Leo

Leo by Mia Sheridan
My rating:  5 Stars

"Why are you looking at me?"

"Because I like your face."

~Love is like a magnifying glass straight into the souls of those who own your heart.~



Thrown together in foster care Evie meets Leo.
Through the hardships of their childhood, a deep abiding friendship blossoms. Leo becomes her protector and as the years go by this special relationship develops into a beautiful and unwavering love.

~"I'm going to kiss you now, Evie, and when I do, it's going to mean that you're mine. I don't care how far away from each other we are. You. Are. Mine. I'll wait for you. And I want you to wait for me. Promise me you won't let anyone else touch you. Promise me you'll save yourself for me."~Leo

When Leo suddenly gets adopted, moving across the county, Evie, is left behind.
Leo Promises Evie that he will write her as soon as he gets there and he will come back for her when she turns 18.

~"It will only ever be you Evie.

It's the last thing he ever says to me. I never see Leo again.~

8 Years later Evie has made a life for herself.
Working 2 jobs, friends that are like the family she never had, she is happy enjoying her life, appreciating her fortune.

When a man by the name of Jake comes into her life claiming to know Leo, Evie is taken back to the mystery of what happened to Leo.

The story of Evie and Leo's past is revealed throughout the book. We are shown what they’ve been through with each other, but the reader is only given a small part of that through conversations and through flashbacks.

Jake is sent to check on Evie as a promise he made to Leo.
Evie and Jake have undeniable chemistry. And in such a short time, Evie is drawn to him.

~"When he laughs like that, I swear a piece of my soul, the part of me that keeps secrets even from myself, tries to lunge towards him, like his happiness is an visible pull to my own heart. It's crazy. I don't even know this guy. ~

Their relationship is smoking hot, Jake is one hot alpha male.
Bossy but not pushy. Totally sweet, totally hot.
The sex.. Omg hot hot hot hot hot!

~"Come for me, Evie," he growls. And just like that, my body tenses and I arch up off the couch, intense waves of ecstasy flowing through me. I cry out his name and hear his zipper and then he is flipping me over and his hands are on my hips as he drags me up so my ass is in the air and he plunges into my dripping sex on one loud moan. I'm not sure if it's his or mine or both. ~

But Jake has a past an insecurities that keeps him holding back from Evie. Inevitably the truth will always find its way.

And just when you think you’ve figured out what happened, you get smacked down with the brutal reality, and it is heartbreakingly tragic.

I was right all along in my suspicion of what Jake was hiding. But was totally thrown with the truth of it all. Wow didn't see that one coming.


Mia Sheridan is an amazing storyteller. Her writing has depth and sensitivity to it that goes beyond the words. It grabbed my attention and held it all the way through to the last word.
Her story made me feel that I know her personally. Not just Evie and Jake but Mia herself.
That's a little strange for me, I love it when I can connect to the characters and feel what they feel, and I did, but also found that when reading some things I would think, that's so Mia. LOL very crazy when I don't know her. Hahahaha

I Loved Loved loved the Epilogue.
I love me an epilogue and this was just perfect.
Leaving me with a tear escaping right as I read the last line.

~All along she stood there constant and calm.
"I can't make the fire go away, I can't guarantee you won't get burned. But I can hold this hoop for you, I can remain steady and strong, because I believe in you. Because you are mine."
And in the end, I had jumped. And the other side was just as glorious as her eyes had promised.~

Favorite lines

~"Because I like your face"~

~"I don't know if I'm ready for this huge jump in status," I tease "From stalker to chaperone in one day? You'll think I'm easy!"~

~If you're lucky, you might have a person who tells you a better story, one that takes up residence in your soul, speaking louder that the woeful tale you've convinced yourself of. If you let it speak loudly within your heart, it becomes your passion and your purpose. And this is a good thing, the best of things. because it is the very definition of love, nothing else. ~

Can't wait to read more from this fabulous author.


Buy it.
Read it.
Love it.

Leo's Chance

by Mia Sheridan


My rating: ★ 5 Breathtaking Stars ★

~"I'm a worthless coward who took what I wanted. And I wanted her, and I thought that was the only way I could keep her from leaving. I panicked and lied, and now…. I know I have to tell her but I'm so fucking scared.~

THIS IS LEO'S STORY…







This way my first time re-reading a story told from an alt Pov.
I wasn't sure what to expect, all I knew is that I fell in love with Mia's writing in Leo. When I went back and re-read my review from Leo and remembered all those feelings she made me feel, I couldn't wait to start this and be drawn back in.

How can a book, told from an alt POV  feel like a whole different story with the same characters?
In 'Leo' I fell in love with their story, I loved Evie. I loved her voice. I really truly believe it was her story to tell.
In 'Leo's Chance' those same scenes that I absolutely loved the 1st time around, didn't capture me the same way in Leo's voice. For me, they belonged to Evie.



HOWEVER…..


Being in Leo's head, Intense.

His past, his pain. I experienced it right along with him.
Those scenes, belonged to him. His story needed to be told.


I kept thinking, "I know I'm reading the same Author cause it's the same story, BUT what the hell? Where did that come from? How did she just do that to me?"
I wasn't expecting to have those emotions pulled from me. I read and re-read paragraph after paragraph of Leo's past.
My mind and soul were ripped apart and my body couldn't  keep up with the emotions Mia pulled from me.



 Deep.   Raw.   Amazing.   Heartbreaking.   Devastating.  



What would you do for a second chance? How far would you go?

We start off with Leo in hospital, recovering from his accident. We are introduced to Dr. Fox, the hospitals psychologist.
Leo refuses to speak about any of the traumas he is recovering from. Feeling lost, broken and devastated. Dr Fox finally gets through and slowly Leo begins to open up.






~"You presumptuous bastard. You think you know me based on a few things you have written down on a fucking piece of paper? You think people can be summed up in a line or two on a clipboard? I'm not some 'poor little rich boy'!" I didn't grow up with more than a pot to piss in. I had just found out my brother was dead - a kid I practically raised. You don't know shit about my situation."~



The story is told at the same pace as "Leo" however we also get flashbacks of when Leo is recovering in hospital. Here we learn all about how he grew up and what he went through with his adoptive parents.

We see everything through his eyes, from when he first starts stalking Evie and seeing her for the 1st time again,



~It's the first time our eyes have met in eight years and I feel it in the depth of my soul, the moment seeming to stand still and shimmer around me.~


To the famous "Worlds Greatest Ice-cream" scene,


~She throws the ice cream in the cart, turns, and starts walking down the aisle as I stare after her. And that's it. If I wasn't before, I'm ruined for life. Hopelessly. In. Love. The girl is it for me. Yeah, ruined. Happily ruined, standing smack dab in the middle of the ice dream aisle.~



I loved being inside Leo's head for the 1st kiss.
It was sexy, sweet, hot.

~I dip my head and settle my mouth on hers. I sweep my tongue inside and as her tongue meet mine, I almost groan at the taste of her. Heaven. My heaven.~




I don't know about you guys, but for me reading a sex scene in a males POV is just so much more erotic.
Reading the fantasy sex scene in the shower… FREAKING HOT!!!!!

~I wipe the semen off the wall in front of me with my hand and I soap myself up one more time before standing under the spray for a few more minutes. I laugh quietly. Holy Shit, if I come that hard just from the fantasy of her, what's gonna happen to me if I ever really have her?~





But on top of all that we get the heartbreaking journey of Leo, finding his way back. You feel his pain, his despair, you heart hurts watching him hit bottom.



~ It takes daily diligence not to fall into the self-hatred trap. Disease can be deadly, and self-hatred is a disease, too. Secrets and shame can end a life just as easily as metastasising cells and viral takeover.~



While his body heals in hospital from his accident, Dr. Fox helps him heal his heart and soul.

I honestly no joke have NEVER EVER read a scene that has affected me so much.
I read and re-read and re-read over and over and every time still gives me the same emotion. I swear absolutely unforgettable.


~ Suddenly I am nothing more than pure anger, my brain filled with and controlled by a roiling tumour of fury. And it's metastasising by the minute, cells multiplying, spreading and overtaking.


"I hate her. I hate her. I hate her."


"Who do you hate?"  Dr. Fox's voice comes from directly behind me, still gentle and controlled.


"Stop asking me that! I told you! Aren't you fucking listening to me? My father! My mother! Lauren! I hate them all! I fucking hate them! Fuck! Fuck them all! Fuck them! I hate them!"  My voice cracks at the end and I'm breathing so hard that I feel like I might hyperventilate. A lifetime of built-up rage over selfishness that steals dignity and cruelty they preys on the weak is cursing through my veins, a fire looking to consume me from the inside out.

"Who do you hate, son?"~



It just didn't stop, I couldn't breathe, my mouth was dry.
I had to put it down, I had to breathe. My heart felt like it was torn from my chest.
Mia's words made me mourn.
Mourn for Leo, how he was wronged.
It was ugly and every word digs deeper into your soul.

~The rage begins to abate and just beyond it is the grief and I feel it coming at me like a wave. I'm powerless to fight it. All I can do is wait as it washes over me, drenching the fiery ball of anger, putting out that flame, but dragging me under, tossing me, flailing and defenceless against it's unrelenting power. It is bigger than the rage, bigger than the guilt and I can do nothing but submit to it.
I choke out, "Me! I hate me! I hate myself? I hate myself? I fucking hate myself? And now the tears are coming and I'm choking on my words and sputtering and punching and yelling.



"I fucking hate myself! I hate myself! Fuck! Fuck!" I hear myself sobbing and muttering.
"Why? Why? Why wasn't I enough? I'm worthless. Why did I do that? Why did I let her do that? Why did I do that? Why? Why?  I hate myself. I hate myself. I hate myself. I'm worthless. I hate myself."


"Who do you hate, Jake?" Dr Fox ask one final time.
"Me. I hate me," I say through panting, hitching breaths. "I hate me. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. I hate me." ~

I can't even, No words.
EPIC, freaking EPIC scene.




And the Epilogue,
I cried in Leo's epilogue and Mia managed to do it to me again!

What a FREAKING BRILLIANT Epilogue…

~We had planned and dreamed and loved on that roof of ours. We didn't know that the journey that would finally bring us to our happily ever after would be full of detours and pitfalls and pain. We didn't know how much love and forgiveness and understanding would be required to make it back on the path we were meant to be on, together. but we id know was that we were here because we had both been willing to fight; to fight for each other, to fight for ourselves.


Despite all the pain that we had endured to be where we are, in the end, love won. ~

I can't even tell you who's side of the story I liked more.
It wasn't even about that. Both sides are essential in making sure we get every detail of this love story.
You can't have one with out the other.
You need to get into Leo's head. You need to know his side.




Mia Sheridan has an amazing talent.
There is nothing better than reading a line and feeling those words transform into pure emotion.
I'm in awe when Author can make me feel what I am reading, make me wanna go back and experience that feeling over and over.
It's a high for me, and I'm constantly trying to chase it to get my fix.
I'm in love with her style and I can't wait for more.


~ Jake is my lion, and Leo is my boy, I love both, I need both - Just one or the other doesn't add up to the complete person that he's become.~

~ ARC courtesy of author in exchange for an honest review ~ Thanks so much Mia.

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Jess xxx