ALMOST PERFECT

Author: Julie Ortolon ISBN: 0451216407 9/2005 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: NAL/Signet

A Free Spirit Maddy was always the artistic one of the group, alive with color and mischief from her saucy red curls to her vintage hippie skirts. Her challenge, the friends decide, is to get her artwork accepted at a gallery. A job as arts director at a summer camp near Santa Fe-with its multitude of galleries-seems like a start in the right direction. A Reformed Bad Boy There's just one catch: The camp is run by Maddy's high school flame, Joe, whose heart she broke-okay, smashed-and his anger towards Maddy hasn't cooled one bit. But neither has their attraction. A Perfect Match? Old desires burn hotter than ever as Joe makes it clear there's only one way back to his heart: She has to get serious about her art. But will falling in love help or hinder Maddy as she struggles to meet her challenge?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

The first in a trilogy, ALMOST PERFECT features Maddy, a young widow and undiscovered artist. After Maddy and her two friends, Christine and Amy, discover that an ex-college roommate has used their lives for examples in her self-help book, the trio make a pact to face one of their fears. For Maddy, this means showing her paintings to galleries in hopes of selling a few. When she receives a letter offering her a position as an arts and crafts director of a summer camp located near Santa Fe (and all of the galleries located there), she thinks this may be an ideal way to spend her summer. The only snag is that the letter came from her high school sweetheart's mother...the sweetheart whom she destroyed when she turned down his proposal. He's now helping his mother run the camp after an injury forced him out of the Army Rangers. What Maddy doesn't know is that he has no idea that his mother hired her and after all these years, he's still angry with her.

A highly entertaining story, ALMOST PERFECT was a joy to read. I have always loved a story with a reunited theme and this was no exception. Overall, I found the story fast-paced and appealing. The heroine's lack of self-confidence in her artist's ability began try my nerves after a while. She was having all this success and she still wasn't sure about herself. But, after taking another look, I realize that, hey, this was her biggest hang-up, so it's going to take some time fully leave it behind. Still, this was a minor foible on my part and probably wouldn't bother any other readers. As the first of the "Perfect" trilogy, Almost Perfect excelled in garnering my attention. I will definitely pick up the others to read.

Kendra Patterson