Crushed

The Rushed Series- Book 2

By Gina Robinson

Genre: New Adult, College Romance

Synopsis

Some loves can’t be… Crushed

Morgan
Have you ever done something stupid? Like get drunk and hookup with a guy because your heart was broken by someone else? Like his best friend. And then done something really dumb, like fall in love with your hookup? Hookups aren’t stick-around guys. I’m hoping Dakota will be different. But hoping has gotten me in trouble before.

Dakota
The absolute last girl I want to see in my court-ordered alcohol and drug information school, the girl who landed me here in the first place, walks in. After we hooked up, I thought I’d gotten Morgan out of my system. So why is my pulse racing? I can’t afford to screw up right now. I know I should avoid her. Morgan has a way of messing up my life. But she’s the only one who understands.

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Exceprt

Morgan

Alcohol is a big, fat liar. It seduces you with its charm and then whispers sweet lies, like, You look really hot doing a keg stand in a skirt that shows off your butt cheeks and new pink thong. Totally forgetting that you have the flattest butt on the planet. And it’s impossible to back arch in that position to accentuate your butt’s very few positives.

Or, Yeah, scooping jam directly from the jar with your bare hands and slathering it on your face in an attempt to find your mouth is really going to impress the house guy you’ve been in love with forever. He’s totally going to fall in love with you now.

Or, It’s a great idea to sleep with the house guy’s best friend out of revenge. That will show Zach. He’ll notice you now. And, Telling Dakota all your hurts and deepest private thoughts is perfectly reasonable. He’s a sympathetic guy, right? His lips are sealed. Never mind that he’s Zach’s best friend from high school and the president of the top frat on campus. And could ruin you without giving it a second thought.

Or my personal favorite, Go ahead. Lie down in the alley behind the frat and Dakota’s car. You should totally sleep there. It’s comfy and safe.

Liar. Liar. Liar!

Dakota

I got to school early, registered, paid my fee, and took a seat in the back of the class. My dad had chewed my ass off when I told him about the fine. He lectured me for half an hour on my stupidity. It had cost him real money. Dad hated paying for shit that could have been avoided.

My buddies at the frat were preparing for a night of first-class partying. Most of them hoping to get laid. And I was in school to learn all about the dangers of drinking. It was a joke. Until she walked in.

My pulse raced. My palms sweated. My dick went involuntarily hard. An absolutely stunning girl stood silhouetted in the doorway—blond, slim but with the kind of figure I found sexy as hell. Fresh-faced, no makeup. Her cheeks pink from the cold. Her eyes warm and bright with exercise and expectation. Her hair curled into the faux fur that rimmed the hood of her coat. She wore flat boots and yoga pants that left just enough to my imagination.

She hesitated at the door, like she was uncertain and nervous. My hero instincts kicked in. I liked her sweet vulnerability. Just as I was about to get out of my chair and play gentleman, introduce myself and see where things led, I stopped cold, recognizing her with a start.

Morgan Peterson? Without makeup. Shit.

You’d think my dick would have gone soft at the sight of her. The damn thing didn’t. My pulse involuntarily sped up. What was it about Morgan Peterson that turned me on even when I was furious with her?

Q&A with Gina Robinson about Crushed

Q—Crushed is the second book in The Rushed Series of New Adult College Romance, is that right? Can you read it without having read book one, Rushed?

A—Yes, it is. And, yes, you absolutely can. All the books in this series are standalone romances. Right now there are only two, but I have more planned. The third book, which I’m tentatively calling Hushed, should be out in January 2015. They’ll all be standalone reads. Of course, I hope you’ll want to read Rushed as well. Rushed will give you more insight, background, and the backstory of the characters in Crushed.

Q—Morgan was the villainess in Rushed. Readers hated her. Weren’t you taking a risk by writing her love story and pairing her with Dakota, who many readers loved?

A—My husband told me, repeatedly, that I was crazy. And maybe I was. But I felt all along that Morgan was the perfect match for Dakota. That she had the sass and spunk to take him on. She was the girl who couldn’t have Zach. Dakota was the guy who could never best Zach. In a way, they were both living in Zach’s shadow. That gave them both common ground and conflict. I knew that if Morgan ever got past her infatuation with Zach and saw Dakota for the guy he was, she would fall passionately for him.

Many people are big believers in first impressions. You know the old saying, “You don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression.” While that may be technically true, I’ve found that they can be wrong. I know I’ve made misguided assumptions about people after first meeting them. I hoped readers would give Morgan a second chance when they got to know her better. So far, early reviewers have been very positive and grown to love her when they see her vulnerability, what motivates her, and how she sees herself.

Q—What sparked the idea for Crushed? Why write about Greek life?

A—In my Reckless Series, I wrote about independents, Geeds as they’re called these days. Which are students who choose not to go Greek. Greek life is a unique experience from being a Geed. What happens when you make a Geed live in a Greek house? How does a guy survive in a house full of girls? What kind of problems and conflict does that cause? I was intrigued by the possibilities. Those questions were the germ of the idea for the series.

Actually, I have to credit my husband, too. He worked his way through college as a live-in houseboy for a sorority. The stories he told me about living with the sorority girls were the basis for Zach’s experiences in Rushed. He was part brother, part friend, part servant, part shoulder to cry on. Crushed is an outgrowth of Rushed, a continuation of the story. I had readers begging to see more of Zach and Alexis from Rushed, so I decided to continue their story as a secondary story to Morgan and Dakota’s romance.

Q—What’s next in the series? Will we see more of Dakota and Morgan? Do you find it hard to leave your characters behind?

A—Yes, absolutely! I grow attached to them and hate leaving them. Which is part of the reason I enjoy writing series. Just like Alexis and Zach become secondary characters in Crushed, Dakota and Morgan continue on as secondary characters in book three. Readers will get to see more of their story even as the focus shifts to a new couple.

Thanks so much for having me! Happy reading, everyone!

Michel’s Review 

What do most kids look forward to most when they go to college?  It is the higher learning process?  Is it the independence from their families?  Is it to better themselves for the future?  Well maybe.  But, I think most kids go to college for the Party Experience, the fraternities and sororities, and freedom to do whatever they want.  Most kids manage to get the experiences they want and reap the benefits of a college education.  They become responsible adults and look back on their college days with fond memories and wild stories.

Morgan and Dakota took their partying a little too far.  In the previous book both of them fell off their high and mighty pedestals.  Morgan drank herself into oblivion after she found out that Zach was involved with Alexis.  She had crushed on Zack since her freshman year.  She was beyond pissed when she found out her little sorority sister, Alexis was involved in a relationship with Zach.  She was not a very likable person in the Rushed book.  Her attitude and self entitlement had readers cringing.

Dakota was also not a very likable character in the first book.  He harbored resentments and jealousy towards Zach.  He was also involved in a relationship that he had to keep secret because his family did not approve.  He had to maintain the reputation of being the fraternity president.  But he was sensible enough to recognize some of his faults and make amends with Zach.  His relationship with his secret girlfriend, Jordan is taking a nose dive. One night of blowing off steam and partying too hard almost leads to vehicular homicide.  He almost ran over Morgan when she passed out behind his car after the fraternity party.  Luckily Zach was there to save Morgan’s life.  Dakota almost ended up killing Zach.

Now Dakota and Morgan are paying the consequences for irresponsible drinking.  They are both in court ordered sobriety classes, they have both lost their drivers licenses until they are twenty one.  They are both social misfits now that they can’t drink.  What starts out as enemies and evolves into frenemies to a fun and comfortable friendship.  They are finally both able to let down their guards and show who they really are instead of what their Greek college life demands.  They are finding a love that could last a lifetime.  First they must learn to trust one another, control their negative behaviors, and let their hearts rule their lives rather than the college Greek hierarchy.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend this series.  I found the Greek organizations a little over bearing and thought it took away from the characters interactions.  I would of like to seen a little more intimacy and personal dialogue rather than all the Greek campus traditions.  I am looking forward to the next book in the series.  It looks like Gina Robinson is setting up a very complicated and angsty story.

I highly recommend the Rushed series.  Each book can be read as a stand alone novel or in series order.

Author Bio:

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. Rushed, the first book in her new college-set new adult series will be released on July 3, 2014. She’s currently working on Crushed, the second book of this series featuring a surprising couple from Rushed. Look for Crushed in early fall 2014.

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