A Beautiful Mess

Beautiful Mess, Book 1

By: T. K. Leigh

Narrated by: Anadelle Waters

Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's Summary

Olivia Adler is a woman with a troubled past. After losing her parents at the age of six and being raised by an uncle who she lost years later, she refuses to get attached to anyone, including friends. For the past decade, she has been able to remain unattached to any man, too worried about losing someone to get too close - that is, until Alexander Burnham walks into her life one night and changes everything. But Alexander has issues of his own, and he's keeping a secret that could turn Olivia's world upside down. Will Olivia let Alexander in enough for him to get close and protect her from a force that threatens her very existence, or will she push him away in order to protect her heart?

©2013 T.K. Leigh (P)2014 Tantor

Not a great listen for me

Having read the other reviews, I wonder if I was listening to the same book. This one really didn't do it for me. There is a very emotional romance element but the entire book revolves around Alexander keeping a secret from Olivia. I just couldn't understand why a) Olivia being an intelligent woman just didn't figure it out ******possible spoiler*******: surely human beings' facial features, voices, mannerisms, etc don't change that much from childhood to adulthood *********end of possible spoiler********* and b) the reason that he didn't just come clean and tell her wasn't convincing or clear enough for me. I found myself wanting to just shake the senseless characters into next week, and then I stopped caring.

The narrator is quite good but the story was just not convincing. Not worth a credit for me.

"Mediocre" is a generous comment

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?
Better writing and a better performance.

What was most disappointing about T. K. Leigh’s story?
The absurdity of the plot twists and the shallowness of the characters.

Any additional comments?
The narrator's male voices are laughable, she is however good at injecting an irritating element to the voices of those we aren't supposed to like. Her pace and timing are off but perhaps she was anxious to get through a ridiculous piece of writing. The main characters and the plot compete throughout the story for the crown of 'most absurd'. We have an unlikeable female lead who is ok with being treated as a doormat. An ex-Navy SEAL, millionaire running a high-end security firm who couldn't be entrusted with the job of school crossing guard. He is so wrapped up in himself that he spends the entire story torn up with angst over whether to read a letter from his deceased father, a letter that might contain information vital to the protection of the love of his life. Neither character has the emotional maturity that a 10-year old possesses. The story revolves around a decades-old tragedy that ties the two characters together, incredibly, these two find themselves working in the same building after decades of living separate lives. In the meantime there is an evil genius lurking in the background, content to wait for years but who is unable to deal with being blackmailed by a street thug for millions of dollars.

The whole package makes you want to wretch. I was hoping they'd all end up on a raft somewhere in the Pacific, surrounded by sharks and dying of thirst.....it wouldn't have been an ending more far-fetched than this plot with its one dimensional characters.

A Rollercoaster Ride... Not in a good way...

Would you try another book from T. K. Leigh and/or Anadelle Waters?

Probably not. Definitely will avoid narrator.

Would you recommend A Beautiful Mess to your friends? Why or why not?

Nope.

How could the performance have been better?

Different narrator. This one uses a shrill, shreaking voice to characterize Olivia's many mood swings.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointed. Story line had such possibilities, but Olivia's emotions depict someone with bi-polar disorder!

Any additional comments?

Bought the 3 book in the series, hoping for improvement. By the 3rd book found myself fast forwarding to get to the end. This shouldn't happen in a good novel and good narration.

Good storyline

Book has a good storyline. Would have rated higher but parts are very demeaning to women. Just over - no real ending.. Strange....

Ehh

This book ends with a cliffhanger, but I have to say the book wasn't good enough for me to feel like I have to immediately find out what happens next.

Good Debut Book

I have owned this book for a couple of months now and I heard so many great things about this. And I am so mad at myself for waiting so long to listen to this! I loved this book. I was hooked into this story right from the first chapter and I hated to put this down!!

There are so many books out now about characters with troubled pasts, but author TK Leigh did an incredible job developing characters that stands out from the rest. Olivia Adler lost her parents when she was a child. Now as an adult Olivia is commitment phobic because she is afraid to lose any more people she loves. But enter sexy Alexander Burnham who saves her from an attacker and changes her life. Alex has had some relationship issues and keeps an important secret from Olivia (a secret that is so huge it will change both of their lives forever). But even though Olivia and Alex are both "damaged" due to their past, I enjoyed reading a story where the characters grew emotionally and were slowly able to love. And for once it was nice to see that the male character, Alex, was more willing to make a change. But Olivia's fears causes problems for both of them.

Along with Olivia and Alex's romance story this book is also suspenseful. The truth about Olivia's past is driving me crazy!! And Alex is holding on to an important piece but refuses (and is afraid) to uncover it. That is why my characters rating is 4 stars - I was screaming at my iPod for Alex to tell Olivia the truth!! The book ends in a cliffhanger that has me frustrated but I can't wait for the next book, A Tragic Mess!

I have heard readers compare this story to Fifty Shades of Grey, but the only similarities I found was the dominating theme. Alex is a successful businessman who prefers to be in control in his life (at work and in the bedroom), but he is also loving to his family and to Olivia. Alex felt free to express his feelings, which was lacking in Christian Grey. Both men are 'damaged' in ways, and their reasons for wanting control are completely different. So I don't think the 2 series should be compared to each other!

A Beautiful Mess is a series worth checking out!

CHOC FULL OF DRAMA AND A HOT ROMANCE

Olivia had a tragic past which is resurfacing and threatening her today but she is totally unaware of it because she is suffering from partial amnesia so has lost many early memories. Saved one night by a handsome stranger with beautiful green eyes, familiar eyes, eyes of a saviour from that terrible event that's been giving her nightmares, nightmares that leaves her mentally and emotionally scarred and scared.

Alexander is a near perfect Hero, handsome, successful and loving but he's still heartbroken over the death of his childhood best friend, the best friend with beautiful brown eyes that he still searches for in every woman..... eyes that are now looking up at him from the beautiful face of a terrified woman. He remembers everything, she remembers nothing which leads to epic secrets, secrets that hold mysterious questions, danger, suspense, villains with evil plots, murder and, as their unavoidable chemistry explodes, it's secrets he should finally share with her..... but dare he.

What a well-written and gripping romance/suspense story that had so many twists, questions and some very passionate love scenes that sometimes had light Sub/Dom moments. The narration was excellent and added personality, feelings and depth to the characters in the story.

Worth a credit? This was a very emotional story, a story of undying love and it hooked me in from the start but it was one of those books that'll make you so annoyed with the Hero that you could just shake him for not divulging the secrets, secrets that involved the Heroine and is threatening her very life. Then, of course, came a very emotional heartbreaking cliffhanger which not only left me with a lump in my throat but it had me tearing my hair out that it had ended. Luckily book 2 isn't far away and I've already pre-ordered it so now comes the difficult part..... the waiting. Creditworthy.....OH HELL YEAH.

Everything in darkness, will come to the light.

This book started out well, but then got bogged down with lies. Alexander should have told Olivia the truth when he realized who she was, instead of having sex with her and not telling her everything he knew about her. I gave this book 3-stars, because Alexander was selfish and controlling. The narrator, should've had a male partner, when she took on Alexander role, it was too much for her, saying the male role was hard to hear, she didn't sound manly at all, it was irritating to hear. I won't be listening to book 2 & 3, I hope it gets better not worse.

You finally find her but she doesn't remember you

When you're thrust into a car and loose everything in the blink of an eye. You've always had a feeling that your father was hiding something and then you find you one true love.What do you do

Every Trope EVER

This is a review for the entire trilogy.

Stupid descriptions...like someone giving an "irritated yet contrite look"...wut? check.
Unrequited love? check.
"big plot twist"? check...although I saw it coming.
Unrealistic bad guys? check. They were so one-dimensional.
CIA guys, navy seal guys, everyone is filthy rich so the story doesn't really have to take into account that they should GO TO WORK and can't spend all day in bed? check.
This female lead is rather unlikable. I can't even figure out why ALL the guys in the book fall madly in love within a day of meeting her. She is a semi-functioning alcoholic who whinges and whines about EVERYTHING despite regular therapy.
Amnesia? check.
Repetitive sex scenes? check. (even if what some of what they do isn't "vanilla", by the time you've heard it for the FOURTH time, it becomes rote...also? Author needs to find a word other than "undone". I got SO sick of hearing that one.)

***spoilers****
Faked deaths? check.
Implausible motivations? double check. Like...she leaves him because she's protecting herself from having to live without him...?
Utter stupidity? quadruple check. They JUST got back together for the third time and she realizes mid-coitus that she forgot to take her birth control and they decide together that he should come inside her.
People are trying to kill her suddenly for something that happened over 20 years ago because of course they are.
She was pregnant, but she lost the baby when she was raped, shot and repeatedly kicked and then she's in a coma, but at least she no longer has amnesia.

***end spoilers***

This is not an original work. It's every storyline general hospital ever had all in one series (minus the Cassedine weather controller machine from the 1980's)...and I wasted HOURS hoping that it would get better.

The ONE thing the author does well is describing sadness. The narrator was meh.