Rowena’s review of Almost Perfect by Susan Mallery.
Hero: Ethan Hendrix
Heroine: Liz Sutton
Back in high school, Liz Sutton was the girl from the wrong side of the tracks. Then she’d stolen the heart of the most popular boy in town, and their secret romance helped her through the worst of times. Until Ethan Hendrix betrayed her and everything they’d ever meant to each other. Devastated and pregnant, Liz left Fool’s Gold, California – forever, she thought…
Now Liz must return to town and face the man who doesn’t know of their son’s existence. And this time she won’t have the option of making a quick getaway. Ethan and Liz can’t deny their passionate attraction, even after all these years. But will their desire be enough to spark a second chance at love?
After finishing Chasing Perfect, I was pretty excited to read Ethan and Liz’s story. Liz wasn’t in Chasing Perfect but I was curious about her anyway. The whole secret baby plot is not a favorite of mine and I usually try to stay away from those kinds of story lines but I couldn’t stay away from reading this book.
First off, Mallery did a fantastic job of keeping me right smack dab in the middle of this story. She did a great job of making sure that I was interested right up until the very end. There wasn’t a moment while reading this book that I wished I was reading something else. I was right there in the thick of all of the drama between Ethan and Liz and at times it was hard to get through but I never once wanted to put the book down.
Ethan and Liz have a past together. Ethan comes from the Hendrixes and they have a reputation in their little town of Fools Gold. Liz is from the other side of the tracks. Her mother was an abusive mess and Liz got a lot of shit because of her. She got a lot of shit at home and she got a lot of shit at school. She was just a young girl who needed someone on her side and grew up learning that nobody had your back but you.
Not even the boy that claimed to love you more than anything.
Over the course of the book, my heart hurt for Liz. She couldn’t run away from who her Mother was. She couldn’t run away from the memories that being back in Fools Gold brought and she couldn’t run away from the boy who shattered her heart into a million pieces over and over again.
Reading this book was personal for me not because I know what it’s like to be treated the way that Liz was treated back in high school but because of the whole baby daddy issues thing. Reading about Liz’s struggles to do the right thing had me tearing up a whole lot and made my heart hurt because I know exactly how she feels. The guilt, the wonder and everything is a lot to take on and Liz did all of those things with nobody in her corner. I had a caring family that supported me through everything but Liz didn’t. She didn’t have anyone but three young kids who needed her more than she needed someone else.
Was it wrong of Liz to keep Tyler away from Ethan all those years? Of course but did I understand and sympathize with Liz? Yep. Did I understand why Ethan was pissed to high heaven over having been robbed of time with his child? Of course but did that stop me from getting good and pissed with him for putting Liz through everything that he did when they came back to Fools Gold? You betcha.
I guess without Ethan acting a fool with the whole court thing, we wouldn’t have had a story but still, he pissed me off with all of that.
I kept going back to before Liz left town. The way that Ethan treated her in public made me so bleeping mad at him that I couldn’t help but sympathize with Liz for her actions in the whole bloody mess. Is it wrong of me? Yeah but I didn’t care. My heroes are supposed to be the knight in shining armor and they’re supposed to stand up for their women but Ethan didn’t. Yeah, he was a kid but he was already in college….he wasn’t that young.
The constant fighting and bickering that went on between Ethan and Liz got a little tiring in some parts of the book because they kept having sex and throwing everything out of whack. And then Ethan was such a dumb ass throughout the book, he made me want to clock him over the head a few dozen times.
But all’s well that ends well and I really enjoyed the emotional roller coaster Mallery took us on with this one. This book fueled my desire to read Pia and Raoul’s story and man it was good to see that not everyone in Fools Gold were always picture perfect. Pia may have been a bitch but she grew up to be a stand up woman who is great. I’m very much looking forward to reading her book and see what she decides to do where Crystal’s stuff is concerned.
This book was good and I definitely recommend this to lovers of the series. It’s a great addition and it’ll make you thirsty for more. =)
Grade: 4.25 out of 5
Reading Order:
This book is available from HQN. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
I think the thing that frustrated me most about Ethan was that he was supposed to “protect the family reputation” at all costs..but isn’t being a douche to a girl bad for the rep? If his mother had know what he’d said, would she have been proud? Would his father?
That never quite gelled for me.
I agree! I was so pissed off at Ethan. Why couldn’t he see that Liz wasn’t the only one who made mistakes? And then he went further and compounded his past mistakes with even bigger ones when he found out about his son. And all because he had to be “right” and have things the way he wanted them.
Holly,
I hear you.
Chanpreet,
Yes! The whole, he had to be right thing drove me bat shit crazy but in the end, I’m glad they worked their problems out.