She is doing such a terrific job with these older titles. There’s a road trip too, which is always fun. It’s still got Higgins-style fun moments, and wonderful Notable Pet Coco, a Chihuahua/Jack Russell Terrier mix. Getting past being abandoned by her mother and virtually replaced with another child by her father is an almost impossible hurdle that even the romantic Nick couldn’t do when they married the first time. He and Harper never had much communication, the stoic New Englander in him, and in her, making that next to impossible. It didn’t help that her father then went out and found another wife – complete with another daughter – to replace Harper’s mother. Generally, while they sometimes have a sad backstory, Higgins’ heroines have been romantic and hopeful about love, but Harper’s mother left her and her father when Harper turned 13, leaving a permanent scar on the vulnerable teen.

But it’s the sad tale of her childhood that really tugs the emotions and drew me to tears both when I read it in print and during this listen. She hasn’t even told most of her friends that she was ever married, and at her sister’s wedding, she fights the attraction for Nick while at the same time fighting off the fear of commitment in so many ways.

The story of Nick and Harper’s whirlwind courtship and marriage some years earlier is revealed ever-so-slowly throughout the book, told in 1st person from Harper’s perspective. In the midst of her marriage proposal, a life she had tried to completely bury comes rushing back when her step-sister announces she’s marrying Harper’s ex-husband Nick’s brother. Harper James is a little different from many of Higgins’ heroines – she’s a cynical divorce attorney who is trying to convince her steady beau of 2 years, the hunkalicious if not very ambitious Dennis (who calls her “dude”) to marry her. The most recent one is My One and Only, published in print in 2011. It’s a delight to have Kristan Higgins’ earlier titles out in audio now, narrated by the talented Xe Sands.

My one and only by kristan higgins