Beautiful Redemption Chapter 16:
Taylor, one of the twin Maddox bros, greets Thomas in their native bro tongue with a, “Hey dickhead.” Jamie McGuire halfheartedly attempts to differentiate between the brothers while also establishing they’re brothers:
At first glance, a passerby might mistake them for friends, but even under his peacoat, Taylor was just as ripped. The only difference was that Thomas had thicker muscles, making it obvious that he was the older brother. Other things tipped off that they were related. Taylor’s skin tone was just a shade lighter, geography being the likely culprit.
Let’s take this step by step. 1) They don’t look enough alike that people passing them on the streets would think they were brothers…but as soon as they saw how ripped they both were, it would be obvious they’re related?
2) Thick muscles = older brother. The other you are, the thicker your muscles get as a Maddox bro ages.
3) There are other things that show they are related, but we will not mention them here.
4) It’s important to note Taylor has slightly lighter skin. It’s unclear if this is supposed to make it more or less difficult to determine that they’re related.
Liis also notices they both have strong hands and that it’s going to be “daunting” to be around all the brothers at once. I guess anyone would be nervous when they know they’ll soon be around 5 pairs of strong hands.
Taylor apologizes for the other night when he kept Liis awake with his sex shenanigans in the apartment above hers. Then we get his whole backstory/intro to his own book when he tells us he was dumped by Falyn. But then, uh oh, they got back together after he had sex with agent Davies! I can only imagine the complications this will cause in the next installment of Beautiful Whatever the Fuck.
It turns out that Travis thinks he’s seeing everyone the following day in St. Thomas like “the girls.”
“Are all the girls in St. Thomas?” I asked.
Thomas gave me a look. He knew exactly what I was asking.
“Not all the girls. Just Abby and her bridesmaids.”
Wasn’t America Abby’s one female friend? I mean I think she also had one male friend who she completely forgot about somewhere in the middle of the book. But that’s beside the point. Does this mean perhaps Cara has been asked to be a bridesmaid? Don’t tease, book.
Thinking about Cara made me recall a time when we all longed for Cara to run away with Plot Puppy and live happily ever after. Speaking of Plot Puppy, he’s been sitting in Taylor’s car alone in the winter.Taylor assures us this is all above board, so I am immediately suspicious that it is as below board as all Maddox Bro decisions tend to be.
He also makes the extremely absurd claim that Abby is a “fruitcake” about the dog, when this is clearly a lie told by people who want us to believe Abby is not also an irresponsible dummy who should not be a pet owner.
We’re treated to some more charming Bro Tawlk:
“You pussy-whipped douche waffle.”
Thomas gripped the handle. “She can hear you, fuckstick. My door is open.”
Ha ha what colorful characters! Liis feels like she’s in a “frat house” with “drunken toddlers”, but I feel like she is framing this in a positive way.
During the drive to the party, Liis wonders if the family all hate Camille because she dated two Maddox Bros (women are only entitled to one Maddox Bro each, that is the rule), and Thomas never comes home anymore because of the pain. I was wondering the same thing, but no one ever really addresses it directly. I think we’re just supposed to surmise that everyone is cool with it.
When they park the car, Raegan shows up to take over babysitting Plot Puppy. I’m glad Plot Puppy is staying true to his name and just being used as a way to shoehorn some other random characters into the book for 30 seconds. I guess Raegan and Abby are friends now? Why is she looking after the dog? WHERE IS CARA?
Raegan mentions her boyfriend, and I think he’s the guy she ended up with after Brazil, so congrats to them. Also, Raegan is sort of rude to Thomas, which I can’t remember if that makes any sense or not. He’s a Maddox, so I’ll assume she isn’t also under the ridiculous impression that Cami always belonged to Trent and Thomas stole her.
She’s friendly to Liis, though, so that’s nice? But she immediately leaves, and I’m 98% sure that’s the last we see of her and Plot Puppy in this book. Bye, friends! May you bring lame plot devices to the lives of all you encounter.
Liis and Thomas share a kiss before going into the party when suddenly A MADDOX BRO APPEARS! But which one?
Another brother—obvious because he looked so much like Taylor—was holding open the door. He was wearing only a yellow nylon Speedo, barely big enough to conceal his man parts, and a matching wig. The hideous bright yellow acrylic on his head was a mess of curls and frizz, and he flirtatiously bounced it with one hand.
Oh dear god. Yes, it’s Trent. If he dresses up like this and embarrasses himself…he can propose to Camille…because what woman would not desire this monstrosity to propose to her?
Inside the party, Liis meets Thomas’ dad, and he is still doing that weird thing where he refers to the girlfriends as “sis”, which makes absolutely no fucking sense. He also does the thing where he’s immediately like, “You must be the most amazing woman in the world based off knowing nothing about you.”
Thomas goes to grab a drink, and while doing so runs into Camille and they hug. Trent and Liis watch the scene unfold sadly. Find out about all the emotions tomorrow!
