Review: The Empty Jar by M. Leighton

Description:
Three months touring Europe.
Romantic. Dazzling. Unforgettable.
The trip of a lifetime.

But some lifetimes are shorter...

We couldn’t have known it would work out this way.
No one could. No one could’ve guessed that something so beautiful could be so tragic.

But it is tragic.

Yet so, so beautiful.

That’s what sacrifice is—beauty and tragedy.
It’s pain and suffering for something or someone you love.

And this is the ultimate sacrifice.
One stunning act of true love.

This is our story.
Our true love story.



My Thoughts:
Tear-jerker warning. I generally prefer books with a guaranteed HEA. I'm so glad I gave this one a shot, though. Imagine a couple from a typical romance couple 19 years in the future. They've been married for 16 years and wanted a baby but she's 40 and they haven't been able to get pregnant no matter what they tried. They're still just as in love as ever. Now one of them is diagnosed with a terminal condition. This is the beautiful and heartbreaking story of how they deal. How love endures. It is a sad story, but has some happy moments and laughs as well. This is the perfect book to read if you need a good cry. I'm not even kidding. Grab the tissues and enjoy.

My Rating: *****
Steam Factor: !!!!
*Notes: Grab the tissues.

My Source: author


Where to get it:

Amazon 


Where to find the author:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

The Empty Jar by M. Leighton - Cover Reveal

Cover Reveal

The Empty Jar

by

M. Leighton

Releasing May 8, 2016

Today is cover reveal day for M. Leighton's upcoming release entitled The Empty Jar.  She wanted to say a little something about the cover before we reveal it and the description, so here she is.

First of all, a huge, heartfelt THANK YOU to all of you amazing women who are helping me reveal this cover today. I appreciate everything you do for me, for authors in general and for this community.  As a reader, I love you, too:)

Secondly...

OMG OMG OMG!  IT'S FINALLY TIME TO REVEAL!

I feel like I've been waiting AGES to share this with you!

This cover... GAH!  Y'all, it took me forEVER to get it just right. There was a certain "feel" that I wanted to achieve with it and I wasn't happy until I felt that "feel" jumped right out when I looked at it. I wanted the cover to speak of the book. I wanted it to show the highs and lows, the sweet and the poignant, the depth of it, if you will.  And finally...finally, I feel like it does:)  You might not realize just how much NOW, but once you read this story, you'll be like, "Yeah.  That cover is perfect for this book!"

When I got the paperback proof in the other day, I held it in my hands and I just stared at it.  Not only is this story extremely special to me, but this is probably my favorite cover of all my books.  Ever.  When I look at it, I see so much more than just a picture.  I see all the things that I find in life, as well as what I put into the story that is The Empty Jar.  It's a blend of happy pinks and brooding blues. It's light and it's dark.  There are highs and there are lows.  There is morning and there is night.   But if you notice the sky on this cover, there are little flickers of brightness in the bodies of the lightning bugs. Life is that way, too. Even in the darkest part of the night, there is a spark of hope.  There is beauty.  There is the romantic glow of a full moon, the silvery face of your mate, the delicate twinkle of fireflies. It's all there if we look closely enough—that balance of beauty and tragedy.

And love.

Always love.

Below is a little more about the book. It's hard to tell you much without spoiling anything, but I think you can get a feel for it.  It's such a special story.  So raw, so real. I honestly can't wait for y'all to read it! I hope you love IT and the cover as much as I do:)

If you want to know more about how it came about, you can read my blog post about it here.

But before I get to that...THE COVER!

Description

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A little tease

Review: Brave Enough by M. Leighton

Description:

Is she brave enough to give her heart to a man she only thought she knew?

He was the most charismatic man I’d ever met. Strong, tough, brave. Bold as hell. Something told me Tag Barton could have anything—anyone—he wanted...and he wanted me. It didn’t matter that he was wrong for me in practically every way possible. It didn’t matter that my father would hate it.

I couldn’t resist him. Even if I’d known who he really was and what he was really capable of.

When he suggested we pretend to be engaged, I thought he was the answer to all my problems. He wasn’t. And, in his wake, he left nothing but scorched earth and me, just another casualty of my father’s war.

Can I believe him now when he tells me he loves me? Or is he nothing more than a beautiful, breathtaking lie?


My Thoughts
Weatherly runs off to her family's vineyard to escape her parents' expectations. It's a place she remembers with fond memories. Then she meets Tag. He is unexpected and completely different from what her family wants for her. He's hiding things. Their relationship escalated rather quickly and was hard for me to believe. I didn't feel super connected to either character but I wanted things to work out for them anyway.  I enjoyed it.


My Rating: ****
Steam Factor: !!!!
*Notes: Mild language

My Source: Netgalley



Where to get it:

Amazon | B&N | iTunes | GooglePlay | BAM!


Where to find the author:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Goodreads

Tough Enough by M. Leighton - Launch Blitz

You seriously don't want to miss MMA-champion-turned-Hollywood-superstar Rogan. Hotness!

Get Tough Enough on Amazon | iBooks | Nook | Kobo | Google Play

Add Tough Enough to your Goodreads TBR


From the author of the New York Times bestselling Bad Boys novels comes the second book in a dark, sexy contemporary trilogy.


He’s a fighter who never loses, but is he tough enough to win her heart?

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.

Get Tough Enough on Amazon | iBooks | Nook | Kobo | Google Play

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Get Strong Enough, the first book in the Tall, Dark, and Dangerous series on Amazon | iBooks | Nook | Kobo | Google Play

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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.

Sign up for her newsletter here, and be the first to know about exclusive giveaways, new books, and awesome fan-only perks! And join Michelle in her superfan Facebook group, Laid Back with Leighton, right here!

Review: Strong Enough by M. Leighton

Description:
From the author of the New York Times bestselling Bad Boys novels comes the first in a dark, sexy contemporary trilogy. 

Is she strong enough to trust the most dangerous man she’s ever met? And is he strong enough to let her? 

How would I describe myself? Well, I’m Muse Harper. I’m a twenty-something painter who loves red wine, quirky movies, and men with a fatal flaw. But that was before I met Jasper King. He became my fatal flaw. Eight months ago, I had a choice to make—abandon everything I’ve ever known to protect my family, or stay and risk someone getting hurt. I chose the former. My plan was working just fine until I found out my father had gone missing.

That’s when I met Jasper. A bounty hunter with the eyes of a tiger and the nose of a bloodhound, he was supposed to help me find my father. What I didn’t know was that meeting him was no accident. Hunting people isn’t all that Jasper does. And helping me was only part of his plan. I just wish I’d found out sooner, before my heart got involved. But even then, I don’t know if I’d have done things differently.

Now, I have another choice to make—trust the man that I’m falling in love with and hope that he’ll do the right thing, or run as far away from him as I can get.


My Thoughts:
Wow. The prologue is pretty intense. I was immediately sucked in. The actual story was a little slow for me. Muse's father is missing and she hired Jasper to help her find him. Jasper and Muse travel together and their feelings get in the way. It gets very steamy, but I feel like that slowed down the progress of the story. We get both points of view so we know that Jasper is not what he seems. I enjoyed this and would love to read the next book.


My Rating: ****
Steam Factor: !!!!
*Notes: Language

My Source: author's representative


Where to get it:

Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo


Where to find the author:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Pocketful of Sand by M. Leighton - Giveaway

POCKETFUL OF SAND blurb:

“She’s beauty for my ashes. And I’m hope for her heartache.”—Cole Danzer

I don’t know what makes a great love story. Is it that instant attraction when boy meets girl? The passionate kisses and the fairy-tale ending? Or is it a lifetime of tragedy, paid in advance, for a few stolen moments of pure bliss? The pain and the suffering that, in the end, you can say are worth it for having found the missing piece of your soul?

The answer is: I don’t know. I don’t know what makes a great love story. I only know what makes my love story. I only know that finding Cole when I did, when Emmy and I were running from a nightmare, was the only thing that saved me. That saved us. He was more broken than I was, but somehow we took each other’s shattered pieces and made a whole. If that is what makes a great love story, if that is what makes an epic romance, then mine…ours is the greatest of them all.

Contains material that some may find disturbing. Not intended for readers under the age of 18.


POCKETFUL OF SAND links:

Amazon | iBooks | BN | Kobo | Google Play | Goodreads


M. Leighton bio and links:

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.

Website | Twitter | Facebook

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Pocketful of Sand by M. Leighton - Release Day

A story of heartbreak, loss, redemption and second chances: Pocketful of Sand from New York Times bestselling author M. Leighton

Get it on Amazon | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Google Play
Add it on Goodreads

“She’s beauty for my ashes. And I’m hope for her heartache.”—Cole Danzer

I don’t know what makes a great love story. Is it that instant attraction when boy meets girl? The passionate kisses and the fairy-tale ending? Or is it a lifetime of tragedy, paid in advance, for a few stolen moments of pure bliss? The pain and the suffering that, in the end, you can say are worth it for having found the missing piece of your soul?

The answer is: I don’t know. I don’t know what makes a great love story. I only know what makes my love story. I only know that finding Cole when I did, when Emmy and I were running from a nightmare, was the only thing that saved me. That saved us. He was more broken than I was, but somehow we took each other’s shattered pieces and made a whole. If that is what makes a great love story, if that is what makes an epic romance, then mine…ours is the greatest of them all.

Contains material that some may find disturbing. Not intended for readers under the age of 18.

Get it on Amazon | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Google Play
Add it on Goodreads

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.

M. Leighton - A Little Cash for the Holidays Giveaway

You loved Cash and and Olivia in M. Leighton's Down to You. And now you can love them again, just in time for a little mistletoe action! M. Leighton's giving everyone the best present ever--a FREE Cash and Olivia holiday story!

A Davenport Christmas will be posted on her blog on December 21, just in time to be read with some eggnog, a sugar cookie, and carols playing in the background. Sign up to follow her blog via email, and you'll get it right in your inbox, the second it's posted! (...and--psst!--there may be some more Cash and Olivia action on the blog coming in the new year, so definitely make sure to sign up to get blog notifications!)

AND! There's a giveaway, too! Of course there is, it's the HOLIDAYS! Enter the Rafflecopter, and you'll be entered to win one of TEN signed copies of Down to You. How's THAT for a little holiday cheer?

Don't forget to sign up to follow Michelle's blog via email--it's beginning to look like Christmas... A Davenport Christmas... and you definitely don't want to miss it!

There's Wild, Then There's You by M. Leighton - Release Day Launch

We are so thrilled to bring you the Release Day Launch for M. Leighton's THERE'S WILD, THEN THERE'S YOU!!! 

THERE’S WILD, THEN THERE’S YOU is a smoking hot contemporary romance in M. Leighton’s The Wild Ones Series, published by Berkley an imprint of Penguin Group.

 

THERE’S WILD, THEN THERE’S YOU Synopsis: 
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? 

Excerpt: 

There’s a burn behind my eyes as I slide behind the wheel of my car. I knew there was a good chance she wouldn’t even talk to me, hear me out. And, although she did, I can see that she can’t forgive me. At least not now. Just the thought of her never forgiving me is what’s making my gut churn, my heart ache, and my eyes burn. It’s eating me up inside, not being with her, thinking that I’ll never be with her.

But what are my choices? I can’t really see that I have any. I’ve told her the facts, apologized to her, and asked for her forgiveness. Even told her that I loved her in a roundabout way. But none of it mattered. I didn’t know if it would. I had hoped, but I knew it was a long shot.

Now, I should just walk away. She’s made her choice, and I ought to respect it.

Only I can’t.

I can’t live with her choice. I can’t live with her unforgiveness. I can’t live without her.

So what the hell am I supposed to do?

That question rings through my head all the way back to my father’s place in Summerton where I have to go to pick up some stuff I’d left there.

It’s when I pull into the driveway, thinking of Violet when I see the place where she was dropping off her dad that day, that I realize there is something I can do. I can love her from a distance. I can do things for her, make her life better and happier, without her ever having to know. But I’ll know. I’ll know that, somewhere, she’s smiling and feeling a little happier, and that I might’ve had a small hand in it.

And as long as I can make her happy, make her life better (even without me in it), that’ll have to be enough.

Buy Links: 

Amazon 

Barnes and Noble

iBooks 

Kobo  

M. Leighton Bio: 
 M. Leighton is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Wild Ones and The Bad Boys romance trilogies.  She is a native of Ohio, relocated to the warmer climates of the South, where she lets her mind wander to 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. For more about M. Leighton, visit her website at www.MLeightonBooks.blogspot.com or follow her on Twitter@mleightonbooks.    

Links: 

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  THERE’S WILD, THEN THERE’S YOU Goodreads 

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