Now That You Mention It

Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins is a laugh out loud, tear inducing journey of healing and redemption.

Needing a place to recover after an accident, Dr. Nora Stuart heads back to Scupper Island, Maine where she hopes to salvage her distant relationship with her mother, Sharon and niece, Poe. Since she left the island fifteen years earlier under a cloud of controversy, not many of the residents are happy to see her. Even worse, many of them do not even know who she is since apparently her mom talks only mentions her younger sister, Lily. Once she is well enough to live on her own, Nora moves onto a beautiful houseboat which puts in her close proximity to Sullivan "Sully" Fletcher, his lovely teenage daughter Audrey and Sully's show more twin brother Luke, who is still holding onto a long term resentment towards Nora. With her return to Boston fast approaching, will Nora remain on the island where she has unexpectedly found peace, healing and possibly love?

Nora and Lily were never quite the same after their father unexpectedly abandoned them when they were kids. Lily turned her back on her sister and became a part of the popular crowd where she turned into a mean girl who ran wild. Nora comforted herself with food and after becoming an overweight social outcast, she concentrated on academic achievements in hopes of receiving a coveted scholarship.

Reinventing herself after entering college, Nora has rarely returned to Scupper Island over the intervening years which results in a distant and unemotional relationship with her pragmatic Maine mother. She also mourns the lack of any connection with Lily but Nora refuses to give up trying to reach salvage their fractured relationship. She is determined to forge a bond with her niece Poe but Poe is not exactly willing to forgive and forget her aunt's protracted absence from her life.

Nora is a wonderful protagonist who has endured more than her fair share of tragedy and adversity yet she remains upbeat and positive. She has not fully resolved her guilt from winning the scholarship that changed her life but she is proud of her successes. Nora is a survivor who does not let life defeat her and she is tenacious as she tries to repair her familial relationships. She has a snarky sense of humor and her zingy one-lines and inner monologue are often laugh out loud funny.

With several memorable scenes that are absolutely hilarious, a heartwarming yet understated romance and a sweet reconnection with Nora's estranged family, Now That You Mention It is a truly captivating story of healing and reconciliation. Kristan Higgins brings the characters and settings vibrantly to life through descriptive prose and an incredibly engaging storyline. Readers will savor every word of this humorous and poignant novel. show less

I’ve been a fan of Kristan Higgins for a number of years for her Blue Heron romance series, and was surprised and pleased when she made the transition to writing books with more substantial content (domestic fiction), though these books usually do contain an element of romance – not a bad thing!

Now That You Mention It is one of the best books I’ve read of this genre lately. It has well-developed characters, great inner dialogue by the main character and realistic and witty dialogue between other characters in the book. There are conflicts to overcome, relationships to mend, and some to begin, a wonderful small town setting, disabilities to work through and Harry Potter references throughout!

Nora Stuart escaped a very unhappy show more adolescence by winning a scholarship to Tufts, which the whole town assumed would be given to the “golden boy” of the high school. Now a practicing doctor in Boston, she has a tense relationship with her mother who still lives in coastal Maine, and a younger sister in jail in Seattle. When Nora is in a serious accident, and overhears her boyfriend flirting with a nurse in the recovery room, Nora decides she wants to go home to recover. But does “home” want her to come back?

Exploring many contemporary themes and brimming with humor and heartache, Now That You Mention It is a great book for readers who need a little lightness to counteract the dark themes of other popular books and the troubled world we live in today. It’s a great escape and I highly recommend it! show less

Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins is highly recommended escapism with drama, reconnecting with family, facing past and present issues, and a bit of romance.

Dr. Nora Stuart is practicing gastroenterology in Boston, but after the incident (the Big Bad Event) that changed her, she feels like she's just surviving. The spark with her boyfriend, Bobby, an ER doctor, seems to be lacking. When she is hit by a van when leaving the hospital and then sees Bobby flirting with another ER doctor while she is lying there, dying, she knows it time to move on. She needs to heal, both mentally and physically, from her accident. Nora decides to go back to the place she couldn't wait to escape from: Scupper Island, Maine.

Nora arrives on the ferry show more with Boomer, the dog of dogs, and her bags and is met by her mother, Sharon. While healing physically from her accident, Nora is hopeful she can finally make some kind of emotional connection with her taciturn mother, Sharon, establish a relationship with her teenage niece, Poe, hopefully reconcile with her sister, Lily (after she gets out of jail for drug dealing), and, maybe, finally find out what happened to her dad when he left them all years ago. Nora originally left the island without looking back. She was an over-weight, unpopular, but overachieving teen who won a full scholarship to Tufts. The town resented her for this, feeling that she stole it from the popular golden boy, Luke. Now there are still some who resent her, some who don't recognize or remember her, and a few who will give her a chance.

Now That You Mention It is one of those feel-good novels that sometimes you just need to read for escapism. In this case, though, it's not a simplistic, mindless novel. Higgins has it all - complex relationships, a complicated family saga, light romance, humor, and obstacles to overcome. Nora has a complex past and Higgins takes the time to explore it all while current events are equally compelling. The writing is excellent, the characters finely drawn, the drama feels real, and the dialogue is extremely well done. Higgins' creates a likeable, sympathetic character in Nora and supporting characters. Readers will be cheering her on and hoping she finds answers and closure for everything.

While the ending ties up all loose ends perfectly, it doesn't arrive without plenty of laughter, struggles, memories, and questions. But, even when tackling serious concerns, this is a novel with a positive, upbeat feeling and an underlying lightness to it. There are several hilarious scenes that you will remember. This would be an excellent stress-reliving choice to read over the upcoming holidays.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Harlequin.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2017/12/now-that-you-mention-it.html show less

I gave up on Kristan Higgins’ contemporary romances because they were full of desperate heroines whose lives were unfulfilled without their one true love. But then Higgins wrote two very intelligent, thoughtful women’s fiction novels, [b:If You Only Knew|23280208|If You Only Knew|Kristan Higgins|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1435548241s/23280208.jpg|42818499], and [b:On Second Thought|29095428|On Second Thought|Kristan Higgins|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1482936837s/29095428.jpg|49331422], and I crept back into her orbit somewhat warily. Now That You Mention It is a kind of hybrid Higgins – half throwback to her romance days and half more mature women’s fiction – and for the most part it succeeds.

Nora Stuart show more returns to her small Maine island hometown to recover from a serious accident, although there is an even more serious Big Bad Event that took place several months earlier that she remains traumatized by. Back at home she deals with her taciturn, self-sufficient mother and her troubled niece Poe, who is living in Maine while Nora’s sister Lily serves a jail sentence in Oregon. Nora also encounters her former classmates who remember her as a fat, awkward nerd who escaped the island on a scholarship to become a successful doctor. Although she only plans to stay for a few months, she hopes to find out the mystery behind her father’s disappearance many years ago, and to form closer relationships with her mother and Poe.

The parts that feel like “old Higgins”-
* Boyfriend who is a heel
* Loyal dog Boomer
* Small island town setting
* Taciturn (but not grumpy) potential love interest
* Lots of slapstick and bathroom humor (she’s a gastroenterologist, so there’s plenty of potential for fart and poop jokes)

The parts that feel like “new and improved (IMO) Higgins” –
* Better developed and nuanced family dynamics
* Flashback chapters that help the reader understand said dynamics
* Lots of competence porn (Nora is really good at her job, and people acknowledge her skills)
* Nora isn’t desperate to find love and get married, and in fact she gets rid of asshole boyfriend pretty quickly
* A truly horrifying flashback scene (trigger warnings for assault and attempted rape) to the Big Bad Event
* Love scenes that aren’t perfect!

In short, I guess I’m hooked again. Good job, Ms. Higgins. Maybe scale back on the diarrhea jokes next time though?

ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for honest review. show less

Dr. Nora Stuart is hit by a van and wakes up to find her boyfriend propositioning the resident. She dumps him (sort of - they have shared custody of their wonderful dog, Boomer) and returns to the small island off the coast of Maine where she can recover from her injuries. Her mom is one of those laconic Mainers (quote from the book: It was Maine. Conversation wasn't really our thing.) who is taking care of Nora's niece, Poe, whose mother is in jail in Seattle. Nora couldn't wait to get off the island once she was done with high school, but she wants to make peace with the people she left behind.
This includes twin brothers Luke and Sullivan Fletcher. Nora beat Luke for a scholarship back in high school, and he's never forgiven her for show more ruining his life. She blames herself for the accident he caused as a result of that loss that gave his brother a traumatic brain injury. Sullivan has recovered except for a gradually growing deafness.
Scupper Island has a wonderful cast of characters. Nora makes some good friends and discovers hidden facets of her family. An enduring mystery is what happened to her father who disappeared when she and her sister were quite young.
Gradually, Nora regains the sense of self and self-confidence she lost during the BBE (Big Bad Event - a traumatic occurrence in Boston before her accident with the van). Ms. Higgins always has several scenes that make me laugh out loud; the dinner party and the first date are highlights here.
Yet there are also serious parts to this book and a lot to think about. This is a woman's book from the teens (Poe and Abigail), Nora's friends and her sister, and Sharon (Nora's mother).
There's some great writing here. Some of it's funny; when Nora is hit by the van:
I was hit by a car, and according to the Hallmark Channel, I'm supposed to come home.
Some of it's very serious:
You wonder how much abuse you can take and still love someone. You wonder how long they can treat you like nothing but still want them back. You wonder how many years it will take to forget how things used to be, how long you'll burn yourself with that tiny ember of hop before the deluge of their neglect drowns it.
This is a wonderful book. I only hope Ms. Higgins returns to Scupper Island - soon. show less

I can’t recall where I first noticed this book, but I’m glad I didn’t research the author before deciding to read it. Higgins is primarily a romance writer, but one of the comic variety and the lady does know how to write funny. Nothing bust-a-gut, but wryly amusing and of the shake-your-head variety. With this book and one or two others, she is said to be writing a bit more toward the family relationship angle than the romance, but it’s there and it’s good. The whole thing is like she’s channelling Maeve Binchy. I’d read more in this vein since it was enjoyable, relaxing and not stressful.

There's a lot more to this novel than the light-hearted romance that the overall tone suggests. Yes, it is funny, and yes, the characters (many of them, anyway) are engaging. But bad things can happen to good people, and in this novel, they do. To me, looking at how the characters cope with this, how they grow and change, is truly interesting and involving. It's also a novel that looks at what it means to be a woman in today's world, and at what it means to be a human being. Good read: thought provoking.