Review: Finding Perfect by Susan Mallery

Finding Perfect by Susan Mallery

Series: Fool’s Gold, #3

HQN Books

August 2010

Format: Paperback, 346 pages

Source: Library

When Pia O’Brian’s best
friend dies, Pia expects to inherit her cherished cat. Instead, the
woman leaves Pia three frozen embryos. With a disastrous track record in
the romance department and the parenting skills of a hamster, Pia
doesn’t think she’s meant for motherhood. But determined to do the right
thing, Pia decides to become a single mother. Only to meet a gorgeous,
sexy hunk the very same day.

A former foster-care kid now rich beyond
his wildest dreams, Raoul Moreno runs a camp for needy children in
Fool’s Gold, California. After his last relationship, Raoul thought he
was done with women and commitment. Still, he can’t get sweet, sexy Pia
out of his mind—and proposes a crazy plan. But can such an
unconventional beginning really result in the perfect ending?

My thoughts: This is the 3rd book in Susan Mallery’s Fool’s Gold series and I am loving this series. I love that we get to meet new characters in the town, yet still see some of the ones we’ve already come to love.

In this installment, we pick up on a thread that had been hinted at in the previous book, Almost Perfect – a thread that I was wondering if I had figured out right. Well, I sure was right, and this ended up being quite an emotional journey as Pia has to not only come to terms with Crystal’s wishes about the three frozen embryos but she also has to decide if she can go through with it. Luckily for her, Raoul is there to offer support – not only because he’s a decent guy, but because he also has a connection to these embryos. I loved the interactions between Pia and Raoul from their first meeting and just about died when he offered to be her “pregnancy buddy!” 

There’s also another storyline involving Raoul and one of the children in town, Peter. Peter is in foster care and when red flags start appearing as to his home life, Raoul takes an interest. We come to find out that Raoul was in the system himself and only succeeded when he found someone who believed in him. I loved watching the relationship develop between Raoul and Peter – it was sweet and heartbreaking at the same time. I also realized, when Raoul’s former coach and wife come to visit, that Raoul was a character in another Susan Mallery book, Sweet Spot, which I read years ago. It turns out Nicole and Hawk (wife and coach) were the main characters in that book – what a small world! Now I need to go back and reread that book!

One of my favorite reasons for reading series is that it’s easy to feel like you are part of the community. As you meet each set of new characters and see glimpses of former ones, it’s like catching up with new and old friends. I love the small-town community spirit that is evident in Fool’s Gold. In this installment, a fire at the elementary school pulls the town together and everyone is more than generous.

I’m still in the beginning of this series, but I have to say this book is my favorite so far. I look forward to seeing who else we’ll be meeting and hope that eventually all the minor characters we’ve met along the way get their stories told. I have a few ideas of who may be the feature of the next book, and can’t wait to see if once again I’m proved correct.

Do you like when it’s hinted at what’s coming next in a series, or would you rather not have those clues?

Books in this series:

      1. Chasing Perfect                     8. Summer Nights

      2. Almost Perfect                      9. All Summer Long

      2.5 Sister of the Bride             9.5 A Fool’s Gold Christmas

      3. Finding Perfect                     9.75  Halfway There

      4. Only Mine                               10. Just One Kiss

      5. Only Yours                             11. Two of a Kind

      6. Only His                                  12. Three Little Words                     

      6.1 Only Us                                 12.5 Christmas on 4th Street

      6.2 Almost Summer

      7. Summer Days