Book Review: Pocketful of Sand by M. Leighton

Pocketful of Sand

M. Leighton

Reviewed by Sandra Long

5 Stars

A powerful novel of abuse and loss as a mother runs away from a childhood of sexual abuse that resulted in the birth of a daughter, fathered by her step-father. The unusual part is that her running is financed and arranged by her mother, who has been  willing to permit the abuse as long as it kept her man with her and happy, but when he started on the granddaughter when she was only four, even tis woman drew the line, and gave her daughter money and helped her escape with her daughter. I did child protective services for 16 years and can tell you from personal experience that many women make better grandmothers than mothers. I have no way to explain this but I have seen it so that made this story believable to me.

Eden and her daughter, Emmy, go as far as they can go, across the country, and rent a beach front cottage in a tiny town where they feel they will never be found. Their landlord, Cole,  is a man who lost his own daughter when she was Emmy's age. She was a passenger in his car and he was driving under the influence when they wrecked and she was killed. The town people think he is crazy because he spends so much time alone, makes a sandcastle on the beach every Sunday regardless of the weather and can be heard talking to his dead daughter. He has never forgiven himself and neither has his wife, so he too is hiding away in this tiny town where he has bought several houses to remodel and rent and does almost all the work himself. 

 When he sees Emmy, something in him is deeply touched. She is not only the same age, but strongly resembles his deceased daughter and she is immediately drawn to him. In spite of his best efforts to remain alone, Emmy keeps finding ways to talk to him and as their landlord, he is forced to spend time with them. Eden has never lived in a cold climate so he has to help her prepare for a cold Maine winter and these two broken people begin to have feelings for each other. Gradually a relationship develops that neither understands or knows where it will lead. 

Just as they are beginning to build trust and find love, Cole's wife comes looking for him, wanting him back, and Eden's stepfather shows up, also wanting her and Emmy back.  Suspense and romance mixed with emotional backgrounds that have broken our characters almost beyond the healing point but making them understand the brokenness they find in each other. The storyline is fascinating and thought provoking. Five stars and a strong recommendation to readers who love this type story as well as those who have never read this type story before. I think you will be very glad you read it and will close the last page with a much better understanding of how and why people stay in abusive relationships and how hard it is to  leave when all your self-esteem and courage are wiped out by the abuser. Also, the story of a man who needs to learn to forgive himself for a bad mistake and hopefully reading this will prevent someone else from making this same bad decision.

“She’s beauty for my ashes. And I’m hope for her heartache.”—Cole Danzer.

I don’t know what makes a great love story. Is it that instant attraction when boy meets girl? The passionate kisses and the fairy-tale ending? Or is it a lifetime of tragedy, paid in advance, for a few stolen moments of pure bliss? The pain and the suffering that, in the end, you can say are worth it for having found the missing piece of your soul? 

The answer is: I don’t know. I don’t know what makes a great love story. I only know what makes my love story. I only know that finding Cole when I did, when Emmy and I were running from a nightmare, was the only thing that saved me. That saved us. He was more broken than I was, but somehow we took each other’s shattered pieces and made a whole. If thatis what makes a great love story, if that is what makes an epic romance, then mine…ours is the greatest of them all.

**Contains material that some may find disturbing. Not intended for readers under the age of 18**

I was born and raised in the United States, and I’ve lived in several of the fabulous fifty. Though I currently live in the deep South, I spent much of my childhood up North and hope to return there one day. A few other things about me: I believe that sometimes you have to look really, REALLY hard to find the good in people, but it's there. I believe that I'm shrinking (I swear five years ago I was two inches taller). I believe my husband is quite possibly one of the most amazing men in the entire world (I can't be sure because I haven't met all of them). I believe coffee and chocolate, when combined, could be the basis for world peace. I believe that Jesus rocks and communism doesn’t. I believe that white makes me look fat and black collects lint. I believe summer's too hot, winter's too cold and fall was made for football. I like dogs better than cats and the first movie in a trilogy is invariably the best. But most of all, I believe that love conquers all. 

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Now Available: Pocketful of Sand by M. Leighton

A story of heartbreak, loss, redemption and second chances: Pocketful of Sand from New York Times bestselling author M. Leighton

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?She?s beauty for my ashes. And I?m hope for her heartache.??Cole Danzer

I don?t know what makes a great love story. Is it that instant attraction when boy meets girl? The passionate kisses and the fairy-tale ending? Or is it a lifetime of tragedy, paid in advance, for a few stolen moments of pure bliss? The pain and the suffering that, in the end, you can say are worth it for having found the missing piece of your soul?

The answer is: I don?t know. I don?t know what makes a great love story. I only know what makes my love story. I only know that finding Cole when I did, when Emmy and I were running from a nightmare, was the only thing that saved me. That saved us. He was more broken than I was, but somehow we took each other?s shattered pieces and made a whole. If that is what makes a great love story, if that is what makes an epic romance, then mine?ours is the greatest of them all.

Contains material that some may find disturbing. Not intended for readers under the age of 18.

Get it on Amazon | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Google Play
Add it on Goodreads

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 horses, swimming in ponds and experiencing life on a ranch, all without leaving the cozy comfort of her office.

Book Review: Until I Break by M. Leighton

Until I Break by M. Leighton

 320 Pages

My thoughts:

Until I Break, was a compelling story about how someone's fear can hold them back from experiencing life and that when they finally break free from "it" they will truly find their freedom.

This book was on my To Be Read List for quite some time and as soon as I heard that they were pulling it from distribution, I knew it had to find out why. 

Alec Brand is quite an interesting character. He is dark, mysterious, sexy and intense.  You learn about his past and find out how truly broken he is. Once you start reading, Alec is the character that you fall in love with!!!

Samantha is an established author who created an alter ego "Laura Drake". Samantha is shy and insecure where as her alter ego is cool and confident. Samantha created a character in her books, who is the hero and quite often she daydreams/fantasizes about him. Soon Samantha meets her real life Mason, Alec Brand. 

Will she let him in? Will he free her of her past? Or will he destroy her?

Goodreads.com description:

"I’m intrigued. Tempted beyond what I’ve ever been before. To know her, to open her up. To break her."

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.

About the Author:

I was born and raised in the United States, and I’ve lived in several of the fabulous fifty. Though I currently live in the deep South, I spent much of my childhood up North and hope to return there one day. 

I believe that sometimes you have to look really, REALLY hard to find the good in people, but it's there. I believe that I'm shrinking (I swear five years ago I was two inches taller). I believe my husband is quite possibly one of the most amazing men in the entire world (I can't be sure because I haven't met all of them). I believe coffee and chocolate, when combined, could be the basis for world peace. I believe that Jesus rocks and communism doesn’t. I believe that white makes me look fat and black collects lint. I believe summer's too hot, winter's too cold and fall was made for football. I like dogs better than cats and the first movie in a trilogy is invariably the best. But most of all, I believe that love conquers all.

My Favorite Quotes: 

“Every person's worst fear-that no one will be able to love us in spite of our scars.” 

“In love, sometimes what you fear is exactly what you need.” 

“As surely as I'm sitting here, I know I would forever regret it if I didn't say yes to this man. At least once.” 

“What I don't think this man realizes is that he's giving my dreams--and my nightmares--a new name."

“Tonight is your one free pass. Just know that the next time you look at me this way, I'll feel compelled to do something about it.”

"He's a thousand kinds of wonderful and he prefers his men much like I do-strong and dark.” 

Have you read Until I Break? What did you think?