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

Rule

Author:  Jay Crownover

Series: Marked Men

Pages: 327

Genre: New Adult

Publisher: Jay Crownover Books

Amazon: Rule

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

I had loved Rule Archer since the first moment I ever laid eyes on him. He was everything I shouldn't want and the only person I went out of my way to not try and please. He only saw me as a brat, and an entitled, stuck up princess but worse than that all he saw when he looked at me was his deceased twin's girl. It broke my heart because as much as I had loved Remy Archer there was never anything romantic between us and no matter how hard I tried to convince myself that loving Rule was a terrible idea, my poor heart just wouldn't listen. We tolerated each other, barely and had forged an uneasy alliance until one night I had too much to drink and changed the way we were forever. Suddenly life long secrets were no longer hidden and the one thing I always wanted for myself seemed obtainable as long as I was willing to go through hell to hold onto it.

Shaw Landon was a class act and I had no idea what to do with her. She was tied to my family, tied to the person that was my other half so I tolerated her and her haughty attitude when I didn't have any other choice. What I didn't know was that a short skirt and too many cocktails on her birthday was going to change my outlook on her for the rest of my life. Some people thought I hid behind all my tattoos and piercings, that I tried to distance myself from my dead twin, Shaw saw through it all and wasn't scared of what was underneath. We weren't supposed to be together, weren't supposed to be anything but uncomfortable acquaintances but that all changed in the blink of an eye. Now I had to figure out just how a girl like her and a guy like me were supposed to be in love without destroying each other. Add in her custom made ex and two disapproving sets of parents and the whole situation sounded like it was more trouble then it was worth.

Recommended for mature readers due to sexual content, language and drinking

Review: 2 ½ out of 5 stars

Ok, maybe it is me but this is the second NA book I have read within the past two weeks that has received alot of praise but was substandard for me and didn’t meet my expectations which are admittedly high; thankfully I had success with one title in between but I’m starting to feel a tad disheartened. The story itself wasn’t bad; there were just certain aspects which grated on my nerves.

Twenty year-old over-achiever Shaw Landon is from a family of privilege that has extremely high expectations of her, she is sweet, strong and self-reliant and has always felt more a part of best friend Remy Archer’s family than her own, he took her under his wing when she was bullied at school and she remained a fixture in the family even after he was killed in an accident more or less holding them all together but having a personal pain of her own in the fact she was secretly in love with Remy’s twin brother, Rule.

Tattooed and pierced hottie, Rule thinks Shaw is out of his league, a conformist and too pure for him he doesn’t exactly respect or treat her right even though she has been a part of his family for so long but after a drunken incident on her birthday, his whole perspective towards her and their relationship changes and he starts to see her as more than his brothers girl.

Seeing Rule and Shaw come together was an exciting build-up, add in a persistent stalker ex-boyfriend and parents who disapproved it made for an interesting read but in saying that, the miscommunications and Shaw’s seeming lack of self-respect just put a dampener on it all and made her out to be a desperado going after someone who treated women like they were indispensable, Rule messed up continually and had a big chip on his shoulder but Shaw always believed him worthy – I just couldn’t see her reasoning after the way he had always disrespected her.

I love a troubled and tortured hero as much as the next person but does having family and personal dramas make someone turn into a mean, arrogant and distant whore-man? I’m not a fan of this in books – Rule was good-looking and successful in his tattoo business, he blames himself for his brothers death and anguishes as a result but this lead to him being outwardly uncaring, he messed up a lot but Shaw continually supported him.

What I did like was Rule slowly learning to reciprocate Shaw’s feelings and work through his own, these characters were imperfect and I appreciated that Shaw was able to accept everything about him, she knew him inside out and loved him unconditionally despite his many many faults and I enjoyed the epilogue – I always like a nice HEA.

The secondary characters were each entertaining; Ayden was interesting and a great support as was Rule’s brother Rome until he decided to turn into a stubborn mule but the parents on both sides were horrible! Who would try to force their daughter to be with someone just for social standing, ugh! And Rule’s mother blaming him for his twins’ death and pushing him away was abhorrent especially after her own little revelation; she was a real piece of work – with issues!

Rule had a lot of drama, struggles and pure raw emotion and feeling but there was that little something missing that just didn’t leave me excited, maybe it was the characters, maybe my mood; I just wasn’t wowed – I felt I was being told what was happening rather than it being shown and  resolutions seemed rushed.

Despite my gripes, this book did have an interesting storyline and was written well; I was just left underwhelmed and wanting more.

This book has received a lot of praise, so please check out Goodreads for more reviews.