ONE RECKLESS SUMMER from Toni Blake!

Toni Blake has a new release, ONE RECKLESS SUMMER, and it's available - now! What a great cover for summer reading, don't you think? Toni's characters are always the type of young woman that most women want to be - beautiful, intelligent, with good girl innocence written all over them. Until they find the right man, that is, and then they're as sensual and seductive as warm satin. And then there's the cute little nicknames that their guys always give them - Snowflake (ok, so this was in a Lacey book, not a Toni book), Pussycat, Cupcake, Kitten, etc. Do any of you have a snappy or cute nickname? Do you know what my hub calls me? Puss. Not pussycat like Jenny in ONE RECKLESS SUMMER, just plain Puss. We've been married almost 30 years and I've been called Honey and Babe (and probably a couple of others behind my back), but mostly Puss. Toni's "guys" are always so dreamy - the hero's name in ONE RECKLESS SUMMER is Mick - I don't know about you gals, but every guy I've known named Mick was a bad boy. With the exception of one, and I'm pretty certain his mother meant to call him "Milque" (as in "toast") rather than Mick. Surely there was a typo on the birth certificate. Poor guy.
Here's a 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 …
And you'll find even more here about ONE RECKLESS SUMMER including a video, a great excerpt, review snippets and a link to order.
Thanks for checking it out!
Laurie

Coming soon from Toni Blake - LETTERS TO A SECRET LOVER

Toni Blake has a new book, LETTERS TO A SECRET LOVER, releasing May 27th and I was fortunate enough to review it on behalf of Romance Junkies. I loved this book very much and as I say in my review, I truly think this just might be Toni's best work to date.
Here's a blurb about Lindsey and Rob and their sizzling story:
The last thing she needs right now is a man
Lindsey Brooks had it all—an awesome job doling out advice to the lovelorn, a fabulous high-rise apartment, and a to-die-for fiance. But then she got dumped—wearing nothing but a Kiss the Cook apron—and desperate to escape, she retreats to a tiny Montana town to reclaim a family treasure. She never dreamed anyone would try to stop her – or that he’d be sexy as sin.
Too bad she finds such a hot one …
Rob Colter isn’t into relationships—but Lindsey sees Rob as the perfect guy to help her “get back on the horse.” The sex horse, that is. Unfortunately, he comes complete with a mysterious past, which gets even more mysterious when she finds his passionate letters to another woman – whose name happens to be tattooed on his chest.
And too bad he has so many secrets …
Now Rob’s dangerous past is about to catch up with them both. And if that’s not horrible enough, Lindsey is falling for him – hard. For a girl who usually has all the answers, Lindsey is up to her neck in trouble.

My Romance Junkies review (I gave LETTERS TO A SECRET LOVER 4.5 Blue Ribbons!):
In Toni Blake’s LETTERS TO A SECRET LOVER, Lindsey Brooks leaves the hectic pace of Chicago for the peaceful beauty of Montana to escape the scandal that she’s unintentionally gotten herself into. And while she found the escape she so desperately wanted and needed, she also found something she wasn’t even looking for –LOVE!

Lindsey Brooks, one-half of one of Chicago’s most successful, high-profile couples, decides to seduce her stuffed shirt of a fiancé by serving him dinner in just an apron, only to have her picture snapped by a window washer hanging outside her high rise apartment. It is inevitable, with said fiancé mortified by the mostly nude photos of Lindsey floating around on the web and in the gossip rags, that their engagement would be broken. Lindsey flees for the quiet of Moose Falls, the small Montana town she visited as a child, where her late aunt owned a boat rental. Despite a rocky first meeting with Rob Colter, the gorgeous new owner of the boat rental, they’re soon spending more and more time together. Lindsey is deeply curious about a hidden stash of heartfelt love letters she stumbles across, obviously written by Rob to an unknown woman; the same woman whose name is tattooed over his heart. She and Rob are both taken off guard by the attraction between them and when their relationship becomes intimate, it becomes clear that Lindsey isn’t the only one with a secret.
Rob Colter sees Lindsey as a spoiled, shallow city girl who’s more concerned with appearances and labels than appreciating her surroundings. When she asks to work with him at the boat rental to see the area as her aunt saw it, he is struck by her willingness to do whatever is needed without complaint, and soon finds her totally irresistible. When dark, dangerous secrets from Rob’s past begin to surface, he believes the only solution is to leave Moose Falls, dismissing Lindsey and any future that they might have together, and thoroughly breaking her heart.
Toni Blake never fails to provide readers with a captivating story, intriguing lead characters, and secondary characters who are a charming bonus. Lindsey and Rob are written so realistically that you can’t help but feel their every emotion and share their pain from past misunderstandings. I have read all of Ms. Blake’s previous books and truly feel that this just might be her best work to date. I highly recommend LETTERS TO A SECRET LOVER to all romance lovers!
I hope you'll check this book out - click here to go to Amazon to pre-order a copy!
Thanks for checking it out!
Laurie

Toni Blake's TEMPT ME TONIGHT - available now!

I was fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of an arc of Toni Blake's latest release, TEMPT ME TONIGHT. This book has all of the ingredients of a wonderfully written romance - sweetness, sexiness, and heartfelt emotion. I encourage all readers who love women's fiction to get a copy of this beautiful story. My review for TEMPT ME TONIGHT:

When attorney Trish Henderson returns to her hometown to help her aging parents close and sell their diner, one of the first people she runs into is the last person she wants to see. Joe Ramsey broke her young heart several years before and Trish took her bruised emotions with her to college, literally crying herself to sleep every night for two years. Trish went on to law school and her pain eventually quieted to a tender ache, but not even her position with one of the most prestigious law firms in Indy could prepare her for the rush of emotion she experiences when she finds herself face to face with Joe. It was as if she was a teenager again and had never left. Trish boldly decides that the trick to forgetting Joe, with the admittedly nasty benefit of payback, is a cleverly planned seduction - a passionately mind-blowing night together – followed by her walking away. What she doesn’t count on is Joe’s refusal to let her go this time. He turns the tables and sets out in pursuit of her, effortlessly crumbling any idea she has to just “love him and leave him.” Trish begins to wonder just how much she wants a partnership in Indy, thinking she might like to return to small-town living, until a misunderstanding fueled by past mistakes and present doubts threatens to tear Trish and Joe apart before they even have the opportunity to begin a true relationship.
Joe can’t believe his eyes when he sees Trish Henderson standing in front of him. Still capable of taking his breath away, still the most beautiful girl he has ever seen and undeniably the only girl he has ever loved, Joe wants her just as much as he did as a randy teenager. When Trish refuses his advances, Joe becomes even more persistent, determined to treat her right and make up for the wrongs in their past. Joe doubts his small-town wooing can compare to the highly successful men Trish is used to dating these days, but damned if he isn’t going to try. Just when the two seem to have put all hurt behind them, having dealt with all of the issues standing between them, the past comes hurtling back, and it looks like their future together is doomed. Joe pulls out all the stops and makes one last grand gesture to profess his love for Trish, but once again misunderstanding rears its ugly head and Joe is left crushed in defeat.
Toni Blake has a true knack for writing the sweetest characters, complete with realistic lives and life issues, and then blending them with incredible passion and sensuality into a wonderful mix that can only be called true romance. Trish and Joe are continued evidence of this knack. They aren’t larger than life or immune to pain and heartache, and they deal with the same trials as the rest of us with jobs that require long hours and hard work, Trish’s aging parents, Joe’s worry over his sister’s relationship with a guy with questionable morals, and a 13 year old girl whose paternity is assumed to lie in Joe. Readers will be drawn into the story of Trish and Joe from the start and will find it difficult to put this book down. I’m curious as to the average amount of time it takes readers to complete this book – my money is on the very shortest amount of time possible!

Thank you all for stopping by and special thanks to you, Toni, for giving me the opportunity to review this great book for you! Check out Toni's website at http://www.toniblake.com/index.html .

Laurie

Get SWEPT AWAY with Toni Blake's latest!

I recently had the good fortune of reading an ARC of SWEPT AWAY by Toni Blake. Look at that beautiful cover! Having read and enjoyed *most* of Toni’s previous books, (I say most because yes, there are a few that I’ve missed), I was thrilled to have the opportunity. Thank you, Toni! I would add that I have met Toni on several occasions and yes indeedy, she’s just as beautiful and sweet as the photo on her website shows her to be. She also possesses a terrific sense of humor and is fun to be around!
Here is my review of SWEPT AWAY, to be released September 1, 2006 from Avon Red:
When Katrina “Kat” Spencer makes a solitary escape to her father’s private island one week before her wedding instead of going to Las Vegas for her bachelorette party, the last person she expects to appear, right out of the ocean mind you, is Brock Denton. Brock is the bad boy that Kat attempted, and failed, to seduce on the night of her high school graduation. Shortly after that night Brock unexpectedly and inexplicably left town and had never returned. Brock is the total opposite of Kat’s fiancé, Ian; Kat has been having second thoughts about marrying Ian, and seeing Brock again after so many years makes her question the impending nuptials even more.
Brock can’t believe his eyes when he swims ashore and spots the grown up Kat, his “kitten,” looking even more beautiful than she was ten years ago, something he wouldn’t have thought possible. Brock had good reasons to leave town, reasons he had never shared with Kat and still would prefer not to share. He isn’t the bad boy any longer, now an FBI agent who narrowly escaped an undercover operation gone wrong just before washing up on Kat’s island.
When Kat and Brock act on the decade-old attraction between them, Kat needs to decide whether she will go through with her wedding. Any decision she makes will greatly impact her future as well as that of her family. Brock makes a startling discovery while on the island, one that places the security and success of her fiancé and her father in his hands.
Toni Blake has given readers yet another wonderful romance, complete with more than a bit of burning sensuality, just the right amount of action and suspense, and a handful of secondary characters that add realistic touches of family and friends. A satisfying side story delves into the troubled relationship of Kat’s parents and is a very nice touch. Flashbacks into Kat and Brock’s past successfully define the circumstances and heartache that helped mold them into the adults that they have become.
It is easy to recommend SWEPT AWAY to readers of sensual romance, you will not be disappointed.
Check out Toni's website and her previous releases at http://www.toniblake.com/ - Also, here's a link to the Amazon listing, in the event you want to run right over and do a pre-order, which I strongly suggest that you do!! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061135887/sr=1-2/qid=1155574497/ref=sr_1_2/002-6122944-0825631?ie=UTF8&s=books
Have a great day!
Laurie