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

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.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

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.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

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.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

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!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Ok enough

I almost didn't get thru this book as it kept loosing my interest. Several characters just were irritating without being interesting too. Not high on my recommendation list.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Not for me

Any additional comments?

I did not like Callie, the heroine. I did not like Mark, the creep that she worshiped. I did not like Ian, the vet who was so rude. I really did not care what happened to any of them. The story was silly and I had to force myself to finish. I would have quit early on in the book but I find I am OCD and cannot leave a book unfinished even if I don't like it.. This was a waste of my time.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

All I Never Wanted

I have previously listened to and enjoyed many titles by this author. Sadly, this was probably my last. The main character and most of the others as well were pathetic and had very few if any redeeming qualities. I kept listening to see if any of them developed in any way to like or want to hope for. It didn't happen for me. I wish it had.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Probably okay....

This may be an okay book, but I was tired of it by chapter six. Honestly, I was annoyed by it within the first five minutes or so, but I decided to keep going. There is so much unnecessary rambling that seemed to go on and on and on and I frequently found myself thinking, “Just get to the point!” Also, for the lead character to be a 30 year old PR rep, she seems to be very immature. She created a non-existent relationship and then was heartbroken when she realized it wasn’t real. I would expect this from a teenager or someone in their early twenties, but not a 30 year old.

I would say read (listen) at your own risk. It’s not working for me, but clearly a lot of people like it.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Quick and easy listen

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would only because I enjoy listening to Xe Sands and the book was entertaining.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

My reaction was --- okay, nothing new here. Most if not all of these types of Kristan Higgins books end with a "happily ever after" so it was not unexpected here.

What does Xe Sands bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Emotion...realistic and at times very gripping.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Most of Kristan Higgins books are because they get the listener caught up right away so you want to just stick with it until it's done.

Any additional comments?

I'm a huge fan of Xe Sands and I guess it's a sort of compliment to her but this character sounded very emotionally wishy-washy, needy, insecure...not sure of the correct word, but fort a character as successful as Callie, this was very annoying. There were sections of this book that were very similar to Just One of The Guys and Fools Rush In in terms of the story line and plot.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Loved it

Xe Sands is a great narrator and the story line is funny and heartfelt, haven't had one book that I haven't loved from Kristen Higgins!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful