Review: All In by Raine Miller

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All In
Series: The Blackstone Affair #2
Author: Raine Miller

SUMMARY
(From 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.

MY THOUGHTS

All In by Raine Miller is the second book in The Blackstone Affair series.  It is told from Ethan’s POV this time around instead of Brynne’s.

After the last book in the series left me with mixed feelings, I was a little scared to read from Ethan’s POV.  While we are reading from his head this time around, it starts where we left off with Naked.  I will admit that Ethan was the main reason I continued — besides the story needing some answers from the previous book — and was worried that the author was going to let us down. Well, I was right unfortunately.

For a man who was suppose to be so Dominant, protective and sexy, Ethan came across as a pansy who needed a dose of man-the-hell-up and grow-some-balls medicine.  What happened to the man I enjoyed from the previous book? Why did the author turn him into a drama-king with no backbone?

When it came to Brynne, I wasn’t as shocked to discover he dark past but I was shocked that the author went there with some of it.  I will warn readers that it does involve serious issues that may be uncomfortable for some people.  It is just mentioned briefly, but it is one thing that some people may be shocked or offended to read.

Overall, I became bored with the repetitive sex between the two that seemed to happen every chapter that it was hard to focus on the relationship itself.  By the time I got to the 75% mark, I was skimming those scenes and trying to get to the serious parts. After finishing up this read,  I don’t think I will be continuing on in the journey of The Blackstone Affair.

MY RATING

       
I did not like this book at all!

Review: Naked by Raine Miller

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Naked
Series: The Blackstone Affair #1
Author: Raine Miller

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

Brynne Bennett is living the good life. An American art student at the University of London and part-time photographic model, she’s putting her life back on track with school and lots of hard work. 

When ultra successful London businessman, Ethan Blackstone, buys her nude portrait, he isn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer. He wants Brynne in his bed and makes plans to keep her there no matter what. His dominant nature captivates and ensnares despite the demons she carries inside her. 

But there are secrets in this relationship. Huge ones. Can Ethan free Brynne from the past that has marked her? Will Brynne let him or will the specters tormenting her resurface to destroy them both…

MY THOUGHTS

Naked is the first book in the Blackstone Affair series by author Raine Miller.

This is another book where the review is going to be very hard to write with the rating being even more of a harder thing to decide.  While there were some elements that I enjoyed throughout the story, there were some problems along the way.  The best way I can explain this journey of Naked is like a car drag race.  It is built up with excitement from other readers.  It has a start where it is ready to take off and leaves you ready to stomp on the gas.  The story speeds along with the relationship — at times way too fast. Then it suddenly has the finale that is exciting but then you are left with a crash and burn of an adrenaline drop.

Ethan and Brynne have a very fast rate of speed with their relationship.  While Brynne states that she wants to take it slow, they do hop into bed fairly quickly.  They also start falling in love with each other almost instantly after having mind blowing sex.  Ethan is pretty dominant in giving orders and getting what he wants, but he actually had feelings and emotions that weren’t bottled up inside.  Brynne on the other hand has secrets and can be frustrating at times.  She wants to be with Ethan, but she doesn’t want to share much with him.  Their sexy times are plenty and quite steamy and erotic.  While at times the story could have left out one of those steamy scenes, they were ones that were hot.

The ending is left with the reader hanging.  We learn that Ethan also had a secret and it is one that is touched on in the prologue of this story.  While we still don’t know what Brynne’s secret is — just hints here and there — the ending was a let down for me.  It was rushed and then we are left with no real part of the story wrapping up.  While cliffhangers can be a huge success, this one was disappointing in the development of the relationship.

While I am curious to read the next book — especially since it will be in Ethan’s POV instead of Brynne’s — I am hoping that it will tie up at least a few loose ends for the reader.  The book was enjoyable and addicting, but needs to be slowed down just a bit for the next book.

MY RATING

Okay book, but it left me wanting more!

Review: Heat of the Moment by Elle Kennedy

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Heat of the Moment
Series: Out of Uniform #1
Author: Elle Kennedy

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

In this heat wave, anything and everything goes. A Red-Hot Summer story. Shelby Harper has lusted over Navy SEAL John Garrett for over a year, but no matter how many sexy signals she sends out, the man shows a complete lack of interest in getting naked. Then she overhears Garrett talking to his SEAL teammate–a discussion in which they conclude she’s vanilla. Stung, Shelby sets out to show them exactly how un-vanilla she is. 

Garrett can’t believe it when sweet, sexy Shelby suggests a wild and sweaty menage. He’s been trying to figure out how to ask her out without coming off as a guy who only wants to get in her pants–her friendship is too valuable to him to risk it. But if a crazy, heat-wave three-way is what Shelby wants, then he’s ready and willing to give it to her. 

Once she gets it out of her system, however…well, then he’ll let her know he wants her all to himself.

MY THOUGHTS

Heat of the Moment is the first book in the Out of Uniform series by author Elle Kennedy.

If you are looking for a full length novel, look elsewhere.  This novella is just that — a short story.  It comes in  at 78 pages according to Amazon and I want to mention that it is even shorter than that since the last 10 percent maybe of the book is previews for other stories.

This is a sexy and short M/F/M menage read.  The main couple is John Garrett and Shelby Harper with the third person involved is Carson Scott. After pining for each other for a year, Shelby finally invites John and Carson up to her place after closing time.  She had the cafe open during a heat wave for the service men and she over hears Carson and John talking about how vanilla Shelby probably is.  Shelby is convinced to show them how un-vanilla she is by acting out her fantasy of two men at one time.

I really enjoyed this short story and the writer made it believable.  While Carson was more of a third wheel in the story, he was a pivotal player in getting these two together.  Even though it does feature instant love after one night together with a small glitch of insecurities, I could actually see these two people together for the long haul.

While it was in no means a book that will be above others, I will say that this short story was a great start to being introduced to this author for the first time.  If this had been a full length novel, I am sure it would have rated higher in my opinion. New readers of this author will get a quick thrill with John and Shelby and will be wanting to follow it up with the next novella in the series.

MY RATING
Okay book, but it left me wanting more!

The Weekly Wrap Up (6)

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It’s time for the Weekly Wrap Up!
What did you miss this week on My Overstuffed Bookshelf?  Find out below!
(inspired by Smexy Books)

*****
This past week has been a big FAIL for me in the reading and book review posts.  I have been fighting with a toothache all week and it has caused me to fall behind.  Hopefully this week will be better and I can get some much needed relief from the pain.  
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Review: The Thing About the Truth by Lauren Barnholdt

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The Thing About the Truth
Author: Lauren Barnholdt
Genre: Young Adult

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

In this humorous love story from the author of “Two-Way Street”, an unlikely romance is the best sort of surprise—but the wrong secret can ruin everything. Kelsey’s not going to let one mistake ruin her life. Sure, she got kicked out of prep school and all her old friends are shutting her out. But Kelsey’s focused on her future, and she’s determined to get back on track at Concordia High.

Isaac’s been kicked out of more schools than he can count. Since his father’s a state senator, Isaac’s life is under constant scrutiny—but Concordia High’s his last stop before boarding school, so Isaac’s hoping to fly under the radar and try to stay put for a change.

When Kelsey and Isaac meet, it’s anything but love at first sight. She thinks he’s an entitled brat, and he thinks she’s a stuck-up snob. So it surprises them both when they start to fall for each other. Kelsey’s happy for the first time in months, and Isaac’s never felt this way about anyone before. But nothing’s ever completely perfect. Everyone has secrets, and Isaac and Kelsey are no exceptions. These two may have fallen hard, but there’s one thing that can ruin it all: the truth.

MY THOUGHTS

I really enjoy the writing by author Lauren Barnholdt.  She seems to capture the language of teens and it comes across as real to the reader.  The problems I had with this story were actually rather minor, but they were things that ended up lowering my rating for the story.

First when we look at the cover we assume it is Isaac and Kelsey.  They are the main characters and they have alternating POV chapters.  The cover is sweet and gives the reader a small hint about them.  So here I am reading a book thinking the guy is going to have dark hair and the girl is going to be blonde.  I have the character all set up in my head because of it.  Then while reading the story, the actual descriptions do not fit what I see on the cover. The characters are completely different than what we see on the front.  I understand that the cover art department does this and that the author has nothing to do with this. If this sort of thing bothers you, well then you have been warned.

Now for the story itself.  The story does jump from present to past and back and forth again.  I think I would have enjoyed the story better if it was beginning to end.  I loved the slow building of the romance between Kelsey and Isaac.  These are two people with two different lifestyles and somehow they end up working on a project together.  Those few sentences would have been perfect for a sweet young adult read.  When the author brought in the secrets and lies, I think that is what was suppose to make it so dramatic.  Unfortunately, I felt the whole thing was a pretty weak one.  You have the amazing book and you are reading about them trying to figure out a way to work together and become friends.  After the big day where everything goes down, I still don’t see much of a fallout because of it.  They end up reconciling right afterwards.  I also never could really understand the reason Kelsey did what she did to her ex-boyfriends car.  To me it seemed a little extreme and just used as a plot point to move the character from one school to the new school.

By the time the book came to a close I had to realize that the conflict for the climax of the story was brief and didn’t hold much of an impact.  I just never could get the characters to connect with each other. Overall, this was an easy and fluffy read to pass the time.  It was okay and enjoyable,  but also not one I would want to be jumping through hoops to read again.

MY RATING

Okay book, but it left me wanting more!