Twisted Perfection

This book was not was I was expecting but at least I can say it was better. Nothing comes close to Rush Finlay but Woods Kerrington is definitely something a girl can swoon over. I can\’t help but love him! Spoilers ahead: Woods Kerrington: He would be almost every girls dream come true and naughty fantasy. He\’s tall, dark and handsome, as well successful. His downfall…his family. His father is controlling and demanding that Woods marry Angelina Greystone because it\’s good for the family name. Woods is refusing to let go of what should be rightfully his place in the family business so he finally gets engaged to the nightmare that is Angelina. however, not for long, he\’s drawn to Della. Della makes him want to be a better man. He falls for her completely and I couldn\’t have been happier about that. Della Sloane: This poor girl! I don\’t know who I felt more sorry for her or Blaire Wynn. Della has basically lived in a cage her entire life. Her mother literally kept her locked away in the house. So much so that no one except her best friend Braden even knew she existed! Then she comes home to find her mother had committed suicide. Three years later she\’s taking a road trip to find herself. She finds Woods instead. She loves him but she\’s convinced she\’ll go crazy just like her mother so she keeps trying to push him away but she gives in after a while. The big climax I won\’t give away but it had me so shocked and angry that I wanted to throw my book at the wall. Abbi Glines has definitely done it again!

I LOVE Abbi Glines, I love all of her books that I\’ve read and I\’ve read almost all of them. But seriously? Is every new book that comes out going to be a cliffhanger or \”Book 1 of 2\”?!? It\’s like the new trend.I\’ve rated it with three stars because this book coulod have been a four or five star read, had the story been written in its entirety. I feel just a little jipped here, I regret waiting for other reviews prior to purchasing since I prefer the whole story in one sitting not broken down over a six month period. I LOVE Woods. What I don\’t love is when a book is split into two books when it could have been one book, just longer. I love a delicious, fun, great book. One that wraps me up in warm and fuzzies and angst and gives it all in one shot for me. At about 95% I was wondering how the hell this book was going to wrap itself up in a pretty bow with only 5% left. A book that is split into two short books instead of one longer one does not make me a happy reader, I find it really frustrating. Did I read it in one sitting? Yes Was it hot and Woods is sexy? Yes Was it like a bad one night stand with me feeling like, \”WTF? Is that IT?!? It\’s over?!?\” YES!! Fair warning, this book did not leave me warm and fuzzy and I would\’ve waited til\’ both books were realeased had I known the book would just stop. The End. Just saying……

This book…what can I say about this book? I wanted to like it. I really did. I typically enjoy books by Abbi Glines. They\’re usually entertaining and a little sad, which generally makes books easier for me to get into them. There are always little issues with grammar and I sometimes feel a little snarky about the situations within the books or the name choices. This book, though? Well, it made me feel angry instead of snarky. Woods was a pretty decent guy in the Blaire/Rush books. He was a good friend. He was a pretty nice guy. He was never a total schmuck. Well, in this book, he got a little of the schmuckiness on. Admittedly, he wasn\’t as much of a jerk as his father or Angelina or Thad, but he had his moments. He didn\’t seem like the Woods of the other books. Maybe this one explored his actual personality better and in the others he was really just putting on a front. I don\’t know, but I didn\’t really like it. He mentioned at one point that she brought out his inner caveman. Well, that was pretty obvious by the very possessive behavior that he displayed. Some of the time he would become monosyllabic and just declare her to be his. He didn\’t want to let her out of his sight. He didn\’t want her to talk to or live with her male roommate. He didn\’t want her to have had past sexual partners, which even he admits is hypocritical. It just felt very, very backwards. As for Della, the heroine of the story, I would have felt bad for her, but her story just didn\’t make sense. I don\’t know if the writer isn\’t familiar with agoraphobia, but I\’m pretty certain that the issues that Della\’s mother is described as having aren\’t from having agoraphobia. They can occur with agoraphobia, but not because of it. To me, it seemed that her mother had a psychotic disorder or a personality disorder or both. The isolation behavior is something that happens in agoraphobia, but the other behaviors? No. From my experience, I think the agoraphobia would have been a secondary diagnosis or a symptom of another issue. I know, I know. Writers shouldn\’t be expected to know everything about everything, but in this case, it is important to get the details as close to being correct as possible. That might not seem like a big deal, but the mental health issue was one that was central to the story. It is also something that leads to my next complaint about the story: stigmatization. Mentally ill people encounter stigma regularly. People hold a lot of wacky beliefs about the mentally ill. This book seemed to promote that kind of ideology. There were so many instances where Della described herself as crazy, insane, potentially dangerous, etc. There were times when it seemed that the characters (including Della) thought that having mental health issues was a sign of weakness or of a character flaw or a sign that there was something defective about them as a whole because of this issue; this is the kind of attitude that would be abhorrent if it were applied to someone who had a \”physical\” disability. There were instances of other characters insinuating that mental illness would make someone less human. For example, Woods\’ cop acquaintance said, \”I thought she was crazy and you were scared of what she might do. I was getting rid of her for you. Your dad said she was dangerous. A mental case. I even roughed her up a bit. I didn\’t know…Please tell me that girl is screwed in the head and what I did was good.\” Of course that statement is followed by some caveman statement about how women shouldn\’t be treated that way, which is technically true because NO PERSON SHOULD EVER BE TREATED THAT WAY. Mistreating her because she *might* have a mental illness is problematic behavior, but only being alarmed about it because she is a woman is also problematic. It would be just as wrong to \”rough up\” a man. Abusing someone is never okay and I think that message got lost somewhere along the way with this book. I think the book could have been better. Other than the problematic mental health stigmatization and the rather sexist attitudes, I felt like it wasn\’t developed as much as it should have been. It wasn\’t that the book was too short, but that it just moved too quickly and didn\’t focus much on anything except that Della\’s mom was mentally ill, Woods was in a future marriage for business situation, and that Woods and Della liked to have sex like bunnies. While those things were interesting, it felt like the stories around them weren\’t executed at a level that was appropriate to advance the overall story within the book. I don\’t really understand why this book and it\’s follow-up weren\’t combined. Neither is really that long. If they had been worked into one story, then maybe the book wouldn\’t have felt so underdeveloped. I could be wrong. I could have felt even more off, but I\’m not sure that would be possible, I hate being disappointed by books. I really do, but this book was such a disappointment. Hopefully, the follow-up to it won\’t be like this, but if it is, I may write-off future books by this author.

Just finished. Couldn\’t put it down. I have been reading so many YA books recently and it\’s difficult to find the ones that appeal to my more mature age and don\’t get tiring because of the teenage angst and drama. Abbi\’s books really do fit the niche I am looking for as her characters have baggage, or are in difficult situations which make them behave in a more mature way although often with their innocence of youth being damaged in the process. This is Woods and Della\’s story and I think could be read as a stand alone although does follow \’Fallen too Far\’ and \’Never too far\’ and some of the characters are constant throughout these books. In usual Abbi Glines style we have a heartbreaking leading lady and a strong very alpha (and very sexy) leading man. You know that Abbi will take you to the edge of a tragedy and then bring you home safetly with a lot of heat (phew), and some teeth-gritting tension. There is a cliff-hanger but one that I don\’t think affects the overall story and romance of the two main characters, you will be smiling at the end. I HATE cliff-hangers but I was ok with this one. Another good read Abbi. Thank you.

4.5 stars!!! Abbi Glines does it again however this had the added bit of HOT SMOKING chemistry and attraction. Della is on a road trip to find herself, her best friend has just got married, gives her the car and tells her to go and find herself!! Della was a prisoner in her own home, her brother died her mum went loopy and kept her in the house, she was home schooled by her mother and was extremely lonely she knew no-one. When she hit her teens she started to brave her mothers dominance and used to sneak out of the house at night, even if it was just to breathe in the air and touch the grass, this is where she met her best friend Braden. She was her next door neighbour and wondered what went on at the house, she thought they were vampires!! After meeting a few times at night Braden gets Della out and about a bit more and eventually persuades her to go out to a party. However, when they return Della\’s mother has committed suicide. After initially being arrested for her death, once her alibi checks out she is released and Braden\’s family take her in and that is when their friendship becomes unbreakable. Even Braden\’s husband knew that when he married Braden, he also got Della, they came as a package. The love that they both have for Della was beautiful and I for one would love a best friend like Braden. On this road trip Della runs out of petrol, she coasts into a petrol station and then realises that she does not know how to put gas in the tank..she is there struggling and then along comes her knight in shining armour \”Woods Kerrington\”…I loved Woods in Rush\’s story and he doesn\’t disappoint in this book either..he does have a shaky moment until he finds his balls, but I forgave him, just a little bit!! They have their night of fun after the gas station incident and Woods leaves her to carry on her road trip, however, their paths cross again four months later..is this destiny??? The chemistry that these two have is amazeballs, you can feel it oozing off the page and I had to think twice…is this Abbi Glines??? Giving us smoking hot passion and sex in a book??? Abbi did it really well, who knew that Woods had it in him?? There was me thinking he was this cutesy man, work-a-holic, Ivy league jock and he is actually seriously hot!!! He has alpha male tendencies and a filthy mouth that made me blush on more than one occasion!! But he also had his caring side and one that he needed constantly with Della. Della suffers with panic attacks and night terrors..she does not think that she can be loved because of them and that people with think that she is crazy. She thinks that she will end up as crazy as her mother and does not really want to have children as she feels that she will pass the crazy gene on. Woods witnesses one of her panic attacks and it only makes him want to protect her more. Tripp has been looking out for Della and pulls Woods aside to find out what his intentions are, when Woods admits that he is in it for the long haul Tripp asks him to come one night once Della is asleep so he can witness first hand the night terrors that she has every night…this scene was amazingly beautiful…I cried happy tears and sad tears all in one go!! As usual the course of true love never runs a smooth and as I said earlier Woods does make some stupid decisions based on peer pressure from his parents, but he soon sees the light..but is it too late?? Will his parents let him live the life he craves or will they ruin it all??? The ending!!!! Wow, although it was a little cliffie it wasn\’t one that had me screaming as Woods and Della were back on track..but am I wrong in thinking that it couldn\’t have happened to a more deserving person??? I think I am, but hey I can live with it….I just hope that this latest development does not hinder Woods and Della\’s relationship as guilt can eat you away. Cannot wait for book 2!! […]

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