Book Information
Title: Halfway Perfect
Authors: Julie Cross and Mark Perini
Release Date: May 5, 2015
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Genre: Young Adult
Summary
Bestselling author Julie Cross teams up with Ford model Mark Perini to pen a poignant and gritty YA novel about love and the dark side of modeling and the fashion industry
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 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?
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Excerpt
When I finally give the rack a closer look, I start to weigh the options. There’s a varying array of briefs, boxer briefs, and pseudo banana hammocks with full backs in every color under the sun—black, neon green, pink, yellow, gold, red, navy, bright fuchsia. As the stylist is looking through the rack and sizing me up, probably trying to match my coloring, I’m silently chanting, boxer briefs, boxer briefs…
He’s reaching a hand toward the banana hammock rack and I suck in a breath, trying to look cool with whatever.
But seriously. No one is cool with whatever.
“Nah, not these, they’re not relatable enough to the G.P.” the stylist says.
I let out a sigh of relief. But no sooner do I look back up and he has a pair of black briefs with neon green micro-polka-dots.
“These are perfect. You’re ready to be pounced on by the woman of your dreams,” he says.
“Great. Can’t wait to…try these suckers on.”
“You’ll look amazing.”
Yep. A dude just told me I’m gonna look amazing in skimpy underwear.
He hands me a robe and leaves without waiting for a response.
After a quick change and after they’ve lubed me up with some makeup and self-tanner, I’m off to set. The thing about shooting underwear shots is the light is important. Janessa has two guy assistants as stand-ins testing everything. I resist the urge to go talk to Eve and instead sit down on the couch. I’m not about to ask her out while wearing neon polka dots. That’s got failure written all over it.
As soon as Janessa sees me on the couch, she ushers me over to fill in for one of the assistant stand-in guys. I ditch the robe and feel the awkwardness Richter scale skyrocket. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Eve standing out of Janessa’s line of sight. She’s trying not to smile, but she’s doing it anyway. At my expense. I decide it’s time to look the beast in the eye. I wave dramatically at her, like I’m flagging her down.
Janessa follows my wave all the way to Eve, who turns completely scarlet.
“Eve!” Janessa says. “Step in for Daniel. You’re closer to Elana’s height.”
Her eyes get really big and round, but her voice stays totally even. “Okay.”
Well, this should be interesting. Of course it would be much more interesting if she was also wearing neon polka- dot underwear.
“Guess your time in the spotlight isn’t over after all,” I say when she appears in front of me.
“This is not exactly the spotlight, nor do I have any choice in this matter,” she whispers, leaning in close so I get a whiff of her hair and something that smells like cinnamon.
Janessa interrupts us by shouting some directions. “Get really close!” I can totally do that. Just give me my pants back. “Alex, dip her down like you’re going to kiss her.”
I love pants. I will never take them for granted again. When I get the fragrance campaign, I’m donating a bunch of money to a pants-related charity.
But in the meantime, I don’t have a fragrance campaign and I’m not about to show any signs of fear. Fashion people can smell it a mile away and then ruin my chances.
“You heard the boss lady,” I say to Eve before hooking an arm around her waist and tugging her closer. My fingers brush over a strip of bare skin on her lower back and it sends my pulse racing so fast that I’m sure she can feel my heartbeat. And for a good long second, I don’t even care. Let her figure it out if she hasn’t already. I hadn’t planned on playing hard to get or any other equally frustrating mind games.
I move my hand up to the back of her neck before I lean her backward. My eyes are still locked with hers. I’m fighting the urge to undo her ponytail and run my fingers through her hair.
For the cameras. Of course.
***
What I thought about Halfway Perfect
Alex is one of models at the photo shoot. He recognizes Eve. Over the course of the week, they develop a relationship with some spark to it. Told in alternating point of views, both Alex and Eve are attracted to each other, yet Eve's past history in the industry and Alex's current job requirements keep them from getting together.
But staying away from each other proves difficult too, and eventually Eve and Alex get together with some fairly serious consequences to both.
I loved the insider view of the fashion industry and the photography storyline. The fact that one of the authors had first-hand knowledge of the industry helped. Eve and Alex are likable characters, although they have some flaws and there was enough in common between them to make their relationship realistic.
There's a nice mix of dialogue and the inner thoughts of the characters. The story moved along nicely and I found myself turning the pages to see what was going to happen. There's a nice bit of suspense to this that kept the story interesting.
I really liked Halfway Perfect, more than I thought I was going to. Even though the sexual content is not explicit, I did think this is for more mature young adults because of the subject matter.
Nicely done. If you are interested in an insider view of the fashion industry, you might like this.
ARC provided for review.
Giveaway
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About the Authors
Website: http://www.juliecrossbooks.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/
Mark Perini is a New York City-based author debuting his first YA novel, Halfway Perfect. Additionally, Mark is a featured author in the NA anthology, Fifty First Times.
Mark began his career as an international fashion model ten years ago, while simultaneously obtaining a business degree from Seton Hall University. He has a passion for traveling the world, and he’s made a blood pact with friends to see all seven wonders of the ancient world before he's thirty. Four down, three to go.
Website: http://www.markperini.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/
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