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Beautiful Redemption (The Maddox Brothers, #2)

Jamie McGuire

Start date: March 24, 2016

Finish date: June 24, 2016

Discussion: Beautiful Redemption

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Mar 07, 2015 Carolyne rated it it was ok

Beautiful Redemption is exactly what the Maddox series needed. The leads, for the most part, felt more well adjusted then the leads from the previous books, an actual plot outside of 'making these two characters fall in love and bang' was present throughout and oddly enough, when Travis was on screen, I didn't feel the normal abrasion from his character that i normally feel.

Nevertheless, the Maddox Brothers series doesn't seem to be getting as much positive reception as Beautiful and Walking Di Beautiful Redemption is exactly what the Maddox series needed. The leads, for the most part, felt more well adjusted then the leads from the previous books, an actual plot outside of 'making these two characters fall in love and bang' was present throughout and oddly enough, when Travis was on screen, I didn't feel the normal abrasion from his character that i normally feel.

Nevertheless, the Maddox Brothers series doesn't seem to be getting as much positive reception as Beautiful and Walking Disaster did, Beautiful Redemption in particular. I chalk this up to Thomas and Liis not being all over the map emotionally for the most part. There was less grief given over the people Liis talked too and when there was grief given, Liis stood up for herself, even maintaining a friendship with a coworker Thomas warned her about. There's no bar fights, Thomas doesn't throw tantrums when he doesn't get his way and Liis isn't even half the pushover Abby was.

I enjoyed the plot, something I felt was never fully present in previous books outside of getting the two leads together, though there were parts where I felt like I couldn't stretch my belief far enough to make it work. It did it's best to answer why Travis got into the FBI at the end of Walking Disaster, but it didn't make it anymore believable the second time around. Would the reasoning that Thomas give fly in the FBI even if Thomas was at the top of the food chain? Most likely not.

Liis was alright as a character, maybe a little to typical for a romantic lead and Thomas is my favorite of the Maddox brothers. However, something that bothered me about Thomas is how the relationship with Cami is handled in Beautiful Redemption. In Beautiful Oblivion, it read like he had accepted the break long before it happened. Thomas was also very welcoming towards his brother dating Cami with no ill feelings towards them. While it still rings true that Thomas holds no ill will towards the relationship his brother has with Cami, he seems to hold tightly to Cami. Everything leads back to her when it comes to his relationship with Liis and it's gotten to the point where his coworkers have noticed and believe Thomas has sworn off women completely because Cami busted his feels so bad. It's justifiable that he wouldn't be completely over her but I wish that this was more evident in the previous book as it felt like whiplash when presented here.

Though better than it's predecessors, there's nothing really to sing home about. Nice try though. ...more

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