Review of Chasing Perfect

Chasing Perfect
Susan Mallery
Harlequin
376 pages
Chasing Perfect is the first in Susan’s wonderful new Fool’s Gold series. A real feel good novel. And Just what we all need.
Fool’s Gold has all the advantages of a small town, low crime and knowing your neighbor. It also has the advantage of being a tourist attraction all year round with both winter and summer time activities. It however has one thing not any other small town can boast, a shortage of men. No one knows why, it just seems that they can’t hold on to male residents.
Charity Jones has just been hired as the new city manager and after a childhood spent constantly moving with a mother who couldn’t seem to settle down she’s ready to put down roots and stay in one place for good. What she never counted on however was falling for famed bicyclist Josh Golden one of the few men Fools’ Gold holds on to. He’s too much of everything she doesn’t want in a man. The only trouble is can she convince her heart. Josh Golden is Fool’s Gold’s hero, he came from nothing and made the town proud. He retired young from bicycle racing and everyone thinks it’s on his own terms, little do they know the demons he fights everyday to keep off his bike and to get on it. Will his past troubles keep him from getting back on that proverbial horse and worse will it keep him from the one woman who could make his dreams come true.
Susan gives us an unusual plot in Chasing Perfect creating a woman dominated society in a rural California picturesque town. So within the first few pages she’s already piqued your interest and with her wonderful storytelling and descriptive dialogue she keeps you turning the rest of the pages. Her characters are all fully involved in the telling of her tale from the quirky to the solid they each fill a purpose and all add to the story. Her hero is larger than life and yet very humble and down to earth once Susan peels the layers from him. Her heroine is loveable and steadfast just what we readers need to counteract the blinding shine of the hero. Their love story is ageless and yet the author sucks us right in to her version of true love. The romance is filled with pitfalls but sweet and you’ll find yourself urging them on. The love scenes are hot and spicy, earthy and physical and she takes us from lust to love in no time flat.
So if you love a great love story, a series so you’ll be able to catch up on the characters you’ve come to love, than this is for you. If you like your romance on the sizzle burner do not walk but run to your nearest bookseller and get this one. You won’t be sorry that you did.