Almost Perfect - Susan Mallery

Title: Almost Perfect
Author: Susan Mallery
Publisher: Harlequin
Publish Date: June 29, 2010
Rating: Adult
Received: NetGalley

Back in high school, Liz Sutton had been the girl from the wrong side of the tracks, but she still captures the heart of the most popular boy in town. Until Ethan Hendrix betrays her. Devastated and pregnant, Liz leaves town. Now, years later, she must return and face the man who doesn't know of their son's existence. Original. (Borders.com)

Almost Perfect was an amazing read. I could not stop reading it. Montana in the novel said it perfectly:

"I'm desperate for coffee. I was up all night reading. It's so hard when a book is great, you know? So great you can't stop reading even though it's late and your eyes are burning."

Well, I wrote down the time I finished the novel and it was 4:16 AM. Yes, I woke up extremely tired but the plot and characters were so interesting that it was worth giving up some sleep. When Montana said the above quote Liz, the main character, who is an author replied back:

"It's the best compliment any writer can ask for."

Obviously my compliments to Susan Mallery. My favorite plotline in the novel would be the romance. It was kind of similar to The You I Never Knew by Susan Wiggs but it was different enough that I still was wondering how the story would work out. I love when there is a past to a couple and Liz and Ethan definitely have a lot to work through.

Family is also an important theme. You have Liz with her son Tyler and her nieces. Then you have Ethan with his huge family. They both had such different childhoods, it was fascinating to see how they think family should be.

My least favorite thing about the novel and my only real complaint is I felt like the ending was kind of abrupt. I wanted to know more about how their future is going to be, how they are going to work out. The good thing is that there is a novel following this one, although with different main characters. I hope that we get to see a couple of tidbits on Liz and Ethan.

With confidence I can reccomend this book to anyone. If you enjoy the contemporary genre I think you will enjoy this title. I know that I had a lot of fun reading it! Susan Mallery, thank you for keeping me entertained.

* Quotes taken from page 187 of the bound galley edition. Please note I don't know if the quotes have changed since revisions.