Too Good to be True

Last January I happily discovered Karen Marie Moning and her fabulous Highlander series and although I didn’t discover the Fever series until much later in the year, KMM was one of my best discoveries of 2012. It seems I’m keeping with this tradition again this year, I’ve just finished my first Kristan Higgans book and I think I’m in love.

Too Good to be True is the story of Grace Emerson. Grace lives in a small town in Connecticut. Recently dumped by her ex-fiancé, who’s now dating her sister, the history teacher and Civil war fanatic has had it with her family looking at her like a wounded puppy so she does what she thinks is the best solution- she invents a fake boyfriend.

When Callahan O’Shea moves in next door, they get off on the wrong foot and things don’t go so smoothly from there. Grace wants to know all about Cal’s illustrious past and while she is secretly fantasizing about him, she knows he’s not the right guy for her.

The characters of Grace and Cal are really good, they have a lot of chemistry but there is also a lot of laugh out loud moments from the moment they meet throughout the rest of the book. Higgins fills the book with great one liners and truly funny moments.

While this is a romance novel, there is a lot more going on in the story than Grace falling in love; she’s also trying to find herself again after being dumped by her fiancé and learning to stand up for herself. Her family plays a pivotal role in her story, not just her role in the family, but their love lives as well.

Higgins surprised me a few times and the story took a few turns I wasn’t expecting, which I really enjoyed. Although I knew Grace and Callahan would get a HEA it’s nice to break out of that romance mold once in a while and be taken by surprise.

One thing that surprised me but by no means disappointed me was the lack of hmmpm in the book. While it was implied, Higgins never went into descriptive detail. I actually found it refreshing and felt the book had a lot more to offer that it was able to stand on its own without the hmmpm.

What did annoy me in the book was Grace’s sister Natalie. She needed a good slap. She’s spoiled, sheltered and has never had anything bad happen to her. She is dating her sister’s ex-fiancé for crying out loud and she doesn’t see anything wrong with that and Grace just stands by and accepts it?

This was the first Kristan Higgins book I read and it was not the last, she snagged me with Too Good to be True. I really loved this book and this led me to discover other books by Kristan Higgins. I’m looking forward to reading more of her books in the future.