‘In Your Dreams’ Blue Heron #4 by Kristan Higgins

 Received from the Publisher 

From the BLURB:

Emmaline Neal needs a date. Just a date—someone to help her get through her ex-fiancé's wedding without losing her mind. But pickings are slim in Manningsport, New York, population 715. In fact, there's really only one option: local heartthrob Jack Holland. Everyone loves Jack, and he won't get the wrong idea…. After all, Jack Holland would never actually be interested in a woman like Em. Especially not with his beautiful ex-wife creeping around, angling to reunite ever since he rescued a group of teens and became a local hero. 

But when the wedding festivities take an unexpectedly passionate turn, Em figures it was just one crazy night. Jack is too gorgeous, too popular, to ever end up with her. So why is she the one he can talk to about his deep, dark feelings? If Em is going to get her dream man, she'll have to start by believing in him…

What do you do when you’re invited to the wedding of your previously overweight (now ab-tastic) ex-fiancée and the fitness fanatic trainer he left you for? Well, according to the majority of townsfolk from Manningsport, New York you invite Jack Holland along as your perfect date. Especially if you’re Emmaline Neal – police officer, and German shepherd owner who has been on two dates in three years since Kevin broke her heart and is not above referring to the station’s criminal database searching for a potential petty criminal to act as her wedding date. Because even though Jack Holland is delicious, and divorced (after a very, very messy breakup that included his Southern Belle wife cheating on him) even if he is the local hero after rescuing a car of teenage boys that ploughed into a lake … the fact is, Emmaline doesn’t want Jack Holland’s pity date. 

Jack, meanwhile, would love nothing more than to get out of town for a destination wedding in Malibu as a stand-in, maybe pretend boyfriend. It’s just the escape Jack is looking for, since rescuing that car of drunken teenage boys landed him hero status – something he’s especially uncomfortable with, since one of those boys is slowly dying and still in a coma. Jack’s been having nightmares and panic attacks since the rescue, and taking Emmaline Neal to the wedding of her ex sounds like a great distraction – especially when Jack’s ex-wife, Hadley, gets wind of his hero status (thanks to an interview with Anderson Cooper) and returns to Manningsport in the hopes of rekindling their trainwreck of a marriage. 

What neither Jack nor Emmaline counts on is a surprising but electrifying attraction – especially when it comes at the worst of times. Jack is fighting PTSD, an ex-wife who could double as Blanche DuBois and Em does not want to get her heart broken by another man who is tempted by a skinny, beautiful woman who claims to know what’s best for him.

‘In Your Dreams’ is the fourth book in Kristan Higgins’ addictive contemporary 'Blue Heron' romance series set in Manningsport, and mostly centred around the Holland family who run the Blue Heron winery. 

I really loved this instalment in Higgins’ series. I was a wee bit worried about Jack as our romantic lead, only because much had been made of his good looks and charm in previous books and the last thing I wanted was to read a Mary Sue dude. But it’s quickly established that Jack in this book is suffering emotionally after an impromptu rescue gone wrong, and he’s been wounded in the past by a sour marriage that ended after infidelity. I was surprised but relieved to discover Jack is a good guy who usually finishes last, looks and charm aside, he knows what it’s like when life screws you over. And, actually, Emmaline has the same reaction to Jack that many readers will – thinking he has the perfect life from the outside, but discovering his difficulties and insecurities as they get to know each other… 

And speaking of Emmaline – I loved her. She’s closely aligned to a previous Higgins heroine (and one of my favourites!) Chastity O'Neill from ‘Just One of the Guys’ – a tomboy who didn’t want to change who she was, to attract the guy of her dreams. Emmaline is similar in the tomboy aspect – preferring beer to wine, her police uniform to dresses, she plays hockey and hates doing anything to her hair. I really liked when Hadley came on the scene and Emmaline found both of them fighting for Jack’s affections. Hadley is petite and blonde, a Southern Belle and thoroughly annoying – but next to her Emmaline feels like a gorilla, and wonders how Jack can be interested in her when Hadley is his ex-wife; 

“What if Hadley wasn’t in town?” he asked when she failed to answer. “And what if those kids didn’t … crash? Would you go out with me then?” 

“Well, you were never interested before, so I’d have to say no.” 

“Maybe I could say you were the one who was never interested, whereas I always thought of you as the hot hockey chick.” 

Another snort. Must stop doing that. “You never asked me out.” 

“You never gave me the time of day.” 

“If you were pining for me, you hid it well.” 

He gave her a tolerant look. “I wasn’t pining for you, Emmaline. I did think you were the hot hockey chick. We all do.” 

“Which explains why I’ve had two dates in three years.” 

“Maybe your sweet and gentle personality has something to do with that.” 

Much is made in the beginning of Emmaline’s past relationship with Kevin, her childhood sweetheart turned fiancée who was morbidly obese but left her for his trainer once he started losing weight. I really liked this storyline, if only because it allowed plenty of leeway for Higgins humour, especially around fitness fanatics. And a fitness fanatic wedding is especially hilarious; 

The special memories sharing was more of the same. The marathon when Kevin had to crawl across the finish line just after he lost control of his bowels. The difficult time when Naomi had ruptured her Achilles tendon and could only run seven miles a day. The hilarious time when they were doing an Ironman race and Naomi’s bike had crashed, her shoulder dislocated, and God bless her! She’d just rammed it back into place on a convenient tree, got back on the bike and caught up to Kevin, who of course hadn’t stopped because it was “emotionally important” for him to give this race his all, and of course Naomi understood and supported this.  

“I don’t know,” Em murmured. “I think I’d want someone to stop and call an ambulance for me.” 

“I would do that,” Jack said. “And I’d tell the paramedics to give you extra painkillers.” 

But the Kevin storyline dropped right off once Jack and Emmaline kindled their romance, and if anything I’d have liked slightly more closure to this aspect of Emmaline’s past.

Overall I loved this instalment in Kristan Higgins’ ‘Blue Heron’ series. A non-girly heroine who needs a confidence boost, a seemingly perfect hero whose flaws and insecurities are refreshing and the usual laughs and puppy-awwws fans have come to love from Higgins’ books. This one’s a winner!

4/5

‘Waiting on You’ Blue Heron #3 by Kristan Higgins

From the BLURB:

Does being nobody's fool mean that you're nobody's love?

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, her first love, 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 a modern-day Emma. At least seven children in her local town of Manningsport have been named after her, in thanks for matchmaking their parents. She’s drummed up plenty of business for the local bridal store and lots of people in town are lining up to have Colleen match them with their soul mates.

Colleen’s so good at matchmaking other people only because her own love life is so abysmal. Not many people in town know (because that’s just the way Colleen wants it) but she was burned by her first true-love and never recovered from the heartbreak.

Lucas Campbell was the new boy in town when Colleen was a senior, he and his cousin Bryce moved to town after Lucas’s mother died and his father was thrown in prison then sent to live with his aunt and uncle. Before Lucas Campbell arrived, Colleen was the perfect popular girl – adored by everyone, but always turning down dates from her male classmates. But that all changed when Lucas came to town – with his Spaniard eyes and reluctant smile. In Colleen, Lucas found someone that was just for him, and Colleen finally had someone worth taking a chance on.

But then it all came apart, quickly and devastatingly. Ten years later, Colleen still hasn’t let her heart recover from missing Lucas Campbell. So the last thing she needs is for him to breeze back into Manninsport – in town to spend time with his dying uncle and help get his dopey cousin straightened out and grown up, and reminding her of what they lost.

‘Waiting on You’ is the third book in Kristan Higgins’ ‘Blue Heron’ romance series.

I am so glad that I loved this book, after thinking ‘The Perfect Match’ was fairly ho-hum. This instalment takes us away from the Holland sisters, and focuses on local bartender and Faith’s best friend, Colleen (one half of twin-duo with her brother and restaurant co-owner, Connor). Colleen had been established as the expert flirt in town, and beloved amateur therapist who hears everyone’s problems when she pours them their brew. But it has also been hinted that a break up in Colleen’s past still haunts her to this day, which is why she’s more predisposed to flings than relationships, and no man has been able to turn her head in years.

I have to admit, I wasn’t thrilled with an instalment that took us away from Blue Heron – I was actually hoping for a book about the Holland brother. But Higgins very quickly establishes Colleen’s broken-hearted past, and I was totally in her corner after getting the story of how Lucas Campbell screwed her over. And that’s the thing that bugged me a little about this book – when they were (admittedly) younger, Lucas did a stupid thing that spiralled into really hurtful and left a break in Colleen that still hasn’t healed. It’s bad, and will make you a little weepy when the whole, sad story is pulled out – but I never entirely felt like Lucas accounted for his actions or felt the right level of remorse. But maybe that’s just me.

Considering how hurt Colleen was by Lucas ten years ago, it’s understandable that when he returns to Manningsport she’s at def-con zero;

“About my new man,” she said. “I need someone hot and romantic and intelligent with a great sense of humour who can cook and is also a cowboy or a firefighter.” 

Faith snorted. “Okay, I’m thinking … uh … cowboys are pretty scarce. And for hot firefighters, we only have Gerard.” 

“You know what would be great? A tragic widower type, like Jude Law in ‘The Holiday.’ Definitely my type. Or Hugh Jackman in ‘Les Mis.’ Le sigh!” 

“Right, right. Impoverished fugitives who burst into song. Coming up empty, Coll.”

Something I really loved about this book (and something that Higgins does so damn well) is write robust and interesting secondary characters’ with back-stories to surround her protagonists. In Colleen’s world; it’s her father who cheated on her mother with ‘Gail the Tail’ ten years ago, but her mother has never recovered and to this day expects her ex-husband to come crawling back. Colleen has a beloved nine-year-old stepsister called Savannah who is struggling with her weight and body image, particularly when her mother is so body-conscious herself. And Colleen’s father hasn’t been apart of her life since he cheated on his wife and started a new family ten years ago. Then there’s Paulie – a local girl and princess to the Chicken King (who owns a chain of deep friend chicken stores) who asks for Colleen’s help in roping her dream man … who just happens to be Lucas’s cousin, Bryce. But when Lucas comes to town to spend time with his dying uncle, and straighten Bryce out with a job, he gets wind of Colleen’s matchmaking scheme and is not happy.

Higgins is brilliant at writing these interesting secondary characters to round-out her story and heroes, and ‘Waiting on You’ is one of the best examples of this.

I really loved Colleen. A few times Higgins slips in how beautiful and desired Colleen is, but I never resented her as I so often do when female characters are presented as practically perfect in every way. Colleen’s wicked sense of humour and compassion save her from venturing into Mary-Sue territory, as does her brilliant repartee with the people she loves, like her twin;

“Hey, placenta hog. Just because you were born three minutes sooner doesn’t mean you know everything.”

I also really loved Lucas, despite feeling that he didn’t account enough for his actions ten years ago (and, actually, in recent years when he didn’t attempt to reach out to Colleen). He has a really complicated history, that’s definitely dictating his current hang-ups. But his chemistry with Colleen is insane, and towards the end I definitely got the impression that he was reeling from the realisation that he lost so much ten years ago, with a couple of stupid mistakes.

This is probably the biggest emotional roller-coaster Higgins book I’ve yet read. She really presents a fractured couple in Colleen and Lucas, but she makes it work with a delightfully varied and sprawling cast of secondary characters with back-stories as interesting as the protagonists’. I got a little frustrated with the slut-shaming focus towards the end, but otherwise this was a fabulous instalment in the ‘Blue Heron’ series (I WANT MORE!!!!) and one of the best Higgins books I’ve read. Fabulous.

4/5

'The Perfect Match' Blue Heron #2 by Kristan Higgins

From the BLURB:

What if the perfect match is a perfect surprise? 

Honor Holland has just been unceremoniously rejected by her lifelong crush. And now—a mere three weeks later—Mr. Perfect is engaged to her best friend. But resilient, reliable Honor is going to pick herself up, dust herself off and get back out there or she would if dating in Manningsport, New York, population 715, wasn't easier said than done. 

Charming, handsome British professor Tom Barlow just wants to do right by his unofficial stepson, Charlie, but his visa is about to expire. Now Tom must either get a green card or leave the States—and leave Charlie behind. 

In a moment of impulsiveness, Honor agrees to help Tom with a marriage of convenience—and make her ex jealous in the process. But juggling a fiancé, hiding out from her former best friend and managing her job at the family vineyard isn't easy. And as sparks start to fly between Honor and Tom, they might discover that their pretend relationship is far too perfect to be anything but true love.

Honor Holland has been ‘friends with benefits’ with her oldest school friend, Brogan, since they were both freshmen in college. Technically she’s been in love with him for some 17 years, but when her doctor has the ‘tick-tock, tick-tock’ talk with her, Honor decides it’s now or never to profess her love and suggest she and Brogan get hitched (they’re not getting any younger, after all). What follows her proposal is the worst ever let-down and simile in the history of language – whereby Brogan compares Honor to a favourite old baseball glove; one you pull out for a bit of good luck during a hard match, but that you don’t rely on all year round. 

Ouch. 

Even worse is when Honor’s best friend, Dana, ends up with Brogan’s ring on her finger a few weeks later . . . apparently in a crazy, spontaneous ‘we-just-knew-it-was-right’ love match.

Honor is shattered, but resigned.

Tom Barlow is a British mechanical engineer and professor at a nearby college. He’s staying in Manningsport, California to be near his beleaguered almost-stepson. Tom was engaged to Charlie’s mother, before discovering that she was cheating on him . . .  then she got hit by a car and died. That was a few years ago, now Charlie is a sullen teenager dressed all in black who seemingly doesn’t care one way or the other if Tom’s university can’t renew his green card and he returns to the UK forever. 

Then Honor’s grandmother, Goggy, has the crazy idea to set these two up (arranged marriages have been known to work) and sparks might just fly.

‘The Perfect Match’ is the second book in Kristan Higgins’ contemporary romance ‘Blue Heron’ series. 

So, I loved first book ‘The Best Man’ (which was also my first ever Kristan Higgins book, leaving me to wonder what else of hers I'd been missing out on!). I went into this second novel full of high-hopes and prepared to swoon all over again . . .  but I came out a little “meh”. 

I initially said that I'd never read a Kristan Higgins book because they all seemed too sugary-sweet, with none of the meatier barbs I quite like to read in my romances. Now, ‘The Best Man’ was by no means ‘Anna Karenina’ on the beleaguered-romance scale – but heroine Faith Holland did have a rotten streak with men, and her hero Levi Cooper was definitely donning armour. Then Higgins offered up Honor Holland and Tom Barlow – two people with quadruple the number of prickly problems that Faith and Levi had.

For one thing, Honor is humiliated when her best friend, love of her life and no-strings-attached bedroom-partner calls her the equivalent of his favourite baseball glove (to get him out of a slump? I guess?) and then goes and gets engaged to her (back-stabbing) best friend – but still wants them to remain close and put the awkwardness of her proposal behind them and move on. Not to mention her doctor is telling her she’s got to get a move on if she wants babies, and online dating websites bring up no potential hunnys in the Manningsport area. Tom is just as damaged – cheated on by his fiancée before she died, leaving him in limbo with her son who he now sees when his guardian grandparents allow, but who is harbouring a deep-seated resentment towards Tom, blaming him for his mother’s death. Phew. I thought, surely, with that much heaped on these two characters Higgins would be pulling out all the lovey-dovey stops to counteract all that heavy stuff. Sadly, I never felt like ‘The Perfect Match’ reached any sort of desirable romantic heights.

Tom and Honor come together for a sort of contractual arrangement – he for a green card, she for the potential of marriage and babies. Though these two start out with sparks flying and heat simmering;

“You understand how things are built,” she said. It sounded vaguely dirty.  

“Yes.” 

“You know how to . . . get things going.” 

His eyes dropped to her mouth. “Mmm-hmm.” 

“You’re good with your hands.” 

He leaned forward. “Are you flirting with me, Miss Holland?” he asked, his voice low.

Tom’s guard goes up when Honor moves into his home and Charlie still proves a battling sullen and sad teenager. Not to mention, Tom already went through the heartache of loving one woman who cheated on him, he’s never thrilled to see Honor light up whenever she sees Brogan.

The thing is, I loved how much of a battle Faith and Levi had before them in ‘The Best Man’ – and Higgins certainly had them conquering their demons. But I don’t think she ever got there with Tom and Honor.

For one thing, the Brogan/Dana storyline drops off far too quickly. Even though it’s set up as the big heartache of Honor’s life, Dana and Brogan and their in-your-face happiness are sporadically mentioned in a few chapters and then hardly at all throughout the rest of the book. But that was a great set-up, I thought, and right up until the end I wanted to know what was happening with that story – especially as Honor’s potentially lingering feelings for Brogan were a concern for Tom.

For another, I think Honor was quite hard done by in this book, and her romance never turned into the sparkly fairytale I thought she deserved after such heartache. At one point, Tom has this to say about her: “She was lovely. She had no idea, did she? Granted, he hadn’t exactly been struck with lightning the first time he’d seen her . . ” and, look, that’s fine. Far be it from me to want all contemporary romance heroines to look like Scarlett Johansson or be the sort of Mary-Sue’s who every male character fall head-over-heels in love with. But after being compared to an old baseball glove, and after reading Tom’s recounting of how he met Charlie’s mother (that was a love-at-first-sight set up, it would seem, since she was absolutely beautiful) I felt really terrible for Honor. When even the guy she ends up with has this to say about her; “But hers were the type of looks that grew on a person.” Maybe it’s far truer, but for all that Honor had been put through I wanted her to have a real Cinderella moment. 

Maybe I also felt that way because I also didn’t think that Tom and Honor ever fell for one another on a more intimate, intellectual level . . . this, I felt, was proven by the slap-dash high-octane ending of the book that throws them together once and for all. 

This book didn’t work for me the same way that ‘The Best Man’ did. Sure, I’ll read the next ‘Blue Heron’ book (this time about Faith and Honor’s friend, bartender Colleen – though I would have appreciated even a little bit of set-up for her book #3). I think I just wanted either a more intimate romance for Tom and Honor, or for Honor to have a real fist-pumping Cinderella moment after the glove simile (seriously that was just . . . brutal).

2.5/5

'The Best Man' Blue Heron #1 by Kristan Higgins

 From the BLURB: 

Sometimes the best man is the one you least expect…

Faith Holland left her hometown after being jilted at the altar. Now a little older and wiser, she's ready to return to the Blue Heron Winery, her family's vineyard, to confront the ghosts of her past, and maybe enjoy a glass of red. After all, there's some great scenery there….

Like Levi Cooper, the local police chief—and best friend of her former fiancé. There's a lot about Levi that Faith never noticed, and it's not just those deep green eyes. The only catch is she's having a hard time forgetting that he helped ruin her wedding all those years ago. If she can find a minute amidst all her family drama to stop and smell the rosé, she just might find a reason to stay at Blue Heron, and finish that walk down the aisle.

Faith Holland comes from the beautiful wine country of Manningsport, California. Her family own the famous Blue Heron Winery, and two great big farm houses where their great-greats all grew up too. But Faith moved to San Francisco three years ago, after a left-at-the-altar, broken-hearted incident and now she rarely ever goes home. But when her older sister, Honor, tells her to come home and help their father before he marries a gold-digging harlot, Faith is on the next flight home and intending to stay for an unspecified time.

Despite reservations at bumping into her old fiancée Jeremy – high school sweetheart and the man who broke her heart (and seemingly ruined her for all other men, since he’s still the last one she’s ever been with) – Faith is drawn home by her own guilt. When she was just a little girl she was in the car with her mother when a speeding motorist slammed into them, killing her. Faith feels a great deal of guilt because she told everyone she was having an epileptic fit which distracted her mother, and Faith has been trying to make amends ever since.

Once home, Faith is tip-toeing around Jeremy, putting up with everyone’s sympathetic eyes and trying to pry the claws off dad’s unintentional girlfriend . . .  but the real thorn in her side turns out to be one Levi Cooper. Once town bad boy, Jeremy’s best friend and the “best man” who decided her wedding ceremony was the perfect time for Jeremy to come out of the closet. Levi went and joined the army fresh out of high school, but now he’s home in Manningsport and police chief – caring for his teenage sister after their mother died, and still seems to have a deep hatred for Faith – who he snidely nicknamed Princess Super-Cute in high school. Never mind that Faith and Levi have another side to their past that both of them are reluctant to delve into . . . even when sparks begin to fly again.

‘The Best Man’ is the first book in the new contemporary romance ‘Blue Heron’ series from Kristan Higgins.

Insane, I know, but I'd never read a Kristan Higgins book until ‘The Best Man’. Of course, I'd seen her on many a bookshelf and recommended-reading list . . . but her covers always seemed too cutesy to me, suggesting her romance stories might be all sugar, no spice. But after reading everyone rave about her new ‘Blue Heron’ series, I decided to put my assumptions aside . . . and now I’m eating my words.

Faith Holland is a hopeless underdog if ever there was one. She’s had a three-year drought since being left at the altar by her closeted fiancée, who she’d loved since high school and already had baby-naming plans with. Since Jeremy, Faith has had a succession of dating disasters – and when we first meet her, she’s right smack in the middle of another one. Though hilarious, it’s also quickly apparent that Faith is desperately lonely and still scarred by her failed relationship (which, really, had been doomed from the beginning – so Faith has never actually had a proper relationship in her whole life). 

Upon returning to Manningsport to help out her family (save her dad, and also redesign the old barn into an ideal wedding and special occasions venue) Faith is forced to re-open old wounds. Everyone in this little town still has deep sympathy for the girl who was left behind. Never mind that Jeremy is the local doctor and universally beloved by all, that just makes everyone pity Faith all the more. 

“But if someone calls me ‘poor thing’ one more time, I may go postal and kill everyone around me. Except children and dogs. And old people. And you. And Connor. Fine, I won't kill anyone. But it's driving me crazy.” 

The one person who isn’t buying into the whole “woe is Faith” thing is Levi Cooper – Jeremy’s best friend, dreadful best man and perhaps the one person in Manningsport who never bought into Faith’s goody-two-shoes act. As such, Faith feels Levi’s contempt for her radiating off him every time they bump into each other (like when her dog, Blue, winds up under a neighbours’ house or Faith is found dangling from a bathroom window – long story).

‘The Best Man’ has quite a lot of stories and histories to set up in order to fully understand (and sympathise) with certain characters. In the beginning we get Faith’s perspective on her high school romance with Jeremy, and the fateful day it all fell apart. From Levi we get the beginnings of his high school friendship with Jeremy and events leading up to the wedding that would have never worked. And from both Faith and Levi we get a little extra history about a brief moment in high school when the two of them entertained the thought that maybe they had a little chemistry themselves. . .  all of these interwoven with Faith’s return to Manningsport and those same sparks flying again between her and Levi.

Higgins beautifully sets up this little Manningsport town and all the old histories and personal ties within the community. I actually really liked the backwards-and-forwards narration, even when reflections of the past seemed to keep repeatedly hitting Faith like an anvil. I was very wrong to assume that because Higgins has a tendency to feature cute and fuzzy animals on her covers, that her stories would be sickeningly sweet and easy – far from it! Both Faith and Levi have a lot to overcome within themselves and their histories to be together, and Higgins has indeed (though not unbelievably) piled on the dilemmas, for Faith especially.

But I loved Faith, maybe all the more for her hard lot in life. She’s still a laugh-out-loud riot and quick wit. Though Levi’s memories of teenage Faith are of a sugar-coated suck-up, in reality Faith has a thorny side that she doesn’t mind subjecting Levi to – and that just made me love her all the more.

I really liked that Faith and Levi had an antagonistic history that seemed built on false assumptions and damning secrets. It meant they were far from a ‘love at first sight’ cliché, and much closer to a ‘Pride and Prejudice’ slow-burn. 

This was such a fun, easy read that alternately had me laughing-out-loud and lip-quivering in some parts (and, okay, swooning in others) I can’t wait to read the next ‘Blue Heron’ instalment. 

5/5