Faith Holland and Levi Cooper
The Best Man (Blue Heron book 1)
by Kristan Higgins
Book Blurb:
Sometimes
The Best Man
Is The One
You Least Expect...
Faith Holland left her hometown after being jilted at the altar. Now a little older and wiser, she’s ready to return to the Blue Heron Winery, her family’s vineyard, to confront the ghosts of her past, and maybe enjoy a glass of red. After all, there’s some great scenery there....
Like Levi Cooper, the local police chief - and best friend of her former fiancé. There’s a lot about Levi that Faith never noticed, and it’s not just those deep green eyes. The only catch is she’s having a hard time forgetting that he helped ruin her wedding all those years ago. If she can find a minute amidst all her family drama to stop and smell the rosé, she just might find a reason to stay at Blue Heron, and finish that walk down the aisle.
My very first Kristan Higgins book.
I just loved it. Unlike her scores of fans, I can't compare The Best Man to her other books. It is interesting that some of my other friends who devour Kristan Higgins' books didn't care for The Best Man. For me this news is fabulous because if I loved The Best Man as much as I did, I must be in for a real treat when I read her other books. Oh yes I most definitely am going to read her other books.
I am a book heroine lover. Faith had me in stitches. Her personality gave me constant chuckles. The situations that she found herself in and the way she handled them were so relatable to me. I will share a small spoiler that the bathroom scene in the restaurant had me laughing so hard, I lost my breath. I was dying people. Dying!!
Faith was left at the alter by her long time boyfriend, Jeremy. I loved how Kristan Higgins didn't make Jeremy out to the be the villain when he came out of the closet. In fact, the entire handling of the situation was stellar. Faith earned a lot of respect from me on how well she handled the news about him being gay. She was still wearing her wedding gown at the church. It broke my heart. You can always deal with another woman but there is nothing you can do about him being gay.
I also really liked how Kristan Higgins continued to make Jeremy a likeable character throughout the story. There was no reason to needlessly make him out to the bad guy. Major points from me on this plot direction.
Levi was Jeremy's best man and his best friend. Levi is the strong silent type. Like really silent. He didn't have many lines or at least it didn't seem like it. As a reader you end up judging Levi more on his actions rather than his conversation. I liked him even though he was hard to read.
The dog Blue was an excellent secondary character and he acted exactly the way a golden retriever acts. Blue had me missing my own golden that passed away years ago.
The Holland family seemed like a great bunch and their dinner time conversations also had me giggling. A big bustling family with all of them having something to say. The dynamics of Faith's grandparents was very interesting. I actually thought they had the most believable long term marriage that I have ever read about. 65 years is a very long time to be married. Its not always sunshine and roses and in fact 65 years is a long time to also build up resentments. Another set of major points from me for being so realistic.
I will not hesitate to move on to the next book. In fact, just getting ready to start it next.
Teasers: child-sucking toilets, nicely incorporated epilepsy as part of a main character's life, heart shaped rock, Dad dating lessons
