Tag Archives: Jamie McGuire

Review: Beautiful Funeral (The Maddox Brothers #5) by Jamie McGuire

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Title: Beautiful Funeral
Author: Jamie McGuire
Publisher/Year:  CreateSpace  8/2/16
Length:   242 Pages
Series:  The Maddox Brothers #5

Overview

Losing has never been easy for a Maddox, but death always wins.

Eleven years to the day after eloping in Vegas with Abby, Special Agent Travis Maddox delivers his own brand of vigilante justice to mob boss Benny Carlisi. Vegas’s oldest and most violent crime family is now preparing for vengeance, and the entire Maddox family is a target.

The secret Thomas and Travis have kept for a decade will be revealed to the rest of the family, and for the first time the Maddoxes will be at odds. While none of them are strangers to loss, the family has grown, and the risk is higher than ever. With brothers against brothers and wives taking sides, each member will make a choice—let the fear tear them apart, or make them stronger.

My Thoughts

I love this series and i’m really impressed how Ms Mcguire brought us to somewhat of a conclusion.  Where this story differs from the others is that we have each chapter in a different characters POV – all trying to match us up to the point in time that we’re at while maintaining the flow of the underlying plot line.

Thomas and Liis are the foundation for this story – as we know, they are FBI and have been working to take down one of the biggest crime families in Vegas.  With the help of Travis and Abby, they’ve made more headway than ever, however it’s put their families in so much direct danger.  That’s really where this story takes us.

Now that they are out for blood – the Maddox’s are on their guard, and we see that the crime family has a few tricks up their sleeves still, resulting in the death of Thomas.  Where we go from there as the family copes is an interesting journey.

Throughout this series, we have seen the fairly unbreakable bond that there is between the brothers and that’s something that comes into question in this final installment.  They are taking sides as new information is revealed, and it becomes quite messy.  IF that weren’t enough, their wives are also getting at each other’s throats – taking it out in ways that one never imagined.

In addition to that, there are their personal lives at play – some great and some less than cozy and we get to see how all that plays out as the family copes with death.

What throws us for a loop is that while we have one funeral, that’s not all that we get here.  There’s still more to come and it’s shocking, surprising and all the same the ending that we all kind of wanted to have given the nature of the characters.  I don’t know how Ms Mcguire was able to keep it all straight and especially keep it interesting in this last book, but she did it was amazing ability.  I’m bummed to say goodbye to them, but i’m glad that we at least get to meet some of the other characters that we’ve read about in previous installments.  the series won’t totally end i think – just take a new path.

Review: Beautiful Burn (The Maddox Brothers #4) by Jamie McGuire

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Title:  Beautiful Burn
Author: Jamie McGuire
Publisher/Year:  CreateSpace Publishing 1/25/16
Length:  304 pages
Series:  The Maddox Brothers #4

Overview

Fresh out of college, Ellison Edson has fallen through the cracks of rock bottom. While staying in her family’s vacation home in Colorado, her behavior has finally gained the attention of her parents-but not in the way she hoped. Cut off from the millions she’s always taken for granted, and left alone to fend for herself, Ellie spirals further out of control, making a mistake she can’t take back.

Like his twin brother Taylor, Tyler Maddox is a member of the Alpine Hotshots, fighting wildland fires on the frontline. As arrogant as he is charming, Tyler’s nomadic lifestyle makes it easy to contain his relationships to one night. When he meets Ellie at a local party during off-season, her extreme personality and dismissive attitude fascinates him at first, but as his feelings deepen, Tyler realizes that the crippling inner demons of the woman he loves might be the strongest enemy any Maddox has ever faced.

My Thoughts

i’m a bit sad to see this part of the story ending, since i feel like there’s been some great stuff learning all about the Maddox brothers but so be it.  The difference in this book vs some of the others though is that we see aside from the beginning of the story, we’re jumping back into scenes from the other books, seeing how everything is actually intertwined.  So that being said, we get to finally connect some of the dots from the past stories and see how they all play out.

In this 4th installment, we get to see how Tyler gets his happily ever after, especially since it was teased a bit from when Travis and Abby actually had their wedding.  We saw that he had someone with him, and now we get more context to it all.

Tyler – one of the twins is also a hotshot- one of the elite fire fighting crew and it’s through that where we get to see more and more about who he is, how he’s different than Taylor (his identical twin) and how he feels about his own emotions and getting to be in love.

Then there’s Ellie, and i think that there’s the expected yet unexpected about her.  She’s an heiress of sorts, yet she’s also using that as an excuse to be a bit too much of a party girl who doesn’t care who she tramples in her path.  When her family stages an intervention and cuts her off, well it’s up to her to survive and fortunately, there are a few kind folks in the town that understand her and want to see her succeed.

So…throughout this story, we see a lot of the expected Maddox fighting come out – we know everyone’s background from Travis’ story.  we also see that he’s a protector and the best person from inside, thanks to his father, and that’s something that Ellie needs. It’s because of Tyler and Jojo – the girl she works for, that Ellie’s able to find her place and worth, but of course it comes with stress and pain.

Different than the other books though, we definitely see a more sexy side coming from our author – usually it’s very very PG and in this installment, things are getting racy.  There are moments when we get to see how there’s real chemistry between these 2 and that’s written in a way that we never really got in the past books.

I guess what we continue to get here is the same amazing story of family and love – and how it’s important to allow someone to help you out and support you.  Ellie needed it here more than anyone, and i think that it’s something that we see from the characters in the other books in the series too.  Tyler wants to have something of his own, someone to love and he’s kind of at odds with himself about it because it’s taking what he’s known and flipping it.

While we’re now done with all of the brothers, it looks like there’s a new series that picks up with Darby and Trex so that means that maybe we’re not really done with these guys.  I can only hope that we get more of them, and even if it’s in a spinoff of sorts – i’d be ok.  On that note – enjoy everyone and have a good weekend!

Review: Sweet Nothing by Jamie McGuire and Teresa Mummert

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Title:  Sweet Nothing
Author: Jamie McGuire and Teresa Mummert
Publisher/Year: Jamie McGuire 11/1/15
Length:  251 Pages

Overview

It is enough to break any man: watching what could have been my future slip away before it was ever in my grasp. The possibility of losing someone I loved before she was even mine is something I never would have imagined—certainly nothing I’d ever wish on anyone. I went to her every day and waited. Waited for the impossible, for a sign, for her to look at me … hoping sinners are granted miracles, too.

Just one glimpse of him was all it took. In the next lane, at a stop light, was the man I would fall in love with and marry. People talk about love that takes time—the kind you fall in to. We were more like a crash and burn. When our lives intertwined, I knew I would never be the same. He was the man I would cherish the rest of my life, who would father my children. In an instant our life together began, and in an instant it would end. The late nights; the excuses; the lies. And in the blink of an eye, it was like we never were.

For the first time, experience a heartfelt, jaw-dropping novel by New York Times bestsellers Jamie McGuire and Teresa Mummert.

When you think you know what’s happening, you’re only half way there.

My Thoughts

I’m a HUGE fan of Ms Mcguires so i was really excited that i was going to get another book from her mind.  What we have here though takes us to a place that is so unexpected and quite confusing.

We have our leads, Avery and Josh – who are both working in similar situations to one another and that’s what in essence brings them together.  Josh is a paramedic and Avery is an ER nurse so their paths cross, but they are so different that it’s inevitable that they are going to come together.

Josh has a bit of a reputation in the hospital that he’ll seduce and sleep with any nurse, and we know that Avery has been rather stand-offish.  with that in mind, you KNOW that when and if they get together, it’ll be explosive!

It takes an accident to bring them together, and it’s how the saying goes, you don’t know what you have until you lose it, and that’s really where our story takes shape.  it almost goes too smoothly throughout their romance, finding that they have their own haunted pasts that get them to where they are in life, and then coming together with such honesty and passion that it gets better and better.  Throw in a few issues w/ Trust from Avery and well, you get the typically lovely romance story.

It’s not until the last few chapters that you really get thrown for a loop.  Honestly, i had a lot of trouble really understanding what was happening, we see Avery waking up from an accident and we learn that there’s so much that she’s confused about which makes us even more confused.  Then there’s the whole issue with Josh and what his role is during these final chapters as well.

I had to check out a spoiler forum from one of the authors to really understand where the direction came from for this finale and i think that i get it now, but it wasn’t at all what i was expecting although i should have been.  The other sad bit is that i was hoping that this was an intro to a story since we learned so much about Deb and Quinn throughout but it doesn’t sound like that’s in the works.  I hope they change their minds.

On that note – it’s really a sweet story and one that really falls into place in Jamie McGuires library.  I’m def interested in seeing what else the other author has to read as well – Teresa Mummert is someone worth paying some attention to.  On that note, have a great rest of your sunday and GO JETS! (sorry – couldn’t help it!)

Review: Something Beautiful (Beautiful #3) by Jamie McGuire

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Title:  Something Beautiful
Author: Jamie McGuire
Publisher/Year: Jamie McGuire LLC 8/118/15
Length:  93 pages
Series:  Beautiful #3

Overview

America Mason, a sassy undergrad at Eastern State University, is in love with a Maddox–Shepley Maddox. Unlike his cousins, Shepley is more lover than fighter, but a road trip to her parents’ home in Wichita, Kansas could mean the next step, or the end of everything.

My Thoughts

We all loved America from the main story – and i think that it’s about time that we got to see a bit more of how she and Shep got together and what that would mean for them in the future.  What we get here is a little snippet that jumps through time a bit so that we can see where it all started, where it progressed, and then where it netted out.

There are bits and pieces here that are great – you get to see that initial meeting on campus when they were freshmen, but none of the drama that ensued. It’s nice to see how uncertain Shep was and how sure of herself America was.  That’s what we felt from the bigger story and that’s nice to see it run true here.

Then we get to see how things were a year later when Abby and Travis got married -and what that meant to how their own relationship would progress.  It’s nice to get the view here since in the bigger story, we only saw the break up situation once with this happy-ish couple, and it’s nice to see that there was maybe something less than rosey going on in how they wanted to approach things.

Then we get another jump ahead that’s about 3 years into the future to see how things are going, and we see that there’s been a bit of stagnation or rocky-ness going on.  It really humanizes the characters here and makes you wonder what’s going to happen since everything is uncertain.

Bring in a bit of weather terror, tornadoes ,couples drifting apart, and destruction leading to hospitals.  I feel like it’s an expected path where they went, but one that maybe helped find the right resolution since they honestly didn’t know.

What we get in the ending is a culmination of sorts for each person on their own.  Abby, America, Travis and Shep.  We see where they ended up at the end of this journey – and while i know that there’s plenty of content here waiting for the stories to continue with all the maddoxes, i feel like at least we know where these 4 ended up.  On that note – a quick read for sure and you guys should check it out.

Our lovely author has done it again with giving us just enough with the characters that we love, enough emotional investment to keep it going, anxiety and well, the expected and very unexpected ending.

Review: Beautiful Sacrifice (The Maddox Brothers #3) by Jamie McGuire

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Title:  Beautiful Sacrifice
Author: Jamie McGuire
Publisher/Year: CreateSpace Publishing 5/31/15
Length: 270 pages
Series: The Maddox Brothers #3

Overview

Falyn Fairchild can walk away from anything. Having already left her car, her education, and even her parents, the daughter of the next governor of Colorado is back in her hometown, broke and waiting tables for the Bucksaw Café. After every shift, Falyn adds to her shoebox of cash, hoping to one day save enough to buy her a plane ticket to the only place she can find forgiveness: Eakins, Illinois.

The moment Taylor Maddox is seated in Falyn’s section at the Bucksaw, she knows he’s trouble. Taylor is charming, breaks promises, and gorgeous even when covered in filth-making him everything Falyn believes a hotshot firefighter to be. Falyn isn’t interested in becoming another statistic, and for a Maddox boy, a disinterested girl is the ultimate challenge.

Once Falyn learns where Taylor calls home, everything changes. In the end, Maddox persistence is met with Falyn’s talent for leaving, and for the first time, Taylor may be the one to get burned.

My Thoughts

I don’t know how everyone else feels about this spin off series but i love what our author is doing for us here.  We don’t just get stories for each of the brothers – we get them happening all at the same time – so there are bits that were teased in each up to this point that we get but don’t know the back story and in each installment, we get the full picture.  i LOVE that.

It’s about time that we got to Taylor’s story since we knew that he was having a rough go at things for a bit from Thomas’s story line.  We saw him arrive in San Diego, get wasted and have a one night stand with one of the agents that worked with Thomas, all because he was having his own troubles with his girlfriend.  Well, we finally get to meet the girlfriend – since this is Taylor and Falyn’s story and it’s a good one.

Throughout the beginning set up, we see that there’s a great dynamic between them.  We see that there’s a lot of chemistry and that comes out in the form of mean banter between the 2.  We know Falyn’s guarded but not why exactly.  We know that she’s going through quite a bit in the sense that she hates her parents for reasons to be revealed at some point.  We also know that she’s saving up for a trip to Eakins which is ironically where Taylor is from.  Coincidence?  Well that’s something that you’ll have to read on to figure out.  It’s not until the day that Taylor and his hotshot crew walk into the diner that she works at, that things turn upside down.

True to Maddox form, Taylor is uber attractive, exuding this raw sexuality that no one can keep away from – lease of all Falyn, as much as she tries.  He’s persistent, and incredibly sweet which is yet another set of traits of the brothers that i LOVE.  It’s only a matter of time before he gets his way, and when he does, well the walls have no choice but to come tumbling down for Falyn.

The best part of this story – like the one that we got with Trenton, is that you see a great friendship develop first and that’s because there’s insane chemistry that folks are afraid to act on.  You know that it’s inevitable, but i think that there’s something to be said about just waiting it out a bit before you actually get into being more.

But….when they get to the ‘more’ part – it’s great.  There’s a bond here that’s amazing and real, and that’s something that our author is great at writing into a story.  She makes things real, and believable, even if the situations are at times contrived.  It’s when secrets come out on all sides – when Falyn has no choice but to deal with her demons and bring Taylor along for the ride that we see things getting even more complex.

We see things culminate at the wedding of course – and coming off of book 2, we know that it’s going to be a tough bit for Travis for a while, but we’ll have to wait to see how that one pans out.  Then we get a nice epilogue to see the resolution of all of the things that Taylor and Falyn are going through – and while it’s not totally expected, i think that you’ll be interested to see where their story ended up.

It’s onto the next now, i’m guessing Tyler and Ellie since we were intro’d to them in book 2 and then even more so here in book 3.  I can’t wait.  Happy Monday all and have a great week!

Review: Beautiful Oblivion (The Maddox Brothers #1) by Jamie McGuire

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Title:  Beautiful Oblivion
Author: Jamie McGuire
Publisher/Year: Atria Book 7/1/14
Length: 336 pages
Series: The Maddox Brothers #1

Overview

The Beautiful Disaster and Walking Disaster phenomenon continues in the first heart-pounding new adult romance in The Maddox Brothers series.

Fiercely independent Camille “Cami” Camlin gladly moved on from her childhood before it was over. She has held down a job since before she could drive, and moved into her own apartment after her freshman year of college. Now tending bar at The Red Door, Cami doesn’t have time for much else besides work and classes, until a trip to see her boyfriend is cancelled, leaving her with a first weekend off in almost a year.

Trenton Maddox was the king of Eastern State University, dating co-eds before he even graduated high school. His friends wanted to be him, and women wanted to tame him, but after a tragic accident turned his world upside down, Trenton leaves campus to come to grips with the crushing guilt.

Eighteen months later, Trenton is living at home with his widower father, and works full-time at a local tattoo parlor to help with the bills. Just when he thinks his life is returning to normal, he notices Cami sitting alone at a table at The Red.

As the baby sister of four rowdy brothers, Cami believes she’ll have no problem keeping her new friendship with Trenton Maddox strictly platonic. But when a Maddox boy falls in love, he loves forever—even if she is the only reason their already broken family could fall apart.

In the first installment of the Maddox Brothers books, readers can experience the rush they felt reading Beautiful Disaster for the first time, all over again.

My Thoughts

I’m a sucker for a happy ending and this is a series that i’m definitely finding myself invested in.  I loved Beautiful disaster which was Travis and Abby’s story and it’s nice that we get to see the other brothers get their own story.  In this one too, it’s not just about Trenton, one of the brothers but about Cami who’s got her own complication – which i figured out early on, yet it’s not until the final pages that it’s revealed in full.

Cami is our leading lady who’s in a position where she’s dating a guy named TJ who’s amazing and wonderful yet who has this job that keeps him out of state, and not uber available for her when she needs and wants him.  She’s surprisingly understanding about it all but the question is – is it enough?

Then there’s Trenton, one of the Maddox brothers who comes with a reputation to boot and while there’s an attraction there, it’s one of those things that’s so hard to choose to act on.  We learn early on that he’s been ‘in love’ with Cami for ages, even if neither knew it or admitted it.  What that means for them?  nothing, because there’s TJ and they are in the ‘friend zone’.

Where this story takes us though is one of compassion, a growing relationship that’s not based on sex (which is something that we’ve really come to appreciate from Ms Mcquire since Travis and Abby weren’t ALL about sex even if Travis has a reputation of his own).  Cami is the oldest of 4, her brothers really don’t make it any easier for her since they are often over protective and get in to their own trouble.  All of the Maddox brothers come with their share of touble as well, and 2 families that have trouble aren’t going to mix well.  We get to see that play out from time to time in this first installment of the series.

What i really appreciate here though is that we get to see a happier side for both of these leads.  We get to see that they know that things don’t come easy in life yet they are willing to put in the effort.  They fight like a real couple and they rekindle what they have as a real couple, yet they aren’t….cause there’s TJ.

How it all plays out – well that’s interesting.  I have yet another appreciation for the fact that this story is actually parallel to Beautiful Disaster – we get to see some of the unfurling of Travis and Abby in this one and that means that it’s not ahead or behind that other series.  It’s nice when you see things interwoven and that we get to see how things can actually happy in parallel for each of the characters.  That makes me more excited to see what happens for the rest of the Maddox brothers since there’s still 2 more i believe.  And on that note – i have another installment of this series in my library and i should get to reading it.  Happy Monday all!

Review: A Beautiful Wedding (Beautiful #2.5) by Jamie McGuire

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Title:  A Beautiful Wedding :
Author: Jamie McGuire
Publisher/Year: Atria Book 12/10/13
Length: 108 pages
Series: Beautiful #2.5

Overview

YOU KNOW THAT ABBY ABERNATHY UNEXPECTEDLY BECAME MRS. MADDOX. BUT WHAT DO YOU REALLY KNOW?

Why did Abby pop the question?

What secrets were shared before the ceremony?

Where did they spend their wedding night?

Who else knew about it . . . and didn’t tell?

Everything about Abby and Travis’s elopement was top-secret . . . until now. Fans of Beautiful Disaster and Walking Disaster will get all of their questions answered in this whirlwind tale of the wedding day (and night!)—and as with all good stories, this one will definitely have been worth the wait.

My Thoughts

So i’m the idiot that doesn’t always think to look to see if there are novellas for series that i’m really into – and in this case – BIG MISS! better late than never is going to be my perspective on this one.  Especially since i didn’t think to jog my memory on what led us up to the wedding.  it’s ok though, thankfully i really do remember most of the story line to this point.

The point that we’re at here is right after the fire when Abby is trying to protect Travis – the boy that she loves from going to jail since he’s part of the reason for the fight.  and indirectly the fire and deaths.  Her idea is that if they give the police enough of a reason to believe that they weren’t there, then ti would be fine, and her idea is to go back to the place she swore she’d never return – Vegas and get married.  I mean, there’s definitely enough plausible deniability there that makes you second guess.

So we’re with them as they rush back to Vegas and the horus leading up to the wedding.  It’s interesting to see how much of a struggle this is for Abby – although we know that she really loves Travis, she gets nervous – probably more so because she doesn’t want him to find out why it’s such a rush.  but regardless, it’s nice to see this human side of both her and Travis.  The sweetiest bit here though too is that we keep getting these glimpses into Travis’s mind where he’s remembering his mother and what she would have thought of Abby.  Honestly, the note that he’s been carrying with him since his fight with Abby – from his mother – well that was one of the most touching moments in the whole book.

Of course we know that they will get married since we’ve seen that happen in the bigger series, so that’s no surprise, but i love that we get to see a bit of the ‘fast forward’ to a year later to see what’s going on as well.  It’s def not as surprising novella but a sweet one at that, and to be honest, being able to get back involved in this series is really nice – especially since i’ve just discovered the Maddox Brothers spin off – so that’s next on my list to conquer.  I mean, who wouldn’t want to see what the other guys are up to.  so on that note, happy Friday and Enjoy!

 

 

Review: Walking Disaster (Beautiful Disaster #) By Jamie McGuire

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Title: Walking Disaster 
Author: Jamie McGuire
Publisher/Year: Atria Books, 4/2/13
Length: 438 pages
Series: Beautiful Disaster #2

I love the trend of stories that are done in the male lead’s POV, and this was exactly that.  I think that we can all happily say that the story of Travis and Abby was one of great passion (be it good bad or otherwise) so it was nice to see it from Travis’s side of things.

What i really enjoyed about this story is that while in BD we got the sense that Travis had this past that made him into a tough guy, it’s really more to the point that his mother’s passing was the reason that he was the way that he was.  His mother’s parting words were to ‘fight for what you love’ and because of that, he found that he was wary of loving and then found that it was really hard to do that.

The journey that walking disaster took us on was one of jealousy and uncertainty.  i think that Travis really didn’t think that he was worthy of anything, of being good enough for someone that was good and even that he was worthy of his family.  he grew past the struggles of a father who had a hard time adjusting to being a widower and 4 older brothers that were tough guys on their own.

Regardless, i think that it was a nice perspective – there were a few scenes that we didn’t delve into in this installment since in BD they were solely about Abby, but there were also pieces that we got to see in this that we missed out on.  We saw more of the gritty side of things – with Travis going to the local bar/club a lot more since that’s who he was.  we saw his relationship with his fraternity brothers which i don’t know why i don’t remember that much from BD

All in all, the BEST part i think was the epilogue in this installment.  I didn’t think that we were going to get that story at all – and i think that i was a FANTASTIC addition and closure to the whole story.  If for nothing else, this just shows that you can have a ‘stand alone’ story with a reverse POV and wrap it up all nicely so that there’s no want for another book in the series.  NICELY DONE is basically what i can say about this book.

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

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after reading this book all in one sitting (seeing a trend here w/ me?) – i looked online and found out that Jamie McGuire recently went from self publishing to working with a small publishing group.  This is great for all of you guys that haven’t read her stuff and really ought to.

**MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS BELOW – BE FOREWARNED**

The cover art is kind of what drew me in at first and i’m not sure how that all ties into the actual story, but i have to say that this is a book that i LOVED! and i don’t say that too often i don’t think.

We are introduced to our characters right in the middle of a fight – and that’s kind of the basis of this whole story.  everything for everyone seems to be a fight – but for most, it just works

Abby/Pigeon – Abby is our focus for the book – she’s the one telling the story and she’s the one that we are drawn to.  Abby is a Freshman at ‘Eastern’ University, where she’s gone with her best friend America to escape her past and hopefully hide it.  What is she hiding – well we don’t find that out for a long long time, and you kind of want to think the worst.  The impression of Abby that we’re given is that she’s really naive, and innocent, but if you just listen to how she stands up to people, especially Travis (we’ll talk about him in a sec) – you see that maybe there’s more that her package has to offer.  Anyway, she’s the good girl who falls for the bad boy (Travis) – and yet doesn’t want to fall for him so she instead tries to aim for the friend zone.  which isn’t a good thing anyway.  what i love about her though is that she’s trying to do the right thing and not compromise herself too much when ultimately she puts herself and Travis (and all their friends) through so much more stress than is actually necessary.   her secret mind you – her father was one of the best professional poker players ever until Abby turned 13 and some how managed to have the tables turned and became the better player.

–note – i loved that it was Thomas – Travis’ brother that figured it out – that was great

Travis – he’s THE guy from every book that’s got massive sex appeal and a temper, yet you want to root for him.  you just know that there’s going to be some innocent little thing coming along to make him turn his life around and this time it was Abby (or Pigeon as he likes to call her)  Travis grew up hard, as he likes to say, little money, drunk father (who changed – and from what we see is actually a great father after all) and lots of older brothers.  he had to fight to survive in his family and how he is now is a result of that.  what i still don’t get w/ him though is how he’s such an amazing fighter.  no one can beat him, yet that can’t just be from dodging punches from family can it?
America/Shep – these are our usual suspects of supporting characters.  america is Abby’s best friend from Kansas *ahem* Vegas  who’s goal is to make sure that 1) Abby’s identity is a secret 2) make sure Abby is happy/safe.  Shep is her boyfriend and ironically enough, Travis’ cousin/roommate.  makes for some cozy stuff right?  anyway, i found that i liked Shep a bit more than America.  I felt like he contributed a lot to the story  the insight on who Travis was and why he did stuff – how he tried to help be voice of reason, and what i LOVED was the scene towards the end when he thinks that Travis is bringing a random girl home, he stomps out and yells at Travis, only then to see that it’s Abby and all is right in the world.  America – well she’s a sweet enough girl, i just didn’t feel like she contributed as much as she probably could have

if you don’t read anything else this week – please get this book.  here’s the short of it:

innocent girl meets bad boy fighter.  eyes lock – instant connection, however girl doesn’t want to be another notch on a bed-post so here comes ‘friend’ strategy.  that kind of backfires when REAL feelings develop between the 2.  virginity is taken, fight ensues, break ups follow – then reunions of course.  a scummy father comes in to the picture luring Abby to help pay off gambling debts – revealing her true identity – calling for a road trip to Vegas – where another BIG TIME fight comes along causing yet another break up and then moping by all folks involved – and then a drunken reunion, followed by ANOTHER trip to vegas where there’s a wedding and everyone lives happily ever after.

yes i made that sound all very cliche and blase – but really it’s a GREAT book, and again, i don’t stay that often – so please just trust me ok?  i’m sitting here waiting on the edge of my seat for ‘Walking Disaster’ – the follow up story all from Travis’ perspective – that’ll be good.