Review: Whisper Falls

Whisper Falls
Toni Blake
Contemporary Romance
Destiny/Book 3
Avon/December 28, 2010

From the author's website ~

Welcome to Destiny, Ohio—where coming home means finding your true heart and maybe even your true love.

Tessa Sheridan came crawling back home to Destiny after her big city interior design career crumbled. Now not only must she struggle to make ends meet, she has to contend with a biker next door and the roar of Harleys shattering the serenity of her cabin in the woods. Worse still, her sexy bad boy neighbor makes her feel breathless and weak—and shy, petite Tessa knows what a major mistake it would be to get involved with someone so…dangerous.

They say that former teen rebel Lucky Romo has a dark, secret past—that he’s trouble with a capital “T.” Still, Tessa feels all tingly when she sees how well he fills out a pair of tight jeans. And when Lucky invites her into his world, she knows the intense heat sparking between them could lead her somewhere wild and wonderful…and, yes, dangerous!

I'm really enjoying this series! Can't you tell? :) It has that small town feel but it doesn't overshadow the romance, instead it enhances the the characters' lives. The third book may sound like a typical good girl falls for bad boy story but it's much more than that.

Tessa Sheridan left Destiny to follow her dream of working in the world of interior design. She did well for herself until medical issues forced her to leave her much loved career and move back to Destiny to be close to her family. She tried starting up her own design firm but no luck so far. So she's working in her friend Amy's bookstore, trying to make ends meet while still learning to live with her reoccurring illness. I liked how Blake portrayed Tessa and how she dealt with her illness. Tessa was determined to take care of herself, she didn't like anyone seeing her sick. But, she does have enough sense to take help when she needs it - like moving back to Destiny. She doesn't dwell on her illness, it does get to her sometimes, like how it makes her feel less than sexy. All that's about to change...

Lucky Romo was the town bad boy who took off after high school, never coming back. The only think anyone ever heard from him were rumors of his life on the wrong side of the law. He's back but keeping a low profile. He has some major family issues that he's not ready to face just yet. Lucky is not a hero, yet. He's still working on it. He fell in with a bad group and did some things that he's not proud of but he is trying to change. I think that's what's important about his character and what we see throughout the story. Lucky changing and having to make decisions based on his new set of rules to live by. He does have some missteps, big and little, but he keeps trying. After meeting Tessa, he has even more reason to try to put his past far behind him.

The town of Destiny is a slice of American with a side of crazy. There are such an eclectic bunch of characters. Tessa's girl friends provide support and encouragement when she needs it most. They also love to talk about their sex lives or lack of. I found it funny and a bit shocking as to how much details give out all while sitting in the local diner! Seriously, I kept thinking, don't they worry that someone will overhear them?! LOL

Tessa and Lucky made such a great couple. Lucky is a guy that doesn't attract "nice girls" and Tessa is a nice girl. But she also has a wild side to her that Lucky seem to bring out. I loved how once she got over her nervousness around him she was able to let her hair down and didn't care if he saw her dancing on her deck or sunbathing. She secretly liked his attention. Lucky can't figure out why someone like Tessa would want to be around him and he's not sure if he's good enough for her. I really liked how Blake developed their relationship going from neighbors to friends to lovers. It wasn't a fast jump into bed even with the strong attraction they both felt early on. It was a slow burn of looks and touches and finally kisses. Very hot, very sexy kisses and more. Blake knows how to write steamy, emotional sex scenes, giving the characters plenty of room to show their feelings through their words and actions.

As Tessa and Lucky fall in love, Lucky's past is racing to catch up to him. He's also reconnecting with his family and his hard-headed brother Mike, (hero from Sugar Creek) isn't making things easy. Both Tessa and Lucky make mistakes but they were mistakes that anyone could have made given their past experiences. The big misunderstanding reared it's ugly head but it played in with everything that had gone before it, making it work and making the outcome - Tessa and Lucky together - believable.

The next book in the series, Holly Lane, is Adam's story. Adam is from Destiny and has made appearances but we really don't know much about him. I'll be curious to see what direction his story takes and who his heroine is.

Rating: A-

Books in this Series ~

One Reckless Summer
Sugar Creek
Whisper Falls
Holly Lane (Adam's story/November 2011)