The Next Best Thing by Kristan Higgins

Everybody has told me how fun Kristan Higgins' books are, but  I didn't find much fun in The Next Best Thing. I usually don't read other peoples reviews, yet I needed to see if I was the only one who was on the border for this book. I'm just glad I wasn't the only one who felt this way. Don't fret, I plan to read another Higgins' book, because you can't go by just one book is my opinion. Who knows I might re-read this one again to see if I feel differently about the story.  However, my currents on this thoughts on this book are:

Lucy Lang has been morning for her husband who has been dead for five years. First off, if Lucy had been a real person, I would have hauled her butt done to a therapist to get her some help. I understand sometimes it's hard to get over a love one, but there comes to a point when you need seek help. You know what it's ok to ask for help. Then you have her mom and aunts who totally didn't help the situation. They were proud members of the Black Widow (which they form cause each of them loss their husband before the age 50). This caused a stigma on Lucy's life. The Black Widow's should have been a little more discreet with their choice in life, but they were proud that they survive.

Lucy wanted to break form and seek out another marriage to start a family. I had a little problem with this idea. It's ok to want another relationship, but she needed to put aside the morning clothes (figuratively). My problem was she wasn't looking for love, but someone who wasn't going to die at a young age. Life is too unpredictable to live safe. No one is guaranteed a long life, so you really should make the best of what is given to you. Lucy had a hard time with this concept. This basically boils down to Lucy had a major character flaw and she absolutely drove me nuts.

Now Ethan Mirabelli should be offered a sainthood. In away, he was pretty unlucky. He basically loved a girl who couldn't see how much he was in love with her. Then his brother basically stole her away. So, he was competing against his brother (who's dead) to get Lucy's attention. The guy stuck with her through thick and thin. On top of it, his parents treated him like he wasn't good enough, because Jimmy was so "perfect".

Overall, I had a hard time getting into The Next Best Thing, and a lot had to do with Lucy comparing everyone to Jimmy. Of course, you're not going to find Jimmy, but it's time to move on if you want. There were some good things about the story, but it just didn't out way negative. This story could have been an off book. Every author is entitled one of those. I'm not going to write off Kristan, because of a possible off book. Or it could be me. So, if you want to read The Next Best Thing, you can give it a try, because this is just my opinion on the story.

Copy provided by Harlequin via NetGalley

Rating:
1/2