Cherry Crush (book)
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| Author | Cathy Cassidy |
Publication date | 2 September 2010 |
| Followed by | Marshmallow Skye |
Cherry Crush is a book written by Scottish author Cathy Cassidy. It was her first book for the Chocolate Box Girls series. The book revolves around a girl called Cherry Costello and both her new and old families. Cherry and her Dad move to Somerset to live with her Dad's girlfriend Charlotte Tanberry (yet to be wife). When she arrives there she realizes she is in for a big surprise; she has four new sisters. The plot of the book deals with her trying to deal with her attraction to her new stepsisters boyfriend, Shay. She also has to try to control her 'wild imagination' against her insatiable need to fit in.
Conception
The storyline features themes used in many other works of Cassidy's: family troubles, newcomers, crushing on an unreachable boy and teenagehood.
Cassidy wanted to write a book about one of her favourite things in the world: chocolate![1] The idea arose when she was talking to a friend of hers whose mum was a chocolate-maker. From then on, she wanted to write a book about five incredibly different individuals, and their love of chocolate. The Chocolate Box Girls is (excluding Cassidy's series for younger readers, Daizy Starr and two loosely linked books, Dizzy and Lucky Star) her first series of books.
Synopsis
Cherry and her father Paddy are about to move to Somerset, to live with his girlfriend Charlotte and her four daughters. Charlotte and Paddy also want to start up their dream business: making chocolate. In Tanglewood, Charlotte's home, Cherry meets cute, cool, music-loving Shay Fletcher. However, Shay already has a girlfriend: Charlotte's spiteful eldest daughter Honey, who has been dead set against Cherry and Paddy. Cherry knows her friendship with Shay is dangerous, but that doesn't mean she's going to stay away from him...
Plot
Cherry Costello, at first, lives in Glasgow with her father and is bullied by girls at school, until Cherry finally tips her macaroni cheese over Kirsty McRae, the ringleader, and is excluded from school. However, it does not matter as she and her dad are moving to Somerset to live with her dad's girlfriend, Charlotte Tanberry, in her big house, Tanglewood. But, there is a catch; Charlotte already has four daughters.
When they arrive in Somerset, Cherry finds that she is decidedly unpopular with the eldest Tanberry sister, Honey. Honey has never gotten over her parents' divorce, and is convinced that they will get back together, the split being just a 'blip'. Aside from her mum and sisters, whom she has fallen out with over Cherry and her loyal dad Paddy, the only person Honey cares about is her own father, a slick businessman who can never be bothered to make time for his daughters. Sadly, she cannot see that. She tries to tell the other girls that Cherry will try to muscle in and take Honey's place, and does many other things during the book to try and make Cherry and Paddy feel unwelcome, insinuating that Paddy only likes Charlotte for her money etc. However, Coco, Summer and Skye, the other sisters, do their best to make her feel at home.
After having been told that Cherry and she must share a room, Honey tips Cherry's mum's possessions out of the window. Cherry moves into the old Gypsy Caravan and becomes attracted to Honey's boyfriend Shay, who is the only person who can keep Honey in check. He seems to like her as well, but she tries to stay away from him at the beginning since she does not want to antagonise Honey further. However, they start meeting up at night outside the caravan, so Cherry can tell him her story. In return, Shay plays guitar for her, and tells her that he does not love Honey any more. He is only with her because the Tanberry's house is the only place he feels he can be himself.
Meanwhile, Paddy and Charlotte receive the loan they need from the bank to start off their chocolate business, The Chocolate Box, and Paddy asks Charlotte to marry him. Honey is distraught, and conceives a spiteful plan to make her mum choose between her and Paddy.
Later, Cherry, Paddy, Shay and the Tanberrys devise a Chocolate Festival for the local Food Trail, to help gain publicity for the Chocolate Box. Honey is in a surprisingly good mood, probably as a consequence of her upcoming visit to London to see her dad. The festival is a huge success, but Shay, who was not supposed to be helping out, is dragged away by his overbearing father and grounded.
The girls have a celebration party on the beach, and everything starts to spiral out of control when Honey gets a call from her dad, not only cancelling her visit to London the following day, but also to tell her he is moving to Australia. Things only get worse when Shay turns up in a canoe, and starts blatantly avoiding Honey. Honey twigs that something is going on between Cherry and Shay and exposes their late-night meetings to the sisters, as well as some untruths that Cherry had told them, such as having a boyfriend in Glasgow. The sisters forgive her for telling lies, saying that she would have fit in with them anyway. Honey then runs off, after telling them that she had originally planned to stay in London - for good - before her father cancelled on her. Coco, Summer and Skye, distressed, run after her.
Cherry, convinced that she has ruined all chances of being a part of life at Tanglewood, starts to sail out to sea in the canoe with Shay. They are caught by the current and run aground, and have to make their way over treacherous rocks to some caves. They spend the night there, and are found in the morning by their dads and a rescue team.
Recovering, Cherry is assured that she has not ruined anything, and the sisters (minus Honey) still want her to be a part of their lives. She and Shay become a couple, yet all is not a happy ending as Honey, in a final act of sad defiance, cuts off her waist-length hair, leaving it stark and shorn.
Characters
Cherry Costello - the main protangonist of the book. She is Scottish, yet looks like her Japanese mum, Kiko, who died when she was four of a heart condition. She is fiercely loyal to her dad Paddy, and her main goal in the book is to fit in at Tanglewood. Originally, she dislikes Shay, and tries to stay away from him. This continues throughout the book, as she views her attraction to him as dangerous. She is enemies with Honey, though she tries often to find common ground with the eldest Tanberry.
Shay Fletcher - Cherry's love interest. Originally Honey's boyfriend, he only stays with her because he's the only one who can calm her down. He feels put down and over-worked by his fierce, unappreciative father, and spends as much time as he can at Tanglewood. He spends a great deal of time working for his father. His signature look is his beanie hat and his blue guitar. He loves music, and plans to go to music college. At the end of the book, after getting shipwrecked with Cherry, he becomes Cherry's boyfriend which upsets Honey.
Honey Tanberry - the eldest sister. Before her parents divorced, Honey was the drama queen of the family, arty and passionate and brilliant. She was a great big sister, and adored her dad. After her parents split, she started to live in a fantasy world where her parents were still in love and Charlotte only used Paddy to make her dad jealous. She resents Paddy and Cherry enormously, and is vindictive and spiteful to them through the course of the book. She is greatly jealous of Cherry and Shay's connection, even though her relationship with Shay is one-sided, with him always having to be there for Honey, while she is never there for him.
Skye Tanberry - one of the middle sisters. She is Summer's identical twin, and the youngest of the two. She is quirky and cool, and into history and vintage fashion, big time. She takes Cherry under her wing at the beginning, and apologises for Honey's behaviour, even going so far to remark that their dad is 'useless, as dads go'. She likes Paddy, and supports Paddy and Charlotte's engagement when Honey doesn't. She is the main character of the next book in the series.
Summer Tanberry - one of the middle sisters, she is Skye's identical twin, and the older of the two. She is clever and kind, and very much into dance, especially ballet. Her dream is to become a prima ballerina.
Coco Tanberry - the youngest sister, Coco is the tomboy of the family. She wants to become a vet, or to save the world with Greenpeace, and dreams of owning a donkey, a llama and a parrot.
Charlotte Tanberry - Coco's, Summer's, Skye's and Honey's mum. She is Paddy's fiancee and Cherry's soon-to-be stepmum. She is selfless and caring and works very hard in her house Tanglewood, which has had to be converted into a B&B to make ends meet. She was previously married to Greg Tanberry. She loves all her daughters very much, and is especially welcoming to Cherry.
Paddy Costello - Cherry's dad. His wife Kiko died when Cherry was little, and he was lucky enough to find love again with Charlotte Tanberry. He is kind and considerate to all the girls, even Honey. It was he that originally came up with the idea of a chocolate-making business.
Greg Tanberry - Coco's, Summer's, Skye's and Honey's dad, noticeable by his absence. He lives in London and does not care about his daughters. He moves to Australia at the end of the book. He is only mentioned in Cherry Crush but makes an appearance over Skype in Marshmallow Skye as well as being mentioned. He isn't mentioned as much after the first two chapters in Summer's Dream but Summer does call him in the same book. However he doesn't care about what she has to say. It is revealed that Charlotte had often called him as well.
Sequels
Five books have been planned for The Chocolate Box Girls series.
Cherry Crush's immediate sequel, Marshmallow Skye, has already been published, and the third book in the series, Summer's Dream was released on 7 June 2012.[2]
The last two books are Coco Caramel and Sweet Honey. Coco Caramel was released in June 2013, and "Sweet Honey is scheduled for 2014.