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Perfect Indulgence!

Reviewed: 03-18-14

If you could sum up Because of Low in three words, what would they be?

Indulgent, Fun, Romantic

Have you listened to any of Kirby Heyborne and Shayna Thibodeaux ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes - they are growing on me!

Any additional comments?

Abbi Glines is my newest book obsession! Yesterday I reviewed book one in her Sea Breeze series, Breathe, where met (and fell in love with) Marcus Hardy! (As I mentioned in my review, he was one of the things I loved most about that book – but there was a certain cheese factor that held me back from loving Breathe. Luckily? That wasn’t the case with Because of Low. I LOVED everything about this book. LOVED. (In fact, it’s hard not to gush as I write this review!)

The second book in the Sea Breeze (named after the small town in Alabama where this series takes place) is about Low (Willow) and Marcus! (And Low’s incredibly hot man-whore best friend, Cage!) gone are the cheesy lines of Breathe (“You are my air”… GAG!!) and in their place we have Marcus who is just over his broken heart from Sadie and onto new family problems. We have Low, who has had a pretty rough life and finds comfort with her best friend, Marcus’ roommate Cage.

This story is complex, and full of heartbreak (on so many levels!) But I fell even more in love with Marcus Hardy early on. Abbi Glines has a way of grabbing your heart strings and tugging hard. And it does’t hurt that her heroes are smokin’ hot!! The town of Sea Breeze Alabama sounds so fantastic I wish it were real so I could book my next vacation there!

The narrators have grown on me – it has the same set as Breathe! (I again decided to use my Audible credits for this new guilty pleasure!) It is odd that I was so used to the voices being Jax and Sadie and now they are Low and Marcus – but I got over that quickly. (And the consistency helps!)

Because of Low is a much stronger story on all levels than Breathe, but we get fun glimpses of Sadie and Jax! (Which I hope she keeps up for the remainder of the series!) I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of YA! (Especially if you like one with a small amount of steam and a lot of sweetness!)

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Enjoyed it - despite some obvious flaws

Reviewed: 03-15-14

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes - Although read my full review in the additional comments to really see my explanation.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Kirby Heyborne and Shayna Thibodeaux ?

I loved Shayna, but Kirby just didn't mesh with the story for me.

Any additional comments?

A few months back Breathe was on sale on Audible (a BOGO deal, if I remember) so I bought it and then forgot it. I tend to do that a lot – then when I’m desperate for an audiobook (because my house needs cleaned or something) I go through my forgotten books and pick one. I finally did that two days ago, and I couldn’t stop listening!!

I have a love/hate relationship with the characters in Breathe. Jax and Sadie? They drive me kind of insane. Their whole insta-love, “you are my air” **GAG** just made me want to barf. But I kept reading, because I loved Sadie’s relationship with Marcus. I loved Miss Mary. I wanted to know what happened with Sadie’s no-good mom! (Who I’m royally pissed that everyone kind of ignored, because if all these people care about this 17 year old girl so much, how come none of them even realize or do anything about the fact that she is paying all the bills, going to school and taking care of her mother? How come Jax never questioned more? Etc, etc, etc.)

I have never read an Abbi Glines book (despite everyone telling me I would LOVE her) so this was a pleasant surprise. Despite my distaste for the two main characters? I loved this book. (I know, that’s odd – I didn’t like the main part of the story. But I loved it anyway.) There was so much with the secondary characters, so many relationships, and everything was so complete and vivid.

We all know what makes or breaks an audiobook is a narrator sometimes. I loved the female narrator (Shayna Thibodeaux) but the male? (Kirby Heyborne) just didn’t fit the characters in my mind. Everytime Jax had his viewpoint I would cringe a little.

After glancing at all the Goodreads reviews, I am seeing that I’m not alone on my feelings about Jax and Sadie – but I seem to differ in that I really liked the book despite (or maybe in spite of) that. I’ve already purchased and downloaded Book #2 in the Sea Breeze series, Because of Low.

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WRONG BOOK

Reviewed: 08-07-11

This is actually Promises to Keep by Gloria Mallette.

I have contacted Audible and hope they make this right.

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