Review: One Reckless Summer

One Reckless Summer
Toni Blake
Contemporary Romance
Destiny/Book 1
Avon Books/June 2009
Library Book

From the back cover ~

It's tough to play it cool on a sultry summer night .

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 answer would be Mick Brody, Destiny's #1 hellraiser. He comes from the wrong side of the tracks (or in his case, the lake), and he's landed in hot water more times than he can count. He's exactly the kind of guy Jenny's always kept her distance from . . . but soon the good girl and the bad boy are caught in a raw heat that's out of control. Too bad Mick's got a secret that threatens to tear them apart and ruin Jenny's perfectly, passionately reckless summer . . .

I'm slowly expanding my list of contemporary romance authors to read. I've now added Toni Blake to that list. In One Reckless Summer, Blake brings home two very different characters who find each other while hiding from the outside world. They're both hiding for different reasons and they both need to get past those reasons, before they can move on with their lives.

Jenny Tolliver is so sweet it makes her sick sometimes. She wants to break away from her reputation of sweetness but she's not sure how. Coming back to Destiny and back to the house where she grew up, brings back so very many memories. But it's the man across the lake that brings back some of the strongest memories. Jenny has no husband, no home and no job. But she does have some good friends and a father that loves her dearly. She's come home to take some time and figure out where to go from here. I found myself routing for Jenny. She's really hit bottom and you'd think things couldn't get worse for her, but then she literally runs into bad boy Mick Brody. He's kinda scary but some of that comes from the reputation he had in high school. When Jenny sees him she's a little scared but also intrigued. She wasn't expecting him to be there and the attraction she wished she hadn't felt for him in high school is back. So what's a girl to do but have hot sex in the woods. Yep, told you Jenny wanted to shed that sweetheart imagine. LOL

Mick Brody earned his bad boy rep in his teens but that was years ago and now he's a changed man, mostly. He's back in Destiny, a place he never thought he'd come back to and he's got a wish to fulfill. When he runs into Jenny it's really weird because he's yelling at her to get off his property and telling her not to tell anyone he's there. Then he's kissing her and taking her clothes off. Then comes the hot sex in the woods with his bare ass on the ground - that part made me laugh! Talk about mixed signals. After the sex it's back to "stay off my property and don't tell anyone I'm here" threats. Jenny, bless her heart, tells him to go to hell. You go girl!

You how when someone tells you not to tell anyone something but you've just got to tell someone? Well, Jenny just had to tell her best friend Sue Ann about the wild woodland sex with Mick Brody cause that's what bffs do. Sue Ann of course is shocked, and wants all the deets. :) This book had me laughing at some of the crazy small town logic - Mick is probably a criminal but hey, if the sex is really good... LOL Anyways, Sue Ann promises not to tell anyone but both women are wondering what Mick is doing back in town and why it has to be a secret.

The story progresses with Jenny and Mick spending more time together and having sex just about everywhere, they can't seem to stop themselves! Mick's secret is revealed and now Jenny has to decided if she should keep that secret too. It really puts her in a difficult position and I wasn't too happy with how Mick handled it. I understand why he was doing what he was but when Jenny found out, he should have come clean and not asked her to keep it from her father, the cop.

The attraction between Jenny and Mick keeps getting stronger but they don't know if it can go anywhere. The good girl taking up with the bad boy in a small town is always fodder for the gossips. Blake has some colorful characters in Destiny who give it that small town feel. The reason that came between Jenny and Mick was somewhat standard romance fare but in the end it all worked out and both characters showed some growth and maturity.

I did have a few minor problems with the story. The sex scenes were smoking hot but sometimes they just went on wee bit too long. And I wish Jenny had stood up to Mick when she found out his secret. She wanted to support him by doing what she felt was right but it also meant lying to her dad. And the misunderstand at the end - boy, talk about good intentions and that road to hell. It created conflict but I do wish Mick had had more faith in Jenny. Even so, I'll definitely be taking a trip back to Destiny by reading Sugar Creek, book 2.

Rating: B