The Perfect Duet by Meghan Quinn - Book Review • Ana's Attic Book Blog

The Left Side of Perfect and The Right Side of Forever by Meghan Quinn

Contemporary Romance Duet. Spinoff of The Blue Line Duet.

Note: This review can be a spoiler to the Blue Line Duet, but I try to be very careful to not have spoilers for the Perfect Duet. If you don’t want to know anything about the story, skip down to my Likes & Dislikes and Down & Dirty.

Holy wow. Meghan Quinn is one of my top 5 authors for a reason. No matter what she writes, my beloved romantic comedy or angsty-as-fuck heart-searing romance, she blows me away. After reading the Blue Line Duet (for the best experience, you should read that first, but you don’t have to), I knew Meghan could, and would, go anywhere with her stories. She isn’t afraid to take chances. So I was honestly not sure how The Perfect Duet would turn out, because she sure surprised me with the first set.

“There is a left side and right side of perfect. The right side of perfect is what society deems worthy of the title. It’s the kind of perfect you believe doesn’t exist, but in others’ eyes, it does. And then there is the left side of perfect, my favorite kind. That’s the kind of soul-bearing perfect, full of flaws and shortcomings. It’s the most beautiful side of perfect…the imperfect.”

It’s years later and Colby is back in Colorado for Stryder’s wedding. Colby is stationed in Las Vegas now, and though he is over Rory, the wedding isn’t the easiest. So he finds comfort and one super-steamy night with Rory’s best friend, Ryan. But it was just one night. He goes back to Vegas and doesn’t hear from her again. Months later, Ryan moves to Vegas for work and she and Colby strike up a friendship. For one big reason, a friendship is all it can ever be.

“Would it be bad if I wanted a guy who had the same values as Colby?” I ask, biting on the tip of my finger.
“No,” Leah answers honestly. “But good luck finding someone like him. He’s a once-in-a-lifetime guy.”
He is. That’s exactly what Colby Brooks is. But he’s not my once-in-a-lifetime guy. There must be another man out there like him. And I’ll find him. Because I deserve a Colby.

As we get to know Ryan, her false bravado started to crack little by little, and we really got to see the girl behind all the makeup.

“This girl right here, the one I’m staring at, she’s beautiful, she’s stunning . . . she’s on the left side of perfect, and it’s about time you accept that. I’ve known you for a long time, Ryan, and I’ve always seen you hide behind new clothes, new hairstyles, and tons and tons of makeup. This is the first time I’m seeing the real you, and you’re fucking beautiful.”

I loved Colby and Ryan’s friendship so much, they are everything friends should be, but that’s all it can ever be, he is taken.

“W-why doesn’t anyone love me?”

Ryan broke my heart, yet I related to her so deeply. Her self-esteem and insecurity issues run crazy deep and affect her in every way possible. This is a 2-part book, and the first ends in a crazy cliffhanger, but both parts are out. I am actually glad it was done in two books, it needed to be because this duet was an epic, detailed story with surprises, twists, revelations, angst, heartache up the wazoo, and luckily, some really funny lines to balance it out a little.

“The left side of perfect is the kind of soul-baring perfect that shows your every flaw for the world to see . . . the imperfect.”

Though this was Colby’s story, it was Ryan that really had so much growth. They both did, but Ryan had a lot of baggage and I loved watching her evolve. They had such a great friendship, I would have been heartbroken to see it end no matter who he ended up with.

“It’s not just about love, but about friendship. It’s easy to fall in love, to be infatuated with another person, but what makes a love last a lifetime is the foundation it’s built from.”

Holy Cow, Meghan sent us on a huge, emotional heart-wrenching story with both duets, and I love that we never knew where she was going to take us with these flawed yet genuine characters.

“The journey was a son of a bitch, but the end result was worth it.”

Likes:

Amazing character development.
An epic romance with a hard-won end.
Lots’ of Meghan’s humor woven through this very emotional and angsty story.
Ryan’s struggles with self-esteem really hit home with me.
Sage was a great character you couldn’t help but love.
How deep she went with the character’s own self-awareness and journeys.
I never knew where Meghan would take this story, especially after the last duet.
Twists, turns and surprises throughout.
Great side characters.
There were no quick fixes.

Dislikes:

None

The Down & Dirty:

Once again, Meghan Quinn took us on an epic journey and I had no idea where this story would take me, I sometimes even doubted the direction I wanted it to go. There were some beautiful messages in here about self-esteem and self-worth that really hit home, and I felt like I really got to know the characters deeply. This unputdownable duet sent me on a rollercoaster ride of emotions, from laughter to tears to wanting to throw my phone at Meghan’s head (sorry, not sorry), but in the end, the journey was SO worth it.