Tequila High (100 Proof Series) by M. Leighton-a review

TEQUILA HIGH (100 Proof) by M. Leighton-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: November 18, 2018

Haley Brandt isn’t the one-night-stand type, but too much tequila and a man with two sinfully black eyes left her breathless and willing to break her own rules. Her only solace was the fact that she’d never see him again.

Until the next morning when she finds out he’s her ride out of town and back to the ranch where she grew up.

Nixon Holt works with Haley’s father, so Haley makes her position clear—she doesn’t get involved with ranch employees. Ever. At nineteen, she’d learned her lesson the hard way, and it became her one unbreakable rule.

But Nixon makes his position clear, too: He’s going to wear down Haley’s defenses and he won’t stop until she breaks all her rules for him. He’s well on his way when Haley finds out the one thing that could make her hate him. Nixon is left with two choices: walk away or break all his rules for her.

••••••••••

REVIEW: TEQUILA HIGH is the first instalment in Michelle Leighton’s contemporary, adult, 100 Proof, romance series. This is fashion boutique owner, twenty-nine year old, Haley Brandt, and ranch hand Nixon Holt’s story line.

Told from dual first person points of view (Nixon and Haley) TEQUILA HIGH follows the building but forbidden relationship between fashion boutique owner, twenty-nine year old, Haley Brandt, and ranch hand Nixon Holt. Ten years earlier Haley Brandt’s heart was destroyed by the young man she loved, and in the aftermath our heroine ran from friends and family to places unknown. Fast forward to present day wherein Haley has been summoned home to the family ranch, a place that holds too many bad memories of the past. An almost one-night stand upon her return, involving too much tequila, turns into something more when she is introduced to her father’s new ranch hand Nixon Holt, the man with whom Haley will fall in love. What ensues is the secret romance and relationship between Haley and Nixon when they are forced to live and work together at the Circle B Ranch, and the fall-out as Nixon’s lies by omission push Haley to run, once again.

Haley Brandt knows love and betrayal; not once but twice, Haley’s heart has been destroyed, and returning to the Circle B Ranch stirs up too many memories of a time long ago. Meeting Nixon Holt gives Haley the opportunity to put everything behind but Nixon’s lies by omission threaten any new-found stability for our story line heroine. Nixon Holt knows he must come clean with Haley Brandt but his secrets are not his to reveal. Nixon doesn’t do relationships; he’s never fallen in love, and our hero isn’t willing to accept that his happily ever after is his almost one-night stand.

The relationship between Haley and Nixon begins as a dare. Haley’s best friend Lia dares a boozed-up Haley to get ‘back on the proverbial horse’, and in the aftermath Haley must deal with the fall-out of kissing her father’s new ranch hand. Nixon is immediately drawn to the sexy red-haired siren, and is hoping for a mutual arrangement for everybody concerned. The $ex scenes are intimate, passionate and seductive, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are introduced to Haley’s best friend Lia, as well as Haley’s sisters Hannah, Harper and Hope, and their father John Brandt. The back and forth, sibling camaraderie is fun and familiar. I am hoping the author has plans for the Brandt sisters.

TEQUILA HIGH is a fast paced, realistic, and emotional story. The premise is engaging and moving; the romance is sexy and sassy; the chemistry is immediate; the characters are colorful, captivating and dynamic. TEQUILA HIGH has a little bit of everything: romance, humor, fun, betrayal, anxiety and heart break.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Follow: Goodreads / Website/ Facebook / Twitter

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 wild horses, skiing the slopes of Aspen or scuba diving with a hot rock star, 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.

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The Way We Burn by Michelle Leighton-Review & Excerpt Tour

THE WAY WE BURN by M. Leighton-Review & Excerpt Tour

Amazon Kindle / Amazon.com Paper / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 24, 2018

Irresistible attraction. Unimaginable danger.

I knew from the moment Noah Williamson walked into the diner that he was haunted—deeply haunted—but I couldn’t resist the lure of him. He was gorgeous and fascinating and mysterious, and like a delicate moth to a brilliant blue flame, I was drawn to him. Drawn to his fire.

But if I’d known about his job, about what happened to his wife, I’d have run the other way. Before I got caught up in the red-hot blaze of his life. Before everything in my world got burned to the ground.

It’s too late to run now. I hesitated and that was it. I fell. I fell for him before I knew there was danger in loving him.

Noah once told me that this is the way we burn—together or not at all. At the time, I didn’t know what that meant.

Now I do.

••••••••••

REVIEW:

What the hell just happened, and where do I begin? Wow…just wow.

THE WAY WE BURN by M. Leighton is a contemporary, adult, stand alone, romantic suspense story line focusing on FBI agent Noah Williamson and thirty-three year old waitress Poppy Blackwell.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Noah and Poppy) THE WAY WE BURN follows FBI agent Noah Williamson as he struggles to move on from a devastating past that has destroyed all semblance of normalcy in his life. Meeting thirty-three year old waitress Poppy Blackwell, finds our hero with a hope for a future, a hope that pulls at his tormented heart.

THE WAY WE BURN is a story of romance; of broken souls, broken hearts, broken minds and broken lives. The undeniable truth is heart breaking; the fall-out emotional and intense; the resulting aftermath paralyzing and powerful. M. Leighton pulls the reader into a memorable and amazing story of a vengeance that transcends reality; a love that transcends the mind.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy 

NOAH

Maryland, eighteen months ago

“Mind going over the story with me one more time?”
I stare at the detective. I see the disdain in his eyes. I see the disbelief. He came here with his mind made up. I’m suspect number one and we both know it. What we both don’t know is that I did nothing to my wife. I would never hurt her. I don’t think I could even if I had to, even if she was trying to hurt me. She is the only woman I’ve ever loved, the only person whose happiness means more to me than my own.
Except for our daughter.
Her happiness would’ve meant more to me than my own, too.
Would’ve.
Past tense.
Grief slices through my chest like a scalpel. Clean. Neat. Surgical. Like someone is cutting out my heart.
Five months ago, we lost our daughter. And now I’ve lost Carly. How the hell is a man supposed to live through something like this? A child. Then a spouse. This is the shit nightmares are made of.
And I would know. I’ve seen nightmares. Up close. Personal. The kind that sink their teeth in and leave marks. Wounds. Scars.
Sweat beads on my upper lip. I’ve never felt such an intense sense of loss, so much pain. So much helpless, hopeless agony.
A few months ago, I’d have said a person couldn’t bear hurt like this. I’d have said the human body couldn’t take it.
But I’d have been wrong.
It can.
I’m proof. I’m still alive, still standing. Damned if I know how, but I am. Even when I’d rather not be, I am. And now, on top of everything else, I’m being questioned like a felon. I’m the primary suspect in my wife’s disappearance, and every second they spend focusing on me is another second she’s further from being found.
But there’s nothing I can do to change that. It’s Basic Detecting 101. The husband is suspect numero uno. Why? Because it usually is the husband. I know that. I also know there will be no convincing them otherwise.
Maybe if I could split my chest wide open, they’d believe me. Maybe if they could see what I’m feeling, see the bruised and bleeding thing that used to be my heart, they’d understand. Maybe if they could physically see what this is doing to me, they’d look beyond the obvious. But outside of that, there’s nothing I can say to make them understand. That’s why there’s an edge to my voice when I answer this asshole’s questions. I may not be able to change it, but I sure as hell don’t have to like it.
“It’s not a ‘story’, Detective. It’s the truth. Carly left for work Tuesday morning at seven. She said she had an early meeting. I texted her at lunch to see if she needed me to bring anything from the store. She didn’t answer. I haven’t seen or heard from her since that morning. And that was almost sixty hours ago.”
Sixty hours. That’s twelve hours after “we’ve got a good chance of finding her”, and twelve hours before “hope for the best, but expect the worst.” The window is closing.
“Had you two fought before she left?”
There’s a dull throb just above the bridge of my nose. I pinch it between my index finger and thumb. “No, we hadn’t fought. We don’t fight anymore. At all. I told you we’ve both been recovering from…from…”
I can’t make the words come out. They’re stuck in my throat like tar—black and sticky and foreign. Bitter.
“The death of your daughter. Right, right. I feel you,” he placates, making more notes on his pad. “But they never recovered her body, isn’t that right, Mr. Williamson?”
My eyes snap up to his. Surely to God he’s not insinuating…
Zero to sixty in one second. In one sentence. That’s how long it takes my blood to come to a hard boil. Like lava down a mountainside, it rushes through my veins in a thick, hot river, destroying trees and grass and flowers and life as it goes. Killing off a little more of what was left of me.
I take a deep breath, striving for cool. Or even tepid. Anything but the blazing rage that’s pumping through me.
“Detective, I’m a patient man. I work for the FBI, so I understand how this process works. I also understand that I’m at the top of your list of suspects, so I get it. I get it. But let me make one thing crystal clear.” I take a step forward. “My daughter was killed. My child is dead. So while I have agreed to jump through all your hoops, make no mistake. My tolerance has its limits and you are dangerously close to finding out what happens when my patience runs out. I’ve got nothing left to lose. Not one thing, so wiping the floor with your smug ass might actually improve my situation. You feel that?” The last is hissed through teeth clenched so tight my jaws ache. I’m practically spitting down into his face, my chest close enough to bump his if I take a deep enough breath.
I can tell by the set of his lips and the narrowing of his eyes that I’ve pissed him off. But I can also tell that he’s not fool enough to press me one more inch right now. Not one more. It’s there in the way his pupils swell. It’s there in the way his nostrils flare. He won’t push me. He’s smarter than that.
My daughter is dead.
My wife is missing.
There’s nothing left. Nothing that matters. There’s nothing they can take from me or threaten me with. Surely this pathetic lackey knows what I know from years and years of experience—men like me are unpredictable.
Unpredictable and dangerous.

Follow: Goodreads / Website/ Facebook / Twitter

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 wild horses, skiing the slopes of Aspen or scuba diving with a hot rock star, 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.

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The Dandelion by Michelle Leighton-a review

THE DANDELION by Michelle Leighton-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 8, 2018

At thirty-five, Abigail Simmons has mastered only one thing—running. When tragedy strikes, she runs. This time her urge to flee brings Abi back to her hometown, where she hopes she can find the peace she’s always searched for. That hope is dashed when Abi’s ex, Sam Forrester, bumps his way back into her life.

Sam has flourished in ways Abi hasn’t. From the outside, he has it all—a successful medical practice, a beautiful daughter, and a charming wife.

Who is dying.

Sara Forrester is dying and her final wish is for Sam to find love again so she can meet the woman who will finish raising her daughter and grow old with her husband. Abi seems like the perfect fit, but what Sara doesn’t know is that Abi has a secret, a secret no one could guess.

And it’s a deal breaker.

••••••••

REVIEW: THE DANDELION by Michelle Leighton is a contemporary, adult, stand alone, second chance romance story line focusing on thirty-five year Abigail Simmons, and Dr. Sam Forrester, Abi’s childhood sweetheart, and the man with whom she is still in love.

Told form dual first person perspectives (Abi and Sam) using present day and memories from the past THE DANDELION is a heart breaking, tear jerker focusing on former childhood and high school sweethearts Abigail Simmons and Sam Forrester. Close to twenty years earlier Abi and her mother abruptly left the quiet, seaside town of Molly’s Knob, South Carolina for places unknown, a move that broke Abigail’s heart and the young man with whom she had fallen in love. Fast forward to present day wherein Abi returns to Molly’s Knob searching for the peace she longs to remember. Enter Sam Forrester, physician, father and husband, and the man who needs something from Abi she painfully offers. What ensues is the rekindling friendship between Abi and Sam, and the fall-out as the time draws closer to bury the present, and move on from the past.

THE DANDELION is a story of two women, one man, and one small child whose lives are about to change in the blink of an eye. Sam’s wife Sara is dying, and her only hope is for her husband to find someone to love-enter Abigail Simmons, Sam’s former love, and the woman Sara knows to be the one. As Abi slowly falls in love with Sara and her daughter Noelle, Abi keeps secret the reason she has returned to Molly’s Knob, a secret that is about to destroy Sam, a second time around.

Michelle Leighton writes an emotional, passionate and profound tale focusing on the painful truth surrounding death and dying, family and friendship, pain and suffering, enduring love, selflessness and second chances. The premise is wondrous and moving; the characters are impassioned and inspiring; the romance is gentle and tender-there is NO cheating or infidelity-Sam is faithful until the end.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Follow: Goodreads / Website/ Facebook / Twitter

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 wild horses, skiing the slopes of Aspen or scuba diving with a hot rock star, 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.

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