RELEASE DAY: Sail (Wake #2) by M Mabie

 

***I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book free from the publisher in exchange for a review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”***

Good Morning Honeybees!! Today is the official release day of SAIL!!! Hope you all head out to Amazon to pick up your copy!

I received my ARC last Thursday morning and quickly devoured it and have been anxiously awaiting today to post my review. I will also be participating the blog tour on April 24^th so stop back by then…. 

For those of you reading my blog that do not know what Sail is – shame on you! Sail is the 2^nd book in the Wake Series by M Mabie. You can pick up Bait (the first in the series) on Amazon. Bait is on sale for .99 for a limited time to celebrate the release of Sail. Amazon Link

**SPOILER WARING**DO NOT KEEP READING IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS --- I AM WARNING YOU:

I cannot stress enough how much I wanted this book in my hands after the dang cliffhanger at the end of Bait. I picked up Bait back in January on a whim. It showed up on my BookBub email as being on sale for .99 and I thought it sounded interesting so I started reading it and could not put it down. Bait was one of those books that just sticks with you for a while after you finish it. 

This isn’t a review of Bait so I won’t go into too much detail but I do have to write a little bit about my opinion of Bait so you will understand where I am coming from when I get to Sail. So Bait was really fast paced and easily hooked the reader. It followed Blake from the initial one night stand with Casey through a two-year affair in which Blake gets engaged and then married to Grant (because let’s face it – Blake was a damn coward). The whole time I was reading Bait I was on the edge of my seat because I was waiting for Grant to find out about the affair and Blake’s family to find out about the affair and really just anyone and everyone to find out about the affair. I went from rooting for Casey to rooting for Grant (because really he isn’t a bad guy at all in Bait, just working hard trying to make a good life for Blake) to wanting to punch Blake in the face for being an indecisive idiot. But the main point of my rant here is that Bait was full of surprise, angst, and caused a lot of tears. 

Now moving on to Sail… I have to admit that the minute I got Sail in my hands I scrolled right to the end because I needed to know we were getting a Happily Ever After. I was careful not to reveal too much to myself but I just knew I couldn’t read it if it wasn’t going to have a happy ending. I was fully prepared to (figuratively) chuck my e-reader out the window if Blake and Casey did not end up together because after walking around in a haze for days after reading Bait I was not going to let myself endure anymore heartache brought on my Blake and Casey. 

I don’t want to make it seem like I didn’t love Sail because I did but there were things I wasn’t totally crazy about. I loved that the first part started out with Blake and Casey happy and Casey whisking them off to a tropical location. I love seeing those two happy. I however would have liked to see more of Grant. I know what you are thinking – “Just let Casey and Blake be happy, who cares about Grant?” Well I care about Grant – he really wasn’t a bad guy, he didn’t do anything wrong by working extra hours to afford the house he wanted for him and Blake. He was somewhat at fault for having communication issues but Blake was very much to blame for that also. Grant really did get screwed over in this whole deal, Blake knew she didn’t love him but married him anyway and then Blake went on to have a two year affair while Grant stayed faithful. And then when the affair is revealed Grant is willing to forgive and forget…let’s face it – if Grant hadn’t gone all crazy towards the end of Sail we all would have thought the guy was a saint for putting up with so much shit from Blake. So while M Mabie did provide glimpses of Grant in Sail eluding to the fact that he was cracking and maybe starting to have some mental/anger issues it would have made a more powerful ending if Grant had been more prominent in the first 90% of the book. 

Basically it seemed to me that the first 90% of the book was Blake and Casey being happy and trying to decide how to trust each other and move on to have a happy life (mixed in with a gazillion sex scenes) with little bits thrown in trying to set up something to happen in the last 10% of the book. It just felt a little anti-climactic. 

My biggest disappointment is the lack of a decent epilogue. I wanted to see what happens to Blake and Casey in the future but all we get is an epilogue with them talking about getting married in the future. Everyone assumed they were going to get married eventually, we needed more than that. 

One of my favorite things about this series in general is all the references to “ships passing in the night” and sails, anchors, etc. I might have teared up a few times when Blake or Casey was expressing their love or talking about their relationship using one of those terms. 

M Mabie is a fantastic writer. She really helps the reader feel the emotions and especially when I was reading Bait the emotions were extremely powerful.

I give Sail 3.5 out of 5.
Overall I give the Wake Series a 4.5 out of 5.




Description

This isn’t just a two-year long one-night stand. It’s my life.

This is my life. Our life. It isn’t just some careless affair.

I’ve made the worst decisions a woman could, but I’ll earn my second chance.

She can try keeping all the guilt for herself, but I’m just as much to blame.

Loving Casey wasn’t my biggest mistake. Fighting it for so long was.

I’ll show her how fearless our love makes me. I’ll protect her torn heart.

He still has magic in his eyes. He’s the man who makes me happy.

Her voice still brings me to my knees. She says my name like it’s sacred.

I live for the day when I’m his. To take care of him. To love him the way he deserves.

I can’t wait to be all she needs. I can give her a happy life, security and so much love.

Sometimes two ships never meet in the night, but ours did.

Sometimes the water is rough. It beats you all to hell until you have no choice but get stronger.

Our love story reads more like a tragedy, but to me it’s clean and pure.

Let them point their fingers. Without a love like ours, they haven’t really lived. I pity them.

I’m a cheating wife and a villain. I am his honeybee.

I’m a snake in the grass and I sleep best when I’m lying next to his wife.

I want to be his everything.

I’m nothing without her anyway.

This isn’t even close to over.

It’ll never be over.