Publication Date: October 24, 2006
Pages: 384
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Millie Barnes is this close to finally achieving her perfect life... Rewarding job as a local doctor on Cape Cod? Check. Cute cottage of her very own? Check. Adorable puppy suitable for walks past attractive locals? Check! All she needs is for golden boy and former crush Joe Carpenter to notice her, and Millie will be set. But perfection isn't as easy as it looks—especially when Sam Nickerson, a local policeman, is so distracting. Sure, he needs a friend after being dumped by Millie's fortune-hunting sister, but does she really need to enjoy his company that much? He is definitely not part of her master plan. But maybe it's time for Millie to start a new list...
Hero: Sam Nickerson
Heroine: Millie Barnes
Grade: 2.75 out of 5
Rewarding job as a local doctor on Cape Cod? Check. Cute cottage of her very own? Check. Adorable puppy suitable for walks past attractive locals? Check! All she needs is for golden boy and former crush Joe Carpenter to notice her, and Millie will be set.
But perfection isn’t as easy as it looks–especially when Sam Nickerson, a local policeman, is so distracting. Sure, he needs a friend after being dumped by Millie’s fortune-hunting sister, but does she really need to enjoy his company that much? He is definitely not part of her master plan. But maybe it’s time for Millie to start a new list…
I started this book and was so ecstatic about starting it because I have fast become a fan of Kristan Higgins. I have enjoyed every book that I have read by her so far (only have one more book on her back list to read before I’m completely done with all of her books) and I was just really excited about reading this one. I like the kind of romances that Kristan writes, they’re always cute, comfy and extremely funny. The heroines are always such delightful characters that it’s hard not to like and cheer for them to get their happy ending.
I cracked open this book at lunch the other day and I was super excited to start it because duh, it’s a Kristan Higgins and she hasn’t disappointed me yet but as I began digging into the story and I met the man who would become the hero in this story, I couldn’t help the little queasy feeling in my stomach, it bothered me so much that I couldn’t continue reading the story. I had to put it down and call Holly to talk it out with her.
I didn’t think that I could finish the book out because there are just some rules that you don’t break…even if you’re a fictional character. And Millie and Sam were about to blow that rule to shreds.
You see, Sam was married to Millie’s sister Trish for 17 years. They have a 17 year old son together. Do you see where I’m going with this? Sam and Millie are the hero and heroine. Sam used to be married (for 17 years) to Trish. Trish and Millie are sisters (blood sisters, not adopted sisters, not step sisters but sisters as in they have the same Mom and Dad sisters). Sam and Trish have a son together. Millie is the son’s Aunt.
One word comes to mind when you spell all that shit out: Pukey.
What makes this storyline even funnier is that my older sister Blanche has been married to her husband Ron for 17 years and they have a 17 year old daughter (well she just turned 18) named Chloe. Ron is one of the best guys that I know but I see him as a brother…the same way that Millie should have seen Sam.
So anyway, I didn’t think that I would be able to finish this story out because for me, it was just gross. But I got home from work that night and I pulled the book out with the intention of putting the book back on the shelf but I started flipping through it and then I read a couple of sentences from where I left off and three hours later, I closed the book with a sigh.
I finished the book.
Kristan Higgins did a pretty decent job of telling their story but I had a lot of issues with this book. One of the main issues that I had with this book was Millie herself. Millie is 29, she’s almost 30 years old and she’s still stalking her childhood crush. The things that Millie put herself through to lose weight, to catch Joe’s (childhood crush) eye made me shake my head because she’s not a teenager who doesn’t know any better. She’s an adult and she should have been above things like driving all the way to this guy’s house and scoping out the scene so that she knows what time he leaves for work so that she can come by the next day and pretend to be running by his house so that he would see her running and getting into fitness. She shouldn’t be planning her entire life around a guy who hasn’t looked twice at her…but she does.
She full on stalked the hell out of Joe and for her to still be doing those things at her age really ticked me off. So because of that and then the whole she fell in love with her sister’s ex husband of 17 years, I just couldn’t get it. I didn’t absolutely hate the story but I didn’t necessarily love it either. Everything that I ranted about in this review makes me wonder why I even finished the book at all. All I know is that I did and I’m still alive so who knows what this says about me.
So, I’ve gotta ask: Would you ever date your sister’s ex husband? Why or why not?
This book is available from HQN. You can buy it here.
My sisters ex is a total jerk. So, no I would never date him.
Well… if my bitchy snotty sister had been married to a “sam”, I would absolutly date him… besides the 17y.o. marriage. I remember that this storyline disturbed me a bit while reading the book but I quickly got over it.
However, It may be because I am an only daughter and thaugh couldn’t really relate to this situation…
No. No way. I actually think that’s crossing a pretty big line. Not only that but wouldn’t family dinners be pretty awkward?
I have a problem with books where the heroine and her sister have both slept with the hero. But ex-husband?! That’s just wrong on so many levels. I’ll give this book a miss.
I had the same issues with this book that you did so, no, I would not date my sister’s ex-hubby.
Hmmm, I probably wouldn’t…
I guess I enjoyed this book better than you did. see the, thing about this book though is that I bought Sam and Millie’s relationship. Millie was never close to her sister and seriously, her sister treated Sam like crap. Trapping him into marriage by getting pregnant and then, leaving him when she found someone better. As for Millie, I feel like she’s always have this hero worship for Sam. So I definitively bought it.
Sure, if you date your sister’s ex – boyfriend or husband, it becomes more tricky… However, should two persons passed up the chance of happiness because of it? I don’t think so.
I can’t follow a story-line where you’re dating your sister’s ex-boyfriend or husband!
That’s just pure nasty!
I just read my first Higgins book Too Good to be True it had a similar situation of a sister engaged to her sister’s ex-fiance.
Would I date my sister’s ex? It really depends on how their marriage ended and what their relationship was. I’d agree with Nath on this one.
This one was a DNF for me. I really didn’t like Millie. She went through her ‘transformation’ for all the wrong reasons and she was a 29 year old stalker which really made me uncomfortable. I stalked boys when I was in my teens (and did a lousy job of it *g) but ‘hello – I grew up”. I just couldn’t respect the heroine at all and if I don’t respect the heroine – the book is ruined for me.
As to whether I would date my sister’s ex – a huge NO. One of my sisters has an ex who is a nice guy – cute, funny and a lot of good qualities and according to my sister, quite good in the bedroom. But he just wasn’t right for my sister. But I would NEVER go down that path because it would hurt my sister even though they have been divorced for years.
I’m the only daughter, so I couldn’t honestly say whether or not I would date my sister’s ex…but if I replace ‘sister’ with best friend the answer would be no. Friend’s husband are off limits…and even if he was an ex…no matter what they say, it’s like Kristie (J) said, people would get hurt.
I had the same issue with this book and “Too Good to Be True.” I just kept thinking that the world is a big enough place to find someone to be happy with who has no prior history with a family member. I’m sorry, but I can admire someone and even feel attracted, but there are certain lines of demarcation that I just can’t cross. How do you not think of the fact that this dude has bumped uglies with your sister every time you’re in the throes. Even if her sister was the biggest bitch ever…she and Sam shared intimate space (ok, maybe it was miserable), but it happened. Basically, even if my heart was engaged, my head wouldn’t let me go there.
I loved Kristan Higgins’ “Just One of the Guys”, but her other books didn’t work as well for me because of the relationship weirdness.
Crusie made it work for me in Crazy for You, but I also tend to find such scenarios pretty icky. (Throw in a pregnant with the brother’s child situation and the ick factor increases about a million percent.)
I was actually just wondering if there is some kind of word for these scenarios that are certainly not incest yet nonetheless flirt with the incest taboo in some way. Obviously they have some appeal because they’re so common, but I really hate them. — willaful
I don’t think I’d ever date my sister’s ex.
While this wasn’t my favorite Kristan Higgins book, I did enjoy it. I didn’t have a problem with the whole dating-one’s-sisters’s-ex storyline.
Diana