The Best Man (The Blue Heron Series Book 1)

My Review:

sigh Kristan Higgins books are my happy place and I've been saving this one because I love them so much. It did not disappoint. Everything about this book was good. From Levi and Faith and how much they truly don't like each other, for different reasons. Then there's Jeremy, Faith's former fiance, who's just too sweet...and a bit clueless...to be real. But oh, I could so see him as a great best friend for both Levi and Faith.

Faith is a real girl. She has real girl curves and is epileptic. She has a dog she loves, a family she lovingly tolerates, and a secret that she's hidden for twenty years. In the meantime, she's tried to be as perfect as possible to make up for it. The one flaw in her perfect world....Levi, the guy who's never liked her...oh, and yeah, he ruined her wedding to the perfect guy. So what that he was gay and no one including her realized it, they still had a good thing going. But Levi has never made it any secret that he only endures Faith when she's around.

Levi grew up as one of the poor kids. He always watched Faith from afar with her perfect-princess persona, always helping and volunteering and being too sickly sweet to everyone. It drove him nuts and he never saw the person below that facade, even though she dated his best friend for years. Now Faith is back and their paths keep crossing, showing Levi a completely different person than the one he thought he knew.

For the first half of this book, the story unfolded with a chapter from the present followed by a chapter from the past. I'm not a huge fan of this many flashbacks, but it worked for this book because so much of who these people are and what has put them where they are at in their lives rests in the nuances of the past.

It was interesting watching the way the characters, especially Levi, have evolved from the past. At first, I really wasn't sure I was going to be able to like him, but by the end, I was in love. sigh Such a great character and he is so perfect with Faith. He's a much more introverted person although he's always helping people and showing his feelings in little subtle ways. Faith is all out there. The two of them together were great.

There was also this huge cast of characters from this tiny town...and a lot of them are just that...characters. It was fun to get to know everyone in the town. My favorites: *Jeremy *Sarah, Levi's little sister.

There was also a great moment with Levi at a car wreck that just melted my heart. I was so happy that K. Higgins included that little touch.

Overall, this was another FANTASTIC read from Kristan Higgins. I am so happy that it's the beginning of a series. I LOVE upstate NY and this little tow

THE STORY: Faith Holland is left at the altar by her long term boyfriend who is forced to admit he is gay. Faith is devastated and leaves town for San Francisco. Three years later, she returns and runs into Levi Cooper, her former fiance's best friend and the man who forced the disclosure of her fiance's sexual orientation. Faith has known Levi since childhood and the two have rubbed each other wrong for years -- and yet there is also something between them that has flared at different parts in their life. Now they are both unattached and something more begins to form between them.

OPINION: I really liked this book because it focused on the romance between Faith and Levi. Their romance is slow in developing -- most of their lives -- but once the story coalesces, the long, slow buildup has a great payoff. The book is funny and poignant and I liked how Faith and Levi are clearly the couple that is meant to be. I especially liked how their history is set out so that a reader can see how their romance could have emerged at any time in their lives if different choices had been made. Higgins' world is multifaceted and the characters are complex. I especially liked the complex relationship that Faith has with her former fiance because it would have been easy for his character to be made the villain. Instead, the characters are well-rounded and the motives are murky and sometimes contradictory. I really liked the realistic situations and how Higgins builds a world that feels like it could actually exist. Her characters are flawed, imperfect people and I really liked how those things are the reasons for -- rather than against, the romance between Faith and Levi.

WORTH MENTIONING: This is not an explicit book. The sexual scenes between the characters are brief and are mostly the builld up and then aftermath rather than explicit scenes of what happens in bed between the characters.

FINAL DECISION: This is not a book that I expected to like, but I really liked how focused the book is on the relationship between Faith and Levi and all of the other material illuminates their complex relationship.

CONNECTED BOOKS: This is the first book of the Blue Heron Series.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4.25 stars.

This book is awesome!! I finished it a few days ago, after reading it start to finish until 5am in the morning, because nothing could make me put it down, and I've been thinking about it since!!! As always, Kristan Higgins makes you laugh and cry and become emotionally invested in the loves and lives of not only her main characters, but their friends and family as well.

Faith is coming home three years after being left at the altar of what was supposed to be the most perfect wedding day her small town had ever seen. And what happens when she crosses the town line? She gets pulled over by the sexy-manly man-war hero Levi, the Chief of police, for speeding. Oh, and he also just happens to be the man who destroyed her wedding. Not the groom mind you, but the best man, and the (still) best friend of the groom Jeremy. So as you can imagine sparks and insults start to fly, but you can see from this first meeting that this book is going to be fabulous!! (In fact I think I giggled and sunk deeper into my reading spot on the couch, already knowing that I wasn't going anywhere for the next few hours!!!)

Faith and Levi continue on through the story as adorably hilarious characters who seem to not like each other, but also seem oddly drawn to one another. But as we know ladies, men who so often annoy us, often times adore us!!

Faith is the baby of her founding family, the "princess" with a bubbly sweet personality, but who has a deep secret that haunts her. Her mother died when she was a kid, and her family has never fully recovered. Each of her siblings works for the family vineyard in some way, except her. But she's coming home to put her stamp on the business and create something beautiful with her landscaping design. Jeremy was, and is, the only love of her life but she knows she needs to move on.

Levi on the other hand, was the poor kid from the wrong side of the trailer park whose dad left, only to move 20 miles away, but still can't be bothered to be a father to Levi and his sister. So as a lot of boys do who have no where to go after high school, Levi joins The Army and enlists in three tours in Afghanistan. Then his mom takes ill and passes away and he's left taking care of his little sister and making sure she graduates high school and makes it through college. He also takes on the Chief of police role to a town full of utterly (but hilariously) incompetent people who need his help rescuing chicken from under porches and other high stress situations.

Faith, Levi, and Jeremy have been "friends" since high school, and the author does a great job bringing the reader up-to-date with flashbacks into their combined and separate pasts. I think having them interwoven into the story makes the story way more interesting, because its like the author is slowly filling in puzzle pieces that continually make you fall more in love with Faith and Levi as a couple.

That's all I really want to write about the plot, because I want you to read and discover all the wonderful and silly and awww moments for yourself. But this book is truly wonderful and is a touching story about family, old and new love, and forgiveness. You will not be disappointed!!!

Faith Holland comes from the beautiful wine country of Manningsport, California. Her family own the famous Blue Heron Winery, and two great big farm houses where their great-greats all grew up too. But Faith moved to San Francisco three years ago, after a left-at-the-altar, broken-hearted incident and now she rarely ever goes home. But when her older sister, Honor, tells her to come home and help their father before he marries a gold-digging harlot, Faith is on the next flight home and intending to stay for an unspecified time.

Despite reservations at bumping into her old fiancée Jeremy - high school sweetheart and the man who broke her heart (and seemingly ruined her for all other men, since he's still the last one she's ever been with) - Faith is drawn home by her own guilt. When she was just a little girl she was in the car with her mother when a speeding motorist slammed into them, killing her. Faith feels a great deal of guilt because she told everyone she was having an epileptic fit which distracted her mother, and Faith has been trying to make amends ever since.

Once home, Faith is tip-toeing around Jeremy, putting up with everyone's sympathetic eyes and trying to pry the claws off dad's unintentional girlfriend . . . but the real thorn in her side turns out to be one Levi Cooper. Once town bad boy, Jeremy's best friend and the "best man" who decided her wedding ceremony was the perfect time for Jeremy to come out of the closet. Levi went and joined the army fresh out of high school, but now he's home in Manningsport and police chief - caring for his teenage sister after their mother died, and still seems to have a deep hatred for Faith - who he snidely nicknamed Princess Super-Cute in high school. Never mind that Faith and Levi have another side to their past that both of them are reluctant to delve into . . . even when sparks begin to fly again.

The Best Man' is the first book in the new contemporary romance Blue Heron' series from Kristan Higgins.

Insane, I know, but I'd never read a Kristan Higgins book until The Best Man'. Of course, I'd seen her on many a bookshelf and recommended-reading list . . . but her covers always seemed too cutesy to me, suggesting her romance stories might be all sugar, no spice. But after reading everyone rave about her new Blue Heron' series, I decided to put my assumptions aside . . . and now I'm eating my words.

Faith Holland is a hopeless underdog if ever there was one. She's had a three-year drought since being left at the altar by her closeted fiancée, who she'd loved since high school and already had baby-naming plans with. Since Jeremy, Faith has had a succession of dating disasters - and when we first meet her, she's right smack in the middle of another one. Though hilarious, it's also quickly apparent that Faith is desperately lonely and still scarred by her failed relationship (which, really, had been doomed from the beginning - so Faith has never actually had a proper relationship in her whole life).

Upon returning to Manningsport to help out her family (save her dad, and also redesign the old barn into an ideal wedding and special occasions venue) Faith is forced to re-open old wounds. Everyone in this little town still has deep sympathy for the girl who was left behind. Never mind that Jeremy is the local doctor and universally beloved by all, that just makes everyone pity Faith all the more.

The one person who isn't buying into the whole "woe is Faith" thing is Levi Cooper - Jeremy's best friend, dreadful best man and perhaps the one person in Manningsport who never bought into Faith's goody-two-shoes act. As such, Faith feels Levi's contempt for her radiating off him every time they bump into each other (like when her dog, Blue, winds up under a neighbours' house or Faith is found dangling from a bathroom window - long story).

`The Best Man' has quite a lot of stories and histories to set up in order to fully understand (and sympathise) with certain characters. In the beginning we get Faith's perspective on her high school romance with Jeremy, and the fateful day it all fell apart. From Levi we get the beginnings of his high school friendship with Jeremy and events leading up to the wedding that would have never worked. And from both Faith and Levi we get a little extra history about a brief moment in high school when the two of them entertained the thought that maybe they had a little chemistry themselves. . . all of these interwoven with Faith's return to Manningsport and those same sparks flying again between her and Levi.

Higgins beautifully sets up this little Manningsport town and all the old histories and personal ties within the community. I actually really liked the backwards-and-forwards narration, even when reflections of the past seemed to keep repeatedly hitting Faith like an anvil. I was very wrong to assume that because Higgins has a tendency to feature cute and fuzzy animals on her covers, that her stories would be sickeningly sweet and easy - far from it! Both Faith and Levi have a lot to overcome within themselves and their histories to be together, and Higgins has indeed (though not unbelievably) piled on the dilemmas, for Faith especially.

But I loved Faith, maybe all the more for her hard lot in life. She's still a laugh-out-loud riot and quick wit. Though Levi's memories of teenage Faith are of a sugar-coated suck-up, in reality Faith has a thorny side that she doesn't mind subjecting Levi to - and that just made me love her all the more.

I really liked that Faith and Levi had an antagonistic history that seemed built on false assumptions and damning secrets. It meant they were far from a love at first sight' cliché, and much closer to a Pride and Prejudice' slow-burn.

This was such a fun, easy read that alternately had me laughing-out-loud and lip-quivering in some parts (and, okay, swooning in others) I can't wait to read the next `Blue Heron' instalment.

I thought the story was pretty good, with a slightly different twist than many of the "standard" romance novel story lines, but I really had a hard time getting used to the informal, Sarah Palin-esque voice the author employed. I did manage to get into the story eventually, and I liked the book, but I didn't love it. The biggest plot point I had trouble swallowing was everyone's continued pity for the author so long after the aborted wedding, which was cancelled because the groom was gay. Under those circumstances, why did everyone in the community treat her the way they did? I felt like they would have been more supportive. Also, as a design professional I actually laughed out loud when the author mentioned that the landscape architect was working alone on a major project with a very generous fee, especially at her relatively young age. But that's probably a nit-picky detail that I only noticed because I work in a similar field.

Overall, this is a pretty light-hearted read about a girl that goes home after an extended absence and finds love where she least expects it. The characters are a lively bunch, and there are even a few really humorous scenes that are both noteworthy and sweet. If you like an informal writing style with some over-the-top gag humor then you'll probably like this book a lot. If not then you might still like it, but it will be a little more of a stretch.

An interesting story by Kristin Higgins of heroine Faith Holland, who is left at the altar by a runaway bridegroom. So heartbroken by the wedding fiasco, Faith travels to California where she builds a successful career as a landscape architecht. After a three year absence from her family-run winery, Faith returns to New York State wine country to participate in the wine harvest. This brings her in contact, once again, with Jeremy Lyons, her runaway bridegroom, and Levi Cooper, her Best Man. Faith must convince herself that she can trust a man again, and discover that Levi really is the best man for her.

There are some quirks in the chronicles of Faith, Jeremy and Levi that I found difficult to pass over, (for example, Faith's epilepsy is briefly pivotal to the story, and then it is literally forgotten), but overall, the story is well-done. It is full of many other peripheral characters (some times, too many, I think), and chock full of many funny scenes between them. A big sticking point for me was the lack of sexy scenes, but once you get to them, they are well done, and perhaps worth the wait.

I recommend The Best Man for a light, easy read full of interesting characters that will get you to smile.

The first person Faith Holland sees when she goes back to her hometown to visit her family is Police Chief Levi Cooper, much to her displeasure. She holds him responsible for breaking up her relationship and ruining her wedding - after all, he was the one who convinced her fiancé Jeremy to dump her. The truth however, was not so simple: Levi always suspected his best friend was gay, even though Jeremy himself never said anything. It's with that in mind, that Levi confronts Jeremy in the days leading up to the wedding. The result is a dramatic and very public break up - at the altar, no less. After the fallout, Faith leaves town for San Francisco, and Levi, then a soldier, heads back to a warzone.

The Best Man takes place years after - even though the characters are all older and wiser, Faith is still suffering the fallout of her almost marriage. Returning to Manningsport only compounds the situation: small towns don't forget, and her scandal was a big one. To make matters worse, Faith keeps bumping into Levi. The Chief clearly has a stick up his arse, but even Faith can't deny that he makes her lady parts sing. Could this be a case of opposites attract?

It took me a few chapters to warm up to this book. Thinking back on it, I'd have to say that the prologue and first chapter don't do the rest of the story justice - but boy, am I glad I stuck with it. There is so much more to this story than just a romance. Both Faith and Levi have their own personal obstacles to overcome before they can be happy together, resulting in some funny and often face palm-inducing hijinks. Their respective families are a huge part of the story, providing much insight into the couple. I liked this attention to particularly Faith's life away from her romantic escapades- it made for a well-rounded and likeable character.

There comes a point when Levi and Faith are together, but haven't exactly defined their relationship - leading to much awkwardness. This gave their story an edge over other contemporary romances I've read lately - it felt more real.

There is a lot--probably too much--going on in this book. The main plot involves Faith (who returns to her hometown in upstate NY three years after her high school sweetheart, Jeremy, jilted her by coming out of the closet on their wedding day) and Levi (Jeremy's best friend and best man at the ill-fated wedding, who served four tours of duty in Afghanistan and is now the chief of police in their adorable small town). The minor plots include (in no particular order, and probably I'm leaving some out): 1) Faith working out her grief and guilt over her mother's death when Faith was twelve, 2) a tacky, big-breasted gold-digger who is trying to ingratiate herself with Faith's father, 3) Faith's oldest sister trying to spice up her sex life after 22 years of marriage, 4) Faith's next-older sister's inexplicably prickly relationship with Faith, 5) Faith planning a 65th anniversary party for her grandparents, who perhaps should not have married in the first place, 6) Faith's professional projects (she's a landscape architect), both in her hometown and in San Francisco, 7) Faith's epilepsy, which make her prone to having grand mal seizures at inopportune moments, 8) Faith's efforts to set her father up with someone other than the tacky gold-digger, 9) Levi's lingering grief over the recent death of his mother, 10) Levi's lingering grief over the demise of his very-brief first marriage, 11) Levi's care-taking relationship with his sister, a homesick college freshman, 12) Levi's daddy issues stemming from the fact that his dad, who was absent throughout Levi's childhood, now lives in the next town over with a new wife and two small kids, 13) Levi's professional projects (as the police chief, he's always getting called away to car crashes and break ins and so on), 14) Levi's trouble sleeping after being in a war, and how he copes. All of which is much too much for a standard-length romance novel, and the book probably would have been better, more focused, if Higgins had left at least half of these distractions out of the plot.

Moreover, peeling some of the unnecessary subplots from the story reveals that the romance between Faith and Levi is really pretty thin. For most of their lives, Levi has appeared not to like Faith. She notes that he looks at her with a 10-point scale of boredom, where 1 is "Oh, it's you," 10 is "You're invisible," and 8 is "Really? You're still here?" (Loc 1446, Page 111). Part of this is Levi's alpha-male emotional constipation, but even so, it's not clear what about Faith ultimately wins over his long standing antipathy. (Except, perhaps, her oft-mentioned "mighty rack.")

Emotional constipation aside, Levi is capable of incredible sweetness: he battles insomnia by baking cookies for his sister, and he uses his cop skills to recreate the accident that killed Faith's mother in order to convince Faith that the crash was not her fault. Even so, his initial antipathy toward Faith was so pronounced and so real that I found it a little too precious when we learn that he's always liked her, even back before she was his best friend's girl.

Even though I don't really buy into Faith and Levi as a couple, I was able to stay in the fantasy and enjoy the story, parts of which are delightfully funny. I do have to mention one revoltingly unfunny thing, which really soured my reading pleasure: there is one moment (relevant to one of the subplots which should just have been left out of the story entirely) of flagrant and unnecessary transphobia, meant to be funny, but is just isn't. Because it's a fleeting and very minor incident, I didn't throw the book at the wall and quit reading then and there, but for a moment, I was tempted.