Beautiful Disaster

Beautiful Disaster - Jamie McGuire

The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate percentage of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance between her and the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend America, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University’s Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs—and wants—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the charming college co-ed. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his charms, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’ apartment for the same amount of time. Either way,  Travis has no idea that he has met his match.

This book was a roller coaster for me. I was sucked in and could not put it down until I was finished; however, I'm not sure if I enjoyed it or hated it.  The setting is at Eastern University where Abby, a college freshman, meets bad boy Travis.  The red flags about Travis start from the first pages where we see him in a fight club type circle spitting blood all over Abby's 'good girl' cardigan.  Basically, Abby has a past that she hoped to escape at Eastern U.  She came with best friend America.  I think this is what annoyed me most about this book.  Her best friend is named America, it was challenging at first to read past this (I was reading it during Memorial Day weekend so 'America' our country was mentioned every where and could be quite confusing).  It just did not strike me as a clever name for a character.  The plot was good, and by the end I was rooting for the couple to work out. The situations were a bit far fetched, however.  Her past was not one that seemed like it was something to run from, and the way it intertwined with Travis was very far fetched.  The issues they faced were unrealistic and I just could not relate to them.  After the traumatic event I was hoping there would be something more, but the book just ended pretty much and that part was underdeveloped to me.  

All in all, however, I did end up falling in love with the bad boy myself even after all the red flags and smoke signals that said stay away.  I would not have gone about a relationship with such blinders on as Abby did, but you couldn't help be excited that they were happy.  

I gave it a 3 out of 5.