Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Until I Break


In love, sometimes what you fear most is exactly what you need.

Laura Drake is an author.  She writes bestselling paranormal romances that continue to top the charts.  She is sharp.  She is confident.  She is in control. 

And she doesn’t exist.

Samantha Jansen is the woman behind the wig, the woman most of the world doesn’t know exists.  She is shy.  She is insecure.  She is nothing like her main character or her alter ego.  She is scarred—deeply scarred—by a past she can’t let go of and a present she can’t make peace with.

Samantha’s dreams are consumed by one man, the broken hero from her books.  Mason Strait is both her wildest fantasy and her most terrifying nightmare. 

When Samantha meets Alec Brand, a corporate consultant, it is as though Mason has come to life.  Alec is handsome to a fault, as elegant as he is arrogant, and more intense than any man has a right to be.
Samantha is soon sucked into a world that mirrors the fiction she writes.  Just like her main character, Daire Kirby, Samantha finds herself unable to resist the forbidden lure of Alec.  And just like Daire, she also finds that she is faced with taking a chance on a man who could either set her free or destroy her.

The scale tilts toward destruction when Samantha finds out that Alec is as much a work of fiction as Mason.  And he has scars of his own, scars that could ruin them both.


I’m so glad that I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know M. Leighton. I just finished reading Until I Break and holy mother of god, I absolutely have no words… none… like I am seriously speechless. We’ve always read about books were the girl is broken, or the boy is broken, but what happens when they are both broken? This is the time when I love to read books from my favorite authors because they NEVER disappoint. My favorite book from M was Down to You and Until I Break seriously surpassed that by epic proportions. I have a feeling that I’ll be re-reading this book over and over again. If I believed in giving books star ratings, this would definitely get 10 out of 5!

So we are introduced to Samantha first. It was ironic that Samantha wore the cap of a writer and went by the alternate ego, Laura Drake. Love that! Seriously had me cracking up. But you see from the beginning that though Sam wore the disguise of Laura Drake it was a front to shy away from her past. A past that no one should have had to witness. That’s another reason I love this book. It talks about real issues. I’ve never been put into the foster care system, but my sons have and I can only imagine what goes on in people’s lives that winds up having their kids placed in care. But that’s not the point really. The point is Sam has issues, issues that many face on a daily basis. So when she’s at a signing as Laura Drake, the character she writes about, Mason, is walking through the door and asking her questions.

Alec Brand has his own demons. To some, they really are demons, maybe even a sickness. But to each is own. He’s drawn to Laura Drake when he sees her, but why? Then he runs into Samantha at a coffee shop and something he sworn to stay away from is clawing its way to the surface. He’s a heartbreaker and he warns Samantha to not get attached, that its strictly for pleasurable purposes.  But how do you not fall for a guy like Alec Bland? I mean that would be so impossible. Just being in the vicinity as him has you swooning at his feet, hell I was. There were plenty of times where I had to pause and fan myself because DAMN M, you took this to a whole new level!

But no book is smooth sailing right? I mean how could it be? HOLY HELL then OMG and HOLY HELL again. Then there’s always that point were characters deny their love for each other and pull apart. Though it happens here, the reason behind it will have you saying OMG. But nothing last forever and when love is involved things tend to work themselves out even if it takes a while and a moment of shock therapy. And boy does it involve some shocking. The Epilogue is absolutely beautiful and I can tell you I feel more in love with Alec if that was even possible.

Then again it’s M. Leighton we’re talking about here. How can anything be less than perfect? I wish I had half her talent at the way she writes. It’s beautiful. Her descriptions are just enough to paint a picture for you, the kisses are described well enough to have you feeling that kiss, and the sex. Let’s just say be ready with loads of ice nearby or a cold shower waiting for, because hot damn M sure knows how to write sexy. I shall leave you with a small tease of just how amazingly descriptive M is…

“He’s like Aurora Borealis—colorful, fascinating lights twinkling in the dull, black expanse of my internal sky—and I can’t help but fixate on him.”

Hey M. Leighton, do you think I can come move inside your mind and have a little fun with Mr. Alec Brand?

-Dani

Michelle Leighton..... Wow. New book, intense topic and a lot of tension. After just have finished the book, I'm feeling whoa, spent, ummm satisfied, yes that. 

Until I Break is an amazing book filled with tension, heart stopping situations and a whole lot of "oh Damn's" from me.  I will say that I was frustrated in a few spots but that made the book.... And the ending so worth the tension. 
Samantha is and author with the Pen Name Laura Drake. She changes her looks and meets her fans this way. No one knows she's really , Samantha. At one of her appearances she see's what she thinks is "mason" one of her book characters.  But he's not but oh so intriguing. Alec Brand has a fascination with Her.  He can see right through her and knows she needs the sexual healing he has to offer.  But he just wants that, nothing more. What is he hiding? He's so mysterious. 

Samantha is so unsure if she should engage in a sexual relationship, the always end bad. And her therapist is not really helping in her decision. Samantha decides to give it a go. What world does Alec show her? Can she get past her fears? And can she get Alec to open up? How long till one of them breaks? 

Seriously loved this book!!! So well Done Michelle Leighton! I see another best seller! 


-Christina

2 comments:

  1. My favorite is Madly & the Jackal, the whole Madly series really. I also love Down to You!

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