Globug Needs a Book: All Things Pretty

Please join us in celebrating the release of All Things Pretty, the third book in the Pretty Series, by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author M. Leighton!

What we have for you today is an excerpt. It's not just any excerpt, we want you to find the pretty in the excerpt. Your guess at what the pretty is, will be your entry for the giveaway!

Ex: My mile high Louboutin's were killing my feet.
Guess: shoes

Title: All Things Pretty (Pretty #3)

Author: M. Leighton

Age group: New Adult

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Published: September 30, 2014

Retailers: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iTunes | Kobo | Smashwords

Goodreads

Pretending to be something they’re not, afraid to trust anyone completely, destined to tear each other apart– this is the story of unlikely love and unbearable consequences.

Sig Locke is a cop. He was raised by a cop and all his brothers are cops. He bleeds blue, believes in right and wrong, and sees in black and white, never in shades of gray.

But that was before he met Tommi.

Tommi, with her long legs and bright green eyes, she captured Sig’s interest from the moment he saw her. Even after he discovered who she was–the girlfriend of a drug dealer, the beauty behind a criminal–he still found her utterly irresistible. What Sig doesn’t know, however, is that she has a secret even a cop can’t uncover.

Tommi Lawrence hasn’t had an easy life, and it only got more complicated the day she met Sig. She learned long ago that she can’t trust anyone. Her gut tells her that Sig is no exception, her heart tells her that he is. But that was before she found out his real identity.

Can love be forged in a fire of lies? Or will the truth destroy them both?

EXCERPT

My body aches. Just at the thought of him.

I close my eyes, effortlessly conjuring Sig’s liquid brown eyes, his perfectly sculpted mouth, his big, slightly rough hands. God!

Almost of their own accord, my palms drift over my breasts, pausing to tease the throbbing nipples, just like Sig would do. Like he did. I recall the feel of his mouth there, hot and open. Riling my body into a flurry of want and need. My core responds to my thoughts, sending a gush of heat southward. I move my hands down. Farther and farther. Closer to the place where the ache is strongest, where the emptiness is deepest.

I cup my center as my mind elicits Sig’s fingers, his lips, his tongue, delving inside me. Filling yet not totally, satisfying yet not completely. Teasing. Toying. Making me crazy. He knew I needed more, craved more. He was just enjoying the rise, the climb, until he could drive his body into mine and quench this excruciating thirst.

But my touch isn’t Sig’s. No matter how tightly I close my eyes, no matter how much I concentrate, no matter how much I wish it were his, it’s not. It isn’t his hands or his mouth. His kiss or his scent. His laugh or his growl. I’m in my bathroom. In my home. Alone, for all intents and purposes. Exactly what I don’t want to be right now.

Frustrated, I pull the plug to drain the tub before stepping out and toweling off. Standing in the steamy room, I rub scented lotion over every inch of my hyper sensitive skin, groaning with my want of something more.

I wipe the moisture from the mirror and meet the wide eyes and flushed cheeks of my reflection. I’m startled by what’s written all over my face. Desire. Withering resistance. Increasing need.

I won’t be able to stop myself from giving in to him. I know it as sure as I’m standing here. He’s like an addiction that has crept up on me unawares and taken over. I’m smart enough to realize when I’m fighting a losing battle. I’m also smart enough to realize that if I go about this wisely, we can both put an end to the torture and move on. Just once. One and done. It’s the way it has to be.

Enjoy tonight. Move on tomorrow.

But we can have tonight.

Tonight will be for us.

Sig.

And me.

And all that’s between us.

Just one night.

I stare at the same face, reflected now with subtle changes. Eyes bright with resolution, lips trembling with anticipation.

Once my mind is made up, I’m nearly frantic. I throw on shorts and a tee shirt–nothing spectacular since I don’t plan to be wearing it long–stopping only long enough to scribble Travis a note for when he gets home, telling him not to wait up and to call if he needs me. He’ll assume that I’m with Lance.

I don’t even bother pulling my hair out of its loose topknot. I simply grab my purse, lock the door and run to the car. I can’t get to his house quickly enough.

I’m out of breath when I make it to his door, knocking with all the urgency that I suddenly feel. When Sig finally appears in front of me, only a few short seconds (that felt like lifetimes) later, his expression is wild, like he was expecting something else. Trouble maybe?

His eyes meet mine, and we stand perfectly still and silent. He frowns for a second and then scans my face. His gaze travels over my flushed cheeks, my parted lips, down to my heaving chest. And then, as though he can somehow read my body and its intent, they flick suddenly back up to mine and stop.

For thirty second or so, a million unspoken things pass between us. There is doubt, indecision, a touch of fear. All on my part. In this moment, it’s driven home what a huge mistake I could be making.

On his face, one thing. A question. A single query. Can I walk away?

Can I?

With my heart beating an ancient rhythm against my ribs, marking me with a tattoo that I will forever be left with, I bask in the richness of his eyes, the beauty of his face and the acceptance of my choice, whatever it is. It’s all here, right in front of me. Someone who wants only me, to please me, to be with me. Nothing else.

That is what I can’t walk away from. Not just yet.

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About Michelle:

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 wild horses, skiing the slopes of Aspen or scuba diving with a hot rock star, all without leaving the cozy comfort of her office.

About Michelle: I love coffee and chocolate, even more so when they are combined. I'm convinced that one day they could be the basis for world peace. I also love the color red and am seriously considering dying my hair.

Michelle loves to hear from readers! You can find her (and she will chat your ear off) here:

Website : Blog : FB : GR : Twitter

We are so stoked to bring you the Release Day Launch for

M. Leighton's ALL THINGS PRETTY!

ALL THINGS PRETTY is a Contemporary Adult Romance and the third novel in M. Leighton’s Pretty Series. Sig's book is here!

Amazon Barnes & Noble iBooks ** Kobo

ALL THINGS PRETTY Synopsis:

Excerpt:

Her lips are still curved when she turns her attention back to me. Something about the moment hits me like a punch to the gut. I think for a second that I could stand here and stare at her, just enjoy her smile and her happiness for hours. Days, maybe. But I can’t. We can’t. So, instead, I brush a clump of mud from the end of her nose. “Have fun?”

“I did. Thank you. This was so good for him.”

“And you.”

“And me,” she concedes.

“You can be the real you around me anytime. I won’t tell a soul.”

“So you prefer this?”

“Oh, hell yeah! I don’t need glamorous. Or proper.”

“I’m not proper.”

“You forget that I heard your…expressiveness that day on the side of the road. And it didn’t consist of ‘darn’ or ‘golly gee’. But I haven’t heard anything like that come out of your mouth since then.”

“Ladies aren’t supposed to talk that way, according to Lance.”

“I don’t want a lady. I want a woman. One who knows her own mind. One who wears what she’s comfortable in, one who says what she’s thinking.” I take a step closer. I can’t help myself. Her scent draws me in. Even covered in mud, she smells like sexy sunshine. “I want the woman who kisses like she’s on fire and makes me feel like I’m the only one who can put her out.”

“Sig,” she begins.

I break in to cut her off. I know her objections. And I know how much I don’t want to hear them. “I’m just being honest. I’m not even touching you.”

Her eyes are glued to mine, a damn near irresistible gravity pulling us together. “It’s not like you can anyway. I mean, we’re in public. With my little brother. What could you possibly touch?”

I reach down and smear my hand in mud. With her eyes locked on mine, I reach between us and flatten my palm on her chest, right over her heart. “This. I’d touch this.”

Globug's Review

To what lengths would you go for those you love? Tommi is having to test those lengths everyday. Her hands are full with a teenage brother that has Aspergers and taking care of her severely disabled mother. For reasons not yet revealed, Tommi endures a rather disgusting relationship with a well known drug dealer in her struggle to insure a happy future for her brother.

Sig is a cop just waiting for his chance to do big things as an undercover officer. When he realizes his opportunity comes in the form of the girl he just rescued from being stranded on the side of the road he wastes no time going to his boss to make it happen. There's no doubt from just that first meeting between Sig and Tommi that they are attracted to each other. She's a blonde bombshell and he's a tall sexy hunk of man flesh.

As much as I loved Sig's character it still bothered me that the whole time he's getting to know Tommi he tells her to trust him when he knows he's lying to her. He can't help but want her physically and that desire only grows as he spends more time with her. But it still remains that he is using her to get to Lance. I loved the developing relationship between Tommi and Sig though. So much passion. Sig is able to connect with her brother as well. Tommi deserves to indulge in a few selfish moments with Sig considering everything she is enduring to provide for her family. Their stolen moments together could cost not only Sig's job but both of their lives.

There are a lot of unanswered questions surrounding Tommi. How did she get involved with Lance in the first place? Why is her mother's condition a secret. I felt like the author hinted at a connection between Lance and Tommi's mother's health. There's also more going on with her brother than meets the eye. Sig keeps asking himself these questions as well and then WTF?! He's reading a sealed file on Tommi that left me thinking what-the-hell. At the same time Lance apparently has discovered something to make him lose his shit and Tommi is going to have to pay.

I was disappointed to not get the whole story. The author concludes the story with a To Be Continued upon release of the book. Due to contractual constraints with the publisher, the author was not able to publish the book in it's entirety. She will provide the remainder of the story FREE OF CHARGE by signing up for her newsletter. All Things Pretty (part 2) will be available October 14th. I can't wait.

Author Bio & 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, M. Leighton finally found an acceptable outlet for her fantastical visions: literary fiction. Having written over a dozen novels, these days M. Leighton 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.

A note from M. Leighton: I love coffee and chocolate, even more so when they are combined. I'm convinced that one day they could be the basis for world peace. I also love the color red and am seriously considering dying my hair.