Reality Bites! Let's Get Lost!: Blog Tour, Review and Giveaway for Past Imperfect [Perfect 2] by Alison G. Bailey

Title: Past Imperfect (Perfect 2) by Alison G. Bailey

Age group: NA/Adult

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Cover designer:Robin Harper, Wicked by Design
Photography by Abigail Marie, NON`PA*REIL photography

Scheduled to release: February 2014

Tour organized by: WordSmith Publicity

In Present Perfect, Brad Johnson was sexy, cocky, rich and a complete Smurff**ker. He could afford anything he wanted and could charm any girl he set his eyes on. Everything was laid out in front of him, all for the taking except the one thing he craved and needed. A tragic event forces him to reevaluate his life. When he tries to change, will the people in his life let him move on from his past or will they constantly hold him to the life altering mistakes he’s made?

Mabry Darnell is intelligent, ambitious, beautiful, and sassy. Secrets from her

past haunt the present causing her to question her actions in order to shield her heart and protect her life.

From the moment Brad and Mabry met, their connection was strong, intense, and electrifying. Both knew they had found the one person who could satisfy what the other ached for. When their pasts collide with their present, will it prevent them from having a future together or will love be strong enough to conquer their demons?

ADD ON GOODREADS

It has been six months since I read Present Perfect and I still think about that story at least once a week. I love how a book can affect you so much that it just stays with you and thus is the talent of Alison Bailey. She is able to express so much emotion in her writing that you can't help but feel everything the characters are feeling and get completely pulled into their story.

Past Imperfect tells the story of Brad and Mabry. The chapters alternate from now to then and we get both of their POV's. We met Brad in book one so all I knew about him is that he was a bit of a man whore and was a bit of bastard too. However, there is more to Brad than meets the eye and 20% into this story I fell for him and wanted to marry him and have his babies :)

Brad hasn't had the happiest home life, his parents are in an unhappy marriage, and as a young boy Brad over hears a conversation between his parents that resonates with him for the rest of his life.

"I racked my brain trying to figure out what I had done to cause my parents to hate me so much. I kept coming back to the same conclusion. I was born." - Brad

After his parents separate, Brad ends up living with his mother and his brother goes with his father. When he enters his teenage years he has a lot of girls interested in him and he takes full advantage of that. This behaviour also follows him to college until one particular girl leaves a lasting impression on him that completely changes his life.

Mabry grew up as an only child with both of her parents and she was a happy child. When she was a young teen her mother died in a traumatic, heartbreaking way and there are things Mabry had to go through the are embedded in her memory and still affect her daily. She has learnt to deal with the memories of her past in her own way and that is not necessarily a good thing.

So Brad and Mabry's path's cross when she is employed at Brad's fathers law firm. There is complete instant attraction between the two of them and it isn't long until they begin 'dating' but with rules put in place by Mabry. She isn't into relationships and will do anything to protect herself from feeling something for someone, especially a guy. She didn't expect to meet a man like Brad Johnson and let me tell you he is freaking adorably cute. He has changed his whole life in the last few years and absolutely knows how to make a girl feel treasured.

Brad really wants Mabry to open up to him and let him in, he is madly in love with her and she is it for him, forever. Mabry has so much she hides, not just from Brad but from everyone. Her way of coping with her past and stress is to deal with it herself. It was so sad to read some of her POV's, I was just wishing she would confide in Brad, he would have done anything for her.

Then in a bizarre twist of fate their past and future collide, leaving Mabry wondering how well she really knows Brad after all. Their future together is now on shaky ground and some heart breaking decisions are made that completely shatters them both.

"Mabry, there's nothing in this universe that could happen to keep me from you. I don't know how not to love you." - Brad

At this point I think I have cried 4-5 times already and then the story finishes and I was feeling very bereft until I turned the page and found the Epilogue and WOW, what an epilogue - the best epilogue I have read. I mean really, it was a 50 year epilogue and I could not stop crying throughout every page and then when it was done I cried some more. Not tears of anguish however, they were tears of elation. I went through so many emotions reading this book and at the end I was feeling a bit fragile but happy as well. Books like this are why I love reading :)

I give this book 5 wamfu stars.

4 HEARTS out of 5
Genre: New Adult Romance

Talk about a punch to the gut..this book has the power to double a person over in pain. NO JOKE.
Past Imperfect is Brad Johnson’s story. Brad is the grade A a**hole readers had the lovely chance to meet in Present Perfect. Sadly this meeting was not all good, his character became strongly disliked. I thought “how on earth does Alison G. Bailey plan to redeem this douche.” While not impossible it sure as heck won’t be easy.
Soon after having that thought I found myself eating those words because it was easy for me to fall for Brad Johnson.

One girl and one night is all it takes to flip a switch in Brad. Albeit a tragic night..nonetheless it forces him to become accountable while simultaneously evoking change. He becomes a new man, no longer the Brad of the past. This is the man I fell for..the Brad of Past Imperfect

‘She was my vibration. Heat started to crawl across my skin as my chest began to tighten. What was wrong with me.’ -Brad

Brad’s in love *Grins slowly* And he knows it in the bottom of his heart. Like him, Mabry Darnell is a first year attorney at the firm, she and Brad have worked together on many projects and have pretty much danced around their strong attraction for each other. Even though she was warned not to go anywhere near him with his reputable playboy ways Mabry could not stop the intense heat wave once it hits.

And I’m talking deathly hot temps here people, enough to melt a human on the spot.

photo Iloveit_zpsc3e2b260.gif

I doubt anything could have put a stop to these two coming together. Alison G. Bailey does a good job setting up the chemistry between Brad and Mabry. So much so that when you read the scene of how they first meet you feel it..LITERALLY feel it just like Brad does. It was then that I. WAS. CAPTURED. It hits you, its immediate and you just know. He found her. The one placed on this Earth for him.

Giving in to lust is easy but admitting to love can be harder to do. The unique part here is that Brad has no issues with telling her he loves her. Mabry on the other hand not so much she freezes up on Brad turning that intense heat they share into the frozen tundra.

“Everything about him turns me on, his body, his charm, his intellect and his humor.”
-Mabry

Who is Mabry Darnell?
When I initially meet Mabry’s character nothing about her stood out I actually had to get to know her before I could catch up to where Brad was. The more I got to know her the more taken I was annnnnd the more my heart ached for her. Mabry is a character you’ll find yourself rooting for. You want her to overcome the pain that she seems to carry around like a big blemish mark on her soul.

“ Why is there so much sadness in your eyes?” His question catches me off guard.
-Brad to Mabry

Without ruining the story by telling all I will say this. The sadness from tragedy can be seen in her eyes by the one who loves her. Mabry fears that she’ll be like her mother and her father is no longer a father in any sense of the word. This plays a big role in Mabry's life to the point where it actually controls her.

Brad becomes relentless when Mabry decides to pull the escape clause out on him. She claims that their relationship was supposed to stay fun and physical. Not hearts with talk of being exclusive. Yet, Brad’s unyielding wooing breaks through to her heart. And of course that is when the unthinkable happens.

‘My past is about to meet my present. Mabry.’ - Brad

My Sweet and Sour

My Sweet- Love. Love had its own starring role in the book. It put fear to rest and overcame the past. Love held tight, it may have swayed and bent in the storm but just as a palm tree does was firmly planted and weathered those storms life brought.
My Sour- Brad’s parents BandB (The Bitch and the Bastard) his words not mine. I could not stand his parents. In fact I HATE THEM.

My Thoughts
The story was emotional with a slightly dark edge to it. Readers get a dual pov and some flashbacks that help you to better understand both Brad and Mabry. I found that the twist lined up perfectly with the subplot which was very VERY emotional.
On a side note Past Imperfect has one of the best epilogues I've read in some time. Rarely do authors indulge us in the future of the characters we grow to love the way Bailey did in this book with this epilogue!

My Ratings
Characters- Sincere, Lovable and Sweet
Writing Style- Very Good
Plot/Storyline- A man who turns a new leaf by letting go of his former playboy ways finds that holding on to the girl that now has his heart may not be so easy
Steam Factor- High/Steamy on a scale of 1-10 I say 7
Overall- I enjoyed it!!
My Recommendation : I recommend this to all NA lovers!

AMAZON | B&N | SMASHWORDS

Alison was born and raised in Charleston, SC. As a child she would create (write) additional scenes to TV shows and movies that she watched. She attended Winthrop University and graduated with a major in Theater. While at school she began writing one act plays which she later produced.

Throughout the years she continued writing and producing several one act plays, but then life got in the way and she hung up her pen for a while. At the end of 2012 a very talented author friend convinced Alison to go back to writing and see what happens. So she did and fell back in love with it. Present Perfect will be Alison's first self-published book. A few personal facts, Alison loves anything sweet, especially frosting, and is addicted to Diet Pepsi. Alison's philosophy: Don't let your obstacles define you. At times life can get pretty overwhelming, but with a great support system and a lot of humor you can get through them. If you have humor in your life your spirit stays strong and you can tackle anything.