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[/amazon_link]Title : Somebody to love
Author : Kristan Higgins
Genre : Romance
Publisher : Harlequin
Pages : 432
Source : Netgalley/Publisher ARC
Rating : 3.5/5
My one guilty pleasure : romance. I don’t read or review them often enough because one is very much like the other – the hero is the swashbuckling knight on the white horse, and the female is a swooning dame; there are a few romances that offer anything new. I’m glad then to have read “Somebody to love”. Yes, it is a very lovey-dovey title, but for all that is quite an interesting romance featuring an independent-minded heroine (with a great sense of humor, what a plus!) and a nice guy hero.
Poor little rich girl Parker Harrington Welles lives in a big home with the apple of her eye, her preschooler Nicky. A single mom and a Harvard graduate, she is also the author of a very successful children’s book series, donating the proceeds of that to charity. Parker’s rich dad Harry Welles is an aloof parent, and they are barely on talking terms. She has no real need to work, but circumstances change when Harry loses his fortune and the trust-funds which were supposed to keep Parker and Nicky in affluence, in a financial scandal. Harry goes to jail and Parker loses her beautiful home and her source of income.
Parker’s only option now to give Nicky and herself some financial stability, is to repair and sell the little shack on the coast of Maine that was willed to her by some distant relative. She discovers that it is a dump and she will require assistance – loads of it. Well, assistance comes, unasked for, in the form of James Cahill, her father’s assistant, or as Parker rudely calls him dad’s minion “Thing One”. James announces his intention of camping out in the shack and helping Parker, to repay the debt he owes Harry. As the summer progresses and Parker and James work on the home together, Parker realizes that James isn’t quite the repulsive lackey she thought he was.
This is a romance novel, so inspite of financial ruin, I’m not expecting clouds of gloom and doom to descend on Parker. That settled, we can concentrate on looking at this primarily from the romantic side. In this I think Higgins comes out shining. The romance is sweet. Parker might have scads of money (or did) but personally she has had a tumultous life. James hasn’t had it easy himself but is a nice, considerate sort of a guy. The characters are believable (barring below problems), although I find the Ethan-Lucy-Parker-Nicky family a bit odd.
I liked Parker’s character – a good person and a great mom, but did see a few logical problems. I would have wished more smarts on her. She’s a Harvard grad and all, but is quite content to leave the reins of her financial future in the hands of a father she doesn’t have a high regard for ? Repulsive “Thing One” comes walking by and announces his intention of moving in with her – she’s living in the shack she wants to renovate – and she just agrees ? So yeah, some issues, but minor in context of the greater goodness of this book.
The book is not heavy event-wise, so it is basically Parker and James, and then more Parker and James. You’d think that things would get repetitive, but they don’t, courtesy Higgins’s witty style of writing. She keeps things quirky and interesting; humor and snark come into play, something I don’t often see in romance genre novels.
If you’re looking for a pure romance novel, I’d highly recommend picking this one up; it is a pleasant, feel-good beach read.
