"Fools Rush In" by Kristan Higgins

Okay, ladies, fess up!  We have all been guilty of doing it at one point or another in our lives and given the chance, I think some of us might still do it today.  We have stalked "the man of our dreams".  Whether you were 12 or 22, I think it is safe to say that we have all watched from afar the one that we think ourselves in love with.

This is the plight of Millie in "Fools Rush In" by Kristan Higgins.  Millie is a doctor with her own little dream cottage on Cape Cod and decides that now, at the age of almost 30, is the time to stop "stalking" her true love, Joe Carpenter, and give herself an extreme make over that will have Joe falling in love with her.  Sigh.  

But you know the old saying "Be careful what you wish for"?  Well, Millie learns that what may "look" good, isn't always what we hope it will be.  On her campaign to make Joe fall in love with her, she takes up jogging and healthful eating and has to deal with issues of a lifetime - like always being second best to a perfect and beautiful older sister.  Old habits die hard and Millie has to fight to get her self-esteem going.

During all of this, she is helping her now ex-brother-in-law get over his divorce from Millie's selfish older sister.  The two are best friends and spend a lot of time together and you see them in a comfortable sibling-esque role.  The only problem, all of the character traits that Millie seems to believe Joe Carpenter to have really belong to her brother-in-law, Sam!

As Millie and Joe's relationship evolves, Millie sees that Joe is really all in the packaging.  Unfortunately, so does everyone else around her and now she has the awkward task of having to find out what to do with her life now that 14 years of obsession and planning are over?

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the whole ex-brother-in-law thing is not a favorite of mine but the entire story really doesn't focus on that until the latter part of the book and the scenes with Millie and Joe are so entertaining that you'll find yourself laughing out loud.

"Fools Rush In" is a sweet story that I think a lot of women can relate to:  Doing everything possible to catch the eye of the guy you've always fantasized about and then finding out that the guy with a little less impressive packaging was the better choice.  Good story, well written.  Thanks, Kristan!