Review: Present Perfect by Alison G. Bailey

Review: Present Perfect by Alison G. Bailey



Synopsis:
I’ve been unsure about many things in my life except for one thing, that I have always loved him. Every single minute of every single day that I have been on this earth, my heart has belonged to him. It has never been a question, never a doubt. The love had taken on many different forms over the years, but it had always been a constant.

Everyone has their definition of love. There have been countless songs sung about it. A gazillion books, articles, and poems written about it. There are experts on love who will tell you how to get it, keep it, and get over it.

We’re led to believe love is complicated. It’s not the love that’s complicated. It’s all the crap that we attach to it and put in front of it that makes it difficult. If you’re smart, you’ll realize this before it’s too late and simplify

Amanda Kelly spent her entire life trying to control every aspect of it, while striving for perfection. Her obsession with being perfect, along with her feelings of worthlessness, consumed her. The one thing she thought was perfect in her life was the bond she shared with her best friend, Noah.
Everything was going according to her life plan until she woke up one day and realized she had fallen in love with him. The one thing she couldn’t control was the effect he had on her. Noah had the power to give her one hundred lifetimes of happiness, which also gave him the power to completely devastate her. He was the one thing in her life that was perfect, but she couldn't allow herself to have him.
Her life begins to unravel. Events take over and force her to let go of her dreams and desires. She needs to realize that a person cannot control the events in their life, only their reaction to them...but will it be too late for her to save her relationship with her best friend? Present Perfect is a story of how past events have present consequences and how perfect your present could be if you stopped fighting and just allowed it to happen.


Nicky's Review

5 Stars

Characters- Sweet, complicated in a good way, consuming, and relatable.
Plot/Storyline- Story was executed perfectly with constant story changes that kept you turning pages.
Steam Factor- YUMMY Noah!!! Smexy as hell!!!
Cover- Beautiful and signifies Tweet as a character perfectly with the eyes, the yellow, and the feather- you'll have to read it to appreciate the perfection of this cover.
Cliffhanger- No. This is a standalone but there is a book to follow based on Brad. CAN'T WAIT!!
Overall-  F'LOVED this story. It was original and kept me invested as a reader. BRAVO Ms. Bailey!!

Where do I begin with this book? I am so happy with the flow of the story and the way it ended. The story was an emotional roller coaster that I thoroughly enjoyed. I loved the unexpected twists and turns in this book that kept me wanting to turn page after page and neglect my body's need for sleep. I would recommend it to anyone ready to have their heart filled with love, ripped out, twisted, picked up, repaired, and then placed gently back in their chest feeling like its going to explode with happiness. Yup, you get it all in this book.

We start with Amanda, aka Tweet, (Noah nicknames her Tweet after a horrendous Tweety Bird Halloween costume gone bad, but since it's Noah she is totally ok with the nickname) growing up with Noah, like literally growing up with him.  They were born the same day and only 1 minute apart and their parents are friends. Anyway, Noah and Tweet go through life experiencing everything together. Noah is the amazing sweet boy next door who falls in love with Tweet, but Tweet has difficulty reciprocating that love due to her insecurities as a result of being in the shadow of her big PERFECT sister, Emily.  Emily is praised by her parents, teachers, coaches, and just about everyone.  You know, THAT girl.  And having THAT girl for a sister makes Tweet feel sub-par in the realm of girlfriend material and just about anything material. 

Noah doesn't see Tweet the way she sees herself and he tries, and I mean REALLY tries, to go to the next level with Tweet, but she pushes him away in order to keep their friendship safe (so she says many times but there are other reasons) and chaos ensues within their friendship/relationship.  The story takes us from Freshman year of High school into college and the Epilogue goes even further (Tip-Get the Kleenex ready for the Epilogue).  You can only imagine what relationship challenges two people who love each other but  aren't together experience within that long stretch of time. Their  torment, heartache, sexual tension, and need to be a constant in each others lives is very much experienced by the reader, making this book very memorable.

This is the story of a friendship that stands the test of time and the strong loyalty of a beautiful boy who just wants the girl to let him love her.  It's a complicated story with game changing events around every corner and will keep you wondering what's next and how will Noah and Tweet survive the situations thrown at them.  I'm not going to tell you if it's a HEA ending but I will say that I was happy with how it ended and I can't wait to read the next book based on the character of Brad from this book.  He is a piece of work, I will tell you that.  Only good things to come from Alison G. Bailey if this book is a preview of many works to come I hope. 

Favorite Quotes:

"Noah had always been my best friend, my partner in crime, my protector, my soul mate, the love of my life. My everything.  I may not have gotten all the beauty, intelligence, or talent, but I got Noah Stewart, the one 'perfect' thing I could claim as mine and I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world."

“I’ve been unsure about many things in my life except that I have always loved him. Every single minute of every single day that I have been on this earth, my heart has belonged to him.”  

“You will always be the most important thing in my life. I’ll always be there for you no matter what or who. I have no past without you and I can’t imagine a future that doesn’t include you. I just need some time to figure out how I can have you in my life without having you be my life.”  

“True love sees past all that and focuses on your heart. If you love someone, tell them. It doesn’t matter if they say it back to you. Whoever makes you feel that deeply and that intensely, deserves to know how they’ve impacted you.”  

“You’re the first girl I’ve ever noticed and the last girl I’ll ever notice. My first kiss was the greatest first kiss in the history of first kisses because it was with you. I can’t stop thinking about you.”  

“The only thing perfect is our present because we’re breathing, moving, loving, feeling. And we’re able to let the people in our lives know how much they mean to us.”

“I miss taking care of you,” he hesitated for a moment. “I miss my best friend and I want her back in my life.”

“Noah, why did you ask me here tonight?" …
His eyes stayed focused on the ground as he whispered, "I miss you.”

“You are the most important person in my life. Your happiness is my number one priority. Don’t ever doubt that, because it will never change.”

“There hasn’t been a day in my life that I haven’t loved you. I wish you would just let me love you,” he said”  

Purchase this book:

Kindle  http://www.amazon.com/Present-Perfect-ebook/dp/B00EABIHGE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1380138634&sr=1-1&keywords=present+perfect

Nook  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/present-perfect-alison-g-bailey/1116294610?ean=2940148407591

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