𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬. 𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗔𝗗𝗢. 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗛𝗢𝗢𝗗.

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LEO by Jay McLean is live!! Don’t miss the third book in the New Adult/Coming of Age Series, The Preston Brothers!!

 

Amazon US  |  Amazon Global

Free in Kindle Unlimited

 

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Blurb

One single summer changed them forever, and one moment of devastating silence destroyed it all. 

Growing up with six siblings, Leo Preston has always struggled to find his voice.
While his brothers are loud, greedy, and somewhat obnoxious, Leo is forever the quiet one.
The thinker.
The listener.
He watches his life pass by as an outsider in his own world, absent and alone.
Lost.
Until he finds her. 

For Leo, Mia Kovács is like a prize, a gift wrapped in passion and devotion.
And she’s his—his very own secret he doesn’t have to share.
Together, they can overcome anything…
heartache and destruction, guilt and regret. 

Mia gives Leo everything he didn’t know he needed,
including her fragile heart.
The only thing she doesn’t give him…
are secrets of her own. 

 

 

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Review

5 angsty, heartwrenching stars!

OMG, the feels! What a rollercoaster of emotions this book is! Heartbreaking, heartwrenching, raw and angsty, but what an amazing love story! Jay McLean has brought us back into the Preston clan with a wonderfully written coming-of-age book that kept me completely captivated, and I loved it!

This is, obviously, the story of Leo Preston. He’s the third eldest of the seven Preston kids, and he’s always been a bit different. He is very much part of his family, but unlike his siblings he is shy and quiet, and he experiences the world differently, preferring to sit back, observe and just listen.

Mia is the daughter of the Preston’s housekeeper/nanny. Her background is heartbreaking, having been abandoned by her parents and raised by her loving grandfather, and her life takes a twist when 12 year old Mia comes to spend the summer with her estranged mother. Her time at the Preston house is far from the fun-filled summer that she is expecting, but she does form a bond with Leo, and summer after summer, that bond strengthens as they become each other’s ‘person’, understanding each other without question, soothing and providing comfort to each other just by being together; and slowly and quietly, they fall for each other in a big way.

“I don’t want to be just your friend, Mia. I want to be more. I want to be your Leo.”

But their fledgling romance is torn apart before it even really begins, and our heartbroken teens go their separate ways. It’s years before they see each other again, when a now-18-year-old Leo goes to work for the summer on the farm where Mia lives with her grandfather, sparking all of that emotion again and starting an angsty back-and-forth that forms the basis of their interactions from that point on.

“You have no idea how much it hurts to want you as much as I do.”

Following Leo and Mia over the years, we get to watch their ever-evolving relationship as they shift from friends to more and back again, constantly battling their still-strong attraction to each other, their trauma from the past, and the present-day issues that they are dealing with. It’s all-consuming – both for them and for the reader, and I was glued to my kindle, desperate to see what was going to happen.

It’s an emotional intense journey, and I laughed, loved and cried with Leo and Mia. The story twists and turns, with so many moments that I never saw coming, and oh, it hurt. The raw emotion that McLean writes into this story actually had me holding my breath at certain points – completely in shock and overwhelmed with my feels, but I could not get enough!

“You were always mine!” he yells, then takes a moment to compose himself. “In my head” – he points to his temple, his eyes never leaving mine – “and in my heart” – his palm flattens on his chest – “you were always mine”. He inhales a sharp breath. “Since I was thirteen years old. Five fucking years. Every summer I spent with you, and every single day in between, I’ve been in love with you, Mia!” His voice breaks. “It’s always been you.”

These characters as so beautifully written. Complex and flawed, they go through so much, and I feel like I experienced it all with them. Did I agree with the way they behaved? No, not always. Did I agree with the decisions they made? Definitely not. Did I get frustrated and need to put my kindle down and take a moment to get over some of the plot twists in this book? Hell yes, I did. And through it all, Jay McLean held my heart in her hands and somehow made it all work.

It must be McLean magic, because even though this book contains things that completely turn me off while reading other books – and that totally gutted me in this story – I still couldn’t put it down. I wanted to know more, I wanted to understand why, and I was desperate to see where the twists in the story would take us. And I can honestly say that even though the angst and heartache is extreme at times, it was worth it to see these characters fight through it and rise above to get the happy ending that they so desperately deserve.

 

 

I love Leo and Mia so much, but it’s Leo that stole my heart in this one. He such a good guy!  He didn’t always do the right thing, but he learned from his mistakes, and he fought for his girl. And when he needed to step up and be there, he was there. And as a romantic hero, he is SO freaking swoony! I loved how he expressed himself, and put his feelings out there, and holy damn, the boy is hot! I actually thought the sex was a bit intense at times, it sometimes seemed a bit extreme for the situation, but Mia was right on board, so I’m not going to get too judgey. Plus, there’s all of those swoony declarations, so… *dreamy sigh*.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”
My smile widens, and I sigh heavily, shaking my head. “I’ve spent a hell of a lot of years in love with you, Mia.” I shrug. “Hard habit to break.”

We get to catch up with the entire Preston clan, which was both sensational and bittersweet ( It’s a risky move to take main characters from previous books that I love so much and turn them into bad guys, but Jay McLean totally went there! My heart was broken at this new view on Leo’s family, and I hated that I felt that way! I guess it’s realistic, that not everybody can be a good guy all of the time, but even though there is resolution there, it’s something I’m still struggling to reconcile. ). And we are introduced to new characters who completely stole my heart! Mia’s family, and particularly her best friend, Holden, completely stole my heart. They are pure perfection, and brought so much to the story, and I loved the scenes that included them. And can I just say that I’m hoping hard that we’ll get a follow up story for Holden in the future, because the boy is just amazing.

I finished this book with mixed feels. It’s a hard journey, and it’s definitely not the story I wanted for these characters that I came to care so much for, but the way McLean has written it, the way the characters came through it all, and the way that I felt so damn much for both Leo and Mia, is truly amazing.

It’s angsty and messy, but it’s ultimately a beautiful story of friendship, love, healing and forgiveness. Raw, emotional and surprising, this book took me on a journey that I won’t soon forget.

An amazing (and still slightly traumatised) 5 stars.

An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

 

The Preston Brothers

 

 

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About the Author

Writer. Reader. Mom. Wife. Master of awkward Sarcasm. 

Jay McLean is a full-time reader, writer of New Adult and Young Adult romance, and skilled procrastinator. When she’s not doing any of those things, she can be found running after her three boys, investing way too much time on True Crime Documentaries and binge-watching reality TV.

She writes what she loves to read, which are books that can make her laugh, make her hurt and make her feel.

Jay lives in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, in her dream home where music is loud and laughter is louder.

 

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