Author: M. Leighton

Guest Review: Tough Enough by M. Leighton

Posted November 17, 2015 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Tough Enough by M. LeightonReviewer: Tracy
Tough Enough by M. Leighton
Series: Tall Dark and Dangerous #2
Publisher: Berkley, Penguin
Publication Date: November 3, 2015
Format: eARC
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

There was a time when I had everything–a wonderful family, a bright future. Love. But all that was taken away in a single night, torn from me like flesh from bone. Since then, I’ve hidden away in my second-choice job as a makeup artist. But I prefer it that way, actually. I’m comfortable in the shadows, where no one can see my scars.

Kiefer Rogan literally took my breath away the moment I met him. MMA champion-turned-actor, notorious playboy, charming to a fault—he’s everything I vowed to avoid.

But he just wouldn’t stop until I opened up and let him in. Maybe I should’ve tried harder to resist him. Maybe I shouldn’t have fallen in love with him. Because I, of all people, know that everyone has secrets. Scars. And that they’re usually ugly and painful and destructive to the people we love most.

I just never guessed that they could be deadly, too.

Katie is a make-up artist at a studio in the small town of Enchantment, Georgia. She likes what she does and is quite happy to just do her job, come home and watch The Walking Dead, and watch her narcoleptic cat sleep. That’s her life and she enjoys it until Kiefer Rogan comes strolling through the door. He is an MMA fighter who is filming at the studio she works at. She does his make-up every day and every day he surprises her with coffee and a new treat. He is smitten from the first time he sees her but Katie is a tough nut to crack and he’s not sure he can get through to her.

Rogan had a rough time growing up but now he can take care of himself. He also takes care of his brother who was paralyzed from the waist down in Afghanistan. He knows he shouldn’t start anything with Katie because he’ll eventually stop shooting and go back to Texas but he can’t help himself. When he finds out about the secret that keeps Katie to herself he doesn’t care – that is until he finds out who was behind it all and that that person is now trying to ruin both his and Katie’s lives once again.

This was a sweet story that I really enjoyed. I loved Katie and her quiet personality. From what we as readers understand she’s quite different than who she used to be 5 years prior when her life changed dramatically. I didn’t get to know that Katie but the one in this story won my heart. Some might look at her as a shrinking violet but I saw a woman who was determined to live life on her terms and I loved that. She was smitten with Rogan from minute one but knew she shouldn’t get involved with him. He kept pecking at her resolve, however, and she finally gave in. What she found was a love to last but unfortunately most love stories have their issues and this was no different. The issues in this story, and how Rogan and Katie’s lives intersected without even knowing about it, was a bit far-fetched but it worked.

Rogan was a great guy and I loved that he was so taken with Katie from the get go. He didn’t try to hide his feelings and I loved that. Though his brother didn’t treat him well he still took time and energy to take care of him and yeah, he had his moments with bad thoughts he still persevered.

The villains in this story were true villains and I was happy that they got what they deserved in the end. It happened really quickly and off page which I didn’t care for but I guess it got the job done in the end so it was all good.

Overall I found the book to be sweet with a bit of a dark element that made it that much more interesting. I didn’t read book 1 so was slight lost when Rogan was talking about his past and his buddies and their problems but it didn’t affect the book all that much so was still good.

Rating: 4 out of 5

four-stars


Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Review: There’s Wild, Then There’s You by M. Leighton

Posted June 1, 2014 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: There’s Wild, Then There’s You by M. LeightonReviewer: Tracy
There's Wild, Then There's You by M. Leighton
Series: The Wild Ones #3
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: June 3rd 2014
Genres: New Adult
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

He’s someone she can’t trust…

She’s someone he thinks he knows…

Violet Wilson is a wallflower. Shy, serious, and accident-prone, she’s got a bad habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The night she’s forced to pose with her friend might just be the worst time of all—that’s when she meets Jet Blevins. She knows better than to get involved with someone like him, but he touches her in ways she never expected, never wanted before.

On the outside, Jet is a typical rocker, an arrogant lead guitarist who unapologetically lives a wild lifestyle. But on the inside, he’s battling demons and using the stage to escape the troubles of his past and the addictions of his present. Until the night he sees Violet standing at the back of the room. She brings his life into focus. She knows his secrets. She’s the girl he can’t forget, and the one thing he craves more than his addiction.

But can they ever hope to have a future when their very foundation is nothing but lies?

Violet helps people.  It’s what she does and it makes her happy to do so. She even became a Social Worker so that she could help people. Unfortunately she’s so busy helping others that she really doesn’t have a life of her own.  On this night she is at a Sex Addicts Anonymous meeting.  She’s meeting her best friend, Tia, who has cheated on her fiance Dennis no less than 6 times.  Tia loves Dennis but she can’t seem to help herself when it comes to random pick ups.  Dennis has requested that she attend these meetings but she refuses to do it without Violet’s support.  When the meeting begins, however, Tia is nowhere in sight.  Everyone at the meeting stands up to introduce themselves and declare themselves a sex addict.  Soon it comes to Violet and rather than saying nothing she stands up and declares herself a sex addict.  Wow.
Also attending the meeting is Jet.  Jet is completely taken with Violet, even more so after she kind of blows him off.  Jet keeps running into Violet and looks forward to seeing her at the SAA meetings.  At one of the meetings Jet hears that Violet has been “in control” for three years (remember, she’s supposed to be a sex addict) and asks her to become his sponsor.  Violet wants to help, even though she’s not really a sex addict, so agrees to be Jet’s sponsor.
As Jet and Violet spend more time together the sexual tension between the two is off the charts.  Violet feels horrible for lying to Jet about being a sex addict but she fears pushing him over the edge if she confesses.  Jet loves spending time with Violet and she actually makes him a better person.  If Violet knew all of Jet’s secrets, however, she wouldn’t like him at all.
I started off this book with the thought: why the hell didn’t Violet wait for Tia outside of the actual meeting???  Of course then we wouldn’t have a story, now would we? 🙂  I really liked Violet in this story but she was scared of living and it made me sad for her.  She was so determined to not make the same mistakes as her family members that she cut herself off from living.  When Jet came around she allowed herself to feel and to start living and that scared her as well.  I did think she was walked on a bit by her family but she was so happy to help that she didn’t even see it.
Jet was a bad boy band member who had great ambition as a professional song writer.  He’s in a band and has girls falling all over him – and he enjoys that.  When he meets Violet he starts to change and I liked seeing that change.  He seemed to be a nicer person and he was quite tender with Violet.  Unfortunately there wasn’t a whole lot other than that to recommend him, imho.  I liked him but I didn’t feel after all was said and done that there was a whole lot of substance to his character.
Overall, despite my issues with Jet, I think it was a really good story. Tender, sexy, hot and just a sweet romance.
Rating: 4 out of 5
four-stars


Tagged: , , , , , , ,