Halfway Perfect by Julie Cross, Mark Perini

Published by Sourcebooks Fire on May 5th 2015
Finished copy from Publisher
384 pages
Purchase on Amazon・Fully Booked

Synopsis

Eve's time as a fashion model nearly destroyed her-now she's determined to build a career behind the camera lens. But landing a coveted photography internship brings her face to face with her dark past-and her ex.

While Eve is snapping pictures, up-and-coming male model Alex is launching his career-which, for him, involves maintaining a fake relationship with his (secretly) underage co-star, Elana.

But Alex is falling for Eve, and Eve won't let herself get hurt again. If Alex can pull off a fake love with Elana, can he convince Eve to risk a secret affair with him?

Excited is an understatement for when I heard that Julie and Mark were co-authoring a book. This was way back when Halfway Perfect was still in the works. Now that it’s been out for months and now that I’ve finally read it, I can say it was well worth the wait and anticipation.

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Julie Cross’s YA contemporary books and this one just further proved that I need to read everything she writes, not that I wasn’t already dead set on doing that beforehand. It also proved that Mark Perini, Halfway Perfect being his debut as an author, needs to write more books so I can read them. The duo did such a fine job making the model world that their characters were in come to life, not to mention weave such a compelling story with relatable characters.

“Maybe the only way forward is to simply move forward, one half-step at a time.”

Knowing that Mark was a model himself, I never doubted that Eve and Alex’s experiences would be anything less than believable. What I really liked about Halfway Perfect though is that it wasn’t just an insider look into the fashion scene. It made me feel like I was right there along with the characters. Aside from this, I really liked the gritty take on how underage models can be taken advantage by people in the industry.

It was easy to adore Eve, what with our shared passion for photography. I also enjoyed watching her work as an intern for her awesome mentor, Janessa. More than that, it’s the fact that she’s been through some tough shit and yet determined to move past that (with some understandable struggle of course), not let herself be defined by those awful events and work hard to achieve her dreams, that made me admire her completely.

“There’s so much good in him that I’m desperate to find a way to unzip him and crawl inside and let myself be even closer.”

Meanwhile, Alex was a sweetheart. Who cares if he’s a hot model? His good guy personality in itself is enough to make you swoon. He was so unexpectedly down-to-earth and seemed especially genuine when it came to his family relationships, specifically with his fun siblings. Great charm + heart of gold- that’s Alex for you.

With how fleshed out both protagonists were, it only followed that the romance worked really well since the two also had awesome chemistry. Alex and Eve’s relationship really develops throughout the story and the challenges they had to face to achieve their HEA were so realistic.

“Everything else will work itself out. Everything else is unwritten.”

Wonderful romance, lovable characters and an enjoyable story- Halfway Perfect is equally touching and entertaining. If you want to read about the modeling industry or are looking for a quick but heartfelt read, this one is for you.