Book Review: Rule (Marked Men #1) by Jay Crownover

 

Rule (Marked Men #1) by Jay Crownover

3 Stars

Meet Rule:
Mohawked, tatted, and pierced, Rule doesn't give a damn what anyone thinks. His parents have a hard time excepting him ever since his identical twin Remy died. He lives a wild life full of girls and drinking, and that's the way he likes.

But all that starts to change when the one girl that always saw past his defenses, ends up drunk at the same bar as him. The only problem? She's Remy's girl, or was.

Rule was complicated; he was brash, mouthy, careless, thoughtless, often cranky, and generally an insufferable pain in the ass. But when he chose to be, he was charming and funny, artistically brilliant, and more often than not, the most interesting person in the room.

Meet Shaw:

Shaw is the exact opposite of Rule. Forced to become the "perfect" daughter in order to please her rich parents, Shaw has always lived her life organized and on top of things. The only problem, she's had a crush on wild Rule since she was fourteen years old.

She needed someone strong, someone not afraid of all the things that tormented her day in and day out...

And when Shaw gets drunk on her birthday, she throws caution to the wind, and goes after the one things she always wanted....Rule.

“...opposites don’t just attract, they freaking catch fire and burn the entire city down.”

Rule by Jay Crownover has been on my TBR list for a while. I couldn't wait to give this book a chance, especially when I saw all the love for this and other books in this series on GR. When I finally picked it up, I fell in love with the Archer boys. Especially Rome.

However, for me, this book had its up and down moments. There were points that I couldn't relate to the characters at all, which in turn made for a very slow read. But at other points, I connected with the characters and enjoyed being inside their heads. And was routing for them to figure out all their issues.

The romance overall was sweet, fun, and a bit wild (come on, it's Rule we're talking about here). Add in a crazy ex, and you get to see the alpha male, protective side of Rule. Who doesn't love that?

“Shaw, I’m the one who feels the need to burn the house down when the faucet springs a leak. I know I tend to go the extreme and I need to back off. However, if you think I’m ever going to stand by and watch you purposely put yourself in danger with that asshole again, be prepared for us to do battle.”

The Archer family dynamic is very strained because of Remy's death. And the Mom was just plain evil to Rule. And even when she explained some of the history there, I had a hard time understanding her. But I did love how Shaw fit in so well, and had for years, with the group. And of course, Rome won me over with his overprotective, sweet self.
Even if I thought the middle was a bit bumpy at points, the ending was strong. It flowed well, even had some suspense, and completely absorbed me into their world.

If you are a fan of friends turned lovers then you should definitely give Rule a try.

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