Almost Perfect

I love Susan Mallery. I read this book in one sitting. Ethan had some real flaws and a lot to regret from high school (as do a lot of people). I liked that about this book- that people are so often not what they seem in high school and the "Nobodys" are very often the real successes. The mean girls very often have no self esteem and something to hide. I didn't feel like Susan missed the mark on this one : )

Susan Mallery excels at writing characters I can relate to, and Liz is one of her best. Liz didn't have an easy childhood. Her mother was the town tramp, so Liz was painted by many with that same brush. She was a good girl in high school, but many people assumed she was a slut. One who didn't was Ethan Hendrix, her first love. Ethan simply liked her, and he didn't pressure her to have sex... so of course, she gave in to her feelings for him. When he denied their relationship so people wouldn't gossip about him and his family, Liz was crushed and ran away. And she was pissed. Ethan was supposed to be a good guy, someone who would protect her heart. Instead, he stomped on it. She was so mad that when she became a mystery writer, she murdered Ethan over and over again in her books. With this rocky relationship with the town of Fool's Gold, it's no wonder that Liz never wants to return. But when her young nieces contacted her and said "We need help," Liz didn't hesitate for a second. I admire that so much. Liz was a terrific character who I loved right from the beginning. Ethan had a lot to learn, and I thought his dramatic scene at the end was perfect. I was in tears and delighted that these two had reunited.

This is the second in the Fool's Gold series. Ethan Hendrix was introduced in Chasing Perfect. He is the best friend of Josh Golden (hero from Chasing Perfect) and a descendant of the founding fathers of Fool's Gold. He is the oldest in his family and always "does the right thing." Appearance is everything to him. Liz Sutton was the girl from "the other side of the tracks" in high school. Her mother was abusive and no one helped Liz survive, so she did it on her own. She fell for Ethan when she was 18, but his need to appear perfect kept him from publicizing their relationship. When he denounced her publicly, she left town unaware she was pregnant. She tried to tell him about the child a couple of times over the last 12 years, but Ethan never knew. Now she is back in Fool's Gold and he knows. He wants to get to know both his son and Liz. I'm really beginning to like Fool's Gold more and more. The last book focused on the last of females, while this one focused on the small-town feel and protecting their own. Liz and Ethan were both hometown kids, but from very different backgrounds. In the end, the town had embraced both of them--faults and all. It makes me want to find my own Fool's Gold and move there. Ethan and Liz are both well developed characters. Their relationship was complicated and the depth of Tyler made it more difficult. I liked the way that Tyler's story seemed real. The kid had real feelings and reacted in ways that I imagine a real 11-year-old would. The whole family reacted how I might expect it to happen in real life. The Fool's Gold series is turning out to be a favorite of mine and I am looking forward to learning more about the town's residents. *I received this book from the publisher via netgalley.*

I've fallen in love with Ms Mallery's town of Fool's Gold and all the great characters that live and visit there. I love both the H/h in this very emotional love story. Liz Sutton is from the wrong side of town and Ethan Hendrix is one of the wonder boys of Fool's Gold. In high school they had a secret romance. She thought it was to protect her but she hears Ethan deny he even knows her. As teenagers this was so traumatic she leaves town but finds she is pregnant and comes back to tell Ethan but he's acting very foolish. Over the years Liz has tried to tell Ethan of Tyler's existence but it just hasn't happened. Now 11 years later she has come to take care of her nieces in Fool's Gold, her older brother has gone to prison--she hadn't heard from him for years and didn't even know she had nieces much less teenagers. She has plans of moving the girls back to San Francisco with her and Tyler. All comes out and the whole town knows of Tyler and everyone has an opinion of how she have kept the boy from his father all this time! Ethan and his mother are taking this very hard--they find it a very selfish act by Liz. Oy yes, Liz is a mystery writer and Ethan asks if she enjoys killing off the bad guy who always resembles him, she didn't even realize she was doing that. We get to watch Liz and Ethan find the love they had so long ago but on a much more mature footing. We see Liz's teenage nieces learn to love Liz & Tyler as well as a much more secure life. Liz finds her memories not quiet what she thought in the early part of her life and how she is thought of as being one of the town's own, then and now. Ethan's sisters and mother also have their feelings and love for Tyler and maybe Liz too. Now I'm looking forward to September's FINDING PERFECT - Pia's story! and the hero, Raoul, we've met before in Ms Mallery's book SWEET SPOT.

No one writes a love story like author Susan Mallery as it's not only the romance, it's how she creates strong characters who tug at your heart. They are beautiful stories about family and how they work through their secrets, hurts, misunderstandings, but in the end they worked through their "stuff" giving them that happy ending they so desperately needed. And that's how the author takes her readers on the journey that makes Mallery's Almost Perfect" a perfect romance". In this case Susan Mallery not only gave the hero and heroine their happy ending, she also gave her son and her nieces the loving home they all deserved. As the old saying goes "when fate hands you a lemon, make lemonade" and that's what happened to Liz Sutton when the love of her life Ethan Hendrix denied knowing her, telling his friends he would never date a girl like her. Liz was a sweet young woman who had grown up on the wrong side of the tracks with a mother who was not only a drunk but had a different man in her bed every night. On top of that her mother was abusive to her and the town's residents of Fools Gold instead of stepping in chose to ignore how she was being raised. Liz was extremely smart, and tried to ignore the barbs and rumors that she was a "slut". The only positive thing in her life was Nathan, the boy she loved, the same boy who promised they would be together in college. And then in front of his friends he hurt her by denying their relationship and Liz left Fools Gold and went to San Francisco. Ethan Hendrix can't believe Liz Sutton was back in Fools Gold and he wondered why. When he found out that he had a son he never knew about, let's just say not only Ethan went on that roller coaster ride of emotions, so did Liz, the Hendrix family and his son Tyler. Liz not only had to deal with Ethan being back in her life, telling her son about his father, she also had to deal with her brother's girl's who were without parents because her brother was in prison, their step-mother skipped out, leaving her nieces without money, food and alone in a falling down house she was left to remodel. Talk about a strong heroine....Liz was amazing and on top of that a New York Times best selling mystery author. On her own she not only raised a wonderful son, she became a huge success and faced a man from her past, the entire town of Fools Gold and their snide remarks. She was the glue that held the family together, she was fierce in her love for her son and in the end would she sacrifice that love to make sure everyone was happy? I loved this character and will remember her for sometime to come and you will as well as Almost Perfect gives those who read it so many lessons in life to think about. There was one particular one for me and that was when we know something is wrong in someone's life, do we reach out to help that person? Think about it, I sure did. As for Ethan Hendrix, you will travel along with him on his complicated journey. At times your heart wi