Helpful Score: 2
Kristan Higgins is an author I stumbled upon somehow. Her books were not the usual type I liked but with her heart warming writing style she had me hooked from "One of the Guys." I read this book in about four hours because I couldn't put it down. If you need a break from your normal historical/contemporary romances where someone mistakenly marries someone/someone thought their divorce was final but finds out they're still married, this book would be a nice change of refreshing straightforwardness.
Grace has been making up boyfriends since she was a little girl so when her sister feels guilty for stealing Grace's fiance she makes up another one. Like the title says, this man is "too good to be true," but her family jumps at the chance to meet him. Wyatt Dunn is perfect, a pediatric surgeon that rescues cats in his spare time, its hard to find anything not to love in this new fake boyfriend. Meanwhile the house next door gets a new inhabitant in the form of the sexy ex-con Callahan O'Shea. He's everything a girl can dream about (minus the minimum security prison time he served) and Grace soon starts to feel a huge attraction for him. Sadly she still has to perpetuate the lie of the fake boyfriend in front of her family and that means doing it in front of Callahan as well. How can she date Callahan the ex-con when her family will compare him to the fake standards of Wyatt Dunn? There's also some pretty funny antics with her parents and her gay best friend that I'm not going to get into but they were quite hilarious.
This book is probably not going to change your life, but it is a pleasant diversion from everyday activities. The reason why I like Kristan's books so much is that the heroine of the book is someone that I can relate to and oftentimes I have done some of the same stupid things that she's done. Grace is one of those people that you would want as a friend and Callahan is a man that is very crush-worthy. Add in Grace's crazy family and you have a recipe for another great book. The only reason why I gave it four stars is because the plot is very formulaic in all of her books, but a plot I really enjoy so I'll keep reading them until the last one.
Grace has been making up boyfriends since she was a little girl so when her sister feels guilty for stealing Grace's fiance she makes up another one. Like the title says, this man is "too good to be true," but her family jumps at the chance to meet him. Wyatt Dunn is perfect, a pediatric surgeon that rescues cats in his spare time, its hard to find anything not to love in this new fake boyfriend. Meanwhile the house next door gets a new inhabitant in the form of the sexy ex-con Callahan O'Shea. He's everything a girl can dream about (minus the minimum security prison time he served) and Grace soon starts to feel a huge attraction for him. Sadly she still has to perpetuate the lie of the fake boyfriend in front of her family and that means doing it in front of Callahan as well. How can she date Callahan the ex-con when her family will compare him to the fake standards of Wyatt Dunn? There's also some pretty funny antics with her parents and her gay best friend that I'm not going to get into but they were quite hilarious.
This book is probably not going to change your life, but it is a pleasant diversion from everyday activities. The reason why I like Kristan's books so much is that the heroine of the book is someone that I can relate to and oftentimes I have done some of the same stupid things that she's done. Grace is one of those people that you would want as a friend and Callahan is a man that is very crush-worthy. Add in Grace's crazy family and you have a recipe for another great book. The only reason why I gave it four stars is because the plot is very formulaic in all of her books, but a plot I really enjoy so I'll keep reading them until the last one.
Helpful Score: 1
Once again I have mixed emotions about this author's book. There's a lot that's good here, but sometimes one false note is all it takes to take away the shine. That false note comes when the heroine comes clean about the boyfriend she made up to stop her family from pitying her when her ex-fiance gets engaged to her sister and the hero's reaction is that she's a liar and he coldly walks away. Up until that moment, I though Callahan was a great leading man. I'd have even allowed him that judgmental moment (as out of character as it was) if it had only lasted through the fight, but when he held onto it, it was like the author had suddenly replaced the hero with someone completely different and I lost respect. For him. Or maybe for the author. In the end, it doesn't matter. I'm happy when an author manipulates me skillfully, but when the characters start acting out of character so the author can make a difficult plot point work--when I can see the strings on the marionette, as I could here--it's not a good time.
Guess I'm done with this author.
Guess I'm done with this author.
Helpful Score: 1
I have read several of Kiristan Higgins books and have enjoyed them all. This is her best.
Helpful Score: 1
As with all K.H. books, this book was witty and enormously entertaining. The characters were very true to life and relatable. Reading this books was a very enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.
I liked this book for the snark and comedy alone. The story was good but there were a few so-so moments in it for me where I didn't think it was all that good. However, I did love the first meet between Grace and Callahan. But I'm glad I finished it because it turned out better than I expected. I'll be reading other books from this author in the future.
I loved this book. The first couple of chapters were a little too full of all the different characters but after that the book really flowed. I found myself smiling or laughing out loud occasionally. I loved the chemistry between the main characters, Grace and Callahan. I'm requesting another book by this author today!
I loved, loved, LOVED this book!! I fell in love with the characters immediately and wasn't disappointed.
This was a very easy and enjoyable read. Great and unique storyline,with lovable characters! I have found a new romance author to follow!!
This is the first book I've read by Kristan Higgins and plan to read more. Of course the story has the ending we want, but that is becasue the readers want it! I really enjoyed the book.
This book got off to a slow start. I thought it took a while to get into the heart of the book. After the first 30 pages or so it turned out to be a really good book. I would read it again!!
I enjoyed this book because it was funny throughout the entire book. Not just comedy funny, but real-life situations that have a good sense of humor. It included family, friendship, and romantic relationships all in one. A good read!
This was my 2nd book by Higgins. I previously read "Just One of the Guys" which I enjoyed, but not nearly as much as this one. After reading this I decided to try her other two books.
There were times the story seemed to slow a little and I was getting frustrated and impatient with our main characters, but in the end I very much enjoyed the way everything unraveled.
***I do admit I'd have liked to see some vindication for our hero with his own family problems****
There were times the story seemed to slow a little and I was getting frustrated and impatient with our main characters, but in the end I very much enjoyed the way everything unraveled.
***I do admit I'd have liked to see some vindication for our hero with his own family problems****
easy read, entertaining
I picked this book up because of the cover. I absolutely adore the cover but once I read the back of the book I knew it was a must read. Maybe it was their feet that I found so cute or the way he is holding her! I'm a romance junkie! This is an amazing book! Once I started it I could not put it down, reading it long hours into the night! Grace is devastated to find out her sister is dating her ex-fiance and in the heat of the moment tells her family she has a new honey! She gets a new neighbor who has a sketchy past, such a sketchy past that he's been in prison and knows how to handle himself! This is the typical good girl falling for bad guy.... but is he really a bad guy??? If you enjoy romance and have ever been to the place where you needed to make up a boyfriend or had a crush on a cute neighbor (haven't we all?), than this is the book you HAVE to read!!!! I loved it!!!!
I thought this was a great book. Easy read. It made me laugh out loud. One of my favorites by Kristan Higgins.
Have you ever been dumped, only to find it's because he is in love with your sister? If so, then you will know what Grace is going through. If not, the author knows how to make you feel it. Now everyone looks at her like she is forever doomed, so what is a girl to do? Make up a boyfriend of course. But what's a girl to do when she looks out the window and sees her sexy new neighbor? Dump the boyfriend and try her luck? Grace can tell you though, things are always that easy.
I wanted to like this book. However, it was a big disappointment. I don't know where the author was hoping to go with the story. If this was supposed to be a romantic comedy, it fell flat. There's really no romance or romantic tension. The romance comes twenty chapters into the book!
There are parts of the story that are funny and sweet. Kristan Higgans writes books with wacky families, quirky friends, and a cute dog or two. This book is the same way, but the heroine was so wishy-washy, and lacking a backbone where her family was concerned, that I got fed up with reading about her. She's a complete doormat. I had several moments where I wanted to slap her in the face because she was being such a martyr. She never stood up for herself during multiple situations where she had every right to assert herself. Grace, the heroine, was so lacking in authenticity especially her slavish devotion to her younger sister who is going to marry Grace's ex-fiancee. The fiancee dumped Grace for her cute, blonde sister three weeks before the wedding, but Grace carries on like it was nothing even though it was enormously painful. Making up a fake boyfriend so that her younger sister could feel good about marrying the man you were going to marry seemed so preposterous and juvenile.
The hero is ok, but there isn't any sexual tension between the heroine and hero. Also, the author made him totally overreact in one scene which seemed so out of character for him that it was hard to get past that manufactured tension. It wasn't believable that his character would behave that way.
Personally, I wouldn't waste a credit on this book. This isn't one of Kristan Higgins's best efforts.
There are parts of the story that are funny and sweet. Kristan Higgans writes books with wacky families, quirky friends, and a cute dog or two. This book is the same way, but the heroine was so wishy-washy, and lacking a backbone where her family was concerned, that I got fed up with reading about her. She's a complete doormat. I had several moments where I wanted to slap her in the face because she was being such a martyr. She never stood up for herself during multiple situations where she had every right to assert herself. Grace, the heroine, was so lacking in authenticity especially her slavish devotion to her younger sister who is going to marry Grace's ex-fiancee. The fiancee dumped Grace for her cute, blonde sister three weeks before the wedding, but Grace carries on like it was nothing even though it was enormously painful. Making up a fake boyfriend so that her younger sister could feel good about marrying the man you were going to marry seemed so preposterous and juvenile.
The hero is ok, but there isn't any sexual tension between the heroine and hero. Also, the author made him totally overreact in one scene which seemed so out of character for him that it was hard to get past that manufactured tension. It wasn't believable that his character would behave that way.
Personally, I wouldn't waste a credit on this book. This isn't one of Kristan Higgins's best efforts.
More chick-flicky romantic comedy than the more scandalous affairs Ive become used to when it comes to romance, Kristan Higgins writing will have you smiling, bouncing, and sighing over this straight-up romance with the best of intentions.
Grace is a smart and funny woman with a really awkward weaknesses when it comes to talking to and about guys that will make you both pity and empathize with her. Sometimes her stupidity when it comes to guys drove me crazy: you kind of just want to shake her and yell in her face, SNAP OUT OF IT, ALREADY!
But when Grace is not making a fool of herself regarding guys, shes the best, with an endearingly geeky love of Civil War reenactments (have you ever met a character who was into Civil War reenactments? I didnt think so) and appreciation for teaching history. This makes it totally possible for us to cheer for her happy ending, when she finally gets itand Callahan is no slacker in the ideal guy department, if yanno what I mean.
Complete with zany family members and laugh-out-loud dialogue, Kristan Higgins books will now be on my radar forevermore when Im looking for a sweet and funny romance. Highly recommended!
Grace is a smart and funny woman with a really awkward weaknesses when it comes to talking to and about guys that will make you both pity and empathize with her. Sometimes her stupidity when it comes to guys drove me crazy: you kind of just want to shake her and yell in her face, SNAP OUT OF IT, ALREADY!
But when Grace is not making a fool of herself regarding guys, shes the best, with an endearingly geeky love of Civil War reenactments (have you ever met a character who was into Civil War reenactments? I didnt think so) and appreciation for teaching history. This makes it totally possible for us to cheer for her happy ending, when she finally gets itand Callahan is no slacker in the ideal guy department, if yanno what I mean.
Complete with zany family members and laugh-out-loud dialogue, Kristan Higgins books will now be on my radar forevermore when Im looking for a sweet and funny romance. Highly recommended!
great book! love the story!
Great book! I stayed up all night reading it!
My first Kristan Higgins book and I will definitely read others. This was a fun, light read. At times made me laugh. A contemporary romance for sure, not rocket science. So if you want a little fluff, something to take you away from your everyday life for an afternoon I recommend "too good to be true".
