Kristan Higgins, Now That You Mention It

By all appearances, Nora Stuart has a great life: she’s a successful doctor living in Boston with her gorgeous boyfriend. But when said boyfriend dumps her while she’s in the hospital recovering from a car accident, she decides to reevaluate her life. She returns to her hometown of Scupper Island, Maine, to recover from her injuries, but in doing so she opens a lot of old wounds. Her relationship with her mother has always been distant, and the townspeople in general haven’t forgiven her for “stealing” a college scholarship from golden boy Luke Fletcher. As Nora starts to rebuild her life, she strives to mend fences, with mixed results. But with the help of a few new friends — and a possible new romance — she eventually feels ready to embrace life again.

Overall, I really loved this book. I found Nora very relatable and likable — in fact, almost too likable and sweet, given how much crap she’s gone through in her life. The chapters that describe her high school experience are downright heartbreaking, and I couldn’t help being angry at nearly every other character because they didn’t give her the love she so desperately needed. Also, there’s one absolutely horrifying scene in which she is the victim of a home invasion; her attacker attempts to rape and murder her, and it’s a very, very hard scene to read. On the one hand, I think it’s important to confront the reality that this happens to women all the time, and it should be disturbing and terrifying. On the other hand, I’m not exactly looking for that in my light fiction, you know? Except for that scene, though, the book is a compelling and ultimately uplifting read. Recommended for fans of women’s fiction with some weight to it.