Major plot spoilers for the entire series. Don’t read if you don’t want to be spoiled like I was spoiled before reading book one, which totally skewed my view of book one as I was reading because I knew some things.
This book was the best one out of the entire trilogy. This one was more what I was looking for in the first two books of the series with its Abbi Glines typical flair that I enjoy. I wish there was more of this throughout the entire series, instead of the messed up stuff that went on in the first two books.
I mean the first book focused on the romance between Jasper and Beulah that turned up to be built up and built up until it turned out to be incestous, which was gross and I hoped that turned out not to be the truth, but in fact was the truth. I get they didn’t know, but still that just skeved me out too much especially since I knew from the beginning after hearing spoilers that they were in fact related somehow so it made me cringe every time they got closer and closer. Wasn’t appealing at all.
Then the second book just felt like Beulah went from Jasper to Stone so quickly that it didn’t feel believable at all. How could she be head over heels for Jasper one minute then the next minute be totally in love with Stone in the next. It just felt very immature and fickle on Beulah’s part, and again not believable. Perhaps if there was more development of the relationship between Stone and Beulah in the first and second book that I might have felt better than the way they came together the way they did. Again not appealing. I also felt that the relationship between Stone and Beulah was just about the physical and nothing more even though they said they loved each other, I didn’t believe it. All their relationship was in book two was them going at it like rabbits every two seconds. It felt very shallow to me, and I couldn’t get behind them.
Until this book that is, that was finally when I could see them together and believe that they were in fact in love. There was more development in their relationship. More caring. More loving. Just more than just them hitting the sheets every second they were in the same room together, though there was plenty of that too, but there was a balance between that and the emotional side of their relationship it felt like more of complete relationship between them. I loved that Beulah was that support system for Stone when he was going through a difficult time and vowed to love him even when he wasn’t his most lovable. She was what he needed her to be. She really showed the meaning of unconditional love. And I liked seeing that, though I do wish she came clean with him about her own insecurities and needs instead of excusing him by saying he had too much on his plate and didn’t need to be a burden to him when she needed him for support. But that’s what love is, isn’t it? To be a two sided street not a one way.
Stone even acknowledged that he needed to reciprocate more, which I loved, but he didn’t really execute. Yes, he did things here and there for her, but it was more about his wants and needs than hers until the end, then he finally got the wake up call that he needed all along. I wish there was a scene where he went either with Beulah or without her to visit with sister. That would have been a big grand gesture and show how much he truly cared about Beulah and her life, but alas didn’t. He did show in other ways he cared like making sure she was safe by calling Jasper to look after her. He did little things, but I just wish there was that big moment there.
This book went a lot deeper than the other two did on an emotional level not only with showing a more loving relationship between Beulah and Stone, but just all the issues going on with Stone. This was really where his character was really revealed with all that he went through in his childhood and just how much abuse he had to endure at the hands of his father. All that pain that he experienced and the lack of love that he had in his life really broke my heart for him. This book really showed off his vulnerable side and showed how big of a deal it was him to love Beulah the way that he did. It showed how much he needed her and her love. He was craving it all his life, and he finally got that with Beulah. It was heartbreaking to witness, but it also showed him a new light. It also showed what he was willing to do for the people he loved and make sure they didn’t suffer like he did as a child. It was a lot for him to deal with for sure, but loving Beulah gave him strength to power through and do what he needed to do in order to save Wills. Seeing all that made me understand why Beulah fell in love with him in the first place, and that was when I finally got behind their romance.
I get that this trilogy was about the journey for Beulah, and how she had to go through some stuff before she found that all encompassing love that she needed, but I could have dealt without book one or at least the romance between Jasper and Beulah, which was controversial in of itself anyway. I think that if the relationship between Stone and Beulah was the focus from the very beginning, I think would have enjoyed this trilogy than I did. It just my personal taste, but when in a series I prefer not to read bout the heroine being with two guys especially in such a short period of time, and instead just focus on the main relationship. I like to see the beginning of the meant to be relationship. Is that reality? No of course not people date other people all the time and even way before they meet the one, but this is fantasy/fiction and I want to see the heroine with only one person. Is that sexist? Probably, but it just how I like my reading adventures. I think my problem was that she claimed to be deeply in love with both of them in such a short period of time that just didn’t sit with me. The fact that Stone had been with other woman didn’t bother me, but that was because I knew it was nothing more than just lust for him until he fell hook, line and sinker for Beulah. I just didn’t like the first book in general and it set a bad taste in my mouth especially knowing the spoiler going in and seeing how much of a train wreck it was going to be for Beulah and Jasper. Just knowing that alone put me in a really weird mindset from the beginning. That might have skewed me a bit, but the point I was trying to make was that I just wish that more focus was on the Beulah and Stone relationship from the very beginning then there would have been a lot more development and easier to get behind their romance, which I wasn’t behind until this final book then I got it.
This wasn’t my favorite series by Abbi Glines. Rosemary Beach and Sea Breeze where far superior series with better plot lines, better romances, and better characters, but this book saved the series for me and made it almost worth it in the end to get to this final point and the happily ever after of Beulah and Stone. It made me not regret picking up this series and reading it because I enjoyed this one so much more than the other two in the trilogy. There needed to be more of this book in the other two with more of its Abbi Glines flair and what I adore from her books. This book was the upside of the series, and it ended more satisfactory than I thought it would especially after reading the first two books so I was happy with that.