Rating: 
Summary: strong historical romance
Review: In the late nineteenth century, everyone in the highest circles of DC social life knows that Abigail Cabot, though a senator's daughter, is a weirdo. Unlike debutantes her age including her sister, Abigail prefers astronomy to balls. However, her feelings change when she meets Lieutenant Boyd Butler III. She wants him with all her heart, but he has no interest in her.
DC's most eligible bachelor, Senator Jamie Calhoun, needing her father's help, promises to assist Abigail in getting her man. Something weird happens to Abigail and Jamie. They fall in love, but he refuses to believe in such a wasted emotion and she is confused over her former infatuation for the lieutenant and her sudden desire to only be with Jamie.
Readers will think they journeyed to nineteenth century upper class Washington society with the depth inside Susan Wiggs' strong historical romance. The story line is fascinating mostly because the cast brings alive an engaging period of America's past. The lead couple is a charming duet who struggle with his and her respective growing awareness of love for one another. HALFWAY TO HEAVEN takes the audience all the way to readers heaven with another winning novel from Ms. Wiggs. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: New twist on an old theme...
Review: Jamie Calhoon is no Professor Higgins, but he's out to help Abigail Cabot transform herself in order to capture the man of her dreams. But as Jamie and Abby spend time together, he finds that more and more, he doesn't want her dreaming about any man but him. Both characters have emotional baggage, both are endearingly flawed. A truly lovely twist on an old theme...with two characters you can't help but love.
Rating:
Summary: New twist on an old theme...
Review: Jamie Calhoon is no Professor Higgins, but he's out to help Abigail Cabot transform herself in order to capture the man of her dreams. But as Jamie and Abby spend time together, he finds that more and more, he doesn't want her dreaming about any man but him. Both characters have emotional baggage, both are endearingly flawed. A truly lovely twist on an old theme...with two characters you can't help but love.
Rating:
Summary: A new favorite - utterly charming
Review: Just when I pick a favorite by this author, she does it again--writes a story that surpasses all the other wondrous tales that came before. I adored THE CHARM SCHOOL, and the others by this author, and now this one is equal to or even fresher and funner than that one. Abigail is so warm and human and flawed--a girl who has brains and a big heart and is totally unappreciated by Society. Along comes the perfect man who has no idea how perfect he is for her until he finds himself falling for her no matter how hard he fights his feelings. What a beautiful story, an affirmation of all that is good in the world. And I can't wait to see how the sister turns out. Get this one--it's a great read.
Rating:
Summary: feel-good reading with substance
Review: On the surface, this book is a light romantic comedy set in Gilded Age Georgetown. The dialogue snaps back and forth between these characters so I found myself reading some of it aloud just to entertain myself. Yet there are layers to this book. Beneath the light, darkness: an unmothered young woman desperate to find her footing in the world (so the deformed foot itself had dual meanings), a guilt-ridden man trying to right a great wrong, a sister who is both more and less than she seems. These are all shadows that make HALFWAY TO HEAVEN all the more fascinating. The setting comes to life until you're just "there" in the White House East room with that dazzling silver Tiffany ceiling, or on a remote spot of Chesapeake Bay just as the fog clears...the time period and setting are meticulously researched but the author's use of them is not "teacher-ish" which is nice. So read for the fun and comedy, but know that this romance will stay with you because of those subtle dark themes.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully written, whole-hearted romance!
Review: Susan Wiggs is one of the few authors I read without consulting reviews, without worrying if her latest effort will simply follow the hackneyed plotlines of traditional romance, becoming predictable and two-dimensional. I was excited to find her newest creation in the bookstore yesterday afternoon, started it on the train ride home, and finished it before midnight that night - I just couldn't put it down. I was so completely drawn into the evolution of her characters that I managed to forget reality, if only for a few hours. What's more, I really fell in love with both the hero and the heroine, so much that I really cared about what befell them as the storyline progressed. It was wonderful to mark the progress the heroine makes as she grows, as she learns more about herself, and I fell in love with the hero over and over again with each evidence of his enduring faith in this girl, despite her lack of self esteem, despite her lack of obvious beauty, despite his own lost faith in himself and in love. Instead of painting him as the perfect hero, Wiggs instead makes him human, and through his actions and his faithfulness to others, we see him as heroic and redeemed. Morever, this book illustrates an important lesson: how important it is to believe in yourself, and how that elusive self-confidence is really what distinguishes the popular from the wallflowers, more than simple aesthetics. We see the evolution of the heroine from shrinking, bedraggled violet to the confident, unfurled rose. On a side note, Wiggs deftly inserts a subplot, involving the heroine's sister, without detracting from the overall plot (a worthy feat in itself). I gleefully expected a setdown for the sister, for her self-absorption and lack of support for the heroine, only to completely reverse my sympathies, as the author revealed more. The sister was not the only character for which I experienced this fluctuation of emotions; with the heroine's first love interest (the only plotline which Wiggs seems to recycle frequently, but with great skill so that it doesn't grow too old), I was prepared to hate him, then admired him for his ability to fall in love with heroine through words and not just appearances, and then fell OUT of love with him, but with no hard feelings, as they both realize the superficiality of their feelings. All in all, these transitory relationships were very well drawn, with a sense of flow, yet not diverting the reader's attention from the main protagonists. Meanwhile, I eagerly anticipate the next book, as I want to know what will befall the sister. This book reminded me of how much I enjoy this genre, for its belief in second chances, in life, in love. A truly fresh perspective on the well-trodden but rocky path of falling in love, one that was thoroughly absorbing and well-written. Read it, if only for the opportunity to travel to another dimension, away from the harshness of reality and current events, where people believe in each other, in love, and in a better world.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not the best
Review: This story was good, though definately not one of the best. I enjoyed reading a little about the politics of the 1800's, and some of the social issues, but mostly I liked watching the heroine, Abagail Cabot, grow. It was kind of an "ugly duckling" story, though not exactly, since the heroine changes the way she sees herself more than she changes her appearance, though she changes that too. I though the hero (Jamie Calhoun) was a bit of an ..., but I suppose he turned out to be a basically good duy, although I'd say that he was rather willfully blind when it comes to some things, and the stunt he pulled with the letter made me want to beat him with a large stick. He interferes repeatedly in Abagail's life trying to "help" in order to win her father, the most powerful senator at the time's support of his stand on the Southern railroad building. He is rather high handed in his handling of our good heroine, but he really does genuinely want to see her happy as it turns out, and so he sets out to remake her so that she may win the heart of the vice president's son, Lt. Boyde Butler, who by the way, took one look at the beautiful Helena (Abagail's sister) and just about fell on his face. I also liked that Abagail's sister (Helena) turned out to really love and care about her Abagail and their family in her own way, more than just society and their opinions unlike some other books. I thought it was really cute that she had a thing for the good professor, though I didn't like the professor half so much by the end of the story. He started out as the sexy absentminded academic type, and ended up being an ... But still, it was really nice to watch Abagail grow, and go from being totally clumsy and having absolutely no self esteem, to being so sure of herself, and so much more certain. All in all, I'd say that, though not one of my favorites, it was a nice story- a decent rainy day read- and recomended as such, expecially if you follow the series. (The Charm School, The Horsemaster's Daughter, Halfway To Heaven, and Enchanted Afternoon<-- that's Helena's story)
Rating: 
Summary: Not a 5 Star read at all
Review: This was an somewhat enjoyable read, but not 5 stars. The characters were stock characters, the history minimal, and the plot predictable. The world of late 19th c. Washington and the Chesapeake were not illuminated. And a minor point, chesnut horses never have black manes. The main character's issues (her scholarship and her foot) were so quickly solved by some new dresses. And, of course, the sister's love affair and marriage are just fodder for the next novel, when her husband dies or is murdered and her professor comes back on the scene.... See what I mean... so predictable!
Rating: 
Summary: Not Susan's best!
Review: While I have always enjoyed Susan Wigg's book, especially her Chicago Fire Trilogy, Halfway to Heaven was somewhat laborious for me to read. In fact, it took me six weeks to get through it. Unlike some of her others that were real page turners where I could not wait to sit down and read, this was a book that I put down for a few days and then maybe only read a half a chapter at a time. I kept looking to the end pages to see how much was left. The characters of Jamie and Abbie are very endearing and they are not the problem here. It just seemed that we knew the point of the story right in the beginning. The road to the conclusion seemed contrived if not predictable and it took way to long for me to get there. It's not that it is a bad book, but it was a disappointing one considering some of her other wonderful works.
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