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.
Zachary Benedict was an actor/director whose Academy Award-winning career had been shattered when he was wrongly convicted of murdering his wife. After the tall, ruggedly handsome Zack escaped from a Texas prison, he abducted Julie and forced her to drive him to his Colorado mountain hideout. She was outraged, cautious, and unable to ignore the instincts that whispered of his innocence. He was cynical, wary, and increasingly attracted to her. Passion was about to capture them both in its fierce embrace...but the journey to trust, true commitment, and proving Zack's innocence was just beginning....
With more than eight million copies of her novels in print, Judith McNaught has soared to the top ranks of big-time romantic fiction. Here is the story of a woman who has created the perfect life out of childhood chaos, and the convicted criminal with whom she journeys into the wilds of Colorado. Together, they explore the most tender longings of the human heart.
Judith McNaught is the New York Times bestselling author who first soared to stardom with her stunning bestseller Whitney, My Love, and went on to win the hearts of millions of readers with Once and Always, Something Wonderful, A Kingdom of Dreams, Almost Heaven, Paradise, Perfect, Until You, Remember When, Someone to Watch Over Me, the #1 bestseller Night Whispers, and other novels. There are more than thirty million copies of her books in print. She lives in Houston.
McNaught first clicked with the reading public when her book Whitney My Love (considered by many to be the first full-length Regency historical novel) was published as a paperback original in 1985, promptly winning the Romantic Times Award for Best New Historical Novel. As a result of her newfound fame, two previously published romantic tales were reissued with commercial success. By the 1990s, McNaught had switched to contemporary romance, and with 1998's Night Whispers, she segued into romantic suspense, an area she has honed to polished perfection.
A spectacular storyteller with legions of loyal fans, McNaught proves her chops with each successive book. Honors and awards have followed in a steady stream. In addition to the Affaire de Coeur Golden Pen Certificate, she has received a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award honoring her entire body of work. Hers was the first romance novel ever chosen as a main selection by the Book-of-the-Month Club; and her titles consistently turn up on The New York Times bestseller list.
In between books, McNaught devotes herself to several charities and is active in the promotion of women's literacy.
Chapter 1
1978
"I'm Mrs. Borowski from the LaSalle Foster Care facility," the middle-aged woman announced as she marched across the Oriental carpet toward the receptionist,
a shopping bag from Woolworth's over her arm. Gesturing toward the petite eleven-year-old who trailed along behind her, she added coldly, "And this is Julie Smith. She's here to see Dr. Theresa Wilmer. I'll come back for her after I finish my shopping."
The receptionist smiled at the youngster. "Dr. Wilmer will be with you in a little while, Julie. In the meantime, you can sit over there and fill out as much of this card as you can. I forgot to give it to you when you were here before."
Self-consciously aware of her shabby jeans and grubby jacket, Julie glanced uneasily at the elegant waiting room where fragile porcelain figurines reposed on an antique coffee table and valuable bronze sculptures were displayed on marble stands. Giving the table with its fragile knick-knacks a wide berth, she headed for a chair beside a huge aquarium where exotic goldfish with flowing fins swam leisurely among lacy greenery. Behind her, Mrs. Borowski poked her head back into the room and warned the receptionist, "Julie will steal anything that isn't nailed down. She's sneaky and quick, so you better watch her like a hawk."
Drowning in humiliated anger, Julie slumped down in the chair, then she stretched her legs straight out in front of her in a deliberate attempt to appear utterly bored and unaffected by Mrs. Borowski's horrible remarks, but her effect was spoiled by the bright red flags of embarrassed color that stained her cheeks and the fact that her legs couldn't reach the floor.
After a moment she wriggled up from the uncomfortable position and looked with dread at the card the receptionist had given her to complete. Knowing she'd not be able to figure out the words, she gave it a try anyway. Her tongue clenched between her teeth, she concentrated fiercely on the printing on the card. The first word began with an N like the word NO on the NO PARKING signs that lined the streets — she knew what those signs said because one of her friends had told her. The next letter on the card was an a, like the one in cat, but the word wasn't cat. Her hand tightened on the yellow pencil as she fought back the familiar feelings of frustration and angry despair that swamped her whenever she was expected to read something. She'd learned the word cat in first grade, but nobody ever wrote that word anywhere! Glowering at the incomprehensible words on the card, she wondered furiously why teachers taught kids to read dumb words like cat when nobody ever wrote cat anywhere except in stupid books for first graders.
But the books weren't stupid, Julie reminded herself, and neither were the teachers. Other kids her age could probably have read this dumb card in a blink! She was the one who couldn't read a word on it, she was the one who was stupid.
On the other hand, Julie told herself, she knew a whole lot about things that other kids knew nothing about, because she made a point of noticing things. And one of the things she'd noticed was that when people handed you something to fill out, they almost always expected you to write your name on it...
With painstaking neatness, she printed J-u-l-i-e-S-m-i-t-h across the top half of the card, then she stopped, unable to fill out any more of the spaces. She felt herself getting angry again and rather than feeling bad about this silly piece of paper, she decided to think of something nice, like the feeling of wind on her face in springtime. She was conjuring a vision of herself stretched out beneath a big leafy tree, watching squirrels scampering in the branches overhead, when the receptionist's pleasant voice made her head snap up in guilty alarm.
"Is something wrong with your pencil, Julie?"
Julie dug the lead point against her jeans and snapped it off. "The lead's broken."
"Here's another — "
"My hand is sore today," she lied, lurching to her feet. "I don't feel like writing. And I have to go to the bathroom. Where is it?"
"Right beside the elevators. Dr. Wilmer will be ready to see you pretty soon. Don't be gone too long."
"I won't," Julie dutifully replied. After closing the office door behind her, she turned to look up at the name on it and carefully studied the first few letters so she'd be able to recognize this particular door when she came back. "P," she whispered aloud so she wouldn't forget, "S. Y." Satisfied, she headed down the long, carpeted hall, turned left at the end of it, and made a right by the water fountain, but when she finally came to the elevators, she discovered there were two doors there with words on them. She was almost positive these were the bathrooms because, among the bits of knowledge she'd carefully stored away was the fact that bathroom doors in big buildings usually had a different kind of handle than ordinary office doors. The problem was that neither of these doors said BOYS or GIRLS — two words she could recognize, nor did they have those nice stick figures of a man and woman that told people like her which bathroom to use. Very cautiously, Julie put her hand on one of the doors, eased it open a crack, and peeked inside. She backed up in a hurry when she spotted those funny-looking toilets on the wall because there were two other things she knew that she doubted other girls knew: Men used weird-looking toilets. And they went a little crazy if a girl opened the door while they were doing it. Julie opened the other door and trooped into the right bathroom.
Conscious of time passing, she left the bathroom and hurriedly retraced her steps until she neared the part of the corridor where Dr. Wilmer's office should have been, then she began laboriously studying the names on the doors. Dr. Wilmer's name began with a P-S-Y. She spied a P-E-T on the next door, decided she'd remembered the letters wrong, and quickly shoved it open. An unfamiliar, gray-haired woman looked up from her typewriter. "Yes?"
"Sorry, wrong room," Julie mumbled, flushing. "Do you know where Dr. Wilmer's office is?"
"Dr. Wilmer?"
"Yes, you know — Wilmer — it starts with a P-S-Y!"
"P-S-Y...Oh, you must mean Psychological Associates! That's suite twenty-five-sixteen, down the hall."
Normally, Julie would have pretended to understand and continued going into offices until she found the right one, but she was too worried about being late now to pretend. "Would you spell that out for me?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"The numbers!" she said desperately. "Spell them out like this: three — six — nine — four — two. Say it that way."
The woman looked at her like she was an idiot, which Julie knew she was, but she hated it when other people noticed. After an irritated sigh, the woman said, "Dr. Wilmer is in suite two — five — one — six."
"Two — five — one — six," Julie repeated.
"That's the fourth door on the left," she added.
"Well!" Julie cried in frustration. "Why didn't you just say that in the first place!"
Dr. Wilmer's receptionist looked up when Julie walked in. "Did you get lost, Julie?"
"Me? No way!" Julie lied with an emphatic shake of her curly head as she returned to her chair. Unaware that she was being observed through what looked like an ordinary mirror, she turned her attention to the aquarium beside her chair. The first thing she noticed was that one of the beautiful fish had died and that two others were swimming around it as if contemplating eating it. Automatically, she tapped her finger on the glass to scare them away, but a moment later they returned. "There's a dead fish in there," she told the receptionist, trying to sound only slightly concerned. "I could take it out for you."
"The cleaning people will remove it tonight, but thank you for offering."
Julie swallowed an irate protest at what she felt was needless cruelty to the dead fish. It wasn't right for anything so wonderfully beautiful and so helpless to be left in there like that. Picking up a magazine from the coffee table, she pretended to look at it, but from the corner of her eye she kept up her surveillance of the two predatory fish. Each time they returned to prod and poke their deceased comrade, she stole a glance at the receptionist to make sure she wasn't watching, then Julie reached out as casually as possible and
tapped the glass to scare them off.
A few feet away, in her office on the other side of the two-way mirror, Dr. Theresa Wilmer watched the entire little scenario, her eyes alight with a knowing smile as she watched Julie's gallant attempt to protect a dead fish while maintaining a facade of indifference for the sake of the receptionist. Glancing at the man beside her, another psychiatrist who'd recently begun donating some of his time to her special project, Dr. Wilmer said wryly, "There she is, 'Julie the terrible,' the adolescent terror who some foster care officials have judged to be not only 'learning-disabled,' but unmanageable, a bad influence on her peers, and also 'a troublemaker bound for juvenile delinquency.' Did you know," she continued, her voice taking on a shade of amused admiration, "that she actually organized a hunger strike at LaSalle? She talked forty-five children, most of whom were older than she, into going along with her to demand better food."
Dr. John Frazier peered through the two-way mirror at the little girl. "I suppose she did that because she had an underlying need to challenge authority?"
"No," Dr. Wilmer replied dryly, "she did it because she had an underlying need for better food. The food at LaSalle is nutritious but tasteless. I sampled some."
Frazier flashed a startled look at his associate. "What about her thefts? You can't ignore that problem so easily."
Leaning her shoulder against the wall, Terry tipped her head to the child in the waiting room and said with a smile, "Have you ever heard of Robin Hood?"
"Of course. Why?"
"Because you're looking at a modern-day adolescent version of Robin Hood out there. Julie can filch the gold right out of your teeth without your knowing it, she's that quick."
"I hardly think that's a recommendation for sending her to live with your unsuspecting Texas cousins, which is what I understand you intend to do."
Dr. Wilmer shrugged. "Julie steals food or clothing or playthings, but she doesn't keep anything. She gives her booty to the younger kids at LaSalle."
"You're certain?"
"Positive. I've checked it out."
A reluctant smile tugged at John Frazier's lips as he studied the little girl. "She looks more like a Peter Pan than a Robin Hood. She's not at all what I expected, based on her file."
"She surprised me, too," Dr. Wilmer admitted. According to Julie's file, the director of the LaSalle Foster Care Facility, where she now resided, had deemed her to be "a discipline problem with a predilection for truancy, trouble making, theft, and hanging around with unsavory mate companions." After a the unfavorable comments in Julie's file, Dr. Wilmer had fully expected Julie Smith to be a belligerent, hardened girl whose constant association with young males probably indicated early physical development and even sexual activity. For that reason, she'd nearly gaped at Julie when the child sauntered into her office two months ago, looking like a grubby little pixie in jeans and a tattered sweatshirt, with short-cropped dark, curly hair. Instead of the budding femme fatale Dr. Wilmer had expected, Julie Smith had a beguiling gamin face that was dominated by an enormous pair of thick-lashed eyes the startling color of dark blue pansies. In contrast to that piquant little face and innocently beguiling eyes, there was a boyish bravado in the way she'd stood in front of Dr. Wilmer's desk that first day with her small chin thrust out and her hands jammed into the back pockets of her jeans.
Theresa had been captivated at that first meeting, but her fascination with Julie had begun even before that — almost from the moment she'd opened her file at home one night and began reading her responses to the battery of tests that was part of the evaluating process that Theresa herself had recently developed. By the time she was finished, Theresa had a firm grasp of the workings of the child's facile mind as well as the depth of her pain and the details of her current plight: Abandoned by her birth parents and rejected by two sets of adoptive parents, Julie had been reduced to spending her childhood on the fringes of the Chicago slums in a succession of overcrowded foster homes. As a result, throughout her life, her only source of real human warmth and support came from her companions — grubby, unkempt kids like herself whom she philosophically regarded as "her own kind," kids who taught her to filch goods from stores and, later, to cut school with them. Her quick mind and quicker fingers had made Julie so good at both that no matter how often she was shuffled off to a new foster home, she almost immediately achieved a certain popularity and respect among her peers, so much so that a few months ago, a group of boys had condescended to demonstrate to her the various techniques they used for breaking into cars and hot-wiring them — a demonstration that resulted in the entire group of them being busted by an alert Chicago cop, including Julie, who was merely an observer.
That day had marked Julie's first arrest, and although Julie didn't know it, it also marked Julie's first real "break" because it ultimately brought her to Dr. Wilmer's attention. After being — somewhat unjustly — arrested for attempted auto theft, Julie was put into Dr. Wilmer's new, experimental program that included an intensive battery of psychological tests, intelligence tests, and personal interviews and evaluations conducted by Dr. Wilmer's group of volunteer psychiatrists and psychologists. The program was intended to divert juveniles in the care of the state from a life of delinquency and worse.
In Julie's case, Dr. Wilmer was adamantly committed to doing exactly that, and as everyone who knew her was aware, when Dr. Wilmer set her mind on a goal, she accomplished it. At thirty-five, Terry Wilmer had a pleasant, refined bearing, a kind smile, and a will of iron. In addition to her impressive assortment of medical degrees and a family tree that read like The Social Register, she had three other special attributes in great abundance. intuition, compassion, and total dedication. With the tireless fervor of a true evangelist dedicated to saving wayward souls, Theresa Wilmer had abandoned her thriving private practice and was now dedicated to saving those helpless adolescent victims of an overcrowded, underfunded state foster care system. To achieve her goals, Dr Wilmer was shamelessly willing to exploit every tool at her disposal, including recruiting support from among her colleagues like John Frazier. In Julie's case, she'd even enlisted the aid of distant cousins, who were far from wealthy but who had room in their home, and hopefully in their soft hearts, for one very special little girl.
"I wanted you to have a peek at her," Terry said. She reached out to draw the draperies over the glass, just as Julie suddenly stood up, looked desperately at the fish tank, and plunged both her hands into the water.
"What the hell — " John Frazier began, then he watched in stunned silence as the girl marched toward the preoccupied receptionist with the dead fish cradled in her dripping hands.
Julie knew she shouldn't get water on the carpet, but she couldn't stand to see anything as beautiful as this fish with its long, flowing fins being mangled by the others. Not certain whether the receptionist was unaware of her or simply ignoring her, she walked up close behind her chair. "Excuse me," she blurted in an overloud voice, holding out her hands.
The receptionist, who was thoroughly engrossed in her typing, gave a nervous start, swung around in her chair, and emitted a choked scream at the sight of a shining, dripping fish directly in front of her nose.
Julie took a cautious step backward but persevered. "It's dead," she said boldly, fighting to keep her voice empty of the sentimental pity she felt. "The other fish are going to eat it, and I don't want to watch. It's gross. If you'll give me a piece of paper, I'll wrap it up and you can put it in your trash can."
Recovering from her shock, the receptionist carefully suppressed a smile, opened her desk drawer, and removed several tissues, which she handed to the child. "Would you like to take it with you and bury it at home?"
Julie would have liked to do exactly that, but she thought she heard amusement in the woman's voice, and so she hastily wrapped the fish in its tissue-paper shroud and thrust it at her instead. "I'm not that stupid, you know. This is just a fish, not a rabbit or something special like that."
On the other side of the window, Frazier chuckled softly and shook his head. "She's dying to give that fish a formal burial, but her pride won't let her admit it." Sobering, he added, "What about her learning disabilities? As I recall, she's only at a second-grade level."
Dr. Wilmer gave an indelicate snort at that and reached for a manila folder on her desk containing the results of the battery of tests Julie had recently been given. Holding the open file toward him she said with a smile, "Take a look at her scores when the intelligence tests are administered orally and she's not required to read."
John Frazier complied and gave a low laugh. "The kid's got a higher IQ than I do."
"Julie is a special child in a lot of ways, John. I saw glimpses of it when I reviewed her file, but when I met her face-to-face, I knew it was true. She's feisty, brave, sensitive, and very smart. Under all that bravado of hers, there's a rare kind of gentleness, an unquenchable hope, and quixotic optimism that she clings to even though it's being demolished by ugly reality. She can't improve her own lot in life, and so she's unconsciously dedicated herself to protecting the kids in whatever foster care facility she's put into. She steals for them and lies for them and organizes them into hunger strikes, and they follow wherever she leads as if she were the Pied Piper. At eleven years old, she's a born leader, but if she isn't diverted very quickly, some of her methods are going to land her in a juvenile detention center and eventually prison. And that's not even the worst of her problems right now."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that despite all her wonderful attributes, that little girl's self-esteem is so low, it's almost nonexistent. Because she's been passed over for adoption, she's convinced she's worthless and unlovable. Because she can't read as well as her peers, she's convinced she's completely stupid and can't learn. And the most terrifying part of it is that she's on the verge of giving up. She's a dreamer, but she's clinging to her dreams by a thread." With unintentional force, Terry finished, "I will not let all Julie's potential, her hope, her optimism, go to waste."
Dr. Frazier's brows shot up at her tone. "Forgive me for bringing this up, Terry, but aren't you the one who used to preach about not getting too personally involved with a patient?"
With a rueful smile, Dr. Wilmer leaned against her desk, but she didn't deny it. "It was easier to follow that rule when all my patients were kids from wealthy families who think they're 'underprivileged' if they don't get a $50,000 sports car on their sixteenth birthday. Wait until you've done more work with kids like Julie — kids who are dependent on the 'system' that we set up to provide for them and have somehow fallen through the cracks in that same system. You'll lose sleep over them, even if you've never done it before."
"I suppose you're right," he said with a sigh, as he handed back the manila folder. "Out of curiosity, why hasn't she been adopted by someone?"
Teresa shrugged. "Mostly, it's been a combination of bad luck and bad timing. According to her file at the Department of Children and Family Services, she was abandoned in an alley when she was only a few hours old. Hospital records indicate she was born ten weeks prematurely and because of that and because of the poor condition she was in when she was brought to the hospital, there was a long series of health complications until she was seven years old, during which time she was repeatedly hospitalized and very frail.
"The Family Services people found adoptive parents for her when she was two years old, but in the middle of the adoption proceedings, the couple decided to get a divorce, and they dumped her back into the arms of Family Services. A few weeks later, she was placed again with another couple who'd been screened as carefully as humanly possible, but Julie came down with pneumonia, and the new couple — who'd lost their own child at Julie's age — went completely to pieces emotionally and pulled out of the adoption. Afterward, she was placed with a foster family for what was only to be a temporary time, but a few weeks later, Julie's case worker was seriously injured in an accident and never returned to work. From then on it was the proverbial 'comedy of errors.' Julie's file got misplaced — "
"Her what!?" he uttered in disbelief.
"Don't judge the Family Services people too harshly, which I can see you're doing. For the most part, they're extremely dedicated and conscientious, but they're only human. Given how overworked and underfinanced they are, it's amazing they do as well as they do. In any event, to make a long story short, the foster parents had a houseful of kids to look after, and they assumed Family Services couldn't find adoptive parents for Julie because she wasn't very healthy. By the time Family Services realized she'd gotten lost in their shuffle, Julie was five, and she'd passed the age of greatest appeal to adoptive parents. She also had a history of poor health, and when she was removed from the foster home and placed in another, she promptly came down with a series of asthma attacks. She missed large chunks of first and second grade, but she was "such a good little girl" the teachers promoted her from one grade to the next anyway. Her new foster parents already had three physically handicapped children in their care, and they were so busy looking after those children that they didn't notice Julie wasn't keeping up in school, particularly because she was getting passing grades. By fourth grade, though, Julie herself realized she couldn't do the work, and she started pretending to be ill so that she could stay home. When her foster parents caught on, they insisted she go to school, so Julie took the next obvious route to avoid it — she started cutting school and hanging around with kids on the street as often as she could. As I said earlier, she's feisty, daring, and quick — they taught her how to snitch merchandise from stores and avoid being picked up as a truant.
"You know most of the rest: Eventually she did get picked up for truancy and shoplifting and was sent to the LaSalle facility, which is where kids who aren't doing well in the foster care system are sent. A few months ago, she got busted — unfairly, I think — along with a group of older boys who were demonstrating to her their particular prowess with hot-wiring cars." With a muffled laugh, Terry finished, "Julie was merely a fascinated observer, but she knows how to do it. She offered to demonstrate for me. Can you imagine — that tiny girl with those enormous, innocent eyes can actually start your car without a key! She wouldn't try to steal it though. As I said, she only takes things the kids at LaSalle can use."
With a meaningful grin, Frazier tipped his head toward the glass. "I assume they can 'use' one red pencil, a ballpoint, and a fistful of candy."
"What?"
"In the time you've been talking to me, your prize patient has filched all that from the reception room."
"Good God!" said Dr. Wilmer but without any real concern as she stared through the glass.
"She's quick enough to do sleight-of-hand tricks," Frazier added with reluctant admiration. "I'd get her in here before she figures out a way to get that aquarium out the door. I'll bet the kids at LaSalle would love some exotic tropical fish."
Glancing at her watch, Dr. Wilmer said, "The Mathisons are supposed to call me right about now from Texas to tell me exactly when they'll be ready to take her. I want to be able to tell Julie everything when she comes in here." As she spoke, the intercom on her desk buzzed and the receptionist's voice said, "Mrs. Mathison is on the phone, Dr. Wilmer."
"That's the call," Terry told him happily.
John Frazier glanced at his own watch. "I'm having my first session with Cara Peterson in a few minutes." He started toward the connecting door that opened into his office, paused with his hand on the knob, and said with a grin, "It's just occurred to me that the distribution of workload in your program is grossly unjust. I mean," he joked, "you get to work with a girl who filches candy and pencils to give to the poor, while you give me Cara Anderson who tried to kill her foster father. You get Robin Hood and I get Lizzie Borden."
"You love a challenge," Theresa Wilmer replied, laughing, but as she reached for the phone, she added, "I'm going to ask the Family Services people to transfer Mrs. Borowski out of LaSalle and into an area where she'll only be involved with infants and small children. I've worked with her before, and she's excellent with them because they're cuddly and they don't break rules. She shouldn't be dealing with adolescents. She can't distinguish between minor adolescent rebellion and juvenile delinquency."
"You aren't by any chance getting revenge on her because she told your receptionist that Julie will steal anything she can get her hands on?"
"No," Dr. Wilmer said as she picked up the phone. "But that was a good example of what I meant."
When she finished her call, Dr. Wilmer got up and walked to her office door, looking forward to the surprise she was about to deliver to Miss Julie Smith.
Copyright © 1993 by Eagle Syndications, Inc.
Chapter 1 1978 "I'm Mrs. Borowski from the LaSalle Foster Care facility," the middle-aged woman announced as she marched across the Oriental carpet toward the receptionist, a shopping bag from Woolworth's over her arm. Gesturing toward the petite eleven-year-old who trailed along behind her, she added coldly, "And this is Julie Smith. She's here to see Dr. Theresa Wilmer. I'll come back for her after I finish my shopping." The receptionist smiled at the youngster. "Dr. Wilmer will be with you in a little while, Julie. In the meantime, you can sit over there and fill out as much of this card as you can. I forgot to give it to you when you were here before." Self-consciously aware of her shabby jeans and grubby jacket, Julie glanced uneasily at the elegant waiting room where fragile porcelain figurines reposed on an antique coffee table and valuable bronze sculptures were displayed on marble stands. Giving the table with its fragile knick-knacks a wide berth, she headed for a chair beside a huge aquarium where exotic goldfish with flowing fins swam leisurely among lacy greenery. Behind her, Mrs. Borowski poked her head back into the room and warned the receptionist, "Julie will steal anything that isn't nailed down. She's sneaky and quick, so you better watch her like a hawk." Drowning in humiliated anger, Julie slumped down in the chair, then she stretched her legs straight out in front of her in a deliberate attempt to appear utterly bored and unaffected by Mrs. Borowski's horrible remarks, but her effect was spoiled by the bright red flags of embarrassed color that stained her cheeks and the fact that her legs couldn't reach the floor. After a moment she wriggled up from the uncomfortable position and looked with dread at the card the receptionist had given her to complete. Knowing she'd not be able to figure out the words, she gave it a try anyway. Her tongue clenched between her teeth, she concentrated fiercely on the printing on the card. The first word began with an N like the word NO on the NO PARKING signs that lined the streets -- she knew what those signs said because one of her friends had told her. The next letter on the card was an a, like the one in cat, but the word wasn't cat. Her hand tightened on the yellow pencil as she fought back the familiar feelings of frustration and angry despair that swamped her whenever she was expected to read something. She'd learned the word cat in first grade, but nobody ever wrote that word anywhere! Glowering at the incomprehensible words on the card, she wondered furiously why teachers taught kids to read dumb words like cat when nobody ever wrote cat anywhere except in stupid books for first graders. But the books weren't stupid, Julie reminded herself, and neither were the teachers. Other kids her age could probably have read this dumb card in a blink! She was the one who couldn't read a word on it, she was the one who was stupid. On the other hand, Julie told herself, she knew a whole lot about things that other kids knew nothing about, because she made a point of noticing things. And one of the things she'd noticed was that when people handed you something to fill out, they almost always expected you to write your name on it... With painstaking neatness, she printed J-u-l-i-e-S-m-i-t-h across the top half of the card, then she stopped, unable to fill out any more of the spaces. She felt herself getting angry again and rather than feeling bad about this silly piece of paper, she decided to think of something nice, like the feeling of wind on her face in springtime. She was conjuring a vision of herself stretched out beneath a big leafy tree, watching squirrels scampering in the branches overhead, when the receptionist's pleasant voice made her head snap up in guilty alarm. "Is something wrong with your pencil, Julie?" Julie dug the lead point against her jeans and snapped it off. "The lead's broken." "Here's another -- " "My hand is sore today," she lied, lurching to her feet. "I don't feel like writing. And I have to go to the bathroom. Where is it?" "Right beside the elevators. Dr. Wilmer will be ready to see you pretty soon. Don't be gone too long." "I won't," Julie dutifully replied. After closing the office door behind her, she turned to look up at the name on it and carefully studied the first few letters so she'd be able to recognize this particular door when she came back. "P," she whispered aloud so she wouldn't forget, "S. Y." Satisfied, she headed down the long, carpeted hall, turned left at the end of it, and made a right by the water fountain, but when she finally came to the elevators, she discovered there were two doors there with words on them. She was almost positive these were the bathrooms because, among the bits of knowledge she'd carefully stored away was the fact that bathroom doors in big buildings usually had a different kind of handle than ordinary office doors. The problem was that neither of these doors said BOYS or GIRLS -- two words she could recognize, nor did they have those nice stick figures of a man and woman that told people like her which bathroom to use. Very cautiously, Julie put her hand on one of the doors, eased it open a crack, and peeked inside. She backed up in a hurry when she spotted those funny-looking toilets on the wall because there were two other things she knew that she doubted other girls knew: Men used weird-looking toilets. And they went a little crazy if a girl opened the door while they were doing it. Julie opened the other door and trooped into the right bathroom. Conscious of time passing, she left the bathroom and hurriedly retraced her steps until she neared the part of the corridor where Dr. Wilmer's office should have been, then she began laboriously studying the names on the doors. Dr. Wilmer's name began with a P-S-Y. She spied a P-E-T on the next door, decided she'd remembered the letters wrong, and quickly shoved it open. An unfamiliar, gray-haired woman looked up from her typewriter. "Yes?" "Sorry, wrong room," Julie mumbled, flushing. "Do you know where Dr. Wilmer's office is?" "Dr. Wilmer?" "Yes, you know -- Wilmer -- it starts with a P-S-Y!" "P-S-Y...Oh, you must mean Psychological Associates! That's suite twenty-five-sixteen, down the hall." Normally, Julie would have pretended to understand and continued going into offices until she found the right one, but she was too worried about being late now to pretend. "Would you spell that out for me?" "I beg your pardon?" "The numbers!" she said desperately. "Spell them out like this: three -- six -- nine -- four -- two. Say it that way." The woman looked at her like she was an idiot, which Julie knew she was, but she hated it when other people noticed. After an irritated sigh, the woman said, "Dr. Wilmer is in suite two -- five -- one -- six." "Two -- five -- one -- six," Julie repeated. "That's the fourth door on the left," she added. "Well!" Julie cried in frustration. "Why didn't you just say that in the first place!" Dr. Wilmer's receptionist looked up when Julie walked in. "Did you get lost, Julie?" "Me? No way!" Julie lied with an emphatic shake of her curly head as she returned to her chair. Unaware that she was being observed through what looked like an ordinary mirror, she turned her attention to the aquarium beside her chair. The first thing she noticed was that one of the beautiful fish had died and that two others were swimming around it as if contemplating eating it. Automatically, she tapped her finger on the glass to scare them away, but a moment later they returned. "There's a dead fish in there," she told the receptionist, trying to sound only slightly concerned. "I could take it out for you." "The cleaning people will remove it tonight, but thank you for offering." Julie swallowed an irate protest at what she felt was needless cruelty to the dead fish. It wasn't right for anything so wonderfully beautiful and so helpless to be left in there like that. Picking up a magazine from the coffee table, she pretended to look at it, but from the corner of her eye she kept up her surveillance of the two predatory fish. Each time they returned to prod and poke their deceased comrade, she stole a glance at the receptionist to make sure she wasn't watching, then Julie reached out as casually as possible and tapped the glass to scare them off. A few feet away, in her office on the other side of the two-way mirror, Dr. Theresa Wilmer watched the entire little scenario, her eyes alight with a knowing smile as she watched Julie's gallant attempt to protect a dead fish while maintaining a facade of indifference for the sake of the receptionist. Glancing at the man beside her, another psychiatrist who'd recently begun donating some of his time to her special project, Dr. Wilmer said wryly, "There she is, 'Julie the terrible,' the adolescent terror who some foster care officials have judged to be not only 'learning-disabled,' but unmanageable, a bad influence on her peers, and also 'a troublemaker bound for juvenile delinquency.' Did you know," she continued, her voice taking on a shade of amused admiration, "that she actually organized a hunger strike at LaSalle? She talked forty-five children, most of whom were older than she, into going along with her to demand better food." Dr. John Frazier peered through the two-way mirror at the little girl. "I suppose she did that because she had an underlying need to challenge authority?" "No," Dr. Wilmer replied dryly, "she did it because she had an underlying need for better food. The food at LaSalle is nutritious but tasteless. I sampled some." Frazier flashed a startled look at his associate. "What about her thefts? You can't ignore that problem so easily." Leaning her shoulder against the wall, Terry tipped her head to the child in the waiting room and said with a smile, "Have you ever heard of Robin Hood?" "Of course. Why?" "Because you're looking at a modern-day adolescent version of Robin Hood out there. Julie can filch the gold right out of your teeth without your knowing it, she's that quick." "I hardly think that's a recommendation for sending her to live with your unsuspecting Texas cousins, which is what I understand you intend to do." Dr. Wilmer shrugged. "Julie steals food or clothing or playthings, but she doesn't keep anything. She gives her booty to the younger kids at LaSalle." "You're certain?" "Positive. I've checked it out." A reluctant smile tugged at John Frazier's lips as he studied the little girl. "She looks more like a Peter Pan than a Robin Hood. She's not at all what I expected, based on her file." "She surprised me, too," Dr. Wilmer admitted. According to Julie's file, the director of the LaSalle Foster Care Facility, where she now resided, had deemed her to be "a discipline problem with a predilection for truancy, trouble making, theft, and hanging around with unsavory mate companions." After a the unfavorable comments in Julie's file, Dr. Wilmer had fully expected Julie Smith to be a belligerent, hardened girl whose constant association with young males probably indicated early physical development and even sexual activity. For that reason, she'd nearly gaped at Julie when the child sauntered into her office two months ago, looking like a grubby little pixie in jeans and a tattered sweatshirt, with short-cropped dark, curly hair. Instead of the budding femme fatale Dr. Wilmer had expected, Julie Smith had a beguiling gamin face that was dominated by an enormous pair of thick-lashed eyes the startling color of dark blue pansies. In contrast to that piquant little face and innocently beguiling eyes, there was a boyish bravado in the way she'd stood in front of Dr. Wilmer's desk that first day with her small chin thrust out and her hands jammed into the back pockets of her jeans. Theresa had been captivated at that first meeting, but her fascination with Julie had begun even before that -- almost from the moment she'd opened her file at home one night and began reading her responses to the battery of tests that was part of the evaluating process that Theresa herself had recently developed. By the time she was finished, Theresa had a firm grasp of the workings of the child's facile mind as well as the depth of her pain and the details of her current plight: Abandoned by her birth parents and rejected by two sets of adoptive parents, Julie had been reduced to spending her childhood on the fringes of the Chicago slums in a succession of overcrowded foster homes. As a result, throughout her life, her only source of real human warmth and support came from her companions -- grubby, unkempt kids like herself whom she philosophically regarded as "her own kind," kids who taught her to filch goods from stores and, later, to cut school with them. Her quick mind and quicker fingers had made Julie so good at both that no matter how often she was shuffled off to a new foster home, she almost immediately achieved a certain popularity and respect among her peers, so much so that a few months ago, a group of boys had condescended to demonstrate to her the various techniques they used for breaking into cars and hot-wiring them -- a demonstration that resulted in the entire group of them being busted by an alert Chicago cop, including Julie, who was merely an observer. That day had marked Julie's first arrest, and although Julie didn't know it, it also marked Julie's first real "break" because it ultimately brought her to Dr. Wilmer's attention. After being -- somewhat unjustly -- arrested for attempted auto theft, Julie was put into Dr. Wilmer's new, experimental program that included an intensive battery of psychological tests, intelligence tests, and personal interviews and evaluations conducted by Dr. Wilmer's group of volunteer psychiatrists and psychologists. The program was intended to divert juveniles in the care of the state from a life of delinquency and worse. In Julie's case, Dr. Wilmer was adamantly committed to doing exactly that, and as everyone who knew her was aware, when Dr. Wilmer set her mind on a goal, she accomplished it. At thirty-five, Terry Wilmer had a pleasant, refined bearing, a kind smile, and a will of iron. In addition to her impressive assortment of medical degrees and a family tree that read like The Social Register, she had three other special attributes in great abundance. intuition, compassion, and total dedication. With the tireless fervor of a true evangelist dedicated to saving wayward souls, Theresa Wilmer had abandoned her thriving private practice and was now dedicated to saving those helpless adolescent victims of an overcrowded, underfunded state foster care system. To achieve her goals, Dr Wilmer was shamelessly willing to exploit every tool at her disposal, including recruiting support from among her colleagues like John Frazier. In Julie's case, she'd even enlisted the aid of distant cousins, who were far from wealthy but who had room in their home, and hopefully in their soft hearts, for one very special little girl. "I wanted you to have a peek at her," Terry said. She reached out to draw the draperies over the glass, just as Julie suddenly stood up, looked desperately at the fish tank, and plunged both her hands into the water. "What the hell -- " John Frazier began, then he watched in stunned silence as the girl marched toward the preoccupied receptionist with the dead fish cradled in her dripping hands. Julie knew she shouldn't get water on the carpet, but she couldn't stand to see anything as beautiful as this fish with its long, flowing fins being mangled by the others. Not certain whether the receptionist was unaware of her or simply ignoring her, she walked up close behind her chair. "Excuse me," she blurted in an overloud voice, holding out her hands. The receptionist, who was thoroughly engrossed in her typing, gave a nervous start, swung around in her chair, and emitted a choked scream at the sight of a shining, dripping fish directly in front of her nose. Julie took a cautious step backward but persevered. "It's dead," she said boldly, fighting to keep her voice empty of the sentimental pity she felt. "The other fish are going to eat it, and I don't want to watch. It's gross. If you'll give me a piece of paper, I'll wrap it up and you can put it in your trash can." Recovering from her shock, the receptionist carefully suppressed a smile, opened her desk drawer, and removed several tissues, which she handed to the child. "Would you like to take it with you and bury it at home?" Julie would have liked to do exactly that, but she thought she heard amusement in the woman's voice, and so she hastily wrapped the fish in its tissue-paper shroud and thrust it at her instead. "I'm not that stupid, you know. This is just a fish, not a rabbit or something special like that." On the other side of the window, Frazier chuckled softly and shook his head. "She's dying to give that fish a formal burial, but her pride won't let her admit it." Sobering, he added, "What about her learning disabilities? As I recall, she's only at a second-grade level." Dr. Wilmer gave an indelicate snort at that and reached for a manila folder on her desk containing the results of the battery of tests Julie had recently been given. Holding the open file toward him she said with a smile, "Take a look at her scores when the intelligence tests are administered orally and she's not required to read." John Frazier complied and gave a low laugh. "The kid's got a higher IQ than I do." "Julie is a special child in a lot of ways, John. I saw glimpses of it when I reviewed her file, but when I met her face-to-face, I knew it was true. She's feisty, brave, sensitive, and very smart. Under all that bravado of hers, there's a rare kind of gentleness, an unquenchable hope, and quixotic optimism that she clings to even though it's being demolished by ugly reality. She can't improve her own lot in life, and so she's unconsciously dedicated herself to protecting the kids in whatever foster care facility she's put into. She steals for them and lies for them and organizes them into hunger strikes, and they follow wherever she leads as if she were the Pied Piper. At eleven years old, she's a born leader, but if she isn't diverted very quickly, some of her methods are going to land her in a juvenile detention center and eventually prison. And that's not even the worst of her problems right now." "What do you mean?" "I mean that despite all her wonderful attributes, that little girl's self-esteem is so low, it's almost nonexistent. Because she's been passed over for adoption, she's convinced she's worthless and unlovable. Because she can't read as well as her peers, she's convinced she's completely stupid and can't learn. And the most terrifying part of it is that she's on the verge of giving up. She's a dreamer, but she's clinging to her dreams by a thread." With unintentional force, Terry finished, "I will not let all Julie's potential, her hope, her optimism, go to waste." Dr. Frazier's brows shot up at her tone. "Forgive me for bringing this up, Terry, but aren't you the one who used to preach about not getting too personally involved with a patient?" With a rueful smile, Dr. Wilmer leaned against her desk, but she didn't deny it. "It was easier to follow that rule when all my patients were kids from wealthy families who think they're 'underprivileged' if they don't get a $50,000 sports car on their sixteenth birthday. Wait until you've done more work with kids like Julie -- kids who are dependent on the 'system' that we set up to provide for them and have somehow fallen through the cracks in that same system. You'll lose sleep over them, even if you've never done it before." "I suppose you're right," he said with a sigh, as he handed back the manila folder. "Out of curiosity, why hasn't she been adopted by someone?" Teresa shrugged. "Mostly, it's been a combination of bad luck and bad timing. According to her file at the Department of Children and Family Services, she was abandoned in an alley when she was only a few hours old. Hospital records indicate she was born ten weeks prematurely and because of that and because of the poor condition she was in when she was brought to the hospital, there was a long series of health complications until she was seven years old, during which time she was repeatedly hospitalized and very frail. "The Family Services people found adoptive parents for her when she was two years old, but in the middle of the adoption proceedings, the couple decided to get a divorce, and they dumped her back into the arms of Family Services. A few weeks later, she was placed again with another couple who'd been screened as carefully as humanly possible, but Julie came down with pneumonia, and the new couple -- who'd lost their own child at Julie's age -- went completely to pieces emotionally and pulled out of the adoption. Afterward, she was placed with a foster family for what was only to be a temporary time, but a few weeks later, Julie's case worker was seriously injured in an accident and never returned to work. From then on it was the proverbial 'comedy of errors.' Julie's file got misplaced -- " "Her what!?" he uttered in disbelief. "Don't judge the Family Services people too harshly, which I can see you're doing. For the most part, they're extremely dedicated and conscientious, but they're only human. Given how overworked and underfinanced they are, it's amazing they do as well as they do. In any event, to make a long story short, the foster parents had a houseful of kids to look after, and they assumed Family Services couldn't find adoptive parents for Julie because she wasn't very healthy. By the time Family Services realized she'd gotten lost in their shuffle, Julie was five, and she'd passed the age of greatest appeal to adoptive parents. She also had a history of poor health, and when she was removed from the foster home and placed in another, she promptly came down with a series of asthma attacks. She missed large chunks of first and second grade, but she was "such a good little girl" the teachers promoted her from one grade to the next anyway. Her new foster parents already had three physically handicapped children in their care, and they were so busy looking after those children that they didn't notice Julie wasn't keeping up in school, particularly because she was getting passing grades. By fourth grade, though, Julie herself realized she couldn't do the work, and she started pretending to be ill so that she could stay home. When her foster parents caught on, they insisted she go to school, so Julie took the next obvious route to avoid it -- she started cutting school and hanging around with kids on the street as often as she could. As I said earlier, she's feisty, daring, and quick -- they taught her how to snitch merchandise from stores and avoid being picked up as a truant. "You know most of the rest: Eventually she did get picked up for truancy and shoplifting and was sent to the LaSalle facility, which is where kids who aren't doing well in the foster care system are sent. A few months ago, she got busted -- unfairly, I think -- along with a group of older boys who were demonstrating to her their particular prowess with hot-wiring cars." With a muffled laugh, Terry finished, "Julie was merely a fascinated observer, but she knows how to do it. She offered to demonstrate for me. Can you imagine -- that tiny girl with those enormous, innocent eyes can actually start your car without a key! She wouldn't try to steal it though. As I said, she only takes things the kids at LaSalle can use." With a meaningful grin, Frazier tipped his head toward the glass. "I assume they can 'use' one red pencil, a ballpoint, and a fistful of candy." "What?" "In the time you've been talking to me, your prize patient has filched all that from the reception room." "Good God!" said Dr. Wilmer but without any real concern as she stared through the glass. "She's quick enough to do sleight-of-hand tricks," Frazier added with reluctant admiration. "I'd get her in here before she figures out a way to get that aquarium out the door. I'll bet the kids at LaSalle would love some exotic tropical fish." Glancing at her watch, Dr. Wilmer said, "The Mathisons are supposed to call me right about now from Texas to tell me exactly when they'll be ready to take her. I want to be able to tell Julie everything when she comes in here." As she spoke, the intercom on her desk buzzed and the receptionist's voice said, "Mrs. Mathison is on the phone, Dr. Wilmer." "That's the call," Terry told him happily. John Frazier glanced at his own watch. "I'm having my first session with Cara Peterson in a few minutes." He started toward the connecting door that opened into his office, paused with his hand on the knob, and said with a grin, "It's just occurred to me that the distribution of workload in your program is grossly unjust. I mean," he joked, "you get to work with a girl who filches candy and pencils to give to the poor, while you give me Cara Anderson who tried to kill her foster father. You get Robin Hood and I get Lizzie Borden." "You love a challenge," Theresa Wilmer replied, laughing, but as she reached for the phone, she added, "I'm going to ask the Family Services people to transfer Mrs. Borowski out of LaSalle and into an area where she'll only be involved with infants and small children. I've worked with her before, and she's excellent with them because they're cuddly and they don't break rules. She shouldn't be dealing with adolescents. She can't distinguish between minor adolescent rebellion and juvenile delinquency." "You aren't by any chance getting revenge on her because she told your receptionist that Julie will steal anything she can get her hands on?" "No," Dr. Wilmer said as she picked up the phone. "But that was a good example of what I meant." When she finished her call, Dr. Wilmer got up and walked to her office door, looking forward to the surprise she was about to deliver to Miss Julie Smith. Copyright © 1993 by Eagle Syndications, Inc.
1louise1
Posted Sat Apr 24 00:00:00 EDT 2010
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Perfect's plot and characters were "perfect". This is my favorite McNaught book so far. You will fall completely in love with all of the characters, especially Julie and Zack as they fall in love with each other. It is a heart-rending and uplifting read that will inhabit a place in your heart. This heart-warming tale shows the reader that true love can do more than touch lives, it can change people. And when you are finished, you will wish that your new friends, Julie and Zack could be a part in your real life. READ THIS BOOK!
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Gaypiratebooklover64
Posted Sat Jul 18 00:00:00 EDT 2009
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I found this book when my library was doing a book sale and i didn't really want to read it but when i was home on break i started reading it and it only took me 2 and a half hrs, because i couldn't put it down. I didn't know anything about Judith McNaught until i found Perfect. I used to just read Nora Roberts books but now that i read the Judith McNaught books i just fell in love with her books! You should read this book because you will fall in love with the characters like i have! This book is just Perfect!
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.My mom told me to read this book because it is her favorite book of all time.. I at first thought hmm idk about this.. The first page got me hooked.. Honestly i was addicted to this novel. Everyday i spent reading. I got trouble in class for reading perfect tomorrow and my boyfriend even got mad cause i was always reading this book. When you first pick it up all you want to do is read read read....
I had so many thoughts and opinions about this book... Its one of those books were you think you know what about to happen and then the whole story switches.. This book is really long.. It took me about 4 days to read this....
This is my absolute favorite book of all time!! Nothing can beat this book
MUST READ!!!!!!
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I read the novel Perfect by Judith McNaught, once i started reading it i was unable to leave the book until i reached the end of the novel. It forced me to become a fan of Judith. I really really really love the way she writes. Perfect is soooooooo perfect that i couldnt pinpoint any mistake in it. it grabbed me until i reached the last page of the book. while reading perfect i felt every emotion whether its happiness, or adventure, romance i even cried when character juile cried at the airport holding the wedding ring zach bought for her. O my God u are toooooooooo Perfect Judith.
After reading perfect i downloaded 14 other novels of judith. out of which i read 4 other 10 r still with me. I wish to have each and every book of Judith in my personal library. but alas i dont have that much money thats y depending upon ebooks and softcopies of the novels.
I love u Judith. I am ur fan from a faar away place i wish to meet u some day to give u a tigh hug for writing such marvelous novels full of romance love u love u love u a lot. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaahhhh ;)
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Sun Mar 02 00:00:00 EST 2003
This is the first Judith Mcnaught book I read, and it was great. It makes you laugh, cry, and become so angry that you are about ready to yell. It is a great book, Judith Mcnaught is a wonderful author.
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Lannie
Posted Thu Oct 22 00:00:00 EDT 2009
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Mcnaught at her best!!! Reminiscent of an old soap I watched over 30 years ago, almost, ONLY BETTER!!!!! (Luke and Laura) ...I have a couple of wonderful books I'd like to recommend, if you love Judith Mcnaught, you'll surely love EXPLOSION IN PARIS, by L. Pirrung and THE NEIGHBOR by Lisa Gardner.
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Tue Jan 21 00:00:00 EST 2003
This is the very best book I have ever read. When I feel that I need something to boost my spirits, I pull out 'Perfect'. She is very emotional, but also very strong. He is what we either have, wish we had, or hopefully one day will have. This book contains a wonderfully thought out romance that I love to hide in occasionally. I've read it a lot and to this day will still cry over the emotional parts and even the ending. Read this one and I know you will not be disappointed.
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Mon Nov 25 00:00:00 EST 2002
This is the first book I've read by Judith McNaught and I thought it was wonderful. Probably the best love story I've ever read. Julie will charm you with her innocence and unfailing love and Zack's rugged charm will steal your heart. Their story will make you laugh, cry, and basically, want to fall in love. YOU WILL LOVE IT! (I know I did)
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Fri Nov 08 00:00:00 EST 2002
It was completely wonderful. The characters, the events. It makes you cry,laugh,love and live at the same time. When i started reading it, i couldn't leave the book all day. It's amazing how Judith write and describes events. You can live the story even when you are in a different time and place. This book has a lot of meaning to me. I know because it is what we all want of life, a chance to love and be loved, to cry and be happy,to survive and live.
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sun Mar 30 00:00:00 EST 2003
This is the first book i read from judith Mcnaught. The name says it all. I was totally captivated. It was real page turner. Judith McNaught is the best author ever!
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Thu Mar 18 00:00:00 EDT 2010
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I read this book after reading Paradise. I liked Paradise very much but it was rather slow in the beginning so I assumed Perfect would be the same. It was not. I could not put this book down. I loved the characters very much and thought the story was unique and interesting. I was addicted because I didn't know where Miss McNaught was going to take me next in this story. I don't normally read books twice but I will definitely reread this one again in the future! It's a favorite of mine!
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Tue Dec 29 00:00:00 EST 2009
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I got this book after I read, "Paradise," by Judith McNaught and enjoyed that one. I would suggest reading that one before you pick up, "Perfect," because the main characters in Paradise apear in Perfect. I think I actually enjoyed Paradise better but this book was very good to pick up if you are looking for an easy fun winter read. Romance, suspence, no tricky plots or twists and turns but you will enjoy the characters.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I loved this book! Judith McNaught is always descriptive with her books and makes you really feel connected them. I've never seen any other Romance author give better details than her! I first started reading her books with just her Historical Romances vowing to never read her contemporary because that just wasn't my style. Than I read this and wondered WHY HAVEN'T I READ IT SOONER!? Though I should have read Paradise first, my fault. Ah, and the characters in "Perfect"...adore them so much! Zach & Julie were perfect beyond belief! The story was unbelievable, I never wanted to put it down. There's moments when I screamed, cried, laughed, and smiled with such joy. If you haven't already read this, please please please read this book! Than you'll understand why ;) Don't hesitate!
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sun Jun 10 00:00:00 EDT 2007
I normally do not read books like this but what I read on the back cover pulled me in. 'Perfect' was the first book I've ever read of Judith McNaught and it will NOT be the last. 'Perfect' took me through so many emotions that no other book ever has. I couldn't put the book down for one second. I will definitely read more of her books. I am going to buy two, or three or four, more of her books. I love to read and can not go a day without reading......it will be one of Judith McNaught's books - for sure!
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Thu May 10 00:00:00 EDT 2007
This was the second book I have read from from her. The first book I read was Paradise. I enjoyed this book much better. This is one of the best books I have read. And as it turned out she brought characters back from Paradise in Perfect. I like it when characters are brought into other books. I would reccommend reading Paradise before Perfect. I could not put this book down. There were so many twists and turns. She writes about all different kinds of characters, so you don't get bored with one story. I really reccomend this book. I can not wait to read another one.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sun Jun 04 00:00:00 EDT 2006
I read this book mainly because I noticed that Meredeth and Matt where in it. After reading Paradise, I fell in love with Judith McNaught books. I began to buy as many book as possible and a friend of mine told me that Meredeth and Matt where in Perfect. At first I did not want to read it because it looked so long but I finally gave in and read it. I'm so glad I did. The situation was pretty much believable expect with some things here and there but it was a awesome book. I really recommend this book for people that like to read romance with some mystery involved, like I do.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Wed Jul 19 00:00:00 EDT 2006
I loved this book. Judith McNaught is my favorite author and she knows how to write a romance novel. I first picked up a Judith McNaught book when I realized my local supermarket ran out of Nora Roberts' books for me to read. Now I love Judith McNaught stories. Perfect's plot and characters were great. I liked how the audience knew that Zack was innocent even when Julie wasn't sure. That added a touch of suspence and made you like Julie more when she finally trusted him. I also cried during the airport scene. It was so sad and I was so upset. Overall it was a great book and had a great ending. This book made me laugh, cry, and scream, but I loved every minute of it.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Wed Dec 07 00:00:00 EST 2005
Having read all of Judith Mcnaught's books and most of the romance sections at any book store(i'm addicted). This is hands down by far the best book I have ever read. This is a timeless love story that will wrap you up in it so much your heart breaks when the book ends. I cried as much as I laughed. Thank You Judith McNaught for letting me escape into the worlds you have created.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Sat May 14 00:00:00 EDT 2005
Realized after reading some of the author's notes in this book(the ones at the beginning and end) that this was a follow-up to 'Paradise'. So, I went and purchased as well as read that one first. They were both great books -the first two I have read by her. I listened to 'Someone to Watch Over Me' on tape and it was great. However, I agree with an earlier 'reviewer' - WHAT HAPPENED TO PAUL?!!!!! He was such a major character in getting Julie and Zach together (unintentionally of course) - but no mention was made of him after the fact. Would love a follow-up book on him - especially since he follows the mold of Zach - tall, dark, handsome and very determined in what he wants.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sun Mar 20 00:00:00 EST 2005
JUDITH MCNAUGHT HAS DONE IT AGAIN. THIS BOOK IS WAY AWESOME. A MUST READ. AFTER RE-READING IT, I STILL FEEL ALL THE EMOTIONS ALL OVER AGAIN. I'VE CRIED COUNTLESS TIMES BECAUSE THIS BOOK IS JUST TOO WONDERFUL. THANK YOU JUDITH MCNAUGHT FOR MAKING READING SOMETHING WONDERFUL AND NOT SOMETHING MY TEACHER WOULD FORCE ME TO DO.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Overview
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.
Zachary Benedict was an actor/director whose Academy Award-winning career had been shattered when ...