ALMOST PERFECT is the story of Ethan Hendrix and Liz Sutton. Let me warn you now that if you are not a fan of secret baby stories, then this is not the book for you. Twelve years after she left Fool's Gold pregnant with Ethan's baby, Liz returns to the small town where she grew up, her 11yo son Tyler in tow, to come rescue her two nieces who were abandoned by their step-mother. No way, no how is she prepared to stay there. Through a series of mishaps and bad luck and bone-headed moves on Ethan's More...

“So they were back to that, she thought, both annoyed and sad. The same road, the same words, the same feelings. They were trapped and she didn’t know how to make things different.”

Tell me about it.

I was curious to read this book because its Secret Baby plot sounded quite similar to Mallery’s Sweet Trouble, a story that packed a huge emotional punch for me. I wondered if the formula would work again, or if it would feel too much like a rerun. Well, it was a bit too familiar at times--but a much More...

seriously, people need to get over the whole moving back to San Francisco. Liz lives there. Tyler's whole life is there. she can't just pick up and move. Ethan pisses me off about that, thinking he had the rights to demand Liz to stay in Fool's Gold. why doesn't he move to San Francisco instead? after all, he'd be the only one changing lifestyle compared to Liz and Tyler.(not including Melissa and Abby). Ethan and his mom needed to get over missing out on Tyler's life because seriously? it was p More...

I tend to avoid secret baby stories like the plague. The heroine rarely has any justification for keeping the man from knowing that he has a child that's valid enough to counter my distaste for a crappy deception that strikes me as selfish and self-serving. I say rarely because this book is the exception. Liz actually made 2 attempts to let Ethan know about his child and that was enough to get past my innate dislike of this type of story. (Upon reflection, I think it's probably illogical at best More...

Read this review on my blog! --> Almost Perfect by Susan Mallery

Almost Perfect had me Almost Crying throughout the whole book! This was such an emotional roller coaster for me! It made laugh, get angry, get sad...it literally had me on the verge of tears the whole time...until the end, when I finally cried happy tears.

To keep this review from getting too personal, lets just say that I’m mom and that may have led to this book resonating with me on so many levels. I agree that Liz should’ve tr More...

I never believed the hero loved the heroine from start to finish. And God, there were WAY too many kids in this book. Everyone is either arguing about kids, for kids or with kids.

Story is worth-reading. Story is fast paced not until the middle up to the last chapters. I got tired with Ethan and Liz's arguments which happens to be the same all the time-- who is to blame who, who is right, and/or whose fault it is. I must give credit to Liz for giving Ethan a chance. She's given way too many chances which Ethan had blown up most of the time. On the other side, I think Ethan's a douchebag. He's such a kid. Yeah, He has his sweet moments but I'm actually pissed off at how he More...

By Susan Mallery. #2 in Fool’s Gold Series. Grade: F
I’d heard good things about this author, and thought I’d try one of her books out. I like books with kids – they add a twist – and picked Almost Perfect.
I am still recovering from the horror.
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 More...

Almost Perfect continues the Fools Gold series with the story of Liz Sutton and Ethan Hendrix. Liz is a successful author who despite becoming an unwed mother just out of high school with no parental support and having to give up a college scholarship has made a good life for herself and her son Tyler. After receiving a desperate email from her two nieces, Liz reluctantly returns to Fools Gold. After discovering her brother is in prison leaving two daughters with no one to care for them, Liz pla More...

This book should be retitled Opposite of Perfect or Barely Likeable.

Let's see... where to begin with this one... Susan Mallery is so hit or miss with me. I was hoping this would be good because the premise had potential to be heartfelt and angsty. Oh, I felt something alright. Just not the warm and fuzzies I was hoping for.

The H and h are the typical social opposites; the H being the small town's golden boy and the h the pariah, mainly because of her mother's drunkeness, prostitution-ness, and More...

The hero and heroine knew each other since children, they lived in the same hometown. When they were eighteen they began a secret relationship, the heroine was from the wrong side of the tracks and he was embarrassed to be seen with her. One day at the diner where the heroine worked, his friends mentioned seeing him with the heroine and asked if they were together. He denied it and the heroine dumped a milkshake on his head, packed up and left town, only to find out she was pregnant with his bab More...

I have mixed emotions about this story. I really liked the main character, Liz. Her actions seemed totally justified to me. I had a hard time caring about Ethan. I felt the author was trying to show his point of view as being an acceptable response. Here's the thing, it is easy to say 12 years later how you would have handled a situation but that probably would not have been your response. He says he would have married her and wanted to raise their child together. Sure he's 35 now but at 23? Peo More...

This book had a lot of things going for it. I liked the heroine, her son was realistic, the kick-off for the plot regarding her nieces being left alone after their father was sentenced to prison was interesting.

And then there was the supposed hero of the piece. I suppose my main beef with Mallery's Ethan Hendrix was that there never enough from his point of view, and without his point of view I just didn't feel connected to his character. The physical attraction between Ethan and Liz was very ev More...

Liz Sutton, a famous mystery writer, is back in Fool's Gold, California, her hometown to rescue her nieces. But while she's in town, her son's father reappears. Evan Hendrix is furious. He had dated Liz but never known that she was pregnant and now he has a ten-year-old son he didn't get to watch grow up.
Liz tried to tell him, twice. Granted, that's not that many times but she was an eighteen-year-old girl who came from a bad family and she didn't know that he might help. Right before she disco More...

It was good story and Liz was awesome so strong and brave,inspite of being a outcast from society cause of what her mother does.she keeps fighting through her teens,excels in studies, Liz is really great---kind, caring,almost too good, half way thru this book and wondered why Liz would even want this guy!

Ethan on the other hand is Selfish,mean,arrogant and in first book of this series"Chasing perfect"u will come to know he stopped speaking to his best friend Josh for 10 years because Josh became More...

This is the second book in the Fool’s Gold series and definitely one of the more serious stories by Mallery that I’ve read.

In this chapter of the Fool’s Gold series we meet Liz Sutton, a successful mystery author, who has literally pulled herself up by her own bootstraps. A single parent of an 11 year-old boy, Liz returns to her hometown of Fool’s Gold following a call from her recently abandoned nieces. Coming home, she makes the point of confronting her son’s father, Ethan Hendrix, and allowin More...

Ok. So I've started listening to this and I'm not sure I'll even finish it. It's not the reader, who seems adequate, it's the story. Before the end of the first CD I just wanted to gag.

Really. Would someone tell me how on earth anyone can like Ethan and consider him the romantic interest in this........romance. Why on earth would anyone want him. And his mother! All self-righteous. Why didn't she knock him upside the head and tell him off for his behavior. And what was with the main character ( More...

This was a very good story, it was very well written, and I really liked Liz as a character. She was strong and persevered when life threw her lemons. She tried to do the right thing and then everything gets thrown into her face. She also had the appearance of being an amazing mother, who was very good at teach right and wrong. Ethan....he was not my favourite character. He was a bit of a douche. I didn't like how he handled the whole situation with Liz. He was a bit delusional in how people act More...

My Ratings

Plot: 3/5
Setting: 5/5
Writing: 4/5
Originality of Plot: 3/5
Characters Development: 4/5
Ending: 4/5
Cover Art: 4/5

Overall: 27/35 = 77%


First Line

Liz Sutton had always known the past would come back and bite her in the butt - she just hadn’t known it was going to happen today.


Synopsis

Could a secret romance really lead to a perfect love?

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 r More...

I enjoyed this book much more than the first Fool's Gold book. First, it didn't focus on this hokey setup that all the women in Fool's Gold are desperate for women. (In fact, it's another out of towner coming in to take a native bachelor). It's a secret baby story. Small town girl whose mom is town bicycle gets targeted in high school as a s!ut. She falls for town golden boy while he is back from college. She gives up her virginity. They date secretly. One day she overhears him being asked if he More...

4 1/2 + stars
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 Eth More...

The 2nd in the Fool's Gold series & I have enjoyed both books alot. Liz left town right after high school, didn't know she was pregnant but never told Ethan. She comes back to town & has to face her past & the people in it. Liz has raised Tyler for 11yrs on her own. There is a lot of anger between Liz and Ethan understandably, but yes there is also chemistry. I feel for Liz, sometimes you just want to cry for her & yell that someone needs to do something for her instead of her ma More...

I was so excited to begin reading Almost Perfect and could not believe that I was given the chance yet again to read it before it hits shelves on June 29th. Thank you NetGalley!

My Review:

Okay seriously...What do we need to do to get Susan's books on the big screen? Every time I read her books I picture a movie or at least a TV mini series. It needs to be done! LOL


Anyway, the book kicks off right where Chasing Perfect left off. It begins with Liz who receives an e-mail from her nieces (that she More...