Casee‘s review of Chasing Perfect (Fool’s Gold, Book 1) by Susan Mallery
Welcome to Fool’s Gold, California, a charming community in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. There’s lots to do and plenty of people to meet, especially women. Because there’s just one tiny problem in Fool’s Gold: the men don’t seem to stick around. Maybe it’s the lure of big-city life, or maybe it’s plain old bad luck, but regardless of the reason, the problem has to be fixed, fast. And Charity Jones may be just the city planner to do it.
Charity’s nomadic childhood has left her itching to settle down, and she immediately falls in love with all the storybook town has to offer — everything, that is, except its sexiest and most famous resident, former world-class cyclist Josh Golden. With her long list of romantic disasters, she’s not about to take a chance on another bad boy, even if everyone else thinks he’s perfect just the way he is. But maybe that’s just what he needs — someone who knows the value of his flaws. Someone who knows that he’s just chasing perfect.
Susan Mallery is hit and miss for me. Chasing Perfect was a miss. I couldn’t stand the heroine and the hero was just lukewarm. The thing I loved the best about this book was the town. The town reminded me of Stars Hollow (which is mentioned in the book). A town where everyone knows your business, but everyone will also look out for you.
Charity Jones moves to Fool’s Gold because she wants to be a part of the close knit community. As the city planner, it is Charity’s job to bring business (thus revenue) to Fool’s Gold. She also needs to bring men in. Why? Because the men are outnumbered somewhere around 5 to 1. So they are desperate for men to come to Fool’s Gold. Charity thinks she has a good shot of getting some business and is determined to help the town that she’s growing to love.
Josh Golden was a cyclist who was in a horrible accident during a race. He saw his protégé die, something that has stuck with Josh for years. Since that race, he has considered himself retired. He doesn’t get on his bike except in the dark of the night where no one can see him. Josh wants to do something for the town that has done so much for him, but starting a cycling school might be more than he can handle.
Charity was just a bitch. I didn’t like her at all. She was judgmental and critical. She came off to me like she looked her nose down at almost everything. She didn’t want Josh, she didn’t want Josh’s help. She wanted normal. I don’t know how many times I read that Charity wants a normal life. NORMAL. No Josh for her. Except that doesn’t happen.
The end is what really bothered me. It would have been totally ruined if Charity hadn’t gotten her head out of her ass just in time. The whole book, she misunderstands Josh. It continues past the time that she says she loves him but she can’t accept him for who he is. Someone that is not NORMAL. I wanted to wring her neck.
Josh deserved way better. Someone like me for example.
The only reason I’m not giving this book a 1 or 2 is because I loved the town and everyone in it. Except for Charity.
3 out of 5.
This book is available from HQN. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
The series:
ETA: Please forgive me for being so horrible with titles today. It’s been one of those weeks.
I got to the nasty comment about dumb blondes and knew I’d hate the book. I didn’t like this one. Not one bit.