Now That You Mention It

One of those perfectly comforting reads to curl up with and block out the world until you reluctantly turn the last page.

Nora is a gastro specialist who returns home to Scupper Island after a terrifying ordeal.
Here, she uncovers family secrets, bonds with her recalcitrant niece Poe and puts the past to rest.

I loved the gentle flow of this story (and the scene with Tweety the bird at her mother's house made me LOL!)

A wonderfully engaging read. Recommend!

I have always been a fan and enjoyed this book as much as others. It was really great! I laughed and felt it was fun.

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 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.