BOOK REVIEW - ALL IN by RAINE MILLER - THE BLACKSTONE AFFAIR # 2 - ADULT CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE - SIMON & SCHUSTER

By: Raine Miller

Published By : ATRIA BOOKS, SIMON & SCHUSTER

Released : Available Now

Details: Paperback for review from publisher, 227 Pages 

RATING: 5 OH MYyyYYYYyyY ETHAN STARS!!

Blurb : Goodreads

The second part in The Blackstone Affair series! Looming danger. A love worth fighting for. A man who’ll go all in.

Ethan Blackstone has a problem on his hands. He’s broken Brynne’s trust and she’s left him. He’s unwilling to live without her and isn’t giving up—he’s dead-set on getting his beautiful American girl back. The passion between them was explosive, but the secrets they hid from each other are dark and chilling and are powerful enough to destroy their shot at a life together. With political threats now directed at Brynne, Ethan is running out of time and he’ll need to gather all his strength and agility to protect her from the dangers that could take her away from him forever. Will Ethan be able to save Brynne from a past that keeps her locked in fear? Will he ever feel the warmth of her touch, the solidity of her trust again? This is a love-struck man who is willing to do whatever it takes to possess the heart of the woman he loves. He’ll go to any lengths to protect her. He’ll go all in.

Here is the fiery story of what happens when two people surrender to a love so great it can heal the scars of the past and give way to a life of pure, rapturous ecstasy.


BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:

I originally read All In waaaay back in January 2013 via digital format. Naughty me let her review slide, then I recently received the paperback from the lovely Simon & Schuster. So, what is a girl to do?

Reread it.

I think I loved it more the second time round. Originally I gave it 4.5 stars, this time round, it got a 5 star from me.

Why?

Because Ethan really let me inside his head and I loved being there. It is quite something, being in Ethan’s head. I really felt all of his emotions.

Colleen Hoover has her blurb on the Aussie cover.

“Ethan Blackstone is the most swoon worthy male character I’ve ever encountered.”- Colleen Hoover

Ethan Blackstone showed me how desperate he is to get Brynne back. He loves her, he wants her safe and he is nearly going out of his mind without her in his bed. It isn’t just about the sex and this beautiful woman for Ethan, it is more. He is captivated by her. He is consumed by her.

There won’t ever be another to take her place.


Brynne was naturally submissive to me. She accepted what I wanted to give her -- the dom in me had found my muse, and it was just one more reason we were perfect together.

Looking through Ethan’s eyes, I felt like I was consumed by Brynne. He just lays it all on the table. Bares his soul. He is a very honest character. He doesn't bullshit with his emotions. 


I knew I loved her in that moment. I knew because she is honest and generous, with no artifice. She is real and perfect and mine.

“Enough of this shit, Brynne! Where are you right now? I’m coming to get you!” I would have crawled through the fucking mobile if the laws of physics allowed it. 


I burned for Brynne. Mr. Keats sure knew what he was talking about in his poems.


Jonathan Blackstone, Ethan’s father, I love. I can see where Ethan gets some of his mannerisms. I think this man would have had a great love story to tell us, too. I love that Ethan can go to his father and get some words of wisdom from him.

My beautiful American girl aka Brynne. She has her closet full of emotional and physical trauma and she lets Ethan in to her closet. He doesn’t love her any less. If anything he is even more fiercely protective of her.

He won’t let this upset with Brynne keep her from him. He knows to handle her with care. He may be the dominant one in their relationship but she knows how to let him know when it counts.

She can’t be shut out, left unaware. That is not how Brynne rolls.

Lesson learnt, Ethan.

I like Neil, I think he can hold his own with Ethan when Ethan starts losing it when he can’t find his Brynne.


Neil had the keenest instincts of anyone I knew. He wasn’t just an employee, not by a long shot. Neil was much, much more. We’d been boys together, gone off to war, survived that hell to return to England, managing to grow up in the process and start a successful business. I trusted him with my life. Which meant I could trust him with Brynne’s as well.


False Alarm.

Ethan has so many fears for his Brynne.

This book takes up straight from Naked, but it is all told in Ethan’s pov. I got to admit I want to stay in his pov for the rest of the series. He is quite humorous with his inner monologue at times, but we also see how in deep he is with Brynne. 

Only a bastard would want to take her to bed and get her naked right now. Ergo, I was a complete and utter dirty bastard.

I could live with that.


Bottom of the ocean deep.


“Brynne. I don’t know any other way to be with you. It’s all in for me. And I want it to be all in for you too.”

The deeper I got in, the harder it would be for her to leave me again. That’s how my mind worked with her. This was battle strategy and I could do this all day. There would be no running away from me anymore, no hiding, no quarter given. She would be mine and let me love her.


“All in, baby,” I whispered, “it can’t be any other way with us.”


His jealousy is fun to listen to.

The urge to reply back was something I wanted to do so badly I could taste it next to the tang of blood in my mouth - along the lines of:

Sod off, you idiot tosser. She’s taken and her man will cut off your balls if you so much as think about her naked. - Ethan w/the big knife.


Of course I didn’t , but just barely.

His inner monologue had me laughing quite a bit. There is something so different being in a males head than a females, lol!

Ahhhh. The Curse. I knew about that from having a sister, I’d just never had to deal with it in a relationship before. Matter of fact, I’d never had a relationship like the one I was in with Brynne. When you have sex with short-timers, inconveniences like “she’s having her dead week” don’t come up.

“Just fess up to the truth, baby, we had an epic shag.”

There was a reason my girl was a model. A nude model. She possessed a body that had the power to render me speechless.

We get more of Ethan's past through his nightmares and he does let his guard down for a bit with Brynne. He is so busy looking out for Brynne that we can forget how much pain and trauma he has been subjected to.

I think of Bones from the Night Huntress series sometimes with Ethan. They both love hard and don't let anything get in their way. They both lay everything out bare. They both know how to talk dirty.

Whahhh!

I love Ethan comes from good stock. His dad is a London Cabbie and he has such a down to earth family. 

I love he doesn't look down his nose at somebody in Muriel's position. 

Muriel grinned at me when I paid for the papers. I tried not to shudder at the sight of her teeth. “There you go, luv,” she said, holding out a stained hand with change.

I got a look at her grimy hand and decided she needed the change more than I needed to contract a contagion. “Keep it.” I looked into her oddly beautiful green eyes and nodded once. “I’ll be getting all these U.S. papers regular from now on if you want to have them ready,” I offered.

“Oh, you’re a darling, you are. I’ll have ‘em. G’day to ye, handsome.” She winked at me and showed a bit more of those horrifying teeth. I tried not to look to close, but I think Muriel could compete with me on beard stubble. Poor thing.

I think some seeds have definitely been sown for a romantic hook up for cousin Ivan. I'll have to read more to see if there is a spinoff in the works or it gets woven into this series.

Intrigued. Much.

Oh, and not forgetting Aunt Marie. Could there be something romantic in the pipeline for her?

A smashing good installment that will leave your toes curling and your heart skipping a beat. Ethan will rock your kazbah.

I was All In.  

Michelle

I'll have to get my hands on a copy!

Back of All In gives you a teaser Chapter 1

Available Now!