Leah
Written on Oct 13, 2011
I had mixed feelings about Until There Was You. First up, I’ll give you the good stuff. It’s very well written. I mean despite my issues with the book, I found it massively readable and Higgins definitely has the kind of writing talent that keeps you reading. I thought the fact Posey’s parents were of German descent and owned a German restaurant called Guten Tag to be a brilliant part of the novel, I loved Stacia and Max and I also loved how they’d adopted Henry and Posey. The adoption plot was fascinating, and I loved how everyone handled it; how despite the fact Posey and Henry were adopted, it wasn’t obvious. You know how you can be hit over the head with odd quirks in novels? Not with Until There Was You, Posey and Henry were part of the family as if they were indeed Stacia and Max’s own. I liked Liam’s daughter, Nicole, along with Posey’s best friend Kate and her (Posey’s) brother-in-law Jon.
What I didn’t like was the way Posey just so willingly throws herself at Liam. When Posey was in high school Liam said some mean things about her which Posey heard but she doesn’t actually confront him about it and although it is explained, I just felt Posey was too willing. Her constant blatherings in her mind about how hot Liam was, was distracting, too. I’m almost sure she spoke about how hot he was at least 1,000,000 times during the novel. But the biggest thing was that I was never convinced Liam actually, genuinely liked Posey. There was too little time focused on that and so I never really thought Liam liked Posey that way. It was more of an afterthought, more like she was just another distraction. He was a jerk, if I’m honest and Posey’s willingness just to forget what he did, to let him get away with being a jerk was horrible. I really, really liked Posey, but by God, I wish she had gotten a backbone or some self-esteem, or both.
Whilst I’m all for a bad-boy character, he needs to not be a caricature and although Liam had grown up – being a widower with a 16-year-old daughter will do that to you – he still acted like a teenager sometimes and it’s as if the whole bad-boy thing was an act or a facade. There was truly just something that didn’t click with me, for Liam. He had his sweet moments, the bell in particular, but I dunno. I also thought the novel left a lot of questions. We’re told Posey’s cousin Gretchen has debts and a little problem, but come the end of the book there’s no resolution. Ditto with Liam’s problems, his OCD, it’s like it’s all forgotten. If you’re going to give your characters quirks and problems, you have to resolve them. You can’t just let them hang. That doesn’t work for me too much. I want resolution!
But for all the problems I had with the book, it was enjoyable and I did like it. The romance was there, at parts, and it did make me smile, and I loved Posey’s pets, particularly Shilo her 140lb dog. I liked her assistant, Elise (she made me laugh!). I loved Stacia and Max, I loved how protective they were of Posey. I loved the relationship Posey’s best friend Kate had with her adopted son James (adoption all around!). I liked Brianna, Posey’s “little sister” through a big brother/big sister scheme. There was a lot to like about the novel, truly there was, but there were also issues with it. Will I try another of Kristan Higgins books? Yes, I will. (And if you have a recommended one, please do tell! What’s your favourite of Kristan’s books?) I think her die-hard fans will lap it up (without sounding patronising/condescending), but I suspect she has better books out there. It wasn’t all a bust though and, ultimately, I liked it. It was very readable, but the hero of the hour? He didn’t really do it for me.
