Book 2), Almost Perfect (Fool's Gold

Rec'd. this book yesterday and it is in great condition. Ordered this week and received within 4 days! HOWEVER, through no fault of the seller(s) it had come out of the package! It is a wonder I received it at all, much less in such mint condition. Just waiting on the 3rd in the "Perfect" trilogy.

Ive read the rest of her Fools Gold series (about 15 or 20 books?) and several of her stand-alones, and really enjoyed them. Somehow I missed this early one and picked it up this week. So glad I missed it before, because if Id read it years ago, I never would have read any of her others. Its a real problem when the romantic hero in a romance is an absolute d--k, all the time. I mean, I enjoy it when the romantic pair is human, with faults and dumb moments, but this guy? By page 50, I realized I was wincing every time he showed up on the page, and his extended family is pretty poisonous also. Gave up finally, half way through the book.

Sidenote--I especially enjoy the way Mallery usually has an interesting friendship or maybe family issue for the women in her books, and I wanted to stick with this book to see how things worked out with the young nieces, but I just had to give it up. (Its bad when you find yourself praying that the female lead will just dump the "hero" permanently and start chatting up the cable guy, or the pizza kid, or pretty much ANYONE else.

I have to agree with "readsalot", I got half way thru this book and wondered why Liz would even want this guy! Liz is really great---kind, caring,almost too good.
Ethan, on the other hand, thinks primarily about himself and his own needs and wants. Liz nails it when she says that he has only ever loved his own family. If you read the first in this series, "Chasing Perfect" then you'll know that he didn't speak to his best friend Josh for 10 years because Josh became the champion cyclist that Ethan wanted to be and couldn't because of an injury. Then he trashes Liz who he supposedly loves; greets her when she returns to Fool's Gold as though nothing had ever happened; blames HER because he didn't know about his son (inspite of the fact that she had proof that she tried to tell him twice), then trashes her to her own son. This is a love story? I was so frustrated and angry at the end I had to remind myself that this was only a work of fiction. Unless you have masochistic tendencies don't waste your time or money on this would be romance.

I almost never write reviews for anything, but I just can't let this book go. Usually, if I don't like a book I just put it down and forget about it. This book made me so mad, I can't do that.

I liked Liz (the heroine), she was intelligent, articulate, responsible, and kind. But Ethan was horrible. He was shallow, cowardly, rude, misogynistic, cruel, irresponsible, self-centered and whiney. I could not, for the life of me, figure out what Liz saw in him (aside from vague claims of "rugged good looks").

In the past, Ethan claimed to love Liz, but then pretended to his friends (in front of her!!!) that he didn't know her and wasn't desperate enough to want to spend time with a "slut" like her (incidentally, Ethan was the only person Liz had ever slept with). Shortly after, Liz comes back to town to tell him that she's pregnant only to find him with another woman. Ethan tries get out of that by claiming he didn't actually sleep with the other girl because he was too drunk--never mind that he probably would have slept with her if he'd had one or two fewer drinks. Probably good that he didn't sleep with the other girl, though, as Ethan is apparently incapable of using a condom. He knocked up Liz and his late wife. Not to mention, that he doesn't use protection with Liz later on in the story either. Ethan never attempts to look for Liz after she leaves, and when she comes back to town later he actually expects that Liz will be happy to see him. He is infuriated to find out that she had his son, and at first doesn't even believe that Liz tried to contact him.

Later, when he is spending time with his son, Ethan bad-mouths Liz to the boy's face. He also makes really horrible misogynistic comments like "girls don't have goals, all they care about is make-up." Despite Liz making every effort to facilitate a relationship between Ethan and his son, Ethan still files an injunction against her because he doesn't believe he can trust her. Every time something doesn't go exactly Ethan's way with Liz or his son, he goes to his mother and whines about it. At first, she is sympathetic, but later on even she was losing patience with him. He expects Liz to make a lot of sacrifices for him, but he is not willing to reciprocate.

I couldn't make myself finish this book, but when I gave up Ethan had started to oh-so-magnanimously forgive Liz for keeping his son away from him, but he never accepted any real culpability for how things turned out. (He was "young and stupid"! I almost expected him to say "boys will be boys" next.)

What made this story not only infuriating, but kind of sad is that Liz, and a lot of the people in the town, makes a big deal out of the fact that she escaped a physically abusive and neglectful home and made a truly remarkable life for herself. She's a great (single) mom and she has a very successful career. But she's going to enter into a relationship that is emotionally abusive because Ethan is the "love of her life." Really? A guy who puts her down, denies his relationship with her, and bad-mouths her is the "love of her life"? Guess she didn't break that circle of abuse after all.

Wow, I never thought I'd see the day that I would give a Fool's Gold book a 2 star rating because I adore Susan Mallery and this little town she's built. Yes, some haven't worked as much for me as others but Mallery's writing usually keeps me in love enough with the town they are all 3 star or higher books. This one, however, was a total and utter fail.

My main issue was with Ethan. I hated him from the start. I found his self-righteousness, self-pity and anger towards Liz unreasonable and horrible. As a mom I can understand anger over missing seeing your child growing up but honestly whose fault was that? He was a total jerk towards Liz when they were teens and obviously didn't deserve her then. Then his excuse that nothing happened between he and Pia when Liz found them naked in bed together? Pathetic, especially since it's because he was too drunk to get the job done. Then rather than truly blaming his dead wife for keeping the information from him (who by the way he only married because he knocked her up as well.) he puts all the anger back on Liz. Even more pathetic. And come on, even though it's brought up a couple times it is referred to more as a joke over his habit of getting girls pregnant. He claims "since when is doing the right thing bad" when he talks about marrying his previous wife and willing to marry Liz. Ummmm, how about doing the right thing from the start and not getting them pregnant in the first place if you don't actually WANT to marry them? I kept waiting for Ethan to redeem himself and he never truly does. The nail in the coffin was when he started bad mouthing Liz to their son. No matter how angry I may get at my children's father I would never, ever bad mouth him to them. I think it's disrespectful and immature. You should never drag your kids into a fight like this. The worst part is though he finally admits he was wrong when Liz confronts him, he never deals with it with their son. He does this several times as he makes several sexist comments and other dumb statements to their son. Ethan is basically a child caught up in a temper tantrum and lashing out.

I also had mixed feelings about some of the side characters and the town itself. There is a lot of apology about no one stepping forward or noticing the abuse Liz went through when she was a child. Yet, somehow again they overlooked that a 14 yr old and an 11 yr old were living on their own for months! Liz notices immediately when she arrives that they look unkempt, their clothes were dirty and their shoes falling apart. No one else seemed to notice this? I get her nieces were trying to hide it but those are pretty blaring signs in a small town. Liz's oldest niece, Melissa, also got on my nerves being a spoiled brat abou the potential move from Fool's Gold and being ungrateful for all Liz has done for them. That though was at least understandable because she is 14 and has been through a lot but it still grated on me. And then there was Pia who I actually liked in the the other books. It irked me that while she went through a lot and was a self-admitted b**ch to Liz in high school she never comes outright to apologize. Even Denise, Ethan's mom, eventually apologizes.

Lastly came Liz who I actually really liked and admired at how well she did for herself, for being such a great mom and showing such restraint when hateful people passed judgment on her choices with no facts. BUT I hated how she rolled over so often when Ethan lashed out at her. I get she had guilt that he missed out on their son's early years but honestly most of that wasn't her fault. So why should she be a door mat to his anger? Then to keep sleeping with him. That's what ticked me off. No matter what horrible things he did, she kept going back for more.

Ethan's sisters were just about the only redeeming part of this story and I will say it's a testament to Mallery's writing style that I kept reading to the last page hoping for some great turnaround. I still highly recommend this series but steer clear of this one book.

Didn't like Ethan. It was often said that he stepped up and took responsibility.. Yes, I know he didn't know about his son and he was angry. But man, he sure was immature. I don't think I ever really warmed up to him. On one side it was said he was responsible man but on the other hand we often saw that he was acing like a petulant child. For me, that got old pretty quick. He just always seemed to keep doing stupid things just adding to Liz's pain. And after his family got over being mad at Liz for not telling them about his son; they pointed out that he had to be the stupidest man on the earth. I silently agreed. Maybe even quietly cheered. Okay, so he wasn't all bad but he sure spent enough time saying, Hey, I'm the good guy". Some of the townspeople treated her like crap. Common judgmental things that often happen in small towns. They thought it so they felt free to speak it. But on the upside some people stepped up and she begin to find the beginnings of some true friends. On a level about getting the emotions involved it did a good job. As far as being a favorite? Not so much. Okay, time to try another one of her books, because the town of Fool's Gold still had some interesting people and stories left.

I'm not reading the Fool's Gold series in much of an order, though I try. Anyway, I've read about 10 to 12 so far, but not books 1 & 2, so I decided to go back to the beginning and reserve books 1 & 2 from the Library. Book 2 (Almost Perfect) arrived first.

I am glad I hunted down this book --- though not because this is a great story or a great romance. It just isn't. The romance aspect of the story is dubious at best, and other reviewers have done a pretty good job dissecting the problems with the hero, Ethan. However, I've read lots of romances where the hero was not very appealing but I still ended up liking the story. This time, though, the problem is the Reason the hero is so unappealing ---- and I think its because during most of the story Ethan has the depth of a puddle and the social maturity of a 15 year old. [Actually, in a way it's kind of fascinating because he's the heir apparent of the Hendrix family all of whom are featured prominently in the Fool's Gold series. Yet this heir apparent doesn't have much backbone or empathy for others --- which is the complete opposite of Ethan's two younger brothers (Kent & Ford) whom we read about later in the series.] Anyway, Ethan needs to grow up in this novel and in the end he does, but the journey to get there is rather boring, often annoying, and at times unbelievable, especially in the romance department.

Nevertheless, I am glad I read this story (during 2nd half I mostly skimmed) --- for historical context, to appease my curiosity about the Hendrix family and to better understand the community that is Fool's Gold. One thing that surprised me is how provincial and unappealing a lot of the Fool's Gold citizens are in this story. (Thank goodness the community becomes adorably eccentric in later books.) Likewise, the Hendrix family is not super likeable in this story, especially the mom, Denise, who is a bit of a petty b-tch, though she evolves into an important matriarch in the community as the series continues.

Whether you are new to the series (OR not especially interested in the nascent beginnings of Fool's Gold) this a story that is easy to skip without losing any important information about the other inhabitants of the town, or the upcoming romances.

So I read Chasing Perfect and really enjoyed it. I liked the town and its people, I was interested in Ethan's story and couldn't wait to see how it would unfold....

But... siiiiiiiigh. I kept waiting and waiting for Ethan to grow up. To admit to his own culpability. I kept waiting for the Fool's Gold townspeople to stop being so self-righteous and to actually go back to being the warm and caring people we got to know in the first book. I kept waiting for Pia to apologise for being horrible to Liz during high school. And NONE of that happened. Not in any satisfactory way.

I don't mind Pia and Liz becoming friends... but if she really was such a "tormentor" toward Liz, I wanted Liz to at the very least confront her with it. Instead she takes the high road and suddenly they're friends.

The townspeople. Wow. They confront her in the streets, insult her, belittle her and the "hero" barely stands up for her because he feels like the victim. I love that his friend told him that he wasn't the "good guy" in the situation, even though it barely seemed to register with selfish Ethan. But I digress. I'm still on about the good citizens of Fool's Gold. They all knew about Liz's abusive home and her being bullied at school but did nothing to help. Only after she left and became famous did someone come up with the genius idea of using her unused scholarship money to create a scholarship in her name. After she returned to town, they gave a lovely speech about how she was a "disenfranchised child" who slipped through the cracks. They then go on to say, and I quote, "we must not lose sight of this opportunity to learn from our mistakes. To do better next time so no child ever slips through the cracks again." Yes. I laughed out loud at that one. This after Liz returned back to town to rescue her nieces who had been living on their own for TWO MONTHS after being abandoned by their stepmother. I guess they must have slipped through the cracks... It happened TWICE to the same family and the town is so hypocritically proud of themselves for creating the stupid scholarship, while totally ignoring the fact that they'd allowed Liz Sutton's family to practically starve to death. What jerks (I'd use stronger language. But I'm trying to be a lady).

Now on to Ethan. Man, I really wanted to like him. But he was horrible. My least favourite hero ever. Liz was way too good for him. Despite him being horribly cruel to her when they were teenagers, she tried to do the right thing when she found out she was pregnant. But he refuses to recognise that he was wrong and blames her for everything. What an ass. Oh and does this guy EVER use condoms? It's mentioned by both his mother and Liz in the book and I suppose we're supposed to find it funny. But it's like the thought of protection never ever crosses his mind. Seriously, it's amazing that he's only ever gotten girls pregnant and not given them anything nastier than a bun in the oven. Yick.

I don't want to read Pia's book. I found her unlikable in Almost Perfect but I'll try the one after that and hopefully if Ethan's in that one, he'll be a little more tolerable than he was in his own story. Hopefully Fool's Gold's wildly bipolar citizens will be more well-represented in that one.

I liked this book! It was a cute little read that held my interest.
Elizabeth (Liz) is Gorgeous, Smart and had a hard and troublesome childhood. Her mother was more than a neglectful parent, she was also an Abusive Drunk, who didn't seem to care about Liz. Liz put all of her energy into her studies so she would be able leave Fool's Gold when she graduated high school. The last thing that she expected was to meet and fall in love with Ethan, a member of the founding family of Fool's Gold. For the first time in a long time, Liz felt safe and it was all because of Ethan. She finally found someone who really cared about and loved her, that is until Ethan denied her in front of his friends and destroyed any belief that she had in him.
Liz returns to the one place that she said that she would never step foot in again, Fool's Gold. Along with her return, she brings a secret that is sure to upset alot of people. She is determined to share that secret one more time, even if it turns the whole town against her.

For much of the book, this H is hard to like. Not only has he treated the h badly in the past, and continues to do so when she re-enters his life, but he badmouths her to their child, undercuts her parenting, and basically does everything wrong in putting their child in the middle of their conflicts. HOWEVER, as I was struggling with liking the character, I realized it was exactly that poor behavior that makes the book so realistic. Although we'd like to think that battling parents always put their children first, keep the kids protected from the arguments, and behave in counselor-approved ways, the reality is that that ideal is often not achieved. Parents do sometimes (even often) put children in the middle and play them against the other parent. Usually it's in the context of a divorce rather than a reconciliation, which is probably what threw me initially, but the reaction--the not thinking before speaking in front of or to the kid--is realistic in this situation. Not what we'd hope would happen, but what does happen unfortunately often.

The resolution here was a little too pat--a few days is enough to convince Dad that there's more to being a parent than planning fun activities, and one drunken conversation is enough to see the light about how to propose properly--and the "grand gesture," though nice, would not have convinced me to marry him after all he's said and done. But I'm more of an "actions speak louder than words" gal, and would have had to see a more sustained change in words AND behavior before I'd have trusted him with my heart and my children's future. Still, a tearjerker, and recommended. A minor note: the sex scenes, especially the last one, read like a set of clinical instructions and didn't convey emotion or heat.

Almost Perfect was almost perfect. It was one of my favorites in this Fool's Gold series, but there were a few things that kept I didn't like about it. Overall I loved the story.

Liz comes back to Fool's Gold with her son Tyler after receiving a letter that her nieces are all alone and way too young to be taking care of themselves. Her brother, who she hasn't spoken to in years, is in jail and his wife just left them. She never wanted to return to Fool's Gold, especially since Ethan, Tyler's dad and her first love, specifically told her to never come back. He wanted nothing to do with her or his son.

When Ethan sees Liz in Fool's Gold he immediately reconnects with her only to find that he has a son he was never told about. Liz had run away after Ethan claimed not to know her to his friends and when she came back to tell him she was pregnant he was in bed with someone else. So she left not telling him. Five years later she tires again and tells his wife about his son, she promises to tell him, then she gets a letter saying I want nothing to do with either of you. Ethan of course never knew about this so he is understandably upset that he has missed out on 11 years of his son's life. The whole town quickly finds out about what happened and is pretty quick to pass judgement on Liz.

I understood why everyone was so upset and I loved the writing about how angry Ethan was and everything. It really made the story a great read. Trying to figure out how the two will work everything out was great. The issue I had? There kept being times when some piece of information was revealed and then instantly things were better. It was like once Ethan saw the letter he supposedly sent he was not as angry anymore. It was just a little too quick or written in a slightly unbelievable way. I could see him not being as angry and whatnot, but I don't know. Something about it was slightly off for me. The same thing happened when Liz found out some info and it just was missing something.

Liz and Ethan are still attracted to each other. They still care about the other person, and it was fun watching them try and work everything out. Ethan is a bit dense and doesn't say or do the right thing a lot, but in the end he figures it out. A great read, even though some of the resolutions seemed too easy.

This review was originally posted to Jen in Bookland

Mallery had me gasping in shock from the 1st page in this one. She drew some very poignant and thought provoking topics into her incredible story of second chance love. Stereotypes and prejudices rear their head around Fool’s Gold as Mallery’s characters take readers on a heartfelt journey to loving again.

Mallery has created a cast of characters that brings live and love to readers in a big way. Her characters are so real. They lead real lives with real life issues. Nothing’s sugar coated, yet these characters still leave you with a smile. I love how she focussed on the entire family, rather than simply the main couple. Now, don’t get me wrong, the main couple definitely stands out. Ethan’s self-discovery was comical, especially since everyone had been telling him the same thing for most of the book. Liz’s selflessness, while secretly wanting more, definitely drew me to her. But at the same time, the story was so much bigger than just them. Everyone’s thoughts and desires are brought forth. And it’s all steeped in all that is good (and bad) about Fool’s Gold.

This was another life altering read from Susan Mallery. She adds a gem to her Fool’s Gold series while providing readers with a story that will hold them heart & soul.

Why I Read this Book: I had just finished reading Chasing Perfect (the 1st book in this series) and I was in love with Fool's Gold and its residents. I was excited to read about Ethan's former flame, who had just returned to town. I was on a happy-go-lucky kind of streak so I wanted to continue my stay in the town of Fool's Gold. Unfortunately, things didn't pan out like I had hoped.

What I Liked: Honestly, I didn't like the main characters much in Almost Perfect. Liz had way too much going on to even be thinking of any type of romance and Ethan is an all-around jerk. I found myself more interested in what was going on with the secondary characters, like Ethan's sisters and Jo. I'm waiting (and hoping for) their books.

What I Didn't Like: Ethan was a real ass in this book. You couldn't tell from the first book; in fact, I really liked him in the first book. And Pia, that girl was all sweet and innocent in the first book too. But when the past creeps up on people, it tends to give you a different prospective on them.

There were too many kids in the storyline for me. I usually shy away from books that have young characters. I read for an escape and part of that escape is a child-free zone (says the mama of 2 with one on the way, if you catch my drift). I wouldn't have mind the story with just Tyler in the picture but there were two other children (one a teenager) involved in the storyline and it was just a bit too much for me.

Ethan and Liz kept going around and around about the same issues over and over again. It got tiresome real fast. There was just too much drama going on that I don't feel was completely resolved. I'm not convinced of Ethan's love for Liz either. Not in the beginning of their relationship nor at the end.

Overall Impression: While I really enjoyed the first book in this series, I thought Almost Perfect was just okay. I just didn't really feel any connection with Ethan or Liz. I'm going to skip the next (and 3rd) book in this series, Finding Perfect, which is Pia's story. I'm not feeling the storyline for that book. I am, however, really excited to reading the 4th book in this series, Only Mine, which is Dakota's (one of Ethan's sisters) story. I liked her in Almost Perfect and the premise for her book sounds fun so I can't wait to read it.

I actually would have given this book just one star except it is by one of my all-time favorite authors, Susan Mallery. I've read all of her books before this one including the first book of the Fool's Gold trilogy so I was surprised to find how much I disliked Ethan, the hero of this story.

First of all, Ethan is just weak. He runs to his mom to whine about everything and he treats Liz horribly throughout most of the book, and he probably says "I'm sorry" throughout most of his dialogue, but yet the reader is supposed to be sympathic to this guy. I wished Liz would've dumped Ethan for somebody else. Not only did he deny his love for Liz when he was in college to his buddies, he also told his own mother that he didn't care about Liz when he was an adult. He does nothing to endear himself to her afterwards.

The ending just comes too late in the book to give Liz (and us readers) time to forgive Ethan for his crappy behavior.

Susan Mallery disappointed me. I'll read Pia's story in book 3 since an author can't please everybody. I hope it's better.

In my review on Goodreads, I used much harsher language. Sigh. I had to tone it down here though. Too bad.

Lightning review:

2.5 stars really.

Hero was a jerk. Member of founding family in town who dated & got pregnant poor abused girl from wrong side of the tracks. Insisted they keep relationship a secret. Later when asked, he not only denied knowing her in front of friends (even after declaring undying love) but made a nasty remark about her. Years later used 'Young and stupid' excuse. I wasn't buying it because when Heroine comes back 10 years later with secret baby/son in tow. Hero was still a loser jerk. I should've realized he'd be [insert profane adjective of your choice here] in his own book because he was a bit of an entitled [more profanity here] so-and-so (and a terrible friend) in the previous book as well.

Heroine, Liz was actually a breath of fresh air. She, like, used her brains and thought through stuff and acted like an adult. She was too good for him. I gave the book and extra half star because of her.

I had a really hard time with this one. I hated the hero. Ethan was an idiot. His actions were awful. No woman should have to put up with what he does. And he does it continuously until nearly the end. I enjoy the outspoken, take no prisoners heroines but I don't require them all to be so. I am fine with a heroine that is on the quieter side. However, I do need them to respect themselves. Had I been dealing with Ethan, he'd have been kicked to the curb long ago.

"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." (Almost Perfect, Susan Mallery)

Liz left Fool's Gold, California long ago and never planned to return. That all changes with one e-mail. As a New York Times Bestselling suspense author, Liz gets crazy fan letters all the time. But this one is different. When a niece she didn't know she had writes and asks for her help, Liz drops everything and heads out even though it means returning to the one place that never accepted her.

Ethan Hendrix was born into one of the town's founding families and because of this he was raised to believe he had to act accordingly. Dating the daughter of the woman with the worst reputation in town wasn't allowed, even though he couldn't stay away from her. When his friends confront him about his secret relationship, he denies it and ends up losing more than the girl he professed in private to love. Twelve years later, she's back and so is the eleven year old son he never knew he had. After having lost a wife and child during childbirth, Ethan is bound and determined he isn't going to lose his son again. Thus ensues a series of misguided attempts to do the right thing. Will his lack of tact and understanding leave him more alone than ever?

~~~

Fool's Gold, California is definitely a place I want to visit. I first experienced this fictitious town way before hearing about the books. I don't know how I got the link but as soon as I looked at this really cool web site featuring Fool's Gold, I immediately added all four books to my the store wish list.

Almost Perfect is the second book in the series and features one of the characters Susan Mallery introduced in Chasing Perfect. Although I didn't always like Ethan, I could understand some of the reasons behind why he did what he did. I loved Liz and the strength she projected to the world. Not many women would blindly dive into the responsibilities of adding her 14 and 11 year old nieces to her family without freaking out. The way she handles Ethan and his overbearing tactics to see their son made me admire her, but the way she handles the biddy bodies around town made me want to nominate her for sainthood.

There are some mixed reviews on this book because of some of the things the hero does. I personally felt the author did an amazing job of giving her readers a true-to-life character that was not perfect; and honestly, he reacted to some of Liz's decisions in the same type of manner that most real-life guys would have done given this same situation.

In the end, Ethan and the town redeem themselves and Ms. Mallery left me wanting to know more about the citizens of Fool's Gold.

At first when I started reading this one in the Fool's Gold series, I couldn't decide if I liked it or not. Which is surprising since I am a huge Susan Mallery and Fool's Gold series fan! I definitely did not like Ethan at first and found him to be arrogant and selfish but I made myself keep reading and I ended up changing my mind a little. He is still definitely not a favorite male character for me from Fool's Gold but I am glad I read it. It was a good story and Liz is a great character. I have read almost all the other novels in the series and I'm glad that I read this one too so I can see how every couple came together in Fool's Gold. If you are a Fool's Gold lover as well I definitely recommend this one although I don't think it's the best of the series and Ethan is hard to like at first.

First off let me say that Susan Mallery is such a good writer. She knows how to pull you in and get you hooked. I loved Liz. She was smart and strong and had been through so much but wasn't letting that keep her down. She admitted to her mistakes instead of brushing them off as if they didn't matter.
Ethan was a very flawed hero. He had reason to be upset, but I had issues with his lack of accountability.
I love a story where you are so invested in the secondary characters that you can't wait for their story. I have quite a few people I need to read their story from this book. It truly delivers on the secondary characters.
All in all a really good book. Would I read again, probably not but I'm very happy I read this. Would I recommend? Yes. Will I be continuing the series? Absolutely.

Almost Perfect didn't work for me as well as Chasing Perfect, the first book in the Fool's Gold series. The enjoyment of books in a series of this nature, that focus on different couples in each installment, can vary widely depending on how much I enjoy the characters. As I already mentioned in my review of Chasing Perfect, I absolutely love the town of Fool's Gold. I loved Charity and Josh's romance in Chasing Perfect. I even loved Liz in Almost Perfect. I just had trouble understanding Ethan for most of this book and in the end couldn't get past some of his actions to embrace the relationship that was the central story line here.

Ethan was a difficult character to read or sympathize with, which I found surprising because I enjoyed him as a secondary character in Chasing Perfect. In Almost Perfect, we see more of his past and get to know him on a deeper level and honestly, I just could not see his appeal. He's been hurtful to Liz in the past, repeated the exact same action again in the present day, committed even further atrocities in the name of taking what was his and one big apology later, Liz forgives him. I just don't buy it.

Beyond Liz's attraction to Ethan, I was also confused by the choice of lead characters. Fool's Gold is the wonderful little town with an embarrassing man shortage. I never expected the second book in the series to focus on pairing up a man already in town with a woman who wasn't currently living there. That doesn't exactly help with the man shortage, but rather take one of the lone Fool's Gold bachelors off the market. I found this to be an interesting choice.

I love, love, love Fool's Gold and am beginning to see that even if I sort of despise a specific books lead characters, I can't help but love the rest of the book. When faced with unlikable character, I love that the rest of the Fool's Gold community is wonderful enough into carry the series onto the next book.

I really liked Chasing Perfect and was surprised at how difficult this one was to take and all because the hero has a terrible attitude. I might expect to find this in real life but not in romance fiction. I can get plenty of real life in real life. I read for something better. I found myself skipping over his scenes so I wouldn't have to hate him. The rest of the story is really interesting with the girls. Too bad because this could have been a much better book if not for Ethan and his insufferable personality.

Now everyone should know I'm a big Susan Mallery fan. Her books never disappoint me! And she's the sweetest author there is. She takes time out to talk to her fans. I have another author like that and let me tell you that makes a huge difference to your fans. That's why I'll always be a dedicated fan =D

Okay now getting to the book...

Liz returns to Fool's Gold to help out family in need. But she knew returning to Fool's Gold, she may meet again her high school sweetheart a.k.a. "Baby Daddy" LOL. Now Liz didn't go back to Fool's Gold to get anything from Ethan. She just wanted to go there, do what she had to do with her family and go back home. Of course life throws her curve balls and didn't allow her to have her quick getaway. Go figure.

So now she meets up with Ethan again and there's no denying that they have chemistry. Though when he finds out about their son, his attitude changes. But with the chemistry they have, they see themselves in certain situations that may complicate things.

This book had me rooting for Liz from the minute she reached Fool's Gold. Liz is a good woman so you'll be rooting for her too. There were so many things about this book I liked it is so hard to write without a spoiler. From the beginning I was glued to the book. The beginning was an emotional roller coaster for almost every character. Ethan tried his hardest to hate Liz for not telling him about their son and Liz tried her hardest to not let Ethan affect her heart again. Once walls were torn down, they were perfect for each other! Susan gives you an emotional story with a beautiful happy ending! Another must read By Susan Mallery.

[...]

The main character who is a woman author is interesting and independent except when it concerns her old high school secret boyfriend who has made the choice to be more of a jerk than he ever could be in high school. He thinks he can parent perfectly but finds out parents make mistakes and doesn't seem to like it all that much. Yet, that is how i feel about him: I don't like him very much. I was hoping she would tell him off fully and be done with him but no she is always giving him a second chance he doesn't deserve which is a bit ridiculous. Heck, my best friend has done with an ex boyfriend many times but this ex boyfriend has, at least, the redeeming quality of being a good guy with a couple of nagging flaws yet the book's main dude is an uptight a hole of a jerk.

The reason for three stars was good book and awesome main female character plus good supporting characters especially jerk guy's family! But bad jerky main dude!

(Review originally posted at GoneWithTheWords.com)

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 tried harder to bring Ethan and Tyler together, but it was hard for me to get angry with her because I sympathized with her so much. I thought she was a GREAT mom to Tyler and I really loved her character.

Ethan, you idiot. This was a constant thought while I read this book. I loved him and thought he was sexy and funny, but he just couldn't get it right! It was so hard to remain angry with him, though, because he never really realized just how much of an idiot he was being until the end. I thought that last (unintended) grand gesture was incredibly over due, but despite that, I LOVED it.

The town and its residents completely won me over once again. The Fool's Gold books are great if you're looking to get into a romantic Romance series with just the perfect amount of steaminess.

I usually am a very easy to satisfy reader. I read novels to unwind and relax, but this one got me really stressed out. REALLY. I kept expecting the time of redemption to come, but it never came. In my opinion, Heros can be forgiven for almost eanything, but not before they suffer a little to prove the reader he is genuinely sorry and in love, etc... This one is basically like this: 'Hero" is a jerk because he is immature, then he is a jerk because he is mad, then he is a jerk because he cannot turn back time, then he is a jerk because he HAS TO DO THE RIGHT THING, and finally, he is a jerk because he actually is forgiven by accident (his plan was only to inform the city part of the blame was his, but after all the crap he put Liz trough he was not capable of 1 great gesture!) I love flawed characters, but this one is not flawed, and he is very far away of being almost perfect, he is simply a jerk.

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 evident, but I suppose I couldn't figure out why she'd be bothered with him. She spent the book in a town surrounded by people who accosted her and were downright vicious and Ethan didn't get around to defending her until the end of the book, and by then I'm not sure anything he would have said would have been worth it.

Like the first book in the series, Chasing Perfect, the book was carried by the charm of the heroine, but even that book was propped up by the second half. Almost Perfect never really got going, in my opinion, and Ethan and Liz seemed to get together at end simply because Mallery decided it was time.

I couldn't find myself rating it any higher than a C, and if I hadn't been able to finish it it might have been lower. This book exemplified one of the characteristics that I like least about romance novels -- it depended on a physical attraction to depict love and then told me the characters loved one another without any evidence in the first 200 or so pages to explain it.

I'm a Paul Simon fan. So shoot me. I'm also a Susan Mallery fan. And I love love love Fool's Gold. In this story, Liz is a mystery writer, and in each of her very successful books, she kills off a character that bears striking resemblance to Ethan. Ethan was the boy who promised to love her forever, took her virginity, and the very next day denied knowing her. Devastated, she leaves town, never planning to return. Now, 12 years later she has to return to Fool's Gold, and introduces Ethan to his 11-year-old son. She actually did come back twice to tell Ethan about the baby, but complications arose.

This book was very disappointing. I found the hero unsympathetic, unlikable, and the heroine was presented as this strong woman who was so weak in terms of standing up for herself. There are so many unbelievable plot points in this series - big gaping holes you could drive a truck through, I'm struggling with keeping going. I want to like the books, and for a few pages here and there, I do. Then the author drags the characters back into being spineless or a complete jerk, with no decent resolution. VERY glad this was a digital library read, not an ebook I actually bought.

I really enjoy Susan Mallery's books, and this one particularly. The story is simple yet entertaining, and the characters are all quite believable.

I did have a bit of an issue with the plot -- several key elements are nearly identical to another of Mallery's books, "Sweet Trouble". Still, I'm not sure which book was written first, and there are enough differences between the two that I could focus on this one without constantly comparing. Like many authors with several books under their belts, Mallery tends to reuse certain themes and devices, but that doesn't make each individual book less worthwhile.

This is a really good series, with interesting characters. I liked this book even more than the first one, and I'm definitely looking forward to the third book -- Pia's story. It promises to be the best of them all.

Almost Perfect by Susan Mallery
Liz, an author and her son, Tyler have to head to Fool's Gold to take care of her brothers two girls. He's in prison and his wife has split from the scene.
She had run away pregnant and had told the father of her child but a letter was written to her telling her to never come back. The father had never gotten the letter.
Ethan Hendrick is trying to make amends while she tries to find out from her brother in prison what happened with the girls mother.
She gains some friends in the town but others have nothing good to say about her and her decisions of the past.
She has talked to her brother in prison and she will fix the house up, rent or sell it and move all the kids back to the big city and bring them for weekend visits.
She had some really good news from the local college that made things worth while again.

Meet Liv, daughter of the town whore and considered a whore herself by association. Meet Ethan, son of one of the town's prominent families and when Liv is just 18 and Ethan 21 they meet and have a summer love affair which was Liv's first experience with men and sex, with promises made of love and forever. After hearing Ethan tell his friends (while she was standing right there) that he doesn't know her, he would never having anything to do with someone like her and that she was a slut she dumps a milkshake in his face and leaves town with a bun in the oven coming along for the ride. Two months later she comes back to tell him about the baby and she finds him naked and in bed with another woman (someone who was particularly cruel to Liv in school). She again tries to tell him she's pregnant a few years later and received a terse letter back to stay away from him. Fast forward 11 years and Liv is back in town to take care of her nieces and Ethan is none too happy about it.

This is very hard to review because I would give just about all the scenes without Ethan 5 stars and no stars for most of his scenes. He really is just a totally unequivocal ass. I specifically said aloud (something I never do) that I wanted to shove something pointy up his nose into his brain cavity. He is like Judas continually denying Liv at every turn, he teaches his son to look down on women and tells his son that Liv is the only reason Ethan didn't know him growing up. He is a snob and a half, with his class system seeming to go: his family, prominent town's folk, then sluts like Liz who don't deserve respect and everyone gets treated accordingly.

Liv on the other hand is what a heroine should always be and usually isn't. She is smart, kind, beautiful, a wonderful mother, has successful in her career and more importantly than any of that she is an adult and acts like an adult in both compromising and not compromising depending on what the situation calls for, yet when she goes back to go old Fool's Gold she is still seen by most as just the town whore. Even though she is persecuted by many (but not all) of these around her she is strong and though the comments hurt her she knows she has to be the adult because obviously Ethan and the others aren't going to. And what is her major flaw? For some incomprehensible reason she loves that unmitigated ass Ethan. What can I say, we are all fools in love. Ethan really had so few good qualities, despite the talk about him being a good person and a stand up citizen he was just a weak shallow child and never grew up.

The ending was very emotional and heartfelt and though it doesn't redeem Ethan it makes me like him a tiny bit more. But the scenes with Liv dealing with the town bigots, or her son and nieces are wonderful and full of wonderful characters and are well worth reading. If this had not been a romance and if Ethan had been the villain of this piece it would have been a lot stronger story I think. Liv was wrong to do what she did by not telling Ethan he had a child but expecting respect from someone you treat like a whore is utterly ridiculous. As fulfilling as the last ten pages or so of the book are (it was one of the best endings I've read in a long while) I would have much rather if she had come to realize that she could never love someone as childish, shallow and incapable of empathy and compassion as Ethan.

This is a successful story of a woman on her own who made something of her life and in now back home to face her demons, it is not a successful romance because I would have been happier if Liv would have ended up with anyone else or just alone.

3 stars.

I borrowed this book from the library; I did not buy it from the store. As with all the book in the series, I liked it very much. I love the characters; all of them, even the background people, the ones that haven't had their stories told yet. I found parts of it difficult, such as when it talked about the bullying that Liz had gone through. I know it is fiction, but I felt like some of the resolutions were too unrealistic, and the basic layout of the town seems impossible, too. I only mention it because it brings me out of the story, and I find that annoying. Overall, I like these Fool's Gold books quite a bit, and wish reality could be a lot more like fiction.

I have to agree with a lot of the reviewers that the "hero" is a jerk, along with his mother. He won't take responsibility for the fact that he shamed Liz even though he was having an affair with he while she was still a teen, and after finding out what had happened to her along the way, he still pins her as the bad guy and has the nerve to lose his temper with her. The whole story is so wrong. I wouldn't have bought the book if I had read the reviews first.

Another really great romance!

I don't read very many straight romance books. I usually stick with urban fantasy with a touch of romance along the way. This series of books has me hooked! I think it is because of the really well written characters. They don't do or say what you expect them to in a given situation and I like being surprised by what characters do end up doing. If I can predict everything then why read the book? Yes, they do have a HEA but the road there has more twists and turns then I was expecting:)

Having read several other Fool's Gold books, I had high expectations for this book. I liked the character of Ethan and could understand his actions, even if they were wrong. Liz is the character I had a difficult time with. To me, she came across as a bitter, angry woman who blamed a lousy childhood on the entire town. Just when I would start to sympathize with her, she would think/say something that came across horribly. The saving grace for her character was that she was a good mother and willing to try to work out a compromise with Ethan.

I am liking this series. What a town!!! Even though I enjoyed this book I felt it was a little repetitive. They kept bringing up each others past actions. I got a little tired hearing about it. Good writing....

Growing up with a bad reputation and the indifference of those around her made Liz Sutton determined to leave her past behind to pursue her dreams. When she receives an email from a young girl claiming to be her niece asking for help, she must return to the place she once swore to forget. What she doesn't expect is to run into the one person who broke her heart, Ethan Hendrix, the father of her child.

Ethan Hendrix is stunned when he runs into Liz Sutton, the girl who had once stolen his heart and the one he betrayed. When she reveals that they have a child together, he is angry and vows to make her pay.

Almost Perfect by Susan Mallery completely passed all my expectations. As the second book in the Fool's Gold series, it shares the same setting as the first book in the series Chasing Perfect but it's a story all on its own. Grab a box of Kleenex and settle down because you are in for a fantastic ride. I found myself engrossed in Liz's life as she tries to sort out each dilemma that is thrown her way. Her choices and the circumstances that followed each one set the pace of the story and both characters are surprised to realize that passion still exists between them. The question is: Will it be enough to build a future on? The push and pull of their relationship was excellent and even though I cried a couple of times, the ending completely made it up to me.

Gianna
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Almost Perfect is the second novel in the series with Liz Sutton coming to the rescue of her two nieces who have been abandoned in Fool's Gold. The murder mystery author plans to only stay long enough to understand the girl's situation then if need be take them home with her as she hates the town that never cared about her well being as an abused child. However, her plans change when her old secret boyfriend, Ethan Hendrix (best friends with Josh from book 1), comes waltzing up unknowing that she bore his child and tried to contact him twice with the last attempt met with a letter from him stating that he wanted nothing to do with his child and to stay away from Fool's Gold. If you want to read more of the review please visit [...]

I am loving this series. Liz left town 11 years ago with a broken heart and a secret. Flash forward 11 years and she finds herself back to help family and bring her secret out into the open. Can everyone get past her silence and welcome her back? Can she believe their sincerity? Very charming love story and a continuation into exploring the characters that make up the core of Fool's Gold. Look forward to reading the next book.

We can all read the description provided by the publisher so I'm not a big fan of retyping that. I will just jump straight into my review.

Because we romance readers can be very particular in our reading tastes I will give you the run down on the basic information first:
* Contemporary Romance with no other major sub-genre
* Secret Baby theme but well written
* Written in third person with his/hers POV
* She is a successful mystery author who has come back to her home town and he was the local golden boy who has never really left and has always been successful.
* This is the 2nd book in the series and it is a good idea to read the 1st book though you could probably understand what is going on without reading it.

I liked this book. I liked the first one (and the third one) better but I like Susan Mallery's writing. I liked the characters. My problem with this book is that the "secret baby" theme brings up so much hurt and anger and conflict that it can be overly depressing. This book addresses it well but there is probably a little more conflict than I like in a romance. However, I would read it again. I enjoyed it and would definitely recommend.

If you read this and like it you will probably like these books:
* Still The One by Robin Wells
* The Girl Most Likely To... by Susan Donovan
* Simply Irresistible by Rachel Gibson

You can always find more on my blog "Batteries and Bubbly"

I usually don't read this kind of contemporary romance in a small town setting, so I picked it up with some hesitation. I thought once Liz spilled her secret to Ethan, that he would spoil her life as a successful author, but I was pleasantly surprised Mallery didn't take that path with her book. On the whole, I was pleased I picked this up, and even though I thought Ethan carried his anger too long, which made him less that fully likeable, I enjoyed the story and how Liz had her perceptions changed. Plus, the preteens and teens depicted in this book are very realistic. As a result, I just might pick up another book in this series.

Susan Mallery brings her readers back to her small town of Fool's Gold, California where love is almost never perfect. Readers will be charmed and delighted to be reacquainted with old friends and two town sweethearts resurrecting that old love.

I'm always partial to hidden children themes in my romance stories. I can understand and relate because such incidents do happen in real life but for the most part, there is a part of that wonders what would make a woman not share that she is having a child wit a man. In Almost Perfect by Susan Mallery, Liz Sutton, the heroine does make two attempts to tell Ethan Hendrix that he is the father of her son, Tyler.

Liz an Ethan was secret lovers years ago. The people of the town labeled her a whore because of her mother's promiscuous behavior and associated Liz with it. Only Ethan knew that he was her first of everything. After hearing him deny their affair to all of their friends, Liz leaves only to find she is pregnant. She makes the decision to tell Ethan but he was in bed with another woman. Years later, another attempt was made but Ethan never knew about it because his dead wife had hid the truth from him. Now Liz is back in town after receiving an email from a fourteen year old, claiming to be her niece. Two small girls were abandoned in Fool's Gold and Liz returned to help them. The only problem is now she has to confront Ethan about the Tyler's identity.
I really love Susan Mallery's stories. They are just plain fun and light. Having the pleasure of reading the first story in the series, I was delighted to read this book and I was rather pleased. I loved Liz. She was a strong character who dealt with the town's criticism way better than I would have. I found myself proud that she was a big time author showing them all of what she had accomplished.

Ethan on the other hand, was the most fickle hero that I've read about. The whole Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde routine he pulled throughout the book was so tiring. There were moments where I wanted someone to take something and smack him upside the head and then there were the moments where he was sweet and nice. I did understand that his family's name was important in the town, so he did not want to be associated with anything negative but come on. I definitely could relate to Liz not trusting Ethan because of his inconsistent behavior. Even Denise, Ethan's mother, was somewhat cold in the beginning but eventually she became a likeable character and realized her son's idiotic tendencies.

The kids were also a very important element of the book. The email that Melissa sent to Liz in the beginning tore at my heart and I opened up to them immediately, which I can say is hard since sometimes kids distract in a story to me. Of course, I was more than happy to read about the rest of the people in the town. Girl's night was still prevalent and entertaining. Pia and Liz learned to let go of the past (Pia use to torment Liz in high school) and forge friendships. There were brief glimpses of Josh's outcome with Charity (the H/H from the 1st story) and a very sad departure of another friend.

Overall, I laughed, I got teary-eyed, I cheered all the way to the end. I can't wait to see what will happen next Fool's Gold.

This is a typical story of girl gets pregnant but returns years later with son. There were some unusual plot lines which kept it interesting. What I have a problem with was how much a jerk the male lead is. He kept screwing up and she kept forgiving him. I wanted her to kick him to the curb but then you wouldn't get your happy ending. I would have liked her better though. Overall story is good but could have been better with more heroic characters.

I liked the first book in this series Chasing Perfect it was a little unbelievable but that's ok it was a fun read. After reading the reviews, instead of buying this book I borrowed it from a friend. So glad I did. I could barely get through the book, I had to skim to get to the end just to confirm what I already knew. The "hero" is a the anti hero and I really really wanted the heroine to wake up and realize that she could do SO much better and leave the stupid hypocritical town of Fool's Gold and the jerk of man known as Ethan! All the things I hated about the book have been mentioned before in other negative reviews. I just hope that the next book gets better... at this point though I'm not sure that I'm even going to bother with it.

Unfortunately, this book has almost nothing to recommend it. Horrible lead male (Ethan), lovely but confusing leading female (Liz) who seems wonderful but has to be crazy to see anything attractive in this JERK. Susan Mallery has a tendency to write her villains and even characters she plans to redeem as really MEAN to the bone. So that when the time comes that the reader is supposed to see the character as rehabilitated, you just can't do it. She did it with the matriarch in the Buchanan books, and she's done it with Ethan here (as well as almost everyone else who is so nasty to Liz). Can't recommend this one at all.

I usually really like Susan Mallery's books but this one left me tired and bored. The hero was a jerk. It was predictable that Liz would move to Fool's Gold. Why? Ethan didn't deserve her. It seemed that Liz was doing all the compromising. All the parts of people stopping Liz on the street and berating her for how she supposedly treated Ethan were not only unbelievable but sounded really just stupid. I hope the next book in the series is better. I may have to think about buying the book at full price and wait for the discount.

This is a beautifully written love story of a couple that were high school sweethearts who find each other years later. She grew up in the wrong family, he grew up in the right family. He was a typical teenage boy and broke her heart. She ran away, found out she was pregnant with his child and did her best, until they met up again when their son was 11. I had tears in my eyes, I laughed, I smiled, I grieved. This is my first story by Susan Mallery and it won't be my last.

Almost Perfect is Book 2 in Fool's Gold series. This book wasn't the commonplace romance that many books turn out to be. IF you are looking for sappy and same old same old, then don't bother reading this book. Rather than being "predictable" where the guy gets the girl and everyone lives happily ever after this storyline took a different take on romance. It showed that mistakes can be made and that pride does indeed stand in the way of common sense. It took the male "hero" and made him out to be "REAL" with flaws and someone who wasn't an unrealistic fantasy man. It took the woman and made her "STRONG" and "DEMANDING" rather than soft and showed her as a "REAL" woman. This is probably one of the better written romance novels I have read. I look forward to continue to read the Fool's Gold books. GREAT JOB Susan!

This was a touching story of personal strength and perseverance and the meaning and support of love. The character development was endearing and heartfelt. I adore the friends that this author introduces me to, so skillfully creating an addictive intriguing community! I couldn't put this story down and was at a loss when it too quickly was completed!

I usually really like Susan Mallery's books but this one left me tired and bored. The hero was a jerk. It was predictable that Liz would move to Fool's Gold. Why? Ethan didn't deserve her. It seemed that Liz was doing all the compromising. All the parts of people stopping Liz on the street and berating her for how she supposedly treated Ethan were not only unbelievable but sounded really just stupid. I hope the next book in the series is better. I may have to think about buying the book at full price and wait for the discount.

This is a beautifully written love story of a couple that were high school sweethearts who find each other years later. She grew up in the wrong family, he grew up in the right family. He was a typical teenage boy and broke her heart. She ran away, found out she was pregnant with his child and did her best, until they met up again when their son was 11. I had tears in my eyes, I laughed, I smiled, I grieved. This is my first story by Susan Mallery and it won't be my last.

Almost Perfect is Book 2 in Fool's Gold series. This book wasn't the commonplace romance that many books turn out to be. IF you are looking for sappy and same old same old, then don't bother reading this book. Rather than being "predictable" where the guy gets the girl and everyone lives happily ever after this storyline took a different take on romance. It showed that mistakes can be made and that pride does indeed stand in the way of common sense. It took the male "hero" and made him out to be "REAL" with flaws and someone who wasn't an unrealistic fantasy man. It took the woman and made her "STRONG" and "DEMANDING" rather than soft and showed her as a "REAL" woman. This is probably one of the better written romance novels I have read. I look forward to continue to read the Fool's Gold books. GREAT JOB Susan!

This was a touching story of personal strength and perseverance and the meaning and support of love. The character development was endearing and heartfelt. I adore the friends that this author introduces me to, so skillfully creating an addictive intriguing community! I couldn't put this story down and was at a loss when it too quickly was completed!

A teenage girl and a pregnancy and alone in the world. Liz finds a way though to make life work for her and her son. With courage and determination she finds success as a writer then life finds her in a phone call from her niece. Liz returns to her hometown and relives the pain of why she left but Liz is stronger now and slowly finds her way back to love.

I enjoy most of Susan Mallery's books, but not this one. It has one of the most unlikable heroes I've encountered. The guy is a jerk in a whole lot o ways and never seems to learn, until the very last few pages, when his sudden redemption just doesn't ring true. Just saying you now get it doesn't mean you really do. There are better Mallery books to choose from.

All I wanted was to wish for Liz to find her happily ever after with anyone BUT Ethan. What a jerk! And the family? Hateful! Wow, just wow...there was nothing redeemable about this guy. He was hateful and a user and just an unlikable guy. I don't know anyone who would have stayed around in that environment - sort of like encouraging a dis-functional relationship.

I really enjoy this series of books taking place in Fool's Gold. Each book has some of the same town characters and will mention the stage of their life. It reminds me a lot of the Debbie MacComber series taking place in Cedar Cove which was made into a movie series by Hallmark. The Fool's Gold series will make you laugh and make you cry.

Pregnant teenager Liz Sutton left Fool's Gold when her lover Ethan Hendrix betrayed her. Five years later and much more mature, Liz went home to inform Ethan that he had a child; she received a letter from him saying he wants nothing to do with Tyler so she raised her son by herself eventually becoming a popular author.

Almost a dozen years later, fourteen year old Melissa informs her Aunt Liz that her father Roy (Liz's brother) was in jail and their stepmother left. Leaving San Francisco Liz accompanied by now eleven years old Tyler returns to Fool's Gold to take care of her nieces, Melissa and her sister eleven year old Abby. Ethan learns Tyler is his son; fuming he blames Liz for costing him all those years with his child; refusing to believe her "story" involving his wife Rayenne.

Although the plot device of a man not knowing he sired a son has been used many times, Susan Mallery provides a deep Fool's Gold second chance at love tale. The support cast is strong from the onset as the audience will feel for the nieces and for the heroine who the townsfolk blame for concealing Tyler from his dad. Readers will enjoy Almost perfect as Ethan believes love is not enough to overcome what he has done to his Liz.

Harriet Klausner

What a sweet story! I really enjoyed the writing style and the actual plot of this story. The conflict between the characters was so realistic and was never made to seem too easy to solve. So often romance novels take on the instant 'Love conquers all' immediate solution, but this novel acknowledges that there's more work to be done sometimes. Really a good read.

I can't tell you how much I hated the so called hero of this book.I wanted to yell out to Liz"Do you really want this dirt bag as a role model to your son".What an example to have a man who let other guys call your so call love bad names.

Having read the reviews beforehand, I prepared myself to not be impressed with this book. And, I'll admit, for the first half of the book I wanted to shake Ethan and tell him to grow the hell up. I also wanted to scream at everyone who went up to Liz and told her how awful she was. By the end of the story he gets smarter, somewhat. I liked Denise and was so glad that Ethan's mother and sisters were on Liz's side. The ending was a bit cheesy, but I guess that's fine for a small town.

All in all, you won't get too disappointed with this. Yes, the beginning is frustrating, but it really does get better. You will really get into this story and root for Liz all the way. She's the most perfect female lead Mallery has ever created.

This is a love story between two "almost perfect" characters. Ethan, a popular, rich, and good looking high school student falls for Liz. Liz is poor, comes from a bad family, and has a bad reputation for being a little too friendly with the boys. The two have one romantic night of passion in high school. Ethan confesses his love to Liz then turns on her by telling his friends she isn't worth his time. Liz, furious and pregnant, leaves town. The story begins eleven years later when Liz returns home to take care of her two abandoned nieces and Ethan pays a visit only to learn he has a son. Ummm...Sure he is going to be angry! Ethan missed eleven years of his son's life. How was he supposed to react? Roses and chocolates? Liz tried twice in the past to contact him with horrible results. They both made mistakes but now they are older and wiser --- and still in love. Getting to the point where they recognize how great their love still is for each other is what is so wonderful about the story. Sweet and romantic ending. Looking forward to book 3!

OMG! I was crying over all the hurtful things Liz went thru but it was great how she could bounce back and survive. The "hero", Ethan, was an A**. He definitely did not deserve her. He was not a nice guy. The only thing he had going for him was his looks. Ethan was very shallow and everything was someone else's fault. Never his. (even though most of the problems were his fault)

I have enjoyed reading all of this series. While they are a light read, they are very well written and have a nice sorry line to them. Some of them are predictable but with a romance series, most of them are. I would recommend them to anyone that would like a light but enjoyable read.

This Fools Gold series is about a small town in California. This is the story of Ethan Hendrix (bestfriend of Josh Golden from 1st book) and Liz Sutton. Liz gets a email from her 2 neices that they need help and she loads up her car and son and heads back to her home town to help. Liz is a successful mystery writer but when she lived in Fools Gold she was daughter a alcoholic abuse women and left town pregnant and alone. When Ethan finds out that Liz had his children him and the whole town react. Great book - loved all the characters can't wait to read Finding Perfect (Hqn) (Pia O'Brian and Raoul Moreno story)

Fools Gold series; Chasing Perfect (Hqn) ( Book 1 ), Finding Perfect (Hqn)(Book 3).

I love ALL of Susan Mallery novels but here are of few of my favorites that you might enjoy; Sizzling,Hot on Her Heels (Lone Star Sisters) (Hqn).Falling for Gracie (my favorite).

No one writes a love story like author Susan Mallery as it's not only the romance, it's how she creates strong characters who tug at your heart. They are beautiful stories about family and how they work through their secrets, hurts, misunderstandings, but in the end they worked through their "stuff" giving them that happy ending they so desperately needed. And that's how the author takes her readers on the journey that makes Mallery's Almost Perfect" a perfect romance". In this case Susan Mallery not only gave the hero and heroine their happy ending, she also gave her son and her nieces the loving home they all deserved.

As the old saying goes "when fate hands you a lemon, make lemonade" and that's what happened to Liz Sutton when the love of her life Ethan Hendrix denied knowing her, telling his friends he would never date a girl like her. Liz was a sweet young woman who had grown up on the wrong side of the tracks with a mother who was not only a drunk but had a different man in her bed every night. On top of that her mother was abusive to her and the town's residents of Fools Gold instead of stepping in chose to ignore how she was being raised. Liz was extremely smart, and tried to ignore the barbs and rumors that she was a "slut". The only positive thing in her life was Nathan, the boy she loved, the same boy who promised they would be together in college. And then in front of his friends he hurt her by denying their relationship and Liz left Fools Gold and went to San Francisco.

Ethan Hendrix can't believe Liz Sutton was back in Fools Gold and he wondered why. When he found out that he had a son he never knew about, let's just say not only Ethan went on that roller coaster ride of emotions, so did Liz, the Hendrix family and his son Tyler. Liz not only had to deal with Ethan being back in her life, telling her son about his father, she also had to deal with her brother's girl's who were without parents because her brother was in prison, their step-mother skipped out, leaving her nieces without money, food and alone in a falling down house she was left to remodel.

Talk about a strong heroine....Liz was amazing and on top of that a New York Times best selling mystery author. On her own she not only raised a wonderful son, she became a huge success and faced a man from her past, the entire town of Fools Gold and their snide remarks. She was the glue that held the family together, she was fierce in her love for her son and in the end would she sacrifice that love to make sure everyone was happy? I loved this character and will remember her for sometime to come and you will as well as Almost Perfect gives those who read it so many lessons in life to think about. There was one particular one for me and that was when we know something is wrong in someone's life, do we reach out to help that person? Think about it, I sure did.

As for Ethan Hendrix, you will travel along with him on his complicated journey. At times your heart will ache for what he missed out on, how he comes to terms with secrets, betrayal and how he learned what was important in his life. Through into the mix, how the residents of Fools Gold all came together with a cast of amazing towns folks as only Susan Mallery can pen. Almost Perfect is Book 2 in Mallery's Fools Gold series with the next book being Finding Perfect. This series is one I'm sincerely looking forward to and getting to know the rest of the residents in Fools Gold, California.

Do not buy. I will send you my copy!! This book totally ticked me off. Until the last few pages, Ethan reminded a wet wipe. He had 11 years to apologize for his mistakes and to try and apologize but does not even make one single half-hearted attempt. And he is the wounded party??? The author wants the reader to feel that both parties have culpability but on this I heartily disagree. He lost me right at the start of the story and then compounds the rest of the book with his shenanigans. I actually checked the copyright date because I thought this book must have been originally written in the 80s because it had that old style romance feel where the women stand by their men no matter what flies in their face.

what a great book! I really enjoyed how the story and characters were woven together I to a good read. I like Susan Mallory's writing style and am looking forward to the rest of the books in this series.

I don't think I've ever liked a hero less. The only reason I give it two stars is because I've enjoyed all the other books by Susan Mallery till now, and I don't want to be too harsh. Is Liz nuts? She must be a real glutton for punishment, because I honestly don't see where the attraction is coming from. I could write pages and pages on Ethan's shortcomings. If this is your first Susan Mallery book, please don't assume all the other books by Susan Mallery are like this, too.

I raced through Chasing Perfect, the first book in Susan Mallery's new trilogy. I really enjoyed it and loved Charity and Josh. I'm about half way through Almost Perfect and am finding it very difficult to complete the book. It's a very bad omen when you can't stand the hero of the story. Ethan is a real JERK and Liz is a total wimp for putting up with him. There's not a lot to recommend this book I'm sorry to say. I hope Finding Perfect is as fun to read as Chasing Perfect to make up for this irritating story

I have to start out by saying I am a HUGE Susan Mallery fan, I have read all of her books and loved every one of them.

While reading Almost Perfect, something happened that had never occurred before for me. I got so caught up in the book, I cried. I bawled with Liz when her son told her he wanted to live with his dad, I cried when she once again put her heart on the line with Ethan only to have him crush it. I felt it as if I were the one in pain.

This has to be my favorite one of Ms Mallery's books so far!

I agree with the reviewer who thinks the "hero" is tiresome. He is actually unlikable. Main characters in a book need to be likable no matter how flawed. Normally I enjoy Susan Mallery's books and look forward to them but this one is tiresome.

Unfortunately, this book had everything I despise in a romance novel. Firstly, too many children in a romance novel! Plot line is based heavily around kids, her (secret) baby, and her 2 nieces, that she never knew about until she ends up taking care of them.

Next, a hero who's not worthy of this title. Furthermore, a hero who never grovel enough or redeem themselves in a satisfactory manner by the end. Here is a guy, who tells all his buddies in front of the heroine(the secret girlfriend he supposedly loved) is a slut, and doesnt know her when teased about them. Heartbroken, she runs away only to returns 3 weeks later to tell him she's pregnant, but finds him in bed with one of her tormentor from high school. Of course, this makes her run away again, to return 5 years later to try telling him about the baby. This time she finds out he married another girl (which we later find out because he got her pregnant too, what a nice guy). And not once did he go after the heroine to apologize or to get her back. We're lead to believe its because he was young. Strictly speaking for myself, I just plainly felt he didn't love her at all. Ever. Even towards the end, right before the big corny HEA scene.

Lastly, I hate main characters who are authors in books and make the whole book what being a writer is all about. Heroine in this book is an author and its very thoroughly discussed here, which bored me to tears. She is ridiculously glorified as some hotshot author, who has a stalker, and even had some college scholarship named after her. I am guessing this is someone's ridiculously gloried dream.

This book disappointed me because when I read a romance novel, I expect to see true love, soul mates, some incredible love that only happens once, if lucky twice in a life time. However, in this book, I never felt the hero loved the heroine, and if in fact he did love her, it was your very average, everyday, plain joe, realistically boring love. Who wants to read about that...This is suppose to be a escapist story, isnt it?

Yes. The guy or girl always gets who they want but. the way the writer puts word on paper makes you think you're right there with them. You not only get to hear the story of who's on the back of the book but the town's people as well. She goes back to the 2nd and even 3rd string characters & make you feel as if you really know them. This series makes me wish Fools Gold is real & I lived there to experience everything in person. Reading this series makes you happy, sad, angry, and all other emotions for what they endure to be together not just as a family but the town itself. Can't wait for the next book!

This book started out very good. Liz (the h) who had a rough childhood becomes a successive author and is raising a great son. She has built a good life for herself and drops everything to return to her hometown to take care of her nieces, who have been abandoned. Once she and Ethan (the H) cross paths things went quickly down hill for me. Ethan is an extremely unlikeable character. He treated Liz badly when they were involved in high school due to the fact he was embarrassed by her. Not too embarrassed to have sex with her, just wanted to keep their relationship a secret. I mean what girl doesn't dream about that kind of guy?

Liz basically transforms from an independent woman into a doormat who allows Ethan to treat her badly over and over! Once he finds out he has a son, he sets out to take him away from Liz. So many times I wanted to stop reading but forced myself to continue in hopes Liz would finally stand up to Ethan but nope, didn't happen!

Of course she forgives him in a very rushed ending and they live happily ever after....ugh! I found it impossible to believe Liz and Ethan would ever last.

I have never understood the appeal of a verbally abusive so-called Hero in a romance book. There was nothing romantic about Ethan. He acts like a spoiled, immature child.