For some reason this also reminds me that I never understood why Chastity’s brothers were named after the gospels (Mark, Matthew, Luke and John) when the family did not seem particularly religious. Like their parents’ marital status, it seemed a little gimmicky to me.

Re. Hayden, I was feeling the same way you did up until the last scene she appeared in, when she told Chastity to stop guilt-tripping Trevor all the time and that her “mooning over him” was “really getting pathetic.” It’s hard for me to interpret Hayden as a person I should feel some sympathy for when no good qualities are shown as a counterbalance. With the Giffin books, even in Something Borrowed I felt that Darcy had a good point or two, like charm.

I do agree with you that Trevor telling Chastity about his engagement showed there were still feelings there, but I saw them as romantic feelings rather than feelings of platonic friendship, so I couldn’t help but feel that if Trevor had a little more courage, he and Chastity could have had many more years of happiness together. I didn’t feel he was gaining much by trying to keep things platonic. Particularly when his remoteness is taken into account, it made me wonder if he, like Chastity and her mom, was ready for marriage. I don’t know if 20 pages could have fixed it for me, but maybe 50 would have done the trick.

After the scene where Mark broke down, I was so disappointed not to get more of them than we did.

I was thinking maybe they’d get a book of their own, lol. But even if they don’t I’m okay with what I got because I feel I saw enough of both characters to see them as okay together. And because I never saw them together as a couple until the very end, I didn’t feel deprived in having their reconciliation happen off page, if that makes sense. Plus, I was impressed that Higgins actually wrote a guy whose anger is NOT okay (unlike so many other males in Romance), so I probably gave more slack there than I might otherwise.

I wonder about Hayden, actually. I never felt we saw her outside of Chastity’s pov, so I didn’t think of her as an independent character. That is, I could still see her as different if I saw her from someone else’s pov, sort of like how Emily Giffin did the pov switch in Something Borrowed and Something Blue.

As for Trevor and Chastity, I agree that with her just moving back, that the two of them had spent time apart, but I also think that Trevor’s very intentional visit to Chastity to tell her he was engaged to Hayden when she was away spoke of the strong emotional bond between them. Do I wish we had gotten 20 more pages of relationship development between Chastity and Trevor? Absolutely. But I didn’t feel the same sense of estrangement that you did, I’m thinking.

It’s interesting to read your response to Chastity’s assumptions regarding Trevor’s fear of losing her family. When the truth about that comes out, I thought it was a nice twist that also made sense to me. That the family continues to embrace Chastity’s sister in law, despite her separation from Chastity’s brother convinced me that Trevor could reasonably believe that his real loss would be Chastity’s friendship rather than her family.

I think it would have been more compelling to me as a reason not to pursue a romantic relationship if Trevor and Chastity had a great, ongoing friendship. But it seemed to me that in between sleeping together in college and Chastity’s move back to Eaton Falls, they didn’t have that much of a relationship. I had the sense that they lived far apart and except for family get togethers like weddings and holidays, avoided each other. I may be wrong about that, but this was the sense I had, partly based on the way they behaved around each other in the beginning of the book and on the one flashback, and probably also partly based on my private conviction that when a couple is truly attracted and in love, as they were in college, there’s really no way for them to keep a romantic relationship from forming other than to avoid each other.

Because I felt they didn’t have that much of a friendship going, I also didn’t feel Trevor had that much to lose in the realm of a friendship with Chastity. His unwillingness to risk the little they had seemed like an insufficent reason to me, and I wasn’t impressed with him because of that. When I had thought he was afraid to lose Chastity’s family, that seemed like a more substantial thing to lose, given that he actually had a close relationship with them.

OTOH, I agree with Jayne’s assessment that Trevor is a bit too remote as a character and I agree with both of you that the end feels rushed.

Me too. What did you think of Mark and Elaina? After the scene where Mark broke down, I was so disappointed not to get more of them than we did.

Yeah, Ryan could have been more nuanced

Absolutely. It also bothered me that the impressions that went with the adjective-and-name combinations Chastity gave to people she barely knew (like “Slutty Waitress” and “Perfect Hayden”) were never refuted in any way in the text. I was especially disappointed that Hayden turned out to be as unlikable as Chastity imagined her to be since I had hoped that would prove to be a blind spot of Chastity’s and that the character of Hayden would turn out to have other dimensions.

But there was enough freshness in the book, enough of a heroine who bears no resemblance to myself but had a compelling voice, nonetheless, that I had a happy experience reading this book. That I laughed out loud numerous times was one of its biggest virtues, actually.

I agree there was some freshness and a compelling voice. If I had been more invested in the characters and their story, it could have been a great read for me too. But what I saw as exaggeration for humorous effect made it hard for me to relate to them. I did laugh out loud a few times, but probably not as much as you did.

For example: Chastity naming her drink Scorpy. I just don’t know very many people who give their beverages pet names.

Now see, that came across as entirely realistic to me, lol.

It’s interesting to read your response to Chastity’s assumptions regarding Trevor’s fear of losing her family. When the truth about that comes out, I thought it was a nice twist that also made sense to me. That the family continues to embrace Chastity’s sister in law, despite her separation from Chastity’s brother convinced me that Trevor could reasonably believe that his real loss would be Chastity’s friendship rather than her family.

OTOH, I agree with Jayne’s assessment that Trevor is a bit too remote as a character and I agree with both of you that the end feels rushed. The book just seemed to drop off a cliff, and that was my one big disappointment. Yeah, Ryan could have been more nuanced, and it’s a good thing I didn’t catch the glitch you did, Janine, and the epilogue was sappy (AND it made no medical sense in terms of the time frame). But there was enough freshness in the book, enough of a heroine who bears no resemblance to myself but had a compelling voice, nonetheless, that I had a happy experience reading this book. That I laughed out loud numerous times was one of its biggest virtues, actually.

I adored this book and it was hard for me to put it down. I agree that it was much more “women’s fiction” than a straight romance though, although (spoiler) we do get the HEA ending. (end spoiler) I loved this book so much that it actually really bums me out you didn’t like it more- a silly attitude but I guess I just really connected with this one.

Jane loved the book and recommended it, and I think Robin also posted in the thread with Jane’s review that she read it and loved it as well. So that’s at least two reviewers here who have said they loved the book. Believe me, it bums me out that I didn’t like it more, too — especially since I purchased it with high hopes after reading Jane’s review. But we can’t all like the same books and the world would be less interesting if we did.

I loved the characters and honestly don’t see how their behaviors were exaggerated at all. I know many people (most from large families) that reminded me very much of the ones in “Just One of the Guys” and I can’t think of anyone ridiculous of unbelievable.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say ridiculous, but some of the behaviors did not seem realistic to me. For example: Chastity naming her drink Scorpy. I just don’t know very many people who give their beverages pet names. I felt similarly about the way Sarah and Tara said “We brought dessert!” in unison at the end of the first family dinner scene. It was amusing, but also seemed artificial to me. People don’t chorus like that very often.

Or for another example: Chastity’s parents being divorced but still maintaining a romantic relationship (including sex, and not dating anyone else) for years afterward. It’s as if the divorce didn’t cause any bad feelings between them. I don’t know one divorced couple like this.

I enjoyed this book, loved the heroine and the humor. Being an only child that lives away from her relatives I have a thing for books about big families, and this is one of my new favorites. I have the rest of Higgins novels in my TBR and can’t wait to get to them.

I’m really glad you enjoyed it, Stephanie.

I loved the characters and honestly don’t see how their behaviors were exaggerated at all. I know many people (most from large families) that reminded me very much of the ones in “Just One of the Guys” and I can’t think of anyone ridiculous of unbelievable. I enjoyed this book, loved the heroine and the humor. Being an only child that lives away from her relatives I have a thing for books about big families, and this is one of my new favorites. I have the rest of Higgins novels in my TBR and can’t wait to get to them.

I can understand that if you lost your family at a young age you would be reluctant to lose your adopted family as well.

SPOILER

I can understand that too and I thought that was Trevor’s motive up until he said it wasn’t, and that Chastity was wrong about his being afraid to lose her family — it was her he was afraid to lose and therefore didn’t want a romantic relationship with. At that point, he lost some of my sympathy.