Cherry Crush (novel)

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 named Cherry Costello and both her new and old families. Cherry and her father move to Somerset to live with her father's girlfriend Charlotte Tanberry. When she arrives there she realizes she has four new sisters. The plot of the book deals with her attraction to her new stepsister's boyfriend, Shay. She also has to control her desire 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 chocolate,[1] choosing to write about five 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

The book starts when 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 Shay Fletcher. She begins to crush on him. However, Shay already has a girlfriend: Charlotte's spiteful eldest daughter Honey. Cherry knows her friendship with Shay is dangerous. She tries to impress and make Charlotte's daughters like her by telling lies about the luxurious life she used to lead back in Glasgow. But, soon learns that the girls have already sensed that they are just lies.... and also that they liked her better when she was the real Cherry instead of Cherry the liar. Honey and Cherry have many fights (mainly because she suspects that Cherry and Shay are becoming too close to each other). The girls and Charlotte also help Paddy to put a chocolate business by hosting a chocolate festival which is very successful and Paddy's chocolates are ordered in a huge amount. The story comes to an end when Shay and Cherry are travelling by canoe and it breaks and they end up spending the night together in a cave. They are found in the morning and Shay's dad finally realizes his value and decides not to be hard on him and Shay and Cherry end up being a couple while Honey and Shay break up.

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 was released in 2014.

References

  1. http://www.cathycassidy.com/
  2. http://www.cathycassidy.com/ask_cathy/2847_its_good_to_be_back