{Review} "Beautiful Disaster" by Jamie McGuire

Title:  Beautiful Disaster
Author:  Jamie McGuire
Publisher:  self-published
Publication Date:  May 26, 2011
Genre:  Mature YA / Contemporary Romance
Format:  Kindle 670 KB, Paperback 444 pages

Buy this book on Amazon: Paperback  Kindle Edition 

Author's Website:    http://www.jamiemcguire.com/

Synopsis from Goodreads 

 The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate percentage of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance between her and the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend America, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University’s Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs—and wants—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the charming college co-ed. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his charms, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’ apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match. 

Diving in...


I had a couple of friends recommend this book to me.  I have had it for a little while, but hadn't read it yet.  I have been enjoying the college romances and this one fit right in!  There seem to be a lot of mixed reviews on this book.  I am toward then end of the spectrum toward those that loved it, but I did have a couple issues with it.

I am going to attempt to do this without any spoilers, but it's going to be hard!  I was incredibly annoyed with Abby from the very beginning up to at least the halfway point.  I LOVED Travis immediately, but I am pretty easy to please when it comes to male characters...slap a handful of tattoos and put him on a motorcycle and I am pretty happy!  Travis is a fighter, a tough guy with a pretty volatile temper.  He is a womanizer known across the campus as the player who nails 'em and leaves 'em on the doorstep, so to speak.  Abby is the "good girl" with a secret.

Travis sets his sights on Abby the minute he meets her, but she is determined to keep him at arm's length.  This is why she annoyed me so much!  I think that she spent way too much time leading him on.  It's clear that she is into him and she gets jealous very easily for someone who claims not to care.  I know that this makes the story better for some, but it annoyed me and I just wanted to smack her good!

I really liked the supporting characters in this book.  Shep is Travis' roommate and cousin who is dating Abby's best friend.  I thought Abby's downer roommate was a hoot and I loved the gay friend.  My favorites were Travis' dad and brothers though.

Abby has a secret about her past and family that comes out about halfway through the book.  She is able to work through her issues for the most part, but her past brings up some things that start to drive a wedge between her and Travis.  They flounder about for a little while, but they always find their way back to each other.  There is a nice little twist at the end that ties up the whole story pretty nicely.  I can almost see the opportunity to write a sequel to this even though I don't think that will happen.

I do have to point out that I did not care for the nickname he gave her, I didn't find it endearing, it was just a little weird for me!  I think that for the most part the characters were pretty strong and by the end I really did come to care for them.  Once I got past my Abby annoyance, I started to like her.  I just wanted her to wise up sooner than she did!

The only thing that really bothers me about the story is that Travis didn't seen to grow much.  I mean, he did settle down and quit being a player, but he had some pretty significant anger issues that were never really resolved.  Honestly, that's why I could see a sequel.  I felt like he needed to evolve a little more as a character.  I don't know if that makes any sense!  I didn't feel like his story got proper closure, I guess.

I would recommend this to those of you who like college romance stories for sure.  It's definitely a Mature YA with references to underage drinking, language and some sexual situations.

Rating 7/10