May 20, 2013

NEW ADULT MONDAYS: Down To You (Bad Boys #1)

The New Adult genre - their bad boys and big problems and epic loves make them engrossing tales that are so easy to lose yourself in. What's not to love about that? And, now, thanks to the cool chicks at Bewitched Bookworms, we can show these books the love they deserve in a weekly feature - New Adult Mondays.

Down To You (Bad Boys #1), by M. Leighton
Published September 21, 2012
Publisher:  Smashwords
Format: e-book - I own
Genre:  New Adult Contemporary Romance
To Buy:  Amazon  * Barnes & Noble * Book Depository

Rating:  4 STARS

(From Goodreads) 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?


Have you ever read a book and seen it playing out in your head like a movie, rather than reading the words like a book? Maybe I'm not describing what I mean very well. It's like, as you read the words, you can hear the background music (whether it be light or playful or sinister or sexy), see the sets clear as day, picture the actors as they go through the scene... like a movie in your head. I think Down To You was one of the clearest mind movies I've ever pictured. 

It really does have all the makings of a great silver screen picture. You have your quiet girl - Olivia - who is keeping her head down and just trying to get through life without attracting attention. Especially the wrong (or what she perceives as wrong) kind of attention. She has a mean girl for a roommate, an "aw shucks" kind of dad, and a wicked witch of a mother. 

Then she meets Cash - the aforementioned wrong kind of guy - and instantly wants him. But, then she meets his twin brother Nash, who is exactly the kind of guy she should be with, but doesn't seem to elicit the same kind of spark that Cash does. Both guys are obviously into her in a big way. Which one should she choose - the right guy for the wrong reason or the wrong guy for the right reason?

Throw in an upscale bar, a sheep farm, a college campus and the mob, and you have yourself one helluva movie! Are you seeing it like I'm seeing it? 

This was the first book I've ever read by M. Leighton, and I really loved it. There were so many atypical aspects to Down To You that made this book so special. You get the feel from pretty early on that not everything is as it seems, but Leighton's pacing and character development help draw out the big reveal in just the right way so that I didn't see the big WHAAA??? moment coming until it almost smacked me in the face. I love it when that happens! 

The chemistry between Olivia and both boys was palpable and totally believable. The way Olivia got on every last one of my nerves was totally believable too. I mean, she was stringing along two amazing guys - I found myself yelling at her more than once.  And, the end was awesome. The big reveal, Olivia's choice and the results from both all happen in rapid succession. It made me want more and more. 

Luckily, there's two more books in the series -  Up To Me (Bad Boys #2) and Everything For Us (Bad Boys #3), which is due out in September of this year. So, "more" we shall have. 

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