Stevie‘s review of Perfect Kind of Trouble by Chelsea Fine
Contemporary New Adult Romance published by Forever 17 Jun 14
I like New Adult books to come with a touch of humour to balance all the angst, and the first book in this series was highly promising in that respect. So I was looking forward to the next release in the series, even though its central characters didn’t always come across well during their brief appearances in the first book. I shouldn’t have worried; this novel has both humour and angst by the bucket-load.
Kayla comes to town for her father’s funeral, even though they’ve hardly spoken in years – after being very close, up until Kayla’s later teenage years. She’s been told that her father’s lawyer needs to see her, although she also knows that her father left his entire fortune and all his property to the town. Kayla’s broke and alone – her mother died owing $20,000 to the sleazy guy Kayla was working for after her mother blew all their other money – and all she wants to do is to get her mother’s debts paid off and start saving so she can eventually train to be a nurse.
Her visit doesn’t get off to a good start; no one at the funeral recognises her, and she’s convinced they’re all forming false impressions of her based on her good looks and big bust. Not to mention that the only motel she can afford to stay in is only marginally preferable to sleeping in her rust-bucket of a car. So she’s less than impressed by the hot guy who turns up at the funeral in expensive clothes and driving a Porsche. Little does she know that the clothes and the car are all that he has – or that the car is destined to be repossessed soon after the funeral.
Daren’s parents were rich, but that didn’t prevent him from working for Kayla’s father as a gardener while he was at school – and that job became a refuge for him when his parents split up under circumstances that kept the town gossips busy for months. Now he’s working two jobs – and picking up any other work he can – because his father drank away all their money and is in jail awaiting trial for causing a serious accident while driving drunk. Much of Daren’s money goes towards paying the medical bills of the guy his dad hit, and the rest is barely enough to buy food and fuel for the car (his father’s) that’s his only means of getting to work.
Daren has also been called to the lawyer’s office, and when he and Kayla get there, they learn that they’ve both been left something by Kayla’s father, but the only way to find out what or where it might be is to be handcuffed together and go to what turns out to be only the first location on a giant scavenger hunt. Various people around the town will be watching them to make sure they don’t cheat and remove the handcuffs – thus forfeiting the prize. So they’re literally stuck with each other, forced not only to work together but also to become very closely acquainted indeed.
I love the central concept of this story, and it is pulled off astoundingly well. As Kayla and Daren try to solve the clues, they learn an awful lot about each other, about Kayla’s father, and about the people of the town. And they both learn that appearances can be highly deceptive. The two of them are a lot more similar than they at first think – they’re both too proud to admit how little they really have and try to give the outward appearance of still being well off. Plus they both have ambitions that aren’t particularly aspirational, but might be completely out of reach without some sort of windfall – so they keep on searching, even though they have no idea whether the final clue will lead them to $20 or $20,000 – or any other amount you care to pick.
This is a series I definitely want to keep on reading, and this book works well on its own, as well as dropping hints about how things are going for the hero and heroine of the previous book and who the next book will be focusing on. I’m looking forward to that one.
Grade: A
Summary:
Sometimes when perfect falls apart, a little trouble fixes everything . . .Twenty-one-year-old Kayla Turner has lost everything. After spending most of her life taking care of her ailing mother, she just wants to spot a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. So when her late father-a man she barely knew-leaves her an inheritance, she finally breathes a sigh of relief . . . until she learns the inheritance comes with strings. Strings in the form of handsome playboy Daren Ackwood, her father’s protégé. To see any of her inheritance, she’s forced to team up with him. From his expensive car to those sexy dimples, Kayla’s seen his type before. But Daren isn’t who he seems to be . . .
Struggling to make amends for his family’s mistakes, Daren has a life more Oliver Twist than Richie Rich these days. He’s beyond grateful that James Turner included him in his will, but working with Turner’s princess of a daughter to fulfill his cryptic last wish is making Daren wonder if being broke is really so bad. Still, she’s just as beautiful as she is stubborn, and the more time he spends with Kayla, the less it feels right being without her. Soon Daren and Kayla begin to wonder if maybe the best gift Kayla’s dad could have left them . . . was each other.
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Other books in this series:
