Bonus: Almost Perfect

HQN Books

Almost Perfect
Susan Mallery
2010

The Summary
"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?"

The Good
I actually read Almost Perfect several years ago, but I decided to read it again after I started back into the Fool's Gold Romance series.  As the second in a long list of romance novels, Almost Perfect is still an enjoyable little novel.  Short and sweet, it packs an emotional wallop that I didn't remember--and, confidentially, didn't expect.

Maybe it's because I read it a second time, meaning I had the opportunity to really sink into the story and appreciate the tiny details I missed the last time around, but I really enjoyed reading Susan Mallery's novel.  Oddly enough, I liked it more than either Chasing Perfect or Finding Perfect.

Of the first trilogy, I find Almost Perfect more appealing.  Charity's romance is fairly straightforward, she has a complicated past but she manages to find herself a home and a fulfilling relationship; likewise for Pia, who manages to overcome her past tragedies and create a wonderful life with a man she loves.  Liz, on the other hand, has created a life in spite of her past and returns to confront her former hometown.

Liz's story feels much more complex, because it factors in her past, her complicated relationship with Ethan (both past and present), her son, and her newly discovered nieces.  I like that it's much more complicated, and I like that she has a history with Ethan Hendrix--that she has to contend with her attraction to him.  She has to think about self-preservation, she has to think about her son, and she has to balance all these things, which makes her story feel more real.

Because real life is never simple.

The Bad
Although I enjoyed reading Almost Perfect more than I expected (and although I appreciated the plot complexity, especially after having read it a second time), I still found the usual amount of predictability.

The Ugly
Almost Perfect is a sweet, sentimental novel; however, I should point out that plenty of terrible things happen--and Liz Sutton endures more than her fair share.  She was frequently abused by her alcoholic mother and routinely bullied by others at her school, she had her heart broken by the only man she'd ever loved, and she endured the rejection of the entire town.

Her history with Fool's Gold--and Ethan--leaves a dark blemish on an otherwise sweetly simple and romantic novel.