Amazon.com: One Happily-Ever-After Rocking Chair…
and no sign of any forthcoming babies to rock in ol' Georgebury, Vermont. For Callie Grey, turning thirty means coming to grips with the fact that her boss (and five-week fling) is way overdue in his marriage proposal. And way off track because Mark has suddenly announced his engagement to the company's new Miss Perfect. If that isn't bad enough, her mom decides to throw her a three-oh birthday bash in the family funeral home.
Bad goes to worse when she stirs up a crazy relationship with the town's not so warm and fuzzy veterinarian, Ian McFarland, in order to flag Mark's attention. So Ian is more comfortable with animals…. So he's formal, orderly and just a bit tense. The ever-friendly, fun-loving and spontaneous Callie decides it's time for Ian to get a personality makeover. But dang, if he doesn't shock the heck out of her, she might actually fall for Vermont's unlikeliest eligible bachelor….
Oooh this book, this book made me burst out laughing on a regular occasion and also had me tearing up at one point. It was everything. You couldn’t ask for a funnier narrator than Callie, days later I’m still thinking about some of the things she said, what a voice!
While this book is classified as Romance it falls right into Chick Lit category for me. People tell me the difference between Chick Lit and Romance is that in Romance, the relationship between the main character and the potential love interest takes center stage and I agree with that, except for that’s not what All I Ever Wanted is like. It’s so well rounded, yes, the relationship is there but there is also a great multiple family and friends storylines, job storyline (yay advertising agency- i loved those passages) and a whole bunch of other things. That well rounded-ness is something that was missing for me in other contemporary romances, but this one hit it right on the head for me, a perfect balance.
I felt like this book was written for me, it's not everyday a book takes place in an ad agency and involves a sad and hilarious scene with a turkey. Yes, I have a turkey obsession, live turkeys that is. And the relationship between Callie and Ian is so great, at first glance they hate each other and slowly they begin to tolerate each other, become friends, lean on each other and you can see where it goes from there.
Overall this is my favorite contemporary romance of the handful I've read and I cannot wait to read more of Higgins'a work! I hear Catch of the Day is a great second stop!
Genre: Contemporary Romance/Chick Lit
5/5 Stars
ARC picked up at BEA
This sounds cute!! I am an inch away from being burned out on UF, so I'm going to have to remember this book. Romance and Chick Lit lines are really blurry sometimes.
ReplyDeleteNot sure this one is for me, but I love that you loved it.
ReplyDeleteOoh! Just reading your review made me smile so I know I'd like this!
ReplyDeleteLovely review!
ReplyDeletethanks for the review alea! i'm planning to read this book next and i'm all the more excited for it :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not crazy about romance but I do enjoy chick lit from time to time and I love it when it makes me laugh. This sounds like a good one.
ReplyDeleteI loved it too! I just plain love Kristan Higgins. Have you read Just One of the Guys? You should if you haven't!
ReplyDeleteAllison- Strangely enough this is the first of hers I've read but I'm really really excited to read the rest of them!
ReplyDeleteI loved this one too! It's the fourth book of her's that I've read and it ties for my favorite along with Too Good to Be True. I've also read The Next Best Thing and Catch of the Day. TNBT is really enjoyable and COTD, while I found it funny, was bit lacking in the romance. Hope you enjoy her other novels - I can't wait to see what you think of them!
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree with you, loved this book, but I have a feeling my tearing up was at a different spot :) The turkey scene was hilarious though.
ReplyDelete