Review of Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

I had heard lots of good things about Beautiful Disaster and was really eager to read a copy.

Abby Abernathy has escaped her life in Kansas to go to college with her best friend America. Abby works hard  and will do anything to escape her past. That is until she meets Travis ‘Mad Dog’  Maddox, a college fighter and all round bad boy. Travis is the star of an underground fighting circle. He is everything that Abby is walking away and she is determined not to get romantically involved with him. However, the chemistry between them is evident from the moment that they meet and soon Travis will do anything for Abby. Travis is determined to make Abby a part of his life and makes a bet with her. If he loses the bet, he will remain celibate for a month. If Abby loses, she will have to live with him in his apartment for a month.

There is a lot of mystery in this book and it is not until about half way through that we really find out what Abby is determined to get away from. America is the most amazing best friend and will do anything for Abby, she was one of my favourite characters.

I was completely enthralled by this story, which is told from Abby’s point of view and read it in a short space of time. There is a lot of violence throughout, which is usually something that I’m not keen on but it seems to work with this storyline.

At times, I found Abby quite frustrating, as she seemed quite indecisive and just as I thought something would happen between her and Travis everything would change again.

Emotion wise, this is a roller coaster read, full of jealous rages and tearful reconciliations. There is so much passion bubbling at the surface that it is an addictive book to read and a real ‘will they, won’t they’ story. I can’t wait to start reading Walking Disaster now, which tells the story from Travis’ point of view.

 5 stars

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for sending me a copy to review.