On Second Thought by Kristan Higgins

Book Description:
 Kristan Higgins returns with a pitch-perfect look at the affection—and the acrimony—that binds sisters together 

Ainsley O'Leary is so ready to get married—she's even found the engagement ring her boyfriend has stashed away. What she doesn't anticipate is for Eric to blindside her with a tactless breakup he chronicles in a blog…which (of course) goes viral. Devastated and humiliated, Ainsley turns to her half sister, Kate, who's already struggling after the sudden loss of her new husband.  

Kate has always been so poised, so self-assured, but Nathan's death shatters everything she thought she knew—including her husband—and sometimes the people who step up aren't the ones you expect. With seven years and a murky blended-family dynamic between them, Ainsley and Kate have never been overly close, but their shared sorrow dovetails their faltering worlds into one. 

Despite the lifetime of history between them, the sisters must learn to put their differences aside and open their hearts to the inevitable imperfection of family—and the possibility of one day finding love again.

REVIEW:

Have you ever read a book that you just knew right from the very beginning you would be best of friends with these characters if they were only real? This is how I felt once I was about 25% done with this book.

This book was almost everything I love in a book - it was filled with realistic characters, realistic situations, some happiness (at the end) and a lot of sad...the one thing, and an important thing, it was lacking was humor. Not that there was totally none, but it just wasn't there in big enough doses to make this a 5-star rated book. But this was definitely a 4.5 star book.

I read to escape the realities and traumas of everyday life -this book just left me dazed through most of it. The love of the sisters for each other was plain to see (again, once you have read about 25 to 50% of the book) …but the heart-aches just took a bit too much out of me and out of this book.

I did love how things did take a turn with the sister’s and their feelings and actions towards each other developed.

Getting to the 'happily-ever-after’ was almost too painful to get to and didn't last long enough to satisfy me or to make up for all the other trauma. I am glad that each did find their HEA even if one was a little iffy and not very traditional in the romantic novel sense.

Seeing two such smart women mess up their lives for one worthless man and one that was less than forthcoming, was astounding to me.

What is even odder for me is even with all that said, I could not put this book down -even though it was a painful journey through the sister’s lives, it was fascinating and so well written that I can look beyond my own petty problems with this book and see that the author was trying to tell us - that we as women are so much more than just being a shadow to the men in our lives. We shouldn't forgive lying out of hand, we need to have a spine...and I'm happy to say that each of these women did learn this lesson. It was a difficult and rocky path, but they learned.

Most of Ms Higgins other novels may have the sadness, frustrations, and problems of everyday life that this one had, but they also usually include a good dose of humor. Yes, the humor is mostly the self-depreciating kind, but it is humor nonetheless. You need to really look closely to see the humor interspersed with the pain in this book.

It really was a satisfying read for me, even with the issues I had with it.

*ARC supplied by publisher