Just Like Heaven

by Julia Quinn

Julia Quinn's latest, and much anticipated, novel debuted at #2 on the New York Times Best Sellers List. There's a reason. What I really love about Quinn is that she not only writes brilliant romance, but her books are hilarious! Sometimes her characters make me laugh so hard, that I draw stares from the non-readers around me. But trust me, she is hilarious. Since I have such high standards for Ms. Quinn, I was a little nonplussed by her last novel which lacked her signature strong relationship. However, Just Like Heaven marks a return to the more vintage Julia Quinn Bridgerton-series style writing. Our hero and heroine have known eachother since early childhood, and after facing death and revealing secrets, come to realize that they truly love one another. And during all of this, they eat a lot of sweets, attend/participate in a horrendous musciale, and finally escape the loneliness they each face in their lives. My one critique would be that the reader is expected to accept the strength of their relationship based on reports of the past, while not much relationship development actually occurs in the course of the story. But Quinn makes it entirely believable and manages to have me laughing again. This is definitely a must read if you are a fan of her work.