Posey Osterhagen tiene mucho que agradecerle a la vida. Es la propietaria de una exitosa empresa de rehabilitación de edificios, su familia la arropa y tiene un novio, o una especie de novio. Aun así, le parece que le falta algo. Algo como Liam Murphy, un tipo alto y peligrosamente atractivo. Cuando Posey tenía dieciséis años, ese chico malo de Bellsford le rompió el corazón. Ahora que ha vuelto, su corazón traidor está de nuevo en peligro. Lo que tendría que hacer ella es darle calabazas pero, en cambio, el destino parece tenerle reservado algo distinto.
Kristan Higgins is the New York Times, USA TODAY and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than twenty novels, which have been translated into more than two dozen languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide. If you want to receive a free short story and be notified when Kristan releases a new book, sign up at kristanhiggins.com.
Kristan enjoys gardening, mixology, the National Parks and complimenting strangers on their children. The mother of two entertaining and wonderful humans, and the grandmother of one perfect child, Kristan lives in Connecticut with her heroic firefighter husband, cuddly dog and indifferent cat.
I guess when you binge on an author’s backlist, you’re bound to stumble across one that doesn’t leave you all starry-eyed. Don’t get me wrong, the character development, snarky humor and compelling storyline was all there, I just didn’t feel the sparks between Liam and Posey, like I was expecting to. In fact, Kristan Higgins failed to convince me these two belonged together or that Liam could ever love Posey somewhere deep down in his soul.
There’s a cringeworthy aspect to this story and it’s our heroine Posey’s lack of confidence and inability to stand up for herself. I get it, sometimes it’s hard to let go of our insecurities or fake it until we make it, but I wanted to grab her and shake her. Anything to get her to see she deserved so much more than what she was putting up with. I was hoping to see some growth, over the course of the story, but Posey pretty much remained a doormat the entire way through. A life lesson on valuing ones-self, this book does not provide.
In steps Liam, the bad boy returning to town after years away, and she basically falls at his feet. Forgetting that he barely gave her a second glance in high school, despite having worked at her family’s restaurant, and decimated her heart on prom night. Apparently all of that hurt was easily brushed aside when his gorgeous face was in front of hers and he actually managed to mutter a few words, out loud and directly to her, albeit grudgingly, in the beginning. That was all it took for her to throw herself at him . . . incessantly.
Kristan Higgins switches things up a bit by giving us the male perspective this time around, but I don’t think that helped the situation for me where Liam was concerned. He checked all of the requisite boxes to be considered book boyfriend material (leather jacket wearing, motorcycle riding, kitten rescuing--brooding hottie), but some of his insensitive thoughts about Posey rubbed me the wrong way and I never fully recovered. I was harboring some major hurt feelings, even if Posey wasn’t.
Liam had somewhat of an ego, but it was more than that. On some level, he projected this attitude that he was too good for Posey, like it would be all too easy to let her go and never look back. Liam’s feelings for Posey didn't quite measure up to her feelings for him, at least not in my eyes. One grand gesture, no matter how swoon-worthy it was, wasn’t enough.
This might not have been my favorite book, but here’s no denying, Kristan Higgins is a writer that delivers a compulsively readable, or in this case listenable, story. I can’t say it enough, the Kristan Higgins and Xe Sands (narrator) matchup is incredible, especially if you’re looking for a good laugh.
How about one that overlooked you and your love as a kid, ruined your social life in a stupid attempt to help you in a 4 minute time span that he could divulge to you and then forget you even lived for the next 15 years? How about one that leaves you at every turn because he hides behind parenting his child? How about one that is so hooked up on his dead wife that this child is almost a bizarre extension of what he had with her? How about one that dreams about said wife five pages before your HEA while sniffing her pearls and so on? How about one that goes and does a very lame 'i love you singing scene' only after his daughter said she has nothing against you in his life? How about one that inserts an 'When my kid is ready' clause even in his oh-so-romantic proposal of marriage 2 pages till the finale?
You want this hero? The hero that loved the moronic wife even thou she loved him for like 5 minutes only and he did not even mind and still panted over her for close to 20 years? The one that on the other hand treats you like a commodity, like trash, like nothing worth wile, and most importantly like second best to everything else in his life?
Then by all means, have him. But do not make me imagine your HEA. I don't think I can handle the emotional abuse you are going to go trough.
Meh. I didn't really care for this book, though the writing was superb. I was somewhat disappointed with the heroine. I liked her a lot, don't get me wrong, but her unwillingness to stand up for herself started to grate on my nerves. I kept waiting for her to stop being everyones doormat, unfortunately that never happened. Plus, I wasn't able to fully accept or believe in the supposed feelings the hero had for the heroine. I felt his feelings for her never compared to his feelings for his deceased wife. In fact, the book seemed to focus more on his feelings for his wife than his feelings for the heroine. Making the ending, while a sweet HEA, somewhat hollow and anticlimactic.
Higgin’s books are often considered more chicklit than romance, with the lack of hero point-of-view cited as the reason they may seem insufficiently romantic. In Until There Was You, she departs from her usual first person style to give us both points of view -- yet ironically, though it’s a good read in many ways, it’s the least convincing romance by her I’ve ever read. Possibly one of the least convincing romances I’ve ever read.
Once upon a time, the school bad boy married the school good girl and they moved away to live happily ever after… leaving Posey, the school flat-chested girl, brokenhearted. But happy ever after was ruined by death, and now Liam is back in town, a widower with a fifteen year old daughter -- and still the hottest guy Posey’s ever seen. Ludicrously overprotective and anxious about his daughter, Liam finds that being with Posey is unexpectedly comfortable and relaxing
First the good. As always, it’s funny. Depictions of Posey’s difficult adolescence brought tears to my eyes. And though I think the casual feel of Higgin’s writing works better in first person, getting Liam’s perspective is helpful, at least at first -- knowing that he has a lot on his mind makes it more forgivable that he pretty much ignores Posey for the first third of the book.
There’s often a serious edge underlying Higgins' lighthearted books, and there’s plenty here. On Posey’s side, there are issues over her adoption: greatly loved, she nonetheless feels something of an outsider in her family, and worries that her parents wish she was more like her cousin, a strapping German beauty who looks just like Posey’s mom. This aspect of the book is well-drawn, with tenderness and realism. (Posey’s brother was also adopted, and plans to adopt a child with his male spouse, so there’s a very balanced view of the topic.) And I thought it interesting to have a hero with severe anxiety -- it’s not a sexy disorder. Liam’s over-the-top protective dad act gets annoying though, and I can’t believe that in real life his daughter wouldn’t seriously rebel against his almost psychotic behavior.
I enjoyed the details of Posey’s work in architectural salvage. It’s more of a mission to her than a job, making sure things that were left behind are cherished and loved: “Something that had life in it yet, even if it was slightly damaged, or broken. Something that might find new meaning, new beauty, if given the right home.” How’s that for a metaphor? And this attitude of Posey’s is healing for Liam, who had never felt good enough for his wife or his daughter.
So -- what goes wrong? Part of it is Posey: her incessant mental squeeings over Liam reduce her feelings to an adolescent crush. And I found it unsatisfying that Liam so easily gets anything he wants; Posey barely seems to hold a grudge for something extremely hurtful he once did, and after a little initial resistance, which is probably what gets his attention, she throws herself at him at every turn. He always gets to be the one running the show.
But the nail in the romance coffin for me was that Liam’s feelings for her never seem like more than a mild affection, that will never be as powerful as his love for his first wife. A grand, classically ridiculous romantic gesture by him at the end can’t make up for that.
Considering that Until There Was You made me laugh and cry, I can’t give it less than three stars. But if you’re mostly looking for strong romance, I’d recommend looking elsewhere.
Mi tercer libro del #RitaKristan #RetoRita3 y vaya por delante que me ha gustado pero... no entusiasmado. Se me ha hecho un poco cuesta arriba el rollo del pueblito maravilloso que siempre nos vende la autora, me ha faltado amor por parte del protagonista masculino y me ha sobrado esa escena final taaaan peliculera. Y ¿qué decir del gusto de la protagonista por Neil Diamond?
#RetoRita3 #RitaKristan Gracias al reto Rita estoy conociendo nuevas historias y nuevas autoras. Seguramente lea más libros de Kristan Higgins. Me ha gustado mucho este libro, sobre todo por que te saca unas risas, es una historia sin mucho drama, hay momentos tristes pero no es para cortarse las venas. Sobre todo me ha gustado mucho la protagonista, por que a pesar de que su entorno la viera como un patito feo y de no haber destacado en su época de instituto, a sabido salir de todo aquello y siempre ha mantenido su forma de ser y no la ha cambiado por nadie. El prota de la historia también me ha gustado muchísimo y lo que me tenido que reír , viendo como cría a su hija adolescente que a veces le traía loco con ciertos temas. Pero con los que de verdad te partes de la risa, son con los padres de Posey y sus amigos. A todos le faltan un tornillo, pero tienen cada caída que es lo que hace que disfrutes del libro. Ha sido un libro entretenido, bien escrito y que me ha servido para desconectar.
Another enjoyable standalone from the amazing Kristan Higgins. She can write about family, love, heartbreak, and all their complications like nobody's business.
My favorite quote: “But they're family, and you forgive them, even if they are the human equivalent of hyenas. Because that's what you do. Forgive.”
Who doesn't love a bad boy? It really doesn't matter if you are young or old, the bad boy has appeal. Picture this: Piercing green eyes, dark hair, powerful body clad in well worn jeans and a black leather jacket with a motorcycle helmet tucked under his arm and a smile that promises to fulfill all your fantasies. Now, you are lying to yourself if that mental image doesn't turn you on!
Posey is just one of those loveable characters that you just want to squeeze and you get a little teary-eyed just thinking about people mistreating her. Now, of course since I said that, you know they do! Then there's Liam. You know that bad boy I made you picture a minute ago, well, that's him. Yum! Although he is dubbed the "bad boy," he is a total sweetheart and hell, I want to squeeze him too, but for totally different reasons ;-)
I really loved this story! It toggles between current day and memories from Posey and Liam's past. Sometimes, that type of narration can be distracting, but not in this case...It really helps to understand all the characters, and why they are they way they are today. It is a sweet, sad and passionate telling of a romance that takes twenty years to evolve. I'll be honest, I don't typically cry over a book, but I was wiping away tears on several occasions while reading this one. It is definitely a feel-good romance worth reading.
**Advanced Reader Copy Provided by Netgalley and the Publisher, HQN**
This was a little different from the usual KH fare. There was a third person POV from the hero! Usually, KH writes using the heroine's POV for most of her books. Aside from the Blue Heron series as of late, books were told in the first person. But here, she gave us a sample of what she's now doing with Blue Heron, and I love it. Getting into the mind of the hero is perfect for connecting with him, understanding his motives, thoughts etc.
I really liked this, Posey was a sweet but passed over type of woman. Never beautiful enough, too skinny, short, unremarkable. But has anyone ever looked close enough? She's adopted and so is her brother but she's never been made to feel anything but a cherished daughter. And really, everything was fine until high school, until prom, where she was humiliated, laughed at and had her heart broken by the boy she tragically crushed on, 18 odd years ago.
That boy, the bad but oh, so good Liam Declan Murphy, is back in town. He's a widow with a 15 year old daughter, but aside from his looks the man resembles nothing of the reckless boy he once was. I loved Liam, and understood his situation with Posey. I think the set up was very realistic, a man widowed, trying to do right by his daughter, trying to stay focused on providing a safe environment. If he had rushed off and proclaimed love for Posey early on, or gave in to his restrained feelings without thought it would have seemed cliche. He held back a lot with Posey but showed enough that she believed him to care deeply. I think in real life this would have played out the same. His daughter was the best thing to happen to him and her acceptance or permission for Posey was obviously founded. There were many emotional and angsty moments, I cried a lot! Posey had trouble standing up for herself but as the book progressed she did as well and came into some much needed confidence.
Loved Liam's POV, his concern for his daughter, his insecurity of being good enough for Posey, his regrets...were all palpable. The ending was beautiful as well as the epilogue, and of course the cast of secondary characters was perfect. The right blend of family neurosis, love and forgiveness, really liked this!
Seguramente éste libro acabe entre los mejores de este año, porque me ha cautivado desde el minuto uno hasta que he cerrado el libro y en todo momento, tanto mientras leía como mientras esperaba en la estantería para continuar con él, con una sonrisa en los labios, era instantáneo, verlo y que la sonrisa se me instalara por lo mucho que me estaba gustando y ahora mismo que ya lo he terminado cuando lo miro me pasa lo mismo, no lo puedo evitar. Así que no creo que con esta reseña vaya a hacer justicia a todo lo que me ha hecho sentir este libro. Sé que de primeras parece un libro con una historia romántica más que se sitúa en América y en la actualidad, y si que es una historia sencilla y sin grandes pretensiones pero como pasa con algunos libros esto no hace más que darle un encanto especial; he leído ya varios libros así y me han acabado encantando sobre todo por la narración, pero es que aquí todo es redondo, no le puedo poner ninguna pega.
Hasta que llegaste está cargado de sentimientos, me ha hecho estremecerme más de una vez, reírme, emocionarme y por supuesto enamorarme con unos personajes muy curiosos pero perfectos en su imperfección. No sólo encontraremos una historia de amor inolvidable, preciosa y llena de matices sino que también ésta la amistad vista desde diferentes relaciones y los lazos familiares, con sus buenos y malos momentos, así que hay un gran surtido de sentimientos desde diferentes perspectivas y ninguna de ellas me ha defraudado. Ya sea la relación que se va creando poco a poco con Posey y Liam, la amistad inquebrantable que tienen Jon, Kate y Posey, a unión y el cariño que se procesan los Osterhagen o por supuesto la protección y el miedo de Liam por su hija, todas están tan bien perfiladas, con sus dosis justas que hacen que las veas reales y que acabes encariñándote con todos esos personajes.
I was very disappointed by the time i finished it.Did not like the way Liam behaved with Cordelia through the book,did not feel any love blossoming from Liam's side,i felt he was still hung on with his guilt and past and was very much in love with Emma,as a father his decision to keep his daughter first was right but why did he started this affair with Cordelia when he knew how deep she felt for him.
Cordelia i wanted to like her but the way she always let everyone walk over her and the begging n all even putting herself so down that she is ready to be the substitute,made me dislike her.
Many questions were left unanswered,wanted Liam to suffer a little and grovel severely for Cordelia but he was forgiven too soon got everything else easily.We got the HEA but i still felt Liam had a long way to go with his feelings for Cordelia,did not want them to get married at the end it would have been better if they decided to give their relationship time and then take the big step
How bout no? How bout I don't think this dude was good enough. how bout he can shove his hypothetical "lurve" up his glorified bad boy ASS. How bout our heroine needs to grow a fucking spine? I'm annoyed. I dunno if you noticed. God...I usually read a couple reviews (five star and one star reviews just to be sure) before starting a book, but seeing as how I absolutely adore Kristan Higgins, I winged it. Bad choice. I should've known, what with the whole dead wife and teen daughter...that's always a bad trope for me. Oh well...2stars because the writing as always was magnificent and engaging.
When I began reading this book, I was so sure that I would really like it. However as the story went on I really began to dislike it.
The things that attract me to Kristan Higgins' writing and storytelling are very evident in this book. Great family dynamic, a heroine who has some issues but also has a great sense of humor about it, and some really interesting break-out secondary characters. She also has a voice that I find comfortable and easy going.
However I all that couldn't overcome my exasperation and sometimes dismay at the two main characters.
Posey Osterhagen has loved Liam Murphy since she first set eyes on him when she was a sophomore in high school and he a senior. She was the adopted daughter of a pair of German restauranteurs and he a bad boy just out of Juvie. But High-school was a nightmare for Posey. She was picked on, ignored, belittled. While Liam, who also worked for her parents (so she got to be in close proximity to him and thus nuture her crush even more fiercely), quickly became the social Alpha dog.
But Posey's crush is, well, crushed, when she over-hears Liam saying something really cruel about her to her date on the night of the senior prom. Liam later leaves town with his high-school sweetheart at the end of the school year.
Fast forward 20 years later, Liam returns to town, a widower with a 16 year old daughter of his own in tow. Posey is now a successful business owner but in many ways she is also still that somewhat outcast teenager. And still like that teenager, Posey discovers that her crush has come back to life with a vengeance.
I wanted to like Posey. I did. But she was just too much of a pathetic doormat to me. People just kept kicking her and she would let them. Her loser boyfriend Dante saw her as nothing but a booty call, her cousin tormented her and was cruel to her and worst of all was how Liam treated her. He treated her so dismissively and so casually for most of the book and yet she was just starry eyed in love with. At one point they begin an affair but he breaks it off because of problems he is having with his dead wife's parents. Posey begs him to take her back even though, as she says, she knows she'll be second best to Emma (the dead wife). Just...ugh! I kept wanting her to grow a pair. I don't need a kick ass heroine in my books to like her, but i don't want a dishrag either and I certainly don't want to have to pity her. She needed some dignity.
But then my issues with Posey really pale in comparison to my issues with Liam. The big deal with this book is that for the first time KH has decided to give the hero a POV. Normally she writes in first person from the heroine's perspective. Well, really, I could have done without it because it made no difference in the book except to actually make me question what was the point? What good is giving the hero a POV when it give absolutely no insight to his feelings about the heroine? Posey barely registered in his thoughts.
What was supposed to be (I guess) and amusing aspect of Liam's personality was his over-protectiveness of his daughter. He kept saying he knew the mind of a teenaged boy because he was one (and truthfully he was a real slut in high-school). In reality I found no real humor at all in Liam's over-protective hi-jinks. I thought they went over the line into obsessed-stalker vibe. His POV chapters were mainly focused on his need to protect his daughter and reflections on his life with his now dead wife. I kept waiting and waiting and waiting for him to think about Posey. To give some glimmer of an idea of what he felt about her. That came at about,oh, 70% into the book. But by then it was a little too little and a little too late.
At least if the book had been kept at heroine's first person POV like KH's previous books, I could have preserved the illusion that he was thinking about her and she just wasn't aware of it. Oh well.
It does end on a high note and he ending is sweet. But still, too little, too late.
‘Until There Was You’ is Kristan Higgins latest offering and it’s different yet again in tone, but still has some trademark tropes (of both the genre and her previous books I’ve read).
I love the premise, it may be cliche, but it is deliciously addictive in its anticipation. Posey’s high school crush, bad boy Liam “tall, brooding and criminally good-looking” returns to his home town, widowed with a teenage daughter in tow. Posey and Liam have some history between them, more-so from Posey’s POV who crushed on him hard and felt burned (whereas Liam is oblivious to some of the scars he caused).
This is Higgins first book where the POV swivels between both the heroine and the hero. And I do think she works the device really well, highlighting misunderstandings, creating tension and building foreshadowing nicely. Plus it was nice to be in Liam’s head, her male POV was pure fun :)
Liam’s suave: exuding confidence and success, ladies everywhere keen to jump the guy (LOL) but he battles demons of his own... He’s hot enough to rival any fictional hot bad boy, but secretly tender under it all (aww ;))
Posey is independent, klutzy, intelligent and comfortably quirky yet secretly aching for acceptance and love. Small in stature (and we are continually reminded of her equally small bosoms ;)) and quietly feisty. She is surrounded by a larger than life (adoptive) family who run a German restaurant.
I love how Higgins molds the relationship between her leads. She gets the tension (sexual and otherwise) cracking. She banters brilliantly with dialogue. She creates an equally compelling back story ~ side note: a few chapters are set back in high school days and a fateful prom night, a touch of YA crossover, eh? I LOVED the back story. The sex scenes are tasteful (it’s more about the tension beforehand than a tedious play-by-play. Very fade to black, thank you) adding to the character interplay. It’s all good fun.
It’s written like a romantic comedy and you could easily see the whole thing being played out on the big screen. Many awkward moments ensue between the leads, requisite misunderstandings, short-lived happiness followed by personal demons interrupting but all with a smiley HEA (and smoking hot male lead). I felt Higgins shifted focus with this books to trying to give her characters more emotoinal depth, making it more character driven (thank plot-driven), a touch womens’ fictions mixed in with her usual rom-com style.
I did find some of the side characters and side plots tedious. I wanted to read about Liam and Posey, watch their sparks fly and see them quietly romance each other. Sometimes the story felt bogged down with external plot-lines. The family’s restaurant was fun, but many of the scenes dragged. Posey’s friends were good for a laugh, but didn’t feel overly integral to the main story arc. I was tempted to skim some side-plots to get back to the good stuff ;)
I am not sure it is my fave Higgins so far? But I know I will be interested in reading more of her work when I am in that guilty-pleasure, pure good-fun, smiley times mood. I recommend this to fans of Susan Elizabeth Phillips :)
This one is not my favorite. While I enjoyed it, a couple of things kept me from rating it higher. I was not thrilled with the H and the description of the h.
The description/appearance of the h is a recurring theme/peeve for me. I don't need perfect looking people, but I do need to feel like there is some aspect that is appealing enough to attract 2 individuals. I didn't get that here - the god-like beauty of the H and the overlook 3+ time appearance of the h is not believable to me. This is fiction and I like this author for her characters, story and HEA (sometimes I really need it.) Don't get me wrong - I liked the h ok - just there are a lot of scenes with the lack of appeal of the h, so I didn't feel this one as much.
The character of the H is very weak. He is somewhat appealing. I like jerk heroes and I can take a manwhore/former manwhore. But the author lost me on this guy. All the requisites of a changed and caring guy, but he didn't totally work for me.
I liked the story - but the 2 main characters were off - considering I've been on a binge with this author, they suffered in comparison.
Ha sido una lectura que me ha gustado, aunque tengo mis pegas. Comprendo que Posey sea una persona pasiva, pero me hubiera gustado ver unos padres más protectores en ese aspecto. Y me han sacado de quicio bastantes personajes. Aun así, he disfrutado de esta historia
4,5 / 5 Bu yazarı çok severim ve TR de çıkmış bütün kitaplarını okuduğumu sanıyordum. Ama bu kitabı ya gözümden kaçmış ya da aradan çok zaman geçtiği için unutmuşum 🤔 yine çok severek ve eğlenerek okudum. Özellikle Ronaoke Kızları gibi depresif (ama güzel) bir kitaptan sonra ilaç gibi geldi 😊
I'm having a really hard time characterizing this book. It's so middle-of-the-road that it's hard to pull out anything truly distinctive about it. It doesn't help that I finished it four days ago and simply couldn't be bothered to review it for so long.
For all their little quirks and nods to individuality, the characters just felt kind of flat. Posey was something of a dreamer/doormat and Liam was mostly a heartthrob bad-boy-gone-good. Sadly, that tells you pretty much all you need to know about both characters. And yeah, I love that bad-boy-gone-good thing, but I also like to have some distinctive bits to hang my heart on. And for all the knocked-in flavor added by Posey's family's avocation (though I've never heard German food made to sound so very pedestrian) it never did feel like more than window dressing in a particularly worn-down strip mall.
So it's bad enough that Posey was a doormat to her family, but her family were barely two-dimensional pastiches of their various kinds to boot. The overprotective mother. The generous but unassuming father. The beautiful-but-psycho cousin. All of these trappings were "flavorful" in their own way, but they never progressed beyond that very surface presence.
So yeah, it's a three-star read. Barely.
A note about Steamy: There's some explicit sex. I forget how much, but recall it being about the middle of my steam tolerance. It wasn't terribly distinctive except that it was interesting having a main character who was rather, uh, unendowed without that being downplayed or overplayed either one.
Kristan Higgins'in yayınlanan ilk kitabı Geç Gelen Mutluluk, yazarı favorilerim arasına taşımaya yetmişti. Güzel bir öyküyü, hafif dram ve bol romans ile anlatan yazarın uzun zamandır kitabı çıkmıyordu. Bu kitabın çıkacağı haberini aldığım anda tahmin edersiniz ki deliye döndüm diyebilirim. Vee alabildiğim en yakın zaman içinde elime geçirdim, bu dün oluyor, ve bu sabah da bitmiş bulunuyor, gerisini siz anlayın.
Bu seferkinde de durum öncekine benziyor. Posey, gerçek adı ile Cordelia, gençliğinde aşık olduğu serserinin şehre geri döndüğünü görünce yine eski hislerine kapılmaktan kendini alamıyor. Aslında bir evlatlık olan Posey'nin yine evlatlık alınan bir abisi ve onun partneri Jon var. Bir de çekilmeyen kuzen Gretchen'ı unutmamak gerek. Posey'nin ailesi Alman ve Alman yemekleri yapan bir restoranları var.
Liam ise lise çağlarına serseri gibi dolaşmış, orada burada takılmış, Posey'i ise görmezden gelmiş bir gençti. Ne zaman iyi kalpli Emma'yı okulda gördü, o zaman ona vuruldu ve bir şekilde onunla evlenip bir kız babası da oldu. Bu süreçte Posey zaten görünmez kız olduğu için yapabileceği bir şey yoktu, Emma'yı o da çok seviyordu ve Liam zaten farkında olmadan mezuniyet gecesi onun kalbini çok fena acıtmıştı. Ama Emma'nın ölmesi üzerine kızıyla şehre geri dönen Liam her şeyi ona unutturacaktı.
Liam aşırı korumacı bir baba. Aşırı derken burada neredeyse obsesif kompülsif bir bozukluktan bahsettiğimi anlamanız gerek. Kızının her hareketini izliyor, erkeklerle yakınlaşmasını istemiyor, arada bir panik atak geçiriyor, öyle bir baba. Araları yine de çok iyi kızıyla. Gençliğinde görmezden geldiği Posey'den ise etkilenmeden edemiyor. Onu hem güldüren, hem de mutlu eden bu minik kadınla ilişkisine devam etse de ona istediğini veremeyeceğinin farkında. Zaten aralarının açılmasına neden olacak şeyler de olacak ama sonunda yine aşk kazanacak.
Liam ve Posey çiftinin anlatırken birçok yan olaydan da bahsediliyor. Yaşlı Virginia, favori gay çiftiniz, ilginç ilişkiler gibi. Kadının yazışına hayranım, ayrıca Koridor'un çevirmeni Rabia Taş'a da hayranım. Gördüğüm en iyi çevirmenlerden biri, hiçbir sorun yaşamadan rahatça kitabınızı okumanızı garanti ediyor Rabia hanım. Kitaba dönersek, öncekini daha çok sevmiştim ama bu da kötü değildi. Güzel zaman geçirtti ve ileriki kitaplarını dört gözle bekliyorum.
10/16/2023 re-read on audible. This one did not hold up as well as most of KH's books on Audible. Posey got on my last nerve with her constant obsessing over her physical reaction to Liam's hotness. "Meowing Lady Parts" indeed. Blech! Also Liam's over the top over protectiveness of his daughter Nicole was very unhealthy. Nicole could handle it and her love for and understanding of her father was touching. I just felt sorry for the nice boy who dared to want to date her. Liam was mean and bullying. Most everything else was great though. This one had a lot of terrific things in it still. Especially that will at the end. As I mentioned in my first review below, the nature of Posey's love was even more suspect on this reading. It really seemed like a juvenile crush than real mature love. Dropping a star. **original review** I loved this one by KH. It has everything I have come to expect, which I won’t list here. Suffice it to say this has all of the humor and brief episodes of heartbreak that most of her books do. The character of Liam was very unusual as he was a hot bad boy, but with mental health issues which softened and made his character really interesting, 3 dimensional, and lovable. I do want to respond to the main complaint about this book, which is that some did not “feel the love” that Liam had for Posey. That he was too hung up on his first wife. His marriage was based on puppy love, love at first sight, which the longer they were married, the further apart they grew. Liam was not happy. His wife was not happy. The only thing they had in common was their child. That is made crystal clear. Liam’s love for Posey was a mature love. He needed her. She healed him. For those who mistake shallow gooiness for love, you will be disappointed in this book. No groveling, which some readers seem to yearn for. Just repentance, understanding, and forgiveness. If anything, Posey’s love for Liam was suspect, more like a crush, not the other way around.
Also, I must add that this book contains one of my Kristan Higgins favorite scenes which is Liam's confrontation with his mother-in-law and father-in-law. Priceless. And Joe, the kitty. Tears, yes, but the way she brought it full circle in the end was wonderful.
This hasn’t been my favourite Kristan Higgin's read to date, but I did like it overall. Posey has harboured a crush on Liam since high school and now he’s back in her life.
On the one hand, I really felt bad for Posey. She has self-esteem issues, feeling inadequate as the adopted daughter who doesn’t live up to her cousin in her parent’s eyes. (or so she believes) She doesn’t think enough of herself to force the men she dates to publicly claim her and instead becomes their “secret”. On the other hand, I kept wanting to give her a shake the whole way through this book. I wanted her to realize she deserved better.
Liam was a tough character to figure out. I wish we had gotten a better view into his head. It might have made it easier for me to empathize with him. I will say, though, when Kristan writes about
The last part of the book redeemed some of the earlier things in the book that frustrated me. Not a great read, but still a good read!
I'm going to write a review just because I want to escape the horridness that is Accounting! Anyway, Until There Was You is Kristan Higgan's latest contemporary romance novel. This book... was quite different yet the entire feel and setting is totally the same. I didn't love it as much as her previous book, My One and Only, but it was really sweet and the hero is to die for! I mean who can resist a bad boy turn good named Liam Murphy? Our heroine, Posey Osterhagen, is probably one of the dorkiest and cutest that I've read from Higgans' books so far. See? They're already a match in heaven...?! Kidding aside, these two used to be the total opposites of one another. And when Liam finally realizes that he loves Posey? It's a must read for sure. And thank you NetGalley, for granting me this lovely arc when I was in the mood for a sweet story with a lovely yet cheesy ending!
Posey Osterhagen is our heroine of the story. She's your every day gal, right? Except for that fact that she's not the most beautiful girl in town, kind of plain, short, and she's actually adopted. The story starts out with her telling readers that she's used to be in love with this boy who ultimately broke her heart and never even realized it. Yes, it's another of those 'second chances at love' kind of stories and I love it. If you look at it from Posey's sixteen years old point of view... her love was tragic. The boy that she'd been crushing on was the 'God/Bad Boy' of the town, Liam Murphy, and he ended up falling in love with the town's 'Little Miss Sunshine/Good Girl' and they ended up happily ever after, right? Nope, I guess not since he's back! But it's actually more than that and we'll get to find out the real reason later on!
Liam Murphy is our hero and to be honest, I think he's the sexiest hero yet. He's a bad boy turned good due to the magical entity called 'love.' And yet, he's back in town as a widower/father to a teenager named Nichole. The moments when he tries to intefere with his daughter's social life were so hilarious! But anyway, he's back... and now it's time to face his past and live up some memories. Liam had never really thought much about Posey. She was the girl who used to crush on him... so when they meet again, he didn't exactly have any good old memories to recall with her. Well of course, until he starts noticing her lips. That changed the ball game entirely, don't you think? The side characters were all pretty amazing. I loved Jon, Posey's brother in law. Sidenote: Posey only has a brother and he's adopted as well. So brother-in-law? Haha! YES! Her brother Henry is gay and Jon and him have been married for 10 years. They're relationship is super cute and sometimes, the town tries to convert those two back to being straight.
Overall, this book was truly a stress reliever to my school days. It was cute, the characters had great depth-- even though I do have to admit that I didn't exactly feel Posey and Liam's chemistry together was that high. It was still a very good book and as always, I'm looking forward to Kristan Higgins' next book!
I would have enjoyed this book better if KH would just omit out the hero and heroine entirely from it. Those two just about annoyed me silly.
Liam was so self centered that I actually was glad when he broke up with Posey. One of his selfish moments:- -Emma, you really screwed me by dying, Liam thought irrationally. WTF? Should Emma his late wife apologize for being sick with leukemia and died from it thus ruining Liam's life now? Liam, you are officially on number 2 spot in my Most Hated Hero list right after Ted Beaudine.
And I hated that Posey actually beg Liam to not break up with her TWICE because he dumped her TWICE! Have you no dignity, woman? Break up scene #1. -Liam, I don't need much. I mean, I know you have to think about Nicole, but I don't see why we have to...stop seeing each other. Break up scene #2. -I want to be with you. I want you to pick me. I know Emma will always be your first love, and that's fine. But don't just... don't just let me go. You won't be sorry, Liam. I'm worth it. Well hell. When you actually have to spell out to a gut that you are worth it, chances are he would miss the mark the next time too. Like I said, have you no dignity, woman?
Other than Liam and Posey supposedly romance thingy, I enjoyed the town's story.
I have seen some mixed reviews for Until There Was You, but I LOVED it! The heroine, Posey, was adorable and Liam was HOT! I am so, so glad that Higgins did not make Liam just the stereotypical motorcycle riding, bad boy turned good, who is too cool for most of the female population. While on the surface it appeared he was going to be like every other gorgeous alpha hero, I was pleasantly surprised by how neurotic he was. I loved the scenes were we see his OCD, his panic attacks, and his psychotic over-protectiveness of his teenage daughter. My favorite quotes in the book come from Liam dealing with his daughter's boyfriend:
"She is really cute," Liam agreed. "Also underage. Got it? I'll press charges so fast, you'll be picking up soap in the state prison before you even blink."
and this one too
"Let's get this straight, pal," he said in a dangerous voice. "I know what you're like. I know what you're thinking. I know you, kid. I was you. I know what you have in your pants, and it's gonna stay there."
Thank you Kristan Higgins for writing Liam's perspective; I loved getting to see the story through his eyes which is different from Higgins' typical first person, female POV stories. For letting us get into Liam's thoughts, I will forgive you for a somewhat corny ending.
Effortlessly hilarious, this book sported a very likable small-town heroine who worshiped solicitously the age-old ultimate high-school bad boy of our times, all her life, who, oblivious to the notion, didn’t return the favor.
Liam Murphy, an adorable dream come true hero, was a delight to read about. The way he was narrated by the author throughout the book should alone be enough to make the readers sigh dreamily. Ms Higgins quite fluently helped fill us up in Posey’s (heroine) shoes to recognize her devotion and love for Liam throughout the years! But, the moment of cheer begins, when he finally starts noticing her!
The riotous varying secondary characters were amazing and screamed bona fide enough to help the plot give an exclusive edge. The dialogues will help readers reduce to laugh out loud with glee.
An excellent contemporary novel, outlining a feel-good fluffy romance plot written in an extraordinary way, this funny book is recommended to all romance readers!
Initial Thoughts- I don't really know how to rate this book. It was a typical Kristan Higgins book for me- too clean and the story and characters just suck you in. I felt like I kept reading not only because it was so interesting, but I wanted it to get better... for the heroine, Posey, at least. She was so funny and normal, but I just felt so sorry for her because everyone was so mean to her, overlooked her or put her down and she wouldn't tell them all off, but put up with it. I wanted her to get prettier, she had an amazing personality, but I felt she could never compete with the dead wife and it just made me feel so bad. Bottom line- I think I liked it, maybe a lot, at times loved it; the ending was very satisfying, it was a quality story, BUT...
One thing that I thought was hysterical was the way Liam, the hero, reacted to his 15 year old daughter's boyfriend, his reaction and and rules were priceless.
After reading many Kristan Higgins I can officially say that this is my favorite book by her. Something about the book almost made me sentimental. Maybe the loss of first love or the pain of being a 16-year old who didn't actually fit in school despite having friends and trying hard, everything just made me sliiiightly emotional while reading this.
All of that made it a bit more natural than the happily ever afters often happening, though I wished they fleshed out the story of the whole Rick-Posey-Liam back in prom thing. It was concluded a bit too fast. Other than, not much to complain here. Loved it.
Anlatımı güzel, konusu güzel bu tip eserlerden yani kendi türünün iyilerinden. Romantik aşk kitaplarından gibi görünsede sadece şu vıcık vıcık aşkları anlatmak yerine gençlerin ergenlik dönemlerinin çoşkusunu hüzünlerini yanlış anlaşılmalar yada fazla fedakarlıklar falan oldukça güzel çizilmiş ayrıntıları dahi severek okudum. uzun olmasına rağmen akıcı olduğundan ve basitçe yazılmış olan bu eseri herkes okuyabilir bence. Ayrıca oldukça ince zekalı alaycı anlatımları ile en acı olan durumları bile komik hale getirmesi güzeldi.