Review and Excerpt Tour: Better When He's Bold: Jay Crownover
Better When He's Bold(Welcome to the Point #2)
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Expected February 3, 2015
Some men are just better when they're bold.
Welcome to the Point...
In a dark and broken kingdom, a ruler has to be fearless to control the streets and the ruthless people who run them.
Race Hartman is just bold enough, just smart enough, and just lost enough to wear the crown. Places like the Point will always have bad things and bad people, but the man in control of all that badness can minimize the devastation. Race has a plan, but can he prevent total annihilation without destroying himself?
Brysen Carter has always seen her best friend's brother for what he is--too pretty, too smooth, and way too dangerous to touch. Basking in Race's golden glow is very tempting, but Brysen knows she'd eventually get burned.
When she starts receiving threatening texts and someone tries to take her out in parking lot, the only person interested in keeping her safe is the one man she can't allow herself to have.
Sometimes being bold is the only way to stay alive. But can she let Race save her life . . . if it means losing herself to him?
“I should go home.” My voice was strained to my own ears. I couldn’t have sounded less convincing if I tried.
“There are always other things we should be doing. Come back to my place with me, Brysen.”
It wasn’t a question, it was almost an order. It shouldn’t sound as hot as it did.
“I don’t really think that’s a great idea. Besides, we haven’t even touched on the fact that I do officially have a stalker.”
He took a step even closer and the finger he had used to rub my cheek he now used to push some of my hair back behind my ear. It was probably the most kind, most reverent touch I had felt from another person in my life. That it was coming from this complex and troubling man hit me in all of my warm and squishy places.
“You have a stalker until I can get my hands on him. And it might be a bad idea, but it’s a bad idea that is going to happen one way or another, so fighting it seems stupid and takes energy I can sure as hell put to better use. Let me take care of you for one night, Brysen. I promise you won’t regret it.”
Of course I wouldn’t regret it. I wanted him, was entrapped by him, and after I ate it all up, took everything he had to give, lived in the pleasure and passion he broke loose inside of me, it would for sure kill me to know I would never be able to have it again. I blew out a breath, lifted a hand to wrap around his thick wrist, and fully intended to tell him no, that it just wasn’t worth the impending heartache, but what came out of mouth was:
“I don’t know what to do with you, Race.”
His warm hand slid under the fall of my hair at the back of my neck and his head lowered toward mine. His mouth hovered right over mine and my lips parted in their own invitation.
“Yes, you do.”
When he kissed me, my mind was made up. I wanted this—wanted him—and I hadn’t had anything just for myself in far too long. I knew it was bound to lead to really bad things, but on the way there I really, really wanted to enjoy everything that came with him. Including the way he pulled me close. The way he slid his hands down over the curve of my ass. The way his tongue lured mine out to play, and maybe mostly the way he made everything else that was always hounding me fade away. With his mouth on mine, with his hands roving over me, there was no crumbling home life, there was no failed math class there was no lurking and unidentified threat … all I could feel was heat, burning, desire, and desperation. It was such a welcome reprieve from what I usually felt that there was no way I could tell him no.
He took a step back and squeezed the back of my neck. I was breathless and his eyes had shifted to that sexy, deep, opaque forest green.
“I can’t offer you anything fancy. You’ve been on my mind and under my skin for a minute now, but I promise that I’ll make it worth your while.”
I breathed out a sigh and took the hand he offered me.
“You already have, Race.”
He flashed that dimple at me again and inclined his head toward the mouth of the alley.
“Where did you park?”
“Around the corner.” He gave me a look that indicated I would be lucky to find the BMW in one piece once we reached it.
Race Hartman used to be a rich, entitled Golden boy from The Hill, but he traded all that in one night when he met his best friend, Bax, who led him into the dark and dangerous world of The Point. After the events that occurred in Better When He's Bad, Race is now he is the Crime Lord for the Point. He went from Blue Blood to King of the Streets. He is scary smart, wealthy, charismatic, and dangerous in his own right. He is an anti-hero who has his own reasons for everything he does.
Brysen Carter is living in limbo...trying to keep her family and money issues under control while killing herself with school, and work. She is really now too poor for The Hill, but deemed too good for The Point. Everything in her life is unraveling' And now she has even more problems with a threat lurking and also a crush on her friend's Dovie's brother, Race, that she knows is a bad idea. But her attempts at repelling him with animosity and disinterest will only work so long. She put up big walls, but Race is bad and bold enough to try fiercely to knock them down. And Brysen can only take on all of her problems alone for so long before it will break her.
The Point may be dangerous, but it also pulls them in and makes them feel alive and realize what is truly important in life. She needs love and protection, and someone to fight for her. He needs balance and someone worth coming home to. They are intense, passionate, and connected. Their lives are full of risk and complications that could easily get one or both of them hurt or killed, They are two kids from the Hill that find themselves fully entrenched and at times brought down by The Point. But all Race wants to do is keep the The Point running without outside interference and keep her safe.
It's danger, damage, and dirty work, but someone has to do it...so it might as well be Race and Bax. And they need resilient women on their sides who can handle all of it. Race was not always sure Bry could fit the bill, but she had no choice to get tough and stay strong due to the way her life was imploding.
I loved that Bry made Race feel more human and kept his personality intact despite the darkness. And that Race took care of her when she always had to take care of everyone else's problems.
I loved getting more with Bax and Dovie (Better When He's Bad). They were a big part of this book and continue to be a unified front despite their complicated lives. I also enjoyed more time with Bax's brother, Titus, who is a cop that finds himself involved in many of their messes. I am looking forward to his book, and I have an inkling who his lady might be. I also adored Brysen's younger sister, Karsen who was full of spunk and wise beyond her years, I hope that a few years down the road when she is older that something comes of her crush on the scarred, gigantic enforcer, Booker.
This one built a bit slower, including their relationship. But then all of a sudden the action, mysteries, danger, threats, and suspense started piling up and it just kept going strong til the end. There were twists and turns that had me guessing. And although it did not end on a cliffhanger, all of these characters and The Point have more stories to tell and there are more people lurking in the shadows waiting to bring them down. It was told in both Race and Brysen's points of view and did not pull any punches regarding the darker side of life. No man in this series is inherently bad or good, but more a mix of both. But they all will bleed and give everything they have for those that they love.
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Better When He’s Bold picks up the tales of The Point and continues the grit exactly as I was hoping it would. The Point holds nothing back and doesn’t gloss over the ugly.
Race Hartman didn’t grow up in the Point, but he has made it his home and his life. As one of the top powers in the Point, his job is rough, dangerous, and not always on the up and up. When he sets his sights on his sister’s best friend, he begins to wonder if he can survive the darkness around him, or if it will change him irrevocably.
Brysen Carter lives on the Hill, but her life isn’t as easy as it looks from the outside. She moved home to take care of her younger sister when her parents began self-destructing, but she can’t seem to catch a break. Her goal is to hang on long enough to get her sister out of the house and into college and then she’s ready to wipe her hands of her parents’ bull. She is soft and sweet, but strong and focused. And though she is afraid of the Point, she begins to recognize that life is not as clear as the line between the two sides of town.
As Dovie’s best friend, Brysen has seen enough of Race and life in the Point to know that it’s a scary place, and her best friend’s brother is not a “nice” guy. But he is attractive, and something about him makes her feel safe.
She acts like she can’t stand him, but he sees a spark in her that intrigues him and try as he might he can’t help coming to her rescue. There were no pretty words between these two. No grand romantic gestures to signal the beginning of a relationship. What these two had was a series of events that both pushed them together, and forced them to face their weaknesses and fears.
This was a smooth, compelling read. I didn’t want to put it down late at night and picked it up almost as soon as my eyes were open again in the morning. But it wasn’t a roller coaster, it had such a steady build up that I didn’t notice how engrossed in the story I was until I was deep.
Better When He’s Bold propelled the Point to the next step. The city itself is in peril and as hard as Bax, Race, Nassir, and Titus work, it may not be enough to keep the outside from threatening the fragile balance of power within. I love that once again, the city is as much a character in the story as the actual people. And once again, I find I am waiting to find out what happens next in this harsh part of town, but have to wait for Titus’s book to find more.
Race Hartman didn’t grow up in the Point, but he has made it his home and his life. As one of the top powers in the Point, his job is rough, dangerous, and not always on the up and up. When he sets his sights on his sister’s best friend, he begins to wonder if he can survive the darkness around him, or if it will change him irrevocably.
Brysen Carter lives on the Hill, but her life isn’t as easy as it looks from the outside. She moved home to take care of her younger sister when her parents began self-destructing, but she can’t seem to catch a break. Her goal is to hang on long enough to get her sister out of the house and into college and then she’s ready to wipe her hands of her parents’ bull. She is soft and sweet, but strong and focused. And though she is afraid of the Point, she begins to recognize that life is not as clear as the line between the two sides of town.
As Dovie’s best friend, Brysen has seen enough of Race and life in the Point to know that it’s a scary place, and her best friend’s brother is not a “nice” guy. But he is attractive, and something about him makes her feel safe.
She acts like she can’t stand him, but he sees a spark in her that intrigues him and try as he might he can’t help coming to her rescue. There were no pretty words between these two. No grand romantic gestures to signal the beginning of a relationship. What these two had was a series of events that both pushed them together, and forced them to face their weaknesses and fears.
This was a smooth, compelling read. I didn’t want to put it down late at night and picked it up almost as soon as my eyes were open again in the morning. But it wasn’t a roller coaster, it had such a steady build up that I didn’t notice how engrossed in the story I was until I was deep.
Better When He’s Bold propelled the Point to the next step. The city itself is in peril and as hard as Bax, Race, Nassir, and Titus work, it may not be enough to keep the outside from threatening the fragile balance of power within. I love that once again, the city is as much a character in the story as the actual people. And once again, I find I am waiting to find out what happens next in this harsh part of town, but have to wait for Titus’s book to find more.
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is how Jay describes this series
“It’s dark and dangerous and set in a fictitious underworld/bad part of town. The men in all of the books are way more along the line of being anti-heros than true leading men. I guess the easiest way to sum them up is by saying the books are all about the choices these characters have to make and the outcomes and results of those decisions. Bax’s book is all about having to make the hard choices and what becomes of him and his lady in doing so. They are super fun, very atmospheric and I think really what writing a bad boy should be like if you’re going to do it :)”
Better When He's Bad (Welcome to the Point #1)Add to Goodreads
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Our 4.5 star reviews
Welcome to the Point There’s a difference between a bad boy and a boy who’s bad . . . meet Shane Baxter.
Sexy, dark, and dangerous, Bax isn’t just from the wrong side of the tracks, he is the wrong side of the tracks. A criminal, a thug, and a brawler, he’s the master of bad choices, until one such choice landed him in prison for five years. Now Bax is out and looking for answers, and he doesn’t care what he has to do or who he has to hurt to get them. But there’s a new player in the game, and she’s much too innocent, much too soft…and standing directly in his way. Dovie Pryce knows all about living a hard life and the tough choices that come with it. She’s always tried to be good, tried to help others, and tried not to let the darkness pull her down. But the streets are fighting back, things have gone from bad to worse, and the only person who can help her is the scariest, sexiest, most complicated ex-con The Point has ever produced.
Bax terrifies her, but it doesn’t take Dovie long to realize that some boys are just better when they’re bad.
Better When He's Brave (Welcome to the Point #3)
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Expected June 30, 2015
Better When He's Brave (Welcome to the Point #3)
Add to Goodreads
Expected June 30, 2015
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.
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2 comments
Contemporary romance, dark, M/M, suspense, angst. (just to name a few) I'm open to a lot of different sub-genres
ReplyDeleteI love romantic suspense, contemporary romance, medical thrillers and true ghost stories.
ReplyDelete