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!
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About The Author
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
