Blog Tour & Release Week Event * YOU WERE MINE by Abbi Glines * Review * Excerpt * GIVEAWAY

From #1 “New York Times “bestselling author Abbi Glines comes a brand-new Rosemary Beach novel about Tripp Newark and his hidden romantic past with Bethy Lowry.

Gossip is the ultimate currency in Rosemary Beach, but Bethy and Tripp have managed to keep one big secret to themselves.

Eight years ago, Tripp Newark was dating a rich girl he didn’t like and was on his way to Yale—and a future he didn’t want. The only way he could escape his predictable life would be to give up the money and power that came with his family’s name. And that’s exactly what he planned to do. At the end of the summer, he was going to ride off on his Harley and never look back.
That was before he met Beth Lowry.
It was only supposed to be a summer fling. She was a sixteen-year-old trailer-park girl who served drinks to his friends at Kerrington Country Club. They didn’t run in the same social circles. No one even knew they were friends, let alone lovers. Yet, for one summer, Bethy became his entire world.
But he couldn’t give up on his plan. He needed to leave Rosemary Beach, but he vowed he would come back for her.
Problem was, by the time he came back—years later than promised—it was too late. His cousin, Jace, had already claimed the woman he loved. . . .

Yesi’s Thoughts:

Rosemary Beach is definitely the place to be! You Were Mine is the latest installment in the Rosemary Beach series and I feel like we’ve all been waiting on pins and needles to get Tripp and Bethy’s story. This series is by far my guiltiest pleasure, and with each new book, my heart starts racing as soon as I open up to the very first page. Yes, it is that addicting. With that being said, yes, I was super duper excited to read the latest book in the series, but I was still quite a bit skeptical about it. Tripp was a mystery that needed solving and Bethy was one hot mess that needed to be understood. So while Tripp made me want to know all about the hot, motorcycle riding bad boy that left luxury behind; Bethy just made me want to hit something, especially in the before and after math of that one tragic event. I just was not a fan of her at all. So my biggest question going in was Will Abbi really make fall for this couple and root for them to get their HEA? And the answer is… YES!!! How could I have ever doubted her?

“We may have been kids, but what I felt for you was real. It never changed or faded. Not once.” Tripp

Tripp and Bethy’s journey has been 8 long years in the making. From the blurb you get that they fell hard for each other when they were teenagers and that Tripp pretty much left her high and dry. A lot happens in between those years and the story is told in present day with a few flashback chapters thrown in. I appreciated the backstory and slowly but surely I started to feel for Bethy. I won’t recap the book but I will tell you that this is one of those second chance romance books that absolutely captures your heart. Tripp was absolute perfection in You Were Mine. His protective side, his possessive side, his passionate side, and his holy mother of hotness and dirty side made for one irresistible man! If you are a fan of this series, this is a MUST read! Find out the real story behind Tripp and Bethy’s relationship and get caught up with the rest of the Rosemary Beach gang…Rush and Blaire, Woods and Della, Grant and Harlow…they all make an appearance and it almost felt like coming home.

“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.” Tripp

Maria’s Thoughts:

I must admit, while I really love this series, I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this book. I loved Jace and how he loved Bethy, but, I also liked Tripp from the brief snippets we had of him in the other books. I should have trusted author Abbie Glines. I devoured this book in one sitting. Tripp Newark became my new BBF. I adored everything about him.  I even came to understand and really like Bethy.

“Everyone has that defining moment in life. That one choice you have to make. I had my moment, and it has haunted me ever since. ” ~ Tripp Newark

This story had everything. The rich, handsome hero. The girl from the wrong side of the tracks. Love, humor, chemistry, angst and sexy times! A recipe for a great book. Abbi Glines knows her characters well. She also knows her readers. She spun a fantastic tale of love, hurt, second chances and personal growth. I loved the characters and their development. The story flowed smoothly and kept me engaged. I was rooting for a happy ending. Fans of The Rosemary Beach series and of Abbi Glines will not be disappointed.

Rating: 4. 5 Deliciously Addictive Stars

Tripp

Present Day…

I sat on my Harley and waited for Bethy to walk out of the clubhouse. Woods had been texting me Bethy’s work schedule every two weeks, and I made sure she made it home from work safely every night. It wasn’t stalking her, exactly. It was just the only way I could remain sane.

Watching over her was all I had. If I got too close, she flipped. The last time I’d tried to talk to her, she’d started screaming. I hadn’t been able to calm her down. I was watching her lose herself slowly. And it was tearing me up.

So I followed her to work everyday, and I followed her home every night. Once she was safely in her apartment, I often sat parked across the road and watched her window until it went dark. She never looked at me, even though I wasn’t hiding the fact I was following her. There was no use in hiding it from her.

The last words she’d actually spoken to me -not screamed at me, because there’d been a lot of that- had been eighteen months ago on the beach when we’d lost Jace. My cousin, my best friend, and the love of Bethy’s life. He’d drowned saving her life when she’d wandered into the ocean drunk and got caught in a riptide. Losing him had taken a part of my soul. He’d been the little brother I never had. He’d been the good Newark heir. He’d been everything I should have been but wasn’t.

And we had loved the same girl. Although he never knew it.

Watching her pull away from life more and more each day was so damn hard. Jace wouldn’t have wanted this. He would have hated it. He loved her more than he loved himself. Seeing her like this would break his heart.

Bethy swung her long dark hair over her shoulder as she stepped out of the clubhouse. The shorts she wore had once been tight and cupped her perfect round bottom. But just like she’d lost the will to live, she’d also lost weight. Too much.

The need to hold her and help her heal was so fucking strong. But she didn’t want me. I hadn’t realized how badly she hated me until I’d returned to Rosemary Beach a little more than two years ago. I’d run like hell eight years ago from a life threatening to suffocate me. My father wanted something for me that I didn’t want, and I hadn’t been able to see my way out.

I had been eighteen years old and scared, because in three short months, one sixteen-year-old girl had become my sole concern in life. Bethy had stolen my heart the summer I met her at Rush’s party. When I’d been ready to throw away the life I’d been planning for the past year in order to be with her, my father had reminded me of just how much control he had over me.

I wouldn’t have been able to keep Bethy if I’d stayed. That wasn’t the life he’d let me have. So I’d run, hoping that when I came back in two years, when she was old enough, I could take her with me. But first, I’d needed to escape.

I watched as Bethy opened the door to her old beat-up Ford Taurus and climbed inside. The stiff way she held herself and the way she kept her focus turned away from me told me she knew I was here. She expected me to be there.

 

Read an excerpt at Simon & Schuster’s YOU WERE MINE page

 

 

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