Here is the release day blitz for Reckless Together, # 3 in the Reckless series. Read on and you will get the Cobblestone Bar recipe and I can giveaway one digital copy of Reckless Together.
Now, this chicken bit off a bit more than she could chew, she was supposed to have the first three book reviews up on this blitz. But , that ain't gonna happen today.
Fear not, Gina, I have book # 1 review down below and I shall get to the other two books shortly.
I am gonna admit, The King kept me busy for the last five days. Plus a couple other blog tours.
Reckless Longing
Book One
A Contemporary New Adult College Romance
By: Gina Robinson
Published By: Gina Robinson
Released : Available Now
Details: Kindle, 317 Pages
RATING: 4 STARS!
Ellie and Logan's love story begins one hot August night…
My mom betrayed me in the worst way possible. I can't forgive her, but I can outwit her. I'm going to unravel the family secret she's been keeping from me my whole life. So I'm going to college across the state from her, to the place that has the answers. I hope. But I have to be careful or I'll blow everything. I can't tell anyone what I'm doing.
I didn't mean to fall in love. I can't afford to give my heart away or open up to anyone, least of all charming, rich, former bad boy baseball star Logan Walker. But he looked so adorable sitting there nursing a black eye the night I met him at my very first campus event. The way he held my hand made me flush in the suffocating heat of August and feel really beautiful for the first time in so long I can't remember. My scar didn't even hurt.
But Logan's moods are mercurial. He's keeping secrets of his own that are too dark to share, even with me. We agree to be just friends. But our hearts and bodies have minds of their own. Before I know it, I'm in too deep with him and the answer to the family secret I came to campus to find may be the thing that tears us apart.
I enjoyed Reckless Longing. Ellie and Logan are great characters.
Logan had me scratching my head a couple times with his behavior. I really liked him, but he kinda made up a bullshit reason at the start when he met Ellie, which I didn’t see necessary. Then later on in the book he was on a date, yet he didn’t want to date Ellie, due to his reasons.
WT!
When he is switched on with Ellie he is a really nice guy. He has some painful secrets that made me cringe for him.
I did laugh at how well the lads apartment was set up with very female kitchen products. I mean a mixer, really? I just didn’t see them whipping up a pavlova. They had all the bases covered for Operation Cobblestone Bar.
Logan was the rare college man who had a kitchen equipped with a heavy-duty standalone Kitchen Aid mixer.
Heheee!!
The one guy that made me laugh was Dex. He is an awesome character. He is smart and quite the plotter of devious ways to sic it to a certain Professor. He is great fun to read.
“Don’t go soft on me, Ellie. Believe me, nerdy guys fight to be TAs precisely because of the female attention they expect from girls that are way out of their league. Let him have his day and his fantasies.”
Ellie has her agenda for meeting her father who works at the college she is now attending. Now I didn’t say she was going to confess who she was to him.
Or does she?
Jason is a really nice guy. He has a really great soul and knows how to help the students out and keep their secrets.
I really enjoyed operation Cobblestone Bar, although I did wonder how the poor chef felt who had her recipe stolen.
Navel piercing, black eye, secrets, Cobblestone bars, exploding devices ( well sort of ) and a Professor who really had me questioning who they let into these positions, throw in some angst and this was a great start to this series.
College life, it certainly kept these characters on their toes.
Michelle
Title: Reckless Together
Author: Gina Robinson
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: April 3rd
Synopsis
Book Three of the Reckless Series
A Contemporary New Adult College Romance
The stunning conclusion of Ellie and Logan's love story that began on a hot August night in Reckless Longing and continued through the depths of winter in Reckless Secrets...
Ellie
My mother is a liar, a seductress, a keeper of family secrets, and a master manipulator. She took Austin from me. Now she claims she wants forgiveness. But she's after Logan. I know she is. He thinks he can protect me from her. I love him for trying, for playing hero, but he doesn't know her like I do. She'll charm him until he lets his guard down and then she'll strike so quickly he'll never see the attack coming. I may already be too late to stop it.
Logan's love is essential to me, like sunshine and deep nurturing breaths. He's my all. I can't live without him. But there's so much standing in the way of our happiness. As dangerous as she is, Mom is the least of my worries. I'm fighting the darkness Logan is struggling with, the upcoming trial, his family, and sometimes I even think I'm fighting a phantom of myself. But I won't give up. Ever.
Logan
I wish I could make El understand how much I love her, but I'm losing control. She makes me lose control. Since the abuse, that scares me shitless and brings back the guilt and the memories I want to erase. Things that have nothing to do with El, and everything because they affect the man I want to be for her.
I can't face losing her. I don't want her to hear the ugly truth about me, but I have to testify. I have to, even though I'm risking everything and fighting my dad and myself to do it. After it's over, will El still love me? I have to help her reconcile with her mom. Then maybe she'll understand.
This is a contemporary romance with mature themes, language, and situations. Readers should be over 17!
Gina Robinson is the award-winning author of the contemporary new adult romances Reckless Longing, Reckless Secrets, and Reckless Together and the Agent Ex series of humorous romantic suspense novels. She's currently working on a new contemporary romance/new adult series called Switched in Love, all about the perils of falling in love with someone who isn't who you think they are. What happens when you find the love you're looking for in the most unusual circumstances and with the last person you ever thought you'd be attracted to? Look for the first Switched in Love romance in early summer 2014.
Ellie
I hated my mother. She'd done it again. This time from across the state. Intruded on what should have been one of the most beautiful moments of my life. After swearing for my entire existence I'd never have sex with any guy I wasn't totally sure was long term, I slept with Logan Walker. Trusted him with my heart and my body. He was so sweet, thinking he could protect me from Mom. That anybody could. He didn't know her like I did. Didn't know how cunning she could be. How devious.
Just like I hadn't known it was possible to feel such an intricate cocktail of emotions—love, lust, ecstasy, total happiness, fear, and blinding rage. It would have been absolutely heady, except for the anger. I'd kept my fury under control while I'd been with Logan, focusing all my attention and thoughts on staying in the moment with him. The guy had literally had a heart in his hands. A balloon heart. But still, how could I resist that? And the sweet, funny way he'd stocked up on protection? And how he couldn't stay away from me, no matter how hard he tried?
But now that I was back in my dorm room, thoughts of my mother and her Snow White's Evil Queen Stepmother act popped into my mind. Or maybe she was more like Alice in Wonderland's Queen of Hearts playing a giant chessboard with my life. What was her game? What was her next move? Whatever she had planned, I had to stop it.
My hands trembled as I pulled my cell phone out. I took a deep breath. She and I had been estranged since she slept with Austin, my boyfriend before Logan. And I left her and came to college to find my bio dad, Jason Front. I had a delicate new relationship with him and his wife and baby. Mom could destroy all that, too. She didn't know I'd come to the university to find him. She didn't know he was here at all.
I hesitated on the verge of battle. I had to risk it. I'd chance anything to keep her away from Logan and me. I stared at the phone another second as I gathered up my courage. We hadn't spoken since before Christmas. It was nearly March now. She'd take my call. I knew she would. In fact, I was certain she was waiting for it. I hit the button that dialed her and braced myself.
"Ellie!" She picked up before it even rang. That was how confident she'd been that I'd call. That was how expectant she was.
Which put me even more on edge—what did she want? Melissa Ann Sawyer always wanted something. She never gave anything away and she never played for free.
"Leave Logan alone! Stay the hell away from him!"
It was the wrong way to lead. I'd let my anger get in the way of my scheming and common sense. I'd forgotten my own chess metaphor.
She laughed. "So you finally slept with him." Her voice was amused and as nubby as raw silk, not quite her usual polished self. But as grating as ever in its confidence. "I was wondering how long you'd hold out. He's a handsome boy. Now you can finally stop blaming me for ruining your life. You've turned out just like me."
"Not just like you," I said. "I'm not pregnant."
"That you know about. Be extra careful, Ellie. We're fertile girls when we're young and careless!" She laughed again.
Mom had a laugh for everything, like life always amused her, even when it was tragic. Even when there was absolutely nothing funny about it. This time it felt like she was laughing at herself as much as at me.
"I didn't say I slept with him." And I hadn't said I hadn't. Semantics were everything when playing with Mom's fire.
"Of course you have. That's why you're so protective and possessive of him now. He finally felt close enough to you, confident enough to tell you that he and I have been talking. And so you rushed to protect him from big, bad me. It all adds up. And I can tell from your voice you've lost your virginity."
"You cannot."
She'd used that "I can hear it in your voice" tactic on me since I was little. I'd outgrown my belief in her magical abilities to read voices and see out of the back of her head.
"I hear it in your denial."
"Just stay away from him!" I pulled the phone away from my ear, ready to hang up.
"Or what?" Devoid of laughter and completely serious, she was the ice queen, full of menace.
Crust
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 Tbsp. Dutch baking cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla extract
heaping 1/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup + 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 extra large egg
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Add all dry ingredients and mix well. Spread into 13x9 pan.
Filling
1/2 stick butter, softened
6 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp . vanilla extract
1 small egg
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
Cream butter, cream cheese and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour and mix until smooth. Spread over the crust evenly.
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Sprinkle evenly over the filling. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
2 1/2 cups mini-marshmallows
Sprinkle on the baked crust/filling and bake an additional 2 minutes.
Frosting
4 Tbsp. butter
2 oz. cream cheese
2-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup 2% milk
2-1/2 Tbsp. Dutch baking cocoa
Cream butter. Add cream cheese. Add half the powdered sugar. Add the milk and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Mix cocoa and remaining powdered sugar together. Add to the milk mixture. Mix until smooth. Pour over the melted marshmallows and swirl together. Cool. Cut into bars.
Servings: About 18 bars.
The engaging continuation of Ellie and Logan's love story that began on a hot August night in Reckless Longing...
Ellie
My bitch of a mother kept a family secret from me for nineteen years. I outsmarted her and found out what it is. Now I should be deliriously happy. I am happy. Except…I have to keep it from Logan. At the same time, I know I should tell him. If he finds out by accident, he'll hate me and feel betrayed. But it's complicated and I have to wait until things fall into place or it will cause problems for my newly found dad.
And Logan is wrestling with his own demons. Because of me. Dex and I just meant to prank our hideous chem prof. We didn't mean to hurt anyone, least of all Logan. If I'd known it would expose his secret, I never would have done it. I love him so much. I can't lose him. I won't. I just hope he can forgive me.
The stunning conclusion of Ellie and Logan's love story that began on a hot August night in Reckless Longing and continued through the depths of winter in Reckless Secrets...
Ellie
My mother is a liar, a seductress, a keeper of family secrets, and a master manipulator. She took Austin from me. Now she claims she wants forgiveness. But she's after Logan. I know she is. He thinks he can protect me from her. I love him for trying, for playing hero, but he doesn't know her like I do. She'll charm him until he lets his guard down and then she'll strike so quickly he'll never see the attack coming. I may already be too late to stop it.
Logan's love is essential to me, like sunshine and deep nurturing breaths. He's my all. I can't live without him. But there's so much standing in the way of our happiness. As dangerous as she is, Mom is the least of my worries. I'm fighting the darkness Logan is struggling with, the upcoming trial, his family, and sometimes I even think I'm fighting a phantom of myself. But I won't give up. Ever.
Logan
I wish I could make El understand how much I love her, but I'm losing control. She makes me lose control. Since the abuse, that scares me shitless and brings back the guilt and the memories I want to erase. Things that have nothing to do with El, and everything because they affect the man I want to be for her.
I can't face losing her. I don't want her to hear the ugly truth about me, but I have to testify. I have to, even though I'm risking everything and fighting my dad and myself to do it. After it's over, will El still love me? I have to help her reconcile with her mom. Then maybe she'll understand.
GIVEAWAY TIME
1 x Digital copy of Reckless Longing
International
Just leave a comment & your contact addy
Easy
STARTS NOW
ENDS 8th APRIL 2014
Ellie
My mother is a liar, a seductress, a keeper of family secrets, and a master manipulator. She took Austin from me. Now she claims she wants forgiveness. But she's after Logan. I know she is. He thinks he can protect me from her. I love him for trying, for playing hero, but he doesn't know her like I do. She'll charm him until he lets his guard down and then she'll strike so quickly he'll never see the attack coming. I may already be too late to stop it.
Logan's love is essential to me, like sunshine and deep nurturing breaths. He's my all. I can't live without him. But there's so much standing in the way of our happiness. As dangerous as she is, Mom is the least of my worries. I'm fighting the darkness Logan is struggling with, the upcoming trial, his family, and sometimes I even think I'm fighting a phantom of myself. But I won't give up. Ever.
Logan
I wish I could make El understand how much I love her, but I'm losing control. She makes me lose control. Since the abuse, that scares me shitless and brings back the guilt and the memories I want to erase. Things that have nothing to do with El, and everything because they affect the man I want to be for her.
I can't face losing her. I don't want her to hear the ugly truth about me, but I have to testify. I have to, even though I'm risking everything and fighting my dad and myself to do it. After it's over, will El still love me? I have to help her reconcile with her mom. Then maybe she'll understand.
This is a contemporary romance with mature themes, language, and situations. Readers should be over 17!
Buy The Book
Amazon / Barnes And Noble/ KOBO
About The Author
Gina Robinson is the award-winning author of the contemporary new adult romances Reckless Longing, Reckless Secrets, and Reckless Together and the Agent Ex series of humorous romantic suspense novels. She's currently working on a new contemporary romance/new adult series called Switched in Love, all about the perils of falling in love with someone who isn't who you think they are. What happens when you find the love you're looking for in the most unusual circumstances and with the last person you ever thought you'd be attracted to? Look for the first Switched in Love romance in early summer 2014.
Connect with Gina Online:
My Website: http://www.ginarobinson.com/
Twitter: @ginamrobinson
Excerpt
Ellie
I hated my mother. She'd done it again. This time from across the state. Intruded on what should have been one of the most beautiful moments of my life. After swearing for my entire existence I'd never have sex with any guy I wasn't totally sure was long term, I slept with Logan Walker. Trusted him with my heart and my body. He was so sweet, thinking he could protect me from Mom. That anybody could. He didn't know her like I did. Didn't know how cunning she could be. How devious.
Just like I hadn't known it was possible to feel such an intricate cocktail of emotions—love, lust, ecstasy, total happiness, fear, and blinding rage. It would have been absolutely heady, except for the anger. I'd kept my fury under control while I'd been with Logan, focusing all my attention and thoughts on staying in the moment with him. The guy had literally had a heart in his hands. A balloon heart. But still, how could I resist that? And the sweet, funny way he'd stocked up on protection? And how he couldn't stay away from me, no matter how hard he tried?
But now that I was back in my dorm room, thoughts of my mother and her Snow White's Evil Queen Stepmother act popped into my mind. Or maybe she was more like Alice in Wonderland's Queen of Hearts playing a giant chessboard with my life. What was her game? What was her next move? Whatever she had planned, I had to stop it.
My hands trembled as I pulled my cell phone out. I took a deep breath. She and I had been estranged since she slept with Austin, my boyfriend before Logan. And I left her and came to college to find my bio dad, Jason Front. I had a delicate new relationship with him and his wife and baby. Mom could destroy all that, too. She didn't know I'd come to the university to find him. She didn't know he was here at all.
I hesitated on the verge of battle. I had to risk it. I'd chance anything to keep her away from Logan and me. I stared at the phone another second as I gathered up my courage. We hadn't spoken since before Christmas. It was nearly March now. She'd take my call. I knew she would. In fact, I was certain she was waiting for it. I hit the button that dialed her and braced myself.
"Ellie!" She picked up before it even rang. That was how confident she'd been that I'd call. That was how expectant she was.
Which put me even more on edge—what did she want? Melissa Ann Sawyer always wanted something. She never gave anything away and she never played for free.
"Leave Logan alone! Stay the hell away from him!"
It was the wrong way to lead. I'd let my anger get in the way of my scheming and common sense. I'd forgotten my own chess metaphor.
She laughed. "So you finally slept with him." Her voice was amused and as nubby as raw silk, not quite her usual polished self. But as grating as ever in its confidence. "I was wondering how long you'd hold out. He's a handsome boy. Now you can finally stop blaming me for ruining your life. You've turned out just like me."
"Not just like you," I said. "I'm not pregnant."
"That you know about. Be extra careful, Ellie. We're fertile girls when we're young and careless!" She laughed again.
Mom had a laugh for everything, like life always amused her, even when it was tragic. Even when there was absolutely nothing funny about it. This time it felt like she was laughing at herself as much as at me.
"I didn't say I slept with him." And I hadn't said I hadn't. Semantics were everything when playing with Mom's fire.
"Of course you have. That's why you're so protective and possessive of him now. He finally felt close enough to you, confident enough to tell you that he and I have been talking. And so you rushed to protect him from big, bad me. It all adds up. And I can tell from your voice you've lost your virginity."
"You cannot."
She'd used that "I can hear it in your voice" tactic on me since I was little. I'd outgrown my belief in her magical abilities to read voices and see out of the back of her head.
"I hear it in your denial."
"Just stay away from him!" I pulled the phone away from my ear, ready to hang up.
"Or what?" Devoid of laughter and completely serious, she was the ice queen, full of menace.
Ellie's Top-Secret Cobblestone Bars
Crust
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 Tbsp. Dutch baking cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla extract
heaping 1/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup + 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 extra large egg
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Add all dry ingredients and mix well. Spread into 13x9 pan.
Filling
1/2 stick butter, softened
6 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp . vanilla extract
1 small egg
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
Cream butter, cream cheese and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour and mix until smooth. Spread over the crust evenly.
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Sprinkle evenly over the filling. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
2 1/2 cups mini-marshmallows
Sprinkle on the baked crust/filling and bake an additional 2 minutes.
Frosting
4 Tbsp. butter
2 oz. cream cheese
2-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup 2% milk
2-1/2 Tbsp. Dutch baking cocoa
Cream butter. Add cream cheese. Add half the powdered sugar. Add the milk and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Mix cocoa and remaining powdered sugar together. Add to the milk mixture. Mix until smooth. Pour over the melted marshmallows and swirl together. Cool. Cut into bars.
Servings: About 18 bars.
Reckless Bundle Coming Soon
Great value! Save up to 44% compared to buying each book separately!
This series is contemporary romance with mature themes, language, and situations. Readers should be over 17!
This series is contemporary romance with mature themes, language, and situations. Readers should be over 17!
Reckless Secrets
Book Two
A Contemporary New Adult College Romance
Ellie
My bitch of a mother kept a family secret from me for nineteen years. I outsmarted her and found out what it is. Now I should be deliriously happy. I am happy. Except…I have to keep it from Logan. At the same time, I know I should tell him. If he finds out by accident, he'll hate me and feel betrayed. But it's complicated and I have to wait until things fall into place or it will cause problems for my newly found dad.
And Logan is wrestling with his own demons. Because of me. Dex and I just meant to prank our hideous chem prof. We didn't mean to hurt anyone, least of all Logan. If I'd known it would expose his secret, I never would have done it. I love him so much. I can't lose him. I won't. I just hope he can forgive me.
Reckless Together
Book Three
A Contemporary New Adult College Romance
Ellie
My mother is a liar, a seductress, a keeper of family secrets, and a master manipulator. She took Austin from me. Now she claims she wants forgiveness. But she's after Logan. I know she is. He thinks he can protect me from her. I love him for trying, for playing hero, but he doesn't know her like I do. She'll charm him until he lets his guard down and then she'll strike so quickly he'll never see the attack coming. I may already be too late to stop it.
Logan's love is essential to me, like sunshine and deep nurturing breaths. He's my all. I can't live without him. But there's so much standing in the way of our happiness. As dangerous as she is, Mom is the least of my worries. I'm fighting the darkness Logan is struggling with, the upcoming trial, his family, and sometimes I even think I'm fighting a phantom of myself. But I won't give up. Ever.
Logan
I wish I could make El understand how much I love her, but I'm losing control. She makes me lose control. Since the abuse, that scares me shitless and brings back the guilt and the memories I want to erase. Things that have nothing to do with El, and everything because they affect the man I want to be for her.
I can't face losing her. I don't want her to hear the ugly truth about me, but I have to testify. I have to, even though I'm risking everything and fighting my dad and myself to do it. After it's over, will El still love me? I have to help her reconcile with her mom. Then maybe she'll understand.
GIVEAWAY TIME
1 x Digital copy of Reckless Longing
International
Just leave a comment & your contact addy
Easy
STARTS NOW
ENDS 8th APRIL 2014
Sounds delightful and these college kids are putting me to shame! When I was in college I wasn't thinking of businesses like that, I was too busy partying! LOL
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a great series. cnapper67@comcast.net
ReplyDeleteSounds like an amazing read!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance to win!
natasha_donohoo_8 at hotmail dot com
All of the books look incredible. Thanks for the recipe.
ReplyDeletemarypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Congratulations Crystal , random org spun you up as the winner of the digital copy. I have emailed you.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Looking forward to reading this book. It sounds great!
Delete