One Reckless Summer (Destiny, #1) in Alpha Heroes & Spitfire Heroines

Jan 12, 2009 Auntee rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2009_reads, made_me_cry, toni-blake-lacey-alexander, contemporary-romance

W-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l book! Be warned it starts out a little slow (except for the first encounter between the H/H--hot), but that's largely because it's the first book of a series and some time is spent just setting it up. But after about the first 100 pages the book takes off, and you'll be hard pressed to put it down. And when I finally did put it down, tears were rolling down my cheeks and I was breathing a huge sigh of relief. What a wonderful, thought provoking, sexy romance!

Jenny Tolliver--tea ...more

37 likes · Like · see review

Apr 14, 2009 Shawna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2009-reads, i-read-own-faves-keepers, made-me-cry, author-toni-blake-lacey-alexander, favorite-romance-series, small-town-lovin-small-town-setting, enemies-to-lovers-opposites-attract, why-do-good-girls-like-bad-boys, heroine-girl-next-door, hero-wrong-side-of-the-tracks

5 stars – Contemporary Romance

One Reckless Summer is a very touching, sweet, and steamy contemporary romance that’s a perfect escapist read for a hot, lazy summer day, but it also has emotional depth and makes you think and feel.

Jenny Tolliver returns to her small hometown of Destiny, Ohio to spend a summer in the lakeshore cottage where she grew up to heal and regroup from a painful divorce that’s left her self-esteem and soul bruised and battered. Her ex-husband had an affair with Jenny’s 21-y 5 stars – Contemporary Romance

One Reckless Summer is a very touching, sweet, and steamy contemporary romance that’s a perfect escapist read for a hot, lazy summer day, but it also has emotional depth and makes you think and feel.

Jenny Tolliver returns to her small hometown of Destiny, Ohio to spend a summer in the lakeshore cottage where she grew up to heal and regroup from a painful divorce that’s left her self-esteem and soul bruised and battered. Her ex-husband had an affair with Jenny’s 21-year-old teaching assistant at the school where they both worked as teachers, resulting in a crumbled marriage and her leaving the job she’s comfortable with. Her cheating “rat bastard” ex blames his affair with a “chippie” on the fact that Jenny’s too much of a good girl and just too nice to meet his needs in the bedroom. He even compares her to June Cleaver...yikes!

While staying the summer in Destiny, Jenny hopes to rediscover and reinvent herself while catching up with her childhood girlfriends. She’s tired of being the perfect, good girl and wants to prove, especially to herself, that there’s much more to her than that. She gave up her dream of being an astronomer to teach because her husband convinced her that it was foolish. Jenny’s nursing a broken heart and spirit, and she never expected to find everything she ever wanted and needed in town bad boy Mick Brody.

Mick Brody and his older brother come from the wrong side of the tracks, or lake in this particular town, and were Destiny’s notorious hellraisers. Mick and Jenny were in total opposite worlds as teenagers, but they shared a memorable moment of attraction that both were too scared to act on because of Jenny’s innocence and good girl reputation and Mick’s bad boy ways. Mick left Destiny to avoid following in his brother’s criminal footsteps and to turn his life around. Now he’s come home in secret to fulfill a promise to his brother that could cause a lot of trouble if discovered.

When Jenny crosses paths with Mick while trespassing on his family’s property across the lake to use their hill for stargazing, Mick makes her swear to keep his presence and secret from everyone in town, including her sheriff father. Of course, they experience an explosive attraction that ignites a wild, passionate, reckless affair that’s sure to complicate matters, and neither is prepared for it to evolve into a serious, deep relationship.

This is a very pleasant contemporary romance with lots of steamy sex scenes, and although there’s nothing too overtly erotic, it’s definitely hot! What’s really surprising, at least it was for me, is how heartwarming, moving, and thought provoking the story is. Jenny is a lovable heroine, and anyone who’s been hurt and left to pick up the pieces after a devastating break-up or divorce can relate to her. Mick comes from a poor, abusive background and has always been an outsider looking in, longing to be a part of Jenny’s world and to be accepted by the town. Anyone who’s ever been judged, teased, ridiculed, looked down on by the rich, popular crowd, and/or had to overcome abuse or hardships can relate to his struggles. I had tears in my eyes a few times, especially reading the scenes involving Mick and his brother. Jenny and Mick make a great couple, both trying to shed unfair stereotypes, her always feeling judged as the good girl and him never quite feeling good enough.

It’s an emotionally moving, tender, and steamy romance with great characters and a terrific story about looking beyond misconceptions, past mistakes, labels, and appearances, that things aren’t always black and white, and the healing power of forgiveness and love, even for yourself. It’s a delightful contemporary romance and a great summer read. I’m looking forward to the next book in this terrific new series. 5 stars!
...more

32 likes · Like · see review

Jun 21, 2011 Juliana Philippa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 4-half-to-5-romance-books, romance-contemporary, cr-family-issues, 0-own-multiple-copies-or-formats, 4-to-5-stars, 0-reviewed, cr-delicious-hero, 0-own, cr-heroine-somewhat-wallflower, 0-own-avg-rating-3-point-8-plus

4.5 stars
My thanks to Dhestiny for recommending this book. Had I found it on my own, despite the high rating average, I'm almost positive I would have skipped it. If I'm wanting a romance—and not just something to make my temperature rise—then almost as a rule I hate ones that are lust-based and start around a one-night stand situation.

Jenny and Mick's relationship definitely did start as a purely sexual one, but it developed so beautifully and they fit together so well. I loved it! I'm still so ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Oct 24, 2009 jenjn79 rated it really liked it

Shelves: published-2009, 2009, stars-4, genre-romance-contemporary, info-full, reviewed, series-destiny

I only decided to pick this book up because I read one of my GR friends reviews of it, then checked out my other friends reviews. It sounded good so I figured I'd give it a try. And it was worth reading. I really liked it a lot...though it didn't quite make it to five-star level like it did for a lot of my friends.

Summary:
Jenny Toliver was always the good girl growing up and even as an adult. She thought she had a great marriage but then she finds her husband in a compromising position with her I only decided to pick this book up because I read one of my GR friends reviews of it, then checked out my other friends reviews. It sounded good so I figured I'd give it a try. And it was worth reading. I really liked it a lot...though it didn't quite make it to five-star level like it did for a lot of my friends.

Summary:
Jenny Toliver was always the good girl growing up and even as an adult. She thought she had a great marriage but then she finds her husband in a compromising position with her own teaching aide. When the divorce papers are final, she decides to return to her hometown of Destiny, Ohio in order to take a little break and regroup. She moves into her family's cottage on the lake and tries to figure out where her life went wrong. She keeps coming back to the fact that all she hears is how "good" she is, and she's tired of it. So when she runs into town bad boy Mick Brody, she lets her inner bad girl out and she starts a steaming affair with him.

The two try to tell themselves it's only sex, a way to forget their problems, but both are kidding themselves. Unfortunately, Mick is hiding a big secret that comes between them and puts Jenny in a bad position. She's forced to rethink her beliefs in right and wrong, black and white, and see the gray areas in life. And through it all, she finds herself falling for Mick. Only problem is, how can there ever be a future for the town's good girl, and the boy everyone thought was trash?

Review:
There are a lot of Good Girl/Bad Boy romance books out there on the market, and some of them come off pretty basic and typical, but this book, though it uses a popular story hook, really draws you in to the characters, the situation, and the difficulties they face. Author Toni Blake takes a oft-used base storyline, and makes it engaging to read and tells a very emotional story.

For anyone who has ever always been expected to be the Good Girl in life, you can really related to the character of Jenny. Everyone wants her to be so perfect and to always do what they want, and after a tough divorce, Jenny is discovering that maybe she's never really been quite who she really is inside. So she takes a walk on the wild side, thinking it's just a short trip, but instead finds her future. It's a sweet, romantic...and somewhat spicy tale that gives you warm fuzzies.

And poor Mick. One can't help but sympathize with him. He's the bad boy who has tried to turn his life around but now finds himself in a situation that could land him in jail. Even if he is only trying to do the right thing. I felt so bad for him in this book. It's really hard not to love him and it's easy to see how Jenny could fall for him. And that scene where she takes care of him after....something happens...that was just so sweet!

There's a surprising amount of sex scenes in this book. I wasn't really expecting that! But there is definitely a moderately high sensuality level. The scenes aren't really erotic in any way, but they are fairly hot. If I had one criticism in this area of the book, it was some of the wording used in sexual scenes. I completely understand authors that want to keep their books more R by not using blatant sex language (especially mainstream, big publisher books), but I did find it a little annoying how certain things are talked around. All the sort of vague references to certain body parts, semi-flowery terminology, etc. When it's a book with just a few sex scenes, that kind of thing doesn't bother me. But with a book like this that has a fair amount of sex, all that vague talk gets annoying. But it was a fairly minor thing.

In general, though, this was a great contemporary romance to read. There's a lot of really nice character development that makes the story feel very real. And there's lots of emotion...something I love in romance books. There was a time or two I got teary-eyed about things going.

Just a really solid book, and one I'm glad I got a chance to read. I will definitely be looking to read the next book in the series, Sugar Creek. ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

May 31, 2009 Romance Novel TV rated it really liked it

Reviewed by Stacy Ahlgren
Publisher: Avon
41/2 stars

The perfect daughter. The perfect prom queen. The perfect wife. Jenny Tolliver’s been the good girl all her life, and it’s gotten her nowhere. Now that her marriage has been busted up by her cheating ex, she’s decided it’s time to regroup and rediscover herself. This summer she’s headed back to her hometown of Destiny, Ohio, to the very lakeshore cottage where she grew up, to figure out what life holds in store for her next.

She never dreamed the ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Jun 19, 2009 Mitzi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: heat-4-sizzling, genre-romance-contemporary, writer-toni-blake-aka-l-alexander

Loved this book!!!

Jenny, the sheriff's daughter and the town (good girl) discovers her husband is unfaithful (and that she is cold in bed per his opinion), gets divorced and returns home to regroup and figure out what to do with her life.

She loves astronomy and wants to look at the stars, only her cottage is surrounded by trees....so she ventures to cross the lake and go to a place (The Brody's) she knows is (off limits) but is great for star gazing.

She's pretty certain the place is abandoned. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Sep 15, 2009 Anne OK rated it it was amazing

This was a wonderful Book #1 to TB's new "Destiny" series. I can't wait for #2! Toni Blake's books were a real surprise to me. Someone suggested her and after the first, I was hooked. She writes great romance! ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

May 24, 2010 Rochelle rated it liked it

Shelves: read-2011, chick-lit

I mistakenly thought this was supposed to be similar to the Virgin River books - it was not! It was somewhat like Susan Wiggs' Lakeshore series, but with a lot more sex. And honestly, I like the Lakeshore books a lot better, this book just wasn't realistic to me with the H/h characters and personalities. ...more

Like · see review

Jun 03, 2009 Stephanie rated it liked it

Shelves: medium-hot-contemp-romance

I am going to say this book was almost a 3.5 star. I really had a hard time getting into it. For me it didn't pick up until after page 100, then it was still a bit taxing for me. I have several friends who LOVED it. I think I am going to keep it for a re-read at some point.

Much to my delight, it has a very HEA ending and wraps up nicely. It looks to be part of a series that I am interested in continuing.

...more

2 likes · Like · see review