Thursday, April 23, 2015

Never Too Far by Abbi Glines

Just when Blaire allowed herself to fall for Rush, he revealed a life-altering secret so devastating that she couldn't forgive him. Unable to face him again, Blaire leaves Rosemary Beach and returns to the comforts of her small town in Alabama.

I read book one (Fallen Too Far) at the end of last month, and I loved it. I thought the characters were great and that it was just a fun read... So i figured with how amazing my reading has been going so far this month that I would go  ahead and pick up the second one to keep the momentum going. This was a big HUGE mistake. This book was a complete 180 from the last one.

Never Too Far picks up right where the first one left off... Except it kind of doesn't at the same time. We are hit right off the bat with some out of nowhere-at the same time saw it coming- news, this had me annoyed right away. Blaire is still back in Bama living with her Ex boyfriends Grandma (yeah it's as dumb as it sounds). The whole having her Exbf, Cain, being involved in this story too me was pointless. He really served no true purpose and was clearly there just to so we could have some cliche drama added. Glines has it so that it seems like he will be an important player in this novel, but trust me he isn't. He is in the first few scenes then poof gone. However I'm pretty sure Cain drank the same Kool-aid everyone else did in this book because he is just as dumb as the rest of them. Anyways, of course Blaire decided that she will go back to living in Rosemary Beach with her best friend Bethy.... Yah know just till she can get back on her feet... It totes has nothing to do with Rush... Cough Bullshit. (warning every sub character in this book will have a dumb name)

Once Blaire is back in beach town she gets to live in this sweet condo with said best friend. This bring on another convenient thing to add to the story. The condo just so happens to be on the grounds of the golf course she works at. Is that even a real thing??? I know it's pretty clear that I don't go to many golf clubs (aka zero) but last time I checked there weren't many apartments on them?!?! Any who they live in this sweet condo at their job, and job she so convenient got back after giving like no notice of her departure before. This leads me into our next issue, if Blaire was my employee I would NEVER hire her back, if I did it would be just so I could re-fire her right after. Why is that you ask? Easy... First off she is sleeping with a club member. Second the club member aka Rush is constantly there. Which means he is constantly starting drama with her which causes her to get all worked up, run off, and cry. Third she is constantly getting into spats with Rush's sister Nan while on the clock. Forth at one point she is at work and says her and Rush hook up in a closet and she knows her boss Woods hear them!! SERIOUSLY! and you still have her working there??! This is clearly an Ohsaa violation sir! I seriously could keep going on with this list, but I think you get the picture. Blaire also goes from this timid girl who at least kind of had a back bone, to this whiny, needy, jealous girl. Oh and please don't listen to her gypsy lies when she tells you she's an independent women who doesn't need no man, because it's a lie! She relies on everyone for everything. Rush is a whole problem in itself. He does a complete turnaround from the first novel as well. He was this fun, hot, wild caring guy in the first and in this one he is a mega jerk. He is also whiny, childish, and annoying. Plus his constant jealous and over protective thing is just too much. Just stop. I will go on the record and state "I DO NOT HAVE A RUSH CRUSH!" that ship sailed in the first couple of pages.


As far as the sub characters go we still have Bethy, as stated before as the token best friend. Bethy is still with Jace. Both Jace and Bethy were characters I didn't really care for in book one but did grow on me a little more in this one. However if I was Bethy I would be putting out a craigslist ad for a new roommate because I would be kicking Blaire out ASAP. Her and Rush loud love making might be cute the first time but I promise you that game show is gonna get real old after a few goes. It's also pretty sad that these two (Jace & Bethy) are the voices of reason in this book. They were both so gross in the first one I don't know when they stopped. The same goes for her boss Woods. Besides being an idiot boss as a friend he wasn't half bad. He was reasonable and gave good advice... Advice as you can probably guess Blaire doesn't take. Lastly I give you Nan (STUPID NAME!!!!). Nan is Rush's sister, and she is the worst sister in history. I kind of sorta (but not really) get why she is nasty towards Blaire, but I don't get why she is such a B to everyone else. I also can't stand her relationship with Rush. It's so creepy. I feel like her and Rush are closer too dating than brother and sister. It's freaky. The way they are towards one another is just nope. I kept expecting there was going to be this weird plot twist and it turns out these two were snogging the whole time. And the way they talk to each other, BARF! I also have no sympathy or feels for her at all, my give a damn broke and I just don't have any Fs left to give to her.


Lastly my real problem with this book was it's rinse, lather, repeat plot. We could have gotten the same book out of roughly 30 pages. Rush does something to screw things up, they make up. Rush is a jerk, they make up. Rush says hi to another girl they fight, they make up. Rush misses a big event, says he'll never do it again, they make up. Rush continues to miss big events, they make up. It's just that over and over again. Throw in a few "Blaire threatens to leave repeatedly" and wham you have Never Too Far. The plot of this book is as weak as the characters. This isn't a story about two star-crossed lovers that you'll be rooting for. After reading this book I was confused to who our leading lady really was... Is it Blaire or is it actually Rush? The split POVs didn't help trying to figure it out either. There is no difference in personality or thoughts between the two. This plot had nothing going for it, so Glines figure she could take little miscommunications and small infractions and blow them out of proportion to make up for the lack of story... and sadly it doesn't work.

Yall know that I love a good smutty read, and even those scenes couldn't make up for this plot. That being said even the sexy fun times were that sex or fun. I won't even go into full detail about how much I hated this ending. It was so abrupt and thrown together. Does it make me want to read the next books??? Yeah kind of but I still hated it. I'm just floored by how the writing and story in the first on could be so amazing and yet such a fail in the second... I'd really like my afternoon back.

Maybe in some dim lighting this could pass as a 4 star book but for now 
3/10 Stars 
-Angela  

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