Book Review: Somebody to Love by Kristan Higgins

At First Sight: Parker Wells has always had a very comfortable life, living off her trust-funds and raising the son she had with one of her best friends, Ethan - before he went off to marry Parker's other best friend, Lucy - and writing the Holly-Rollers, a successful series of children's books that she kind of hates but is afraid will be her only contribution to the world of children's lit.

The bottom falls off her world when her father tells her that he has lost all the family money in a bad business scheme and that he kind of stole Paker's and her son Nicky's trust funds in the process. So she's now broke and with little idea of how she's going to support her kid short of moving in with Ethan and Lucy.

So when her father's lawyer, James Cahill, reminds her that she inherited a small cottage in Gideon's Cove, Maine; Parker figures she'll turn the cottage around - fix somethings, slap a new coat of paint - and sell it for profit.

As it turns out, the 'cottage' is more of a shack, and she has no earthly idea how she's going to make it work. And the last thing she wants is to deal with James, who followed her to Maine to help her, weather she wanted or not.

Jamie is not close to his own family, and has been the family's black sheep since he was 12; but he has a strong affection for Parker's father, and has been half in love with Parker since they first met, six years before, even if she can't seem to stand him.

Second Glance: I have kind of a pattern with Kristtan Higgins's books, I love one, the next one I hate, the next one I think it was ok, and the next one I love/Relally like again. Somebody to Love was 'scheduled' to be one that I was supposed to love. Sadly it was just an OK book.

I found both Jamie and Parker quite likable - even if Parker was a bit stubborn and hard at times - and I liked re-visiting the people of Gideon's Cove - setting of Higgins' Catch of the Day, and we even get to see what has happened since with Malone and Maggie - and getting to know them a bit more.

I liked Parker's aunt, and I even liked Ethan and Lucy - whose story is told in The Next Best Thing - I kind of had hated them during their book (they were such a doormats to their own families that they made me cringe), but in this one I like them.

Now, I found quite a few character inconsistencies, like Malone. He was practically the town's loner before he got together with Maggie, and even when that was happening he wasn't the chatty type, and though I don't recall him as being ugly or anything, I also don't think he looked like someone you would see and think 'hottie'.  But he's much changed in this book, in a way that's not all that believable to me.

Nicky, Parker's son, was right down annoying in this book, which he wasn't in The Next Best Thing.

And I have to say that, while I really liked the parts where Parker and Jamie were together and I do buy them as a couple, big chunks of the story felt forced. Jamie's story is kind of pathetic - bad things just kept happening to him - and Parker keeps holding onto stuff that happened when she was a kid and she could be quite bitchy and selfish, particularly with Jamie. And the ending felt rushed.

Bottom Line: Somebody to Love was not the read I was hoping for. It's not a bad read per se, in fact I think that long time fans of Higgins will like it a lot and will be happy to be back in Gideon's Cove. But it's not one of my favorites by this author, I thought it read a little forced at times and it did detract of my enjoy over all enjoyment in the story.

Favorite Quote: "She smiled and there it was again, that aching pressure in his chest. Love, or a heart attack. Kind of the same thing." - Jamie