Review: Twisted Perfection by Abbi Glines

Yeah...
So this book just wasn't that impressive.

I was really and truly looking forward to Wood's story since I loved him from the moment he was first introduced in the Too Far series. ...And don't get me wrong- I still love his character, even after reading this story. But with that being said, I think my expectations were just too high before starting this book.

For starters, I think the sex dominated this book more than the actual story-line. Abbi Glines can write some pretty steamy scenes, I'll give her that... But I had a hard time believing that the heroine Della, and Woods actually had any real connection unless they were spending time behind closed doors. It was almost as if the majority of the time that they spent together and got to even know each other on a more personal level was when they were having sex. I'm all for some steamy scenes, but when a book seems to be more sex than story, that's when I start to have issues. It just seemed like I couldn't get through more than a few pages without Woods feeling the need to bend Della over the second they're in the same room together- It got old and excessively repetitive. It really made it hard to form any kind of connection to these characters when the depth and development only seemed to revolve around the sex.


Another issue I had with this story was the heroine, Della. I just really couldn't ever connect to her character and in turn I wasn't her biggest fan. Supposedly she had some serious issues due to her very sheltered upbringing... And by sheltered, I mean she literally never left her house, minus the few times she was able to sneak out. She had no idea how to even pump gas in her car, for God's sake. Yet, her character was just such a contradiction to her past and the way she behaved just never added up for me. You'd never think by her actions that she lived such a sheltered life, which was my biggest issue with her character. She was extremely free and sexual for a girl who was supposedly locked away for most of her life. My belief could only go so far before it all just seemed a bit too skeptical for my taste.

...Oh, and wouldn't you know... Insta-love strikes again.

I really just needed a lot more build up to Della and Wood's relationship. However, they meet and feel this instant attraction that both of them can't deny. So many questions just went unanswered in this story... What I really wanted to know was what's the real reasons behind why they liked each other aside from all the hot and dirty sex? Do they have any common interests? What about common goals? I mean, absolutely no depth went beyond their relationship aside from sex.

Over-all, this wasn't a bad book. For me, it just fell incredibly flat. The ending was a bit cliffhanger-ish and pretty unexpected, but it didn't affect me to the extent that I feel like I'm absolutely dying to read the next book. I may be in the minority when it comes to my feelings about this story, but needless to say it wasn't an impressive start to a new series.

Cover Reveal: Twisted Perfection by Abbi Glines

Release date: April 23, 2013

Life outside of her house was a new experience for Della Sloane. The dark secrets of her past weren’t something she ever intended to share with anyone. They would never understand. No one would ever get close enough to find out. Besides there was always a chance she’d go crazy sooner than they expected…

Woods Kerrington had never been one to be attracted to fragile females. They seemed like too much work. He wasn’t in it for the work just the pleasure. A night full of naughty fun had been exactly what was on his mind when he’d laid eyes on the hot little number that didn’t know how to pump gas and needed some help.

What he didn’t know was she was as fragile as they came.

The carefree girl who spoke her mind and didn’t care what the world thought of her was more breakable than he could ever imagine…

Twisted Perfection is a SPIN-OFF of the Fallen Too Far Series.

Bio:
Abbi Glines was born in Birmingham, Alabama. She grew up in the small town of Sumiton, Alabama where she left the summer she turned eighteen. She didn’t get far… she chased her high school sweetheart down to the coast and she’s been there every since.

Abbi now lives in the quaint southern town of Fairhope, Alabama with her three children and husband Keith (the high school sweetheart she chased after). Her life is never dull and Keith always makes sure there is another “experience” for them to explore.

Books published by Abbi include The Vincent Boys and the USA TODAY bestseller The Vincent Brothers, Breathe, Because of Low, the USA TODAY bestsellers While It Lasts and Just For Now, The Existence Trilogy that includes the USA Today Bestseller Ceaseless, andThe New York Times bestseller and Wall Street Journal bestseller Fallen Too Far. Currently she is working on Never Too Far, the sequel to Fallen too Far.

When Abbi isn’t locked away in her office typing away she is hauling her kids to and from their many social activities. You could say her second job is the Glines Kids personal chauffeur. It’s a rather illustrious job.

 Cover designed by Okay Creations

Review: While it Lasts by Abbi Glines

To sum it up: Maybe driving home after a few (or more) shots of tequila had been a bad idea, but hell, he did it all the time. The cops had to have been freaking bored to have pulled him over. He wasn’t even swerving! That’s Cage York’s story and he’s sticking to it.

Unfortunately, his baseball coach isn’t buying it. Cage has a free ride to the local junior college for baseball- or he did, until he’d gotten a DUI. Now, Cage has to decide: does he drop out and give up his dream of getting noticed by a college in the SEC, and possibly making it into the Major Leagues- or does he give in to his coach’s demands and spend his summer baling hay?

Eva Brooks planned out her life step by step when she was eight years old. Not once over the years had she lost sight of her goals. Josh Beasley, her next door neighbor, had been the center of those goals. He’d been her first boyfriend at seven, her first kiss at ten, her first date at fifteen, and her first tragedy at eighteen. The moment she’d received the phone call from Josh’s mother saying he’d been killed along with four other soldiers just north of Baghdad, Eva’s carefully planned life imploded in the worst way possible.

Cage isn’t real happy with his closet-sized bedroom in the back of a foul smelling barn, or his daily interactions with cows, but he knows that if he doesn’t make his coach happy then he can kiss his scholarship goodbye. Only a sick and twisted man would decide his punishment was to be working on a farm all summer. No hot babes in bikinis waiting to meet a Southern boy to make her vacation complete. Just him and the damned cows.

Oh- and an uptight, snarky brunette with the biggest blue eyes he’s ever seen. But she doesn’t count, because as hard as he’s tried to charm her out of her panties- he’s pretty sure she’d rather see him hung from the rafters than let him get a taste of her pretty little lips...

FYI: Even though this is the third book in the Sea Breeze Series, it's the first book I started with, and it can definitely be read as a stand-alone. Now with that being said...

You know the type of book that’s so good, that just thinking about reading it excites you? The type of book that makes you so giddy, that you’ve got the biggest stupid smile plastered on your face through every turn of the page? The type of book that you want to go on forever, and never end?

That’s this book for me.

I haven’t read a book this good in a long time, and that’s no exaggeration! It was fabulous!

Absolutely.
Freaking.
Fabulous.

I’ve had to go through some real disappointing and boring reads lately, before coming across this gem. Anyone who knows me knows that if I’m not hooked from the first few pages of a book, that I typically don’t stay interested throughout the rest of the novel… it’s sad, but true. But from page one of While It Lasts, I was entranced- I literally couldn’t put it down, unless something got in the way of my reading time. And even then, I was day-dreaming about coming back to this story and these characters.

First and foremost, let’s get to the most important topic of this entire review: (HE’S MINE) Cage York. I’m not kidding… I can proudly say that he’s officially apart of my harem of book boyfriends. (And is also my most current book boyfriend.) I don’t even have a picture to share with you guys, that will do Cage justice. What I can do though, is give you a list of reasons why he's my new favorite hero:

1.) He’s perfect.
2.) He’s perfect.
3.) He’s perfect.

Okay, so seriously the man has other qualities…

-He’s protective! *sigh* C’mon… we all need to just come out and admit that we love us some protective men! And Cage is most certainly that… you say something bad about his girl? He’s going to make you eat your words. You threaten her in any way? You’re going to regret it. Let’s face it: the man had me swooning like no other man has had me swoon before. Protectiveness is a quality that’s always a number one favorite of mine, and Cage had it in spades.

-He’s a bad boy! That’s right, I said it. A. BAD. BOY. A personal fan favorite quality, am I right? Cage had bad boy written all over him, that’s for sure. No one or nothing was getting in the way of what he wanted, and not one person was able to compete or challenge him in any way without either getting their butts handed to them, or having their life threatened. The man didn’t tolerate disrespect, and he made certain you knew that. *fanning myself*

I’m pretty positive you’re already in love with Cage at this point, so I’ll leave the rest of the list a surprise and have you find out for yourselves what makes him amazing perfect.

Eva Brooks on the other hand, came off as seriously uptight… at first. She had been through hell and back because of the loss of her fiancée, which caused her to be skeptical and judgmental of any man who wasn’t Josh… her fiancé that she had known and grown up with for eighteen years. The man she had planned to spend the rest of her life with. No one compared or lived up to the man who was no longer here, and most certainly not Cage. In her opinion, he was the man-whore drunk who would never fill Josh’s shoes, and the one person on this earth she knew Josh would never approve of to move on with. But Cage broke through those strong defenses of hers and made her feel alive again. He was the first and only person who didn’t look at her with eyes filled with sympathy. He never looked at her like she was breakable or tip-toed around her, in fear of saying or doing the wrong thing and making her fall apart. Cage was the only person since Josh’s death, who saw her… not the tragedy. Eva was an exception for me… I typically run away screaming when I read a book about a heroine who tries her best to keep her distance from the hero. If it were vice versa, I’d be all on the story… but a stand-offish woman with attachment issues? No thank you. But when it came to Eva, I really understood her reasoning for not wanting to want Cage. The girl had been through hell and back and suffered a loss I can’t even begin to imagine- and for some reason, it just worked for me. I never once got annoyed or even frustrated with her snobby behavior, because it was justifiable after everything she had been through.

Everything about this book was nothing short of amazing. Character development is a HUGE must factor for me- a book can lose major points without it… but every character in this story was wonderful. Every kiss or touch Cage and Eva shared had me giggling like a school girl- it just all felt so real. And trust me… authors who have the gift to make you feel like you know the characters on a personal level and are actually there and apart of the story, takes true talent. ...And have I mentioned the steamy scenes? Lord! This isn't your typical PG rated YA book, that's for sure! Bye-bye sweet and fluffy bedroom scenes, and hello mature passion and emotion baby!

Am I gushing much?

GOOD! Because this book deserves gushing! Not many books make it to my "favorites" shelf, so I'm proud to say that this is officially apart of it! It was everything I imagined a flawless book to be, and it didn't disappoint me one. single. bit. ...It's funny though, because I had reservations going into this book initially, because I wasn’t that big of a fan of the book The Vincent Boys by Abbi Glines. Although it was enjoyable, there were just some things missing for me when it came to that book and the characters- but after hearing so many good things about While It Lasts and seeing all of the amazing ratings and reviews, I decided to give another book of hers a shot… and suffice it to say, I’m now a huge fan and this will most definitely not be the last book I pick up of hers.

Now my only question is... what the heck am I supposed to read now that I've finished a book this freaking good? *sigh*