Beautiful Oblivion by Jamie McGuire
Series: Maddox Brothers #1
on 1st July 2014
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback
Goodreads

Fiercely independent Camille "Cami" Camlin gladly moved on from her childhood before it was over. She has held down a job since before she could drive, and moved into her own apartment after her freshman year of college. Now tending bar at The Red Door, Cami doesn’t have time for much else besides work and classes, until a trip to see her boyfriend is cancelled, leaving her with a first weekend off in almost a year.

Trenton Maddox was the king of Eastern State University, dating co-eds before he even graduated high school. His friends wanted to be him, and women wanted to tame him, but after a tragic accident turned his world upside down, Trenton leaves campus to come to grips with the crushing guilt. 

Eighteen months later, Trenton is living at home with his widower father, and works full-time at a local tattoo parlor to help with the bills. Just when he thinks his life is returning to normal, he notices Cami sitting alone at a table at The Red. 

As the baby sister of four rowdy brothers, Cami believes she’ll have no problem keeping her new friendship with Trenton Maddox strictly platonic. But when a Maddox boy falls in love, he loves forever—even if she is the only reason their already broken family could fall apart.

Trenton Maddox is a bad boy with the reputation he most definitely deserves. Girls want to tame him and but when he turns him attention on bartender Cami, she has no intention of become just another notch on his bed post. There’s a spark between them but Trenton isn’t what a girl like Cami is looking for. He lives with his father, works at a tattoo parlour with no apparent career ambition and he has had more women than she’s had hot dinners. Not to mention Cami has a boyfriend.

The fact that Cami’s boyfriend is currently living on the other side of the country combined with an other side to Trenton she never imagined could exist leads to some interesting circumstances. Cami and Trenton become friends but with the tension between them, friendship seems to be a cover for something Cami isn’t ready to name.

From the first time Cami and Trenton were in a room together, I enjoyed their dynamic. He’s the guy all the girls want and he knows it. So it was incredibly amusing to see Cami trying shut him down but at the same time Trenton being seemingly oblivious to her frostiness. They are each others perfect match and yet it seems as if there is no way they will ever be able to be together. Cami’s boyfriend is a constant presence in their relationship (even from California) and from the start it seems inevitable that Cami would be better off with Trenton than the mysterious TJ. Trenton’s brother Travis makes a few appearances with this novel’s timeline running parallel to the novels in the Beautiful series. It was nice to see how the stories wove together. Cami’s brothers also contribute to the relationship drama and I thought they were realistic in the way in which the siblings all interacted with each other. Reagan, Cami’s BFF, is a great conscience of sorts but she also brings her own drama and personality to the story.

What I loved most about this novel is how Cami and Trenton’s relationship progressed. There may have been instant attraction but this is not a story of instalove. Cami got to know Trent better as they became friends and he also got to see there was more to her than just the girl he knew from elementary school. Cami was always aware of Trenton’s intentions but she was just as upfront about hers – she had a boyfriend she adored and treated her well. Her family dramas, Trenton’s girlfriend history and a bunch of well-meaning co-workers made Beautiful Oblivion a wonderfully well-rounded story.

Beautiful Oblivion had everything I love in a novel – romance, amusing banter and a cast of wonderful secondary characters. I loved getting to witness Cami and Trenton as they navigated their relationship from strangers to friends to possibly something more. There’s a few mysteries along the way (which I wasn’t at all surprised by) but added an extra element of drama to the novel. Great romance, interesting journey – I adored this book and will definitely be reading the next book in the Maddox Brothers series to see what Jamie McGuire comes up with next.

 

Thanks to Simon and Schuster for the review copy.