Blog Tour: Dead Perfect by P.G. Shriver (Review)

Title: Dead Perfect Author: P. G. Shriver Publication Date: February 13, 2002
Synopsis:
MEL

My lifelong dreams never included falling in love. Graduating top of the class, going to college somewhere far away and starting a life in a place where my alcoholic mother could never find me were the first three goals on my list. Then the unexpected auto accident with Mother, after her regular doses of vodka, altered all of that. With her gone, my life and my perspective changed forever. 

DAVIS 

Desperate to find Joanie so I could break free, I returned to my old school. The search led me to her, my Aphrodite, a familiar lost look in her soulful eyes. Fantasies of her forced reasoning from my mind. I had to meet her! Once fallen, would her love for me survive the ghostly secrets haunting us? 

My Thoughts:
Mel is eighteen years old and only a short time away from graduating high school and escaping her alcoholic mother. Then one morning her friend is unable to pick her up from school and Mel needs to get a ride from her mother. Unfortunately, this is a huge mistake. Mel's mother runs a stop sign and they are hit by a truck, killing her mother. Even though Mel and her mother never got along, she is still struggling with her loss. On her first day back at school from the accident, Mel sees Davis, a new student. They are immediately drawn to each other. As they get to know each other, it seems like Davis is keeping secrets from Mel and she is determined to find out what they are. Even if it means changing Mel's life forever. 

The Characters: The two main characters in this story are Mel and Davis. I immediately liked Mel and connected to her right away. She's had a hard time growing up with her alcoholic mother and I felt sad for her. Even so, she was very smart and took her education seriously. Even after her mother's death, Mel still continued to go to school every day and work hard. She had an incredible work ethic. Davis, on the other hand, took me a little longer. I liked him at first, but my feelings for him started to change once he met Mel. He came off kind of like a love sick puppy and somewhat stalker-ish. This changes as they get to know each other, but it bothered me.
The side characters in this story are also promising. Donna and Franky, Davis's sister and best friend, have a love/hate relationship and I enjoyed their banter. I would have liked to have had more time with Mel's friends Kath, Ruthie and Mags, they seemed like a lot of fun and cared about Mel quite a bit. 
The Setting: A lot of Davis and Mel's time together is spent running or just walking around their town. The author did a fantastic job describing the town and other surroundings so we get a very clear picture in our mind. I can fully picture Mel's house and even Davis's beauty of a car. 
The Storyline: I hate to say it but I knew exactly how this story was going to go. Ok, maybe not exactly, but I did have it pretty much figured out from the beginning. Because of this, I played special attention to some scenes and conversations so that when it came out that what I thought was true was in fact true, I wouldn't have to go back and be like "wait, what?" But even so, some things still didn't add up for me. I haven't gone back to reread those areas yet, so hopefully when I do I will see what I missed. 
Even so, the story is very good, I didn't want to put this book down. In fact, I carried my Nook around everywhere I went hoping I would get just a few minutes here and there to read more. There are a few twists here and there that are sure to get your blood flowing and you turning those pages faster and faster. I will warn you that there is a somewhat case of insta-love here, but it doesn't take away from the story.
The Writing: P.G. Shriver is definitely one talented author. She really knows what she is doing and how to suck you right into a story. There wasn't a dull page in this book from start to finish. The story starts somewhat quickly with the accident and progresses evenly throughout. The personal stories of Mel and Davis are very interesting, and the relationship between the two is refreshing. Shriver does an exception job portraying their thoughts and feelings in a very true and believable way.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. In fact, I wouldn't be angry to find out if this was the beginning of a series. If you are looking for a refreshing new read and love a good twist (and a little romance!) then this book is definitely for you!

About The Author:
Born in California, and raised in Minnesota and Texas, P.G. spent her early years writing poetry and winning poetry contests, while escaping the drama in her own childhood by reading great books for children. Ever since her earliest days, she loved story telling. She wrote numerous short stories in High School and her early college years, continually trying to relive that first experience at the age of seven of seeing her name in print in the local newspaper.  
P.G. sought her education at the University of Texas, where she studied English, literature, and Education. During the entire process of earning her BA and M.Ed, she never stopped writing and trying to be published.  It was during this time that her first children's book No More Stinkbugs!  was accepted for publication by Castle Keep Press. Many of her stories develop from nature.
P.G. graduated college and began her career in education, another great world that offered real experiences to humor and delight through children's books. She watched children interact, bringing to surface her own experiences as a child and yet more events to write about. While teaching, she discovered many great books for young people, such as The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963, Maniac Magee, So. B. It and many more. She is a fan of Dean Koontz novels, too, and loves reading fantasy and paranormal books.
P.G. was married 20 years in March 2012 and has a bright, young daughter who has begun her own college career. She lives on a small farm in Texas with her family and animals. P.G. has experienced great love and loss throughout her life. Those her family has lost have dedications in her books.
P.G. has two young adult books published, Dead Perfect and The Gifted Ones: The Fairytale the first book in The Gifted Ones Trilogy. She also has several children's books written under Gean Penny, her pseudonym.  P. G. has since dissolved her contract for her first book with Castle Keep Press and moved the title to her own imprint, Gean Penny Books.

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*I received this book for free in exchange of my honest review. This did not influence my opinion in any way and all views and opinions expressed are 100% my own.