mucho.... Seguire esta saga con ganas renovadas cuando saquen los siguientes libros ( le tengo ganas al gemelo y a Jack)....
June 27, 2016
I am really enjoying Kristan Higgins writing and this Blue Heron series is fantastic. But I am in a bit of a reviewing funk and can't seem to pull my head out of my ...... Well you get the picture right.
I've already moved on to book #4 but wanted to let you all know this one got thumbs up from me. :)
January 26, 2016
A brilliant read for any romantic soul who enjoys a bit of a laugh and a bit of a cry too. This series just gets better and better and the characters continue to tug at your heart strings... even the damn 6ft dog!
Waiting On You tells Colleen's story (although how exactly she is part of The Blue Heron is unclear. She is obviously linked to the youngest daughter, Faith, having been her best friend since school... and it is this acquaintance which has somehow sufficed). Colleen is like a modern day version of Jane Austen's Emma: the greatly loved matchmaker who is both charitable and naive yet greatly admired by everyone. She seems to be happiest when living her life for everyone else's purpose. She owns a bar mostly for the sake of her twin brother, she is a registered nurse mostly so that she can look after her ailing grandfather, she is an incorrigible flirt mostly to inflate the egos of unwanted men, and she is the baseball talent that is ready to switch teams for the good of everyone.
She has been in love with Lucas Campbell since she first saw him in high school. He is often compared to Bronte's Heathcliffe and seems to be his physical reincarnation in many ways. Young pride and tricky situations test their loyalties and their trust and they are ultimately torn apart. Ten years later, Lucas come back to pay his respects to his dying uncle, a spiritual benefactor of sorts, and see to his dying wishes.
The book is filled with characters who reminded me of some great classics, (however I'm not sure if this was Higgins' intention, nevertheless I loved them all so hear me out...)
Apart from the obvious parallels to Emma, there seems to be an odd and hilarious cluster of Ms Havishams who, after having been left heartbroken by the men in their lives, are all eager to encourage sexual manipulation (or exploitation) at every turn. And Lucas' time in Chicago is reminiscent of Dicken's Pip ( from Great Exoectations) who climbs the social ladder on his own merits but who nevertheless feels like an outsider, always looking in, and forever ashamed of his roots. Lucas' ridiculously sexy but childish cousin, Bryce, offers much comic relief but is ultimately as tragic as Peter Pan... the boy who never wants to grow up.
There are some positive messages about body image and the benefits if allowing yourself to age gracefully, and some poignant reminders about the power of reputation, and the helplessness of those who do not help themselves.
Most importantly, this is a story about falling in love with your soul mate even when time and reason tell you to run the other way. It's about two people who belong to each other more than they belong to anybody else... two people who only ever feel they're being true to themselves when they are together.
Waiting On You tells Colleen's story (although how exactly she is part of The Blue Heron is unclear. She is obviously linked to the youngest daughter, Faith, having been her best friend since school... and it is this acquaintance which has somehow sufficed). Colleen is like a modern day version of Jane Austen's Emma: the greatly loved matchmaker who is both charitable and naive yet greatly admired by everyone. She seems to be happiest when living her life for everyone else's purpose. She owns a bar mostly for the sake of her twin brother, she is a registered nurse mostly so that she can look after her ailing grandfather, she is an incorrigible flirt mostly to inflate the egos of unwanted men, and she is the baseball talent that is ready to switch teams for the good of everyone.
She has been in love with Lucas Campbell since she first saw him in high school. He is often compared to Bronte's Heathcliffe and seems to be his physical reincarnation in many ways. Young pride and tricky situations test their loyalties and their trust and they are ultimately torn apart. Ten years later, Lucas come back to pay his respects to his dying uncle, a spiritual benefactor of sorts, and see to his dying wishes.
The book is filled with characters who reminded me of some great classics, (however I'm not sure if this was Higgins' intention, nevertheless I loved them all so hear me out...)
Apart from the obvious parallels to Emma, there seems to be an odd and hilarious cluster of Ms Havishams who, after having been left heartbroken by the men in their lives, are all eager to encourage sexual manipulation (or exploitation) at every turn. And Lucas' time in Chicago is reminiscent of Dicken's Pip ( from Great Exoectations) who climbs the social ladder on his own merits but who nevertheless feels like an outsider, always looking in, and forever ashamed of his roots. Lucas' ridiculously sexy but childish cousin, Bryce, offers much comic relief but is ultimately as tragic as Peter Pan... the boy who never wants to grow up.
There are some positive messages about body image and the benefits if allowing yourself to age gracefully, and some poignant reminders about the power of reputation, and the helplessness of those who do not help themselves.
Most importantly, this is a story about falling in love with your soul mate even when time and reason tell you to run the other way. It's about two people who belong to each other more than they belong to anybody else... two people who only ever feel they're being true to themselves when they are together.
December 18, 2014
This was my first book by this author. I was pleasantly surprised to like her work. I found her characters interesting, their issues realistic without being drama rama ridiculous. I liked them I found it easy to connect with them and wanted them to succeed.
Two children from broken families, fall in love and crash in disaster. His mother died and his father was sent to prison. He is sent to live with his uncle and his wife who makes sure he feels unwelcome. She has a father who cheated and left her and her twin alone with their broken hearted mother to raise another family. There are some serious issues that need to be resolved.
Two high school sweethearts break up after a dramatic event is kept from her. She is understandably upset things are said that put their futures on different paths. He heads off the college where he she stays in her town waiting till loneliness drives her to try living. An unexpected surprise take them farther from each other, all hope finally gone. Then an illness brings him back to town where they are forced to reunite and finally hash out what should have been discussed 10 years earlier. The side characters are fantastic with all their quirky problems. Rufus, steals the spot light every scene he's in. It gets, ugly, funny, sad, angry, sigh worthy and intense.
I already reserved more books from her
Two children from broken families, fall in love and crash in disaster. His mother died and his father was sent to prison. He is sent to live with his uncle and his wife who makes sure he feels unwelcome. She has a father who cheated and left her and her twin alone with their broken hearted mother to raise another family. There are some serious issues that need to be resolved.
Two high school sweethearts break up after a dramatic event is kept from her. She is understandably upset things are said that put their futures on different paths. He heads off the college where he she stays in her town waiting till loneliness drives her to try living. An unexpected surprise take them farther from each other, all hope finally gone. Then an illness brings him back to town where they are forced to reunite and finally hash out what should have been discussed 10 years earlier. The side characters are fantastic with all their quirky problems. Rufus, steals the spot light every scene he's in. It gets, ugly, funny, sad, angry, sigh worthy and intense.
I already reserved more books from her
April 1, 2020
This is a second chance romance for HS sweethearts Lucas and Colleen. It is OK; I finished it, but can’t say I enjoyed reading it. The book is 457 pages, so the author had plenty of time to set up the characters, tell us their stories, and provide some character growth. The problem was none of that really happened.
Setting aside that I thought Luke was a wimp, and the romance not believable. I had two issues with the book. First, I felt like the author tried way too hard to make this funny, and the characters likeable that she forgot they are adults. There were several random scenes and convo’s with characters acting childish that served only as fluff, and added nothing to the overall plot. I just wanted some authentic feelings without all the shtick. Secondly, the book didn’t feel organized to me; it was all over the place. It bounces around between past and present (with no indicators) between multiple secondary characters and subplots that only congested the story.
There was all this other stuff going on ( Bryce & Paulie, Team Menopause etc.) but there was little focus on Colleen and Lucas working through their issues. Did they have one serious conversation? Everything was smiles, and jokes, fainting, and avoidance, but nothing was really resolved. For example, the scene where Ellen shows up at L's apartment, and Colleen expresses genuine emotion about being hurt and confused and why the hell Lucas didn't return if he loved her (Yes, I would LOVE to know that answer) is brushed off laughing at Lucas's "pulling a Romeo" and those issues are never addressed again. The majority of info we received on how the MC’s were feeling, was provided by inner dialogue not conversations with each other.
I can’t say I’d recommend reading this one; I definitely wouldn’t recommend spending $6 on it. (I borrowed the eBook from the library) I won’t be continuing the series I don’t think I’m a match for the author.
Setting aside that I thought Luke was a wimp, and the romance not believable. I had two issues with the book. First, I felt like the author tried way too hard to make this funny, and the characters likeable that she forgot they are adults. There were several random scenes and convo’s with characters acting childish that served only as fluff, and added nothing to the overall plot. I just wanted some authentic feelings without all the shtick. Secondly, the book didn’t feel organized to me; it was all over the place. It bounces around between past and present (with no indicators) between multiple secondary characters and subplots that only congested the story.
There was all this other stuff going on ( Bryce & Paulie, Team Menopause etc.) but there was little focus on Colleen and Lucas working through their issues. Did they have one serious conversation? Everything was smiles, and jokes, fainting, and avoidance, but nothing was really resolved. For example, the scene where Ellen shows up at L's apartment, and Colleen expresses genuine emotion about being hurt and confused and why the hell Lucas didn't return if he loved her (Yes, I would LOVE to know that answer) is brushed off laughing at Lucas's "pulling a Romeo" and those issues are never addressed again. The majority of info we received on how the MC’s were feeling, was provided by inner dialogue not conversations with each other.
I can’t say I’d recommend reading this one; I definitely wouldn’t recommend spending $6 on it. (I borrowed the eBook from the library) I won’t be continuing the series I don’t think I’m a match for the author.
September 20, 2014
Is it just me, or are Kristan Higgins' heroines growing more and more abject as time goes on? Colleen O'Rourke is the town "glue" girl of Manningsport, NY, the one who knows everyone, is friends with everyone, and spends much of her time matchmaking while she works in the restaurant/bar she co-owns with her twin brother. Ten years ago, her boyfriend of four years abruptly told her he was marrying another woman, and she's never had a serious relationship since. Of course, when now-divorced Lucas comes back to town to help out his dying uncle, the sparks fly again.
I really, really dislike stories where the protagonist protests and protests and protests to the person she's attracted to, while simultaneously caving to said attraction. And I really dislike scenes (like the one where culinarily-challenged Colleen is attempting to create a meal for Lucas before they have sex again for the first time) that feel more like an episode of I LOVE LUCY or LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY, scenes that set us up to laugh AT our protagonist for how stupid/foolish/incompetent she is rather than laugh WITH her. Throw in some "girls are this way, men are that way" sexist lines, some borderline culturally insensitive cuteness (Colleen's nickname for the half Puerto-Rican Lucas is "Spaniard"), not one but TWO stereotypically horrific gold-digging secondary female characters, and a frustratingly annoying black moment (where Lucas ends up judging Colleen for a one-night stand she had while he was MARRIED TO ANOTHER WOMAN!), and you have a book that I'm really regretting I bought.
Makes me wonder if Higgins's success has made her feel like she has to belittle herself (via her female characters) in order to have people keep liking her :-(
Want to go back now and re-read ONE OF THE BOYS or THE NEXT BEST THING, to get the bad taste of this one out of my head...
I really, really dislike stories where the protagonist protests and protests and protests to the person she's attracted to, while simultaneously caving to said attraction. And I really dislike scenes (like the one where culinarily-challenged Colleen is attempting to create a meal for Lucas before they have sex again for the first time) that feel more like an episode of I LOVE LUCY or LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY, scenes that set us up to laugh AT our protagonist for how stupid/foolish/incompetent she is rather than laugh WITH her. Throw in some "girls are this way, men are that way" sexist lines, some borderline culturally insensitive cuteness (Colleen's nickname for the half Puerto-Rican Lucas is "Spaniard"), not one but TWO stereotypically horrific gold-digging secondary female characters, and a frustratingly annoying black moment (where Lucas ends up judging Colleen for a one-night stand she had while he was MARRIED TO ANOTHER WOMAN!), and you have a book that I'm really regretting I bought.
Makes me wonder if Higgins's success has made her feel like she has to belittle herself (via her female characters) in order to have people keep liking her :-(
Want to go back now and re-read ONE OF THE BOYS or THE NEXT BEST THING, to get the bad taste of this one out of my head...
October 7, 2018
Colleen the doormat. Always there and willing to let you trample all over her. Always the afterthought, never first in anyone's life. That man of hers was an inconsiderate schmuck. Never willing to make any kind of sacrifice or life adjustment for her sake.
Simply assuming all is forgiven when he steps out of line. But hey, she never told him any different.
I also felt the twins' relationship was not very well portrayed. I never felt like she had the close emotional support of a twin brother, he seemed two dimensional and caricature like.
Colleens matchmaking seemed unrealistically successful and way too heavy handed. I did love her little sister. She seemed sweet.
But the father storyline was painful to watch, seeing Colleen with her tail between her legs squirming after and accepting less from two men concurrently was a lot to take.
I just wanted her to take a trip out of that small town, to have her explore the wider world. Learn some inner strength and all that jazz. Teach her how people who actually care about you treat you.
Overall an entertaining book with some amusing bits that could have been greatly improved by some adjustments to the characters behavior during certain of the situations that cropped up.
As it was it was way too frustrating for the reader.
Simply assuming all is forgiven when he steps out of line. But hey, she never told him any different.
I also felt the twins' relationship was not very well portrayed. I never felt like she had the close emotional support of a twin brother, he seemed two dimensional and caricature like.
Colleens matchmaking seemed unrealistically successful and way too heavy handed. I did love her little sister. She seemed sweet.
But the father storyline was painful to watch, seeing Colleen with her tail between her legs squirming after and accepting less from two men concurrently was a lot to take.
I just wanted her to take a trip out of that small town, to have her explore the wider world. Learn some inner strength and all that jazz. Teach her how people who actually care about you treat you.
Overall an entertaining book with some amusing bits that could have been greatly improved by some adjustments to the characters behavior during certain of the situations that cropped up.
As it was it was way too frustrating for the reader.
October 7, 2018
Another good edition to the Blue Heron series. There were times I chuckled out loud, and the crazy townies made for an entertaining read.
This would have been a full hearted 5 stars, but I was turned off by the heroine, Colleen. She was locked in her past and could never work through some critically important issues. Instead of standing up for herself, she became a doormat. I kept waiting for her to grow a spine.
The hero made sacrifices for everyone, but the heroine. She mattered, but only when it was convenient for him. All he had to do was crook his finger, and she came running. It was especially hard to watch her take on the role of "waitress" at his uncle's viewing while his ex, and her parents, got the royal treatment. Really who would do that?
I see a life of second best for her.
This would have been a full hearted 5 stars, but I was turned off by the heroine, Colleen. She was locked in her past and could never work through some critically important issues. Instead of standing up for herself, she became a doormat. I kept waiting for her to grow a spine.
The hero made sacrifices for everyone, but the heroine. She mattered, but only when it was convenient for him. All he had to do was crook his finger, and she came running. It was especially hard to watch her take on the role of "waitress" at his uncle's viewing while his ex, and her parents, got the royal treatment. Really who would do that?
I see a life of second best for her.
April 3, 2014
Kristan Higgins, where have you been been all my li-i-i-ife?
I loved this book and I can't wait to start on her entire catalogue. I haven't read chick-lit this good since I finished all of Susan Elizabeth Phillips's books.
I loved this book and I can't wait to start on her entire catalogue. I haven't read chick-lit this good since I finished all of Susan Elizabeth Phillips's books.
June 17, 2019
Una nueva entrega de esta serie de Kristan Higgins y más de lo mismo: enganche total, una voz narradora que (en mi opinión) mejora algo la de entregas anteriores y una historia dulce aunque algo anticuada. Seguiré leyéndola, claro... ojalá supiera cómo parar.
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February 21, 2015
02/21/2015 --
I had tears at the end of this one. This is my third book by this author and I know the formula she uses to write her stories, but it works for me. She has a good, solid story. She creates really believable, likeable [for the most part] characters. Not a ton of angst, but enough to make the love worth the effort. People who know that love ain't easy, but with the right person, it is so worth it. What's not to love?
Bryce in this one was a bit much. A 31 year old man who acted like a 12 year old was a bit much for me, but he did redeem himself in the end -- so I was okay. If he hadn't, my rating would have been lower.
I LOVED Colleen. She was kick ass. Although I understood Lucas, I'm not sure I agreed with how he handled things. Guess it wasn't my story to tell. Right?
Happy Reading!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Overall Rating = 4 Stars
Book Cover / Book Blurb / Book Title = 3 / 3 / 4 = 3.5 Stars
Writer’s Voice = 4 Stars
Character / Secondary Character Development = 4 / 4 = 4 Stars
“Did I like” Hero / Heroine = 4 / 5 = 4.5 Stars
Story / Background Story Development = 4 / 4.5 = 4 Stars
“Did I like the Damned Thing” = 4 Stars
Ending = 4.5 Stars
Worth the Chili = 3 Stars -- [$4.99 on Amazon]
Smexy [HEAT] Rating = Very Mild
461 pages
First sentence: "Drinks are on the house!" A cheer went up from the gang, not just because Colleen O'Rourke -- the bartender and half owner of the best (and only) bar in town -- had just offered free booze, but because Brandy Morrison and Ted Standish had just gotten engaged.
I had tears at the end of this one. This is my third book by this author and I know the formula she uses to write her stories, but it works for me. She has a good, solid story. She creates really believable, likeable [for the most part] characters. Not a ton of angst, but enough to make the love worth the effort. People who know that love ain't easy, but with the right person, it is so worth it. What's not to love?
Bryce in this one was a bit much. A 31 year old man who acted like a 12 year old was a bit much for me, but he did redeem himself in the end -- so I was okay. If he hadn't, my rating would have been lower.
I LOVED Colleen. She was kick ass. Although I understood Lucas, I'm not sure I agreed with how he handled things. Guess it wasn't my story to tell. Right?
Happy Reading!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Overall Rating = 4 Stars
Book Cover / Book Blurb / Book Title = 3 / 3 / 4 = 3.5 Stars
Writer’s Voice = 4 Stars
Character / Secondary Character Development = 4 / 4 = 4 Stars
“Did I like” Hero / Heroine = 4 / 5 = 4.5 Stars
Story / Background Story Development = 4 / 4.5 = 4 Stars
“Did I like the Damned Thing” = 4 Stars
Ending = 4.5 Stars
Worth the Chili = 3 Stars -- [$4.99 on Amazon]
Smexy [HEAT] Rating = Very Mild
461 pages
First sentence: "Drinks are on the house!" A cheer went up from the gang, not just because Colleen O'Rourke -- the bartender and half owner of the best (and only) bar in town -- had just offered free booze, but because Brandy Morrison and Ted Standish had just gotten engaged.
November 14, 2015
Wow!.....Very emotional story which had extremely sad parts that really got to me as it brought back some very sad memories - I am just thankful that I was home and in private when reading it.
As a norm I prefer a lot more steam in my romance but will forgive that if the story is good and I like the authors style. This is the second KH story I've read and I am looking forward to reading more ☺
As a norm I prefer a lot more steam in my romance but will forgive that if the story is good and I like the authors style. This is the second KH story I've read and I am looking forward to reading more ☺
February 22, 2017
Una persona de cuyo criterio me fío me recomendó a esta autora. Al mirar entre los libros que había publicado, me di cuenta de que hacía tiempo había leído otro suyo, Tirando del anzuelo, y me dejó algo fría. Escogí Te esperaré solo a ti un poco al azar. La verdad es que los títulos me parecen poco atractivos, y las cubiertas, ni te cuento. En fin: historia romántica de personajes un poco planos (para mi gusto), escritura ágil y agradable de leer, pero poco más.
August 6, 2016
Colleen is a sweetheart, caring and cool and lively, the apparent heart of her small town. But she's also guarded, burned by a couple of betrayals (her Dad, and her one and only love) so that she's breezy. She's a matchmaker and a cornball and prone to physical comedy and gentle brush-offs.
And what Kristan Higgins did to her in this story was really, really bad.
She made her pathetic, in my opinion, though I know MANY READERS will disagree with me. Colleen's still in love with her high school sweetheart even though she's thirty-one, a successful business woman, beautiful, charming, and the guy married someone else ten years before. One month after she broke up with him for not being ready to marry her after college. This does not a romance make, in my eyes, but I can see some readers totally love that she's "waiting on" Lucas.
We see what a good guy Lucas is to his uncle, to his cousin, to his sisters, his ex-wife, and his ex-father-in-law. Also to the local fire department, police department and EMS crew and a local family that needs a deluxe chicken coop.
But to Colleen? Not so nice. .
As a result of so much happening in backstory, we get a lot of...backstory. Both summaries and flashbacks, to the degree that I was yawning away by page 150. This story is an excellent example of how backstory can weigh down a book, and it's all so painful because their love story was a disaster, and his early life is a tragic mess and she's still reeling from her parents' divorce and--yuck. I just wanted everyone to move on and for a Buffalo Bills football player to come into the bar and sweep Colleen away. That would have been a fun story.
This? More like therapy. Resolving all the past and current hurts and losses.
Of course Higgins makes it light and, you know, breezy. I couldn't not finish it, that would be like leaving three handfuls of popcorn in a bowl and who does that? But I was aggravated. After a pretty fluffy first book in this seriesThe Best Man, I love love loved the last one, The Perfect Match. I though Honor was a very convincing spinster, Tom was a brawler who--yes--was a jerk at times but never dishonored :) her and came around when it counted.
Also, as opposed to some hot encounters between Honor and Tom, there's no sex in this book. This means a shift for Higgins from "romance" to "mainstream" and "women's fiction" with this book, and while that's lovely for getting a broad beach read audience, it takes away the one automatic way for there to be emotional intimacy too. Colleen and Lucas barely talk to each other, never mind light up the sheets. I do believe they love each other but it's dysfunctional, tortured and so obviously mirrors Colleen's parents' mess of a marriage that I didn't enjoy the book.
No fantasy. No escape. No hotness. No falling in love. Just dealing with unfinished business, which at the last possible moment includes his declaration and her forgiveness. Extremely anticlimactic.
As Higgins would say, "Le sigh."
And not in a good way.
Yes, of course, I'll read the next one. What goes down, must come up.
And what Kristan Higgins did to her in this story was really, really bad.
She made her pathetic, in my opinion, though I know MANY READERS will disagree with me. Colleen's still in love with her high school sweetheart even though she's thirty-one, a successful business woman, beautiful, charming, and the guy married someone else ten years before. One month after she broke up with him for not being ready to marry her after college. This does not a romance make, in my eyes, but I can see some readers totally love that she's "waiting on" Lucas.
We see what a good guy Lucas is to his uncle, to his cousin, to his sisters, his ex-wife, and his ex-father-in-law. Also to the local fire department, police department and EMS crew and a local family that needs a deluxe chicken coop.
But to Colleen? Not so nice. .
As a result of so much happening in backstory, we get a lot of...backstory. Both summaries and flashbacks, to the degree that I was yawning away by page 150. This story is an excellent example of how backstory can weigh down a book, and it's all so painful because their love story was a disaster, and his early life is a tragic mess and she's still reeling from her parents' divorce and--yuck. I just wanted everyone to move on and for a Buffalo Bills football player to come into the bar and sweep Colleen away. That would have been a fun story.
This? More like therapy. Resolving all the past and current hurts and losses.
Of course Higgins makes it light and, you know, breezy. I couldn't not finish it, that would be like leaving three handfuls of popcorn in a bowl and who does that? But I was aggravated. After a pretty fluffy first book in this seriesThe Best Man, I love love loved the last one, The Perfect Match. I though Honor was a very convincing spinster, Tom was a brawler who--yes--was a jerk at times but never dishonored :) her and came around when it counted.
Also, as opposed to some hot encounters between Honor and Tom, there's no sex in this book. This means a shift for Higgins from "romance" to "mainstream" and "women's fiction" with this book, and while that's lovely for getting a broad beach read audience, it takes away the one automatic way for there to be emotional intimacy too. Colleen and Lucas barely talk to each other, never mind light up the sheets. I do believe they love each other but it's dysfunctional, tortured and so obviously mirrors Colleen's parents' mess of a marriage that I didn't enjoy the book.
No fantasy. No escape. No hotness. No falling in love. Just dealing with unfinished business, which at the last possible moment includes his declaration and her forgiveness. Extremely anticlimactic.
As Higgins would say, "Le sigh."
And not in a good way.
Yes, of course, I'll read the next one. What goes down, must come up.
March 18, 2014
Colleen O’Rourke loves fixing up the people in her hometown of Manningsport. She owns the local bar with her twin brother Connor and can be found behind it mixing drinks and dispensing advice to her customers. She’s quick to spot a potential couple and move to make it happen. There are a plethora of little Colleens in Manningsport, named for her by grateful parents. There’s even a Colin and a Cole, the birth of a male baby not deterring some from honouring Colleen for her contribution.
But the one person that Colleen has never secured romantic bliss for is herself. She’s been (mostly) happily single, unable to commit but willing to have fun with the odd man that crosses her path. Ten years ago her first and only love, Lucas Campbell broke her heart. And Colleen hasn’t been willing to get involved with anyone else after that. Colleen prefers harmless flirting with everyone from eighteen to eighty. It keeps her heart protected.
But now a family situation has bought Lucas Campbell back to Manningsport. He’s still as attractive and charismatic as ever and it seems that Colleen is as unable to resist as she was ten years ago. But Colleen has made her home in Manningsport and Lucas is only here temporarily. Colleen can’t afford to let her defenses down around this man again – he almost destroyed her last time and she knows the sort of happiness she could find with him. Does she take the risk again with him, even if just for a little while? Or does she turn her back on a second chance at love?
Waiting On You is the third installment in Kristan Higgins’s Blue Heron series – the first two books revolved around sisters Faith and Honor Holland. I absolutely adored the first book, The Best Man. Levi and Faith had an amazing chemistry and the setting was so enjoyable and Faith’s crazy family were a big part of the book’s charm. I was less into the second book, The Perfect Match – I loved the setting and characters still but I didn’t really get the romance as much as I did in the first novel. The hero didn’t carry it off for me but I still enjoy the series enough to be really excited about this one. For the first time we leave the Holland family (although they do still appear) and focus on Colleen, a friend of Faith’s and Honor’s who has been a part of both of the previous books.
Colleen is fun and outgoing, able to charm pretty much anyone and she loves love. She loves fixing people up and gets satisfaction out of seeing people find happiness. Her job at the bar that she owns with her brother keeps her right in the middle of the social scene in their small town and she enjoys knowing everyone. However ten years ago, Colleen had her heart broken by her high school boyfriend and she’s never been able to forget about it. Add in some damage from the disintegration of her parents marriage and although Colleen loves getting others together, she’s firmly anti-commitment herself. And then Lucas Campbell strolls back into Manningsport…and her life.
I loved Colleen and Lucas’s background – I’m a bit of a sucker for the ‘teenage love story gets a second chance’ storyline and I think the misunderstandings and problems were serious enough to cause the events to happen the way they did, however I’d have liked a little more of Colleen and Lucas in the past to really get a stronger sense of their connection. There’s a few scenes but there could’ve been more, and I’d have like Lucas to be fleshed out a little bit better, perhaps with a flaw or two. In many ways he reads as too good to be true, how patient and tolerant he is of the way he has been treated by his aunt. He did make a pretty big mistake which led to a few small mistakes but most of the time Lucas feels a little lacking in dimension.
I think that more of the book could’ve been devoted to Colleen and Lucas and their prior relationship and their reconnecting. A lot of the book is taken up with Colleen attempting to matchmake Paulie, an acquaintance of hers from high school and although this is amusing, it could’ve been less invasive into the main plot. I was also a bit disappointed at the portrayal of Colleen’s stepmother. It lacks any kind of originality and taps right into the trophy wife trope – tight clothes, homewrecker, only slightly older than Colleen. I think Higgins attempts to give the character a bit of depth towards the end but it comes after so many pages of deriding her dress sense, her looks, her character, everything that it doesn’t work as well as it could have. Colleen idolised her father so she probably needed to justify his actions to herself by ridiculing her stepmother as much as she could and although she does have her eyes opened to her father, the resolution there seemed really clunky and rushed. That sort of relationship can’t be repaired in a paragraph or two.
Colleen and Lucas had some good interactions and their backstory was strong. Their current story could’ve been a bit stronger. What I did really enjoy (and I use that term loosely because it affected me in a hugely personal way) was Lucas’s relationship with his uncle Joe, who is on dialysis and dying of cancer. My grandfather died of kidney failure last year, so there were some things in this story that were similar and very hard to read for me but I think it was portrayed very well. I think grieving adult males are difficult to write but Higgins nailed it.
But the one person that Colleen has never secured romantic bliss for is herself. She’s been (mostly) happily single, unable to commit but willing to have fun with the odd man that crosses her path. Ten years ago her first and only love, Lucas Campbell broke her heart. And Colleen hasn’t been willing to get involved with anyone else after that. Colleen prefers harmless flirting with everyone from eighteen to eighty. It keeps her heart protected.
But now a family situation has bought Lucas Campbell back to Manningsport. He’s still as attractive and charismatic as ever and it seems that Colleen is as unable to resist as she was ten years ago. But Colleen has made her home in Manningsport and Lucas is only here temporarily. Colleen can’t afford to let her defenses down around this man again – he almost destroyed her last time and she knows the sort of happiness she could find with him. Does she take the risk again with him, even if just for a little while? Or does she turn her back on a second chance at love?
Waiting On You is the third installment in Kristan Higgins’s Blue Heron series – the first two books revolved around sisters Faith and Honor Holland. I absolutely adored the first book, The Best Man. Levi and Faith had an amazing chemistry and the setting was so enjoyable and Faith’s crazy family were a big part of the book’s charm. I was less into the second book, The Perfect Match – I loved the setting and characters still but I didn’t really get the romance as much as I did in the first novel. The hero didn’t carry it off for me but I still enjoy the series enough to be really excited about this one. For the first time we leave the Holland family (although they do still appear) and focus on Colleen, a friend of Faith’s and Honor’s who has been a part of both of the previous books.
Colleen is fun and outgoing, able to charm pretty much anyone and she loves love. She loves fixing people up and gets satisfaction out of seeing people find happiness. Her job at the bar that she owns with her brother keeps her right in the middle of the social scene in their small town and she enjoys knowing everyone. However ten years ago, Colleen had her heart broken by her high school boyfriend and she’s never been able to forget about it. Add in some damage from the disintegration of her parents marriage and although Colleen loves getting others together, she’s firmly anti-commitment herself. And then Lucas Campbell strolls back into Manningsport…and her life.
I loved Colleen and Lucas’s background – I’m a bit of a sucker for the ‘teenage love story gets a second chance’ storyline and I think the misunderstandings and problems were serious enough to cause the events to happen the way they did, however I’d have liked a little more of Colleen and Lucas in the past to really get a stronger sense of their connection. There’s a few scenes but there could’ve been more, and I’d have like Lucas to be fleshed out a little bit better, perhaps with a flaw or two. In many ways he reads as too good to be true, how patient and tolerant he is of the way he has been treated by his aunt. He did make a pretty big mistake which led to a few small mistakes but most of the time Lucas feels a little lacking in dimension.
I think that more of the book could’ve been devoted to Colleen and Lucas and their prior relationship and their reconnecting. A lot of the book is taken up with Colleen attempting to matchmake Paulie, an acquaintance of hers from high school and although this is amusing, it could’ve been less invasive into the main plot. I was also a bit disappointed at the portrayal of Colleen’s stepmother. It lacks any kind of originality and taps right into the trophy wife trope – tight clothes, homewrecker, only slightly older than Colleen. I think Higgins attempts to give the character a bit of depth towards the end but it comes after so many pages of deriding her dress sense, her looks, her character, everything that it doesn’t work as well as it could have. Colleen idolised her father so she probably needed to justify his actions to herself by ridiculing her stepmother as much as she could and although she does have her eyes opened to her father, the resolution there seemed really clunky and rushed. That sort of relationship can’t be repaired in a paragraph or two.
Colleen and Lucas had some good interactions and their backstory was strong. Their current story could’ve been a bit stronger. What I did really enjoy (and I use that term loosely because it affected me in a hugely personal way) was Lucas’s relationship with his uncle Joe, who is on dialysis and dying of cancer. My grandfather died of kidney failure last year, so there were some things in this story that were similar and very hard to read for me but I think it was portrayed very well. I think grieving adult males are difficult to write but Higgins nailed it.
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