Robin in the Hood (Robbin' Hearts #1) by Diane J. Reed

“Is it any wonder I became a bank robber?” said Robin.
But she never dreamed she’d fall in love…
15-year-old Robin McArthur thinks she has it all figured out when it comes to bilking her wealthy dad for guilt money as a substitute for his genuine affection. Until one day he suffers a stroke, and she learns the brutal truth.
They’re broke.
And everyone from bankers to bookies has come to collect.
His only saving grace is what he reveals to Robin in between drools: He truly does love her, in spite of all his mistakes.
Panicked and desperate, Robin figures she has two choices. Either surrender to the pestering caseworker and live in a skanky foster home, or take a chance and sneak her dad out of the hospital to make a run for it. Little does she know that stealing a car and hitting the road means that before the day is through, she will rob her first bank.
Now an outlaw, Robin finds a backwoods trailer park to hide her dad from authorities. There, she encounters Creek, a local bad boy who also commits crimes to provide for their motley neighbors. Realizing she could use Creek’s help, Robin proposes an ingenious plan—they should team up to rob banks together. But when their partnership leads to a romance that turns Robin’s world upside down, she soon begins to discover that people are more precious than pocketbooks, and real love means opening your heart to the kinds of treasures money can’t buy…

• Genre: Contemporary romance, Magic, Magical realism
• Age: young adult
• Source: owned paperback: Copy courtesy of author Diane J. Reed in exchange for an honest review
• Read from May 09 to 12, 2013

FINAL RATING: ★★★★☆/★★★★★

Light wanderer by ~FedericoMeuli

"Never betray your real feelings.
Except when you truly fall in love"

I found out about this book because of my friends who liked it. And when i read what it was about, i loved the idea.  And it was just cute! I really liked this book - its a type of the book which makes you smile and it was a light read. It was also different, interesting and it held my attention.

I just think this book should have been called:

"Bad boy meets Good girl who tries to be Bad girl, but is not so successful" ♥

STORY:

We have always been told that having a lot of money can make us happy, can buy us everything. But they are wrong - you cannot buy happiness or love with money.

Therefore, it is rare for rich person to marry someone because of love. It has always been about the money after all.

Robin always knew that love was missing in her life. She had everything she ever wanted - except being thrown into an all girls school and her father paying no special attention to her.

So, when things go wrong, and her father gets health problems, and when they are put into a debt they cannot pay - they are forced to flee. And the only way for her to get out of this situation was to become a bank robber. Except robbing a bank is not so easy for those who have no idea what they are doing.

Plotting a robbery of her first bank, she meets a mysterious guy who taunts her into really doing it. And, even though her first robbery went totally wrong, she did return victorious.

So...when they go to place called Turtle Shore, a place of mystery and power, Robin finds out that there are more secrets and mysteries surrounding her family that she ever knew.

CHARACTERS:

♦ Robin:

Robin is a girl who was used to having everything she ever wanted. She was rich and spoiled. But now she has nothing, and she is forced to change. She learns that not everything is about money and that there are things money cannot buy - that life is all about choices, hard and easy decisions, small mercies and love. Kindness. Forgiveness.

"No one had ever accused me of having a heart before. How could Creek see something in me that i'd never even admitted to myself?"

Robin is quite impulsive, extremely curious (sometimes wanting to know more than people are willing to tell her), but also funny and cool. She can sometimes irritate and frustrate, but as a reader you choose to ignore it because her life had to change so suddenly.

"When you touch someone this beautiful -
It's like falling into a pool of light.
And all of a sudden,
You're that beautiful, too..."

♦ Creek:

"Seriously, this guy was public enemy number one, a pure menace to women's health. There simply ought to be a law against anyone that beautiful running around wild and temporarily... unkissed."

The teenager shrouded in mystery, the Turtle Shore's "Angel". Being criminal at young age, he does everything in his power to help people he loves and of course, his family - and he is good at it. But he has secrets of his own...

"We're partners of the heart, Robin. That's all."
"What do you mean?"
"It means i love you. And i want us to have a future that can't be killed by dollar signs."

Creek is very calculating, always thinking ahead, but he is not used to people who have different plans than him. But he is also kind and interesting.

♦ Everyone else:

There were many characters in the book i liked like Brandi (who was really kind), Granny (who was extremely creepy with all her...i don't wanna say :P) and Robin's father (who redeemed himself as story went)... I loved TNT brothers (who are extremely idiotic and fun and genius)...I liked Dooley as well (for being cute and adorable) ♥

OVERALL:

I really liked this book - liked the mystery, characters and story - and it was different than any other books i read recently. Lovely book ♥

MY REVIEW ON GOODREADS