Romance Book Review: Finding Perfect

Author: Susan Mallery
Series Connection: Fools 
ISBN: 978-0373774685
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: HQN Books

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Finding Perfect is my first Susan Mallery book and I was generally impressed with her sharp, interesting and sometimes witty dialog and characters. I'm even impressed that she was able to come up with a different and interesting story line, which is saying a lot for a Harlequin book, which tend to keep with the same theme over and over again.

Okay so the story is a bit hard to believe. It is about a woman, Pia, who lives in a small town. The same town she grew up in. She is well liked by everyone in the community. So well liked that when one of her friends dies the woman leaves Pia her embroyos. There are no instructions what to do with them, but the woman also leaves her money for implanting them and money put away in a college fund.

Now Pia has to decide what to do with them. At one time Pia was the bad girl in the bunch, but a tragedy in her life changes her. Now she is the go to girl. Everyone relys on her to get the job done. So when Pia asks her friends why the woman would leave her embroyos to her they all can't believe she doesn't realize why.

Now Pia, a woman who can barely get along with a cat, has to figure out how she is going to raise another woman's children and if she can do it. So see this isn't your everyday romance storyline. It may seem unbelieveable, especially because Pia's friend never bothers to tell Pia that she left her such a strange bequest. Then again, this is a romance book and sometimes we need to let reality go a little bit.

Our hero in the story, Raoul, is a former football player who leaves the sport on top. He's loved by everyone, but he's hit a few bumpy roads along the way. He doesn't trust easily. After meeting a solider who dies in his arms on one of his trips to Iraq he decides to come to check out the solider's hometown and likes it so much he stay. He likes the people and the small town atmosphere is just what he needs.

He meets Pia on the day that she finds out about the embroyos and she is about to have a panic attack. As coincidences happen in romance novels, the solider just happens to be the husband of Pia's friend who left her the embroyos. For the sake of his friend Raoul wants to help.

Not a likely story, but actually a pretty well written novel. Some of the residents are a little quirky and there are references to the previous books in the series, but this is its own story and there isn't any need to read the others to enjoy this book.

Description:
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?