the next best thing by Kristan Higgins and Contest

the next best thing by Kristan Higgins

(BCC)

Lucy Lang isn't looking for fireworks...

She's looking for a nice, decent man. Someone who'll mow the lawn, flip chicken on the barbeque, teach their future children to play soccer. But most important... someone who won't inspire the slightest stirring in her heart...or anywhere else. A young widow, Lucy can't risk that kind of loss again. But sharing her life with a cat named Fat Mikey and the Black Widows at the family bakery isn't enough either. So it's goodbye to Ethan, her hot but entirely inappropriate "friend with privileges" and hello to a man she can marry.

Too bad Ethan Mirabelli isn't going anywhere. As far as he's concerned, what she needs might be right under her nose. But can he convince her that the next best thing can really be forever?

Click here to see the book trailer.


I have, numerous times over, confessed my complete and utter fan girl status as far as Higgins is concerned. I LOVE her books. I mean, if I ever, ever get caught some place where I can only take one book (oh the horror!), you can bet your bottom dollar it'll be a Higgins. It was Millie in Fools Rush In that started my love of the newfound author and that sort of love is lasting. So, today as I stared at my already read when the hell are you going to talk about me books and became overwhelmed, I went to Facebook (talk about procrastinator Heaven!) and saw that Higgins posted this little bit - "Oh, happy day! Too Good To Be True is #2 on the Barnes & Noble best-selling e-books, and Just One of the Guys is #10!" and I realized I never did talk about tnbt and that is just wrong. I don't even have my copy here at the house, I've loaned it out to my sister, but I could not believe I was lax in posting about this wonderful book! My sister got a nook for Valentine's Day as did a few friends (and no, that's not a little jealousy you read here, that's a LOT of jealousy!) and then when asked for recommendations, this book was my first one quickly followed by Just One of the Guys. So you get it, right? That I'm total fan girl and that this post is nothing more than a great big gush of gooey fan girl love for Higgins?

The BCC does, as most of Higgins do, a great job at describing the book inside the pages. What we miss here though is that Ethan is not just a "friend with benefits" he is also Lucy's brother in law. There is what would seem a curse on Lucy's family and every woman, her mother included seems to lose her husband, the love of their lives, very early on. Lucy was no exception, and when she lost her Jimmy, her life was shattered (I can so totally see that, too, I mean if anything ever happened to The Hubs, I would be a complete mess, for all of eternity).

As a trained pastry chef, Lucy now works in her families bakery, only she's not the head of pastry, she's the head of bread. While it's still work baking, she feels stifled that she's not making the decadent desserts she was trained for. It's not like she can actually do anything about it either, considering she works with her mother and aunts, The Black Widows and they have far more stock in the Bakery than she. Her late husband was also in the business of cooking, he was a chef at his family restaurant a place Lucy still supplies with bread.

When Lucy's younger sister has a baby though, Lucy decides it's time to move on. She wants to get married again. Have kids of her own. She just doesn't want to love the guy too much. She doesn't want him to do anything dangerous, like jump off cliffs or ride a motorcycle. She doesn't want him to be too funny, too kind, or too charming. She just wants him to be a normal if not a tad dull man that can give her a decent life. In other words, she wants him to be the exact opposite of Ethan, her former brother-in-law turned friend with benefits. In an effort to find said man, she tells Ethan they need to stop sleeping together. Only when things start to change with the friendship and Ethan starts hanging around a woman Lucy cannot stand Lucy starts missing Ethan more than she ever realized possible.

But Lucy can't be with Ethan. Loving him and losing him, like was bound to happen, would be the final nail in her coffin. She would never overcome that loss, and she's not entirely sure she'd ever be able to put Jimmy in the past enough to give Ethan everything he deserves.

the next best thing was so much more than I could have hoped for. I never thought it possible that Chastity and Trevor's story could be matched, but Higgins has once again outdone herself. Filled with heart, heart break, family, loss and love, Higgins shows women of all ages yet again, that life, love and happiness have to be gained from within before we can truly appreciate them.

To truly smile with your whole heart and fall in love all over again, grab a book by Higgins, you will not be disappointed. And, since I've been in a giving kind of mood lately, I'm going to run yet another contest. This one for two of Higgins books. If you already have them all then, if you're the winner, just choose two books by Kristan's fellow Sisterhood of the Jaunty Quills pals, and I'll send those to you.

Ways to Enter:

* Comment here or on my WordPress post letting me know you'd like to enter and why you'd love to read one of Higgins books.

* "Friend" me on Facebook and make sure I know you want to have an entry in the contest.

* "Friend" Kristan Higgins on Facebook and then let me know you've done it.

* Spread the word so that I can spread the word about Higgins and the wonderfulness that is her work and let me know where you posted. Each different place will earn you an entry.

It's as simple as that. The contest will run through March 10, one week from today.

Take Care