If you walk into my office, it takes you about 15 seconds to get a sense of how serious I am about reading. Three bookcases are overflowing with hard and soft covers, new releases tucked in among original printings of classic novels. I won’t even take people near my storage unit, which hides boxes and boxes of those books that haven’t made it to the cases I can fit into my condo. My even guiltier secret? When I travel for business, I always buy two books in the airport bookstore – because I WILL go through them both (especially on cross-country trips), and I need a backup plan in case the first book I pick up is just not interesting (I’m so grateful for the new swap program that many airport shops have now!)

I judge the quality of a book based on three things – 1. Plot depth and believability, 2. Attention to detail, and the writer’s ability to draw me into the characters, and 3. Whether or not I can put it down. With as busy as my schedule has been, finding a book that will keep me glued is next to impossible. This is why I was thrilled when I had the chance to review Beautiful Disaster, the debut novel by Laura Spinella.

Summary:

A story of love lost… and found.

Mia Wells’s eco-friendly career goals are about to become a reality—but her life-altering moment is interrupted when an unexpected call ushers in her tremulous past. A man who’s never left Mia’s memory: Flynn, the enigmatic, passionate man whose disappearance broke her heart, has mysteriously resurfaced.

Now back in her life and in the hospital, Flynn is gravely injured. Mia keeps a bedside vigil—terrified that he will die, awestruck at the prospect of his survival. In a story filled with sweetness and suspense, Mia’s what-ifs are endless. And Flynn’s return ignites an achingly powerful tale about the most enduring love, one that is greater than honor, or friendship, or the passing of time.

This story of love and second chances features Mia – an interior designer of wealthy, upper-class upbringing who seems to have it all: a blossoming design business on the verge of national success, the perfect husband, the ideal New England home and long-time, close friends. However, early on, we learn about “the one that got away,” who has made a sudden re-appearance in Mia’s life after a tragic motorcycle accident lands him in her local hospital, on the verge of death, more than a decade after disappearing from her life.

The back story is filled in as Mia keeps a bedside vigil, anxiously awaiting a turn for the better (and, let’s face it ladies, a chance to rip him a new one for disappearing from her life) and the reader gets a front row seat to the unraveling of her personal life around her – the problems that arise in her marriage, the tensions that grow between Mia and her best friend (and college roommate), who never approved of her college beau.

We’re taken back to our own college days through Mia’s flashbacks – from the day a mysterious, “bad boy” drifter showed up in her quiet, simple life, the one night stand that should have been her wild night out but actually turned into a lifelong love, and the tumultuous relationship that the drifter – Flynn, and Mia shared throughout her time in school. We see her always protective, often overbearing, best friend, Roxanne, and the introduction of her future husband, Michael.

The ending is not only well-thought-out, but surprising. And this coming from someone whose goal it is to figure out the ending of every movie, every book, in the first 15 minutes.

I was immediately taken in by Spinella’s ability to create real, whole characters for her leads, Mia and Flynn – deeply flawed, but deeply human. Beyond those characters, Spinella fleshes out a supporting cast that draws you in and leaves you guessing – leaving no character two-dimensional, no character with just “good” or “evil” traits – down to the most insignificant players in Mia’s college years. Beyond her ability to flesh out the characters, the plot was real, intense, and her use of flashback kept me up until – no joke – 4:23 am because I couldn’t put down the book and wait until morning to read what happened next.

While I’m not a romance novel kinda gal, this book had enough action, suspense, and psychological drama to keep me turning page after page and wishing for more. Unlike many great books, this book also has commercial value – in addition to visualizing the entire book in my mind, I can see it translating well onto the screen – perhaps starring Rachel McAdams opposite some gruff, dark, handsome leading man? Keep your eyes on this one, Hollywood.