Zoe Dawson

A Perfect Mess

I know what you did last summer. Aubree Walker, the perfect girl most likely to succeed, is sure there's only one person who knows what she did. Booker Outlaw, one of the three Outlaw brothers--all identical, all gorgeous, all from the wrong side of the tracks, and all pure bad boys. He was always the unpredictable one, the one who would be brash enough to make it big self-publishing horror novels on the internet. He promised never to tell, but everyone knows you can never trust an Outlaw. Then a year later, in the middle of the night, she receives a phone call at Tulane. Her aunt, who took her in after her mother's death, is in a coma under suspicious circumstances. Now she has to face that one person who knows all about what she did that summer--sexy Booker. Returning to Hope Parish to be with her aunt, stirs up all those ugly memories. When Aubree starts getting threats, she can't help but wonder if what she did last summer was tied to her aunt's "accident." Afraid, she turns to the only person who knows the truth and Booker doesn't hesitate to offer his broad shoulder for her to lean on. But Booker has a secret of his own that could crush their fledgling relationship. As the hot, sultry summer days move on, she finds that even a perfectly smart girl can lose her heart to a perfectly bad boy. What is she going to do when someone starts asking questions Aubree doesn't want to answer? She's knee deep into a terribly dangerous, wholly life changing, who-can-she-really-depend-on perfect mess. *This book contains adult situations and explicit content. 17+* ****Free**** Hope Parish Novel Series: A Perfect Secret Series Three Perfect Girls. Three Perfect Secrets. One Unholy Trinity BOOK 1: A PERFECT MESS (Booker and Aubree) BOOK 2: A PERFECT MISTAKE (Boone and Verity) BOOK 3: A PERFECT DILEMMA (Braxton and River Pearl) Hope Parish Novellas BOOK 4: FINALLY AGAIN (Evie and Win) BOOK 5: BEAUTY SHOT (Deke and Minnie) BOOK 6: MARK ME (Rory and Savannah)

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    “Right now I was straddling two worlds. My old life as a teenager and my new life as a college student. Trying to come to terms with some big problems, and overcoming a terrible secret that I would have to conceal for the rest of my life.”
  


Aubree is a freshman at college. In high school, Aubree was a goody two-shoes in high school. She didn’t really date, but she has harbored feelings for Booker Outlaw for years. She left her small town and everyone in it behind after she went through a very traumatic event the summer before. She’s trying to move on with her life. But, life throws her a curveball when she gets a call that her aunt has been in an accident and she has to return home to Suttontowne. Immediately upon returning, she finds herself in danger and being rescued by Booker. 


  
    “I wasn’t the heart-breaking skirt chaser. I left that up to my brother Braxton. I’d had my share of sex when it was right, so I wasn’t any kind of angel. But in the end I always came back to Aubree. At least in my head.”
  


Booker Outlaw is a genuinely good guy, plagued by his father abandoning him and his mother at a young age. He’s convinced he is going to be just like his father — the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, after all. Booker’s a writer. He is hot and talented. He’s protective and loyal. He also has two identical brothers. Hello, hot triplets. Yum! I hope to learn more about all of you later. Booker has been in love with Aubree for as long as he can remember. But, he doesn’t think he’s worthy of her.


  
    “Booker was elusive and wild like the bayou. No one could really tame him, and I didn’t want that. I figured he was going to break my heart, but I weighed that against the experience of getting to know him in every sense of the word.”
  

 

  
    “Don’t you want to touch me?” I asked. She blushed and looked away. “Only for about a million years.”
  


As Aubree and Booker begin to see more and more of each other, we learn that they share a history, but not an entirely romantic one. Booker rescued her the summer before and they share a deadly secret. They also share an intense chemistry. Their attraction is apparent and it doesn’t take long for them to give in, despite the fact that Aubree intends to leave town as soon as her aunt has recovered. But neither of them are strong enough to resist the other for long.


  
    “I like logic. It’s clear, concise, and hard to argue with.”
“I’m not the right guy for you. All we could have is a temporary situation. You’re a forever type of girl, Aubree, and I wouldn’t want you to be any other way. But you and me, not in the cards.”
  



  
    “But she was impossibly out of my league, untouchable, unattainable Aubree, and for this one moment, I literally had her in the palm of my hand.” 
  


In times like these, when they’re resisting each other, I want to scream at the characters. Since the novel is written from both Aubree and Booker’s perspectives, it’s no secret how they feel about each other. I wanted to grab them both and make them sit down and talk things through. But then there wouldn’t have been much of a story, would there? Both characters were wonderfully flawed and likable because of their flaws. She was afraid there was no way she could live up to his expectations of her and he was terrified he would turn out to be like his father. They were both too scared to truly take a chance.
 

  
    “He still made my heart pound. I felt under siege. By too many memories and too much unsaid between us.”
  


Aubree’s life in Suttontowne becomes very complicated, between her feelings for Booker and the fact that someone knows what happened the previous summer and is tormenting her. And boy, when the secrets start coming to light, there’s no stopping them. Everyone was hiding something.


  
    “I wanted him, desperately. I wanted everything he had, what he would give me, and I was willing to expose my heart to get it.” 
  


I can’t write this review without talking about the Outlaw brothers. I loved the Outlaw brothers. I want more Boone and Braxton in my life immediately. I can’t wait until they each get their own book.


  
    “It was genuine. It was heartbreaking. It was… a perfect mess.”
  


There was a little bit of everything in this book. It was dramatic and there were enough twists and turns to keep it from being predictable. I did find it dragging a little bit at about the halfway point, but I’m really glad I kept reading. If you, like me, enjoy a book with a sweet romance, some hot scenes, a touch of mystery and a lot of suspense, you’ll want to pick this book up. You can join me in drooling over the Outlaw brothers, flaws and all.

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

A Perfect Mess

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