Waiting On You (Blue Heron #3) by Kristan Higgins

WAITING ON YOU 

(Blue Heron #3)
by Kristan Higgins
Published April 2014 by Harlequin
Adult Romance - Kindle, 384p.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for providing me with a digital copy for review.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

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.

MY THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK:

WAITING ON YOU may be my favorite book in the Blue Heron series. It's full of so many great moments, both funny and full of emotion. Colleen loves to give out romantic advice from behind the bar at her tavern, but isn't nearly great at advising herself. Lucas is her first love who shows back up in town due to a family emergency. They're both available and obviously have a lasting connection. Their relationship obviously involved a whole lot of intensity and passion, and it definitely hasn't all disappeared with time! Colleen's the great friend you want to see happy and Lucas is the guy who's been selling himself short.

The book is a bit of a roller coaster, with some seriously cute & funny moments and plenty of emotionally draining parts too. Characters from previous books pop back up in this one, and since Colleen co-owns the bar with her brother, Connor, we get to know him a whole lot better too. (Maybe a Connor book is coming?)

WAITING ON YOU is full of heart and humor and makes me wish the next book in the series was out so I could stay in the world Kristan Higgins has created.

GET THE BOOK: Goodreads | Amazon

The Perfect Match (Blue Heron #2) by Kristan Higgins

THE PERFECT MATCH 

(Blue Heron #2)
by Kristan Higgins
Published October 2013 by Harlequin
Adult Romance - Paperback, 441p.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

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…

MY THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK:

Right from the start, I knew I would enjoy THE PERFECT MATCH. When Honor declares her love to her friend, who she's been sleeping with for years, he rejects her. Then her best friend does something awful and... ugh! I spent many, many pages hating them both. However, Honor is likable and part of a great family, so I enjoyed rooting for her as I kept reading and hoping for something good to happen to her.

Tom is a charming British professor with an expiring visa and a desire to stay in the States to be around the kid who almost became his stepson years before. Honor and Tom decide to help each other out -- He'll help her make the previous guy jealous and she'll help him with his visa issues. (Note: This is the part where I suspend belief, since, as one half of an international couple, I know way too much about immigration and can pick apart their plan like crazy. Just pretend it works, okay!)

THE PERFECT MATCH is a great second book in the Blue Heron series, and really allowed me to get to know Honor better and come to like her a lot more. It's full of funny, quirky moments, and requires Honor to reflect and grow to make her life into what it should be, rather than what she was settling for before. I'm looking forward to book three!

GET THE BOOK: Goodreads | Amazon

The Best Man (Blue Heron #1) by Kristan Higgins

“Maybe love isn't just a bouquet of roses once in a whole. Maybe it's just

sticking it out, when it's hard, when you're mad, when you're tired.”

THE BEST MAN (Blue Heron #1)

by Kristan Higgins
Published February 2013 by Harlequin
Adult Romance - Paperback, 426p.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

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.

MY THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK:

THE BEST MAN opens with Faith being left at the alter, and then skips forward to when she returns to town years later to finally face it and return to work at her family's vineyard. She's lively and hilarious, and the perfect romance heroine to root for. Levi is the former fiancé's best friend, which makes Faith's feelings toward him less than stellar. He's grumpy and closed off, but a great guy once you crack his stony exterior. They've got a love-hate thing going on, and their chemistry is fantastic. The books tells their story in present time and through flashbacks to allow the reader to truly get to know each of them and find a way to root for the possibility of a romance between them.

I've read several books by Kristan Higgins now and all of them leave me with a smile on my face. Her characters are interesting, with rich lives outside of the romance, and provide plenty of comic relief. Once I start reading one of her books, I always want to keep reading right through to the end. THE BEST MAN continues that streak.

GET THE BOOK: Goodreads | Amazon