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Jennifer Preston
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Beautiful Mess Kindle Edition

by Jennifer Preston (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 out of 5 stars 208
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Ambria Donnelly thought she had everything all figured out. A senior in high school, she knows exactly what she wants out of life and where she is going. After her last boyfriend broke her heart, Bri swore off boys and dating, instead focusing on school, and dance, and getting into Stanford like she’d always dreamed. Until a chance meeting at the beach pushes her resolve, and threatens to unravel all her carefully made plans.

Cole Marra had never really thought much about the future. He’d always had his dad, or his friends, there to make those kinds of decisions for him. He isn’t even sure who he is, let alone what he wants. Until the day Bri walks into his life and changes everything. Suddenly his future, which was uncertain at best, begins to take shape as he finally decides what he wants out of life. And now that he’s found it, he won’t let her go.

But when Bri finds out that Cole isn’t exactly who she thought he was, everything between them falls apart. Now, Cole has to decide how hard he’s willing to fight for what he wants. Bri has to decide if she’s willing to open herself up and risk her heart again. They both must work to overcome their own issues, and decide if it’s worth taking a chance on love.

Or, will the walls and defenses keeping them apart be too much to overcome?

Beautiful Mess a Young Adult romance, recommended for ages 16 and up.
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  1. Book 1 of 3
    Beautiful Mess
  2. Print length
    317 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    December 5, 2013
  6. Reading age
    16 - 18 years
  7. Grade level
    10 - 12
  8. File size
    3068 KB
  9. Page Flip
    Enabled
  10. Word Wise
    Enabled
  11. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  12. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00H4PXHNG
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Jennifer Preston (December 5, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 5, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3068 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 317 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 out of 5 stars 208

About the author

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Jennifer Preston

Jennifer Preston

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Jennifer Preston was born in California, grew up in Utah, and now lives outside of Denver, Colorado with her husband and three kiddos. She is an obsessive reader, who never goes anywhere without her trusty e-reader (best invention ever!). When she's not busy being a mom, writing, or reading, she enjoys running, shopping, sleeping in, and singing along (loudly and badly) with the radio as she drives.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
208 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Boschi12
5.0 out of 5 stars 'Beautiful Mess' Made Me A Teary, Laughing Wreck
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2014
Verified Purchase
Beautiful Mess did indeed make me a teary,laughing wreck.
The title is so perfect for this novel that it probably didn't even need a description! The story is so touching and romantic that I envy Ambria for the beautiful love she shared with Cole. And can I just say, drama! This book had me biting my lip so hard I could taste blood, shouting at my Kindle and resisting the urge to make a Serena voodoo doll.
The characters were so strong, even if they didn't know it. Cole was such a relatable character. We all want to please everyone and sometimes fake who we are to fit in, just like Cole. We think that no one could love us for who we are, until someone does. And that someone is definitely worth fighting for. For Cole, that person was Ambria. She was the only person who knew the real him, and she not only accepted him, but loved him. With every bone in her body.
Ambria had been broken. Told she was worthless. She believed it. Until she met Cole. He reminded her of her beauty, inside and out, everyday, until it stuck in her head. She believed she would never love, could never love, but Cole made her do the impossible, love. And I absolutely love how Ambria stood up for herself against Serena and didn't take her nonsense. It inspired me.
Such a beautiful story. The only thing that I didn't love too much was the amount of exclamation points. They started to come in strange places where you wouldn't normally exclaim. But other than that, this story was beautiful, and certainly not a mess.
2 people found this helpful
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Beamon
4.0 out of 5 stars High School Love
Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2013
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I tried to find out as much as could about this book before I read it but sadly I could find much which is sad because it’s a really good book. I found myself feel all kinds of emotions while reading at one point I even stop reading because Cole had me so damn frustrated by the way he treat Bri. But I pulled myself together and finished because I had to remember the characters are based out of high school and they do go through peer issues.

Bri and Cole meet during the summer at the beach and they end up having this super strong connection. Cole wants more from Bri but she is not ready for a relationship just yet and wants to take things slow. They promise to stay friends after the summer ends neither one of them knowing that they will actually end up at the same high school.
Bri over hears Cole talk to his loser friend Trey about 2 cousins he meet at the beach over the summer and how he had them both. And this is when she sees the other side to Cole and wants nothing to do with him.

I loved Bri from the very beginning this girl was strong and didn't back down from anybody and had no problem standing up for herself and I loved that. I just wished that Cole had some of her courage. But she did hold herself back when it came to admitting her feelings for Cole towards the end. The one thing that I truly hated was her home life. It wasn't that her dad Conner and Stepmom Summer abuse her they just were not there when they should have been. And I think that it just had been addressed a little bit harder than what it was. You knew by reading her dad loved her and would be there for her. But she needed a motherly figure and I just found it awful that she didn't have that. She was always made to feel like she was on the outside looking in and never really a part of the family and that sucked for her. And that cousin of hers I was so glad when she told Carly about herself couldn't stand her.

Cole,Cole,Cole how I was so happy when he finally got some kind of backbone and spoke up for himself and realized that those ppl he called friends were far from it. Cole didn’t know how to just be himself and who he was with he was a different person. Around his dad he was the son that played football because he dad wanted him to even though he wanted to play basketball. Around his friends he was the snob and rude to everyone else. He was only himself around Bri but only when they were not around his "friends". He wanted her he really did but he just didn’t know how to stand up to the ppl in school and just be himself.

No matter what they went through you could feel the love and friendship while reading the book I was so glad this wasn't an instant love kind of thing don't get me wrong they wanted each other but things were taking slow. They allowed a friendship to grow and from that they learned to love each. After reading the last chapter I can see there being a book 2 I still think there is still more to tell from their story. This is couple you need to know if they got married. Did they have kids? Did Bri's relationship with her parents get better? Did Cole ever get to do anything with his art?
4 people found this helpful
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Effy
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully Perfect!
Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2013
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Oh. My. Gosh! I've never read a book that made me feel the way I felt when I was reading this. If you want to read an adorable love story about two slightly star crossed lovers, than THIS is the book for you. AND IT'S FREE!!(if you have an e-reader, but I would pay 30dollars to have an actual cope in my hands.) I seriously LOVE this book!
One person found this helpful
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Cheryl Pearce
3.0 out of 5 stars Confession Time
Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2014
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I actually only started this book to see if it would be appropriate to recommend to my teenage niece. I was actually a little embarrassed to be so engaged by a romance story featuring teenagers. I ended up really enjoying this book. I couldn't wait to get to the end to see if it ended "happily ever after" or not. There is a lot of teenage angst and drama which is hard for an adult to relate too but all in all, I enjoyed the book.
One person found this helpful
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Katrina
4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Mess
Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2013
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Before I started reading this book, I didn't realize it was going to be a high school/teenager type book. But as I was reading it, I was actually a little surprised by this book. Unsure if it was suppose to be funny, I thought this book was a cute/funny story. The first chapter had me chuckling and smiling like a crazy person.

I did have to skip over a few pages that I didn't think it was necessary,but I was able to figure out what happened. There as an HEA so that made me happy, but I wonder if the author will make a continuation of the characters, or just leave it as it is. Either way, I would read it if she did.
One person found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Mess it was!
Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2014
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This book was a beautiful mess. Lol. I loved it from beginning to the end. Well kind of. The part where Bri was too stubborn to admit her love for Cole was a bit mind boggling but once she made her decision everything was okay again. This book is awesome
One person found this helpful
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Charlotte Denise Miller
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Mess
Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2014
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Enjoyed the story,the characters in this book reminded me of the awesome years of being a young adult,looking forward to finishing high school and heading to college.We all thought we were going to change the world once we hit college.Thanks Jennifer for not being afraid to follow your star.
One person found this helpful
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Helen
2.0 out of 5 stars Too long
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2014
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First I want to say that the cover is very misleading. This book is about high school kids. I wanted to like the story but it just dragged on for way too long. Bri was very frustrating and the way she handled things at the end just baffled me.....
SPOILERS below:
she finally decides what she wants but doesn't tell him unitl AFTER she's changed all her plans? AND she knew for how long?! Didn't make sense and I didn't like that at all. If the ending was done better, I would have had higher rating.
This book just didn't do it for me.
6 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

JN12
1.0 out of 5 stars Bad story, bad protagonists
Reviewed in Germany on May 26, 2016
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They say persistence pays off. In this case it didn't. While this is a book in the Young Adult genre and the characters are around 17/18, I still expect some maturity and common sense from them. The actions of the characters did not make sense for me. Of course, this is about love and emotions, but just saying "They love each other. The end." does not make it plausible for me.

I didn't like the "hero" at all, he did several things that made me wonder "And she is in love with him, why?" In turn I didn't like the heroine either, because she put up with it.

SPOILERS:

The protagonists meet during summer break and get to know and like each other. She tells him about an old boyfriend who pushed for sex and spread rumours about her at school when she refused. She was bullied at school afterwards, until her family moved to LA. So, after this getting-to-know-each-other and opening up about hurt feelings, what happens? They start the new school year at high-school together and he tells his buddies at school that he had a fling with her and generally acts in a way no friend should act. Understandably she is heartbroken. I thought, okay, he needs a very good reason for any future reconnecting to be believable. Well, his reason for behaving like a bully was that he wanted to fit in with his friends, who surprisingly were bullies. Also he wanted to protect her from the bullies, which apparently works by not affiliating himself with her and treating her callously...

After the heroine got over the heartbreak and reconnected with him, he still keeps seeing his bully friends. He also keeps seeing his on-and-off again ex-girlfriend, who is also a bully. This despite having started somewhat of a romance with the heroine before. One of the bully friends accosts the heroine, kisses her against her will and she ends up punching him. The hero is furious, but still stays friends with the guy who did it. Later on, the same guy tells the hero he will drive the heroine home and the hero steps back and lets it happen, despite the heroine being visibly upset with it. Curiously enough, the heroine gets into the car with the guy who kissed her against her will, but later gets into a fight with him and gets left at the roadside. You would think the heroine had enough of the hero, who still wouldn't stand up for her or show his friendship through actions.

You though wrong. They get together again and start dating, though the hero doesn't want anyone to know and keeps making appearances with the ex-girlfriend so as not to arouse suspicions about him dating the heroine. Charming. Later on he exhibits paintings he made of her without her permission, showing her developing feelings for him. At the exhibition, people look at her with pity, whisper and laugh behind her back. She is furious and breaks it off with him. He is hurt about how she breaks off with him, but I'm thinking "Good riddance, finally!".

Well, wrong again. She feels bad for hurting him and changes her entire university choices so she can show him her love and apologise at his chosen university. Apparently the next books deals with how their relationship progresses at uni. Can't say I care to find out.
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lisa lawson
5.0 out of 5 stars True love
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 11, 2015
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Such an easy read. Brings back all the emotions from when I was young. Scared, loving, tiring, happy, emotional, frightening, fun ,young, free.
Really enjoyed. Recommended for an easy read. X
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Mrs. C. Mortimer
4.0 out of 5 stars Summer loving!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 26, 2013
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As soon as I started reading this book it reminded me of the film Grease. I really enjoyed the high school story despite being a woman in my 40s! A really good read and you won't be disappointed.
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Helen
4.0 out of 5 stars brilliant book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 10, 2013
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A really good, easy read. The storyline was captivating from the start. I would of given 5 stars, but there were a few gramma mistakes.
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carol mercer
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful mess
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 11, 2016
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Absolutely loved this book it's the second time I've read it and definitely recommend it to anyone else .onto book 2 yay xxx
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