Finding Perfect

<b>4 Heart, Soul, and Balls Stars</b><br /><br />I enjoyed this book a lot more than book 2. I am still totally butthurt over the shit Ethan pulled in that book. So I was glad I didn't have to deal with his ass in this book. I liked both Pia and Raoul. They were both sweet and a little damaged. I loved the whole Peter and embryo plot. I just wish that for once in this series the guy didn't act like a coward too scared to love and have to have all the towns people talk sense into him (or you know harass, bitch, or browbeat him) until he sees the light. Just sayin' I love a hero that knows what he wants and goes for it. The that isn't afraid of a little heartbreak because he's tough, he can rip his own heart out and drink his life's blood with nails. Oh sorry got carried away there. Had Raoul not did the chicken dance in this book I would have gave it 5 stars. Below I leave my favorite quote it's from the hero from book 1 Josh. I couldn't have said it better! <br /><br /><b>“I’d wondered if you’d caught that. You’re right. She loves you. Like most women, she’s not willing to settle. She wants it all. That’s what women specialize in—demanding every scrap of humanity we have. Our hearts, our souls and our balls. You can fight it, my friend, but I’ve learned it’s a whole lot smarter to hand it all over quietly. They’re going to win in the end and if you resist, you only end up having to beg more.” -Josh</b>

Well the series took a turn for the worse, here. To be strictly fair, it was broadcast well-enough in advance—the problem I have with the novel, I mean. It's in all he cover copy but I held out hope that it wouldn't be so callus and irresponsible. I actually managed to get a third of the way through before realizing that it was going to be exactly as bad as I expected.<br /><br />Here's the thing: children matter and so do parents. And every child deserves to have the best shot possible and that means having two parents working together to raise them. And while that's not always possible and life is messy and people need support to make the best of their various bad situations, <em>it is wrong to make choices that you know in advance are going to be harmful to children.</em> The central conceit of this novel is Crystal leaving Pia her frozen embryos in her will. And <em>everybody</em> seems to think "it's the right thing to do" for Pia to have those babies herself and raise them on her own. Pia even admits she has no idea how to care for children and is frightened, but that doesn't change the fact that it's somehow "the right thing to do". I'm sorry, but that just is not true. There are <em>thousands</em> of very worthy people looking for children and enough of <em>those</em> would be willing to go through IVF to get there. But no, it's somehow noble to roll the dice with the lives of children on some romantic notion that a single woman should have and raise them in apparent "honor" of her friend.<br /><br />And yeah, it's a romance so you know it'll work out and the two main characters will make a loving home and raise them as their own and all that good stuff. And that would have been wonderful if they had gotten there <em>before</em> deciding to have the babies. But they don't. No, it's clear that Pia was planning to just dive in and figure it all out on the fly. It's irresponsible and immoral and it broke all sympathy I had for the character. Having children is important. And I find the casual disregard for their welfare chilling. I had a slim hope that the conflict would be Pia feeling bad about not having a strong enough family environment for the kids and with a three-year clock ticking that would provide the tension (with concomitant concern that the hero might not be a great father). But no, she didn't care enough to plan ahead or think of what their emotional needs would be, she was just going to do it because it's somehow magically "the right thing to do." Argh!

Finding Perfect<br /><br />Susan Mallery<br /><br /><br />FINDING PERFECT is the third book in the Fools Gold series and I can't believe I waited so long to read this collection of funny and romantic stories. There are forty three books in this series and I'm hoping to get to a huge batch of them read this year.<br /><br /><br />Pia O'Brien finds out that her recently deceased best friend has left her a gift she couldn't even imagine. She has left Pia her three frozen embryos. Pia had been taking care of Crystal's cat so she figured that is what she was getting. To say she was surprised about getting the embryos is the hugest understatement ever! FINDING PERFECT is also the story of Raoul Moreno who is a hunky ex football star who has decided to settle down in Fools Gold. As he gets to know Pia and how alone she really is, he decides he wants to become her pregnancy buddy! What?? Oh yeah, it's just a crazy story and both of them agree that their relationship will go no further than that. Okay sure, you know how that's going to go right?<br /><br /><br />Pia had a rough time when she was growing up. She was a very poplar but mean girl in high school, but then everything changed. Her father committed suicide and her mother left alone and moved to Florida. FINDING PERFECT will definitely pull at your heart strings and leave you wanting to reach in and give Pia a great big hug. She doesn't feel she is worthy of finding happiness or taking care of these babies. She hurt many people a long time ago and carries around a lot of guilt. While all of this is going on, Pia is still trying to find a way to bring more men to her beautiful town and end the man shortage once and for all. <br /><br /><br />Make yourself a yummy hot drink, get your favorite blanket and get on the couch. FINDING PERFECT is an awesome way to spend the afternoon or evening. I'm so excited to continue with the Fools Gold series and learn more about my new found friends. Once you start FINDING PERECT you won't be able to put it down and will find yourself cheering for Pia and Raoul as they try to navigate their way through a very different and unique situation. Susan Mallery will pull you in from the very first page and never let you go!

I decided to quit reading this book because I am too intimately involved with IVF/embryo transfers. I was annoyed just at the beginning with Pia expecting that she would have triplets. The odds of that are very slim. In fact, with 3 frozen embryos, the odds of them all making it through the thaw is thin--most likely only 1 or 2 would make it (thaw rates are about 50%). And from that, most likely only one would take--if that. Also, no good reproductive doctor would advise transferring 3 "young" (harvested from a woman less than 40) embryos. <br /><br />If all 3 embryos take and Pia gets pregnant with triplets, it would be a true fantasy and irritate someone like me who knows the odds and has lived it. It is belittling to someone who has lived it when IVF/embryo transfers are minimized to seem so easy. <br /><br />More research could have made this a very good book. See basics: <br /><a href="http://www.guideline.gov/content.aspx?id=13376" rel="nofollow noopener">Guidelines</a><br /><a href="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/55118.php" rel="nofollow noopener"> ASRM Revises Guidelines</a><br /><a href="http://www.ivf-infertility.com/ivf/standard/complications/multiple_pregnancy2.php" rel="nofollow noopener">Risks of Muliples</a><br /><br />Unfortunately, the premise of this book is just hurtful to me. I'm disappointed in one of my favorite authors. Just because it is fiction doesn't mean that it should perpetuate ignorance about IVF.<br /><br />

What can I say about a book that should have annoyed me at every turn, but ended up winning me over? When Pia learns that her friend Crystal, who just recently died of cancer, left her her three frozen embryos, I knew this was going to be a tough sell. Because it was pretty much a given that the book would involve Pia having the embryos implanted and then pregnancy/dating hijinks would ensue--and that's pretty much what happened. And yet, I found the relationship she formed with retired pro-football player, Raoul, incredibly sweet. What Mallery gives the reader is the old "another man's baby" plot from a different angle. And it works. For all that I found Pia's initial disclosure of her situation to Raoul problematic, once their partnership (he called himself her "Pregnancy Buddy") got going, it just worked. There were a couple of times when Pia's decisions stretched credibility (there seemed to be no real reason for her to go through with the implantation immediately besides the necessary timeline for the story) I found her to be an endearing and surprisingly strong heroine. And like the heroes in the two previous books in this series, Raoul tended toward the stubbornly foolish end of the hero spectrum, he was ultimately a likable alpha.<br /><br />This trilogy has been my introduction to the writing of Susan Mallery (aside from a sheik book she wrote for Silhouette Special Edition) and I've come to expect interesting re-workings of traditional romance tropes in a quirky setting. Definitely worth putting her on my auto-buy list.

<b>Welcome to Fool's Gold, California...And meet Pia O'Brian, town festival planner, and Raoul Moreno, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and Fool's Gold's newest resident...</b><br /><br />A few months previously, Pia's friend Crystal died and left her three frozen embryos. Frightened by the prospect of having babies, Pia returns to work and proceeds to have a breakdown in the presence of the famous, attractive Raoul for their scheduled meeting. They decide to reschedule and he leaves, going over to the elementary school to give a speech to some of the kids. While he's there, a fire starts and burns down the school. In light of this development, Raoul offers his kids' camp as a location for the temporary school. At their rescheduled meeting, Pia and Raoul discover a previously unknown connection: Raoul had known Keith, Crystal's late husband, and was there when he died.<br /><br />This revelation causes Raoul to offer to be Pia's "pregnancy buddy" and to help her with the babies. He takes her to doctor's appointments and has sex with her, per her doctor's recommendation. When the embryos are finally implanted, Raoul proposes to Pia, offering to be there for her and to be a real father to the babies, to make a life with her, and she accepts. A few weeks later, it is confirmed that the embryos all attached successfully and Pia is pregnant.<br /><br />At this point, Pia still hasn't come to terms with the fact that she was going to be having triplets. Everything comes into crystal clear focus after a day out shopping for maternity clothes and furniture with Charity and after she miscarries one of the babies. In the hospital after the miscarriage, Pia and Raoul finally understand that the babies are not only Keith and Crystal's, but they are <i>Raoul and Pia's</i> babies, too.<br /><br />As Pia and Raoul spend more and more time together, it becomes abundantly clear to Pia that she has fallen in love with Raoul. It's also painfully clear that Raoul is afraid to trust after the betrayal of his ex-wife. Faced with no choice, Pia breaks off the engagement because she realizes that she cannot marry a man who doesn't love her back.<br /><br />After some stern talkings-to and snubs from people in town, Raoul finally has an epiphany: he loves Pia and his life is empty without her. Racing through town, he runs to express his love and propose to her for real. After she accepts, the two of them go find Peter, the orphaned boy that both had gotten close to over the past month or so, and tells Peter that they want to adopt him. All three of them finally have people to love and love them back, and they live happily ever after as a family.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I have been eagerly awaiting Finding Perfect ever since I finished Almost Perfect, and I definitely feel that the wait was worth it. While Almost Perfect is still my favorite novel of the Fool's Gold series, I was not disappointed in Finding Perfect. Susan Mallery has produced yet another winner, yet another book I will always love.<br /><br />I have to say that I honestly had mixed feelings about Pia in the beginning of this book, due to the different impressions and stories about her from the previous two books. In Chasing Perfect, I loved her, she seemed like the best friend a girl could have and Charity was lucky to have her. In Almost Perfect, it was revealed that she was the mean girl in high school and she was even a little mean to Liz in the present time, and as Liz is my favorite heroine of the series, I got a little defensive on her behalf. So, I came into this not sure how I would feel about her. After having read Finding Perfect, I can say with confidence that I have reverted back to my opinion of her from Chasing Perfect. It was wonderful to see more sides of Pia and finally start to understand her. Just like everyone else, she has insecurities, some trust issues, complete loyalty, and her own morals. She's a complex person in her own way, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing her grow into herself in this book, into a completely confident woman who believed she could do anything she set her mind to.<br /><br />Unlike with Pia, I knew I was going to love Raoul from the beginning. I loved the good impression I'd gotten of him in Almost Perfect, and I remember reading about him in the Bakery Sister's series (even though I haven't read Sweet Spot, Hawk and Nicole's book, the one that Raoul actually plays a large role in). Like with Pia, I enjoyed seeing him finally grow into himself and see that he needed to finally trust someone with his heart. I was heartbroken when Pia broke their engagement because he wouldn't give himself to her completely, and I was on the verge of crying when he basically rejected Peter. The ending, where her finally becomes the man he's always wanted to be, was absolutely beautiful and left me wanting more.<br /><br />I absolutely adored Peter. He was the cutest kid and his faith and dependence on Raoul was downright beautiful. I was smiling like a fool at the end when Raoul and Pia finally come and tell him that they want to adopt him.<br /><br />I enjoyed seeing characters from other books like Charity, Liz, Marsha, and Josh. I wish that Ethan had actually had some kind of presence in the book, not just his name being mentioned here or there. I loved seeing more of Montana and Dakota in this book and hope that the two of them, and Nevada, will one day have their own books.<br /><br />One thing I was not expecting with the plot of the story was that the house Raoul was showing Pia was the one she and her parents had lived in years before. Reading that, and learning about her past, was a touching, heartbreaking moment.<br /><br />I love, love, <i>loved</i> that Hawk and Nicole came to visit Raoul in Fool's Gold. Ever since I read about him knowing them in the Bakery Sister's series, I was anticipating some sort of cameo from those two in Finding Perfect. Needless to say, I was very happy to have them prove me right!<br /><br />Again, Finding Perfect was a <i>fantastic</i> book and I believe it deserves every star I gave it. Also, I am really hoping that there are going to be more Fool's Gold books in the future, especially since this wonderful little tidbit can be found inside the book: "And look for more of Susan Mallery's fantastic stories set in Fool's Gold, coming in 2011!" I hope this is true and I look forward to more books starring the people of this wonderful town!

Well, I don't know if I will be rushing out to read any more of <a href="https://goodreads.com/author/show/8716.Susan_Mallery" title="Susan Mallery" rel="noopener">Susan Mallery</a>'s books any time soon. This was just another okay book for me. Something needs to change with her style or I don't think I will read any more.<br /><br />Again, it's left me with a lot of unanswered questions, incomplete characters, choppy scene changing. And another thing I've noticed, and despise - half open door/half closed door sex scenes. Just when things are getting really hot, and the writing up to this is great, she skips to the end. WTF? If you're going to get graphic and show me some, don't be a tease and skip the good stuff. It's really annoying. Also, I wanted more from Raoul's POV, in fact, this is a disturbing trend as well, most of the books have been mostly from the women's POV. Ethan was a little better, but I still feel like I'm not really getting to know the men in these books.<br /><br />Also, the whole man shortage theme is getting old. The women of Fool's Gold are apparently all strong capable women, but all they do is talk about men as sexual objects, no wonder all the men have run.<br /><br />I will probably read the rest of the series, as I hate to leave series unfinished, but for now, I think I'm done with Fool's Gold and Susan Mallery. She's not bad, but she's not great, yet. I think she has the potential, but I'm just not loving her yet. If anybody has another of her books they think is better, please let me know.

<b>Finding Perfect</b><br />2 Stars<br /><br />On the day she learns that she has inherited her BFF's frozen embryos, Pia O'Brian meets sexy ex-quarterback Raoul Moreno. Considering that she can't even take care of a cat, Pia struggles with the idea of becoming a single mother, and her inconvenient attraction to Raoul isn't helping, especially as he has suggested becoming her "pregnancy buddy".<br /><br />Oy! This has got to be the most ridiculous, plot hole ridden storyline ever.<br />Why would Crystal leave her unborn children to a woman she knows doesn't have a maternal bone in her body? Why does Pia insist that having the babies is the right thing to do? Since when is having children out of a sense of obligation appropriate? Why would a man with as many trust issues as Raoul be willing to take on a ready made family?<br /><br />Add in to the mix the fact that Pia and Raoul have zero chemistry and this book is a recipe for disaster. <br /><br />Hopefully the next book will be better. <br /><br />

Written for: <a href="http://beyondreading.weebly.com" rel="nofollow noopener">Beyond Reading</a><br /><br /> I was excited to read Finding Perfect - I'd read Sweet Spot and liked Raoul as well as I had liked Chasing Perfect and Almost Perfect. It's not very often I come across a storyline as unique as this one; A deceased friend leaving 3 fertilized embryos for Pia to birth, so I gathered Susan Mallery put a lot of work into this story to pull it off well. I'm glad that she (Susan Mallery) allowed her characters to feel some annoyance towards Crystal because, deceased or not, Crystal's actions were questionable. Pia's character was fun and honest; a breath of fresh air, I found myself chuckling many times during her witty monologue. I liked Raoul's kind nature, as well, he was very generous and pretty much like the 18 year-old I read about in Sweet Spot. Fool's Gold provided a warm backdrop for the story, I enjoyed the people and the real family feel, Mallery didn't spend half the novel describing the town, yet I could see it in my mind's eye. What I didn't like was that Pia freaked out over motherhood a bit too much and so much of the book had lapsed before she decided to go through with the implanting; I wish we'd seen her give birth. Overall, the novel was warm and I had no desires to put it down at any point; a third success in the series.

Ok, I’ll admit it. Mallery had me crying crocodile tears with this one. This is definitely the most emotional novel in the series to date. She tackles so many touchy subjects from cancer to foster children to not-so-natural disasters in a manner that makes you realise that they really are part of everyday life. I really like how Mallery jogs our memory about past stories. When the characters from previous novels come up in a pertinent way she quickly gives the key points of their stories and then moves on, just enough to remind you who’s who in Fool’s Gold. <br /><br />I loved Pia more than I ever thought I would. I knew her before &amp; well after this novel, but right now she's unforgettable &amp; unstoppable. And she grows a backbone. She also becomes easier to understand as more of her background &amp; personality comes to light. I was completely floored as to how Mallery pulled it all off. Raoul's droolworthyness is definitely helping the story out as well. Seeing him reckoncile who he is with what he believes was quite enlightening. All the while, Mallery treats readers to a fantastic budding romance that makes you want to move to Fool’s Gold.<br /><br /><br />I do feel like this is the most emotional novel in the series, to date anyways. I loved every aspect of it and wouldn’t hesitate for a second to recommend it to others, or to re-read it again &amp; again.<br />