Perfect Judith Mcnaught Pdf
Macabeo Eastman
A rootless foster child, Julie Mathison had blossomed under the love showered upon her by her adoptive family. Now a lovely and vivacious young woman, she was a respected teacher in her small Texas town, and she passionately lived her ideals. Julie was determined to give back all the kindness she'd received; nothing and no one would ever shatter the perfect life she had fashioned.
At the age of eighteen, Zachary Benedict was shut out of his life of wealth and privilege by his grandmother, who wanted to teach him a lesson. With nothing but the clothes on his back and barely a penny to his name, Zack hitched a ride all the way to Hollywood, where he took a job working on the docks at a major movie studio. Soon he was discovered by a producer and embarked on an acting career that turned him into a household name. Eventually he turned his talents to directing, but he was never entirely happy with his life. His marriage hit the skids, and as he was about to wrap production on his latest film in which his wife was starring, he found her in flagrante delicto with one of their co-stars. The next day, she was shot dead on the movie set. Seemingly the only person with a motive to kill her, Zack was charged with and later convicted of her murder. After unjustly spending five years in prison, he feels like one more day behind bars will drive him insane, so he hatches a daring escape plan. Everything is going perfectly until his getaway car is towed, and Zack finds himself in desperate need of wheels. Wanting to get as far away as fast as he can, Zack tricks a young woman into giving him a ride, but when she figures out what's going on, he ends up taking her hostage instead.
Julie Mathison was abandoned as a baby and grew up in a string of foster homes and on the streets, until a kind, loving family finally adopted her when she was eleven. Their faith in her never wavered, something she'd never experienced in her life, so she, in turn, promised to be a "perfect" person they could be proud of. She's made a life for herself as a well-respected school teacher, runs an adult literacy program, and volunteers for many community activities. As she's returning from a brief trip to solicit funds for her adult reading class, she chances to meet a man whom she thinks is a kind stranger. He turns out to be a wanted fugitive. At first fearing for her life, Julie complies with his wishes, but she also bravely does everything she can think of to try to get away from Zack. When she finally has the perfect opportunity to escape, a moment of unexpected vulnerability on Zack's part makes her hesitate. Soon she finds herself ensconced with the handsome actor in a luxury mountaintop cabin in the middle of a snowstorm. As Julie spends time in Zack's company and gets to know him, she slowly comes to believe that he is indeed innocent of the charges against him.
When the story opens, Julie is an eleven-year-old street urchin, who was abandoned as a baby. She was shuttled around from one foster home to the next her whole life, and she can't even read. In spite of her circumstances, she's obviously a brilliant, sweet, empathetic girl, who I liked immediately. She just needed responsible adults in her life who were willing to help her reach her potential. She found that in her psychologist who recognized that potential and helped get her adopted by a loving family who then helped her reach it. Now, as an adult, she is a teacher, not only of kids, but also of a group of illiterate adult women. Julie's family gave her their absolute trust, so she in return decided to be 'perfect' to be worthy of that trust. I think in large part because of the love and trust her family showed her, Julie is very trusting of others, which is why she fell for Zack's story and gave him a ride after he'd escaped from prison. Even after she found out who he really was and he'd officially taken her hostage, she handled herself very well. She used her intelligence and ingenuity to try to escape, but when all her attempts failed, she still lashed him with her sharp tongue. Eventually, after being holed up with him in a luxury mountain-top cabin for a few days, she comes to believe he couldn't possibly be guilty of his wife's murder. That's when things start to heat up between them. After Zack sends her home so that he can flee the country, she stands by him, maintaining his innocence to the press and never painting him as the monster they seem to think he is. She's his staunchest supporter and loved him to the point that she was willing to run away with him until some unexpected information comes to light. Then her faith in his innocence falters. While I understood her reasons and very well might have felt the same way, I couldn't help feeling that it somehow marred her love for him just a bit. Even after that, though, it's obvious that she still cares for him and it killed her to do some of the things she did. Once the real killer came to light, Julie was more than willing to make amends, but by then, Zack didn't want anything to do with her.
Even though there were a few small things that kept Perfect from being 'perfect,' it was still a very good read. While the book as a whole might not have been quite flawless for me, it did contain one of the most perfect love scenes I've ever read in a romance novel. Once Zack and Julie finally start talking and getting to know one another on a more personal level, it builds a strong sense of intimacy and connection that makes their first love scene utterly beautiful. It's filled with the tenderness, love and passion I crave in a romance. Zack's love letter to Julie is also pretty darn perfect. Those things alone made it worth all the ups and downs they have to suffer through to get their HEA. With two keepers in a row under her belt, Judith McNaught has earned a spot on my favorite authors list, and I look forward to checking out the rest of the Second Opportunities series and more of her backlist titles soon.
All of this was performed with the perfectly orchestrated and faultlessly executed precision of a minuet, for Lord Fielding was an exacting master who demanded that his estates and townhouses run as smoothly as well-oiled machines.
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