All I Ever Wanted by Kristan Higgins

Callie Grey thinks that most things in her life are going well: she loves her job as creative director of Green Mountain Media, she gets to see her crush (a.k.a her boss and five-week fling Mark) everyday, she likes living with her Grandpa and she's generally well liked in her small Vermont town. But on the morning of her 30th birthday, things go a little sour when Mark - who claimed not to be ready for commitment - tells her that he's seeing a someone and that it's fairly serious, worse, the woman in question is coming to work at the company (since her father is their new and biggest client).

Wanting to escape for a bit, Callie decides to make a run for the DMV (she had to renew her license, anyway) but ends up having a bit of a meltdown while standing in line, worse, the guy in line behind her is anything but sympathetic.

As it later turns out, the DMV-guy is Ian McFarland, the new vet in town. Ian isn't comfortable with emotion, he's a bit formal and doesn't seem to like people all that much, and he also doesn't seem to appreciate it when women start parading around his office with fake-sick animals to check him out. At first - and though she's guilty of being one of those women - Callie doesn't like Ian much, and he does have a knack for happening upon her when she's isn't at her best.

But they do strike a friendship of sorts as Callie starts to realize that all she ever wanted might not be what she truly needs in her life.

Kristan Higgins' books tend to be a hit and miss for me but I'm happy to say that All I Ever Wanted was a book I truly loved. Callie is a very likable heroine and I found her a bit more assertive than some other Higgins' heroines. She's cute and happy and strives to be that way - as a child of divorce, she sort of thinks it's up to her to make everyone happy - but she also has a backbone when it comes to her work and she's smart enough to realize that Mark manipulates her, even if it hurts and even if she does have to fight a good battle to get rid of those feelings she has had for 16 years.

Ian was a lovely hero, serious and shy but also very sensible, and he cures sick puppies and kittens for a living, ok? You gotta love a capable vet. He also has a lot of stuff to get through and deal with but he does. And even when he and Callie fight, there is a core of decency in both of them that made me not hate either of them and wish with all my heart that they made it.

Of course, there are dogs in this book! YAY!! an Irish settler called Angie (Ian's) and a Husky-mutt called Bowie (Callie's) both of them adorable!! Always a plus.

As for background characters, there are plenty and I grew to like them all. I actually liked Callie's family (I don't always like the heroine's families in Higgins' stories), specially her Grumpy Grandpa and brother Freddie, and her nieces.

Over all, a lovely, lovely read.

Favorite Quote: “I will, Alejandro, but let’s not talk about it now. I’m kind of crushing on you, and I want to soak it all in.” I sighed à la Betty Boop.