Guest Review: Take a Chance – Abbi Glines

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Abbi Glines comes the story of Grant, the sexy playboy who first captured readers hearts in Fallen Too Far.

When Harlow Manning’s rocker father goes on tour, he sends her to Rosemary Beach, Florida, to live with her half-sister, Nan. The problem: Nan despises her. Harlow has to keep her head down if she wants to get through the next nine months, which seems easy enough. Until gorgeous Grant Carter walks out of Nan’s room in nothing but his boxer briefs.

Grant made a huge mistake getting involved with a girl with venom in her veins. He’d known about Nan’s reputation, but still he couldn’t resist her. Nothing makes him regret the fling more than meeting Harlow, who sends his pulse racing. Yet Harlow wants nothing to do with a guy who could fall for her wicked half-sister—even if there are no strings between Grant and Nan. Grant is desperate to redeem himself in Harlow’s eyes, but did he ruin his chances before he even met her?

Series: Chance #1
Release Date: February 25th 2014
Publisher: Atria Books
Source: Reviewer Donation (purchased by reviewer)
Reviewer: Candace
Rating:

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Reviewer’s Thoughts

Take a Chance is part of Abbi Gline’s Rosemary Beach series. This is book 6. I highly recommend you read the other books first although it is not absolutely necessary. Grant and most of the other characters show up quite a bit in the other books and I really enjoy having all the back story before reading farther in the series.

I was all over the place emotionally with this book. I couldn’t decide whether to love or hate Grant. Based off the other books, I felt like he was the quintessential good guy. The one who always swooped in and saved everyone. I never enjoyed him with Nan and that part of the story really bothered me. If I am honest, I hate Nan and I wasn’t sure if I could handle anyone that tolerated Nan and Grant definitely did more than just tolerate her in this book. You do come to understand why Grant ran to Nan but it still left a bad taste in my mouth.

Harlow’s initial reaction seemed spot on since Nan clearly hates her. It would be hard to like someone that clearly chose Nan’s company. I enjoyed the development of their relationship because it seemed to progress in a normal healthy way. I did not enjoy watching Grant just up and run after things became serious. Harlow handled it with dignity and grace although she was secretly dying on the inside. I understood Grant’s fears and could see why he wanted to keep his distance. It was nice to see him work his way past them. I enjoyed Harlow being shy and quiet but underneath she was not a pushover for anyone including Grant. She never had tantrums or caused a scene which in the case with Grant was highly effective.

I absolutely loved Harlow’s brother Mace in this book. I heard he is getting his own book or two. That is fantastic! He was the consummate protective big brother and I loved how he said exactly what he thought. One of the best lines of the whole book was from Mace:

“My advice is to stay the fuck away from [Grant]. Guys that weak aren’t the ones worth sticking around for. When a guy gets the attention of someone like you, he’s supposed to understand his luck. Not toss it away. He doesn’t get it. Find a man that understands your worth.”

Mac really wasn’t off on giving his advice. This was the first book that I can remember where I wasn’t exactly on the side of the supposed hero. For half of the book, I didn’t think Grant deserved Harlow. He really needed to deal with his issues before he could truly appreciate Harlow. Unfortunately, Grant messes up more than any other hero in a book. It was hard to forgive him as a reader. Grant’s number one fear is losing someone he loves after opening himself up to them. This makes the end of the book (huge cliffhanger) even more painful to read. I finished the last page and was super annoyed that it was finished. I wanted answers and my HEA.

I think it is important to point out some of the side stories and how great they were in this book. We get a whole new perspective on Harlow’s dad Kiro. We all thought he was nothing more than a shallow rock star who enjoyed women, booze and drugs. What unfolds in this book for Kiro was really a pleasure to read and heartbreaking. I love when an otherwise seemingly shallow second string character is given real depth. His story actually had me swallowing hard a time or two.

Just like all of Abbi Glines’ books, this one is hard to put down. I find myself ripping through these books in one night. Take a Chance sucked me and left me wanting more of Grant, Harlow, Rosemary Beach and the whole cast of characters.