Review: Another fantastic book by Alison G. Bailey!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 16, 2014
In Present Perfect, I did not like Brad Johnson at all.  Amanda Kelly was one of the many girls that he humiliated, and he seemed to get off on charming girls and discarding them when he was done with what he wanted them for.  I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about him as the romantic hero in Past Imperfect.Through flashbacks from the past leading up to the present, we get Brad’s complete story as to why he was so cold and vicious when it came to girls, and what made him the man who fell so desperately in love with a broken girl. He basically got no love at all growing up and had to fend for himself. He never learned how to care about another person more than himself, so he just went through life taking what he thought was his (and it was very interesting to learn how Amanda derailed him a little bit by making him actually almost feel something).  Brad pushed one girl too far with his cruelty, and it made him take a look at what kind of man he was, and what kind of man he really wanted to be.  I liked that he was honest about what he did, he didn’t apologize for it, just tried to move on and be better.Mabry was the only girl that brought Brad to his knees. She also held a world of hurt, and was very fragile despite her successful law career and insistence on only casual relationships. We also learn a lot about Mabry in flashbacks, and how she was a lost little girl that just wanted to be loved, and coped the only way that she knew how.As Brad and Mabry fall deeper and deeper in love, the one thing in Brad’s past that he never wanted to Mabry to find out about comes to light, and it threatens to destroy them both.“…I’m sorry, Mabry.  If I had known you were going to be in my future, I would have been a better man in my past.”My heart broke multiple times for Brad and Mabry.  For what they each had to go through, and how much they both wanted to be together despite the baggage both of them had. Mabry was a complicated but very likable heroine. She tried to deny her love for Brad to save them both from getting hurt, but Brad never gave up. He believed in his love for Mabry so much he never accepted her trying to push him away.  Unlike most heroines, you understand exactly why she keeps running, and admire her for being such a survivor.This book also has the BEST epilogue I’ve ever read.  Rather than be just an enjoyable extra, it really completes their story.  Another fantastic book from Alison G. Bailey!