04 | January | 2018 | Cozynookbks

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5-Stars

First I want to say that Kristan Higgins is hilarious. I spit out my drink more than once while reading this book. Hysterical. Her witty internal dialogue cracked me up too.

This was my first Kristan Higgins book and it was amazing. If it’s any indication of how well written her other books are, then she’s a new favorite author.

Here’s a little synopsis…

Poor Nora Stuart. Growing up her life was tragic for so many reasons, so she immersed herself in academics, determined to excel and thus win the coveted Perez scholarship to Tufts University, wherein she’d be gone from the town that ignored and taunted her. If that weren’t enough, she finds herself the most hated citizen of her native Scupper Island, Maine, through no fault of her own. But she eventually got her life together and became an attractive, successful doctor with a swoon-worthy boyfriend, great friends and an apartment she loved. Things were going great in her adult life until a “big bad event” happened and turned her safe, comfortable little world upside down. In addition, Nora has been devastated by her boyfriend, Bobby, when she overhears him talking about their imminent breakup while flirting with a colleague as Nora lay semi-conscious in the ER after being hit by a van. Hurt (both mentally and physically) and discouraged, she immediately ends the relationship and takes a trip back to Scupper Island, where her mother still lives, and where the folks still remember what happened to make her the most hated citizen there. Nora plans to convalesce on the island while attempting to forge a bond with her taciturn, stoic mother. Nora’s beloved father left their family when she was a young girl, never to be heard from again, and she hopes to get information that will lead to his whereabouts after all of these years, and hopefully come to finally understand from her mother why he left. Her teenage niece, Poe, lives with Nora’s mother, since Nora’s sister, Lily, is in jail. Poe isn’t the least bit enthused about her aunt’s visit. Undeterred, Nora presses on, determined not to allow her niece or her sister, who has made it clear that she’s not interested in hearing from her, or Scupper Island’s residents, further ruin her stint there. Can Nora find her true self and the love, acceptance, security and happiness she so desperately craves?

The highly-developed characters, which is what I loved most about this book, along with the vivid scenes bring this story to life in a way that will make it dwell indelibly in your memory-bank long after you’ve finished reading it. It was poignant, yet simultaneously humorous, suspenseful, and emotional. There was a bit of zany romance too. It seemed to have a little of everything, and it all fit together perfectly. Kristan Higgins is one hip lady, and she writes in a way that anyone, regardless of background, could easily relate to her storytelling. It was unputdownable and never dragged. I highly recommend it.