Mr. Imperfect

Lost Boys #1

by Karina Bliss

She broke his heart...
It takes a funeral to drag bad-boy billionaire Christian Kelly back to his rural New Zealand hometown. Now thanks to an ancient IOU, he's stuck there trying to save the inheritance of the only woman who ever dumped him. His first love, Kezia Rose.

He never said goodbye...
These days she might be a respected pillar of the community, but Kezia will dance with the devil if it will keep a 100-year-old hotel in her family—except this time she’s calling the tune.

What if all you ever wanted were the things you left behind?...
As old secrets are revealed, they're faced with the same dilemma. Can a loner find the courage to be vulnerable? Should a nurturer settle for a man who refuses to need her?
Trusting love is still their greatest challenge.

Romantic Book of the Year (RUBY winner Australia)

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Amazon, Harlequin, Category Romance, Ebooks

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

New Zealander Karina Bliss has written a biography for a rock star, swapped identities with her twin, raised three orphaned children with her ex husband, worn a cow costume to a Bachelor and Spinster ball, considered marriage for the sake of a baby, and been mayor of a small town.

Oh wait, that’s her characters.

Outside her imagination, she’s always been a professional writer, first as a travel journalist and then as a romance author. Her deeply held convictions include: love conquers all; yoga pants are daywear; and what a woman really wants is a man who cleans. Unfortunately, she does not live with one, (nor indeed has raised one). Please buy her books so she can pay for one.

She has also swum with sharks. They were very small. Babies, really. But still count.

Career highlights have included being the first Australasian to win a Golden Heart from the Romance Writers of America. Her debut, Mr Imperfect, won a Romantic Book of the Year Award in Australia, and her first self-published title, RISE, a rock star romance also finaled.
Other books in the Rock Solid series are FALL, PLAY and (coming soon), RESURRECTION.

Find out more and sign up to her newsletter at www.karinabliss.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarinaBlissA...
Twitter @BlissKarina
Email: karina@karinabliss.com

Reviews

[Vaishali • [V.L. Book Reviews] · Rating 4 out of 5]

R A T I N G: 4 stars to Mr. Imperfect ★ ★ ★ ★

[Sam I AMNreader]

25% DNF. The plot feels too messy for me right now.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book form Karina Bliss.

Christian & Kezia had had a rough time when they were teenagers, and they weren't mature enough to deal with everything that life threw at them. 15 years later they are much better equipped to fight and win. I like both of them, the only thing that I minded was their pride, but they did manage to come to terms with each other (eventually).

I love Christian's friends Luke & Jordan, and their friendship, the way that even they are manly men they actually talked about feelings . They were so sweet with Kezia, when she was a wee bit druk :). I will be reading their books.

The one star deduction is for all the arguments between the h/h, and because I have issues with the reunited plots. We all have plots that work for us, and those that simply don't...

[Autumn · Rating 2 out of 5]

So far, i have liked Karina Bliss`s engaging writing. This just didnt work for me.. From the premise to its characters, all i wanted to do was to shake them senseless!!

However, i give her credit for some poignant POV`s that the characters showcased.

I had my self set on reading the trilogy.. so here i go..

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not finish. Gave up after the author returned to the pov of the guy who hit then abandoned his wife.
Gave the feeling she was going to reunite them... so nope dnf.

[Coco.V]

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[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kezia Rose inherits a ramshackle hotel and pub from her grandmother, unfortunately it is run-down, practically falling down, mortgaged to the hilt and on the verge of bankruptcy. At her funeral bad boy Christian Kelly comes back to town, Kezia's childhood sweetheart, he loved Muriel Rose like his own grandmother but is horrified when her will spells out the dire financial straits the hotel is in but forbids him from gifting/ lending/ paying the money required, instead she demands that Christian stay and help Kezia come up with a plan to reverse the hotel's fortunes.

I'll be honest, there was so much angst in this book it was tiring. Christian and Kezia both bear a grudge, and feel like the wronged party, over the way their romance ended. In fact, they have both in their own ways being living their lives ever since in a kind of holding pattern. Being forced together brings out all the pain from the past, uncovers secrets and bares emotions. By the end the only person I liked was Roland the rat.

Overall, I would classify this as kitchen sink angst (ie the author has thrown in everything but the kitchen sink), alcoholism, orphans, MIA parents, abuse, neglect, gambling (and those are the ones which don't give away key plot devices!).

I really liked Karina Bliss' Special Forces series but so far I'm not so keen on the Lost Boys.

[Gaufre · Rating 2 out of 5]

I even like when old ladies make ridiculous stipulations in their will. Except I didn't see why anybody should do what she asked. In fact, following her final wishes would actually make the situation worse. She asks Christian to help with restoring the rundown hotel business she gave to her granddaughter. BUT he can not help financially, just advise. If he does not pour any money in, the granddaughter loses the business. If he does, we don't really know what would happen (would she lose the business? Wait...). The premise is flawed. And many of the smaller plots in the book are the same way and brushed over. There is a glimpse of Ms. Bliss great writing and dialogue, but there are also too many components to the story and it is all over the place.

[Rhode PVD · Rating 1 out of 5]

Usually love this author but DNFed 12% in because of three things -

The first is boundaries. The heroine holds out her hand to shake politely because she’s not comfortable with getting any closer than required with the hero due to bad memories, but he ignores her hand and grabs her for a hug. A while later in the same meeting, she’s very upset by something, bursts into tears and clearly and firmly orders the hero to leave the room so she can be alone. He ignores this reasonable request and stays in the room ‘watching over her’ for a lengthy amount of time. I felt a bit nauseous at the idea of a former lover who I don’t trust staying in the room against my request when I’m feeling intensely vulnerable. Yuck.

The second is overly gendered roles. She is a broke schoolteacher with no love life, no business sense and a soft heart for the rural townspeople. He has become a millionaire in only 14 years (including college) despite no family backing, owns 4 flashy sports cars and dates pin up calendar models. He is coming in to rescue her inherited business, a small hotel. Honestly, why not just paint them pink and blue and be done with it?

As a successful businessperson myself I loathe the hot young male millionaire vs broke, unbusinessy woman trope. It’s sexist, as are story lines where men are more sexual than women. And it denigrates women’s real talents (businesses founded by women are more likely to be profitable than those founded by men.)

Thirdly, the author has just used the ‘mother died early of cancer’ backstory to give the hero some emotional depth. I’m sick of the legions of dead mothers in romance and dead women at the service of men’s stories is a trope that is overused in multiple genres and should stop.

This is too sexist for me. I’m wondering if this is what sells in the author’s country? She’s not usually this bad.

[Linda C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bad boy, multimillionaire, Christian Kelly returns to his rural hometown for the funeral of Muriel Rose, who was a surrogate grandmother to him as a lonely youth. Kezia Rose, Muriel's granddaughter and Christian's high school sweetheart has inherited the rundown century old family hotel. Muriel's will calls in an IOU from Christian and requires him to help Kezia save the hotel but he cannot buy her out. As they try to salvage the hotel they find more and more debts. They also have personal issues like opposite personalities, youthful secrets and resentment from the way they parted. All this ends up being resolved in an average series romance conclusion. This took place in New Zealand, with recognizable names for cities but it could have been set anywhere. There was a general lack of description for locale, basically just rural versus city. I would have liked more of a feel of the place.

[Cheryl Phipps · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it!

The push and pull of physical attraction versus dislike was so good. Denying their love has caused Christian and Kezia terrible heartache. Their good girl, bad boy, story is terribly addictive.

[Truusje · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF (50%)
This isn't awful but I just can't get interested in the characters and the setting.

[LAURA JOHNSON · Rating 1 out of 5]

bored quickly..

[Nicci Schroenn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely awful. Disjointed and at times down right confusing.
Not recommended.

[Cindy (BKind2Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars, rounded to 3

This one was a good story, but it felt unpolished. I think that part of the reason is because this was likely her first published book. I got this one as free download on my kindle app in 2018 - but that was actually a re-issue of the original 2006 book.

What I liked:

💚 The MCs had good chemistry. Kezia & Christian were high school sweethearts when Christian leaves town in a hurry and Kezia can't/won't go. When Kezia's grandmother dies, Christian returns for the funeral (as he was loved and cared for by the grandmother, too) and ends up, through the usual conditions in the will (insert eyeroll), working with Kezia to revive the local hotel that the grandmother ran.

💚 I liked the setting - New Zealand - it's a bucket list destination and it still sounds pretty nice. Even for a visit.

💚 Christian was smokin' hot. His blue eyes are described as "blue as heaven, knowing as hell." Yum. He has made his way with his college friends and now runs their joint travel adventure company. BTW, the friends are also hotties and I'm fairly certain they will be returning in the subsequent novels in this series.

What I didn't care for:

💔 There were quite a few typos ("bought you up" for "brought you up" or "stem admonitions" for ?stern?) and some weird wordings ("...always suspected the best in people"...for me, I expect the best of people. Suspect seems to convey a lack of honesty and authenticity). Especially in a re-issue, I would have thought that these, mostly minor details, would have been taken care of.

💔 There were a lot of contrived situations and things that seemed unlikely to occur. When Kezia's friend Marion is injured, Marion's sister tells the doc to not give anyone (outside the family) info on her progress. Marion is an adult, and, despite her injury, is in her right mind. The doc wouldn't allow the sister to dictate this, without Marion's agreement, which would not happen.

💔 Kezia is a hugely frustrating character. She's too much of a martyr - EVERYONE's needs come before hers. Yes, I get that her parents were self-righteous idiots. But she spent most of her high school years with her grandmother - who seems the opposite of those idiots. Although the grandmother had her own issues, she was still a huge improvement.

💔 The entire scenario with the will (and the solution) was utterly nonsensical. Christian can't use his money to help Kezia with the hotel, but apparently can have his partners buy it and then sell it to him. WTF?

💔 Ending seemed lacking - I don't know if I just wanted a little more closure or an epilogue or something else. It was sweet but rushed and incomplete.

Overall, it was okay. I liked it well enough that I might continue with the series if I can get it through the library or a used book site. But as I said, just a little unpolished.

Quote I liked:

Being human is an imperfect business.

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read another series by Karina Bliss before and enjoyed it enough that when the opportunity to read an ARC came up for another series of hers, I decided to do it. Though the story had a lot of great elements that pulled me into reading it, I will admit getting through the beginning was a bit tough. I was tempted to put it down, but something drove me to keep going. In the end, I was glad to stick with it, but for the majority of the story I wanted to shake the characters and tell them both to stop being so stubborn! There was definitely a bit of a slow burn between the main characters, Christian and Kezia. However, with their complicated pasts, it made total sense why it was so hard for them to make up and get back together again. This story dealt with what happens when hearts are broken, and that when trust is shattered. But there is hope as well. Hope that one can let go of the past and let yourself be vulnerable to someone else. Hope that love will triumph the bad and that you take a chance and fight for it when it is real. And it wasn't just their story but for them but some side characters as well. Despite wanting to shake Christian and Kezia and tell them to let go of their pride, their banter and chemistry was entertaining and the introduction of Christian's friends, definitely tempts me to read their stories (seeing as the next two books follows them). If you like her work, then I believe giving this story a chance is worth it.

I received an ARC for an honest review.

[Christine (KizzieReads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a bit slow and dry up until the last 3 chapters or so. Christian comes back for a funeral only to find out that his ex-girlfriend's grandmother had over mortgaged the hotel she owned and left to her granddaughter upon her death. Christian wants to help out financially, but as per the will, cannot. Kezia and Christian have to try and find a way to get out of debt thanks to her grandmother.

I'm really getting tired of the over martyred female main character. I understand not wanting to stand in anyone's way in order for them to reach their dreams, but Kezia takes it upon herself to feel guilt over everything, to the point that you are continually rolling your eyes when she does it yet again. The one part I did like, were Christian's friends and their dynamic with each other. I was laughing when they were around.

[Emilye · Rating 4 out of 5]

LostBoys1 4.5 ⭐️

Christian Kelly cries at funerals, to his dismay and embarrassment, but at least he has shades for this one. He has come home to remember the elderly woman who accepted his IOU for helping him stay at home with an abusive father rather than thrown on the mercies of the foster system. But that is only one of the secrets being hoarded in this story.

Kezia Rose is scrambling to hold onto the only security in her life - Nana’s hotel. But that panic is so buried in do-goodership, that she can’t see she is drowning. The child of missionaries, who value aiding the second world, she was sent home to Nana when she failed them by contracting an hemorrhagic disease. They didn’t even bring her home, but sent her.

There are lots of hard truths that get unearthed in this story. Not all of them get addressed, but the major ones get aired; and that’s all one can ask of life lessons. Good writing.

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grabbed this book, seeing it's set in New Zealand. Nothing pisses me off more than reading a book set in my home country with US spelling. Color vs colour. Check book vs cheque book, tires vs tyres, etc, etc. Why do that? Would a US author use NZ/Brit spelling? I doubt it.

Gripe aside, this story is reasonably engaging. However, it suffers from some head-hopping and way too much angst for this reader.

[Shae · Rating 2 out of 5]

This read was just meh for me. The Matchmaker from beyond the grave trope fell a little flat for me, because it was wrapped up in so many other tropes that I don't particularly enjoy. This one was just a fail for me. I didn't enjoy either character, and some of the things that happened were WAY TOO FAR from the realm of reality for me to enjoy, since this is a contemporary novel.
Someone else may have better luck with this story than me, but this one was just a fail for my reading tastes.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

How was that hotel in business before she inherited it? It sounded like a total dump in the middle of nowhere. I liked the drama with her best friend. It gave more depth to the story. Both of the main characters got over their hangups pretty fast at the end. I didn't like how she was driving recklessly through town, especially without knowing where the guy was. She should have trusted him enough to wait for him to come back.

[Joanna Macaulay · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay, but I almost gave up reading the story.

The characters were well developed, but for some reason I didn't like them much. They often seemed to have a drink in their hand and mostly seemed angry. The heroine seemed to love the hero against her will. I liked the interactions with the little boy the best. He added some humor to the story.

[Catherine Geist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet and fun to read

This book was a fantastic. The story was fantastic.Christian &Kezia kept you guessing what they were going to do next. It took a long time,but they got everything straightened out with a happy ending.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good romance about people and how your past influences your future

I enjoyed the storyline. Very good dialogue. The right amount of romance and sex. The stories of the main characters were well-written and interesting. The book drew me in and made me keep reading.

[Greg Dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr imperfect list boys 1

A good read for people who are in to the series recommend highly can't wait for the next one of the series a really enjoyable read but quick shaping up to be a enjoyable series must read the next one of the series

[K.T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked both the main characters. Her flaw of always fixing everyone's problems started to really grate on me until I recognised myself. Very much a hit and miss romance with lots of twists and turns to get to the ending. No hint of disappointment.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read

Enjoyable read and liked all the characters, however felt that kezias character wavered a lot to the point i found her annoying. One minute with a backbone then just gave in to everyone. That said good romance but had so much more potential. Off to read the next book.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love all of the angst and guilt and pining! For some reason this romance was more compelling than I thought it would be. I basically finished it in a day. Quick read, good characters.

[Kris Kuebel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining

This story was sad and funny and a bit too dragged out but I liked the dialogue. If either character had not been so stubborn...