All The Pretty Lies – M. Leighton

Synopsis

“Live, no regrets”

Her…
Sloane Locke has led a sheltered life. However, with a history like hers, she can understand why her brothers and her father want so much to protect her. She has gone along with it for twenty long years, but those days are over. For the girl who never makes promises, Sloane has made a pact with herself that things will change on her twenty-first birthday. So when the clock strikes midnight, Sloane strikes out to spread her wings and break a few rules.

Him…
In addition to inking skin, Hemi Spencer possesses many talents. Controlling himself has never been one of them. It’s never had to be. He’s lived a life of indulgence for as long as he can remember. Right up until tragedy struck. Now, he’s nothing but controlled. He’s a man on a mission, one who will let nothing and no one stand in his way.

Them…
Nothing in their lives could’ve prepared Sloane and Hemi for what they’d find in each other—distraction and obsession, love and possession. But the one thing they can’t find is a future. Neither one has been totally honest. And they’ll soon learn that the devil is in the details. In the details and in the lies.
How far will two people go to live in the now when the now is all they’ve got?

5 out of 5 stars

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My Review

Give me an M.Leighton book and you know I will gobble that shit up. Anything she writes, I know I will automatically become obsessed with and love and All The Pretty Lies was no exception. M.Leighton can hook you within the first page and from then on you are reading until you have reached the end, absorbed with the story, the characters, just everything keeps me involved and I feel every emotion that the characters do, which is definitely what you need when reading a book. It makes you feel connected to them and I definitely did with Hemi and Sloane (and Sarah – she’s wicked naughty).

All The Pretty Lies is about living life with no regrets. Living it to the fullest and being free, letting go. And both Sloane and Hemi definitely begin to live with this motto.

Sloane has been protected and mollycoddled by her father and three brothers ever since her mother died when she was a young women. They have protected her and bubble wrapped her and shes had enough. At 21, its time for her to break free, to do what she wants to do, to live but its hard enough trying to make the four men in your life understand that need when they want you safe and sound and still treat you like a little girl. Sloane hasn’t had the life experience of going to parties, going on dates, having a boyfriend, like the rest of us have but now is the time to experience all she has missed and that is just beginning with getting a tattoo…which ultimately changes her life.

I adored Sloane. Despite being innocent and naive, not at all her fault, she really wants to live life to the fullest now shes of legal age. Although it doesnt help that the men in her family are all police officers. She wants to show them that she doesnt need protecting anymore, that shes old enough to be herself, to do what ever she wants. You feel everything she is going though – albeit, we probably went through this a lot younger, but from fancying a guy, to falling in love to being playful and feeling hurt, those feelings don’t go away and are always foremost in your mind.

I liked seeing Sloane gain confidence in herself, in her feelings and in what she wanted. To see her from a protected young women and going through the motions of liking a guy, trying to get his attention then feeling a step back when she feels he doesnt like her only to gain that confidence when he actually does makes you feel like a proud friend to see her putting herself out there. I loved her tattoo and I think it represented her perfectly. She really did live by that tattoo and you can see that it means a hell of a lot to her. We watch her grow up, go through a lot and come out in the end happy and in love and completely at bliss with Hemi….but that doesnt mean its all smooth sailing with these two and at certain points I prayed they could get through it, get through their situation and thank god they did. I don’t know what I would do it Sloane and Hemi didn’t end up together!!

I definitely have a little crush on Hemi…..okay okay a hella big crush. You can see the turmoil he is going through, how he wants Sloane but he doesnt too. How he needs to stay away but he cant. You actually can understand in a way, why he cant go there, but when he breaks, its pure joy! Its beautiful to see him ‘lose control’ as such, to want Sloane, an innocent young women, someone he wouldn’t go for because he goes for the ones who expect nothing and leave when he’s in the shower in the morning, but there is just something about Sloane that he craves, that he wants and it was lovely to see him break this barrier down.

My heart broke when the news came out about what he was searching for, but you know that his feelings are pure, that he cares a hell of a lot for Sloane, and he has never felt these feelings for anyone before. You want to forgive him and you actually beg for Sloane to forgive him, to give him another chance, to listen to him. The pain, the hurt, the guilt overtook him but you could see that above all that, his heart was taken, his heart belonged to her and he didn’t want that heart to belong to anyone but her.  My heart tore when shit went down, when he wouldn’t leave her side and you could feel the terror that was radiating off him, the fear of losing the one person he loves the most and you were right there along with him.

Despite everything, Hemi is a beautiful being. He’s an owner of a tattoo shop, he’s been through pain of losing a family member, wanting to find the person who killed his brother but in the end, the grief and guilt was too much to take and he had to let it go, he had to learn to life again – “Live, no regrets” and that is what he did with Sloane and it was such a delight to see both of these characters join together, learn to live life together and that ending just had me in tears over who perfect these two are together.

M. Leighton sure knows how to captivate you into her writing, into her stories and the characters. You feel their emotions, you turn every page, wondering just where the time has gone because all you’re been focused on is Sloane and Hemi’s story, needing to find out their secrets, what will happen when they are revealed and how their ending is going – will they stay together or not?

But the ending is the perfect conclusion to their journey. It sums up everything perfectly and I was crying with happiness over the event that took place at the ending. OH how I was so happy and smiling with glee over Hemi. I cant wait to see if they make an appearance in book two, which will be about Reese, Hemi’s brother. PLEASE say they will, I’d love to keep up with their developments 😉