RILEY'S REVIEW WHEN I'M GONE...BY ABBI GLINES

"You are perfect. So perfect that you take my breath away. I'm completely obsessed with you. You're all I see anymore Reese. Nothing about you is broken. Please, don't let me ever hear you say that again. I want you to see yourself the way I do. This breathtaking beauty who has me so completely fascinated. She's a fighter. She's strong. She's fun, and she is kind and honest. She doesn't judge others. She accepts people for who they are. She doesn't expect anything but gives beauty to the world around her freely. That is who I see, Reese. That is who you are. See that, too sweetheart." ~ Mase Colt Manning

Ok...true story. As of 8:00 tonight, Mase Manning completely owns me.  If you've read Abbi Glines latest, When I'm Gone, you'll completely understand what I'm saying. We've met Mase before in Abbi's other Rosemary Beach books. Mase is the half brother to Harlow Manning (now Carter) and the wretched Nan. 

He's the one to come to Harlow's rescue when she had problems with Grant and now Mase gets his own story and no joke, he is beyond swoon worthy. I think in the Rosemary Beach series, for me, Mase comes in a close second place in the book boyfriend department to only Rush Finlay and if you know me at all...that's huge.

Generally, I give a little physical description of my attraction to a book boyfriend. Mase doesn't need it. He literally won me with words. Every word that comes out of his mouth is sweet, sincere, and damn sexy. And I'll say it again. Mase Manning owns me.

Now to the story. Reese Ellis has lived to unspeakable horrors growing up. A mother that was clearly jealous of her and didn't have the first clue about how to be a mom and a step father who was verbally, physically and finally sexually abusive.  Reese lived in hell and was lucky enough to escape.

Any other person would have probably been bitter and vindictive (hmmmm, sounds like Nan), but not Reese. She is not only physically beautiful, but as a person she is loving and giving and deserves better than what she's dealt with in life so far. 

That something happens to be Mase Manning. One morning while staying in Rosemary Beach at Nan's Mase is woken up by dreadful  off key signing and loud cleaning. He opens the door to yell at the cleaning lady and comes face to freckle with Reese. Once he saw Reese, he couldn't be angry because he was too busy being enamored by her beauty. 

Given her past, Reese is nervous around Mase, but she also feels an attraction that she's never felt before. Thrown kind of off balance by meeting Mase, Reese has an accident while cleaning Nan's house and Mase takes care of her. Once Mase started taking care of Reese, he couldn't stop. For Mase, everything is about keeping Reese safe. He finds little ways to keep track of her since he can't always be in Rosemary Beach.

You remember Jimmy from Wood's country club? He becomes Mase's little helper when it comes to Reese. He's a great friend to Reese and it was nice to see more of Jimmy in this book. Even Rush keeps an eye out for Reese. He has to, I mean with Nan being her evil self, someone has to take care of her.

Her entire life Reese has been told and believed she's stupid because she can't read. Mase takes the time to find out Reese isn't dumb, she's dyslexic and finds a specialist to help her. With help, Reese learns to read and begins to feel good about being able to do so. When Reese and Mase have nightly phone conversations, as she feels more confident, she reads to him. It's the sweetest thing ever.

Reese of course is falling for Mase. In her own head, she knows she loves him. Mase is already protective of Reese, flying out to Rosemary Beach after Harlow lets it slip that Reese is going out on a date with Thad. He basically tells Reese you're my girl so tell Thad the dates off *swoon*.

When their relationship takes a turn to the physical, Mase is so careful with Reese. He goes slowly. He knows something bad has happened in her past. He's just not sure what it is. So for a while, Mase and Reese do a lot of kissing. Let me tell you, Mase Manning makes just kissing hot as hell.

Remember I told you he won me with his words? The boy knows the right things to say ALL THE TIME. Everything about him is hot. From his sexy drawl to his butt in his white boxer briefs. The boy is PERFECT.

Just an FYI. There's a bump and it's biggish and heart breaking and I cried while waiting for my daughter at cheerleading. Here's the thing about Abbi Glines. Her writing draws you in completely. I mean Hello, I'm gushing over a boy in a book. But seriously, When I'm Gone is one of my favorite Rosemary Beach stories. 

I love Abbi's books because the characters intertwine and you literally feel like you know them. Most of the Rosemary Beach crowd is present for this story and I love seeing them all together. Get ready for a visit from Nate Finlay in When I'm Gone. He is friggin adorable. He's going to be a little heart breaker just like his dad.

A HUGE five lip smack review for Abbi and When I'm Gone. I've already preordered the sequel; When You're Back. But Abbi, if you need someone to read it before hand, I'm your girl! ;)