Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire (UK cover)

Title: Walking Disaster (Beautiful #2)
Author: Jamie McGuire
Genre: Contemporary, New Adult
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK (2nd April 2013)
Blurb:

Travis Maddox lost his mother when he was very young. Her parting advice? Love hard. . .Fight harder . . .

Travis ‘Mad Dog’ Maddox is an underground fighter, from a family of tough older brothers. The original Bad Boy, he takes a different girl home every night. That is, until he meets Abby Abernathy . . .

Notorious around campus for his reputation with women, it is no surprise when Abby refuses Travis’s advances; the best she will offer him is friendship. However, Travis is determined to fight his way into her heart . . .

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

Walking Disaster is the second book in Jamie McGuire’s Beautiful series. It tells basically the same story as the first book in the series Beautiful Disaster, but has the events narrated through Travis’ eyes rather than Abby’s. Walking Disaster gives an insight into Travis’ character that is unavailable in Beautiful Disaster.

On the whole I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun read, and once I started reading I struggled to put the book down. I appreciated getting the story from Travis’ point of view, and having the opportunity to get to know him as a character better. In my opinion, McGuire did a good job of capturing a male voice – Travis was a very believable character, and I enjoyed watching him evolve through the book.

I do, however, have a couple of issues with the book. The first is that for most of the book Travis comes across as super aggressive. Even though we are in his head, his anger at times is hard to relate to or understand – he has a heck of a short fuse at times. The second is kind of related to the first, because of his anger issues his relationship with Abby comes across as stalker-esq much more so than it does in Beautiful Disaster. However, by the end of the book McGuire does show how Travis grows and matures.

Although on the whole Walking Disaster follows the same plot as Beautiful Disaster it does offer an insight into Travis’ attitude. I also enjoyed reading Travis interact with his family, and his close relationship with his brothers and cousins. However, I wouldn’t recommend reading this book if you haven’t read the first book in the series as the narrative is slightly choppy at points and you may miss explanations for certain occurences.

If you are thinking about reading a new adult contemporary romance than I suggest that you consider this series. There are a couple of issues which could have been handled better, but on the whole it is an enjoyable and engrossing read.