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

My Thoughts

Insanely addictive, super sexy and so enjoyable to read.
I loved every alluring moment of this novel and
have admittedly fallen hard for the Archer boys.

• Related Posts: 2014 Favorites, Bad Boys

Synopsis

Opposites in every way . . . except the one that matters 

Shaw Landon loved Rule Archer from the moment she laid eyes on him. Rule is everything a straight–A pre-med student like Shaw shouldn’t want–and the only person she’s never tried to please. She isn’t afraid of his scary piercings and tattoos or his wild attitude. Though she knows that Rule is wrong for her, her heart just won’t listen.

To a rebel like Rule Archer, Shaw Landon is a stuck-up, perfect princess-and his dead twin brother’s girl. She lives by other people’s rules; he makes his own. He doesn’t have time for a good girl like Shaw-even if she’s the only one who can see the person he truly is.

But a short skirt, too many birthday cocktails, and spilled secrets lead to a night neither can forget. Now, Shaw and Rule have to figure out how a girl like her and a guy like him are supposed to be together without destroying their love . . . or each other.

My Review

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

Say hello to my new, favorite tatted bad boy… Rule Archer. I am kicking myself for taking so long to start this series because it was entirely awesome to read. I was addicted from the very first page, entranced by the characters, ignited by the sparks that crackled wildly between these two people … polar opposites who somehow knew each other better than anyone else yet repelled the other like the two wrong sides of a magnet.

“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. I had been head over heels in love with both sides of him since I was fourteen years old.”

Rule and Shaw spent their formative years together when Shaw’s wealthy, elitist parents practically thrust her into a family that embraced her as their own. Shaw became close to Rule’s twin brother, Remy, and the two became immediately inseparable. But even then, when Rule walked into the room, he consumed it. He consumed her. His color, his vigor, his independence in all its bright and fiery glory was simply something she was inexplicably drawn to. Through the years, however, she kept her intensifying feelings buried deep and did nothing to deny the perception that her and Remy were a couple. But when Remy tragically died, the family split apart, blaming Rule for what happened. With his twin gone, the already volatile Rule lived his life on the fringes, using women to take the pain he carried inside and existing in the most lifeless way day in and day out, abiding by the rules of no one. Shaw became the girl who forced him into impossible situations with his family and their shared existence was charged with hostility by embers from the past that constantly threatened to explode. Yet, Shaw suffered in silence. Loved him unapologetically.

“I didn’t think Rule and I were really all that opposite. I mean, yes, he had ink from the top of his Mohawked head to his booted toes, and he was all metal barbells where I was pearls and antique cameos, but we were both people trying to live beyond the boundaries everyone else seemed to want to set for us.”

The Archer boys all wore their self-imposed labels like badges they couldn’t remove. Rome was the protector… the glue, Remy was everyone’s best friend, full of promise and possibility and Rule, well, he dared to be different… independent and insistent on fiercely blazing his own path in a world enlivened by art, color and intensity. His parents pushed him, his mom berated him, both tried to shape him to be someone he’s not. But Rule was Rule, covered in ink and sporting mohawks in every color. Similarly, Shaw was expected to succeed and marry someone wealthy and prominent, and for too long she abided. One fateful night, however, their opposing worlds collided and suddenly all those embers flying between them ignited brightly, blazing and scorching in a way they never expected.

“I shouldn’t feel that way about Shaw; she shouldn’t be the one to rock my world like it had never been rocked before.”

The magic they suddenly experienced together wasn’t the type to fade or be forgotten. Rule was seeing Shaw in a light he never before cared to see and he couldn’t look away. Shaw saw him for who he was and still considered him worthy of her attention. And with Rome’s voice of reason whispering in his ear, he couldn’t let a good thing pass.

“Rule, if this goes bad it’s gonna be so, so bad.”
“True, but if it’s good, it’s going to be so very, very good.”

Their time together is turbulent. Intense. Passionate. Defined by the ups and downs of a man that had never considered himself worthy of a relationship. A man without the experience of trying anything beyond the fleeting pleasure of a one-night stand. Rule certainly wasn’t accustomed to feeling so vulnerable… of needing someone so fully that when the first bump arose, the push that Shaw felt nearly knocked everything down for good. Rule was also not the type of guy who was easy to love. He was goodness deep inside scarred from profound hurt, marred by tragedy… his heart encased by walls so thick they seemed impenetrable. But somehow everything about him and Shaw together felt right. They had this amazing connection, this one-of-a-kind banter, undeniable chemistry and a common history that pulled them together as much as it pulled them apart. And realizing he had so much fullness in his life paralyzed Rule with fear. He could lose it all. Especially as danger from Shaw’s past loomed and secrets that affected everyone threatened to shatter it all to pieces.

“She just fit. She filled every hole I had in my life and the idea of her not being there, of it going away, terrified me like nothing I had ever felt before. I didn’t want to rely on her, didn’t want to build a mountain out of what might just be an early-in-the-relationship infatuation, but there was something that made me think that if this all went away I would never be the same.”

This is a story about blazing your own path regardless of the pressures that try to deviate us. It’s about finding the right someone that makes you feel worthy and happy and is willing to take on the darkness within because they love you enough to fight. For you. For each other. For a future together. I loved these guys — all of them — Rule, Rome, Jet, Nash and the entire gang that makes up the  Marked crew (every character has the most kickass name too!!!). And despite the fact that Rule was definitely a man burdened by his own demons, it wasn’t a situation in which he was so intensely broken that it felt heavy. Despite the struggles they encountered, the story felt light, fast-paced and even witty.  I also loved that even though Rule messed up big time, he had these epic apologies with exchanges that seriously made me swoon. I am so excited about continuing with this super sexy and utterly addictive series!

“You have me, Shaw, any way you need me, any way you want me, you have me.”

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