Review: Perfect Fit by Carly Phillips

Perfect Fit by Carly Phillips

Berkley

December 2012

Format: Paperback, 304 pages

First line: Perfection was overrated, Mike Marsden thought, as he approached his childhood home.

From the back cover: In the picturesque town
of Serendipity, New York, three siblings have grown up in the shadow of
their proud and respected police chief father. But what do love, fate,
and fortune have in store for the next generation of Serendipity’s
finest? 

Always feeling like the odd man out in his family, Michael
Marsden wanted to make it on his own. So he escaped Serendipity to
become an undercover cop in Manhattan, where the Marsden name wasn’t
known. But Michael’s independence is compromised when he returns home to
replace his sick father as chief of police. Back in the shadow of his
family, he’s as lost and restless as ever, until he’s challenged by
someone he never anticipated.
 

Cara Hartley is the Serendipity cop
with whom Mike had a one night stand three months earlier. Neither
expected anything more but fate has other things in store. When Mike
returns as Cara’s boss, the sexual tension between them is impossible to
ignore–and the unexpected emotional connection continues to grow. But
Cara’s a small town girl while Mike has a wanderer’s blood in his veins.

 

Both are convinced a future together is impossible. Until Mike’s
real father’s secrets come back to haunt him and he realizes there are
some things worth staying and fighting for. Including Cara. 

My thoughts: Carly Phillips is definitely one of my go-to authors – I’ve never read a book by her that I didn’t love and this one was no exception. This latest book is part of the Serendipity series, but also the first of her Serendipity’s Finest series – a series about is going to focus on the Marsden family.

Perfect Fit is Mike and Cara’s story. We’ve met Cara in some of the previous Serendipity books, but I don’t believe we met Mike before. Mike
has come to Serendipity as acting police chief while his father
is undergoing cancer treatment, knowing that he is there temporarily as he has trouble with any type of commitment. Cara is a tough-as-nails police officer who
is a small town girl at heart. Both Mike and Cara have their own issues from their pasts
including a one night stand from the last time Mike was in town, but
when they are together sparks fly and it keeps you
turning the pages to see how everything will play out.

Touching on some tough issues, including domestic abuse and abusive parents, Carly Phillips doesn’t hold anything back. She writes with truth and it just pulls you even more into the story. We also get to see some of the characters we fell in love with in the first Serendipity books – the Baron brothers and their sister Tess, who always seems to steal the show in any scene she’s in.

I’m looking forward to reading the next installment of Serendipity’s Finest, Perfect Fling, which is Mike’s sister Erin’s story. 

Do you have that one author that you would consider your go-to author?

(I borrowed this book from the library.)

Books in this series: 

1. Serendipity
•  1.5 – Kismit (e-book novella)
•  1.75 – Fated (e-book novella)
2. Destiny
3. Karma
4. Perfect Fit 
5. Perfect Fling – due out July 2013