Do you love a story with a ‘Happily Ever After’? Well, the
Marked Men series is for you! Although the prince may be a little bit
unconventional and the princess is definitely not a damsel in distress.
These stories are gripping, filled with drama, romance and a
family made up of a bunch of outsiders.
The marked men series revolves around the men who work in
the tattoo parlour ‘Marked’ and their closes friends.
There are 4 books so far; Rule, Jet, Rome and Nash. With two
more lined up; Rowdy (Out October) and Asa. I honestly cannot wait for the next
two installments as I enjoy Jay Crownover’s writing a lot and I enjoy her drama
filled story lines!
Now, let’s start with Rule. The first installment of the
Marked Men.
Rule has been on
my book shelf for maybe a year. It always seemed like a book I would enjoy, but
for some unknown reason never got around to reading. But I was in a reading
slump and decided I needed something that would grip me, have me smiling,
fangirling and just make me fall back in love with story-telling. So I chose
Rule.
Rule turned out to be my favourite book of the series, but don't worry the rest of them are pretty good too!
Rule has always been the outsider in his family, he likes
dramatic hair, piercings, tattoos and having lots of sex with anyone and
everyone. His twin brother Remy died years previous to where this story picks
up, which puts a lot more pressure to be the ‘perfect son’ as Remy had always
fit into that box for his family.
Shaw was Remy’s best friend, from the moment he met Shaw
he had always tried to save her, from her parents, from school, from
everything. While Remy and Shaw were best friends his family always thought
it was something much more than that. But, Shaw has always been in love with
Remy’s not so average brother, Rule. But, Rule see’s Shaw as a preppy girl with
really high expectations, who was always his dead brother’s girl. No way was he
going there.
But, one drunken night leads to a whole load of feelings
neither of them know what to do with. Though they know that it can’t ever be
the same between them again. Shaw always wanted Rule but just when she’s on the
verge of having him she clams up, gets scared, feels too much too quick. Which
is pretty understandable, Rule is a very passionate person, about tattoos about
his lifestyle.
But they do however, have these life altering feelings for
one another.
AHHHHHHH! FANGIRLING SO HARD!
Shaw has a boyfriend previous to her and Rule’s drunken
antics, he is handpicked by her parents to be her, for lack of a better word
‘suitor’ because I don’t think there’s another word for him. He isn’t a
particularly interesting character, but he is obsessive about Shaw she’s his.
Rule is just a bump in the road, a means to an end. The end being the extreme
power couple their parents want them to be.
Shaw while in college to become a Doctor. Rule has his
career as a tattoo artist. Shaw was always this unattainable person to Rule,
someone that she could look down on. Rule’s own insecurities are seen a lot in
this book as he is always the ‘imperfect’ son. His older brother Rome is in the
army, risking his life daily. Remy was the good son, never did anything wrong
or defied his parents in anyway. Rule just doesn't know how to act around his
parents, with looks of shame and disgust from his mother and his father never
giving an opinion. Rule’s mother does turn vicious and tell Rule it was his
fault Remy died, as he was killed in a car accident that never would have
occurred if Rule hadn't asked for a ride home that day.
Rule loses it, he has always thought it was his fault but
hearing his own mother say it to him makes him snap. Rule leaves, vowing to never
come back unless something happens about the way his parents look at him. Shaw
follows right after him, telling her only parental figures that unless they can
be more accepting of Rule, she will not come to the weekly Sunday dinners.
These Sunday dinners involve Shaw coming to Rule’s house to
pick him up, because that’s the only way she knows that he will be there. If
she pushes him into it. Which means after a Saturday night Rule has a stranger
in his bed, and Shaw while having feelings for Rule has to see his one night
stands every week. I don’t know how she did it time and time again.
Rule and Shaw are polar opposites. People who shouldn’t be
attracted to each other. Rule the hot-tempered, tatted up, rebellious man and
Shaw the well-mannered, rich, socialite everyone knows her to be. There’s not
much that Rule and Shaw agree on, other than the fact that they care about one
another.
I know that there were a lot of ill communication. They
really needed to get their act together in some parts, but watching them
struggle through all of the emotions really made these characters real for me. Rule
always wanted someone to accept him just as he was, and Shaw wanted someone to
love her unconditionally, which she found in the Archer family. Rule found his
comfort in Shaw.
If you’re looking for a book that’s not too heavy, has some
bad-boy flare and has a love story that is sweet, cruel and sometimes
challenging? Then this book is for you.
Stars? 4.5… Rule and Shaw needed to sort through their crap
sometimes and stop blaming each other on different circumstances.
Favourite Character? Shaw. Her loyalty to Rule throughout
the family drama really stands to her character.
Least Favourite Character? Gabe, Shaw's ex-boyfriend the psycho!
Favourite Quote? “We have to fix this.”
“We have to learn to not break it in the first place.”
Anything else to say? Rule Archer is definitely on my Book
Boyfriends list! :D
I'm going to do a continuous review of the Marked Men Series, so next week there'll be a blog post on Jet, the second installment and so on... :D Hope you enjoyed it!
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