I did enjoy this for the most part, but am super hopeful for more of Higgin's future work - she's was so impressing in The Best Man that I feel she's grown tremendously as a writer since this book :)

And it's never a good sign when the reader (me) is no longer rooting for the heroine (sorry!). I felt he should forget about Lucy and find someone else who is completely into him. She was grieving, sure, but she was so blind and clueless! Ethan was the highlight of this story and I found my attention wandering when he didn't have any page time. Well, most the time :) He's also cute, swoony, cheeky and sweet (just an FYI) I loved watching their relationship, from present day, to the beginning, flashbacks and memories. He's such a genuine guy who's been shafted so many times. She takes her sweet time - everyone (readers and characters) can see the way Ethan feels, everyone except for Lucy (who casually, blindly uses Ethan for sexytimes). This set-up has all kinds of tension but Higgins takes her time laying the groundwork. Lucy is a young widow grieving her husband - and Ethan is her brother-in-law. The Next Best Thing felt fresh and different and, perhaps, less of a romantic set-up and more of a contemporary novel with romance. I really liked how Higgins detoured from her usual set-up here. It wasn't until I was a little way in that I realised this is an older book (2010) repackaged with a more contemporary cover (I am definitely liking the new cover schemes a lot more than Higgins earlier work). I was suddenly ridiculously excited to see a new Higgins book on netgalley. But can he convince her that the next best thing can really be forever? As far as he's concerned, what she needs might be right under her nose. Too bad Ethan Mirabelli isn't going anywhere.

So it's goodbye to Ethan, her hot but entirely inappropriate 'friend with privileges,' and hello to a man she can marry. But sharing her life with a cat named Fat Mikey and the Black Widows at the family bakery isn't enough either. A young widow, Lucy can't risk that kind of loss again. But most important: someone who won't inspire the slightest stirring in her heart.or anywhere else. Someone who'll mow the lawn, flip chicken on the barbecue, teach their future children to play soccer.

The next best thing kristan higgins