Title: Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful #1)
Author: Jamie McGuire
Source: Purchased
Synopsis:
Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University’s Walking One-Night Stand.
Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby wants—and needs—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.
Review:
Beautiful Disaster is the first book in the Beautiful series by Jamie McGuire. It's about a college freshman named Abby, who moves away for college with her best friend to start a new life. Here, she meets Travis – who she thinks is all wrong for her. She is attracted to him, but he is covered in tattoos, he makes his money by fighting, and he is the campus man-slut.
It's hard to completely stay away from him though, because he is the roommate of her best friends boyfriend. He makes a bet with her that she loses, and she is forced to stay in his apartment for one month. He tries his best to charm her, and she tries her best to ignore his efforts. She refuses to be his next one night stand. She doesn't realize though, that Travis sees her differently. He quickly finds out that she's not like the other bimbos.
Their relationship is slow moving, so by the time they have their first kiss the sexual tension is burning up the pages. This book has some pretty intense moments. Travis has some major anger management issues, but at the same time he had such a soft side for Abby. I actually really liked his character, despite the fact that so many reviewers are bashing him. Both characters had some frustrating actions, but Abby actually drove me nuts so much during this book. Travis was trying so hard to turn his life around, and she just kind of strung him along. She basically just couldn't make up her mind about him. There was one scene where she really angered me, but I don't want to give anything away.
I would probably give the first half of this book 5 stars. I just couldn't put it down. I stayed up until 4 in the morning reading one night. The second half just didn't hold my attention as much. I was a bit disappointed by Abby's deep dark secret past that wasn't revealed until the 2nd half. I was expecting it to be something huge, but really it was pretty minor (to me anyway).
If you love New Adult books, or edgy contemporary romances, then I really recommend this book. It's not a fairy tale romance or anything – there are ups and downs all over the place. It's like a roller coaster. The title of this book fits Travis and Abby's relationship perfectly. With the violence and the sex (even if it wasn't detailed), I would suggest this to readers 18 and over.
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I had mixed feelings about this novel. On one hand I was hooked and couldn't put it down. The sexual tension the author created between these characters was smoking. At the same time I was a bit disturbed by their unhealthy relationship. They definitely had some issues they both needed to work out.
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