Half Moon Hill by Toni Blake

Title: Half Moon Hill

Series: Destiny Ohio bk 6

Author: Toni Blake

Genre: Contemporary

Trying to escape her troubled past, Anna Romo has come home to Destiny determined to carve out a place for herself. When she buys the old Victorian house on the hill with the intent of furnishing it into a Bed and Breakfast, she’s thrilled by the possibilities.

Ex-biker-gang member Duke Dawson is as much a fish out of water in Destiny as Anna, but he’s handling it fine until an accident scars not only his body but his mind. When Anna stumbles across him in an old cabin in the woods near her newly acquired house, at first she’s terrified. But they work out a deal – she’s willing to keep his solitary living arrangement a secret if he’s willing to help her with some of the heavy lifting at the house.

Working together on the rennovations, romance brews between Duke and Anna. That is, until war hero Jeremy Sheridan returns home in a blaze of glory and sets his sights on Anna. Suddenly torn between the outgoing and charming Jeremy and the intriguing Duke, Anna’s heart is torn between two paths and left with only one solution.

When I first picked up this series I wasn’t sure what to think about it, however as I’ve read each of the books I’ve fallen more and more in love with the town of Destiny and it’s citizens. One of those citizens was Lucky’s best friend Duke. I’ve been waiting patiently for his book ever since we met him.

One of the things I love about this series is that the books take place over a long time period, meaning that even though there’s only been 3 books since Lucky’s book it’s been 2 years as far as the citizens of Destiny are concerned and 1 year since Anna showed up in Destiny and rocked everyone’s life.

It took me awhile to warm up to Anna in Willow Springs, but once I did I wanted to know more about her and what made her tick. When this book starts she’s hidden herself out at the site of her new B&B and is restoring it herself. We get to see just where her head is and why she’s hiding out. When she falls and hurts herself the last person she expects to see is her brother’s best friend hiding out in the woods.

Duke has very good reasons for hiding out in the woods, and I have to admit if I’d had half the crap happen to me in a short time period he did I would hide as well. When he decides to help Anna restore her B&B with the caveat that no one know he’s there he begins to slowly come back to life.

If I were to have on complaint about this book it’s that there was more time spent in Anna’s head then Duke’s. This is something that the author does in each of her books so I’ve come to expect it, but I still hate it.

Watching as Anna and Duke begin to traverse the waters of actually living a normal life after the one the knew comes crashing down around them is at times fun and others heartbreaking. As they open up and share what happened to them they both begin to heal and fall in love even if we only see one person’s perspective.

There is one scene where Duke decides Anna is worth it that almost broke my heart.

Overall this was an excellent read and I can’t wait to see what happens next in Destiny.

Grade A