The Vincent Boys by Abbi Glines
Paperback, 288 pages
Published: October 30th, 2012 by Simon Pulse, first published by the author October 12th, 2011
Source: Simon Pulse and Big Honcho Media
Get seduced by a sizzling account of attraction and betrayal in this previously self-published phenomenon.
There was something wicked about Beau that drew me to him. What was wrong with me? Why did I want to sin so badly
Ashton is getting tired of being good, of impressing her parents and playing ideal girlfriend to Sawyer Vincent. Sawyer is perfect, a regular Prince Charming, but when he leaves town for the summer, it’s his cousin Beau who catches Ashton’s eye. Beau is the sexiest guy she’s ever seen, and even though he’s dangerous, Ashton is drawn to him.
Beau loves his cousin like a brother, so the last thing he wants to do is make a move on Sawyer’s girl. Ashton is off-limits, absolutely. That’s why he does his best to keep his distance, even though he’s been in love with her forever. When Ashton wants to rekindle their childhood friendship in Sawyer’s absence, Beau knows he should say no.
Ashton and Beau don’t want to hurt Sawyer. But the more they try to stay away from each other, the more intense their urges become. It’s getting way too hard to resist....
It seems like everyone is raving about The Vincent Boys and the talent that is Abbi Glines. I've been wanting to read a book by her so when these books were picked up by Simon Pulse and I was offered the opportunity to review them, I jumped on it!
I first have to say that I definitely prefer the original covers. I'm just not fond of books with half naked men on them (yeah, what's wrong with me?!) but especially when it's a YA book. Luckily it's not something that actually impacts the enjoyability of book (just where I might read it;). But the book itself definitely gave me some mixed feelings. I liked the book okay, but there were definitely some negatives.
Ashton was an interesting character. I'm not sure what to say about her, really. She's not someone that really sticks in my head. I liked her okay, but there's nothing that made me love her. She's just this girl that wants everyone to like her so does everything she can do make sure that happens and then when she's put in a situation to spend time with Beau, the town bad boy and former best friend, she realizes she's been hiding her 'bad' side trying to be perfect. I can understand that it can be hard to be yourself, or even know who you really are, because pleasing others can be very satisfying, and it's easy to just forget who you really are. So that aspect of it all worked for me, I liked that Ashton starts to find herself.
Beau... well, I'll just say I get what the fuss is about. He's a bad boy, but has this incredible soft side. He's not really a jerk who jerks people around and I really appreciated that. I'm sick of the bad boys that put off this vibe of being more of a mean guy. Beau was sweet, and he said the sweetest things to Ashton. I know, most girls will say Beau was the best part of the book, and I'm definitely with them. He was a great character and one I enjoyed reading about. He didn't really annoy me or drive me crazy. Definitely a bonus, right?
Sawyer wasn't there through much of the book but when we met him I wasn't real impressed. But that isn't really a negative as far as the story goes, we don't want to like him too much right off the bat, right? Well, Sawyer redeemed himself at the end for anything I might not have loved about him, and actually made me want him to get his HEA as well.
The story revolves mostly around Ashton and Beau and them sneaking away together. They realize almost immediately that they just can't live without each other (at least at the moment) and there's not pages and pages of them denying each other. I thought it all happened quickly and I actually liked that. But I didn't think it was all realistic. I actually went so far as to roll my eyes a time or two. First of all, the thing that sticks in my head is Beau went to watch a movie with Ashton at her house. They were just friends at this point, nothing more. But they had a strong attraction. And they're watching a movie and somehow without realizing it Ashton ends up halfway on his lap with her hand under his shirt. Just accidentally, she didn't even know she was doing it. Kinda weird, right? It was those things that definitely bothered me and knocked this one down a notch.
I did appreciate that there was some twists and turns, one of which I should have seen coming, but somehow totally didn't. There are other little issues that Ashton has to deal with, but most everything revolves around the romance triangle of Sawyer, Beau and Ashton. I could have used more plot outside of that, but that would have made it a different story.
Overall it was a decent read and if you think Beau might be the man for you it's probably worth giving it a shot. I definitely recommend this one for more mature readers as there are sexual insinuations (not terribly graphic, but very clear about what happened).
