Laura’s Review for The Bad Boys Trilogy by M. Leighton

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS SERIES!!!!!!

Basic Summary:  Book one starts out as a love triangle, involving identical hot twins Nash & Cash Davenport, and Olivia Townsend.  Olivia leads a pretty simple life, going to college, living with her stuck up rich cousin Marissa all so she can eventually move back to her father’s farm and help him out.  That is until she meets Cash Davenport, then his devastatingly handsome twin brother Nash.  But the twins have a secret that includes an exploding boat, a father in jail and the Russian mafia.  Book two starts where the cliffhanger in book one ends, Olivia and Cash’s life are in danger, Marissa has been kidnapped and a new character walks into Cash’s life that turns everything upside down.   The second book takes you on the roller coaster ride that is Olivia and Cash’s relationship, where Olivia struggles with trust issues and questions Cash’s every move.  Book three picks up where book two ends, with Nash and Marissa trying finding their way in the world.  Both twins are hell bent on revenge but question if it's worth risking their lives to save their father.  Book three gives you the happily ever after you have been waiting for since the minute you opened book one.

Cash Davenport

What I Love About This Series:  Not only is this series a romance, but is a suspense thriller all rolled into one.  Olivia Townsend is the main character in book one and two, with Cash and Nash’s point of view scattered in between.  This series keeps you on your toes the entire time you’re reading it and you just want more after every sentence.  Olivia is a strong willed girl who has never had any real thrills in life; her mother has rejected her and her father because they aren’t all about social status and money.  Olivia is perfectly happy with her life, and all she cares about is trying to help her father run his farm.  To me she’s definitely a woman who knows herself, has goals and goes for them, which is what I love in a female character.  She’s not annoying and always down on herself like some fame characters are written, she stands up for herself when people put her down and she knows what she has to offer the world.  Her annoying cousin Marissa treats her like crap, and even though Olivia puts up with it, it’s really a means to an end for her because Olivia needs a place to live closer to her college and once she graduates she has no real plans with being a part of Marissa’s life.  Olivia is also very open and kind as well, and in the second and third book when Marissa has a change of heart and actually grows a soul Olivia doesn’t hesitate to accept Marissa’s mistakes and create a whole new bond together.

            The first book is full of hot sex scenes, the very first one which happens in the middle of the night and you aren’t quite sure what twin it was, was very very hotttttttt.  Another scene involves the outdoors, Cash, and a tractor, that’s all I’m going to say about that one.  The details in the books are written superbly, you really understand just how sexy and irresistible Cash and Nash are, and you just wish so hard that they were real. 

            Cash and Nash are very interesting characters, their pasts are very bitter sweet and it reminds just how important family can be.  M. Leighton is really able to express the intense bond that twins tend to have, and even though they have been a part from each other for many years, there is definitely a connection between the writers is able to really show you.  Cash like most bad boys has lots of secrets, and by the end of book one you know them all but you just can’t get enough of him.  Cash is supposed to be the bad brother; the rebel of the family that one guys you should never fall for because he will break your heart.  Nash is the good brother; he’s smart a lawyer, and a safe choice because even though he can get any woman he wants he probably won’t break your heart.  As the series goes on humungous bombshells are dropped, the twins personalities kind of switch around and they take on each other’s characteristics so much more, making you realize just close and alike they truly are. 

            This series is a complete thriller from beginning to end; there is tons of action in every book with kidnapping, murder, stabbings, motorcycles, sex, and heart break.  Cash and Nash’s mother was killed when they were younger and M. Leighton illustrates so well how much her being gone has broken apart their family.   The series is very bitter sweet, when looking back at the twin’s pasts and you realize how much they have lost because of past actions that had very little to do with them.  Nash and Cash’s lives were essentially ruined with the death of their mother and by book three you aren’t quite sure if Nash especially will be able to overcome this.  Book one ends with a huge cliff hanger, and book two ends with Nash’s bitterness for revenge.  Throughout reading these books, you don’t know who to trust and you can’t wait to see if any your own theories are correct, because the series definitely keeps you guessing.  I love series that have tons of themes in them, and that can keep you on your toes the entire time and this series definitely delivers all of that and so much more!!

            Also I love when books make me love characters I hated in the beginning.  When book three switches to Marissa’s point of view, I was a little hesitant because in book one you really hate her.   At the end of book two you see she is trying to change her ways, but you’re not quite sure if you can trust her.  By the end of book three you are just broken hearted as she is, and just as happy for her as you are for Olivia.  

Nash Davenport

Cons:  I don’t have a lot of negative things to say about this series.  I really really loved book one, and the sex scenes in that book were awesome.  But as the book became more about Cash and Nash’s quest to get revenge and clear their father’s name, those really great scenes between Cash and Olivia especially just really dwindle down to almost nothing by the end of book two.  There is a really great one towards the end of book two, but it’s just one compared to the tons that are in book one.  I didn’t feel there was a balance between the sex and the action that should’ve been consistent through the series.  Book three as well I felt like the detail in the sex scenes that were in book one were not at all there in book three.  I felt like they were just brushed over and rushed to get to the next scene, like they didn’t really have a purpose to the plot line as much. 

            Also book three I thought had way too much inner dialogue, like you could’ve just cut out about 10 pages in the book that consisted of repeated inner dialogue.  By the third time Cash mentions is scar tissue around his heart, I’m like okay we get it already he’s jaded.  His actions brought that message home loud and clear we didn’t need the repeated inner dialogue of his or even Marissa’s as well.    I love inner dialogue and I hate it when its lacking but it gets on my nerves when it’s the same conversation in their head over and over again. 

            Another thing that kind of bothered me in book three and I have a problem with in a lot of series endings the quickness of tying up all the loose ends.  You spend an entire series with every detail being played out and then all of sudden within a couple chapters everything is summed up.  I’m not saying you need to go into every detail like you did throughout the plot line, but it doesn’t help when an author speeds through the result of everything that has been going on either.  I get epilogues or last chapters however the author chooses to zoom ahead into the future, and it’s great to see into their future but before that all goes down pay a little more attention to the details of results those are just as important also.

Overall:  I loved this series; it was such a great experience reading these books.  M. Leighton is an awesome author and I can’t wait to read other books of her as well.  Cash and Nash Davenport are truly sexy men that could compete with Jesse Ward or Gideon Cross any day of the week.