Jamie McGuire’s Beautiful Disaster (linked to my review) is the love story of Abby and Travis, from Abby’s point of view. McGuire quickly followed up with Walking Disaster, where we get Travis’s side of the story.
Abby is a girl with a past she wants to leave behind, she wants to be a good girl and only date guys who aren’t a disaster. Travis is definitely a disaster; he’s the youngest of five boys who lost their mother at an early age, an underground fighting champion, and the campus stud who can get any girl he wants. Except Abby.
I had mixed feelings about this book, which is why it’s taken me so long to write this review. Travis doesn’t have as much of a creepy stalker vibe, but his misogynistic views on women as sexual playthings and his inability to deal with his own feelings are front and center since we’re inside his head. Abby comes off more as a hot mess than just wishy washy; I didn’t like her in the first book, and liked her even less in this one.
Also, if you haven’t read Beautiful Disaster, then large chunks of the story are missing, and I was hoping for more of Travis’s reactions in certain situations. There is more of Travis’s family and his relationship with his brothers and his father and both endearing and realistic. Also, like the first book, Walking Disaster is rife with foul language, explicit sex and fighting.
McGuire recently released A Beautiful Wedding, a novella that gives more details on Abby and Travis’s impulsive wedding, and I actually liked that better than either of the first two books. Follow the link to read my review of that one.
Notes on the audiobook: Dan Bittner sounds exactly like I’d expect Travis to, which is amusing since he looks nothing like I’d expect Travis to. The voices for the different characters were distinct, though some of the older men started to sound similar.
Nancy was in some short-lived relationships in college but fortunately none that were quite so unhealthy. She writes about her boys, books and life in Colorado at Life With My Boys and Books.