Sugar Creek - Toni Blake

Book Blurb:
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.

In My Own Words:

The last thing that Rachel wants to do is leave her life in Chicago to head back home after 15 years, and help her grandmother pick apples.  But, her since of obligation weighs out and heads to the backwoods area of Destiny.  A place she swore she would never return to.  On the way home, she is stopped for speeding by Mike Romo, town cop and a Romo.  The only family that the Farris' do not get along with is the Romo family.  Why?  That is just the way it has always been and the feeling is quite mutual.

When Mike stops Rachel for speeding, all he can think is....why is she back here and how long till she leaves.  When fate keeps throwing them together it seems inevitable they will end up in bed together, but the floor of the snackshack was a surprise, and not in a bad way either.  As they spend more time together, they try to decide if the feud is worth all they have already lost and still can lose.

Notable Quote:

..."Well, for your info, I'm still giving you a ticket, honey.  Sorry."

Rachel just scowled. "Clearly, there are no perks for going to bed with Officer Romeo."

(one of my favorite things was wondering if he would catch her speeding again lol.)

Review:

Sugar Creek is the 2nd book in the Destiny Ohio series, and I am loving the direction of this series.  This book had a different spin since in this book we get the family feud, and in order to understand where it all started, we get to see flashbacks of grandma's Edna's life as a girl, a girl that fell in love and ended up with a broken heart.  Edna see's so much of herself in Rachel, she just doesn't want her to make the same mistakes that she did.  I love the sassy-ness of Rachel, and that she gives as much as she gets.  She has a take charge attitude but has a sweet soft side she rarely shows.  Mike has so much hurt in his past life, he doesn't know how to be anything but surly, except with Rachel, which is weird since she is a Farris.  I loved these characters, and I can't wait to see where we go next.

One Reckless Summer - Toni Blake

Book Blurb:
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 . . .

In My Own Words:

Coming back to her little home town to heal from a bitter divorce from the Rat-Bastard cheating husband, Jenny decides to take things as they come and enjoy her summer.  While taking her telescope across the lake to get a better view of the sky, she literally bumps in to the town bad-boy.  He is not having any of her being on his side of the lake and immediately tells her so.  The thing he didn't suspect were the sparks that were lighting up the sky just from being near her.  Jenny's new take things as they come attitude, apparently includes the local bad boy because the next thing she knows, she is taking him...intimately.  With a parting shot of begging her not to tell anyone about him, that it was a matter of life and death, Jenny decides to do the only thing she knows to do...tell her best friend.

In the next few months, Jenny and Mick have a different kind of relationship but with the comfort they provide each other, Jenny learns more about herself than all the years of being the "good girl".  When someone spots Mick's truck going to his hidden cabin, Jenny panics...Will Mick ever be able to forgive her indiscretions?  Now that Jenny has found true love, will their time together be cut short??

Notable Quote:

"Hey, maybe we could start hanging out at the jail, see what we could turn up for you." (gotta love best friends, right??)

Review:

I will be honest, I didn't expect to like this book.  The blurb sounded okay, and the author wasn't one I had read before, so I wasn't holding out high hopes.  Now I am wondering, where the hell Ms. Toni Blake has been hiding.  I loved this book.  The emotions were raw, and the sex was HOT.  The good girl that tamed the bad boy ::sigh::  But at the same time, the bad boy that brought out the "wild" in the good girl, and really not just in sex, now that I think about it.  His caring and the talks they had, really helped her be more...herself, or rather the new her.  Not only was the relationship between Jenny and Mick explored, but also the father/daughter and brother/brother relationships. Great story, and I can't wait to read the next one.