Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins
ISBN: 9781335903358 (paperback)
ISBN: 9781488029264 (ebook)
ASIN: B0711QCV3C (Kindle edition)
Publication date: December 26, 2017
Publisher: Harlequin
One step forward. Two steps back. The Tufts scholarship that put Nora Stuart on the path to becoming a Boston medical specialist was a step forward. Being hit by a car and then overhearing her boyfriend hit on another doctor when she thought she was dying? Two major steps back.
Injured in more ways than one, Nora feels her carefully built life cracking at the edges. There’s only one place to land: home. But the tiny Maine community she left fifteen years ago doesn’t necessarily want her. At every turn, someone holds the prodigal daughter of Scupper Island responsible for small-town drama and big-time disappointments.
With a tough islander mother who’s always been distant and a wild-child sister in jail, unable to raise her daughter–a withdrawn teen as eager to ditch the island as Nora once was–Nora has her work cut out for her if she’s going to take what might be her last chance to mend the family.
But as some relationships crumble around her, others unexpectedly strengthen. Balancing loss and opportunity, a dark event from her past with hope for the future, Nora will discover that tackling old pain makes room for promise…and the chance to begin again.
Nora Stuart had an idyllic childhood until her father left. Her mother, a reserved Mainer, did her best to raise Nora and her sister Lily, but she worked hard to provide for her daughters and didn’t focus on “emotional” support. Nora was a social pariah in high school, overweight, nerdy, and unpopular while her younger sister was a popular and beloved social butterfly. The only way she could get out of Scupper Island, Maine was to go away to college. Fortunately, a tech multi-millionaire provided a full scholarship to Tufts University for one student each year. This was Nora’s out, even though it meant competition against the “golden boy” of Scupper Island, Luke Fletcher. Once Nora won the scholarship, she was blamed with ruining Luke Fletcher’s life (he got high after losing the scholarship, crashed a vehicle, walked away unscathed while seriously injuring his brother). Her only option, leave home and start college early. College was just what Nora needed. She lost weight, made friends, found her voice and her calling in life, medicine. Becoming a doctor meant Nora stayed in Boston and away from home, causing further rifts between her mother and sister. Now she’s part of a thriving practice in Boston, has a boyfriend, and a loving dog. Getting hit by a van is the final straw that severs her relationship, especially since she overhears her boyfriend trying to make a date while she’s lying on a hospital bed. So much for the boyfriend. Nora decides to return to Scupper Island to recuperate. Returning home to her mother and niece sounded like a good idea until she actually got home, now she has to decide what’s next in her life. Accepting a temporary job as a physician on the island, Nora finds a few new friends and reconnects with old acquaintances, including the brother of her high school nemesis, Sullivan Fletcher, and his daughter. Can she truly begin again or will her past constantly rear its ugly head to interfere with her present and future?
Now That You Mention It was a fast-paced and enjoyable read. Although there is romance and an HEA (happy-ever-after), the primary focus of the story is Nora and her constant before and afters. Before and after her father left. Before and after she won the scholarship. Before and after she was attacked. Before and after she left her boyfriend. Before and after she returns to Maine. The reader witnesses Nora’s emotional growth as well as her relationship development, both the romantic and nonromantic kind. I enjoyed all of the characters in this story, especially Nora’s mother, her niece Poe, Sully and Audrey, Ziaowen, and her lovable dog, Boomer. There are sad events within the story, such as Nora’s sister being jailed, her father’s disappearance, her brutal attack, etc., but Nora finds that she is stronger than she thinks with each event. Don’t think Now That You Mention It is all sorrow and romance, it isn’t, there’s also lots of humor (all I can say is you should look forward to reading the scene with the ham dinner), a bungled dinner party scene, and more. If you’re looking for a romantic read that provides something a little different to start off your reading this year, look no further and grab a copy of Now That You Mention It to read.
Read an excerpt here.
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Author: thebookdivasreads
I'm a reader, an avid reader, or perhaps a rabid reader (at least according to my family). I enjoy reading from a variety of different genres but particularly enjoy fiction, mystery, suspense, thrillers, ChickLit, romance and classics. I also enjoy reading about numerous non-fiction subjects including aromatherapy, comparative religions, herbalism, naturopathic medicine, and tea.
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