If You Only Knew: A Women's Fiction Novel (Hqn)

So, whenever I am feeling like I just want to escape to the reading room, hiding away from the worries and responsibilities of life for a little while, one of my favorite authors to turn to...is Kristan Higgins. Really, I could just pick up any one of her novels and know that it's a safe bet that I will be greatly entertained for the next several hours. This author writes with panache...with a certain je ne sais quoi (translation here is...I don't know what!). I don't know exactly how. I'm just so very glad and immensely grateful that, to date, she has only published sparkling gems of stories. The characters are flawed and layered and charming...like real people! I laugh like a lunatic while reading a Kristan Higgins book. LIKE A TOTAL LUNATIC!!!While I have loved all of the Sparkling Gems, I have never truly found myself saying, "Hey, this character reminds me of myself because..." I just fall in love with them and want to know them. I want to have sleep overs where we would braid our hair and talk about men and siblings and mothers. We would consume vast amounts of chocolate and potato chips and the wine. I refer to Kristan Higgins heroines as adorkable...my kind of people! Every time I start a new book, I am immediately captivated by this new heroine. It is so obvious that Ms. Higgins listens to the character's voice and tells her story. *THAT IS NOT A GIVEN IN THE LITERARY WORLD* I can't wait to see what this new character's life looks like and what shenanigans shall ensue.This book, this If You Only Knew. I went in, expecting something different per the warning that it is something different. I found the trademark Kristan Higgins humor, thank goodness! There were two main characters: sisters. She totally did this thing. She totally drew a story that told the story of both of these women, in their individual voices...a double narrative. They were sisters, so there were obvious similarities in their experiences and the building of their character. However, they were very different in their interpretation of shared events. And even though that was the case...even though they had lived through the same celebrations and heartaches while young, they each developed their own unique view on what it meant to be successful as a woman. They each had a vision of what would bring personal fulfillment and what they needed from a romantic connection. I was particularly intrigued by the disparity in their relationship with their mother. I don't have a sister. I have brothers who may or may not have been dressed by yours truly as sisters at one time or another.To say that I was deeply moved by this book would be like saying that I kind of like Ben & Jerry's Boom Chocolatta. I WAS A MESS! I DID relate to BOTH sisters AND their mother! Nothing absolutely exactly alike. Just similar enough to completely grip my heart within my chest. But it was all of that and more. It was also the epiphany that we all have this power to decide just how we will react, respond, and move on from life's experiences. There is no reason to believe that you must passively accept any of the joys or the sorrows. I was actually reminded of the new movie from this summer, Inside Out. All of the feelings are so critical in getting us through all of the things. To deny any of them is to lose something or to remain stuck in gluck. Very cathartic this was. And beautiful.This could be called a love story in that Jenny fell in love with Jenny and Rachel fell in love with Rachel. I really don't mean for that to sound trite. For me, those were the most genuine and meaningful love moments in this book. I never tell actual storylines in my reviews because when I read those that do, I get a little tetchy! There is a dreamy man with a story of his own within this novel...Leo, oh, Leo! And there is a dog. Pure Kristan Higgins. Pure magic.

I don’t read many contemporary romance novels; I much prefer historicals. One of the reasons I read contemporaries at all is Kristan Higgins. I don’t know why, but at some point I picked up one of her books, and I was hooked. Her likeable heroines, humor, and well-written relationships (both between the romantic leads and between the heroine and her friends and family) keep me coming back for more, book after book.If You Only Knew, Higgin’s first foray into woman’s fiction, keeps all of these signature features of her writing. It tells the story of two sisters, Jenny and Rachel. Jenny is struggling with getting closure after her divorce, since her ex-husband and his new wife, both of whom are really great people, want to remain friends with her. In order to distance herself from them, she moves back to her hometown, which has the added benefit of allowing her to live close to her sister Rachel and her family. Uber-homemaker and stay-at-home mother of triplet daughters, Rachel finds herself dealing with relationship troubles of her own when she finds out her husband has a relationship with another woman. Can she forgive him? Should she? She still loves him, but what does she owe herself in this situation? What about her daughters?Of the two sisters, Jenny is the more immediately likeable character. I struggled a bit with Rachel, since she’s subsumed herself so far into the role of wife and mother that she starts the book as a bit of a doormat. Circumstances force her to grow a spine, however, and by the end of the book I was cheering her on.Higgins adds plenty of humor, which is welcome to balance out the sadder moments of the book. Jenny’s bantering relationship with her very attractive downstairs neighbor Leo and her conversations with her mother (who can’t give a compliment without including an unintended insult) lend a lot of humorous moments to the story. There are also laugh-out-loud scenes—like when Jenny finds herself unexpectedly delivering a baby.And, yes, there is romance in the book, with Jenny finding herself drawn to Leo. He has some serious baggage of his own to deal with, though, so it’s a pretty rocky road between the two of them.The biggest difference between this book and Higgins's romances is that writing women’s fiction leaves her more room for different resolutions for her characters. In a romance, the heroine must find her hero and live happily ever after (or at least happily for right now). But what does happily ever after mean for a woman whose husband cheats? Forgiveness or moving on? Both options are explored in this novel.Overall, I really enjoyed If You Only Knew. I would highly recommend it for fans of Kristan Higgins or anyone who enjoys women’s fiction.An ARC of this novel was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book I've ever read by Kristan Higgins - how did that happen? It was exactly the kind of book I enjoy - lots of humour in amongst some slightly deeper issues - mainly cheating husbands, and this was the only downside to the novel - just a bit too much of cheating husbands! The main character, Jenny, is in thrall to her ex-husband and his new wife and baby, even though every reader must be itching to tell her to GET AWAY FROM THEM! Her sister, Rachel, also has a husband who keeps insisting he's not playing away, though he clearly is, and then it turns out their father also had an affair. The novel is saved by the lovely Leo, a great quirky character with a very sad past. In spite of all this cheating and sadness, the book is great, full of hilarious one-liners that make you chuckle away inside. I was surprised to discover at the end that this was published by Mills & Boon and was glad I didn't know this before I bought the Kindle edition. Very different from the little paperbacks my mother-in-law used to read!

Definately a good book for women. It covers the stages of love, life, birth and death. It covers mothers and daughters, betrayal and triumph. The bonds of relationships through generations and different sexes and sexual orientation weave through the story line. It's funny, uplifting and inspiring. I am buying the next book by the author as soon as J am done writing this review.

An incredible book, wonderfully written, i laughed, i cried and didn't want the story to end. Five stars for this book

I didn't realise this was women's fiction when I pre-ordered it. I generally don't find myself drawn to this particular genre but I always read Kristan Higgins, so I wasn't sure how this would turn out. I'm really glad I read this novel. It feels so lifelike and even though I couldn't relate to the situations the two sisters found themselves in, I could understand their emotions, their way of thinking and why they chose the paths they did.Their stories were entertaining, frustrating, interesting, and really just all-round thought-provoking. I often tried to put myself in their places and figure out how I'd react if I was going through the same things, particularly in Rachel's case since I'm also married with kids.Kristan Higgins demonstrates perfectly that life isn't always black and white. You might *think* you'll deal with situations a certain way if you haven't already been through them, but when emotions, kids, and other complications are added to the mix, it's not always as simple as it seems.Well-written with engaging characters who are real and flawed.

Enjoyed this book very much