Book Review: Down to You by M. Leighton

Title: Down to You
Series: The Bad Boys, Book 1
Author: M. Leighton
Genre: Contemporary Romance, New Adult
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: bought
Published: September 2012

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?

Why I Read this Book: I had read and thoroughly enjoyed M. Leighton’s The Wild Ones (my review), which was one of my top reads for 2012. I wanted to read more by this author so as soon as I found out about Down to You, I knew I had to read it.

What I Liked: The first half of Down to You was great. It was addicting and it had my undivided attention with its multiple POV narration, sexual innuendos, flirtatious banter, and possibilities. I couldn’t put it down. Then there’s the two brothers; Cash the bad boy and Nash the good guy. And I have to give M. Leighton props for a very clever twist, one I did see coming but not until right before things started to unravel. Very clever indeed.

What I Didn’t Like: My biggest problem with Down to You was Olivia having sex with one of the brothers and not knowing which one she had sex with. How do you have sex with someone and not know who that someone was? I don’t care how dark the room is – if a guy comes into your house (which creeped me out) and starts getting freaky-freaky with you, turn on the damn lights! In Olivia’s own words, “what kind of floozy doesn’t know who she slept with the night before?”. The questionable hookup happened at about half-way through Down to You and at the 74% mark, she still didn’t know which brother she slept with. This MAJOR question loomed over me like an ominous cloud and pulled me away from the story – all because of Olivia’s ignorance.

There was also the possibility of the implication of fidelity, depending on which brother she slept with. This did not sit well with me at all.

After all was revealed, with the chaotic explanation that followed, Down to You just went downhill for me.

Overall Impression: Unfortunately Down to You did not work for me. I was extremely disappointed with Olivia and her actions that it ruined the story for me. The ending felt too busy and chaotic and was compacted into the last part of the book.

Brianna’s Rating: