Rome (Marked Men #3)
Author: Jay Crownover
Genre: New Adult
Publication Date: January 7, 2014
Publisher: William Morrow an imprint of HarperCollins Publishing
Event organized by: Literati Author Services, Inc.
Note: eARC given for an honest review
Synopsis
Cora Lewis is a whole lot of fun, and she knows how to keep her tattooed bad boy friends in line. But all that flash and sass hide the fact that she’s never gotten over the way her first love broke her heart. Now she has a plan to make sure that never happens again: She’s only going to fall in love with someone perfect.
Rome Archer is as far from perfect as a man can be. He’s stubborn and rigid, he’s bossy and has come back from his final tour of duty fundamentally broken. Rome’s used to filling a role: big brother, doting son, super soldier; and now none of these fit anymore. Now he’s just a man trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life while keeping the demons of war and loss at bay. He would have been glad to suffer it alone, until Cora comes sweeping into his life and becomes the only color on his bleak horizon.
Perfect isn’t in the cards for these two, but imperfect might just last forever . . .
Purchase Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Barnes and Noble | iTunes | Indie Bound
Tina’s Thoughts
Ah. The Marked Men Series. Be still my heart… Rule was the first New Adult book I read and I just couldn’t get enough. When I discovered it would be the beginning of a series, I was in literary heaven. I love these people. I mean I want them to be my best friends and hang out all the time. Reading Jet was awesome with the continuation of Rule and Shaw’s story and the development of more characters and Jet and Ayden’s story. And then I found out Rome was the next one in the series. I mean come on!! Who doesn’t want to read about the incredibly glorious older Archer warrior brother? Rome and Cora are great together and I enjoyed how their relationship dynamics are different from the other couples. It was heartbreaking to watch Rome struggle with PTSD and lash out at those around him. Once of my favorite things about this series is how these people would literally lay down their lives for one another. They are a non-conventional family that has drama and mayhem in spades, yet they are such a strongly tight knot group of people who hold each other accountable and defend till their final breath. We see both sides of that in how Cora hassles Rome for the way he is treating his family and friends and how Rome is the one hurting yet never abandoned no matter how hard he tried to push people away. Rome is a fighter and having Cora in his life gave him so much more to live right and fight for. I loved how this story introduced another realm of characters that I cannot wait to see developed. I can’t wait to learn more about Asa and Saint Ford. Ah. There are so many other things I want to talk about but I don’t want to give anything away. Just read it! You won’t regret it. And make sure to check out the playlist for the book! I love how Jay Crownover has a list of songs mentioned in the story and songs that were inspiration. They always add another layer to the story. I cannot wait to read more about Nash and Rowdy’s stories and see what happens to all our other friends. Read the series now! You will not be disappointed. And then go get a tattoo or piercing. Because everyone needs at least one 😉
Lynne’s Thoughts
Rome. I feel like his name says it all. Strong, powerful, and not built in a day. Rome is a story about re-building. Throughout the novel, Jay poses the question, “How do you rebuild your life?” When everything you’ve always known and every part of who you’ve always been is completely different, what do you do? You keep destroying what little ruins are left or you rebuild. And that is exactly what Rome Archer does. After returning home from the military and finding every part of his old life and his old self different, he is forced to rebuild. While it doesn’t happen overnight, he does it and he builds something incredible. Throughout the novel, Rome sees his relationships with Rule, Shaw, and his family transform, but in the midst of it he is given a new relationship. Cora is still as fiery, loud, and hilarious as she was in Rome and Jet. She is also just as wounded. Together the two work through their different but intense issues. They are a hilarious pairing to the outer eye, but upon delving deeper into the story, it makes complete sense. The issues of PTSD and broken hearts are handled with grace and interest. Rome doesn’t feel like another broken solider and Cora doesn’t feel unrealistic in the pain of her past break up. Every aspect of the story is full of heart, fun, and ultimately sucks you deeper into the Marked Men family. The readers get the delight of seeing the family move forward and grow. There’s a swoon-worthy part for all you Rule and Shaw fans (like me). Rome is an incredibly edition to the Marked Men series and I personally CANNOT wait for Nash. I’ve always been curious what’s going on behind those violet eyes.
About the Jay
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.