Book Review (18+): All In

All In by Raine Miller
Part 2 of the Blackstone Affair
November 9, 2012
Raine Miller Romance
Source: NetGalley (for honest review)
Genre: Adult Romance including graphic sex scenes (18+)

Goodreads Summary:

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 Review:

All In picks right up where Naked left off. This time around, the prologue is from Brynne's POV but the rest of the book is from Ethan's POV. I love male POV books. I find them really interesting, because, well, I'm not a male. I also have a husband and three sons, so I am surrounded by males on a daily basis, so it is fun to look into their psyches. I appreciated the honesty with how Raine tried to approach Ethan's POV, his feelings were right there on the surface and his alpha male was apparent. I liked his protective nature. Although, I must say he seemed to regress into a pubescent boy at times...okay, most of the time. Can you say sex-on-the-brain much?

This book gave us more glimpses into Brynne and Ethan's pasts. Oddly, we found out more about Brynne than Ethan, even though it was his POV. These tidbits were interesting and all, but just like in Naked, they left me wanting more. The relationship still seems shallow to me. This is especially true when you assess the sheer amount of sex they have. I mean, don't these people have jobs? Ethan is in charge of security for the Olympics and the Queen for goodness sake! Dude, keep your pants on and get to work. Brynne seemed like a walking contradiction at times, and I don't completely get her. But I did get their relationship, shallow and physical as it is at times.

What I did like and wish, again, there was more of, were the secondary characters. There are some great friends and family members in this book that we don't get to experience nearly as much as we should. I think pulling them more into the plot would really help to deepen the novel and, honestly, make Brynne and Ethan a lot more interesting.

By the end we are left with another cliffhanger, although I wasn't too distraught by it. That may have to do with my only moderate feelings toward the characters and the book. What I was more annoyed by was that the plot development in this book was quite weak. It really didn't feel like a whole lot went on. Once again, this is a quick read. I will likely still read the next book once it comes out, but it's not at the top of my list.

3 STARS