Whisper Falls

This is my favourite book in the series so far. For me each one has been better than the one before it, and while this one got off to a slightly slow start, I gave the preceding book four stars, so Whisper Falls had to get five!

Of the eighty-four million contemporary romances currently out there about people returning to their small hometowns, this is definitely one of the better series. It completely sidesteps all the saccharine sweetness and instead delivers believable characters and strong romances.

You probably shouldn’t start here. The characters and storylines from the last book follow through in this one.

Lucky Romo is my favourite hero in this series, and Tessa Sheridan my favourite heroine. The heroines from the earlier show more books were too ‘doormatish’ or too in your face, and Tessa is the perfect mix, and a great balance for long-haired, tattooed biker Lucky. I love Lucky, and if he ever dumps Tessa he can look up my number.
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To her surprise, Lucky titled his head and looked her in the eye, appearing oddly…crestfallen, she thought. “Don’t be nervous,” he said. “I hate making you nervous.”
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The book was a little slow at the beginning – I felt we spent too much time in Tessa’s head while she speculated about Lucky and reflected on her life. But once the friendship – and, later, relationship – took off, I really enjoyed this.

Lucky ran from home many years ago – packing his stuff and taking off, never to be heard from again. He’s been caught up in all kinds of things, not all of them legal, and the reason he suddenly reappears in town was a real surprise. It wasn’t a reason I would usually have liked reading about, but Toni Blake made me enjoy it. Lucky is trying to shed his old image as best as he can, but it can’t entirely change who he is. He asks interior decorator Tessa to redo his home, and I loved his instructions for what to do.
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"What sort of look are you going for?”
Damn, how did he answer this? “Something…normal,” he finally said.

“I think I can work with those.”
“And make it look normal?”

“…what look are you interested in for the room?”
…"Uh, normal,” he said again, trying to lose the wolf look. “More normal.”
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Tessa’s life changed when she became ill with a disease that has no cure. While she’s often okay, there’re times when she’s too sick to function normally, and so she had to give up her career. Back in her hometown, she’s trying to work out a new and different life.

There are definitely problems in Lucky and Tessa’s relationship, some between the two of them and some out of their control. However what I really liked about this couple was that they pretty much committed to each other, so there wasn’t a big ‘will they or won’t they?’ dragging on forever.

If more authors wrote small town romances like this I wouldn’t whinge so much about the fad taking over bookshops. I wasn’t such an enthusiastic fan at the beginning of the series as I didn’t feel much of a connection with the characters, but here in book three I thought they were great. With Whisper Falls Toni Blake has got it right. Great romance and great conflict, and the small town stuff complements the story rather than ruining it. show less

A story of second chances and never giving up. Tessa has come home to Destiny after a long illness wrecked her career. Now she's working in the local bookstore as she tries to restart her interior design business. When the cat she's caring for gets away from her, she meets her new next door neighbor Lucky Romo. He's big, tattooed and scary, but she also sees something different in him. She senses a loneliness that matches hers, and an attraction that isn't one sided.

Lucky is the long lost little brother of Mike Romo from the previous book Sugar Creek. When their little sister disappeared years ago, Mike became obsessed with following rules because of his guilty feelings. Lucky went the other way, acting out in an effort to get the show more attention of his grieving parents. His actions got worse until he left town after graduation. He hasn't been in contact with his family since then. He got involved in a biker gang for five years before he walked away from that mess. For the last ten years he's been trying to turn his life around with his own business and staying on the right side of the law. He's returned to Destiny to take control of a new part of his life, though he hasn't faced his family yet. His encounter with Tessa finds him attracted to her, even though she's nothing like the women he usually goes after. He sees her as a good girl, and with his past feels he's no good for her and tries to stay away.

I loved both Tessa and Lucky. Tessa is tired of feeling like her life is passing her by because of her illness. She is determined to do something to shake it up. Making friends with her scary new neighbor is a good start. Lucky is determined to keep it just as friends in spite of his intense attraction. I loved seeing the way that they developed their friendship first. Lucky hires Tessa to decorate his house and is amazed by how quickly she seems to understand who he is, inside and out. He fights his attraction to her very hard, but realizing that she's just as interested makes it almost impossible. There are some really funny encounters between the two of them that show the battle raging in him. Tessa is really curious about Lucky's past and what it is that has him fighting so hard against the sparks between them. I loved the way that she actually listened to him when he finally opened up to her and didn't judge him. Her acceptance of him as he was went a long way toward changing his life. I loved the scene in the biker bar when Tessa goes to see him there. She really puts herself out there to show him just how much she wants him. Tessa is a really independent woman who hates that her disease occasionally makes her dependent on other people. She doesn't like to have anyone around when she's sick, but doesn't have any choice with Lucky. He refuses to leave her alone. His care for and of her is so sweet and shows just how great a guy he really is.

The romance between them is sweet and hot and looks on track for an easy HEA until part of Lucky's past shows up in Destiny. Suddenly Lucky is worried that his old life has put his family and Tessa in a great amount of danger. At this point Tessa fears that Lucky will never be able to put those things behind him and live a normal life. She's not sure she can deal with it all and pulls away, making both herself and Lucky miserable. I loved seeing the way that Lucky decides their love is worth fighting for and what he does to show her.

I also enjoyed seeing the way that Lucky slowly becomes part of his town again. The biggest thing he has to face is getting back in touch with his brother and his parents. I loved seeing him finally able to explain to his parents why he did the things he did back when he was a kid, and how they understood what he had gone through and their part of it all. His brother Mike was another problem all together. I liked him in the previous book, especially after Rachel started softening him up a little. But in a good chunk of this one he was a really judgmental asshole to Lucky and I wanted to smack him. He redeemed himself, but I wasn't sure it was going to happen until then. show less

ABSOLUTELY LOVED WHISPER FALLS! Makes me want to move to Destiny and find my own HEA and adopt a cat from Under the Covers!Tessa and Lucky's chemistry was so hot! Loved the fact that this wasn't only about Lucky and Tessa's relationship but also Lucky's relationship with his brother Mike.Loved Tessa's tattoo, think I want to get one but violets instead in honor of my granma.I have been reccomending the Destiny series to all my friends. Please keep them coming =)

Thanks to Chumchum_88 for the great recommendation!

For some reason I kept thinking of this as a super gentle Kristen Ashley but with hero who can speak in full coherent sentences.
Super sweetheart hero who has painful past and left a biker gang. Writing and characters were some of the most natural I've ever read. Heroine had Crohn's disease which not often pops up in CR and was incorporated into her daily life. Hero and heroine had a sweet romance with some heat. I'll definitely be checking out other books in this series.

Very enjoyable. Believable characters and good tension between the H/h. There was a different and I think more realistic take on the motorcycle romance that is so popular right now.

ABSOLUTELY LOVED WHISPER FALLS! Makes me want to move to Destiny and find my own HEA and adopt a cat from Under the Covers!Tessa and Lucky's chemistry was so hot! Loved the fact that this wasn't only about Lucky and Tessa's relationship but also Lucky's relationship with his brother Mike.Loved Tessa's tattoo, think I want to get one but violets instead in honor of my granma.I have been reccomending the Destiny series to all my friends. Please keep them coming =)

I really liked this book. It is an easy book to spend the afternoon with. There is enough character development to make you feel a connection to these people.

This is the third book in the Destiny novels.

Tessa Sheridan has moved back to Destiny after an illness causes her to loss her job. Trying to establish a interior design business in small town Destiny has been slow. But she tries not to let things get her down.

Lucky Romo left Destiny just after high school and has not been seen or heard from since, not even his family knows if he's still alive. Back in town to build a new life after leaving a troubled past it is just his Luck to move next door to Tessa.

When these two meet, they find a mutual attraction that they can't help but act show more upon. But Lucky has a past that may come back to cause trouble for those he cars about. show less