Kristan Higgins

Anything For You

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by Kristan Higgins

Anything For You starts out with our hero’s (Connor) proposal to our heroine (Jessica) being turned down. The rest of the book traces their history together from their childhood to several months into the future. It runs roughly parallel to his twin sister Colleen’s romance told in the previous book, Waiting on You. Many friends and lovers from the series make important appearances, advancing the story, and allowing glimpses into how their lives and marriages are continuing. Thus it makes a very appropriate wrap up to her Blue Heron series. Anything For You also continues Higgins’ trend of incorporating more serious themes into her generally lighthearted and funny romances. In this one we learn that the mysterious Jessica, very much a background figure in a few of her books and known as the high school slut, is the loving caretaker and sister of Davey, rendered “intellectually disabled” by fetal alcohol syndrome. Dark indeed. But, as usual, Kristan handles this potentially depressing sub-plot in a manner that makes it anything but.
We are treated to some priceless scenes and funny quips throughout, Kristan’s hallmark.

In one, Jessica is forced to try stripping to afford Davey’s expensive meds. Connor shows up coincidentally and is set to pay up and go (“Time to head off before his old catechism teacher showed up.”) as Jessica makes her cringe-worthy and hilariously inept debut. After she is booed off the stage, he accosts her in her dressing room.

“So rhythm isn’t really your thing,” Connor said…and she jumped out of her chair like he’d tazed her. “Shit”…”What are you doing here?”…I’m a scout for Dancing with the Stars. Sorry we’ve had to rule you out.”…”I needed some extra money”. ..”Really? It’s not your dream to be a stripper?” “Shut up”…”So Jess,” Mrs. Adamson said, thundering down the hall. “You’re fired. Sorry, kid. Stripping’s not for everyone.” “You were quite good, though, Mrs. Adamson,” Connor said. He handed her a twenty. “Oh Connor O’Rourke! Look at you, all grown up!” Thanks sweetheart.” She pinched his cheek and took the cash.
There are scenes that make you want to cheer. 
Jessica’s alcoholic father (Keith Dunn) shows back up after many years wanting to make amends. Horrified, she apprehensively agrees to meet him, and without asking, her friends, the once hated Holland family, take seats in the restaurant to back her up and provide support if needed.

“Okay, you’re angry, I accept that.” …He sighed. And I can’t undo what I did. But I love you and Davey—“ “No you don’t.” I have a disease, Jessie. “I don’t want to hear it. Mom had a disease, remember? She died, if you recall and right after that, you blew out of town, took out three credit cards in my name and put me fourteen grand in the hole while I waitressed to support your disabled son.” There was a clatter from the Holland table. Jess had the impression that Pru had just grabbed a sharp object, God bless her…. I think you’re exaggerating how bad things were,” he said, and that’s when Jessica completely surprised herself and threw her beer in his face.
Connor is on a date in the same restaurant (Ah ha! Ah ha! Ah ha ha ha. That was her laugh. The first time she’d let it rip Connor thought she was coughing up a hairball.) He sees Tom Barlow come through the bar, half dragging Keith Dunn by his collar, and escorting him none too gently out the door.

We read about a guy so hot he is called “Smokin’McDamn”. How one character finds out he is not the “Special Snowflake” he thought he was. We read about “the Lying Liar of Lieville.”
There is a hilarious account of a visit to a New Age Drum Circle

“Let’s think back to the heartbeat of the brave little frog who decided to be the first to venture out of the slime of the past and bravely leap onto the shores of today.” Her father snorted.)

Usually, it is Kristan’s heroines who go on a series of hilariously disastrous dates. This time, it’s Connor (“So. Would you rather burn to death, or be buried alive?”, One of his dates asks as an ice-breaker.)

He decides to take Jessica and Davey to a 4-H fair.

”How about some food?” she suggested. “Seems kind of insensitive, Connor murmured…’the barns, the barbecue pit. The cows must be doing head counts every fifteen minutes’.”

Of course, the inimitable Colleen tries to resolve the conflict and roadblocks between her twin brother and Jessica.

( “…so if you’re just gonna sit there and let him find someone else, well, I seriously misjudged you.” She popped the baby off her breast and switched sides. “Sorry about this, by the way. Now you’ve seen my boobs. Congratulations. So. Back to Connor. Go get him, Jess! I mean , what the hell?”)

Although she did have me wondering throughout most of the book how she was going to possibly achieve it, it won’t be a spoiler to say that everything turns out great in the end and an epilogue insures a happily ever after for everyone involved and even some who aren’t all that involved. **5 out of 5 stars**

Rating: 5 out of 5.

January 1, 2016

Until There Was You

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By Kristan Higgins

10/16/2023 re-read on audible.
This one did not hold up as well as most of KH’s books on audible. Posey got on my last nerve with her constant obsessing over her physical reaction to Liam’s hotness. “Meowing Lady Parts” indeed. Blech! Also Liam’s over the top over protectiveness of his daughter Nicole was very unhealthy. Nicole could handle it and her love for and understanding of her father was touching. I just felt sorry for the nice boy who dared to want to date her. Liam was mean and bullying. Most everything else was great though. This one had a lot of terrific things in it still. Especially that will at the end. As I mentioned in my first review below, the nature of Posey’s love was even more suspect on this reading. It really seemed like a juvenile crush than real mature love. Dropping one star.
**original review**

I loved this one by KH. It has everything I have come to expect, which I won’t list here. Suffice it to say this has all of the humor and brief episodes of heartbreak that most of her books do. The character of Liam was very unusual as he was a hot bad boy, but with mental health issues which softened and made his character really interesting, 3 dimensional, and lovable. I do want to respond to the main complaint about this book, which is that some did not “feel the love” that Liam had for Posey. That he was too hung up on his first wife. His marriage was based on puppy love, love at first sight, and the longer they were married, the further apart they grew. Liam was not happy. His wife was not happy. The only thing they had in common was their child. That is made crystal clear.
Liam’s love for Posey was a mature love. He needed her. She healed him. For those who mistake shallow gooiness for love, you will be disappointed in this book. No groveling, which some readers seem to yearn for. Just repentance, understanding, and forgiveness. If anything, Posey’s love for Liam was suspect, more like a crush, not the other way around.

Also, I must add that this book contains one of my Kristan Higgins favorite scenes which is Liam’s confrontation with his mother-in-law and father-in-law.
Priceless. And Joe, the kitty. Tears, yes, but the way she brought it full circle in the end was wonderful. **5 stars out of 5**

Rating: 4 out of 5.

September 29, 2015

All I Ever Wanted

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By Kristan Higgins

**addendum to original review 06/30/23**
Yes, this was as good as I remembered it. So lighthearted, funny, and romantic. I think Ian might be one of KH’s most intriguing heroes, and the match with Callie is inspired opposites attract. I loved that Callie’s people-pleasing ways were not apologized for. She does grow away from that a little bit by the end. But Gosh darn, she is just a very very nice, upbeat, and cheerful person and people just like her! It was an interesting blow to her when Ian’s difficult mother did not love or approve of her. Anyway, although the end was very happy and satisfying, I did have an issue with a few things that led to that happy conclusion. **Spoiler**

First, her leaving her $30,000 dollar Morelock chair on Ian’s porch while he was out of town really really rubbed me the wrong way. First, it was stupid. Anyone could have stolen it. And it came across as manipulative and trying to buy his forgiveness. The second thing is she did nothing she had to be forgiven for. Ian should have trusted her, and I don’t care about him finding his ex-wife in bed with someone else. Failing that, Callie should have demanded that he believe her and gotten really really angry with his reaction, instead of begging him to believe her. I guess KH needed that conflict and suspense to conclude the book, but it was very Hallmarky.

**original review 2016**

I’m reading Kristan Higgins again because there is no one better. Callie is probably the most adorable and likable heroine KH has written. I loved that some people (including the hero, sometimes) thought that her sunny, people-pleasing personality was something she needed to fix. She is self-aware enough that she knows she is the way she is due to her parents’ divorce when she was 8. But she likes the way she is, so screw it! I loved Ian, who is shy (almost asbergerish) and the opposite in every way from Callie. Kristan really knows how to write interesting, non-cardboard cut-out characters with real depth. She definitely has a stable of types and tropes that appear in all of her novels, but they are delightful every time, on the whole. Yes, yes, her signature “swear” words and interjections are too cutsie wootsie, but no one’s perfect. As always, a few tears, laugh-out-loud scenes and descriptions, and stand-up and cheer moments are present and accounted for. **5 out of 5 stars**

Rating: 5 out of 5.

2015

Somebody to Love

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by Kristan Higgins

My first Higgins and now that I’ve read them all, my least favorite. Mainly because Parker, the heroine, keeps referring to her “Lady Parts” (yuck and cringe) and persists in calling the very nice hero, James, as “Thing One” I found this mean and offensive, especially under the circumstances. Also, I admit I usually don’t really like it when the female is older than the male. Still, it was good enough to start me on a Kristan Higgins marathon! I didn’t realize that this was the third book in the loosely connected Gideon’s Cove three book series when I read it for the first time. Parker, whose father has lost all of the family money, including her own trust fund goes to the small Maine town to sell her only possession of any potential value: a decrepit house.

The oven was green, its door hanging open as if in a scream—Parker could totally relate.

To her dismay, she is accompanied by her father’s lawyer whom she has always looked down upon, yet who has been in love with her for years. Intriguing characters, unusual situations, Unstereotypical unpredictable heroes (hate the Alphas) unmatched humor, both situational and slapstick. It was great to see Maggie again and the other citizens of Gideon’s Cove.**3 out of 5 stars**

Rating: 3 out of 5.

reread 2017 ??