Tough Enough (Tall, Dark, and Dangerous Series Book 2) by M. Leighton

From the author of the New York Times bestselling Bad Boys novels comes the second book in a dark, sexy contemporary trilogy.

He’s a fighter who never loses, but is he tough enough to win her heart?

There was a time when I had everything–a wonderful family, a bright future. Love. But all that was taken away in a single night, torn from me like flesh from bone. Since then, I’ve hidden away in my second-choice job as a makeup artist. But I prefer it that way, actually. I’m comfortable in the shadows, where no one can see my scars.

Kiefer Rogan literally took my breath away the moment I met him. MMA champion-turned-actor, notorious playboy, charming to a fault—he’s everything I vowed to avoid.

But he just wouldn’t stop until I opened up and let him in. Maybe I should’ve tried harder to resist him. Maybe I shouldn’t have fallen in love with him. Because I, of all people, know that everyone has secrets. Scars. And that they’re usually ugly and painful and destructive to the people we love most.

I just never guessed that they could be deadly, too.


REVIEW:

Tough Enough is the 2nd book in M. Leighton's Tall Dark and Dangerous Series.  This is a stand alone Romantic/Suspense Novel and can be read as such however there are some areas of the story line that would highly benefit the reader to read Strong Enough first, which is not in my mind any hardship as it was a 5 star read for me.

In Tough Enough we meet Kathryn "Katie" "Kat" Rydale sweet, guarded and beautiful with scars so deep seen and unseen.  Then we meet MMA Champ and up and coming actor but also retired Special Ops Badass Kiefer Rogan, who also has scars so deep he lives his life fighting them.

Katie meets Rogan because she is a make up artist on set of his new movie.  She walks in the first day with her foot in her mouth because she made assumptions of him based off his "It" factor status and believing he'd be a irresponsible and arrogant man with a head so big it couldn't fit through her office door.  As she is saying all of this to her closest friend she doesn't realize he is already in the chair and not late waiting for her.  Even though he hears everything Katie said Rogan is immediately drawn to Katie.  He doesn't understand it but he doesn't fight it one bit, he goes full speed ahead never wavering. He believes in his gut and the more he sees her the more he believes in her being made for him.  

Rogan is honestly the sweetest sexiest most patient man you could meet.  He knows something has hurt Katie so bad that she keeps everyone at arms length.  Something so deep he knows without even knowing her for 24 hours that he must pull those walls down small piece by small piece.

Katie has serious legitimate baggage that is so heart breaking you cannot imagine.  As your reading the book it is a slow burn, it is completely suspenseful you cannot read and turn the page fast enough to uncover what has happened and what will happen.

When Katie finally gives in she goes fully in and it surprises both her and Rogan. She opens up and she does everything she has to to be in the moment and with Kiefer because she knows she loves him and she knows when his time is over in her little town their whirlwind affair will be over and she will after everything be left with a broken heart that she knows will finally kill her.

She never thought she could find happiness again after what happened a few years ago.  But she did and how can she go back to just existing, she knows she will have to but she just doesn't know how too.  So she puts it on the back burner and she lives in today and she lives happily falling harder and harder for Rogan.

Rogan knows he has to keep working and he knows he has to leave.  He has responsibilities in life and responsibilities he doesn't share fully with Katie, he should have but he would protect his brother until his dying breath. He just had to get a plan together because at the center of his problems involving his past and his brother he never in a million years could have anticipated what came next.

I love M. Leighton's books. She has the perfect mix of suspense and romance with incredible characters and Tough Enough was no different. Hands down 5-star read and I can't wait to move on to the next in the series.