RowdyMarked Men #5
By: Jay Crownover
Published: October 21, 2014
Publisher: William Morrow PB
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GR's Summary:
After the only girl he ever loved told him he would never be enough, Rowdy St. James knocked the Texas dust off his boots and decided he was going to do everything in his power to live up to his nickname. Life was all about a good time, good friends and never taking much too seriously. Rowdy learned his lesson early on, when you care that much about anything it can destroy you, and he never wants to risk feeling like that again. Only now he has a new coworker, a ghost from the past who’s making him question every lesson he ever learned.
Salem Cruz grew up in a house with too many rules, too many regulations, and no fun allowed. That never worked for her so she left it all behind as soon as she could, but she never forgot the sweet, blue-eyed boy next door who’d been in love with her little sister. Fate and good intentions from an old friend have placed her right in Rowdy’s path and she’s determined to show him he picked the wrong sister all those years ago. A mission that is going along perfectly until the one person that ties them together shows up and could very well tear them back
Salem Cruz grew up in a house with too many rules, too many regulations, and no fun allowed. That never worked for her so she left it all behind as soon as she could, but she never forgot the sweet, blue-eyed boy next door who’d been in love with her little sister. Fate and good intentions from an old friend have placed her right in Rowdy’s path and she’s determined to show him he picked the wrong sister all those years ago. A mission that is going along perfectly until the one person that ties them together shows up and could very well tear them back
My Thoughts:
Wow! Ms. Crownover! Can I say that I love you, and all of your books are amazing!!! The Marked Series is the ultimate escape in to a place where I don't ever want to leave! All of these characters have stolen a piece of my heart, and with every additional book that I read; I don't ever want to let them go. There's something so sexy about every one of these amazing marked men, and their courageous, beautiful, intelligent, strong, and amazing women! I have LOVED every single book in this series, and when I am in the middle of a book rut, I just have to pick up one of these books, and I know that I will be in for an amazing treat!
I loved Rowdy, but there was no surprise there! His story was everything that I had hoped for and more! My James Dean look-alike has a heart of pure gold, that has been broken more than once. He is afraid to love, because he doesn't want to go through the pain he has endured ever again. When he was just a young boy, his mother was murdered. This nearly destroyed him. Then, he was put in foster care and went completely in to himself. His neighbors were the beautiful Cruz Sister's, Salem and Poppy. Salem became Rowdy's confidant, best friend, supporter, and knew him like no one else. However, she was wild and free-spirited. Poppy was conservative, stable, a good girl, and tried to please her parents. Rowdy thought that he was in love with Poppy, and figured she was a safe bet. However, when Salem unexpectedly left, because she couldn't deal with her domineering, tyrant of a father; Rowdy was devastated. He approached Poppy and told her that he wanted a relationship with her, but she let him down by letting him know that she only saw him as a brother.
With a broken heart, Rowdy decided to never enter a serious relationship again. He went from girl to girl, and one-night stands and short time flings become his typical way of life. Things drastically change when Salem moves, and gets hired to work in the new tattoo shop. What he doesn't know is that Salem moved because of him. She has her eyes set on capturing the one person that knows her heart. She's missed Rowdy, and now she is determined to make him hers. However, Rowdy is resistant. He is crazily attracted to her, but feels as though she abandoned him, when she left. What if she gets tired of him, and leaves again. He doesn't think he could handle her abandonment a second time. Then, Salem finds out how deep Rowdy's feeling's were for Poppy. What she thought was puppy love appears to have been more. Can Rowdy love Salem, and let go of Poppy and the issue's from their past?
Rowdy! Rowdy! Rowdy! I'm in love! My gorgeous James Dean look-alike! Sigh... Rowdy came to life for me! His vulnerability, his loyalty and protectiveness towards his friends and the woman he loved, as well as his sexy confidence all made him irresistible to me! My heart broke for Rowdy, and all of the loss and pain that he had endured in his life. I loved Salem for loving him for who he truly was. Growing up, he wasn't true to himself, and tried to fit the mold for what he thought others wanted. He just wanted to be loved and accepted. I loved how Salem was his biggest supporter and saw through to the beautiful person that he was. She gave him confidence, encouragement, and nurturing. Salem was a woman who knew who she was. She was independent, assertive, confident, sassy, and had so much strength and courage. I admired the way she stood up for herself and others! She was a woman to be reckoned with, and is one of my favorite leading ladies of the marked men!
My Rating:
I give Rowdy, by Jay Crownover 5... A Beautiful Love, New Beginnings, Strong Friendships, Sexy Times Filled Stars! Are you looking for an excellent new adult series?! The Marked Men is what New Adult should be all about! Rowdy was excellent, as was every book in this series!!! Now bring on Asa and Royal! I'm ready for the hot criminal and the sexy cop to fin their way to each other!!! Then, we need Sayer and Zeb's story! Pretty Please Ms. Crownover?!!!
My Favorite Quote:
"She was so much more than my lady-she was my best friend, my muse, my lover, my future. Without her the road stretched dark and endless in front of me; with her the path I wanted to travel was crystal clear." (eARC, Loc. 4944)
~Rowdy
Casting:
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Book Teasers:
Excerpt:
WHEN I PUT THE key he had given me in the door to his apartment it felt like the end of a long journey. Really it was only a little over twelve hours and I had stopped to nap once along the way, but it still felt like too long since I had seen his face or been able to touch all that toned and tattooed skin. Jimbo greeted me at the door when I pushed it open. His tongue lolled out of his mouth and he jumped up and put his paws on my legs. He was going to be huge when he finally grew into his fuzzy body and I was overwhelmed at how happy I was to see him. I dropped to my knees and rubbed my face in his neck as he licked me all over my face. I was obviously missed and I had to say it was just one more reason I knew I was finally where I was supposed to be. It was late, so the apartment was dark.
I checked the dog’s food and water, trying to be quiet in case Rowdy was already asleep. I was winding my way toward his bedroom when a haphazardly discarded sketch pad lying on the couch caught my eye in the dim light. I paused for a minute to pick it up and felt my heart stop and then start to race as I flipped through the first few pages. There were a couple of drawings that were obviously for clients, tattoos that hadn’t made it from paper to skin yet, but most of the pristine white pages were covered with images wearing my face. There was mermaid me, and naughty- sailor- girl me. There was sassy Indian girl me with long Pocahontas braids and there was sexy devil me standing next to angelic me. There were dozens of them all in different shapes and sizes, but every single image was undoubtedly modeled after my distinct look. I wasn’t sure if he had drawn them all over this last week while I had been gone or over the months we had been chasing each other in circles.
Either way it made my heart swell and the full certainty that I was it for him settle deep inside my bones. I set the pad down and tiptoed through the hall. Jimbo took one look at where I was going and huffed out a disgusted- sounding snort. The poor guy had learned early on that he wanted no part of what happened between his humans when they were together in the bedroom. The light was off and Rowdy was sprawled on his stomach across the covers. His blond hair was sticking up every- where and he hand one arm bent up under his head. The only thing that could have made the sight better would have been if he hadn’t bothered with the black boxers before crashing out.
Even with them obscuring the view, I couldn’t complain. I let out a breathless sigh and crept closer so that I could lean over and touch my lips to that anchor on the side of his neck. I felt his pulse leap and tasted the salt on his skin as he murmured sleepily and rolled over onto his back. Those infinitely blue eyes glowed at me in the dark as a grin pulled up the corner of his mouth.
“Hey.”
About Jay Crownover:
I’m supposed to share interesting details about myself so that my readers get to know me so here we go in no particular order: I’m an natural redhead even though I haven’t seen my real hair color in years, I’m a big fan of tattoos and have a half sleeve on either arm and various other pieces all over the place, I’ve been in the bar industry since I was in college and it has always offered interesting insight into how men and women interact with each other, I have 3 dogs that are all crazy, I live in Colorado and love the snow, I love music and in all reality wish I could be a rock star not a writer or a bartender but I have zero talent so there is that. I love to write, love to read and all I’m interested in is a good story with interesting characters that make the reader feel something.
Haven't read this series yet- but I have been seeing it a lot lately.
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