Ordinary Is Perfect – A Review

Ordinary is Perfect  by D. Jackson Leigh is a lovely slow-burn contemporary romance about two characters who appear to be opposites, but we all know how opposites attract. Our two main characters, Catherine Daye and Autumn Swan, are brought together because of the death of a friend and cousin and agree to be co-guardians to a feisty young girl named Gabe. Both women have demons in their past that affect them, but try to put them aside to be a family of sorts for Gabe. We all know how demons are though. They simply will not be silent, and this causes a great deal of the conflict in the story.

I applaud the author’s creation of these characters with all their flaws as well as their humanity. I actually disliked Autumn for a while as I kept being irritated by her apparent selfish, self-centered outlook on life. Once I understood where this was coming from (those pesky demons), I began to relate to her better. I loved both Catherine and Gabe’s characters, but I must admit my favorite character was Elvis the dog. The story was sweet, the romance was quite steamy at times, and there is just the right amount of angst for this tale.

I did feel there were some missing elements to the story that would have made it even better. I would have liked to have seen more about Catherine’s past in the army, especially what gave her the PTSD that she suffers from. We get glimpses of the trauma instead of a more fleshed out explanation. I also think Autumn needed more face time with her parents than we witnessed in the story. Finally, I wish the ending had been longer.  It felt very abrupt to me, I wanted more.

I did enjoy Ordinary is Perfect and can recommend it to all who love a good contemporary romance. You can find this novel at Bold Strokes Books

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.