All I Ever Wanted

By: Kristan Higgins

Narrated by: Xe Sands

Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's Summary

Turning 30 has its ups and downs.

For Callie Grey, coming to grips with her age means facing the fact that her boyfriend-slash-boss is way overdue with a marriage proposal. And that she's way off track, because Mark has suddenly announced his engagement to the company's new Miss Perfect. If that isn't bad enough, her mom decides to throw her a Big Three-Oh birthday bash - in the family funeral home.

Bad goes to worse when Callie stirs up a relationship with the town's single - yet not so warm and fuzzy - veterinarian in order to flag Mark's attention. So what if Ian McFarland is more comfortable with animals? So what if he's formal, orderly and just a bit tense?

Friendly, fun-loving and spontaneous Callie decides it's time for Ian to get a personality makeover. But dang - if he doesn't shock the heck out of her, she might actually fall for Georgebury, Vermont's unlikeliest eligible bachelor....

©2010 Kristan Higgins (P)2016 Recorded Books

Political Undertones... Sad to Say...

NOTE TO AUTHOR: This book overall had a cute story, however.. I found it nauseating every time the author had the protagonist mention Michelle Obama.. Also a snide remark about the Bush administration.. and I quote " Avian flu was a scare tactic from the Bush administration" REALLY was that needed? NO.. just another liberal idea to make the story sour..

Leave politics out of stories unless it is a political book.. this was NOT..

Frustrating

I could not finish this audio book. I'm not sure how many times I had to convince myself to keep listening. The story is just ridiculous, I just wanted to reach through and smack the main character into reality.

Seriously?

I love Kristan Higgins' writing. That being said, this was the worst novel I've listened to of hers (although Xe Sands was brilliant as usual). There wasn't a single likable character. To make matters even worse this book had politics in it! I hate politics which is why I listen to audible! To escape! It was horrifying to hear Michelle Obama's name mentioned probably 100 times throughout the book. I would have hated any political person's name, not just hers. Calgon, take me away! (To quote a character in the story).

So difficult to like any of the characters

Any additional comments?

So many weird things about this book. I listened to one other book by the same author and loved it, so I was surprised I didn't enjoy this one so much. {No spoilers}

First, the writer often described things that weren't helpful to the scene so much that it threw my focus off of visualizing the scene and atmosphere. For instance, the writer is trying to describe a situation where person A & B are speaking to each other, having a big moment in the story line, but instead of describing how those characters were feeling or what they were seeing, she's describing the people around them and having them talking out loud. Other times I would be aching for more descriptions of what was going on around the character to be able to set the scene and the writer was describing internal dialogue.

Another problem I had is that most of the characters were SO unlikable! Especially the one who was supposed to be the hero. I thought at first it was just a tough exterior that would crack over time to reveal a more likable character, but nope. Disliked his attitude the whole time.

And finally, the story did drag. It seemed like there was 40 minutes left of the story and suddenly all the drama and craziness began to happen. And everything all fell apart before it could barely be picked back up again to wrap up the story.

Wonderful

Very touching!! It made me laugh and cry. I couldn't put it down! I recommend this book.

Best narrator ever!

Love Kristan Higgins - great story as usual. The actual storytelling was excellent! Xe Sands is the best narrator and I always include her in a search for a new audiobook - the performance deserves way more than 5 stars!⭐️❤️

Great

I loved this book well written and romantic.


Nothing like true romance and home town Setting

It took me a while to warm up...

... To this book, but once I did, I loved it! It made me laugh and cry. Great story

Great! Great! Great!

This book had me laughing out loud one minute and crying the next. I wanted to prolong my commute just so I could keep listening. The narration was outstanding - one of the best I've heard. I also appreciated the absence of graphic sex scenes - what a refreshing change! After reading this book, I would consider Kristan Higgins one of my favorite authors. I can't wait to read more of her work!

Loved!!

Nobody does romantic comedy better than Kristan Higgins and Xe Sands. The perfect one-two punch. Loved every minute with plenty of LOL moments.