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A review by mamamelreads
Never Too Far by Abbi Glines
3.0
It is kind of hard for me to review the books in this series because I really do find them to be very entertaining and a fast read. They have memorable characters and enough of a driving plot to keep me reading until I find out what happens in the end. I like the books. I do. But so far I have not been able to give any book a rating above three stars. There is just too much that irritates me about the books to help them earn a higher ranking. Not everyone will have the issues that I have with the books, so not everyone will feel unhappy with the books. Just read my review and decide for yourself whether you would be interested in this book or not.
Never Too Far begins with Rush and Blaire separated. Blaire is unable to "forget" Rush's actions in choosing to protect his sister over her, and she is devastated by the revelations that take place at the end of Fallen Too Far. She goes back home to Alabama where she moves in with her ex-boyfriend's Granny and tries to rebuild her life. That lasts all of a few weeks. It turns out that Blaire finds out that there are actual real-life consequences to having wild, exciting, and UNPROTECTED sex with your hottie of a boyfriend. The problem is that she currently is in the middle of some intense hurt and anger because of that guy, so she chooses to keep her new circumstances quiet. A series of circumstances arise, and Blaire conveniently finds herself living back near Rush with her friend Bethy, and Rush has the opportunity to try and win Blaire back. His struggle to regain Blaire's trust is pretty much the entirety of this novel.
My thoughts:
Well, I have to say that for the first three quarters of this book I was amazingly impressed with Rush. My issues with him from the first book disappeared as he worked so hard to prove his love and devotion to Blaire. He wasn't this over-sexed guy obsessed with getting her undressed. He was kind and considerate and tried to be exactly who Blaire needed him to be. If she wanted space, he gave her space. If she needed help, he gave her help. He tried to even hold her without it turning into a wild romp in bed. Surprising, I know. He was wonderful. He did have a struggle because he loved his sister Nan, but she hated Blaire. He was trying to balance things, and when Nan couldn't get over herself he even cut her off. Rush was looking wonderful in this story. And then ... I'm sorry, but his actions at the end of this book were almost inexcusable in my mind. They were enough of a jerk move that I thought it needed a lot more than an "I'm so sorry" to fix them. Oh, how I hated Rush after this. Can he redeem himself? I'm sure. It seems like Blaire isn't going to have any issues with his actions. But I did not like what happened. So irritating. And it ruined all my good feelings for him at the beginning of the novel. Erg.
I would have to say that the main problem in this book was Blaire. I hate to say it, but I really hated her in this book. She supposedly was unable to forgive Rush for his actions in the first book. I can totally understand her feelings. They made sense. It was going to take some time to get over things. She seemed to be trying to at least allow Rush to be her friend. But then, all of the sudden, everything was okay. Why? It was so abrupt, and the only thing that seemed to explain her quick change of heart was her over-sexed pregnancy hormones. That was it. After half a book of hearing her complain about Rush's actions, that didn't seem to be enough. And then, even after she allowed Rush back into her life she spent the rest of the book bemoaning her attachment to him. Did she love being his girlfriend? Oh yes! But she constantly focused on how he couldn't really love her, how he was confused about his feelings for her, how she didn't fit in his world, etc., etc., etc. She was always one step away from leaving him for the entire book. I have a hard time feeling all warm and fuzzy about a relationship where one party is constantly planning her getaway. It is unfortunate that I ended up disliking her so much in this book because I really liked her in the first book. Hopefully my feelings will change for the next book.
Of all the characters in this book, I have to say that I loved Woods the most. In the first book he seemed to be the token rich guy who takes what he wants and treats girls badly. Rush was always worried about his interactions with Blaire and warned her about him. But those concerns haven't turned out to be true. Of everyone in Blaire's life, interestingly enough, Woods seems to be the one person who is constant and kind and considerate. He treats her wonderfully, even when she is choosing Rush over and over again. This never turns into a love triangle book, but there were times when I wondered why Blaire wasn't giving Woods a second look, especially when he was there when Rush was not. I'm glad to know he is getting his own story. He totally deserves it.
So, yet again, I am giving another Abbi Glines book three stars even though I enjoyed reading it a lot. There is too much to irritate me to give it more, but I am continuing the series, hoping for that eventual happy ending, knowing that I will like reading the finale as much as the first two books in this series.
Never Too Far begins with Rush and Blaire separated. Blaire is unable to "forget" Rush's actions in choosing to protect his sister over her, and she is devastated by the revelations that take place at the end of Fallen Too Far. She goes back home to Alabama where she moves in with her ex-boyfriend's Granny and tries to rebuild her life. That lasts all of a few weeks. It turns out that Blaire finds out that there are actual real-life consequences to having wild, exciting, and UNPROTECTED sex with your hottie of a boyfriend. The problem is that she currently is in the middle of some intense hurt and anger because of that guy, so she chooses to keep her new circumstances quiet. A series of circumstances arise, and Blaire conveniently finds herself living back near Rush with her friend Bethy, and Rush has the opportunity to try and win Blaire back. His struggle to regain Blaire's trust is pretty much the entirety of this novel.
My thoughts:
Well, I have to say that for the first three quarters of this book I was amazingly impressed with Rush. My issues with him from the first book disappeared as he worked so hard to prove his love and devotion to Blaire. He wasn't this over-sexed guy obsessed with getting her undressed. He was kind and considerate and tried to be exactly who Blaire needed him to be. If she wanted space, he gave her space. If she needed help, he gave her help. He tried to even hold her without it turning into a wild romp in bed. Surprising, I know. He was wonderful. He did have a struggle because he loved his sister Nan, but she hated Blaire. He was trying to balance things, and when Nan couldn't get over herself he even cut her off. Rush was looking wonderful in this story. And then ... I'm sorry, but his actions at the end of this book were almost inexcusable in my mind. They were enough of a jerk move that I thought it needed a lot more than an "I'm so sorry" to fix them. Oh, how I hated Rush after this. Can he redeem himself? I'm sure. It seems like Blaire isn't going to have any issues with his actions. But I did not like what happened. So irritating. And it ruined all my good feelings for him at the beginning of the novel. Erg.
I would have to say that the main problem in this book was Blaire. I hate to say it, but I really hated her in this book. She supposedly was unable to forgive Rush for his actions in the first book. I can totally understand her feelings. They made sense. It was going to take some time to get over things. She seemed to be trying to at least allow Rush to be her friend. But then, all of the sudden, everything was okay. Why? It was so abrupt, and the only thing that seemed to explain her quick change of heart was her over-sexed pregnancy hormones. That was it. After half a book of hearing her complain about Rush's actions, that didn't seem to be enough. And then, even after she allowed Rush back into her life she spent the rest of the book bemoaning her attachment to him. Did she love being his girlfriend? Oh yes! But she constantly focused on how he couldn't really love her, how he was confused about his feelings for her, how she didn't fit in his world, etc., etc., etc. She was always one step away from leaving him for the entire book. I have a hard time feeling all warm and fuzzy about a relationship where one party is constantly planning her getaway. It is unfortunate that I ended up disliking her so much in this book because I really liked her in the first book. Hopefully my feelings will change for the next book.
Of all the characters in this book, I have to say that I loved Woods the most. In the first book he seemed to be the token rich guy who takes what he wants and treats girls badly. Rush was always worried about his interactions with Blaire and warned her about him. But those concerns haven't turned out to be true. Of everyone in Blaire's life, interestingly enough, Woods seems to be the one person who is constant and kind and considerate. He treats her wonderfully, even when she is choosing Rush over and over again. This never turns into a love triangle book, but there were times when I wondered why Blaire wasn't giving Woods a second look, especially when he was there when Rush was not. I'm glad to know he is getting his own story. He totally deserves it.
So, yet again, I am giving another Abbi Glines book three stars even though I enjoyed reading it a lot. There is too much to irritate me to give it more, but I am continuing the series, hoping for that eventual happy ending, knowing that I will like reading the finale as much as the first two books in this series.