Strong Enough
Series: Tall, Dark, and Dangerous #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: M. Leighton
Release Date: August 4, 2015
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.
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I want her bad. But even when that happens, it will be with the knowledge of what’s to come, of how I’ll betray her. What kind of person could do that?
A monster, that’s who.
And I’m that monster.
If the prologue here doesn’t grip you by the throat and suck you right in, we’re not reading the same book, because HOLY SHIT! Talk about your attention grabber. M. Leighton really doesn’t pull any punches and I knew I was in for a page turner from the first chapter alone. Intense, gritty, erotic, with a dash of mystery and suspense, Strong Enough is the beginning of what’s bound to be yet another winner from this talented author.
Muse Harper left her life to protect someone she loves, but now with her father gone missing, she’s desperate for answers and bounty hunter, Jasper King, may be able to help her with the answers she needs. There’s just one problem; he’s not who he is and has his own agenda that poses a much bigger threat to Muse than the disappearance of her father.
The reader is left to assume Jasper’s history and you’re definitely in the dark about his agenda through most of the book, which just serves to make him even more intense than he already is. Jasper was the perfect enigma. He’s deliciously sexy while exuding a raw danger, all wrapped up in muscled tattooed perfection. The man was pure sex on a stick. The chemistry between him and Muse is instant and burns so hot, the pages practically sizzle with it. Jasper knows that he’s deceiving Muse, he may be helping her find her father, but his end game is not one that she expects. The more he gets to know the woman, the more ridden he is with guilt about his inevitable betrayal. Wanting her is not a question, allowing himself to have her is the ultimate taboo.
While Jasper was a character I fell for right away, Muse took a while to warm up to for me. She’s just a touch away from being almost too naive. She definitely dangles on the very fine edge of it and there’s things she does and says that made me want to shake her. It’s like the woman has absolutely zero self preservation instinct. Jasper may fight his attraction to Muse, but Muse certainly knows what she wants and she’s not as willing to deny herself. She also wants more than she knows Jasper will be able to give her, but that doesn’t stop her from craving.
“It holds you captive, whether you want it to or not. It never lets you go, no matter how much you want to be set free.”
As much as Muse may have frustrated me in parts of the story, I absolutely loved the two of them together. It’s this push pull that exists between them that just makes things even more erotic that they already are. It’s like you’re privy to something that Muse doesn’t know yet and you’re still rooting for Jasper who for all intents and purposes may very well be the bad guy.
Fans of her other books will appreciate the appearance of a certain couple here that made me a little giddy to read about; Cash and Olivia. There’s also the introduction of a few secondary characters that I’m already desperate to read about.
The ending gives you just enough to satisfy while also leaving you practically salivating for the next book. An MMA fighter that’s also special ops? Are you freaking kidding me. I don’t think I’d survive the wait. If you’re looking for an erotic romance with just the right amount of edge, Strong Enough is certainly that. The title of this series is quite appropriate, and that’s exactly what you’ll get. I simply can’t wait for more.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m not really a trilogy girl. I have never really read a trilogy where the main couple consumed me in such a way that I was itching for more of them, and yet somehow these two authors have managed that feat. Not only did I enjoy Release Me, I loved it even more than the first. Yeah. I’ll give you a moment to absorb that.
If second chance romance is your thing, this trilogy will deliver it in spades. I gobbled it right up like the starved addict that I am and it was absolutely delicious. The angst, the secrets, and of course the absolutely scorching hot sex all combined guaranteed for a page turner.
Find Amy K. Rogers Here: 
Whenever I see a new series come out by Lauren Layne, I don’t even bother reading the synopsis before adding. I don’t need to because I already know that the chances are 99.9% that I’ll love it. But I was an extra shot of excited when I read the blurb for this book because…HOT COPS! What? Like you didn’t? Don’t judge me! Although admittedly, I could have done with a different cover *cringes*. I know, I know, don’t judge a book by the cover and all that, and this was certainly a huge case of that. My inner cover cover whore just shut her eyes and dove in hoping against hope that the hero looks nothing like what the cover implied…and he didn’t! (thank jebus)
So here’s the thing, when it comes to my romantic suspense, I’m one picky girl. It’s the first genre that originally got me into reading and I read a lot of it. So suffice it to say it takes quite a bit to impress me. What? I said I was picky. Having had a bit of a taste of Brooke Blaine’s awesome in 
After finishing Flash Point I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Brooke Blaine has definitely got a new fan in me. I can’t wait to see what else the woman has up her sleeve with her future books.
What’s better than a second chance romance? A second chance romance with an Aurora Rose Alpha. *swoon* There’s a reason she’s my go-to author for pure guilty pleasure read, and this book was the perfect fix. At just under 200 pages, it’s on the shorter side, and easily read in one sitting (which I did since I couldn’t put it down). Surprisingly in those short pages Aurora managed to give the readers a true heartfelt romance. It made me cry, it made me swoon, it made me pant. It was that perfect weekend afternoon read that will leave a smile on your face.
Fifteen years ago Lea and Austin were high school sweethearts that were planning on spending the rest of their lives together. But then the tragic death of her father leaves Lea shattered and she runs; from her life, from her town, and from Austin. Now she’s recently divorced and back to her childhood town to take care of her dying mother, but coming to terms with her past isn’t quite so easy when the boy that stole her heart those years ago is now the man that still makes it pound.
To say that Austin isn’t happy to see Lea again is definitely an understatement. When she left, she took what was left of his heart along with her. He’s bitter, angry, and the fact that she still draws him in like she did all those years ago doesn’t make it easier.
This series is my crack. No joke. Lynn Raye Harris has become synonymous for me with sizzling hot romance and heart pounding and action filled suspense. Her books are a guaranteed winner for me every single time and just get better as the series progressed. When I learned that she’ll be adding a SEAL division to her addicting HOT series, to say I was excited was a mild understatement. Not that I didn’t already love her military men, but SEALs! C’mon! Who doesn’t love a good SEAL? Add into that a second chance romance and what you got yourself is a book you won’t be able to put down from beginning to finish. Guaranteed.
What I love most about this series is that every heroine is tough as nails. Even if they’re not an operative themselves, they still hold their own. You won’t find any damsels in distress here. Ivy was certainly no exception. This was a heroine I liked from page one.
Just a few short lines into this book and I was perfectly hooked and I knew I head another winner from Roni Loren on my hands. I’ve been a huge fan of this author since first discovering her Loving On The Edge series years ago. But I have to admit, not one of her other characters had intrigued me quite as much as Pike did when I first met him in 
I knew his heroine will have to be something very special to catch his eye and boy was she. I knew I’d love Oakley from just the first chapter. Not often you meet a heroine that’s preparing cupcakes for her daughter while engaging in dirty talk as a sex line operator as her day job. I couldn’t help but giggle as she described the mundane experience of her “night job” while thinking about her chores. The woman had sass a mile long too.
Pike is a bad boy you’ll fall for right away. There’s always this undercurrent of vulnerability to him that flashes behind his devil-may-care attitude. When all the pieces of his past begin to click together, your heart will absolutely break for him and everything that he’s been through. While Pike thinks that all he wants is between Oakley’s thighs, he soon begins to realize that what he wants most of all is inside her heart. Oakley is not so easy with her turnaround, however. Her history with men and especially men in the music business is one that left some deep rooted scars. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t soon find herself falling deeper and deeper under Pike’s appeal.
This book was a little bit different from the rest of the series in where The Ranch wasn’t a large part of the sex, if at all. Pike may be a rockstar in bed and out, but he’s not a man that recognizes himself as a Dom or anything else. He likes what he likes and he doesn’t label it. He likes a bite of pain in his sex and he likes a little bondage, but he’s not above letting the woman take control either. While he’s definitely NOT vanilla, the romance between him and Oakley didn’t have a very big BDSM element. So if you’re a reader that doesn’t enjoy much BDSM, you’d definitely enjoy this book.
I don’t think there was anything I didn’t enjoy about this book. It was sizzling hot and with a fantastic story that was perfectly paced. The sex was scorching but it never took away from the romance, only added to it. It’s not often you find an author that finds that perfect balance of erotic but without overwhelming it with sex.
It’s been over a week since I read Toxic and it’s taken me this long to be able to sum my feelings and clear my head enough to rate it. If I can describe this book for you in one word, it would be exhausting. I was absolutely emotionally spent when I finished it. I spent a good 40% of it feeling like I want to rip my hair out. And this is coming from a self-professed angst whore, mind you.
But then here’s the thing; I liked it. Even though the constant back and forth between Phoebe and Jeremy left me feeling like they’re going to give me whiplash, I still liked it and gobbled it up like the angst starved junky that I am. Was it delicious? Heck no! I thought I may choke on it. But god help me, I still liked it. My favorite trope is the second chance romance and Toxic delivers it in spades.
While both Phoebe and Jeremy know they may be toxic together, they can’t stay away from each other. Their chemistry practically crackles in electricity. There’s one thing that’s certain, Kim Karr can write some scorching sex scenes. But the lies between them are like poison that won’t leave. Much as they try to purge it from their relationship it remains that one toxic factor that brews the way for mistrust and mistakes. I think it would be safe to say that neither of these characters are perfect, far from it in fact. These two fuck up so many times it made me want to throttle them and chuck my kindle at the wall. It was rage inducing.
There’s a wealth of secondary characters that were introduced that added to the story in a very significant way. Maybe that’s what helped dilute the angst between Jeremy and Phoebe? It made the book evolve like a movie in front of my eyes and it made me really connect to the characters’ lives. I’m not sure I’d be able to say the same thing if this happened in any other book, but in this one it just worked.
If you’re looking for a book that will enrage you and enrapture you all in one, Toxic is that. It’s a make you want to rip your hair out while still rooting for the characters kind of second chance romance. It was far from perfect, but yet it worked. It may not be for everyone, but if you’re a reader that enjoys your angst in rage inducing proportions while getting an unforgettable second chance romance, Toxic is definitely a must read.
Joke, your story to tell when you wanna tell it. Your story to keep if you don’t ever wanna tell. Thought you had secrets. Way you’re holding’ back with this girl, think I’m wrong. You don’t have secrets. You got demons.
