I'm so excited to be a part of the ROME blog tour, organized by Literati Author Services, Inc. I've read all the books in Jay Crownover's Marked Men series, and I've come to the conclusion that she doesn't know how to not write sexy men. Check out my review and don't forget to enter the giveaway!
Rome (Marked Men #3), by Jay CrownoverPublisher: William Morrow Publishing
Format: e-galley, obtained from Edelweiss
Genre: new adult contemporary romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble
Rating: 4 STARS
(From Goodreads) 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 ...
The third book in Jay Crownover's Marked Men series was good, but not as good as the first two. It really kills me to say that, too, because Rule (Marked Men #1) and Jet (Marked Men #2) were completely awesome. I wanted and expected Rome (Marked Men #3) to follow suit. (I will say, though, that the the cover of Rome is absolutely my favorite of the three so far. Those eyes!!)
I don't know if I can put a fine point on exactly why Rome didn't do it for me. I think a lot had to do with the fact that I had a really hard time connecting with both Rome and Cora. Rome seemed more real to me in the previous books than in his own. And Cora seemed a bit more like a colorful caricature of who she's supposed to be.
Rome and Cora don't seem to like each other much. Yet, for some unexplained reason, that changes on a dime. I didn't quite buy that. And, for a change, the guy in the relationship - Rome - is the one to fall in line first. Cora was brought along with him almost kicking and screaming, which was really frustrating. So much focus was put on her cheating ex-fiance and how he messed up her head. All I kept thinking was why she didn't just get over it. I get that something like that sucks, but six years later she should've more than moved on.
But Rome, the star of the book, was pretty awesome in his own right. I loved watching him overcome his inner struggles stemming from his time in the military, as well as the deception perpetrated by his younger brother Remy. The times Rome spent at The Bar were the most real and impactful of the entire book, I thought. I loved how Jay Crownover wrote the side characters and Rome's unique brand of "therapy." It was refreshing and very satisfying.
It seemed like there was more time spent setting up Nash's book (the fourth Marked Men story, due out in mid-2014) than in any of the previous Marked Men books. I'm not quite sure why that is, but even though I thought it detracted a bit from Rome's story, I'm definitely looking forward to the next book. So, I guess that goal was met.
My issues with Rome really were minor. Despite my lack of a real connection to the characters, I was engrossed in Rome's and Cora's story from the very beginning and invested in seeing them get to their HEA. The end was satisfying and complete.
About the Author
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.
I spent the last week reading all three of these books, and sadly, I think that by the time I got to ROME, I was over it. The seemed formulaic, but in a way that would work if I hadn't binged on them all at once.
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