I’ve been reading Higgins for reasons I previously explained, and I’m still feeling an ambivalence about her books. This book, too, is funny, and there were some great scenes in. But here, as well, was a silly heroine. Now, she wasn’t silly 100% of the time, fortunately. No, she was both very good at her job as a marketing specialist and with children.

The book is about Callie Grey, who’s just hit thirty without being married,* and Ian McFarland, who’s just moved to their small Vermont town to take over the vet practice there. Callie’s reeling because she’s just found out that her long-time crush and ex-short-term-boyfriend (and current boss) is seeing someone else seriously. He insensitively reveals this after giving her a sweet birthday present. She is rather obsessed with him, and (too?) much of the book is spent on him.

Ian is a bit of an enigma, on top of being socially inept and kind of a jerk at times. But we have faith that he’s redeemable and that there’s probably a good explanation for him being the way he is (there is). Callie, on the other hand, is super-friendly and everyone loves her. She offers to help him with PR because his vet practice is at risk of suffering due to his poor people skills.

The setup is fine, but here is some of the silly:

• Callie makes a scene in the DMV when she’s blubbering over her ex’s new relationship. Also funny, because it’s where she meets Ian, who rudely accuses her of having “verbal diarrhea.”
• Callie thinks it’s a good idea to buy some over-the-counter herbal concoction to get rid of her “food baby” overnight. This is idiotic. Do people really think you can shrink overnight? I don’t get it. However, also funny, because “food baby.”
• Callie hits a turkey in her car and thinks it’s dead. She races to Ian’s and gets, well, hysterical about the poor, innocent bird. Her overreaction irritated me. Yet also funny, because the turkey comes back to life and trashes Ian’s place while they run around trying to corral it out (but again, she’s acting a little silly during this, so…).
• All the women in town (at least those who have a pet) make unnecessary appointments with Ian in order to meet him and check him out, all on the same day. Really? Would that many women do that? Maybe I’m just not tuned into the normal woman (Truth).

So I’m definitely not immune to the humor in the book, even if the silliness grates. Below is a snippet from my favorite scene (Callie is escorting a group of five-year-old Brownies on a visit to the vet clinic, and Ian is hiding in the back before being coerced out to face them):

“Dr. McFarland,” I said, “can you tell us some of the most common operations you do?”

He shot me a grateful look. “Okay, well, we neuter and spay animals so they can’t, um, have babies … Uh, I remove tumors, set broken bones—please don’t touch that,” he said as Hayley began squeezing the pump of a blood pressure cuff.

“Maybe we could move on, Dr. McFarland,” I suggested.

…

We herded the girls back into the hall. “Ian, why don’t you examine Angie and sort of show them what you look for,” I suggested in a low voice. “And if you gave out a souvenir, that would be great.”

“I don’t have souvenirs, Callie. This is not a gift shop,” he said tightly.

“Tongue depressors, Ian. Cotton balls. They’re five. They won’t care.”

He nodded. Swallowed.

I liked this scene because it showed Callie being highly competent at something, and the scene is also very funny.

Higgins definitely captures a great voice for Callie, who is very easy to understand. Like all her characters, she’s self-deprecating and funny. She’s also well-loved by her family, including her extremely grumpy grandfather, who she lives with. The book is told in first person only from Callie’s perspective, but despite that, the other characters are very real. Especially Ian, who was probably a little difficult to write because he isn’t the most charming character.

The book’s dialogue and internal thought is natural and witty at appropriate times:

One does not often see one’s grandfather naked in one’s bathroom, after all. And thank the merciful Christ for that.

Finally, Higgins brings us into the setting with wonderfully placed details so there’s no doubt we’re in small-town Vermont or whatever specific setting the scene is in. And from the sample of Higgins I’ve read, I’ve seen that there’s a fairly consistent medium heat level because everything’s implied. This one is in line with that.

As ever, Higgins delivers a charming book that fans of light, small-town contemporary romance will love.

 

* A big deal to her. Not to everyone.