Sarah's Bookshelf

Today’s book was written by Kristan Higgins.  OMG!  This book was fantastic!  As with the other books by Higgins that I’ve read, this one really took you through all the good, the bad and the ugly, but cleaned you off and gave you a happy ending in the end.  Higgins lives in Connecticut and I’m going to try to see if she’ll do a book club with this book at some point–just need to find the right library to do it at.

Lucy Lang is a widow.  She’s pretty much put her life on hold since her husband’s tragic death that occurred before their first anniversary.  Unable to move on, Lucy takes the path of least resistance and works at her mother and aunts’ bakery.  All the things that she passionate about have ceased to have any meaning to her since her husband’s death.  But just as she’s about to hit bottom, she decides she’s ready to get back in the saddle.  Although now the dating choices are slim at best.  Unable to see the best option, which is right in front of her, Lucy drives herself crazy trying to find someone to basically be a sperm-donor and give her children.

I loved the characters in this book.  Ethan Mirabelli, the brother of the deceased, is the perfect example of the son that never quite does it for his family.  He’s not his brother, he doesn’t have a job that his family approves of, hasn’t married the person who gave him a son, and doesn’t live by the same rules that his family has laid before him.  But one thing is abundantly clear about Ethan; he loves Lucy with all his being.  Higgins does such a great job of showcasing her characters’ personalities and flaws.  Sometimes it was hard to read what Lucy or Ethan, or even the secondary characters, would do next because they often didn’t see the ramifications of their actions.  But these are choices that real people would make, which is one of the reasons that I found this book to be so good.

If you are looking for a book that takes you through the paces, but dusts you off at the end, I’d suggest putting this book high on your cue.  Steam factor was about PG-13, so this is a book that I think would be suitable for a book club.  It’s funny, heavy at times (yes, I cried), but as I said, the ending was great.  This is a book that I highly recommend.