Half Moon Hill audiobook

One of the best things about being an RWA member is getting the monthly newsletter and getting a complete list every year of the RITA and GOLDEN HEART winners. I picked up HALF MOON HILL because it was a Rita winner, even though I don't usually read small town romances. I used to avoid small town romances because to me, rural settings usually lack glamour and sensuality. They also tend to be very sentimental about life and love. The amazing thing is that HALF MOON HILL totally explodes all those stereotypes. Anna Romo is an amazing heroine, strong-willed and sexy yet deeply vulnerable. I love the way she's a tough, big city girl and she never really changes her way of presenting herself, though she does grow in kindness and understanding as the story progresses. I love how she talks about her sexy wardrobe and revealing clothes in a way that's totally honest and never defensive. I like how she makes it clear to everyone in Destiny that she is who she is and will find her own way to love and happiness. Duke Dawson is an amazing hero as well. I really like the fact that this guy isn't a billionaire, or an English duke, or a Navy SEAL. He's just a regular guy, a biker who had an accident and wants some time to himself. I was most impressed with the way Toni Blake lets him be just who he is, and doesn't try to build him up with tons of fist fights, or adventures, or a huge stash of money buried out in the back yard. I also was impressed by the secondary romance in this novel, which is told in diary form. The writing style of Toni Blake is very ordinary and down to earth in the Anna and Duke sections, but when she writes as the Fifties teenager Cathy her style becomes almost poetic. This part of the story really drew me in!Toni Blake is in the very top class of romance authors writing today. She can be as sensual as Lisa Kleypas and as heart warming as Mary Balogh. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves romance in any genre, and I definitely want to read all the rest of the books in the DESTINY series!

I worked overtime this past weekend without realizing I’m working this upcoming weekend. So I’m now into Day 10 without a day off and 3 more to go. I did it to myself with my greed, but the end result; I don’t feel like working. Add to that the fact that our manager is working off site, I don’t have a whole lot to do, and I’m going to a Cirque do Soleil show tonight with family that I’ve had tickets for since before Christmas and you have a perfect storm for a non-working worker bee. Mind you I still do plan on doing my job – just only maybe 90% instead of my usual 110% (hah, hah, hah – no really it’s usually, on average 98.3%). And now a coworker just offered to help with what I do have.So instead, while someone else does my job, I shall do what I do best – write a review (another hah, hah, hah. It’s clear I took my morning silly pill today)I am SUCH a fan of Toni Blake and it breaks my heart that her publisher is one of those evil corporations that charge more for an eBook than they do print books. I don’t buy print books anymore except for very, very rare occasions so when Half Moon Hill came out and they wanted an exorbitant amount for the eBook, I (very) sadly moved on. I had read and loved all the previous books in the Destiny series in print before I became an ereader and inhaled them. So when Half Moon Hill came up as an Amazon Daily Deal, well I have barely taken my first morning breath when it was being uploaded into my Kindle library.We met heroine Anna Romo, the sister of John and Lucky Romo in a previous book and to be honest, she wasn’t that likeable a person. She came across as somewhat cold and uncaring and even worse, she made a play for the hero of the previous book who was destined for another. Hero Duke Dawson, I gather, was first introduced in a previous book but to be honest I don’t remember him at all. It’s been a while since I read the previous books; who knows where my print copies are amongst my thousands of books and the e price is too prohibitive. As this book opens, Anna has decided to stay in the town of Destiny. Although she was born there, she was stolen when she was young and raised by someone else so she doesn’t have a lot of memories of the town or her family. As a result there are no real roots or connections. She buys an old house on the outskirts of town with intentions of turning it into a B&B. Although the inside is coming along quite nicely, it needs a lot of work on the outside and she isn’t really close enough to her brothers to want to ask them for help. So outside work is coming along very slow. She is taking a bit of a break one day and comes across a very cranky, very shaggy Duke. Although neither understands it and neither want it, sparks fly between the two. Duke is in hiding in a little run down cottage on the property and doesn’t want anyone knowing he’s there and Anna agrees to keep his secret. She hires him to work on the outside of her home. Eventually they begin a secret affair, neither wanting anyone else knowing.At the same time, Anna finds an old diary and gets caught up with the story of a young woman whose family owned the house years ago. The young woman’s romance mirrors her own with Duke.I love both Anna and Duke. Because we are inside of Anna’s head in this story, we get to see things from her point of view. When she found out her past, her whole world was turned upside down. On the one hand she loved the woman she knew as her mother, but on the other hand the woman had done something unforgiveable. On top of that the woman has been quite unstable and Anna was forced to be more of an adult than she should have. It’s not like she doesn’t love her brothers, but just due to circumstances she keeps them at a distance. And not only them, but she keeps other people at bay too which is why she wasn’t so likeable before. But she slowly lowers her barriers and lets other people in. I love the interplay she has with a cat that was almost thrust upon her. At the start of every chapter are quotes from Phantom of the Opera and while I normally don’t pay a lot of attention to this kind of thing, in this book I quite enjoyed them and they were pertinent to the story.And Duke, wowzers. He would be easy to not warm up to. He’s a former biker and a bad one at that. He’s all tatted up, scraggy, unfriendly, and uncouth with a potty mouth. But Ms. Blake writes him in such a vulnerable way that your heart breaks for him as more and more of his past is revealed. I’ve read other reviews where the reviewer says the same thing and it’s true. He has many more layers to him then the reader thinks at first.This is the final book in this series and it was a good one to end it with. Although I’ve read all the previous ones, I don’t think it’s necessary to have read them and this should work fine as a stand-alone. Though after reading this one, I now want to search through my thousands of books to find the other ones and reread them. Again as others have noted there seems to be a couple of threads that could be picked up for a return to Destiny but I see her next book appears to start a new series.I very happily and strongly recommend this book and to anyone who has it listed as to be read, I say don’t wait! Pull it out and read it. You won’t be sorry. When I’m still pondering a book in a good way days after I’ve finished reading it, you know it’s a keeper.

A wonderful story about two people who feel like outsiders, for different reasons, and fall in love. Anna, who is settling down in Destiny, keeps to herself because of past circumstances. When she runs into Duke, a person she met in her past, she has this immediate connection with him. Duke, who has been living closed off from society feels this same connection. Can both people overcome their past to make things work?I really enjoyed this book. I love how Anna has had a very difficult past but she really has a great outlook at life and is encouraging to all of those around her. Duke is a mysterious character who takes a chance on opening up to Anna even though he has been dealing with a very traumatic past as well. The book was hard to put down and quickly engages the reader from the very beginning.I received a copy of this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

I really loved this book. I wasn't sure going in if I would like Anna from what we've seen of he in previous books. I have to say I loved Anna & Duke. I felt their joy & hurt right along with them. I also loved getting to catch up with everyone.My problem with this book is according to Toni's website Half Moon Hill is "the final chapter in the Destiny Series" This does not feel like a book ending a series to me. I feel like there's too much still unresolved. Part of Anna's growth was giving Christy advice on how to begin to move on from what happened to her parents in A previous book. We are also introduced to Tessa's war hero brother Jeremy who has a romantic interest in Anna. I hope their stories will be resolved in a continuation of the Destiny Series or in a spin off series.

Another fantastic book by Toni Blake. i have followed the series from the start and she has wrapped it up pretty good. You can actually feel the pain these characters have gone through. She shows you just how raw their feelings are in some parts and its really HOT in others. She has said these characters will make little visits to her new series coming up and i cant wait, I stumbled upon Toni Blake as an author due to her Red Diary book being really cheap for my kindle...and I havent been at all sorry...LOVE LoVE LOVE all her books...can't get enough of them..they end way too fast for me..Thank you Toni for all your hard work!

After reading all the books in the Destiny series I must say this is one of my favorites. I thought the heroes in the last two were a bit lackluster so I really enjoyed reading about bad boy Duke, although he doesn't even seem that bad! Anna bugged me in the last book, which I almost feel was just a set up for this one, but she was really sweet in this story and the scenes where she was reading the old diaries brought tears to my eyes. I hope this series continues!!

I loved This book and would recommend it to anyone. I love how the story plays out between Anna and Duke. I also enjoyed Anna's making over of the Victorian into the bed and breakfast and going through it with her.