Too Far, by Abbi Glines

Welcome to Rosemary, a rich beach town in Florida where beautiful people are abundant and relationship drama is the rule, not the exception. To date, there are 3 series of books that happen in Rosemary Beach, each telling the love story of a different couple, all within the same group of friends. Too Far is the story of Rush and Blaire, Perfection is the story of Woods and Della & Chance is the story of Grant and Harlow. Each series is basically stand-alone and can be read in any order but I recommend reading them in the following order to avoid unwanted spoilers: Too Far, Perfection and Chance. All books from the Rosemary Beach collection are "young adult romance" with a lot of explicit sexual content. The characters in the books are mostly in their late teens (the girls) to mid-twenties (guys).

Too Far: A set of 3 books (soon to be 4 when Abbi Glines releases "Rush Too Far", which is "Fallen Too Far" from Rush's POV). The first book is told solely from Blaire's POV and the other 2 are from both Blaire and Rush's POV, in alternate fashion. Blaire is a sweet, innocent, young 19 year old from Alabama who's had a rough couple of years. Having buried loved ones and been abandoned by her only living parent, she is on her own, trying to get by. Desperate and broke, she uses up the last of her money to drive to Rosemary Beach, seeking out her father, who has remarried, only to bump into her new stepbrother, Rush, the gorgeous son of a famous rock star. Despite his deep attraction to Blaire, Rush has been led to believe that Blaire is the source of his sister's lifelong agony. Internal conflicts and family drama are plentiful. At first I thought it sounded a bit cheesy but I was totally surprised when I found myself crying like a little babe, not wanting to put the book down until I was finished. The beauty of the story isn't the storyline per se but it's the way it is told. Abbi Glines has a way to  make you feel the characters' emotions. Be forewarned though, the family ties in this book can get a bit confusing. Seems like everyone in this set of books is either a step-something or half-sibbling. There is slight repetitiveness of certain events throughout the series but it can easily be overlooked. It tends to go like this: Rush puts Nan (his sister) first, Blaire runs away, Rush promises to never put her last again, make up scene, repeat. There is an actual song that goes along with the events in book 3. The song, Fallen Too Far, can be purchased on iTunes.

Here are my reviews for the three Too Far books: Rush and Blaire's story.

Fallen Too Far by Abbi Glines
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I actually cried!!!

It was inexpensive and on Kobo's top 50 list so I bought this as light romantic reading in between more complexe novels...

What I wasn't ready for, was the tears that kept falling when reading about Blair's backstory and how it affected her in the present. The author has a nice way of describing character emotions and setting the scene.

After my 3rd re-read of this book, I felt the need to edit my original review and rating. I had originally rated the book 4 stars but changed it to 5 because a book that makes me go back for a 3rd read AND makes me cry from start to finish even though I know the story by heart deserves a 5 star rating!

Never Too Far by Abbi Glines
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A good sequel to the first book. Since book 1 ends on a sad note, book 2 starts up that way. Poor Blaire just can't seem to get a break! Dealing with feelings of loss, betrayal, rejection, hate & confusion during a very fragile time of her life, Blaire is determined to take whatever steps necessary to make her future the best possible for herself, despite the overwhelming & unyielding attraction between herself and Rush. Some hot and sexy scenes are bound to get the reader hot and bothered. Nan is still wonderfully wicked and all the family ties and relations between the characters are more complex than an Celtic knot!

This books explores the story from both Blaire and Rush's points of view which is great. Seeing as Rush is going through some emotional turmoil himself, it's nice to know what's going on in his head. He's a wonderful main male character. It was great reading from his pov because he had more to say than just the typical alpha-male "you are mine" (although he does think and say it, there is a lot more depth to his character).

Nicely written!

Forever Too Far by Abbi Glines

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book, the 3rd in the "Too Far" series, is a crossroads in the Rosemary Beach novels. It continues and concludes the romantic story between Blaire and Rush but it also gives us a little taste of the Woods/Della/Angelina story as well as the Grant/Harlow/Nan story AND a teeny weeny bit of Tripp's backstory. According to blog posts from the author, all 3 of these storylines will have their own books (the "Perfection" books with Della and Woods are already out).

I enjoyed how this book played out, seeing Rush owning up to manhood in various important stages of his life. Blaire is always as determined to do the right thing, even though it may break her heart forever. Sexy scenes are to be expected (it's a Rosemary Beach story after all!) in just the right amount (not too little, not too much).

I LOVE the idea of having a song that goes along with the book. As far as I know, Abbi Glines has at least 5 songs that go along with her various books. Makes for an exciting little surprise and I get shivers when I hear the songs because I remember the story behind them. Nice touch!

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