Review: The Next Best Thing by Kristan Higgins, now with bonus TMI!!

This book falls into my Contemporary Reading Challenge.

Okay, I think you all know I'm a Kristan Higgins fangirl. Out of the five books she's written, only one was disappointing to me and one is on my keeper shelf. I was really looking forward to The Next Best Thing, and I loved it!

Lucy Lang became a widow at the young age of 25 after less than a year of marriage. She's been a widow for almost five years, working at the family bakery with her mother and aunts. Who all became widows at a young age. It seems to run in the family, whose maiden name is Fekete, which is Hungarian for Black - they're known as the Black Widows.

As the story opens, Lucy is at the hospital where her younger sister has just given birth. Lucy decides this is what she really wants, and thinks maybe it's time to start dating again. Which will require that she end her "friends with benefits" arrangement she's had going with Ethan. Ethan has spent his life living in the shadow of his older brother, Jimmy. He's also in love with Lucy, although she doesn't know it. When she breaks off their arrangement, he agrees, but he's not too happy about it, because he loves her.

There is so much going on in this book - there's no way I can even begin to explain how good it was. I laughed a bit and I cried a bit. I'm not going to say I laughed out loud, more like a chuckle here and there, but here's where the TMI comes in: Occasionally, depending on where I am in my, uh....cycle...I might cry a bit while reading something sad. I'm nowhere near that hormonal hell right now, but there were several scenes in this book where tears just poured out of my eyes; times when Lucy missed her husband, or wondered if she was doing the right thing. Ms. Higgins just wrote those scenes so, so sweetly. And when the gypsy gave Lucy the message...Oh! It took me a few pages but once I figured it out I wanted to reach into the book and make her see!!! This book took a few turns but I enjoyed reading it and the characters kept my interest; I read this book in a day.

The Next Best Thing was a great read! I really enjoyed it and give it 4.5 stars out of 5.

Review: Crosssroads by Moira Rogers

Crossroads is the follow-up to Crux, and is the 2nd book in Moira Roger's Southern Arcana series. I thoroughly enjoyed Crux (my review here), and and have been looking forward to this book.

Nicole Peyton (Nick) is a bar owner in New Orleans. She's also a werewolf - not just any shapeshifter but the daughter of the New York Alpha. She's made her home in New Orleans to escape the politics of werewolf society in New York. Derek Gabriel was a regular guy with supernatural relatives until he was turned into a werewolf two years ago. He was attracted to Nick before he was turned, but since he was turned hasn't acted on those feelings because he's not sure he can control his "wolfy" urges and is afraid he'll hurt her. There's also the problem of who her father is - in this Southern Arcana world, the werewolf heirachy is very defined: natural-born werewolves consider "made" werewolves to be second-class citizens, and the governing body (Conclave) is like royalty. So naturally Derek's a bit intimidated because he's a nobody and Nick is "royalty". Nick is frustrated because she thinks Derek doesn't like her and doesn't understand Derek's reasons for not acting on his feelings for her.

As Derek and Nick finally start to act on their feelings towards each other, Nick's twin-sister Michelle and her guardian/boyfriend Aaron literally show up on her doorstep. Michelle and Aaron are in trouble with the Conclave; Nick knows the Conclave will send someone to hunt for them and knows she must do anything she can to help her twin. Nick gets her sister into hiding and decides she has to go to New York to try to save her sister and Aaron. She and Derek are also dealing with their feelings and urges for each other. The interactions between Nick and Derek were so sweet (and sexy!), and the scenes between the two of them when Nick went to New York were heartbreaking. The ending had a twist or two I didn't see coming, but was satisfying and made me smile.

This book was fast paced right up until the end - there was a lot going on. My only problem was that I couldn't keep all the secondary characters straight as far as supernatural/human and friend/relative/coworker. That was my difficulty with Crux as well, but I think it's probably just a reflection on the fact that I can't keep names straight in real life either.

I give Crossroads 4.5/5 stars - it was an enjoyable read and I'm hoping there will be more books in this series; several of the secondary characters have stories I'd love to read about. Crossroads goes on sale February 9, 2010.

Disclaimer: This book was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.