All I Ever Wanted

Kristan Higgins

Ever since he gave her her first kiss, Callie Grey has been in love with Mark Rousseau. When he started a small advertising agency in Vermont, she took a job with him. Now she's the creative consultant for them. At one point she and Mark got closer, then he pulled away. She's still in love with him despite his distance. Now he brings in Muriel, the daughter of the man who owns the company with their biggest account. Mark admits to Callie that he and Muriel have a relationship.

Callie is a peacemaker who wants everyone to like her. She walks out of the office instead of yelling at Mark when he announces Muriel is joining the agency. She goes to the DMV to renew her license. While there she has hysterics and rants about men while on the phone with her sister. The man behind her is disgusted; he makes comments about her ravings.

It is time to get over Mark. Callie finally recognizes that she must give up on him and start dating other men. She signs up with an online dating service. She doesn't click with the men she meets. She takes her dog to the new vet in town - young and single. She discovers he's the man from the DMV. Ian McFarland makes it clear he isn't interested in a relationship. He's rather aloof. But when his business needs to be built back up, Callie offers to do some freelance advertising work for him.

Callie's mother divorced her father over 20 years ago. She still despises him. He wants to win her back. Callie, the middle child, is the peacemaker of the family. She wants to help him. She lives wither her grandfather, who lost a leg in an accident a few years earlier. He's a grumpy man with a heart of gold. Her older sister is a man hater. Her younger brother keeps dropping out of college as he tried to find his direction in life. Callie is involved in all their lives. They're her family. She may not be able to fix her life; hopefully she can help them with theirs.

Kristan Higgins' All I Ever Wanted is a charming romance novel. It not only follows Callie's love life, but also the complicated family she has. Higgins gives Callie an unusual childhood - she grew up in a funeral home that her mother still runs.

She uses the small town setting in Vermont very effectively. When she briefly alludes to that beautiful time in October when the leaves are at their peak, I could see them in my mind's eye (it helps that I've been there at the right time). The problems and joys of a single woman who knows everyone in her small town.

All I Ever Wanted is cute story to warm the romantic's heart. While predictable, it has some wonderfully funny moments. I chuckled quite a bit numerous times. You'll enjoy it.

Notice:  Suggestive dialogue or situations

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