Holly‘s review of A Not-So-Perfect Past by Beth Andrews
Contemporary Romance released by Harlequin SuperRomance 14 Apr 09

Beth Andrews is a fairly new Harlequin author, this being her second release with them. I liked the blurb so figured I’d give it a try. I think I may have suffered a bit for not reading her debut novel, Not Without Her Family, since I believe it probably offered quite a bit of backstory on the hero that was absent in this one.

I think Dillon was a very complex character. Because he was convicted of killing his step-father and spent several years in prison he is very cynical and hard. His experiences since he’s been home haven’t done much to change his attitude either. Yet underneath it all, he’s still managed to retain his common decency and innate goodness. Though he’s afraid to reach for it, he craves love and stability just as much as the next person. I loved that though he was a wonderful man underneath he was rough around the edges. Sometimes this works for the heroes of our novels and sometimes it doesn’t. Andrews made it work.

As the book beings we see that Nina is mostly a doormat. Her ex-husband and family run roughshod over her while she sits back and lets them. She thinks to herself that she should be stronger and stand up to them, but she never does. They tell her what to do in regards to everything: Dillon Ward, her tenant that lives above her bakery, her kids, her career, everything. I found myself becoming very frustrated with her for not standing up for herself, but I was furious with her for not standing up for her children. Her ex-husband was very verbally abusive to her and that carried over to her children.

To be fair, I don’t think she realized he was treating her children as badly as he was. Unfortunately that doesn’t do much to take my frustration from her because it was fairly obvious. I think she just didn’t want to see how bad it was. To make matters worse, in an attempt to prove herself – though I’m not quite sure to who – she began to take on massive amounts of work, further bogging herself down and taking her away from her children. She did show quite a bit of growth in the end, but I kind of felt like it was too little, too late.

I like the two of them together. They really brought out the best in each other. Dillon encouraged Nina to stand up for herself and take charge of her own life. She showed him it was okay to open up. Although I disliked the way Nina let other people take advantage of her, I liked that with Dillon’s help she was able to stand strong on her own.

I also really liked her children and the other secondary characters, with the exception of Nina’s ex, who was a complete ass, and her father, who didn’t redeem himself in my eyes. Her older sister and the teenager who has to make restitution by rebuilding her shop with Dillon were great additions, however. I also really enjoyed Dillon’s sister. So much so that I plan to buy her book.

I had issues with Nina, but I think Dillon and the secondary characters saved the story in the end.

Grade: C+

Summary:
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Everyone makes mistakes…but he isn’t looking for redemption
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He’s the most dangerous man she’s ever met…
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Nina Carlson knows all about Dillon Ward. Knows he served time in prison. Knows nobody pulled out the welcome mat when he moved to Serenity Springs. But that doesn’t stop her from renting him a place to live. And when someone crashes into her bakery, he’s just the man to fix the damage.
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And Nina isn’t the only one who thinks Dillon’s the perfect man for the job: her two kids have taken a shine to him. Still, she can’t afford to get close to Dillon, even if he is tempting her to toss out her good girl shoes. Because it’s not that she doesn’t trust him. It’s that she doesn’t trust herself.
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Read an excerpt.

Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of A Not So Perfect Past by Beth Andrews
Contemporary romance released by Harlequin SuperRomance 14 Apr 09

Some of my favorite types of books are those I don’t fall in love with during Chapter One. Those books that might even start out a little bumpy, but over the course of the story the author weaves her magic, casts a spell, and has me falling in love hook, line and sinker. Beth Andrews’ second book for Harlequin SuperRomance is just such a story. I’ll be honest, I was more than a little concerned about the doormat heroine, but for readers who have the patience? A Not-So-Perfect Past hits all the right emotional notes.

Dillon Ward knows all about being an outcast. As an ex-con, convicted of murdering his stepfather, the people of Serenity Springs haven’t exactly thrown out the welcome mat. He’s doing construction work, renting an apartment above a bakery, and his baby sister is about to get married. Sure everybody in town thinks he’s the devil, but he’s doing just fine.  That is, until the sexy and sweet bakery owner, Nina Carlson tells him she’s evicting him from the apartment.

Nina tells him she wants to expand the bakery to include a tea room, but he knows that’s bull. Lucky for Dillon fate steps in when an SUV literally crashes through the front end of the bakery. With every other construction outfit in town booked up, Nina has no choice but to turn to Dillon Ward for help, and that scares her out of her mind. With two kids to raise, an odious asshole for an ex-husband, and an over-protective family breathing down her neck, it’s probably not a smart idea to be hiring the town pariah to fix the bakery. But Nina figures it high-time she grows a spine, and why not jump into the deep end head first?

I’ll be brutally honest – I wanted to smack Nina on several occasions during the early portion of this book. Doormat, thy name is Nina. Her ex was abusive emotionally and physically – but instead of leaving him, he left her for another woman. Everyone walks all over her, she hates to make waves, never stands up for herself, and is so very tired. This story is all about Nina taking baby steps to becoming her own woman. About her taking control of her life, doing what she thinks is best, and damn everyone else to hell if they don’t like it. It’s not always smooth, but by the end of this story I was madly in love with her and cheering her on as she found her spine, stood her ground, and stopped letting everyone push her around.

With a heroine that I didn’t start out liking all that much, Dillon carried much of the early portion of the story for me. What a hunky guy this hero turns out to be! He spent time in prison for killing a man in self-defense, and that time changed him. The man he was is gone, and what is left is a guy scorned by just about everyone in town except for his sister, her soon-to-be-husband, and the local bar owner. That is until he starts working for Nina – and he finds himself falling in love with her and her two kids. But a relationship between them would be beyond complicated, and even if Nina does learn to stand on her own, he knows a future between them is impossible.

Like all great romantic stories, it’s the journey that makes the reader fall in love. It’s Nina’s and Dillon’s journey, along with the conflict surrounding them, that give A Not So Perfect Past it’s emotional punch. It plucks all the right heartstrings and there is nothing more than I want right now than to read the story again, for the very first time. If that’s not a keeper, I don’t know what is.

Grade: A-

Summary:
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Nina Carlson knows all about Dillon Ward. Knows he served time in prison. Knows nobody put out the welcome mat when he moved to Serenity Springs. But that doesn’t stop her from renting him a place to live. And when someone crashes into her bakery, he’s just the man to fix the damage.
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And Nina isn’t the only one who thinks Dillon’s the perfect man for the job: her two kids have taken a shine to him. Still, she can’t afford to get close to Dillon, even if he is tempting her to toss out her good-girl shoes. Because it’s not that she doesn’t trust him. It’s that she doesn’t trust herself.
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Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series: