Kristan Hannah is always a reliable author and she didn't let me down. I thoroughly enjoyed every page and couldn't put it down. There were moments when I laughed out loud and moments when i felt her sadness or fear. Although I would classify this romance because I was looking for the happily ever after, it wasn't over the top or the focus of the book. It was more about relationships with the people in her life, her mother, her niece, her friends, her colleagues, her ex-boyfriend. Nora is endearing, quirky, funny and relate-able. I would happily recommend this to anyone looking for a fun read.

Now That You Mention It is Kristan Higgins’ new stand-alone novel. Nora Stuart is a ‘glass half-full’ kind of person and that is what ends up saving her. She’s had to endure a lot over her thirty-five years which made her appreciate finally coming into her own as a doctor and as a woman. But recently she finds out life hasn’t finished whacking her upside the head yet – when she gets hit by a van as she crosses a street. That is what brings her back to her mother’s house in Maine where her fifteen year old niece ignores her and her mother doesn’t know what to make of her.

As Nora gets her bearings and recovers from her injuries we learn about her background – the years of growing up on an island in Maine. Her family life was good until it wasn’t. Life changed one day and left Nora with unanswered questions that would have a lasting effect on her and Lily, her sister.

Nora will find out if one can really go home again. Now That You Mention It is a story about friendships, family and new possibilities. She might even get some answers to those long ago questions. I think fans of Kristan Higgins will be very happy with this novel. Higgins’ typical humor, heartfelt story, colorful characters, etc are all there. I enjoyed it all.

Now That You Mention It was a quick, fun read. It dealt with a lot of major issues in a realistic way and didn’t seem either over-the-top or underwhelming, which can often happen when dealing with heavy topics. The relationship between Nora & her mother, and also Lily & her mother in the “before” time, didn’t exactly sit right with me. Didn’t seem quite believable.

[I received a free advanced reviewer's copy by Harlequin (HQN) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review]
I did not expect to cry like a baby all throughout this book, but I'm not the least bit embarrassed to say that I did. This is my first Kristan Higgins book, and it's definitely not going to be my last. I don't even know where to start...
Mrs Higgins tackles a ton of heavy topics in a beautiful manner. I'm not going to go into details but do expect lots of diversity (racial and sexual), topics dealing with bullying, abuse, mental health..
We were first introduced to Nora, a gastroenterologist, whose life was turned upside down after being hit by a car and encountering her boyfriend flirting with another doctor while she lay almost-dead on a gurney. I couldn't with all the jokes.. Nora is such a lively and hilarious person, despite everything she's been through. I spent half the time laughing out loud. Her patience, her sense of forgiveness and constantly seeing the best in others... She's become my personal role model, honestly.
Boomer, the Dog of Dogs was my favorite character, hands-down. Tweety, may his soul rest in peace, had me laughing so hard, got to give the little guy some credit for that. That scene where he basically gets grilled was so hilarious, and yes I did feel guilty for laughing afterwards.
When I look back at Nora and Poe's relationship transformation, it quite literally gets me all teared up (again). Nora decides to go back to her hometown, where (did I mention?) basically everyone hates her. Her determination to fix her relationship with her niece and her mother, and even her sister, was just incredible.
The way I see it, Nora walked into her hometown and basically turned it upside down; taking Poe in, recognizing Audrey's disorder, practically taking over the clinic... Also, not to mention, falling in love with Sully *insert a GIF of me eternally and repeatedly swooning here*

Kristan Higgins knows how to balance a good old heartfelt story and humor. Now that you mention it is a story of growing up, family and overcoming hardships or well trying to. Nora grew up on a small island growing up she and her sister Lily were close. After her father left the island things changed they drifted apart. Lily became spiteful and mean, while Nora stuck to her grades and developed a eating disorder. There was issues with bullying and school drama that affected Nora. She left the island after high school and never looked back.

Now years later a doctor in Boston she's come back after a life changing accident determined to get things right. In flashbacks we get told of her school life, her rocky relationship with her mom and her sister. Her sister is the worst her mom might not be warm and fuzzy or shows it well but she cares. I felt bad for Nora she tries so hard to set right be nice to people who have shunned her. Her niece is also cold and not exactly welcoming either. But she is better and more gracious for giving widr berth and self depreciating enough to brush things off.

In any case she's not perfect and she keeps trying still and that's probably for the best. She had a few bad experiences that molded her now. She's also determined to find out about her missing dad and maybe have closure. Not to mention her past traumatic experience which she's trying to live with. A budding possible relationship with the brother of her old school rival. Well it's complicated for sure. What with the family secrets yet to be discovered.

Life isn't all straight we have missteps and all. I love that Kristan's books have good friends and loyal dogs incorporated well. There is topic like eating disorders, medical things and whatnot. With well done research. There's a subtle feel good quality in this story heart warming too. From family to finding yourself and really appreciating who you are. Another well done book by the author I look forward to reading.

Now That You Mention It had me compulsively reading until I finished it in the early morning hours! Nora Stuart is an interesting character, full of contrasts. She is both strong and vulnerable, confident and insecure, and definitely a survivor.

Traveling Sisters Group Read by Norma with Brenda, Melisa, Susanne, Diane, and Sarah

4 stars from Norma!  This was my very first Kristan Higgins novel and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it.  There were a few scenes within this novel that had me laughing so hard that my tummy hurt!  Even though some aspects of this novel was heartbreaking to read it was also very touching and heartwarming.

Brenda didn’t share in my enjoyment and thoughts on this one and she packed up her books and hightailed it out of the coulee, leaving me lost in the coulee all by lonesome to write this sister review.  I will refrain from expressing too much of my excitement within this review as to not trigger a rant from my normally very positive sister.  For me and my sisters (minus Brenda) we mostly all had similar thoughts on NOW THAT YOU MENTION IT and pretty much enjoyed this one all the same.  

NOW THAT YOU MENTION IT by KRISTAN HIGGINS is an interesting, entertaining, humorous, and a light-hearted fun read that had some laugh out loud moments mixed in with some heavy themes to lighten the mood.  There were a lot of issues going on here as we were following Nora’s journey as she comes to terms with her past, her family, and making peace within her own life.  

KRISTAN HIGGINS delivers an intriguing and captivating story here with unique and complex characters that was told in the first person narrative from our main character Nora. She was a very likeable and interesting character that was easy to relate to.

To sum it all up it was an enjoyable, entertaining, and a quick read with a satisfying ending!  Would recommend if you love a little grit within your romance novels but there was a little too much grit and serious subjects that was taken a little too lightly here for my dear sister, Brenda.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Harlequin, and Kristan Higgins for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review!

All of our Traveling Sisters Reviews along with this review can be found on our sister blog:  
http://www.twogirlslostinacouleereading.wordpress.com

It is a delicious feeling to open up a book by Kristan Higgins and indeed it was so for this latest book as well. It was funny and heart warming, poignant and at times caught me right in the heart.

This is the story of Nora, before and after. As a young teen on Scupper Island she has much to contend with. She has the heart ache of her Dad walking out on their family and to compensate she over eats which leads to further insults. Her mother is tough but not particularly the warm huggable kind. Nora is bright though and she has the chance of winning a big scholarship, although she has big competition from an equally intelligent student. But intelligence is not the only thing that counts.

Nora does make it to being a very successful doctor, however there is a Big Bad Event that has caused her a lot of trauma, and there are other aspects of her life that just aren't working out.

When she returns to Scupper Island she has her mother to deal with, her niece Poe who is a sullen 'don't look at me' kind of teen, and her nemesis Luke Fletcher. However Nora is not easily deterred and the story rollicks along as she faces into all the challenges before her. Not least of all is winning over her niece Poe and finding a partner for her mother.

Of course Nora is accompanied by her beloved dog Boomer and they have a fantastic relationship. However not so with her mother's pet bird Tweety. Oh my how I was horrified and .... yes laughed at the interactions there.

Nora makes significant changes in her life, she meets up again with Sully Fletcher and there just might be sparks there. As well he has a daughter Audrey, someone Nora is able to reach out to.

I loved picking up this book to read any chance I had, I loved the island, the people and scenery on Scupper. Kristan Higgins has satisfied my reading heart again.

Now That You Mention It by Kristin Higgins is a heartwarming story of a woman’s journey through her ups and downs in life, bringing her back to her roots. We meet our heroine, Nora Stuart, at the start, where she is a doctor at a hospital. Nora seems happy, as she loves her job and her doctor boyfriend, Bobby. Things will quickly change when Nora is hit by a car, and while in the hospital recovering, she overhears her boyfriend flirting with a nurse. Unable to get around easily, she decides to take a leave to recover and go home to Scupper Island, Maine, where she hasn’t been for 15 years.
She returns home with her dog, Boomer, to live with her mother, who is somewhat distant. Also, living in the house is Poe, her niece, whose mother Lily (Nora’s sister) is in jail; neither one of them is happy to see Nora, which just adds to everything around her falling apart, including many townsfolk’s who have not forgotten that she won a scholarship in high school, beating out the most popular boy in town, Luke Fletcher. When Nora runs into Luke, he is nasty and still harbors resentments; but Luke is also now a drunkard, which makes him dangerous.
We begin learn more about Nora, her younger days and seeing how she excelled in school to win the scholarship, and how Luke and the kids taunted her. We also learn that she was beaten and managed to escape a rapist, which still gives her nightmares. Coming home slowly begins to change Nora, as she remembers some of the good in her life, and tries become closer to her niece and mother, as well as make friends, some of whom treated her badly during those school days. Poe, her niece, was at first very negative, but in time Nora will express her love, and bring her out of her shell, and together they will become close. Much of the story also revolved around Nora’s memories of the good days, when her and Lily were close; with little hope of Lily ever changing. When Nora moves to a houseboat to get away from the negativity, everything begins to change for the better.

What follows is an emotional heartfelt story that follows Nora becoming stronger with each passing day, and her attempts to rise above her fears. It is a beautiful story, where she will open herself to love and happiness with Sully (Luke’s brother), Poe, her mom, and old friends from the past. The issue with Luke remains, and does cause some hardships, but Nora’s new found strength will her help her resolve this issue, as well as with her ex boyfriend.

I thought that Higgins created some great characters, especially Sully, who was so good with Nora, and their slow built romance was very nicely done. Her old classmate and now friend Xiaowen was fun, and I ended up liking Poe and Sully’s daughter Audrey. There was also some humor, as Nora worked at the local clinic, and some of those cases were funny.

Now That You Mention It was a very well written story by Higgins, and though at times a bit slow, it really was very heartwarming to see Nora rebuilt her life. It had a bit of everything, family, tragedy, fears, romance, friendship and some excitement. I fully recommend that you read this book.

This is my first time reading Kristan Higgins and wanted to read this book due to the glowing review from my pal Melissa.

This book definitely lives in a world of its own- there is a LOT going on here to the point where I wouldn’t know how to classify it as a genre – some romance, some darkness touched upon, with a healthy dose of other heavy themes. However, there were more than several instances where I found myself laughing out loud and for this reason alone, I will DEFINITELY be back for more from this author!

There were quite a few characters here, and I have to say I can walk away from this book feeling like a know them all well. Higgins has done an excellent job of developing some well rounded and fleshed out characters. Some of my fellow reading buddies even want to move to this town in Maine! My all time favorite character Nora’s friend from high school who had me cracking up every time she had dialogue.

Another fun Traveling Sisters read, thank you for your thoughts friends! And thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and Kristan Higgins for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

FINAL DECISION: This was a good book and I enjoyed reading Nora's story. The romance, however, was slim in this book (not surprising because this is NOT a romance genre book) and I couldn't help but wish for more romance less personal drama.

THE STORY: Doctor Nora Stuart has a personal crisis when she is hit by a car, ends up in the emergency room and has her boyfriend flirt with another doctor over her unconscious body. Deciding that her "near death" experience was a sign, Nora returns to her hometown to recover. Nora has to confront her bad relationship with her mother, her non-relationship with her niece, bad memories from high school that just won't let her go. Confronting the pain from her past, Nora tries to build a new future.

OPINION: This is Nora's story. A success by all external measures, she still lives with incidents from her past that have left her scarred and which she has never gotten past. She has trouble with personal and when she goes home, so many people blame her for "ruining" the chances of the town's golden boy. Her personal "time out" gives her time to deal with and put in perspective events in her past.

While there is a romance here, it isn't the focus of the story and honestly, while it was a sweet a romance at times, it also left me unsatisfied. Although at times I have enjoyed greatly the romances in Higgins women fiction books, I wouldn't read this one again for the romance.

There is a lot of self-reflection and dealing with high school stuff. At times, I got annoyed with Nora because honestly a lot of people have drama in their lives and at some point you have to stop whining about high school and people being mean to you. Also, her self-flagellation about her getting a scholarship in high school was pretty ridiculous at times.

But I did enjoy watching her build a relationship with her mother and niece. It was her growing up and understanding the past and accepting people for who they are. Even though I only reluctantly read these women fiction books at times, I thought this was pretty good as a story.

WORTH MENTIONING: This is a chick lit or women's fiction book not a romance, but there is a romance involved although it is a side story.

CONNECTED BOOKS: NOW THAT YOU MENTION IT is a standalone.

STAR RATING: I give this book 3.5 stars.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in order to provide a review. I was not required to write a review or to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

Review to be posted on December 26, 2017.

Now That You Mention It is my first book from Higgins, and I was so happy with this one. From the characters to the setting, it kept me wanting to know how much more this poor woman could take. It centers around Nora, she’s on a good career path, she gastroenterologist at a great hospital and she has this an amazing boyfriend. What more could she ask for? Here is where “life” decides to take a much different turn for her. The “amazing boyfriend” is not so amazing after all (he’s a pig), and her injuries from the accident (hit by a pest control van) she was involved in make her decide to go back home. The one place she always wanted to get away from, but it might just be the best thing that happened to her though.

Nora has been through heel and back since she was a child pretty much. But somehow she has pushed through it all, and she was this strong and fearsome woman. She was just a fantastic heroine and following her through all her heartache, and disappointment was emotional but at the same time, an even strong woman shined through. And her and Sully, was a little awkward at first with the whole romance thing, but it was fun to watch them both discover things about themselves. And Sully is a hard working, honest man, and a wonderful father, much better for Nora than that loser boyfriend back in Boston. But, that’s just my opinion of course. Anyway, the romance was slow, and did take a backseat to some issues that needed to be handled with her family, but when the time came for romance to play it’s part, it did. And I loved these two together!

Returning home after you’ve been gone for a long time is hard, especially when there are things that were unresolved or unanswered, and someone who doesn’t want you there at all. With a few different issues all being dealt with at the same time, I can honestly say there was no confusion, they all meshed together fairly well. But it sure was an up and down, all over the place kinda ride for Nora. I had to laugh at some of the tings that was said by Nora, and then other times I just wanted to cry for her. The silver lining in all of this was Sully, an old high school crush that is still living in town. Of course, she did have to deal with the one person who despised her since the day she left. There are always those who can’t move on from the past I guess. Makes for a great cast of characters…

What started out to be such a heart breaking story Nora, became a story with one liners that make you smile, characters that warm your heart and make you believe that there is always hope in love, and in second chances. Now That You Mention It was a wonderful read, and I would definitely recommend picking it up.

4.5/5 stars

This is my first book by author Kristan Higgins. But it won't be my last. Now That You Mention It was an amazing book. I really loved it!

Now That You Mention it is a standalone novel. I would categorize it more as Women's Fiction or Chick Lit vs Contemporary Romance (although there is romance in the story).

The narrator is 35 year old Nora Stuart (first person POV). Nora lives in Boston and is a gastroenterologist. Her hometown is Scupper Island off the coast of Maine.

This book hooked me right from the start with a very interesting and unusual first chapter. She is a doctor and I found that added a lot to the story. But something bad and unexpected happens to Nora. And I was very intrigued to see how that would set up the rest of the story.

The author has Nora thinking back a lot to her youth. Normally I am not a fan of this. But in this case it was so interesting and vital to the storyline. There was some stuff about a scholarship, and how various kids acted that I found fascinating. Also something happens with her dad that is a key focus of the book.

There is romance in this book. But by halfway I could not tell where that part of the story was headed. There were a few options. It was definitely different that it wasn't obvious who her romantic interest would be.

This book is about family and friendship. I absolutely loved Nora'a friends Roseline and Xiaowen. But I was so disappointed in three of the other characters. I loved Nora's dog Boomer and the teenage characters Poe and Audrey. And I loved the houseboat so much.

This book was so much more than I expected. It was funny, but it was also compelling and fascinating. I really liked Nora's journey. Reading about her childhood and the things that she had to overcome was really amazing. I would definitely recommend this book!

Holy Crap that was a good book. Kristan Higgins how do you do it? It's pretty rare for me to give 5 stars, but when I finish a book in two days and get annoyed when my poor family even tries to talk to me - I know it's one I must give all the stars I can.

Now That You Mention It is such an engaging book, when taking a break from reading it felt like I was taking a break from life. This story is written in such a way that the reader becomes the main character. It's quite disturbing, but in a good way.

I enjoyed this one more than I expected to. Kristin Higgins has a great way of infusing humor into her stories while at the same time tackling heartache and despair. Nora getting hit by a car is at the same time both the worst and best thing that could happen to her. I loved her interactions with the islanders. A fun story!

After being thrown a major curveball when everything seemed near perfect, Nora Stuart has decided to reassess her life and where it is going. Nora grew up on a very small island off the coast of Maine. Her early life was happy until her father, who seemed more child-like than adult, left Nora, her sister, Lily, and their mother. She spent her adolescent years in misery wanting to escape the cruelties of High School seizing the opportunity to leave with a scholarship to Tufts and then medical school. Her perfect life falls apart after an accident and a less than faithful boyfriend. So despite the saying, Nora does go home again and as an adult, deals with her feelings towards family, friends, and old enemies while working at the Scupper Island’s clinic. Nora’s sister never recovered from their father’s abandonment and has had a derailed life ending up jail. Her mother has care of her niece, Poe, whom Nora yearns to help. Some of the islanders are happy to see Nora and others remind her of why she left. She has much to accomplish in getting to know these people as adults, tracking down information about her father, and dealing with another traumatic event that still has some very dark echoes for Nora.

I am always in two minds about Women’s Fiction because quality of the writing notwithstanding, I often come away from these novels feeling sadder than satisfied about the character’s lives. This style of writing is more, shall we say, realistic in a slice of life way than other fiction enjoyed by women such as romance. These stories contain the major obstacles, vagaries, and the kinds of real ups and downs we all face. This genre can be too tangible for readers who are looking for passion, exploration of different worlds, or something that takes them out of themselves. Kristan Higgins generally strikes a balance between the two. I am a fan of her romantic comedy’s for their warm humor, zany heroines, and heartfelt situations which she incorporates in this work to some extent. This book seems darker and less balanced with the lighter moments as Nora has several major life issues to deal with which have occurred within a relatively short period. Ms. Higgins is a good story teller so followers of her work will, for the most part, enjoy this tale.

This is Nora Stuart's story. It begins with an accident when she is hit by Beantown Bug Killers van while jaywalking and overhears her boyfriend hitting on another doctor while she comes back to consciousness. This is just the final straw that sends her back home to Scupper Island to heal.

Nora left Scupper Island as soon as she could for college and hasn't returned since. During the time she was away she attended Tufts, medical school, and has become a gastroenterologist. (I'm pretty sure this is the first story I've ever read where the main character had that career.) After a childhood with a distant mother and a fun father who disappeared without a trace when she was in fifth grade and a horrible school career when she was sad, bullied, overweight and felt unattractive, she had hoped never to return.

Coming back gives her a chance to catch her breath, get over old trauma, and try to forge a new relationship with her family. After her father left, she and her beloved sister Lily grew more and more distant from each other. When Nora left for Tufts, Lily left for Seattle where she had a daughter named Poe and started a life of crime. Now Lily is in prison, fifteen-year-old Poe is on the island with Nora's mother, and her mother is still distant. Nora would really like to get to know her niece and repair her relationship with her sister but neither one of them is making it easy.

Adding to the family drama, Nora faces resentment from many of the islanders because they feel she stole her scholarship from the local golden boy Luke whose life since high school has been consumed by drug and alcohol addictions. She feels guilty that her winning the scholarship caused Luke to have a car accident that left his brother Sullivan with a traumatic brain injury that is causing him now to lose his hearing. Luke also still blames her for the loss of the scholarship and sort of stalks her which brings back another traumatic event in her life.

This story was by turns funny and heart-wrenching and heart warming and kept me reading late into the night. I recommend this story.

Okay...this was a fun book. I've been reading heavier stuff lately and this was a nice change of pace. This had a much deeper storyline than I thought it was going to have, which was delightful.
I got a little frustrated at first with the reference to the "Big Bad Event" - I thought maybe this was a sequel and I missed the first book in the series. BUT, it was explained after a while.
This book is a good reminder that running away never really solves anything. People aren't always what they seem, but others are exactly what they seem. Fun, light read that I will surely recommend to readers.

Due to an accident (getting hit by van) and her boyfriend hitting on a nurse in the ER Dr. Nora takes a medical leave to go home to recuperate. This small town in Maine holds a lot of emotion for Nora. She not only faces her present, but her past as well in this page turning story. Nora has a few secrets and with them come some fears that she bravely conquers. Quite a few laughs helps make the hard parts of the story not so painful. Another winner from this author.

I'm a huge, HUGE Kristan Higgins fan, and I think she does that middle ground between women's fiction and romance like no other. Now That You Mention It was another wonderful, nuanced, lovely book in that style, and a great offering for long-time Higgins devotees and newcomers alike.

I connected with Now That You Mention It immediately. First of all, it gives MAJOR props to my alma mater, Tufts University (what, what!) and takes place in a little island off the coast of Maine, where I spent all of my childhood summers. Also, the MC in the book is a doctor, and although I'm a dentist and not a physician, the hospital setting and the medical terminology made me feel right at home.

The book was exactly what I'd expect from this author: we get unique, complex family dynamics, which change and grow over time; and we also get a slow-burning, low-key romance that is important to the story but not the main focus.

Like all Higgins MCs, the main character here was easy to relate to. I adored her and her complexity, even though I thought she was too forgiving and lenient with her family.

My only issue with the story was that it was a little more depressing than I was expecting. Especially in the first half, I had to push myself to keep reading at times because people kept treating our MC like crap, and I wanted her to extricate herself from her messed up situation. There was more pain more quickly than I was expecting, and that took me awhile to work through. However, once things starting coming alone, I found myself completely enthralled.

If you love Higgins' style, don't hesitate to pick this book up. It isn't all sunshine and roses, but it is a very satisfying story that shows the complexity of family dynamics and how you can, sometimes, go home again.

*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*