Welcome to my stop on the Perfect Kind of Trouble blog tour hosted by Forever!
Today I am excited to share my review as well as a giveaway with you all!
Perfect Kind of Trouble (Finding Fate #2)
by: Chelsea Fine
Publication Date: June 17, 2014
Publisher: Forever
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: New Adult
Source: e-ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Page Count: 336 pages
Order Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes
My Rating: 5/5 stars
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.
I really loved Daren and Kayla's story. We met them both in Best Kind of Broken and I have been looking forward to their story from the moment I finished back in March. I love that Fine has created a fun, sweet story that at the same time holds such emotional depth that I found my own heart breaking for these two characters.
Pacing: I really liked how Kayla and Daren's relationship progressed. Even though this book takes place in a short amount of time, I did not feel for one minute it was done too fast or felt at all rushed. Daren and Kayla definitely have some serious sexual tension brewing, but they have to get past their misconceptions of one another first and begin to really see one another before jumping into anything. Fine did an excellent job of this, so when Daren and Kayla's relationship finally does come together it was really worth the wait.
Storyline: Both Daren and Kayla have run into some bad luck. They find themselves in rather desperate financial situations and their one ray of light comes in the form of being handcuffed to one another and sent on a crazy scavenger hunt to find the money that Kayla's dad has left both of them in his will. I absolutely loved watching these two embark on this adventure. They begin as mere acquaintances and both think they have the other figured out. In reality, they have no idea as to what the other is facing or dealing with and that becomes a really big part of this story. The scavenger hunt they are sent on brings them face to face with truths and realities they never knew existed and force them to reexamine the way they look at one another... and life.
Characters: I said in my Best Kind of Broken review that I really liked Daren. That still holds true in this book. In fact, I more than liked him. I completely loved him. Underneath that cocky, arrogant exterior is an extremely vulnerable guy who doesn't want the world to see him for who he really is. Surprisingly enough, his self-worth is pretty low and it takes quite a bit of effort on Kayla's part to help him realize that he IS a good guy and he IS worth more than he thinks. No one likes to feel like a failure and that is pretty much how Daren has been feeling for quite some time. He is a proud guy and really struggles with charity from others. Watching him open up to her and realize that the two have more in common than they ever realized was one of my favorite aspects of the book.
I also really liked Kayla. She has not lived the easiest of lives in Chicago and is pretty bitter about the fact that she has been called home to her absent father's funeral. Deep down underneath the layer of bitterness, is a great deal of pain. She doesn't understand why her father never came to see her or why he all of a sudden stopped contacting her, but it stings all the same. The last thing she wants to do is shackle herself to Daren Ackwood, notorious playboy. However, being pretty hard up for cash, she is willing to do what it takes to complete this scavenger hunt and find the money left by her father in his will. I like that Kayla doesn't put up with Daren's crap. She quickly passes him off as a spoiled rich guy, but as the two spend time together and she starts to gather the pieces that Daren offers her about his life, she realizes she may have judged him unfairly.
The 'enemies to lovers' trope is always a favorite of mine and I liked seeing both Daren and Kayla chip away at the other's walls until they really see each other for who they are. They might pass James Turner off as a crazy person, but he knew exactly what he was doing and what he hoped the end result would be. He wants nothing more than for these two people, whom he held most dear, to find true happiness and live a life that is full and remember that it is fleeting and they must make the most of it.
Final Thoughts: This book epitomizes the whole 'Life is a journey, not a destination' quote. It rings so true here and I loved seeing Kayla and Daren realize that what they thought was a silly scavenger hunt turned into so much more than they could have ever imagined. It brought them forgiveness, acceptance, love, and hope and best of all: it brought them each other.
“So this is where you work?” She
gestures at the closed kitchen door behind me as she approaches.
I step back so she can enter the
courtyard then glance over my shoulder.
“It’s more like the place where I help
out in the kitchen, occasionally,” I say. “I like to cook so sometimes the
owner, Jake, let’s me jump on the line.”
She tilts her head. “I wouldn’t
have pegged you as the cooking type.”
“No?” I arch a brow. “What type am
I?”
“Well the professional lover type,
obviously.”
I grin. “That too.”
The teasing in her eyes along with
the lightness of her smile does something soft to my insides. This is a
different Kayla than the one I was sitting next to at the bar. That girl was
stressed and burdened, but this girl… this girl is hopeful and happy.
The only reason I can think of for
the change in her tone is the inheritance. Does the idea of getting money
please her so much that she’s suddenly this cheerful person? Does it please me that much?
I remember Jake’s comment earlier,
about my being happy, and realize with a sinking feeling that yes, the idea of
an inheritance has made me happy. Money would alleviate some of my problems
and, therefore, it gives me a security in my future that pleases me.
I’m not sure how I feel about money
having so much control over my contentment. It makes me sound an awful lot like
my dad.
“So what is this place?” she asks,
nodding to the courtyard around us. I look up at the small twinkle
lights strung above the area.
“Right now it’s just storage space. But Jake
wants to make it into a dining patio. You know, so people can rent it out for
private parties or whatever.”
“It’s cute.” She walks around,
checking out the rose bushes that line the fence and the Tuscany-inspired mural
painted against the back wall.
“So where you off to?” I step
closer so we’re both beside the painted wall. “Back to your humble abode at the
Quickie Stop?”
She scoffs. “Humble indeed. But
yeah.”
I glance at the dark parking lot
beyond the fence and the even darker streets that lead to the edge of town, and
frown. “By yourself?”
She faces me with a cocked eyebrow.
“Yeah. I’ve got my own driver’s license and everything.”
I smile at the ground. “Okay,
that’s fair.” I glance at the dark streets again. “I’m just a concerned citizen
that wanted to make sure you got home safely. That’s all.”
She nods. “How very kind of you,
citizen. Would you rather I be going back to the Quickie Stop with someone?”
The idea of Kayla going home with
someone—anyone, other than me—rakes down my spine like nails on a chalkboard. I
don’t know when I got so possessive of this girl but holy hell. My veins are on
fire. How very unexpected. And somewhat
annoying.
I don’t get
possessive of women. Ever. Sure, I care about Amber and Pixie but that’s
different. I care about them like sisters. I’m protective of them. I couldn’t really give a damn who they, or any
other female in this town, go to bed with.
But Kayla?
Hot jealousy darts through my
veins.
How very annoyingly unexpected.
I set my shoulders back in a casual
manner. “Not particularly,” I say coolly. “I just wasn’t sure if you had a ride
or not.”
“Oh.” She runs a finger over her
lips. “And what, you were going to offer me a ride?”
I watch the tip of her finger skim
over the pink fullness of her bottom lip and my breath hitches. She can’t say things
like “give me a ride” and touch her mouth at the same time. That’s just not
fair.
“Well I might have offered you a ride,” I say, inwardly cursing as I
remember sweet, precious Monique, “except I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed
to take rides from strangers. And since that’s what you and I are…”
I sigh
dramatically. “It would have just been a waste of time to ask you.”
She smiles behind her moving
fingers and I start to wonder if she’d let me kiss her. My guess is, yes.
Maybe. I want to kiss Kayla. Badly. But
the idea of kissing her, of touching her at all, also makes me a little
nervous. And I’m never nervous when it comes to women. Goddammit. Everything about this girl is unexpected.
“You’re so obsessed with us not
being strangers,” she says, and her eyes shine. “That can’t be healthy.”
I probably shouldn’t kiss her. We
have an inheritance to claim tomorrow. We have shit to follow through with.
Kissing her is a bad idea. A very bad idea.
“No. Probably not.” I step closer
so we’re only inches apart. “But I can’t seem to let it go.”She doesn’t move away. She doesn’t
break eye contact.
Yes.
She’d definitely let me kiss
her. I’m sure of it.
My heart pounds and it’s all I can
do to keep my nonchalant demeanor in place.“Is that what we are, Kayla?” I lower
my voice with a crooked grin. “Strangers?”
She meets my crooked grin and
raises me a tipped chin. Her eyes are steel and sure, not giving anything away,
and I suddenly feel unsure.
I lean in.
She doesn’t react. But she also
doesn’t back away.
Kissing her is a bad idea.
Her lips part, ever so slightly, a
thin seam of wet flesh forming between the soft skin of her pretty lips, and
all my reservations vanish.
Chelsea lives in Phoenix, Arizona, where she spends most of her time writing stories, painting murals, and avoiding housework at all costs. She's ridiculously bad at doing dishes and claims to be allergic to laundry. Her obsessions include: superheroes, coffee, sleeping-in, and crazy socks. She lives with her husband and two children, who graciously tolerate her inability to resist teenage drama on TV and her complete lack of skill in the kitchen.
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