My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Beautiful Disaster and Walking Disaster phenomenon continues in the first heart-pounding new adult romance in The Maddox Brothers series.
Fiercely independent Camille "Cami" Camlin gladly moved on from her childhood before it was over. She has held down a job since before she could drive, and moved into her own apartment after her freshman year of college. Now tending bar at The Red Door, Cami doesn’t have time for much else besides work and classes, until a trip to see her boyfriend is cancelled, leaving her with a first weekend off in almost a year.
Trenton Maddox was the king of Eastern State University, dating co-eds before he even graduated high school. His friends wanted to be him, and women wanted to tame him, but after a tragic accident turned his world upside down, Trenton leaves campus to come to grips with the crushing guilt.
Eighteen months later, Trenton is living at home with his widower father, and works full-time at a local tattoo parlor to help with the bills. Just when he thinks his life is returning to normal, he notices Cami sitting alone at a table at The Red.
As the baby sister of four rowdy brothers, Cami believes she’ll have no problem keeping her new friendship with Trenton Maddox strictly platonic. But when a Maddox boy falls in love, he loves forever—even if she is the only reason their already broken family could fall apart.
In the first installment of the Maddox Brothers books, readers can experience the rush of reading Beautiful Disaster for the first time, all over again.
My Review
We can always count on Jamie McGuire to give us more than just a book. This. Was. A. Book. A book interwoven seamlessly into a world created for us in Beautiful Disaster, but at the same time it delivered a fresh palate painted with new characters, and Trenton Maddox. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved Trent, but curiously for the very reasons that set him apart from Travis. Don't get me wrong, I love everything about Travis Maddox, but what I enjoyed the most is that Trent's character was not just an alternate version of the bad boy we fell for in BD. Trent is hard, but he manages to do hard in such a way that doesn't hide his soft side. He allows them to both coexist and doesn't lose a single facet despite his sexcapades or tattoos. He manages to be the bad boy, the tough boy, the sweet boy, the funny boy, the broken boy. It wasn't necessary to dig deep to discover layer after layer; the layers were all laid openly exposed on the surface. All Cami had to do was look, and once she did the story began.
Cami was easy to like one minute, but easy to want to beat with a pillowcase filled with dead batteries and pencils the next. Her vacillating drove me insane, but her fierce independence earned my respect. I think it was hard to like her at times because of how much I loved Trent. Her actions made me furious, and I wanted better for him, but at the same time there was justification in Cami's behavior. She was an acquired taste, but one that was developed by the end of the story.
Now, I need to mention "the thing." I can't really talk about "the thing" because I don't want to ruin "it", but it needs to be addressed. The tantalizing, the teasing, the confusion….I loved every minute of it. Trust me, it's difficult to be that vaguely open but secretive at the same time, but the story managed to progress around "it" and I was beautifully confused and perplexed and confused….and confused. I had to figure "the thing" out. I needed to figure "it" out.
I didn't figure it out.
Well, I didn't figure it out until the author was ready for me to. Perhaps I'll be the only reader in the english speaking world (and China) who doesn't figure it out until the end, but I didn't, and the shock was awe inspiring. It took so much time to actually wrap my head around it. How? Why? WHAT!?? Perhaps it was the shock that had my brain stunned and unable to process, but I honestly wasn't quite sure how I felt about the book immediately after I finished. It was good. But did I love it? I had a hard time getting a handle on my feelings. Like I said, I think the shock stunted my ability to synapse any true thoughts. I had to let things marinate before I came to any conclusions, but then I found myself incessantly thinking about Beautiful Oblivion for hours and hours after I finished it. Thinking about "the thing."
I loved getting a behind the scenes view of Beautiful Disaster. I loved Trenton Maddox. I love, love, loved "the thing" I can't talk about. I. LOVED. TRENTON. MADDOX! More than Travis? Hmmmmmm? I think the only way to settle this is for them to fight it out…..shirtless, and wet.
I can't wait for the next book in The Maddox Brothers series.
READ ON!
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JAMIE McGUIRE is the New York Times bestselling author of A Beautiful Wedding, Red Hill, Walking Disaster, Beautiful Disaster, and The Providence trilogy. She and her husband, Jeff, live with their children just outside Enid, Oklahoma, with three dogs, six horses, and a cat named Rooster.
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