Book Review: Rule by Jay Crownover

Title: Rule
Series: Marked Men, Book 1
Author: Jay Crownover
Genre: Contemporary Romance, New Adult
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: library
Published: May 7, 2013 by William Morrow Paperbacks

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.

Reviewed By: Laura

Why I Read This Book: This was a recommendation by Goodreads related to some of my recent choices like Down and Out (my review), Until Alex (my review), and Enemies on Tap (my review). I think a lot of ladies have a thing for ‘bad boys’ (whatever your definition may be) and this tattooed, edgy guy just fit my need at the moment. Toss in the right amount of tragedy and drama and I was all but hooked.

What I Liked: When starting a romantic series, I kind of like being inducted via an already established relationship. It doesn’t have to be a romantic one, but it seems easier for me to ease into the books if there is already something there. Shaw and Rule have known each other for years and so there is history between them. The tragedy that both bonds and splits them is at turns the most and least important event between them. I loved their give and take stance on everything. This wasn’t something easy for them to have and I like that their relationship actually took work. It’s not always rainbows and sunshine, but the things these two enjoy in the bedroom make it all worthwhile.

I enjoyed that each of them were broken, knew it, and chose to do something about it. While they helped fix one another, that wasn’t their initial goal and I preferred that to the ‘fix ‘em up’ stories. Also, as a body modified individual, having tattoos and piercings take such a center stage in storytelling was wonderful to see. A lot of times they’re given a less-than-significant meaning and I really appreciated the author making a point about the individuality, expressiveness, and importance of such alterations.

Most importantly, I liked that both of the main characters failed. It may sound odd, but I believe that people can learn a lot more about themselves and their relationships with others when they fail than when they succeed. I find that the struggle is where the learning happens.

What I Didn’t Like: I didn’t really expect things between Shaw and her previous boyfriend to continue throughout the whole book. It’s not that she was seeing him, it was that she dumped him, he refused to accept that, and then continued to hound her the whole book. It was difficult to read and heartbreaking to imagine that a parent would encourage a child to have such a dangerous and cruel person in their life. I know parents like this exist, but I have difficulty handling them in my books sometimes.

I also felt like sometimes we didn’t get enough of other people. While the book is told in alternating perspectives between Shaw and Rule, I feel like we only scratched the surface with the people that surround them. While I think this might have been intentional (since it’s the beginning of the series and these people will probably be introduced more thoroughly later on) it seems that if these people were so important to Shaw and Rule’s lives, then maybe they should have been a larger part of the story.

Overall Impression: Rule was a terrific introduction to an edgy series. Shaw and Rule had to fight for their love and themselves and came out the better for it. If that statement can hold true for future books in the series, I will be one happy lady!

Laura’s Rating:

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