Customer Reviews

One Reckless Summer: A Destiny Novel

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Jenny Tolliver had always thought her life was perfect until the fateful day when she caught her cheating husband in the arms of her 21 year old student teacher. Divorced, emotionally adrift and struggling with the fact that her ex-husband left her because he thought she was boring in bed, Jenny returns home to spend the summer at her family's lake cottage sifting through the emotional debris of her failed marriage and figuring out what to do with the rest of her life.

Mick Brody grew up dreaming of a life in one of the pretty cottages across the lake where parents didn't spend the entire day, and night, screaming at each other, where children were secure, safe and accepted by the people of Destiny - a life where someone like Mick would be worthy of pretty, sweet Jenny Tolliver. But dreams aren't reality and after his parents died and his older brother went to prison Mick left Destiny, vowing never to return. He kept that vow for more than ten years but now he's back, living in his family's old shack on the lake, keeping a dangerous secret and determined that no one discover his presence.

Always the good girl, Jenny has never done anything reckless in her life...until she paddles her canoe across the lake for some stargazing and comes face to face with the sexy, gorgeous bad boy of her youth, Mick Brody. An angry and abrupt Mick orders her off his property but Jenny has had it with being the "sweet, good girl of Destiny" and refuses to go. Tempers flare, sexual energy ignites and an attraction that perhaps has been simmering, unacknowledged, for fifteen years explodes in white-hot passion. Morning after regrets are abundant, for both Jenny and Mick, but the sexual flame that burns between them is too intense to ignore and a secret, reckless affair begins that gradually, over the course of the summer, becomes much more than a walk on the wild side. Will Jenny and Mick be able to bridge the gap between her side of the lake and his to find their happy ending or will Mick's secret, Jenny's police-chief father and a perceived betrayal tear them apart forever?

"One Reckless Summer" is the sensuous, steamy and emotionally heartwarming story of a woman who has always been good and a man who has never believed he was good enough. It's about stereotypes and misconceptions, living life to the fullest and having the courage to step out of your comfort zone, about complicated family relationships, doing what you believe in your heart is right even when everyone else says it's wrong and about looking beyond the packaging, to the goodness and love inside a person who is the opposite of everything you thought you wanted but is exactly what you need.

Dive into the delights of hot, summer nights with Toni Blake's terrific new contemporary, "One Reckless Summer".

I just finished it today after many frustrating real life interruptions.
If I had had my choice I would not have put it down. I knew that the
book would have a wonderful Toni Blake HEA. But. I was on pins and
needles waiting for that to happen. The tension built as the story went
along. The HEA was well worth waiting for. Mick Brody is an everyday
guy, ex Destiny bad boy, who is caught up in tragic events. Jenny is
the prefect daughter, citizen of Destiny, ex perfect wife. When the two
re-meet the stars light up. What I am trying to say is that I really
enjoyed this book. For me it is the perfect sitting on the back patio
summer evening read. If my back patio had been on Blue Valley Lake
--well, that would have been perfection.

Wonderful beginning to a new series set in quaint and charming surroundings with a great cast of characters. I purchased "One Reckless Summer" early this afternoon and could not put it down until I turned the last page tonight. It is the kind of book you hate to see end. It leaves you wanting more. The story was emotionally charged from one end of the spectrum to the other and the romance and chemistry between the two main characters was sizzling. Toni Blake's books seem to get better and better with each one. I look anxiously forward to the next book in this series. This author is an auto-buy for me and has been since I read her first book several years ago.

I really loved that book and so happy to find new romance writer. The book made me cry and laugh. It is very emotional story as well as sexy and classy. I could not put down that book for few hours. Read it, you are going like it! ( I am sorry my English :-)

When her husband leaves her for a younger woman, good girl Jenny packs up and returns to her hometown for the summer after a bitter divorce. When a chance encounter with Mick Brody, a shady man from her past who grew up on the wrong side of the lake turns instantly passionate, she starts to question whether being good is all it's cracked up to be. The good Jenny gave up her dreams of working for NASA to support a husband who proved to be unworthy of her; the bad Jenny is finding that taking chances and being a little selfish can be gratifying, especially with Mick as her co-hort. While everyone in town is trying to fix her up with eligible and acceptable men, but Jenny finds she looks forward to her clandestine couplings with Mick, as they both become caught up wit the moment and lose themselves in each other. But Mick is hiding a secret that he eventually entrusts to Jenny, hoping she won't blab to anyone, particularly her police chief father. Can they reconcile their pasts to create a future with each other when all the secrets are revealed?

Toni Blake is one of my favorite authors. She combines plenty of romantic tension with light suspense and plenty of comical moments to create some pretty passionate storylines. I also found myself crying at some points in the story as it took some emotional turns. This is purported to be the first in the series - hopefully she can continue to maintain the excellent storytelling.

Jenny Tolliver is on the down slide from an okay marriage that ended with her husband cheating on her with a twenty-one-year-old child and is now back in her hometown of Destiny, Ohio - a.k.a. June Cleaver central. For as long as she can remember, Jenny has always been "good Jenny" where her worst committed offense was canoeing across the lake with her best friend Sue Ann in high school. Even her ex-husband claimed she was too good for the sex life he wanted and thus having to turn to a different and younger source to slake his seedier lust. Staying at her dad's house for the summer, Jenny's sole hope is to stick her head in a hole with the occasional outing to peer through her beloved telescope. But when the perfect star-gazing night turns into wild sex with a stranger that's not really a stranger, Jenny finds herself and her life on whole new path.

For Jenny, the summer in Destiny becomes a coming of age story despite her thirty-one years. Her whole life she's done nothing but try and be the perfect child, the perfect teenager and then the perfect wife. Now, when someone mentions how good she is, Jenny feels like flaying the skin from her bones. Never has she done something with her life where she hasn't weighed the thoughts and potential reaction of others and she's tired of it, tired of never really having lived. When bad-boy Mick Brody re-enters her life, Jenny will convince herself of absolutely anything to continue having a passionate affair with a man who finally truly wants her, even if it means that she's potentially aiding and abetting a criminal.

Mick Brody has always been the wrong guy from the wrong side of the tracks but in his case, it was more the wrong side of the lake. Growing up with two cruel parents and a brother bent on breaking the law is bad enough, but living with those circumstances in a small town where everyone knows everything about everyone is even worse. The Brody name to this day is still uttered with disgust in Destiny and if it wasn't for the dire situation that Mick currently finds himself in, he wouldn't have ever come back.

After first following his brother to the wrong side of the law, Mick learned quickly that the vigilante life wasn't for him when his brother was thrown in jail and he was left to fend for himself. Now he's made something of himself, nothing grand but the feel of being right and self-sufficient has given Mick an inner peace that he's never felt before. Unfortunately his peace turns to hell when he's dragged back to Destiny but Mick isn't too lonely for long.

When he finds Jenny Tolliver trespassing, he can't believe that it's her. He's always had a thing for Jenny even though they've only ever spoken a handful of words to one another. But with his situation being highly precarious, the last thing Mick needs is someone aware of his presence in Destiny. But when his gruff attempts to scare Jenny off is first met with resistance and then surprisingly turns into wild abandon on the forest floor, Mick helplessly revels in the temporary escape of ecstasy. Unfortunately, Jenny knowing that he's back in Destiny is a big and dangerous problem with her father being the chief of police and all. Mick, deciding to keep tabs on her, canoes across to her side of the lake periodically and the beautiful little house and life that he always dreamed of being apart of. Now if only he can manage to keep himself falling in love with the girl and the dream that he's always wished for.

ONE RECKLESS SUMMER, while enjoyable, was disappointingly predictable. There seemed to be a distinct pattern to the book. Step one: Jenny and Mick would have wild sex. Step two: Afterwards, Jenny's wallowing in guilt and going to her best friend for comfort. Step three: Jenny meets up with her dad and feels horribly guilty again but this time for not telling him that she's having an affair with a criminal. Step four: Repeat with Jenny diving back under the sheets with Mick. This cycle repeated about four times and made it very hard for me to retain interest in the novel.

In addition, ORS lacked the sexual tension that I was expecting from Blake. I know what she can deliver and it felt too easy with Mick and Jenny. I'm not one to mind sex within the first chapter but it was just too easy for Mick and Jenny to fall back into bed again after that first time. I was hoping that gnawing sexual tension would force them into having sex again but instead it only took a few choice words on Mick's part to leave Jenny panting for more.

When I was talking to Barbara about this book I explained it as such: ONE RECKLESS SUMMER was like a term paper that met all the professors criteria in every way but lacked the extra something special that snags the A grade. In this case Blake has the requisite bad boy, hot sex and a reluctant hero and heroine that are true to their characters but there's nothing beyond this to make the novel stand out. It's enjoyable but completely forgettable.

Jenny Tolliver has always been the "good girl". The perfect daughter, prom queen, cheerleader, the works. She marries Terrance, becomes a science teacher because he urges her to, becomes the prefect wife, and settles into life. Life that is rocked when she walks in on her husband kissing her student teacher. His excuse? He loves the good girl but she is TOO good, and he desires the bad girl. Needless to say she divorces his behind and heads back to her hometown of Desiny, Ohio.

Mick Brody grew up on the wrong side of the lake with bad parents and a troublemaking brother. He secretly lusts over the good girl of destiny and yearns for the love and security that families have on the other side of the lake. His parents die, his brother is sent to prison, and he leaves town never to return...until that summer.

A chance encounter on the wrong side of the lake brings two lost, hurting people together. Mick is Jenny's chance at being bad for a change and Jenny is Mick's escape from the secret he is hiding and the chance to experience what he always wanted and never thought he'd have. As they spend more time together it becomes much more than just a fling for both of them. But Mick's secret is huge and may destroy the love they have found together.

I have read all of Toni Blake's novels and have loved them all; ONE RECKLESS SUMMER is no exception. The characters are relatable and draw you in, the chemistry between Jenny and Mick is amazing, and you just got to love a good girl/bad boy story! There is some humor, some sad moments, and some hot love scenes. I can't wait to read the next in the Destiny series!

One Reckless Summer is the ultimate beach read. Makes you think of warm lazy summers by an inviting lake.

Teacher Jenny Tolliver has come home to Destiny Ohio to reevaluate her life. Her marriage is over thanks to her cheating ex. Jenny has always been the good girl but where has it gotten her in her life. She never thought her walk on the wild side would be with bad boy Mick Brody. Growing up Mick always made her pulse pound but seeing him as a grown man has her tingling in all the right places.

Mick Brody has come back to destiny to handle a private matter. He wasn't expecting sweet Jenny Tolliver to dare to cross to the bad side of the lake. Mick will use any means possible to keep Jenny from finding out the real reason he has come back to town.

Jenny and Mick can't seem to keep their hands off each other any time they meet. Neither had any clue that a summer fling would cause these feelings that they have for each other. But Mick's secret is about to cause a dangerous ripple affect in both of their lives.

Toni Blake has created a special world in Destiny Ohio. One Reckless Summer's Jenny and Mick are characters that you will come to care for deeply and they will stay with you long after you have finished this book. From their first reconnection as adults their chemistry leaps off the pages and the emotions are heartfelt and rich. Run to your nearest bookstore and get this wonderful book.

Jenny Tolliver left her hometown Destiny, Ohio thirteen years ago, but has just returned home after divorcing her cheating spouse. Back then everyone who knew her classified her as a good person who would never cause her parents any aggravation; little miss perfect. Even the town's bad boy and chief hell-raiser back in high school, Mick Brody thought that and still does in spite of a bump and run tryst they share in the woods as a homecoming special.

She relished the sex with Mick that made Ohio's summer heat seem cool in comparison and decides this will be her ONE RECKLESS SUMMER. As Jenny and Mick become a couple, her father the chief of police objects; ironically so does Mick who cannot resist tasting her though he knows he needs to stop imbibing. However, Jenny also knows Mick's hesitation is not just reputations; she assumes he is concealing something from her and is determined to learn what it is.

This is an entertaining contemporary romance starring a good girl deciding the time for a sexual summer is now and a so called bad boy who is her willing heat raiser. They make a fun couple as no one would believe the pairing and her parents raise hell objecting. Well written filled with and a strong small-town Buckeye cast struggling with issues, the tale is summed up poignantly by Miss Ellie who succinctly states: "He's hot".

Harriet Klausner

Toni Blake has written a nice small town romance in One Reckless Summer. Jenny Tolliver returns back to her roots in Destiny, Ohio after her divorce. She found out her husband was having an affair and the sleaze of a husband felt Jenny was just too much of a good girl and couldn't give him the type of sex he always wanted. Jenny leaves him, takes her telescope and says bye-bye to the cheating jackass. Jenny's dream was to work for NASA but those dreams were squashed because her cheating jackass of an ex said her dreams were unrealistic. Jenny became a teacher instead.

As she crosses the lake to view some stars, she is caught by the former bad boy of Destiny. Mick Brody and his brothers were always getting into trouble and Mick was Jenny's teenage crush. The Mick she comes across is a major jerk and he wants her off his land where his family cabin is located. She won't back down and they get into a bit of a shoving match which ends with them having some hot sex against a tree. So what if sap and some splinters may find its way into certain areas you really don't want them to be?

Jenny can't believe she has hot, dirty bad boy sex with a man she hasn't seen in a few decades. Mick is hiding something that he doesn't want Jenny to know, especially her father who is the Chief of Police. But Jenny and Mick can't stay away from each other. Jenny is Mick's "pussycat" as he calls her and he is able to lose himself in her and away from all the stress in his life and the big secret he is hiding. Jenny knows what she and Mick are sharing is so very wrong, but when their bodies come together she can't help but think he is the man she has always been waiting for.

One Reckless Summer is a great read to start your summer off. It is sweet and the sex is steamy enough that snuggling under the sheets is not needed. Jenny and Mick are mature adults trying to figure out the next step in life and you hope they will figure it out together. I really liked how Toni wrote a heroine who enjoys science and gazing up at the stars. One Reckless Summer is one nice romance.

Katiebabs