Walking Disaster

Fans of Beautiful Disaster know that Travis is volatile. Quick to anger and even quicker to react, he appears to be the type of boy about whom one would warn one’s daughter to steer clear. He is dangerous, playing fast and loose with his life as well as with the affections of the women he takes home. While fans already know how Abby changes all that for him, they do not know the path Travis takes to change or the fact that Travis is not necessarily the bad boy he appears to be.

In Walking Disaster, readers get to see Travis at his most vulnerable – at the side of his dying mother. It is a scene so poignant and beautifully simple that it underscores just how much of an impact it had on his life. Her final words to him change show more everything for him, which has direct consequences for relationships with women and especially with Abby. While readers may have questioned his actions towards Abby, or at least his motives, in the first novel, in the sequel, from the moment he meets her, no reader doubts the depths of his feelings for her. What follows is a crystal-clear picture of the cruel joke of poor timing and even poorer communication that besets them.

Surprisingly, Abby does not come across as completely innocent in Walking Disaster. In fact, one could make a compelling argument that Travis becomes so unhinged specifically because of her behavior towards him. Even with knowing how the story ends, some readers will still become upset at what she essentially puts him through while she tries to make up her mind about him even though they know the reasons why she does so. It’s a fantastic twist that explains so much about the first book and Travis’ crazy behavior.

One of the best explanations to come out of Walking Disaster is a better understanding of Travis’ behavior towards violence, gambling, woman, and alcohol. One sees his relationships with his brothers and father and realizes where those tendencies originate. One can neither approve or disapprove of behavior he learned from his family and may be the only way he knows. As for his rather uncouth behavior towards women, Ms. McGuire puts forth one of the most fascinating arguments supporting it. No longer is Travis the bad boy poster child but rather someone who verifies every lesson about self-respect and appearance that parents can ever teach their daughters.

Dan Bittner does a fantastic job channeling Travis and his intensity. Travis’ emotions are raw and passionate and could easily come across as melodramatic if performed incorrectly. Rather, Mr. Bittner uses that forcefulness to create a performance that is just as powerful and gut-wrenching than Abby’s version, if not more so. Travis’ devastation, his terror, his awe and overwhelming love for Abby are visceral in Mr. Bittner’s hands, something that makes certain scenes so difficult to experience. Still, it is an audiobook worth experiencing for the amazing nuances Mr. Bittner adds to Travis’ already complex voice.

Fans of Abby and Travis will absolutely adore the chance to watch their relationship unfold all over again. However, Walking Disaster is more than a rehash of their courtship but rather a touching story of growth as Travis learns that for which it is truly worth fighting. Ms. McGuire deftly balances key scenes and dialogue with fresh scenes, some of which come as a complete surprise to readers. There is never the sense of repetitiveness because the tone of the novel is completely different. The adorably charming epilogue ends his story with the perfect sense of closure, and the contentment readers feel upon finishing the story is proof positive that Walking Disaster is a damn good story, one that makes bad boy Travis Maddox just about ideal. show less

A Hearts On Fire Review

FOUR & A HALF STARS--Fans of Jamie McGuire's "Beautiful Disaster" will rejoice when reading book #2 of the Beautiful series, "Walking Disaster". This book was more of a companion piece since it's "Beautiful Disaster" from Travis' POV. It is basically the same story just enhanced.

Did you ever wonder how long Travis felt that way for Abby? It's answered.

What happened after Abby's birthday party? You might be a little surprised.

Do they make it in the long run? Read to find out!

This review is for the fans of book #1. This is for those fans needing an extra dose of Travis and Pidge. Though may I add, the epilogue threw me for a loop because I so did not expect that route. But I thoroughly enjoyed this story. For some show more reason, Abby and Travis just worked together, they made their co-dependent love thrive with one another. And I can not see another heroine written for Travis other than Abby.She called him out on his crap and was able to deal with his mood swings, temper and possessiveness.

What I didn't notice the first time around was that Toto was more of an afterthought. Sometimes the characters are off doing their own thing for days on end and no mentions of the puppy. *shrug* Also, Travis does a lot of drinking and smoking and he fights sporadically...how does he stay in shape? No mention of an exercise regimen, no push ups before going out on a binge or dinner. But these are minor issues. I love the story so much, I'm not detracting my rating for those niggles.

However, I am taking away 1/2 star due to the weird transitioning between scenes. Sometimes, the scene was explained spot on like the 2 girl scene at the apartment. Others were sped up with just a sentence explanation of the time change, if that.

Those who weren't a fan of Travis' possessive and cray-cray, will not enjoy this one as much because you get 360 degrees of full Travis including those nutty thoughts of his. (I like cray cray now and again so it is up my alley)

But fans of "Beautiful Disaster", prepare to embrace yourself with "Walking Disaster". It's like revisiting an old friend, learning a new facet about them and loving them even more for it. You definitely want to get it just to know Travis' thought process at the pivotal scenes.

So if you hear on the news about a woman self combusting into a pile of fan girl goo...it might have been me. ;)

ARC provided by Atria Publishing via NetGalley for an honest review." show less

I actually preferred this book to the first one. Don't get me wrong, I liked the Beautiful Disaster a lot. However, the first book made Travis out to be obsessive, possessive, and kinda psychotic. This book gave a welcomed change of perspective. Understanding his side, shed a new light on his actions. The waring emotions he had were intriguing and very intense at times, which made me more sympathetic towards him, and understand how Abby's attraction was beyond physical. I definitely look forward to reading more about the Maddox brothers!

I completely and totally fell in love with Travis Maddox in Beautiful Disaster, and didn't think it could get any better than that until I was able to get into his mind and emotions in Walking Disaster. If you haven't read Beautiful Disaster, make sure you do that first before picking this one up, or you won't be able to appreciate it as much. Walking Disaster is Travis' side of the story, and no, it isn't like you're reading the same book again.....far from it. Some of the same events are referenced, but Jamie McGuire has written the book in such a way that it is truly like reading the story afresh and anew. I loved Beautiful Disaster and I loved getting to know Abby and experience the story from her point of view, but there was just show more something extra special about getting to see things from Travis' side.

If you were one of those who were skeptical or didn't like Travis in Beautiful Disaster, then you might want consider giving Walking Disaster another chance, because you will get to connect with Travis and understand him and the things he did and does so much better, and you just can't help but love him, or at least I couldn't. Is Travis messed up? Yes he is. Does he have anger issues? Yes he does. Is he emotionally unstable? He can be. Does he maybe have a bit of a codependency problem regarding Abby going on? Absolutely.

Travis started out as a precious and broken little boy who grew up the youngest in a house full of men, channeling his hurt, his anger, his abandonment issues, his loss, and his fear the best way he knew how, and it was far from perfect, but perfect isn't always that great anyway. Jamie McGuire couldn't have named this book any better, because that is exactly what Travis was, a Walking Disaster, but oh was he also a beautiful one. I loved Travis and Abby's story. I love the raw emotions, the undeniable chemistry between them, and the love that can't keep them apart. As a matter of fact, the prologue and epilogue of this book were probably the best parts and I would totally buy it for just those two things alone. Well done Jamie McGuire, well done. show less

Walking Disaster was really refreshing. It was so exciting to be back with Abby and Travis, only this time to see it through Travis's eyes. So many things seemed to make more sense now. Small gaps were filled in and more questions were presented, along with answers.
The story is just as intense as the first novel and never falls short of amazing. Travis is an intense and exciting character. It was good that he got a book of his own. I felt every emotion that he had and relived his heartache.
It was nice to see a mans point of view on love and relationships.

Walking Disaster was really refreshing. It was so exciting to be back with Abby and Travis, only this time to see it through Travis's eyes. So many things seemed to make more sense now. Small gaps were filled in and more questions were presented, along with answers.
The story is just as intense as the first novel and never falls short of amazing. Travis is an intense and exciting character. It was good that he got a book of his own. I felt every emotion that he had and relived his heartache.
It was nice to see a mans point of view on love and relationships.

After reading Beautiful Disaster, I couldn't wait to read this. When I finally got it, I started reading it right away. It was great, understanding why Travis did the things he did, but while I was reading in his point of view, Abby really annoyed me. She was so ignorant about their relationship for more than half of the book. It was so frustrating, sometimes, Abby and Travis were finally becoming closer, then Abby would pull away again, or some other problem would arise to pull them apart. I did enjoy reading about the parts I didn't get to know about in Beautiful Disaster, like when Travis got the ring, or when Travis's cousin and brother helped him get through the days without Abby. The ending was also a surprize, I got to learn show more about what happened in the future. I wish Travis' and Abby's story didn't have to end, but it did, and it was a perfect ending. Great book. show less