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Review
“You still love her.”
“More than my next breath.”
4 second-chance stars
This was always going to be a tricky book to write. With so many conflicting emotions about events in the series so far, I was really hesitant about going into this one. I had three main concerns:
1. I was still pissed at Bethy, and wasn’t sure I could actually like her
2. I didn’t want Jace disrespected
3. I love Tripp so much, and wanted him to have the happy ending he deserved
Well, Bravo Abbi Glines! Not only did she deliver on each of the above, but she gave us a fantastic love story that was high on emotion, low on stupidity and that had me enthralled from start to finish. I loved it!
Just as a side note – the books in this series feature different couples, but I would absolutely recommend reading them in order. There is a lost of background and context built throughout the series, you would miss so much if you dove straight into this one, so I wouldn’t recommend reading it as a standalone.
Tripp and Bethy met when he was 18 and she was 16. They were attracted to each other, they became friends, and over one amazing summer they fell deeply in love. Their bliss was cut short when Tripp had to leave town, and Bethy was left to deal with the aftermath of his departure. The years in between had a lot of ups and downs for them both and now, ten years later, Tripp is back in Rosemary Beach and is determined to be there for Bethy after both of their worlds have been rocked, and she is struggling to move on.
First of all, let me acknowledge the absolute perfection that is Tripp. Holy hell, the man is possessive, protective, openly and unabashedly in love and yes, sexy as all hell! He’s in the tricky position of wanting Bethy but not wanting to overstep any boundaries, so he does what he can to let her know that he’s there for her, but he doesn’t push her too hard. He plays his part beautifully, being incredibly respectful, but with the alpha vibes that we all love.
“I know you want to take this slow, and you’re scared. I get it. But I can’t . . . this is mine. It always was. You were mine then, and you’re mine now.”
Initially Bethy wants nothing to do with Tripp. He broke her when he left, and everything that she has been through since then has shattered her even further, leaving her guilt-ridden and confused. She puts up a fight, and while this can sometimes be annoying in a book, this situation was handled really well, and not only did I start to really like Bethy, but I could accept and understand what she was feeling, and I thought she was written really realistically. And, of course, it didn’t hurt that even though she was pushing Tripp away, he was there fighting for her the whole time.
“You want that girl you left behind. I’m not her! Don’t you get it? She’s gone. I’ve lost her. I made choices that made me an awful person. I’m not worth all this time and energy you’re wasting.”
Fuck. I took a step toward her, and she took a step back. “You’re wrong there. I don’t want the sixteen-year-old girl I left behind. I want the woman she’s become. The kind, compassionate, faithful, strong woman I watch from afar every day of my life. I want her. Nothing ever changed for me. Not with you.”
I really liked that we got to see Tripp and Bethy’s past together, I loved seeing them fall for each other as teenagers, it really helped contextualise everything and despite all that happens, it has you rooting for this couple from the very beginning. Back in the present, yes there is some back and forth, but it is consistent to their situation, and I knew it was all going to work out in the end, so it was just a matter of sitting back and soaking up the sexy (damn, but there is sexy!), passionate, sweet and oh-so swoony moments until we got our happy ending.
“You needed to know that what we had was forever. Bethy, it was forever with me when I was eighteen years old. You were all I could see then, and you’re all I can see now.”
The rest of the gang are all a part of the action, and there is some great progression for them. And can I just take a moment to gush over Grant – that man is absolutely gorgeous! I really enjoyed catching up with each of the other couples, and loved their involvement (invited or otherwise) in the unfolding drama.
“Friends, huh?” Rush said, coming to stand beside me.
“Yeah. She’s decided we can be friends,” I told him…
“I tried the friends thing with Blaire once. It lasted less than a week before I was stripping her naked in the back of my Range Rover. Good luck with that.”
I really loved this book. I was surprised by just how much I loved it. With just the right amount of humour and light moments to keep it from being too heavy, it was a really enjoyable read which exceeded my expectations, and has me firmly on team Trethy. Well done, Ms Glines!
4 stars
Note – I listened to this as an audiobook, and have two words to explain how awesome it was – Sebastian York. That is all.
For full series info, see our Rosemary Beach series page.