Book Shelf: Beautiful Oblivion (The Maddox Brothers #1) by Jamie McGuire

Fiercely independent Camille "Cami" Camlin gladly moved on from her childhood before it was over. She has held down a job since before she could drive, and moved into her own apartment after her freshman year of college. Now tending bar at The Red Door, Cami doesn’t have time for much else besides work and classes, until a trip to see her boyfriend is cancelled, leaving her with a first weekend off in almost a year.

Trenton Maddox was the king of Eastern State University, dating co-eds before he even graduated high school. His friends wanted to be him, and women wanted to tame him, but after a tragic accident turned his world upside down, Trenton leaves campus to come to grips with the crushing guilt.

Eighteen months later, Trenton is living at home with his widower father, and works full-time at a local tattoo parlor to help with the bills. Just when he thinks his life is returning to normal, he notices Cami sitting alone at a table at The Red.

As the baby sister of four rowdy brothers, Cami believes she’ll have no problem keeping her new friendship with Trenton Maddox strictly platonic. But when a Maddox boy falls in love, he loves forever—even if she is the only reason their already broken family could fall apart.

More info on Goodreads......


Review:

Readers found themselves falling in love with Travis when we witnessed his and Abby’s tale in Beautiful Disaster and Walking Disaster. Now it’s time to meet a different Maddox as Jamie McGuire kicks off her brand new Maddox Brothers series with Beautiful Oblivion, a stunning love story featuring Trenton Maddox and the woman whose heart he sets out to win!

I have to say, Jamie McGuire is wholeheartedly the reason I read New Adult fiction. Considering it was the first NA book I ever read, if it wasn’t for Beautiful Disaster I may never have found myself a reader of this genre. However thanks to the sensational writing style and character development I discovered in that one book, I’m now a fan of NA and more than ecstatic that McGuire has decided to dedicate an entire series to the other Maddox boys.

Told through the eyes of Camille “Cami” Camlin, Beautiful Oblivion follows the fierce bartender as she slowly gets to know Trenton Maddox, one of the more prominent Maddox brothers we briefly met in Beautiful Disaster & Walking Disaster. Starting out as friends, Cami is unable to deny that the contradictive and alluring Trent makes her feel the kind of things she shouldn’t be feeling with someone who has a boyfriend, and soon Cami is realizing that maybe the person who is right for her might be someone she wasn’t expecting.

Honestly, I really love the way Jamie McGuire writes her novels. They’re wonderfully written and even though it’s NA, she doesn’t focus too heavily on the sexual relationships of her characters, instead choosing to explore other aspects of their lives and relationships together. Don’t get me wrong, they ooze sexual tension and do feature the kinds of naughty scenes we all love, but that also allow us to get to know the characters based on elements other than their sex lives.

As the protagonist, I really liked Cami. She was a little rough around the edges, but a real gem at her base. McGuire does a great job giving Cami her own personality and drive and I loved that she was willing to stand up to Trent. This is a girl capable of standing on her own two feet and despite the difficult upbringing she had, she’s managed to come out okay. Having read both Beautiful Disaster and Walking Disaster, I will admit I longed for the opportunity to experience things through Trenton’s eyes in this book. Trent was a big mystery to me heading into the novel and I’m sad to admit he still is in a lot of ways. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing; I would just have loved the opportunity to get to know him a little bit more. Although admittedly, I’ve loved what I’ve seen so far.

Beautiful Oblivion is very much a tangled web of emotions with our main character Cami in a long distance relationship, but slowly developing feelings for Trent. I thought McGuire did a superb job making this as complicated as possible, especially with the extra twist at the end. Personally I did see it coming and think most people will be quick to put two and two together, but it does make me excited for the next Maddox Brothers book more so than before!

I do feel like there are some loose ends that need to be tied up after Beautiful Oblivion, the first being T.J. for obvious reasons. The second is actually Cami’s family. McGuire depicts a very complicated dynamic between Cami and her family, with her family very dysfunctional and not in a good way. There’s so much anger and pettiness from them at times, but I do see a lot of potential for development and resolution where Cami’s brothers are concerned. Perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself but I wouldn’t mind a Camlin Brothers series when the Maddox Brothers concludes in the distant future. Just a thought.......

Rich in romance, humor and sexual tension, Beautiful Oblivion introduces the next step in Jamie McGuire’s writing career and introduces us to even more complex, layered and intriguing characters. A great introduction to the Maddox Brothers series—I’m very eager to see what McGuire has in store for us next!

Rating:
Source: Sent for review by Simon & Schuster (Thank you Jen!)
Format: Paperback
Buy it: Bookworld | The Nile | The Book Depository | Amazon
My Recommendation: This is an excellent NA read and not to be missed!
Cover: It's an enticing cover and very interesting
Will I read sequel/continue with series: Yes!