Verdict: Though it seems unlikely that “Pigeon” and Travis will ever get their schoolwork done, their steamy, up-and-down, “beautiful disaster” romance is sure to keep readers glued to the page.

Abby Abernathy (aka Pigeon) from Wichita, Kansas, is a freshman at Eastern University, trying to escape a disturbing past; there, she meets campus stud extraordinaire Travis “Mad Dog” Maddox, who sidelines as a prizefighter, sports a buzz cut and a wealth of tattoos, has a lifetime supply of condoms in his apartment and a string of “clueless bimbos” lined up to try them out.

A “straight A” student, Travis is no dummy, and when he meets Abby through his cousin Shep and his girlfriend America (Abby’s best friend), he sees right away that she’s different. A simple bet lands Abby in his apartment for a month, and the two develop a beautiful friendship. But put two hot college kids in the same bed, and it’s no surprise that something non-platonic soon unfolds.

As Abby struggles with her past and Travis faces his own family demons (his mom died when he was a child, leaving his dad to battle the bottle and raise five boys), their relationship becomes increasingly complex; in fact, it seems that the only time the cloud of their past lives lifts is when they’re together to complete one another.

While both characters have their flaws (Travis muscles his way through life with violence and threats, Abby is unsure of her own self worth, and both spend a lot more time focusing on their sex lives than on academics) readers can’t help rooting for the couple to work it out and admit they’re meant for each other.

Though it seems unlikely that  “Pigeon” and Travis will ever get their schoolwork done, their steamy, up-and-down, “beautiful disaster” romance is sure to keep readers glued to the page.

Reviewed by Kathryn Livingston for IndieReader