UNTIL THERE WAS YOU, By Kristan Higgins

Read:  9/19/2011

Release date:  10/25/2011

Rating:  B-, Warm                                                           

                                                            

Liam Murphy is the school bad boy.  From the moment he rolls in to town, the girls swoon at his feet.  Poor skinny, bumbling Posey falls hard for the boy who works a few evenings at her parents’ restaurant, but pays little attention to her.  Posey’s friend Emma sets her up with a prom date with another popular boy named Rick.  Their night is a total disaster, as he dumps Posey they minute they arrive at the event.  To make things worse, Posey over hears Liam asking Rick why he brought that” bag of bones” to the prom?  So many of the kids make bad remarks about Posey during her younger years, that you have a lot of sympathy for her character.

Fast forward about 15 years.  Liam has moved back to Bellsford, New Hampshire with Nicole, his 15 year old daughter.  He married Emma, and she passed away from leukemia.  Her snooty parents live here and he wanted Nicole to be close to her only other living family.  Liam owns a motorcycle business, repairing and building custom bikes.    Posey finds out Liam is back in town, and as awkward as their past was, they become friends again in the present day.   There are some funny parts, but it was almost difficult for me to read some, where Posey grovels to become more to Liam than a friend.  They pretty much skip the friend part, and go from meeting one another again to bed partners.      

There are endearing cast members, such as Posey’s mom and dad who adopted her, along with some intense moments when Posey finds out that her birth mother had contacted her adoptive mom many years ago, and Posey was never told about this.  Her brother Henry is married to his same sex partner Jon, and they are adopting a daughter together.   Jon is a hoot, adding much needed comic relief to the story.  There is the evil cousin, and then good old Rick who was Posey’s prom date way back when, who hasn’t changed much over the years.  Posey owns a salvaging business, and is friends with an elderly lady who she hopes she gets the bid to tear down her old estate.

The difficult part for me was towards the end of the book, when Liam breaks up with Posey.  For all the years that she has loved him, he lost me as a fan at this point.  This poor girl has been hurt badly over her entire life.  There were parts that brought tears to my eyes, that people could be so mean to Posey, who never had done anything to warrant bad treatment from anyone.  I felt Posey really loved Liam, but I sure didn’t get the feeling that Liam really, really loved Posey.  The book has a marvelous epilogue that very nicely ties up all the loose ends.  It just fell a bit short for me in that I could not totally forgive Liam for everything.   

Book provided by NetGalley for an honest review.