Kawehi's Book Blog.: BOOK REVIEW...Cherry Girl (The Blackstone Affair, #3.5) by Raine Miller

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

BOOK REVIEW...Cherry Girl (The Blackstone Affair, #3.5) by Raine Miller

Title: Cherry Girl (The Blackstone Affair, #3.5)
Author: Raine Miller
Publication Date: November 29th 2013 by Raine Miller Romance
Goodreads URL: HERE
Plot: Blackstone Affair spin-off, yet can be a standalone

Elaina Morrison has loved Neil McManus her whole life. She doesn’t remember a time when she didn’t love him. Through heartbreaking tragedy and years of separation, her love holds true…until life stomps all over her heart, shattering her perfect dream, teaching her how hard it is to let go.

Real life doesn’t have anything on romantic dreams though, as these two have learned repeatedly. It sucks big time, leaving painful scars in its wake.

But Neil isn’t giving up. He’s endured years of longing and sacrifice to wait for her. Always a soldier, he knows his way around a battlefield, and winning Elaina is no different. So that’s precisely what Neil is going to do. He'll go in fighting, and make Elaina see what he already knows.
That she will forever be his Cherry Girl…

MY REVIEW:

"I opened my eyes and traced over every part of his features, as beautiful now as he’d always been when he was just a boy at seventeen and winked at me over table.”

My thoughts: Is it weird that I enjoyed this short novel almost more than I liked the previous books in the Blackstone Affair Series?

For me, Ethan and Brynne’s chemistry always relied on lust and sex. Yes, both have their own tragic back stories but all I read from NAKED to EYES WIDE OPEN was sex, sex, and more sex!

I liked CHERRY GIRL merely because there was more of an actual story line in it and the characters have already built a strong friendship before they jumped into a romantic relationship with one another. It wasn’t just sexual desire and attraction solely driving them throughout the entire plot.

So, the story: The title, CHERRY GIRL, stems from Elaina’s cherry hair color. Thus, she is nicknamed “Cherry Girl” by Neil.

Neil and Elaina meet after her brother, Ian, brings Neil home to dinner one night. Elaina, at the time, was 10 and Neil was 17. Elaina instantly is smitten with him and carries on an ongoing crush on Neil until they finally though caution to the wind and indulge on their desires when she turns 18.

Neil and Elaina’s relationship is no walk in the park as his military obligations threaten throw a wrench in their budding romance. AND, a very jealous ex lays a bomb on the two that ultimately leads to their disastrous break up.

6 years later...

The two are brought together when Elaina gets a job at Blackstone Security Ltd and *go figure* Neil happens to work there as well!

Will these two reconcile and make amends of old feelings and hurts? Or will their past grudges keep tear them even further apart?

One thing’s for certain: Neil is not going to let his Cherry Girl ever get away from him again. He is going to make her his once and for all.

How will it all pan out?

My verdict: A must read if you LOVED the rest of the Blackstone Affair series!! Like I said in the beginning of my review, I actually liked this novella a lot more than the first three books but maybe that’s just me.

I have always wondered about this couple as we always saw glimpses of them throughout Brynne and Ethan’s story but getting a play by play of how they came to be from the start was SO.WORTH.IT!!!

I applaud you Raine Miller!! You made my night!! I can’t wait for the last installment of the Blackstone Affair Series and for the start of Gabby (Brynne’s mysterious bestie) and Ivan’s (Ethan’s playboy cousin) stories in the Rothvale Legacy!! Omigah, I can't wait!!