Review: Tore Up by Abbi Glines

TORE UP
Series: Mississippi Smoke #1
Author: Abbi Gaines
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: October 23, 2024

Calculating, cold, often without emotion was how I was described by those closest to me. I had thought perhaps there was truth to their depiction until this endless searing pain took the place in my chest where my heart used to be. Vengeance now ate away at my soul. The wrath I planned to unleash would make the demons in Hell appear mild.

At least, that was until…

The twisted crux came in the form of eyes bluer than the sky on a warm summer day, a slightly upturned nose with a scattering of freckles, a pink cupid bow mouth, and a smile that made a man’s knees weak.

The events that brought us here meant I should loathe her existence for eternity, yet my need for her grows with each passing day. She’s too young, she’s vulnerable and broken, but somehow, she’s not damaged. She was the cause of what had left me with this raging agony, and yet, the balm that eased my soul. Still, I can never forgive the destruction she caused me and those I love.

I had become a mockery of my revenge because holding her at night while she slept was the only thing keeping me sane. She’ll pay the price through my cruelty, never knowing that while she dreams, I find my solace.

My story begins with my worst nightmare.
And she’s the reason behind all of it.

AMAZON

There were only so many things I was willing to do when it came to her. Forgiving her was not one of them.

If you’ve read Abbi’s Smoke and Georgia Smoke series, then you will definitely love the Mississippi branch spinoff.

Abbi’s formula just always hits the spot for me. She writes some of the best toxic, walking red flags of alpha MMCs and I am so here for it. And while the super forgiving and at times overly innocent heroines would grate on me anywhere else, in her books it just works. Don’t ask me why or how. It just does, ok.

Those eyes of hers were a weapon. The damn sky on a clear day couldn’t even compete.

This is the Mississippi branch of the souther mafia so expect some cameos from past favorites as well as the introduction of plenty of new and intriguing characters. If you’re expecting a lot of mafia elements, it’s not really that. They’re more like morally corrupt, Yellowstone kind of ‘mafia’. Ya know? And this girl has no complaints.

Now the premise of this story is a HUGE spoiler, so I won’t tell you much but I will say that my jaw was on the floor on chapter one. And it takes a lot to catch your girl by surprise.

Our MMCs is the type of morally gray fictional man that I love. He’s ruthless, cold, unfeeling, and as homicidal as they come. The man is a walking red flag if there ever was one, so naturally I fell for him. Fictionally speaking of course. Halo is her name personified. This girl is innocent and sweetness all wrapped up into one eager to please FMC. And she was the perfect balance to the MMCs craziness.

She wasn’t mine, and I had no right to do this, but I couldn’t seem to stop it.

This is a forced proximity so it also had a slow burn element to it which I loved. It burned so good, even when there were moments that I wanted to c*ck punch our MMCs. But I digress.

This pull she had on me was owning me.

There is just something about Abbi’s books that are just pure book crack for me. I read them in one sitting and while there’s definitely a formula to them, it just always hits and hits the spot. It’s quick paced, spicy, with just the right amount of grit.