Even being familiar with the author’s work, this wasn’t at all the story I thought I was getting myself into. I was absolutely paranoid that I was about to land in the middle of an ugly love triangle. That’s not where this story goes. Instead, this was about finding new hope and nurturing new strengths. I loved watching Mary grow into her fierce independent self, and that she was able to make the best choice for her, that honored her wishes and dreams in the end. Now that I know how Perfect came to be, I’m inspired to read the rest of the series.

Mary Stewart is promised to marry one man. A man she has not heard anything from in two years. She wonders about what has happened to him. She decides to join a wagon train headed to Texas where her promised fiance is supposed to be living. She finds herself falling for another man. Will she marry her fiance, or will she find happiness with a new love?

This story began a little slow but was quite enjoyable after a few chapters. I look forward to reading more from this author!

This book was wonderful from beginning to end. I want to thank Netgalley for the advanced readers copy in turn for an honest review. This is a perfect frontier romance book. It began with Mary who has lost her fiancé for all she knows in war torn country. She is faithful though and even though she starts having feelings for Tobias she continues to tell herself that she cannot start a new relationship until she knows what happens to Eldon (her fiancé). She decides that she will go to Texas where her fiancé was heading when she never heard from him again (2 years ago). On the trail, the romance strengthens between her and Tobias. I don’t want to give away the ending but you will be thrilled at how it ends and it leaves you wanting to know more about their story.

Close to Perfect is a pretty good book. I liked it and hope to read the others from the Perfect, Indiana series soon. I recommend this short read.

This book was the first for me by this author. I typically love frontier romance and I was not dissapointed. I found Tobias and Mary worthy of my time and attention. This book waa heart warning and emotional. I loved it. If you love clean frontier post civil war clean romance then hit the buy button now. thanks to Netgalley and the published for providing the ebook. I provided the honest opinion

I thoroughly enjoyed this gentle romance which gave us the story of the founding of Perfect, Indiana. The American Civil War has just ended, and Tobias Lovejoy, who had been a prisoner at Fort Sumter has walked home to Atlanta, more than three hundred miles. He was already ill and starving, it was only his determination to see whether his mother and sisters were alright that kept him alive. He had survived by eating grubs and berries on the long journey. He arrives home to find his shop burnt out. A neighbour finds him and takes him to his home so that he can be cleaned up, fed and his wounds attended to, then takes him to his family, who had managed to escape the carnage. He repairs the shop and gets it set back up for his family to run, with the money he had hidden away before the war which had not been discovered; but his heart really isn't in it and he decides he wants to go to Texas and be a rancher. He organises a wagon train, to travel with like-minded people.

Mary Stewart had had a hard war. She was the daughter of a plantation owner. Her mother had died when she was young, her brothers had been killed in the war and her father, in despair, had hanged himself in the barn. It was Mary who had found him, and cut him down. She, along with her widowed cousin Bea and her young son Jonathan and two servants had spent the war hiding from troops from both sides, who came to steal whatever they could find. Mary no longer had money, just responsibilities. She was engaged to be married, but her fiancé had gone to Texas to set up in business as a lawyer, promising to send for her once he was established, but she hadn't heard from him for two years. She was determined to join the wagon train to Texas to find him, and if he had died or she couldn't find him she would set up a school for girls.

Tobias is hard to persuade, he thinks a single woman will be a distraction, and unable to look after herself, but Mary is determined to prove him wrong, she and Bea and Jonathan all learn to shoot well. Eventually Tobias gives in and agrees to take them. Mary sells the plantation to provide the money needed to equip them for the journey.

This is a slow-burn romance, Tobias spends a long time resenting Mary's organisation skills, but at the same time she is pulling at his heart strings, they are both living with horrendous memories of the war. The reader is invested in these characters from the first page of the story, they feel very real. The emotions are well written, and the incidents that befall them on the journey are just as you would imagine would happen. Mary's terror at crossing the Ohio river on a rickety looking ferry jumps out of the page, it would be your terror too!

There is a lovely happy ending, although the wagon train doesn't make it to Texas. It is a truly delightful story, well worth any reader's time. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Oh. My. This was such an amazing story. I fell in love with Mary within just a few pages, and Tobias not long after. Who wouldn’t love a capable, take-charge heroine and a war-wounded hero? The fact that Mary, raised a Southern belle, has been left to fend for herself and help keep the few remaining members of her family, makes her an object of pity to some, amusement, and even disdain to others. She is not feminine enough anymore. Tobias, however, discovers that he admires her plain speaking, her determination, and even her managing ways. Mary is a product of her situation but, having discovered the benefits of saying what she means and working for what she needs, Mary does have to consider whether she would ever be willing to go back to acting the grand lady.

In fact, both Mary and Tobias are victims of war, and this realization brings them close in ways that most of their neighbors can’t understand. Their struggle to establish a relationship, maintain a friendship, and not cross the bounds of honor, is well portrayed. I particularly appreciated that while desire is clearly felt by both Tobias and Mary, Ms. Longley respects the mores of the time and writes a clean story.

Confession: I have eagerly devoured every one of Ms. Longley’s Perfect, Indiana books, the moment they were published, and at the end of the last I asked (begged, maybe even pestered) for another. When she announced that she was writing this prequel I thought, huh. Well, it surely won’t be much like the other books, I wonder if I’ll like an historical as much? Oh my goodness, I am so glad I kept that to myself! This is a wonderful addition to the series. Yes, the time is different, it’s taking place just after the Civil War. Even so, the challenges of Tobias, a former soldier and prisoner of war, are not so very different from those of the veterans we have gotten to know in the contemporary books. We also get introduced to several of the other (familiar) founding families, and their relationship to the Lovejoys and the town of Perfect is neat to see established. In that regard, it was a fun book to read at the end of the series, rather than the beginning, but either way would work splendidly. I am so lucky to have received a copy of this wonderful story in return for my honest review; I highly recommend Close to Perfect.

This book is a “sweet and clean” book – there is mild cussing and no sex so if those things bother you, you have nothing to worry about here.

I must confess that I went into this book not really sure what to expect from a book set in the 1800's but from the moment I started this book, I was absolutely hooked. There is no sex, there is minimal cursing, but what there is is one heck of a great story. Mary Stewart was a self-rescuing damsel who became self-reliant due to the war and her unfortunate circumstances, and from the very start I loved her spunk and the way that she stood up for herself at every stumbling block. Mary was unique and bad to the bone and she was exactly the kind of book heroine I want to read about. Tobias was also fantastic – his back story was one fraught with struggle and pain, but he was still a seriously good guy who I found myself rooting for from the very start. As the book went on I fell more and more for him. He's my kind of hero.

Although this story is a love triangle of sorts, it is so in the very loosest of terms, so if that kind of plot line is a turn off for you, this one shouldn't be terribly offensive. Mary's relationship with her wayward fiance is explained well, and there is no cheating.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a historical story or to someone like me who just enjoys a really great story written by an author who can just flat-out write.

A beautifully written historical romance, Close to Perfect was that and more! Set in the aftermath of the civil war, Georgia is in ruins and people are scrounging for what they can to keep going. After being released as a prisoner of war, Tobias makes his way home to death and destruction, whilst Mary and her cousin have been eking out a living from a once prosperous plantation. Mary was engaged to Eldon Smythe who was supposed to send for her once he reached Texas, but after a year there has been no word from either him or his parents. When Tobias decides to lead a wagon train to Texas, Mary realises that it would be her best opportunity of finding out what had happened to her missing fiancé. It was inevitable that the two strong minded people would find a deep connection, but with the possibility of Eldon still being alive, neither of them make a move to cement what could be a meaningful relationship. When Eldon reappears in Mary's life once again, she has a choice to make but knows that whatever she decides, someone is going to be hurt and her heart could well be broken. I found this story to be well written with a good flow of language and it kept me rivetted the whole way through. It was emotional and dealt with deep matters, without being maudlin or excessively sad. I loved the main characters and the interaction of two stubborn people, but one where mutual respect also abounded. Apart from a being a really good story, the descriptive passages of the terrain and life on a wagon trail were very enlightening. It was a pleasure to read a beautiful clean story, one that touched the emotions and pushed all the right buttons for romance. I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

Oh my goodness how I was rooting for the guy to get the stubborn little girl. You feel it all in this book the emotions are heart jerking. Great read.

This is a really enjoyable historical novel, smoothly written, with a relatable cast of characters. It was a pleasure to read!
Tobias is such a great hero, haunted by memories of war and captivity and physically frail in the beginning, but still trying hard to recover, heal and lead his group of pioneers to Texas.
I found him and Mary to be lovely characters, both strong and vulnerable in different ways. Their past story of young infatuation and the way it changes into an adult attraction and love was also very appealing.
I’ve only read the first story (“Far from Perfect”) in Barbara Longley’s “Perfect” series, but now I’m curious about the other books.
Besides portraying the ravages of the American Civil War, “Close to Perfect” is also a depiction of the Reconstruction era and how a band of pioneers leave Atlanta towards Texas and change their goals during the journey and decide to homestead in a peaceful, beautiful place in Indiana with the Ohio River flowing by - it will be the start of a small town (Perfect, Indiana).

I found the book interesting and a good read - but I don't think its for me - this is simply because I don't read romance all of the time so this would not be my cup of tea when choosing a book however I am grateful that I have been given the opportunity to read it so thank you to the Author for allowing me to