Rome (Marked Men #3) by Jay Crownover
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: William Morrow
Pages: 384
Format: eBook
Source: ARC for Tour
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Sometimes the wrong choice can be just right . . .
Fun and fearless, Cora Lewis knows how to keep her tattooed "bad boy" friends at the Marked in line. But beneath all that flash and sass is a broken heart. Cora won't let herself get burned again. She's waiting to fall in love with the perfect man—a baggage-free, drama-free guy ready for commitment. Then she meets Rome Archer.
Rome Archer is as far from perfect as a man can be. He's stubborn, rigid, and bossy. And he's returned from his final tour of duty more than a little broken. Rome's used to filling many roles: big brother, doting son, supersoldier—but none of those fit anymore. Now he's just a man trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life while keeping the dark demons of war and loss at bay. He would have been glad to suffer through it alone, until Cora comes sweeping into his life and becomes a blinding flash of color in a sea of gray. Perfect may not be in the cards, but perfectly imperfect could just last forever . . .
It's rare that I find a book with main characters I like equally. Usually, I have a bit of a preference for the guy, because that's the way the books are pitched, but it's really nice when a female protag comes along that is so awesome, she nearly eclipses her male counterpart. Cora was one such lady. Loud-mouthed and kick-ass, she's incredibly protective and loyal with just the right amount of vulnerability and softness to make her relateable. She's the kind of girl you'd love to be friends with! And she makes a perfect match for Rome because she doesn't take anyone's shit.
With that said, Rome was mighty lovable himself. A wounded soldier and brother, you can't help but want to just hug him as he struggles with rearranging his identity. Haunted by the horrors he saw overseas and still struggling with the secrets within his own family. He's no longer fighting for his family or his country, so instead he's fighting with everyone. Until Cora fights back. The chemistry between them is ridiculous and so fun to experience as they each vie for victory.
Another great part of the book is how involved other characters from the series are. We get to check in on Rule and Shaw and Ayden and Jet, seeing how their relationships have progressed past the end of their books. I haven't read Jet yet, but I read Rule a loved it, so it was great that they were so involved in the story. On top of that, the rest of the secondary characters have arcs ranging from entertaining to heartbreaking, and I can't wait to see who gets stories in the future.
For fans of the first two books or the New Adult genre in general, Rome is not one to be missed! The perfect blend of imperfectly real, relateable, and lovable with a healthy dose of ink, these characters are incredible and so fun to read.
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.
