Judith’s review of All In (The Blackstone Affair #2) by Raine Miller
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.
If you haven’t read book one in this series — Naked — you owe it to yourself to do so. This novel and the one preceding it were released late in 2012 but they are contemporary in setting and wonderfully erotic in content. It can be read as a stand alone novel as the author has done a masterful job of bringing in just enough information out of book one that the reader is not left wondering what is going on or what everyone is talking about. Yet the first book is equally compelling and deserves to be a part of the reading of this story.
The time is near the London Olympics and Ethan Blackstone’s international security agency is tasked with setting up security for a variety of venues and the opening gathering. But his greatest task is keeping “his beautiful American girl” safe from someone who is stalking and threatening her in small covert ways, in a variety of happenings that keeps Brynne and Ethan on edge all the time. But Ethan’s greatest task right now is winning back Brynne’s trust and working himself back into her good graces. As skittish as she is because of some very hurtful personal history, they do love each other. Ethan has his own psychological cross to bear having been tortured in Afghanistan for three weeks with the nightmares and terrible memories still plaguing his nights. Brynne has given out some of her pain but Ethan continues to hang on to his secrets even though they disturb him and Brynne night after night.
This is an intense love story that is interwoven with the tension of a stalker and within the context of a highly publicized international sports event and an anxious population because of recent terrorism. Add in the fact that Brynne’s mom is a WOW (witch on wheels) and she is living thousands of miles away from the family that caused her so much pain but whose presence on the horizon of her life never goes away. The sizzle between Brynne and Ethan is electric in its ability to shock and imprint itself on the imagination of the reader. And while Ethan is dominant and bossy, there is nothing he won’t do for his beautiful American girl–she really holds far more power in the relationship than she realizes. It is only as they work through their issues that they come to realize that neither one of them can move forward without the other. The ending of the this book is a bit of a cliff-hanger in nature and there is no doubt that the story goes on to the third volume. Yet each of these books are delightful and Ms Miller has become one of those authors I expect to write a compelling and powerful love story each and every time.
The term “all in” is used by Ethan repeatedly as having come from his experiences as an international poker contestant and tournament winner. It means that there is nothing put aside, no quarter given, nothing that the participant won’t do to be successful in the endeavor. So it was with these two with their relationship. Their difficulties as well as their delights are sprinkled throughout this tale and make it one of those books you just can’t put down. Like book one, it is a story that will challenge the reader with its intensity and eroticism. Never fear: it isn’t just gratuitous sex. There’s a powerful story here and it is told oh so well.
I give it a rating of 4.25 out of 5
The Series:
You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.
The title is available from Atria Books. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
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