Finding Perfect (Fool's Gold Book 3)

Finally, finally! I read Sweet Spot years ago and loved it. Raoul, the hero, is from that book. I was really hoping we would get to read his book one day. I didn't want him to end up with his high school girlfriend. I was really happy to finally get his story. This is my first Fool's Gold book, so I didn't know anything about the town. I don't like coming in the middle of the series, but for Raoul I was willing to do it. Glad I did. Great story. I liked the heroine a lot and felt her pain. I thought the story was interesting and different. I'm going to order the other two books now.

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.

I loved Pia more than I ever thought I would. I knew her before & well after this novel, but right now she's unforgettable & unstoppable. And she grows a backbone. She also becomes easier to understand as more of her background & 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.

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 & again.

Yep, I liked this one too! Just as unorthodox as the book information promised. Sure I questioned a few thing but just went with it. I enjoyed every minute of it. Even the town who is outnumbered with women; women who had taken on the traditional roles that men usually filled. They enjoyed it and were good at it. It was mentioned once again the unique bar that Jo owned. Men were shocked when they walked into the girly bar , that of course had girly colors and catered to women with even soap operas and shopping channels on T.V. And they were on Big Screen TVs no less. They only started breathing again when they scurried to the back where it was more like a man cave. I really liked both Raoul and Pia. Pia told Raoul he was a really nice guy, and then she told him she really didn't trust nice guys. Yes, they had some interesting conversations. One of my favorites was when he asked her if she had coffee today and she said, "No. This isn't me hyped on caffeine. I'm doing this all myself." Yes, they will have a HEA but it sure will be fun getting there. And hint, hint, they won't be there alone!

Finding Perfect by Susan Mallery 3★

Book 3 of the Fool's Gold series, and though I'm reading it out of order, I thought Finding Perfect was an ok read. The romance wasn't an instant-love, which I thought was a good thing. The subplots were just ok. The description of the Fool's Gold was nice, even if a little unrealistic with the girly bar, and the vast majority of the characters all female.

This is the second book of Mallery's that I completely read (just finished Tempting). Before those, I tried reading Only Mine (book 4 of the Fool's Gold series) but didn't finish it. Finding Perfect is the 3rd book and I enjoyed that so much more than Only Mine.

As with the one other Mallery book I completely read, Finding Perfect had a lot of subplots going on. I think it was a little too much. There was the current going-ons of the town Fool's Gold, the bachelor auction and female auditions. Then there was issues of a school that got burned down and being relocated. And then there was issues of foster children, sports (being that Raoul the hero was a star football player), and so forth.

And all those subplots had just a small amount to do with Pia and Raoul - the main characters. They had drama of their own. Pia had to worry about Crystal's embryos and Raoul had trust issues.

So through the giant cloud of subplots that almost made this feel like I was reading a soap opera, the story of Pia, Raoul, Peter and the three embryos was nice.

In a twist on the pregnancy-marriage-love trope, the pregnancy is via a friend's IVF legacy, the marriage is with a random nice-guy (and is just a proposal), but love eventually blossoms. Oddly, Pia spends little time thinking about or preparing herself (emotionally or practically) for a multiple pregnancy--and then wonders why she hasn't bonded with the babies immediately after implantation--but twists herself in knots after accepting the marriage-of-convenience proposal. I guess the unifying theme is jump first, think later, when it comes to major life commitments. The main characters are nice, though tortured by their pasts; the niceness comes through, the tortured past not so much. We're told they're emotionally tortured, but the big reveal in each case is fairly bland. Perfectly readable, perfectly pleasant, but not all that memorable. Good for a library loan, not a keeper.

Fool's Golds a delightful setting for the kind of love stories which remind us how magical love can be. The story of Pia and Raoul goes even further than just a romance. It's a story of friendship, of family, and most of all, a story of hope. It will leave you smiling, but maybe with a tear in your eye as well.

The concept of this book a little strange (I think) - Pia's best friend has died and left her frozen fertilized eggs. Now Pia has to decide what she should do and has a break-down in front of handsome ex-football player Raoul. Raoul character was difficult to believe but while I waited for his true colors to show - I enjoyed this crazy story.

There is a part in the book where Pia deals with the issue of having a miscarriage in her youth and how the Dr. handled that situation brought tears to my eyes.

It wasn't my favorite plot line by this author - but the quality writing gets me to come back everytime...

If you enjoy this genre I would also sugguest; Falling for Gracie,Compromising Positions,Burning Up (Hqn) and Sister of the Bride (short story by Susan Mallery).

A truly wonderful romantic story. Pia O`Brian is left 3 embryos in her best friend`s will. She has poor self-esteem and can't figure out why her friend would entrust her with the lives of her unborn children. Pia is freaking out about all of this when she is supposed to be meeting with one of the business owners in town, Raoul Moreno, former NFL player. Pia has a meltdown during the meeting and thus begins an unusual friendship. It's a marvelous story about opening your heart to others even though past experiences have made you question your own judgment and not want to endanger your heart again.

I LOVED that the author brought Raoul back. His storyline in Sweet Spot totally saved the book for me. What really bothered me was that in Sweet Spot, published in 2008, Raoul is 18 years old. Now, in Finding Perfect, published in 2010, Ms. Mallery has shoved him into an age-progression machine and he is 30 or so. (His age isn't specified, but Pia makes reference to herself being 28 and Raoul as being "a few years older.") It's true that there is no time setting specified in Sweet Spot, but still... There is a time reference in Finding Perfect that points to the setting being not too much before the year 2012, there isn't anything in Sweet Spot to make it seem to the reader that it is set in the late 90's, and it's natural for a reader to think of an novel of unspecified date of storyline as happening near the year of publication. As much as I love, love, LOVE the character of Raoul, loved reading more about him, and loved him having his own story, I wonder why the author did what she did.

I agree with the review opining that the IVF portion of the storyline wasn't the most realistic. But, I'm guessing most readers won't be familiar enough with IVF and other artificial reproductive technology procedures to be TOO bothered by the fact that Pia not only became pregnant on the first attempt, but also had all three embryos take. I'm atributing her outcome to her relatively young age and lack of fertility problems.

Overall, I REALLY liked this book and highly recommend it. (I would have given it 4 1/2 stars if that was a possibility. If it hadn't been for the author's "break in the space-time continuum," I would have rated it as 5 stars.) This story was very moving and uplifting. I personally really go for storylines involving characters being shoved through the ringer emotionally and physically, and overcoming obstacles and their pasts with the help of friends, family, and an amazing significant other.

I borrowed this book through my local library for the kindle and found it very enjoyable! This book had many of the elements I've come to love about Susan Mallery books. This book was well written, funny, with sharp and witty dialogue. Characters were fun , not much drama going on, but it worked.

Pia was stunned to learn that her friend had left her 3 frozen embryos, instead of the cat she thought she was going to get. Completely shocked by the situation, and going into a full panic attack, she runs into Raoul who is the new guy in Fool's Gold and a famous celebrity. Raoul seemed genuinely concern about this girl. She was panicking and in the midst of everything, she tells a complete stranger the whole story about the embryos.

Raoul came to live in Fool's Gold after he retired from pro-football. He wanted to settle down and make something good of his life by opening a camp for children. He was once married and ever since his divorce, his view of love and marriage were stilted. He swore he would never marry for love because it never works out in the end, so when he finds himself involved in Pia's situation, he decides to help.

There are a bunch the secondary characters that are part of this small town. There are the nuisances of living in a small town were everyone knows each other and take care of each other. I found this story really cute and enjoyable, another fun read by Susan Mallery!

A refreshing depiction of the humanity and community that a small town existence can offer! So well written the characters feel like your own neighbors and loved ones!the commitment and loyalty that is displayed is well thought through and displayed to reader in a way that makes them NOT want to put the book down and feel aa loss at its find! Can't wait to read #4only mine which is next in this delightful communal series!

Finding Perfect by Ssusan Mallery
Pia O'Brien has inherited Crystals eggs and Raoul offers to be her pregnancy buddy. He was best friends with Keith who was married to Crystal who came down with cancer and gave the eggs to Pia after her death.
He is an ex football player and has the time and money to make things happen, besides having a heart of gold. We also get to catch up with the others in the town.
Due to the fire Raoul has offered his camp to the town to use for their school til it can be made habitable.
Dakota helps with that coordinating and transforming the camp.
Denise talks about dating again at her age!
She is having 3 babies at one time and he's wrapped up with the foster system as a boy's foster parents are nowhere to be seen/heard from.
News spreads fast about the upcoming wedding and the town is ready for the auction-men are put on the block and are auctioned off for one night. Then the dinner and dance for the rest of the night. And the mayor
meets a reality TV show producer that wants to bring bachelors to the town and tape it.

I think Susan Mallery outdid herself Finding Perfect!

Finding Perfect is my favorite of the three, mostly because I feel like I relate to Pia the most. More in regards to attitude and how she deals with situations at hand. But ill say this, I wouldn't think twice if a hunky millionaire tells me he wants to take care of ME! Ill be all for it!

So in Finding Perfect Pia finds out her "BFF" Crystal leaves her 3 embryos. That put Pia in a predicament of what to do. She kept thinking and asking herself, why would Crystal leave her those embryos? And what was she going to do with them? As she finds herself pondering on what to do, she meets Raoul and he becomes intrigued by her. Everyone treats him like hes a celebrity, but Pia, and he couldnt make himself not think of her. After finding out about Pia's situation, he couldnt help admiring her even more now. Giving her an option he felt she could not refuse, only opened up something even more intriguing. Love.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Susan Mallery is a master at what she does. Hooking us into a world where love is everywhere and a place where happiness is always found. 5 stars out 5...and a definite Good Choice for Reading.

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Devastated at the loss of her friend and expecting to inherit custody of her cat, Pia O'Brien instead discovers that she has been given custody of Crystal's three embryo's. At first she is not sure she is up to the task, but soonhas second thoughts. And when hunky former football star Rauol makes her an offer she cannot refuse - to marry him and raise the children together, she wonders if she should settle (can one really settle for a millioanire jock?) or hope for a happily ever after.

Mallery's third in the Fools Gold series will leave readers with a couple tears as they follow Pia's journey from the ultimate single gal to potential mother, while revisiting Raoul's troubled past. And no one makes sexy heroes like Mallery - Raoul is no exception. The dialogue is realistic with lots of humor and the overall plot line is very touching. I thoroughly enjoyed the enitre series.

Finding Perfect Book 3 in Susan Mallery's Fools Gold series was the perfect romance and perfect beach read. Such an interesting love story about taking a chance on love and happiness and what lengths each character would go to please a friend. Plus again I was reminded of the wonderful secondary characters which inhabited Fools Gold, a small town with a huge heart. A town that took care of their own and were fierce about those they loved.

From the first book in the series we were introduced to Pia who grew up in Fools Gold. She was rich, popular and as she stated in each book the "mean girl" until she suffered the suicide death of her father and the retreat of her mother leaving her behind to graduate from high school, never to be heard from again. Pia was the town's events planner and worked for their wonderful mayor. She was very good at her job, had a ton of friends, old and new and one special friend had recently passed away from cancer. At the reading of the will, Pia faced a shock. Instead of inheriting her friend's cat, she inherited her friend's embryos. In earlier books one learned that Crystal had harvested her embryos because her husband was a soldier and she wanted to make sure she could have his children. As fate would have it, her husband died and then the worst thing happened, Crystal had cancer and passed away.

If you read Mallery's Sweet Spot Sisters series, you were introduced to Raoul Moreno who relocated to Fools Gold and was a retired Dallas Cowboy football player. Like Pia, Raoul was not only honorable; he was loyal and respectful due to his old friend and mentor "Coach" or Hawk as he called him. He owed Hawk and his friend gave him good advice, Hawk told him to get involved in his new town and get a cause. When Raoul learned from Pia about her situation when they had a scheduled meeting, he could understand her loyalty to Crystal because he felt the same way about Hawk. So Pia and Raoul's friendship developed, he listened and she talked. And then events unfolded in Fools Gold a fire, a young boy having family difficulties and Pia decided to have Crystal's babies.

Like all of Susan Mallery's books, Finding Perfect was about love, honesty, loyalty and more. It was also about how two very similar people who had overcome so much hurt and anguish from their past childhoods could honestly become friends and be there for each other. Raoul offered to be her "pregnancy buddy" and the entire town offered her assistance as well. Just like in the other books in this series, Fools Gold's town folks helped their own! Raoul admired Pia's decision to have the babies and he took his job of caring for her seriously. So seriously, that their friendship grew to be more and in the end he wanted to marry Pia.

Reading Pia's and Rauol's story sincerely tugged at my heartstrings. They had both endured so much heart ache during their youth and to live in this marvelous community who loved them and wanted to pitch in, took my breath away. Pia was amazing, to actually be selfless and have Crystal and Kent's babies. Then there was Raoul who gave so much to the community, the youth of Fools Gold and to Pia herself. But could he give her his love, all he was, forget his past marriage and risk his heart?

Finding Perfect was all about the emotion and the love of the town. It was also about now both Pia and Raoul had become better people. And you'll adore reading about the ladies of Fools Gold and how they scold Raoul, how Raoul realizes Pia's "the one" and how he totally gives his heart to he woman he adores. It's so typical of Susan Mallery to write such charming and entertaining romance. I'm so looking forward to reading the next Fools Gold Romance which will be "Sister of the Bride" featured in Summer Brides!

Behind the Book:
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I just recently discovered Susan Mallery's books and gave read three this week. They are all very well-written with strong characters and plots that keep you interested. I am on my way to find more !!

Finding Perfect is well balanced with great characters, humor,seriously real situations that give the reader an understanding of emotional lives of fictional, caring adults in a small town called "Fool's Gold in California. Good ending! Author has written a series of "Fool's Gold stories with the
characters finding their place in the community.

Pia O'Brian is still grieving over the losing her best friend Crystal to cancer. She is shocked to learn that Crystal didn't leave her the cat as planned, but her frozen embryo. What is a single girl to do with a bunch of frozen embryos? To make things more complected, here come the sexy and sweet ex-NFL player Raoul Moreno. Can Pia handle balance being a single mother? Can she handle being just friends with Raoul?

Pia was the popular girl who had everything, that was until her parents died when she was still in high school. She lost everything, and had to rebuild her live in Fool's Gold. She became a totally different person. She grew leaps and bounds emotionally. It takes a special kind of person to have the children you best friends was never allowed to have.

I read Susan Mallery's Sweet Spot a few years ago. I immediately fell in love with Raoul. He was this sweet, sensitive teen who just wanted a family to belong to. He found all that and more. Now Raoul is all grown up, and he's lost none of his charm. He has only one big character flaw: He wants to do the right thing all the time, but he doesn't always go about it in the best way. He see starts to see Pia and her embryo's as his family. He wants to help her and her children. They just don't make them like Raoul, cause if they did I'd snatch him right up.

This book is my favorite of the Fool's Gold series! It's a very sweet and uplifting story. It's a story of learning to trust and love someone. I've said it once, and I'll say it again, Susan Mallery is my favorite reading guilty pleasure! When she releases a new series, I run right out to purchase it. This series was no different. I enjoyed this series as a whole, and would really recommend this book for anyone looking for a very sweet contemporary romance. I'm hoping that this isn't the end of the series, because I would love to see some of the lose ends tied up. I really do love this town! If you enjoyed Raoul, I would also recommend picking up Susan Mallery's Sweet Spot Series.

when you read a great author you expect greatness and Susan Mallery delivered again. Finding Perfect is a great story of people sacrificing their own lives to help a friend, even when the friend is no longer living. the characters are so fun and seem so real. I can't wait to read the next book in this series.

Once again Susan Mallery delivers another heart-warming story! I never expect anything less from her. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, from the other two books in this series, but it never fails that while reading a Fool's Gold novel I want to pack my bags and move there.

In Finding Perfect, Pia has decided to carry the embryos her late best friend Crystal has left to her. While she's struggling to wrap her head around this, Raoul steps up and offers to be her "pregnancy buddy." Pia and Raoul seemed to be the perfect match from the start, but Raoul has trust issues when it comes to women due to a betrayal by his ex-wife. So when Pia breaks the cardinal rule of their agreement by falling in with him, they go their separate ways. But how can he resist Pia? she's strong, loyal, bright, and funny. So Raoul takes Josh's advice and quietly hands over to Pia "his heart, his soul, and his balls."

Oh and Peter! He's such a wonderful little boy who has suffered way too much for such a young age. He added some very tear-jerking scenes to the overall story.

I very much hope to see more of Fool's Gold in the future. I want to see the triplets (Dakota, Montana, and Nevada) find love. And more than that, I want their mother Denise to find love again. I'm hoping Denise's "Max" is her daughter's new boss. If you haven't read a Fool's Gold novel, I recommend that you do. You won't be disappointed.

It looks like some readers here enjoy Susan Mallery but I can't get past the ridiculous premise. Pia, our heroine, finds out that her best friend left her frozen embryos. Without much thought, she of course decides "okay. I guess I'll become a mom then." With almost no thinking of the consequences to her health, finances, life, etc.

Then the romance...there really is no character development here. Pia meets someone who decides to marry her. No romance, etc.

I didn't finish reading this book. Very unbelievable premise and plot.

Wow! What a great story. I would definitely recommend this book to readers looking for a great read.Susan Mallery is a marvelous writer. I have read several of her novels and have not been disappointed in any of them.

Susan Mallery's books are just so nice! I really enjoy her writing style and the character development that happens throughout a great plot. Being a romance novel, the ending are a bit predictable, but I wouldn't want it to end any other way and the means to the end is usually a good story.

I really liked this story, even if it took forever to find a real direction. my only complaint is that the ending was so abrupt. An epilogue or something would have been great. Maybe we'll find out more about what follows in the next book!

Either it's me, not understanding this author, or this author has a strange way of telling a story. I looked forward to the book ending because the story went in weird directions in a short time. The story line is very good and the ending is good.

Omgosh I read some reviews for this continuation of the fools gold series that were not so good and I must say I'm glad those people are nothing like me because I loved it! My heart felt so happy when reading the final chapter. I hope you read and enjoy it as much as I did.

I disagree with some of the other reviews. This is a really good book and I'm liking the series. I like that we see people from other books. That makes me want to read more. I liked Pia and really understood why she was willing to have her friend's babies. I don't know if I could do that, but I like to think I could. Raoul was what my daughter calls one of my "typical sexy hero guys." I just smile. I mean why would I read a romance about an ugly guy who wasn't sexy? She'll figure it out when she's a little older.

Finding Perfect, 3rd novel (but not the last!), features Pia O'Brian and Raoul Moreno (from Sweet Spot). Pia is the hometown party planner of Fool's Gold and Raoul is an ex-football player trying to run a camp for troubled youth. Pia, still in an emotional state over loosing her friend, learns her deceased friend bequeathed her 3 frozen embryos, so Pia can be their Mom! If you want to read more of the review please visit [...]