All I Ever Wanted

A few months ago, I had the fun opportunity to write a blog post for the Borders True Romance Blog. I wrote about being in a reading slump and how I just couldn't find a really great book to sink my teeth into. Well, I am in a slump no more, my friends! One of the reasons: Kristan Higgins, the next stop on the Harlequin Big Summer Reads.

What a thrill to receive a review copy of All I Ever Wanted from Harlequin! Kristan Higgins has quickly skyrocketed to a permanent place on my list of favorite authors. Her ability to create quirky characters, charming small towns, and relationships that suffer from insecurities, uncertainties and misunderstandings.

In All I Ever Wanted, Callie is ready to celebrate her 30th birthday (that's right, the big 3-0) when her boss/crush/ex gives her a gift, tells her she is special and then hits her right between the eyes with the news that he is seeing someone. Callie reacts much as the rest of us would, she runs to the DMV and has her breakdown there, much to the dismay of the uptight, Russian assassin in line behind her.

She tries to move on with life, so when she hears there is a cute new vet in town, she tells her dog to look sick and makes an appointment. Sadly, the new vet is the same Russian assassin from the DMV and is still ice cold, but that's when the fun begins.

Callie and Ian (who, it turns out, is not a Russian assassin after all) keep running into each other and eventually Callie breaks through the cold demeanor to find the shy man with a big heart that lies beneath.

Callie's life could probably be more complicated, although she isn't sure how. Her divorced dad is trying to make up with her mother 20 years after they split-up. Her man-hating sister is sleeping with the creepy mortician that works at their family funeral home, and her Gramps, well, Gramps has a story all his own.

Once again, Higgins has created a story full of people just enough and stories just weird enough to make it easy to fall into and difficult to remember that the characters aren't actually real! I find it interesting that while reading, I am fairly sure of a happy ending, I'm just not quite sure how it is actually going to happen.

The laughter, the tears, the romance - these books are money well spent (or library card well used). Don't just take my word for it, Higgins was awarded a RITA last month for Too Good to Be True. (Seriously, how awesome are these covers? Beautiful.)

With the holidays coming, Higgins' publishers should bundle her books for big holiday sales. Check out her other titles on her website and ENJOY!