Blog Tour: Review + Guest Post: The Best Man by Kristan Higgans

Review + Guest Post

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review*

The Best Man
(Book #1 in the Blue Heron series)
Amazon | Goodreads | BN
Author: Kristan Higgans
Publisher: Harlequin HQN (February 26, 2013)
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Adult, 432 pages
ISBN-10: 0373777922
ISBN-13: 978-0373777921
My Copy: Paperback

SUMMARY:

Sometimes the best man is the one you least expect…

Faith Holland left her hometown after being jilted at the altar. Now a little older and wiser, she's ready to return to the Blue Heron Winery, her family's vineyard, to confront the ghosts of her past, and maybe enjoy a glass of red. After all, there's some great scenery there….

Like Levi Cooper, the local police chief—and best friend of her former fiancé. There's a lot about Levi that Faith never noticed, and it's not just those deep green eyes. The only catch is she's having a hard time forgetting that he helped ruin her wedding all those years ago. If she can find a minute amidst all her family drama to stop and smell the rosé, she just might find a reason to stay at Blue Heron, and finish that walk down the aisle.

MY REVIEW:

Faith Holland is the youngest of the Holland children. After being humiliated at the alter by her high school sweetheart/fiance, she takes off to California to get away for a while. And that "while" turns into years.

Oh. My. Gosh. Kristan Higgans is a pure genius! GENIUS! I absolutely loved The Best Man and all it's characters. After finding out that her fiance is gay, at the alter no less and being outed by the best man, Levi Cooper, Faith flees Blue Heron to put her past behind her. She's still carrying around the love and hurt for her ex fiance Jeremy. She thinks Jeremy has ruined her. No one, and I mean NO ONE, can measure up to Jeremy. Doesn't help that the first two men she meets and has somewhat of an "attraction" to in California are gay and the third man she meets, is a two timing asshole with a wife and child.

After getting a call from her sister, Faith packs her bags is on her way back to Blue Heron. She doesn't plan to stay long, but that short trips turns into an extended vacation with simmering heat between herself and Levi Cooper, the man who "ruined" her wedding. Levi and Faith didn't have much of a friendship growing up, but more of a mutual ground seeing as Jeremy was a big part of both of their lives. Running into each other now, there's a heat that's there and it's coming to a small boil.

I absolutely loved everything about this book. And all the characters. Yes, even the gay ex fiance was awesome. All of the Holland children are a hoot. Faith being the youngest, I didn't think I'd connect with the older siblings, but I did. Ms. Higgans mixed this big bad novel in a big ol' pot of love. Her ingredients:

• Gay Ex Fiance
• Sexting between two grown married folks
• Bathroom mishaps
• Chocolate
• Chocolate
• More Chocolate
• Wine
• Wine
• More Wine
• One hot smokin' chief sheriff (Levi Cooper)
• Cute dogs
• Bickering couples
• Faith Holland

Ahh. Yepp, that's one big ass pot of love. I might have left out of a few ingredients, but the chocolate and the wine will make up for it xD 

I'll admit, this is my first book by Ms. Higgans, but I can assure you it wont be my last. If you love yourself a light contemporary romance read that has you craving that glass of wine (seriously, this book is practically filled to the rim with wine), then this book is for you. This book is the first in the series, and I can't wait for the second story, where we catch up with Faith's older sister.

MY RATING:

GUEST POST:

THE BEST MAN is the first book in the Blue Heron series.  Do you sometimes find yourself beginning to write the next book before you’ve finished the one you’re working on? If you do, what do you do to remember all your ideas?

Since I haven’t written a series before, this has been a learning experience. Knowing that I’ll be picking up another character or two and carrying them into the next book(s) made it important to hint at certain things early on. For example, I knew that Honor, the middle sister, would be the next heroine, so I had to deal with her very carefully in THE BEST MAN.

What’s always interesting is that what one character thinks about another isn’t necessarily true—it’s just that character’s perception. So Faith, the heroine of THE BEST MAN, views her older sister as somewhat terrifying and uber-competent. Honor herself doesn’t see things that way…and she views Faith differently from how Faith sees herself. I love that stuff! It’s so true in families…how many of us have said, “Mom loves you best” to our siblings, only to have them screech, “Are you kidding? Mom loves YOU best!”

As I was writing THE BEST MAN, I knew a few things about Honor’s story, and I kept notes as I went along. When I got to the edits stage of the first book, I was pretty solid on what I needed to know about Honor in this first book.

I’m never terribly far from a computer, so when I get an idea that’s going to have to sit for awhile before it can geminate, I just write it down. If I’m on the road, I call myself and leave messages, so the kids might come home to find a message that says, “Make sure Honor references the grandparents anniversary party.” They know by now not to erase those. 

Hello! I’m flattered that you clicked the button. If you clicked by mistake, well, hello anyway.

I live in a small Connecticut town with a beautiful library, a great agricultural fair, nice people and not much else. I have two lovely, entertaining children and a brave firefighter for a husband, who is, perhaps more importantly, a fantastic cook. Digger from Fools Rush In is inspired my very own Digger, our cheerful Lab mutt. We also have two cats and grieve for an occasional, short-lived beta fish. 

I worked as a copywriter until I had kids and started writing fiction when my children graced my life with simultaneous afternoon naps. Writing, I surmised, was infinitely more satisfying than folding laundry, and so I started my first novel. Before long, I had finished Stalking Joe, whose title was later changed to Fools Rush In. Catch of the Day followed, winning the 2008 Romance Writers of America's RITA© award, which just thrilled me to my toes. Then came Just One of the Guys (August 08), Too Good To Be True (Feb 09), The Next Best Thing (Feb 10), and All I Ever Wanted, summer 2010. More books are in the pipeline.

I love to write books about relationships, since the search for love and security is one of the driving forces of life. And I try to focus on an aspect that’s common, if not universal, hence the “stalking” in Fools Rush In and the crush on the unattainable man in Catch of the Day. People ask if I’ve ever stalked a guy. Of course not! Jeez! Come on! It’s fiction! They also ask if I’ve ever had a crush on a priest. Of course not! Jeez! Come on! It’s fiction! As far as being crazy about one of my brother's friends, which is the plot of Just One of the Guys, well, yes to that one. But I'm not naming names. Dating a fictional man, like Grace does in Too Good To Be True? Um...can I take the fifth on that one? Whether it's my own experience or not, I try to find something we can all relate to.

When I’m not writing, I like to be with my kids, goof around with my husband, read, watch baseball, ride my bike and bake. I suffer from chronic bedhead and an unhealthy (and completely understandable) obsession with Derek Jeter, shortstop for the New York Yankees. Like Millie Barnes, I run, which provides the neighbors with some real entertainment. 

We spend as much time as possible at our family home on Cape Cod, swimming in the Atlantic, shivering on the beach, swatting horseflies and watching fish evade my lure at Higgins Pond. It’s as close to heaven as it gets.

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