One Reckless Summer (Destiny, Ohio Series #1)

enjoyed this book! Great characters, great story. will reread ag

enjoyed this book! Great characters, great story. will reread again

9 out of 10 people found this review helpful.

A perfect summer treat

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.

7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

One Reckless Summer = One Fantastic Read

This is one of those romance novels that has everything! It is touching, funny, emotional and VERY sexy to boot.
Toni Blake's characters are very well written, you can feel the emotions pouring off the pages. I am a big fan of her books, One Reckless Summer is the first in a series that takes place in small town Destiny. I look forward to reading the rest of the books. But as for One Reckless Summer, well, this one is going on my keeper shelf.

6 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

One reckless summer is fantastic. I highly reccomend this book to anyone who likes good romance books.

Trying to find time to read a book in my busy life is difficult but when i find a good one... everything else has to be put on hold so i can finish it. That's how this book was for me. I liked how this book was written and loved the story so much, i decided to look online for more books by Toni Blake. I have actually read this book over a dozen times - like i said i really loved this book!

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Sensuous, heartwarming contemporary romance

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 face 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.

~Reviewed by PJ Ausdenmore

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Great book!

I could not put this book down. The first chapter really gets your attention and it holds it the entire book. This author gave a great description of everything in the book. I have recommended this to my friends to read. Great romance book!

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

love this book

TONI BLAKE IS BECOMING ONE OF MY FAVOITE WRITERS.... I LOVE ALL HER BOOKS IVE READ SO FAR, CANT WAIT FOR THE REST OF THIS SERIES TO COME OUT NEXT YEAR....... GREAT BOOK A MUST READ CANT PUT DOWN BOOK

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is an entertaining contemporary romance

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

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Recklessly Entertaining

Though simply plotted this book was extremely enjoyable. I was immediately drawn in with Jenny and even more so when Mick appeared. While the progression of the relationship between Jenny and Mick felt a bit rushed to me at times, I did like the good girl/bad boy aspect of the story. Having said that I tend to like the build up to be a bit more drawn out when most others don't. I also understand that in order for the book to be a reasonable length that progression needed to be abbreviated so in the end it worked well as written.

Although I am not a reader of many romance novels out of those I have read this was one of the best written. Blake provided vivid imagery as it related to the scenery around Jenny and Mick she also provided great depth of feeling on an emotional level. Both Jenny and Mick struggled with important issues - fidelity, honesty, death and family interaction - and did so realistically.

One element of the story I could have done without was the use of Mick's nickname for Jenny. It was kind of cute/thrilling in the beginning when it was a throw back to their history together but then as their relationship began to evolve I think it's fair to say his use of her real name could have been infused a little more.

The rigidity of the law-upholding father was a great addition to the story. His involvement allowed for the reader to see and feel the perceived differences between Jenny and Mick more acutely. However, for me, I didn't need the added distraction of the budding relationship between he and the barmaid.

There is quite a bit of sex in this novel, it is not erotica and is tastefully done but for those who may be interested in a chaste love story this is not it. Sex plays a large role in how Jenny and Mick are brought together and the reader is shown interludes in some detail throughout.

If you are a fan of the romance genre then this book would be a selection worth investing in as it is an enjoyably quick contemporary read.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Dissapointed

I loved her book Tempt Me Tonight, but this one was a dissapointment. I felt that the books was filled with nothing more than "steamy scenes".

2 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

What a wonderful, fun, heartwrenching book.

It's pretty rare that I read a romance that makes me laugh AND cry, but ORS is one of those books. Toni Blake takes the archetypes of the "good girl" and the "bad boy" and breathes new life into them, adding just enough depth and layering to create characters who by the end of the book feel like old friends.

In an odd way her writing reminds me quite a bit of Eloisa James' in that Blake also doesn't shy away from giving her heroes real, honest to goodness sins. And she also writes some of the most complex and well crafted stories in the genre. And the love scenes are hot, hot, hot.

If you're looking for an engrossing, sexy beach read this summer, ORS is the way to go

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Highly Recommended

Great book. Definitely need to check it out.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Fantastic book!

This is hands down one of the best books I've ever read. Great story, great characters. The sex scenes were more than I thought but not cheesy. Totally a hot book. One you won't put down. I can't wait to read more by this author!

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Not my favorite Toni Blake novel - but still pretty good

Toni Blake is a great storyteller so she pulls this off, but this was not one of my favorite stories by her. Over-all this book is well written with a good flow. I liked the sub-plots...with Dad and the bar maid. I thought that was a nice touch. And of course there's Toni Blake's signature heart string tug towards the end.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

I loved it

I love all of Toni Blake's books and this one didn't disappoint. I couldn't put it down. I loved the plot. I also love books that make me cry and happy at the same time.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great story

I really enjoyed this book

Wonderful read and looking forward to the remainder of the serie

Wonderful read and looking forward to the remainder of the series. Recommend Highly!!

Loved this book! It kept me interested, it was fun sad and cute

Loved this book! It kept me interested, it was fun sad and cute!

Good book

Highly recommend