ARC Review: Half Moon Hill

Half Moon Hill

Toni Blake

Destiny/Book 6

Avon/April 30, 2013

Trying to escape her troubled past, Anna Romo has come home to Destiny determined to carve out a place for herself. When she buys the old Victorian house on the hill with the intent of furnishing it into a Bed and Breakfast, she’s thrilled by the possibilities. 

Ex-biker-gang member Duke Dawson is as much a fish out of water in Destiny as Anna, but he’s handling it fine until an accident scars not only his body but his mind. When Anna stumbles across him in an old cabin in the woods near her newly acquired house, at first she’s terrified. But they work out a deal - she’s willing to keep his solitary living arrangement a secret if he’s willing to help her with some of the heavy lifting at the house.

Working together on the rennovations, romance brews between Duke and Anna. That is, until war hero Jeremy Sheridan returns home in a blaze of glory and sets his sights on Anna. Suddenly torn between the outgoing and charming Jeremy and the intriguing Duke, Anna’s heart is torn between two paths and left with only one solution. 

Toni Blake has worked her magic again! I do think Anna and Duke might just be my favorite couple of the series followed closely by Tessa and Lucky.  The pairing of Anna and Duke is a bit of an odd couple but Blake makes their romance work so very well!

Anna Romo has come home to a place she barely remembers.  After having been gone from Destiny for many years, Anna is home to stay.  We see how Anna is working to fit in but still holding back, not quite sure of her place in the Romo family.  I liked how Anna was aware of her insecurities and her torn loyalties.  There is also her need to not completely submerge herself in the small town but test the waters and ease herself into life in Destiny.  It shows Anna's intelligence and maturity.   I love reading about an intelligent heroine!  

Duke is a hero with a bad-boy exterior and a heart of gold.  At first glance, he's not someone you'd want to meet in a dark alley but once Anna, and the readers, get to know him, it's obvious he's a gentle and loving man with a little edginess that making his softer side that much more special.  Duke is a realistic hero in that he doesn't try to be someone he's not but learns to like who he really is.  He's certainly a favorite of mine!

With Anna and Duke living a fairly secluded life away from town, they are allowed to get to know each other with little interference from family and friends.  Which is good since Mike Romo, Anna very overprotective brother, can be a real hardass.  Anna and Duke don't completely forget about the people they care about but they have those uninterrupted moments, giving them time to get to know each other beyond what everyone else sees.

Blake's humor is certainly present not only in the romance but also in the friendships featured in the story.  I loved catching up with previous couples.  We see that life isn't always a perfect storybook romance instead it can be messy, frustrating and ultimately filled with ups and downs.  But it's how you handle both the ups and downs that show the real person.

Anna and Duke's romance tests not only what they know of each other but what they know of themselves.  This last book of the series certainly ended on a high note!  I look forward to heading south to Coral Cove, Florida for Ms. Blake's next series slated for a spring 2014 publication.

Rating: A

Destiny Series ~

One Reckless Summer
Sugar Creek
Whisper Falls
Holly Lane
Willow Springs
Half Moon Hill

ARC Review: Willow Springs

Willow Springs
Toni Blake
Contemporary Romance
Destiny Series/Book 5
Avon/June 26, 2012

This lovesick matchmaker has finally met her match…

Amy Bright might be the best matchmaker in Destiny, Ohio, but she's desperately shy when it comes to her own love life—and helpless when it comes to Logan Whitaker, the best friend whom she's head-over-heels in love with. So Amy decides to become Logan's secret admirer, sending him sensual love letters steamy enough to unseal their own envelopes. One letter leads to another, one thing leads to another, and then comes an unplanned kiss…

Overcoming a tragedy from his life as a firefighter, Logan needs a friend. Thank goodness for Amy. But when a woman from Logan's past resurfaces right as some anonymous letters send Logan's pulse hammering, suddenly he doesn't know what he needs—a reliable friend, or a passionate lover? One smoking-hot kiss could change everything…but will it ruin a one-of-a-kind friendship, or show Logan and Amy that they've already found everything they need, right here in Destiny?

I've enjoy Ms. Blake's Destiny series but had mixed feelings about Amy and Logan as a couple.  Would there be enough conflict to hold my interest?  Amy, for one, seems far too mellow to cause anything close to conflict.  Logan is a childhood friend of Amy's and seems to think of her as a sister.  The possibility for sexual tension seems fairly low.  Which is why I was pleasantly surprised at how hot these two got once they finally did get together.

Amy Bright is a sweet, funny hometown girl who's grown up into a successful local business woman and remains good friends with many of the kids she grew up with.  It's easy to see why everyone likes Amy, she's a people-pleaser.   Nothing wrong with that except she does have a tendency to go overboard and into meddling territory.  I wasn't crazy about the secret admirer idea.  It felt too much like something a teenage girl would do.  Amy's 34 years old and I wish she would have been more mature and simply told Logan how she felt.  They would have had plenty of things to work out taking a long standing friends into a romance.  Instead she does the anonymous love letters and it backfires.

Logan is in a downward spiral after a tragic fire and his friends are about the only thing keeping him afloat.  I get that the loss hit him hard but he went from such a happy, good natured person to someone who doesn't care about anything thing or anyone, not even his dog.  That seemed too extreme.  Once he does pick himself up he still has this dark cloud hanging over him but you can tell he is trying which made more sense than his I-don't-give-a-damn attitude.  He does perk up when an old friend comes back to town which is where some of that conflict comes into play.

We do get to see many familiar faces since this is a small town romance and many of the couples are friends.  I really enjoyed Amy's relationships with her girlfriends.  They are a close group of women who look out for each other.  The guys are very similar in that they look out for each other but in that "guy" kind of way.  They give each other grief and tease but it's all because they care about each other.  I think that was one of the strengths of the book and the series itself - the friendships.

Amy and Logan do eventually get it on and they really do click.  There are some misunderstandings and some wrong assumptions made but you can also see how their friendship became even more solid as their romance grew.

Willow Springs turned out to be a pretty good romance.  Amy and Logan ended up working for me as a couple and it was good to see some familiar faces.  That's one of the big appeals of small town romances, the familiar faces of previous couples as well as the continuing secondary characters.  I look forward to seeing what will happen in the next story and the role one character in particular will play. 

Rating: B 

Destiny Series ~

One Reckless Summer
Sugar Creek
Whisper Falls
Holly Lane
Willow Springs

Review: Sugar Creek

Sugar Creek
Toni Blake
Contemporary Romance
Destiny/Book 2
Avon/May 25, 2010

From the back cover ~

Welcome to Destiny, Ohio—where two families have been at odds as long as anyone in town can remember.

Rachel Farris returned to her childhood home with one mission in mind: get Mike Romo out of her family’s apple orchard business and out of their lives. But hard-nosed and totally hot Mike, who happens to be the law in Destiny, is convinced the Farris clan stole the land from his family fifty years ago and he’s not backing down. Even when shapely trouble shows up in a pair of designer blue jeans. However, neither the hunky cop nor the sexy prodigal hometown girl can anticipate the electricity that heats things up whenever they’re together—adding new sizzle to an ongoing feud that’s raged for generations, and soon putting both their hearts at risk.

This book and I got off to a rough start. A little background ~ I started Sugar Creek late last year. I had checked it out from the library, started reading, then around page 70 I found a ... stain. I was pretty certain what it was and really grossed out. Let's just say that someone should have used a tissue instead of the book! There was no way I could keep reading this particular copy. I took it back to the library and told the librarian what I had found. Sadly she wasn't surprised. She told me I'd be amazed at the things they find. She asked me if I wanted her to request another copy but I told her no thanks, I was a little gun shy at this point. LOL Anyway, I finally got my own stain-free copy, and went back to Destiny, Ohio. :)

What's wrong with going a little too fast down a country road? Everyone does it right?. It's that speeding that brings Rachel Farris and Officer Mike Romo together and not in a good way. Mike is a by the book cop. No use trying to talk or cry your way out of a ticket with him. Good thing Rachel isn't the crying type. But after trying to talk herself out of a ticket she cops an attitude with Officer Romo and the sparks fly. The Farris/Romo feud is still alive and well, Rachel and Mike's first encounter proves that.

Everyone who leaves Destiny seems to come back. That can be said for Rachel Farris, who left years ago for a fast paced life in the big city of Chicago. She's back now but it's only temporary. Just until the apple harvest is done and her grandma Edna doesn't need Rachel's help with the farm.Rachel is a fun heroine in that she's serious when it comes to her career but she knows how to let her hair down and hang out with her girl friends.

I liked that Rachel doesn't apologize for wanting her career and wanting to live in the city where her career could continue to flourish. She has some very strong beliefs on why she needs the stability of a good job. It's those belief that we see change over the course of the weeks she spends with her grandma and her friends. Blake didn't have Rachel do a quick 180°, instead she had Rachel absorbed that small town life, getting pulled into the friendships and closeness that a community of this type inspires. Rachel also had her feelings for Mike to consider even though she kept telling herself it's not serious. Where have we heard that before!

Mike Romo was born and raised in Destiny. He's known around town as the hard nosed cop with a tragic past. His parents and brother all left Destiny long ago but Mike has his reasons for staying. Mike is very aware of the old feud and there is no way he would ever be attracted to a Farris! The fact that she's so obviously trouble only reinforces his view of the Farris clan. And yet, he can't seem to stop thinking about her, being around her. Mike's funny in how he tries so darn hard to not be attracted to Rachel then gives in, but it's only sex. He's not an easy character to like in that he's closed off, not allowing himself to show his "softer" side. With Mike it was more of a slow burn of liking - the more I got to know him, the more Rachel got to know him, the more I figured he wasn't so bad. He's not high on my list of heroes but in the end he and Rachel worked.

Grandma Edna, Rachel's reason for returning to Destiny, is a hoot! She's far from shy and says what she means. She also has a story to tell. Over the course of the book she tells Rachel how the Farris/Romo feud started. I found Edna's story sweet and sad. She definitely knows how to spin a tale and leave you wanting more. Blake did a wonderful job developing Rachel and Edna's relationship, making it far more than obligation on Rachel's part for being there.

This is a small town romance and with that comes the eclectic group of characters that give the town of Destiny it's flavor. Rachel gets to reconnect with friends from her past and Mike gets to see another side of Rachel, separating her from her Farris heritage. The romance, with all it's influence from outside sources, worked because ultimately Rachel and Mike made their decisions based on what they felt. It did take a near tragedy to get them there but they did finally get there.

The next book, Whisper Falls, is Rachel's good friend Tessa's story. I've already read it and so far it's my favorite of the three. If you like small town romances with strong, well developed characters Destiny, Ohio is a good place to go.

Rating: B+

Books in the series ~

One Reckless Summer
Sugar Creek
Whisper Falls
Holly Lane (Adams story/November 2011)

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