Down To You Blog Tour: review & giveaway
Down To You (The Bad Boys, #1) by M. Leighton
Adult Contemporary Romance*paperback & e-book, 215 pages
Self-published (September 23, 2012)
Tour organizer: AToMR Tours | Tour site
The scorching tale of one girl, two brothers and a love triangle…that’s not.
Olivia Townsend is nothing special. She’s just a girl working her way through college so she can return home to help her father run his business. She’s determined not to be the second woman in his life to abandon him, even if it means putting her own life on hold. To Olivia, it’s clear what she must do. Plain and simple. Black and white. But clear becomes complicated when she meets Cash and Nash Davenport. They’re brothers. Twins.
Cash is everything she’s always wanted in a guy. He’s a dangerous, sexy bad boy who wants her in his bed at any cost. He turns her insides to mush and, with just one kiss, makes her forget why he’s no good for her. Nash is everything she’s ever needed in a guy. He’s successful, responsible and intensely passionate. But he’s taken. Very taken, by none other than Marissa, Liv’s rich, beautiful cousin. That doesn’t stop Olivia from melting every time he looks at her, though. With just one touch, he makes her forget why they can never be together.
Black and white turns to shades of gray when Olivia discovers the boys are hiding something, something that should make her run as far and as fast as she can. But it’s too late to run. Olivia’s already involved. And in love. With both of them. Both brothers make her heart tremble. Both brothers set her body on fire. She wants them both. And they want her. How will she ever choose between them?
Up To Me (The Bad Boys, #2) by M. Leighton
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Happily ever after doesn’t come easy. But for love, it’s always worth the fight.
Olivia finds bliss unlike any she’s ever known in Cash’s arms. He sets her skin on fire and melts her heart right inside her chest. Unfortunately, their happily ever after is short-lived when a shadow from Cash’s past threatens to turn their world upside down.
Dangerous people from his father’s world have discovered that Cash holds information that could put them away for a very long time. And they’re willing to do anything—and hurt anybody—to get it back. Giving it up means Cash must choose between the life of his father and the life of Olivia.
Having nearly overcome her wariness of bad boys, Olivia’s trust is shaken when this new threat arises. Now she finds that Cash is not only a danger to her heart, but his family has associations that are a danger to her life as well. She soon discovers that there are some situations in life where trust is a girl’s only option. And this is one of them. If she’s to live, she must trust Cash with her life. But to Olivia, that’s much, much easier than letting go and trusting him with her heart.
About the author:
M. Leighton
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, M. Leighton, is a native of Ohio. She relocated to the warmer climates of the South, where she can be near the water all summer and miss the snow all winter. Possessed of an overactive imagination from early in her childhood, Michelle finally found an acceptable outlet for her fantastical visions: literary fiction. Having written over a dozen novels, these days Michelle enjoys letting her mind wander to more romantic settings with sexy Southern guys, much like the one she married and the ones you'll find in her latest books. When her thoughts aren't roaming in that direction, she'll be riding horses, swimming in ponds and experiencing life on a ranch, all without leaving the cozy comfort of her office.
About Michelle: I love coffee and chocolate, even more so when they are combined. I'm convinced that one day they could be the basis for world peace. I also love the color red and am seriously considering dying my hair.
You know those books which have so many high ratings and keeps popping up on the pick-this-up radar and see what the hype is all about? Down To You is one of those books. I was excited for the opportunity to read it for a tour. Once I finished, I thought of one word: okay.
I am definitely in the minority here and that's fine. I thought the story was cute in parts, especially the opening scene at the bachelorette party. The more I read about Olivia, the klutzy, average, shy girl who happens to snag the eyes of twin brothers soon-to-be lawyer Nash and club owner Cash, I enjoyed the smoky parts and appreciated Olivia's humor. I didn't connect with any of them and the characters didn't jump off the page for me, they seemed a bit flat. When Olivia was first described as klutzy my Bella alert went off but then this part of her character fell away, to be replaced by a supposed shy girl wanting to see her nasty, rich cousin Marissa sliced up with paper cuts. Whoa, shy girls turns maniacal. She also doesn't hesitate to jump on top of the bar during her "audition" to work as a bartender at Cash's establishment.
I give the author kudos for writing the story from three points-of-view, yet the characters were tolerable, lacking development. I see this often in romances where the characters are so stuck in the here-and-now, the reader isn't privy to anything happening before to mold these people this way. Still, there were parts of Olivia I liked. She was dedicated to her dad and she was conflicted with her feelings for both guys which she convinced me of throughout the story with her thoughts and emotions. She lost me when a guy slips into her bed one night, seduces her, and she can't figure out who it was. Another Bella blip. Cash was a hot guy with a good heart and definitely cared for Olivia as did his brother, Nash, who was honest with the college student about his attraction to her but not being able to act on it being in a relationship with Marissa. As for the big surprise, I'd already figured it out.
Down To You definitely has found its audience of admiring fans who enjoy the sexy scenes and budding romance between Olivia and Cash, and to a certain extent, also Nash. I found it well written, emotional, but in an expanding market along with some stellar college-age romance books, this one didn't stand out for me. Some parts seemed to exist simply to reiterate already expressed emotions and motivations, other times I thought some scenes ran too long and could have been edited down. For a romance, Down to You had some very sexy moments but the characters were a bit one-dimensional. I have enjoyed M. Leighton's paranormal series but I don't feel the need to continue reading her Bad Boy series.
Rating: 3
Cover comment: Like the story, it's okay.
Book source: I received an e-book copy from the author in return for my honest review during a book tour.
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