Somebody to Love

Starred review from November 15, 2012
When heiress Parker Welles learns she's lost everything due to her father's insider trading scheme, she hopes renovating a cabin in Maine will be a partial answer to her financial woes; the last thing she wants or needs is daddy's attorney and right-hand man, James, helping her salvage her inheritance--or her heart. Parker Welles has known nothing but wealth, privilege and success, so when the bottom drops out of her world in one fell swoop, she's unprepared for the reality of being a broke and homeless single mom. It wouldn't bother her quite so much if she didn't have a young son to take care of, but she does, and so wallowing in self-pity or standing still like a deer in headlights simply aren't options. Packing her son off for a summer vacation in California with his father and stepmother (Ethan and Lucy from The Next Best Thing, 2010), Parker heads to Maine in hopes of selling her last remaining possession, a small house in Gideon's Cove (location of Catch of the Day, 2007), which turns out to be a falling-down shack. But life is what happens when you're making other plans, and sometimes a curve in the road--even one that threatens to throw you off a cliff--turns out to be just what you need to understand who you really are and what can make you happy. Parker will learn things she never expected to want or need to know. Things like how to clean mold out of cabins in Maine and how beautiful the sky can be when you're sitting on a dock next to the water. She'll also learn that people aren't always what they seem and that James Cahill, the man she loves to hate, has a few secrets of his own. Maybe, for Parker, losing everything is the only way to truly have it all. Great writing, well-drawn, realistic and likable characters, and a plot that keeps the audience engaged and rooting for James and Parker despite their missteps, make this an entertaining, romantic read. Higgins fans will love revisiting familiar favorites in secondary characters. Romance star Higgins pens a near pitch-perfect blend of comedy and touching emotion with this delightful winner.

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