Title: RARE AND PRECIOUS THINGS
(The Blackstone Affair Book 4)
Author: RAINE MILLER
hosted by: The Book Avenue
The fourth part in the New York Times bestselling series, The Blackstone Affair: A bright beginning for two damaged souls fighting for their hard-won love, and the promise of a new hope to secure their happily ever after.
Fresh from an idyllic honeymoon along the Italian coast, the Blackstones prepare for the birth of their precious baby and the challenges of settling into a new home. But things get complicated when specters from the past reappear to threaten the very foundation of their relationship. Ethan and Brynne will have to fight harder than ever for each other. Rare and Precious Things is the story of two people who both need the other in order to be complete, but learn just how "rare" their brand of love is when they have to risk everything in order to hold onto it.
“What are we doing on the beach?” I asked, as he led me along the cool sand under my bare feet.
“Having our date. Trust me, baby. This is something I have all planned out for us.”
“I bet you do. I am well aware that when you say date you really mean sex—”
My words were lost as we rounded a turn in the beach path and came out onto the shore. The waves lapped at the sand with the soothing sounds of water moving against earth. A sliver of moon glowed up over the water, but the real beauty was the many glass jars lit up with tea lights set out on the soft sand of the beach. What seemed like hundreds of them flickering away around a pallet of blankets and pillows. Off to one side, sat a bucket of iced drinks and what appeared to be little dessert cakes on a tray with some fresh fruit.
“It’s beautiful, Ethan.” I could hardly speak as I realized what he’d done. “How did you do…all of this?”
He led us onto the blankets and drew me down to sit beside him. “It was my idea,” he began, “but I needed some help to pull it off. Franco got it organized while we were at the party.”
I looked around behind us, imaging if the caretaker for our villa was lurking in the dark hoping for a glimpse.
“I know what you’re thinking, but you don’t have to worry, baby, Franco is not in the bushes watching, trust me.”
I laughed nervously. “Well, if Franco is in the bushes somewhere, I am predicting he’s gonna get one hell of a show.”
“Now that’s what I like to hear. My girl accepting the idea of a hot beach shag,” he whispered teasingly against my ear, his tongue flicking out for a lick along the shell. “You like my surprise.”
My body came instantly alive, needing him so badly. Ethan could get me hot with just the simplest look or touch. He reached up and worked on the messy knot holding up my hair and unpinned it. He was getting good at figuring out my hair. It made me smile to watch him as he found the pins and pulled them, knowing how he’d be fisting my hair in handfuls and using it to dominate when we were deep into the sex.
“You’re smiling,” he murmured as he worked over my hair.
“I just love to watch you doing simple things.”
My hair fell free. “This is not a simple thing to me,” he whispered, fingering through the tangled length with both hands. His gaze grew smoky as he focused on my lips. “It’s everything.”
Raine Miller has been reading romance novels since she picked up that first Barbara Cartland book at the tender age of thirteen. And it's a safe bet she'll never stop, because now she writes them too! Granted Raine's stories are edgy enough to turn Ms. Cartland in her grave, but to her way of thinking, a hot, sexy hero never goes out of fashion. A part-time teacher and writer of sexy romance stories every other chance she gets pretty much fills her days. She has a handsome prince of a husband, and two brilliant sons to pull her back into the real world if the writing takes her too far away. Her sons know she likes to write stories, but gratefully have never asked to read any, thank God! Raine loves to hear from readers and to chat about the characters in her books.
OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES
NAKED (BOOK 1)
ALL IN (BOOK 2)
EYES WIDE OPEN (BOOK 3)
CHERRY GIRL (BOOK 3.5)
Blackstone Affair spin-off, yet can be a standalone
Christy's Review:
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Rare and Precious Things is the final installment in The Blackstone Affair. I’ve enjoyed every book in this series, and there is one big reason for that. His name is Ethan Blackstone.
Note to readers: If you haven’t read books 1-3, there will be some story line spoilers
The book starts with Ethan and Brynne anxiously waiting to consummate their marriage. They’ve been waiting for this moment and now it’s finally here. They are husband and wife. Ethan has won over his American girl. Although their time together has been short, it’s been intense and it’s been real. They mean the world to one another.
“My eyes have only really been opened since we met. You gave me everything. You made me really want to open my eyes to what was around me, for the first time in my adult life. You made me want you. You made me want... a life. You were my greatest gift of all, Ethan James Blackstone.”
“Brynne was my life. The last piece of my puzzle that had finally completed me. I just need a way to tell her somehow. I wanted her to know how happy I was because I had been blessed with the rare and precious gift of loving her.”
Married and expecting her first child. Brynne Blackstone would have never imagined that being in her near future four months ago when she first met Ethan, but here she is. She’s happy, healthy and in love. What could go wrong?
The Blackstone’s have come a long way, but they still have things to overcome. Things from the past that play into the present for both of them. As husband and wife, they have to find a way to lean on each other and talk out their feelings, not just keep the issues to themselves. Ethan really found a way to move forward from the things that haunt him. Being able to open up and talk to anyone about his past is a big deal for him. He is such an amazing man! He is still that lovable alpha male with a dirty mouth. And Brynne is still the only girl for him.
The connection these two share throughout the book is beautiful. Even with Brynne being pregnant a majority of the book, you still feel the passion, the heat, the need between them. They have amazing chemistry.
Written in dual perspective like book 3, you get to see inside both Brynne and Ethan’s heads. Two people, broken by their pasts, coming together and becoming whole. The Blackstone series nails it. I was nervous about this book. I liked the place book three ended, and I wasn’t sure how book four would pan out... but I was really happy with the direction it took. I feel like readers will get more insight into this couple’s pasts, and closure from their story. An emotional, beautiful and sensual read. This is a series I would recommend.
*ARC kindly provided by author in exchange for an honest review*
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