Review - Rome (Marked Men #3) - Jay Crownover

A Review By Wendy

4.5 Coming to Terms, Confronting and Accepting, Being the Better for It Stars * * * * ½    

We, as a nation, have experienced the ramification of our sons and daughters, family members and friends fighting for our country many times. There have been many books, movies and personal stories told. Each combat experience is unique to the conflict, region fought and environment but all have the singular purpose of defending those back home and wanting to protect those we love. Our service people deserve the same understanding and devotion they so freely gave us.

However, that is not always the case… and since that can be a factor in their re entry to civilian life… sometimes with all they now have on a continuous loop in their recesses of their minds… it can make finding their place in this world difficult.

We met in the first book, Rule-Marked Men, Rome, the older brother of the Archer family. Through the journey of Rule and Shaw, the MC’s of that book, we saw how Rome was the warrior, protector of the family and the one that worked every conflict out between all of the family members. At the conclusion of Rule, Shaw dropped the bomb of Remy’s secret to the family only to have the parents admit they knew of it for years and let it remain hidden.

Rome, as the go to guy for his brothers, took this as a betrayal to everything he knew of his family life and place in it. He had been confessor for Shaw… the one who worked out is his brothers’ problems and also just cared that everything should be right….
So this causes a huge rift with everyone close to him as he goes off to finish his last part of service. He continues to serve, watching his men and brothers in arms die… and just doesn’t get why he keeps getting spared… His brother Remy died in a car accident……during this last tour, all his men die in the same explosion making him the lone battered survivor….
And now he is home… lost…. And Rome is determined to never let those who loved and depended on the Rome he was, see this crushed, confused, disillusioned one.

Yet there is another warrior of sorts in this circle of friends who has decided to address the bullshit Rome is dishing out to his friends and family. This force…. This take-no- prisoners-spitfire is Cora. 

Cora is something else. She comes from a very difficult upbringing with an old gruff Admiral who had decided a boy was what he was supposed to have had… and instead was left with a petite girl to raise alone. So since her dad was all straight forward no nonsense… the apple didn’t fall far from the tree… yet there was a yearning in this hot little womanly package tatted and pierced; she had thought the escape with Jimmy her ex fiancé was the answer to her life… she thought she had found the man and love that was it for her..but life slapped her with a hard lesson of people she trusted hiding and turning a blind eye to Jimmy’s cheating leaving her to walk in on him doing the dirty deed with a client.  This shocked her world, her faith in what love looked like and what it really was…. Causing her to come up with the concept of holding out for the perfect guy…. The one who would be there for her… who didn’t need fixing or had issues… one for the long haul.

Clearly, Rome definitely did not fit that profile… no way, no how…. Except there was one little itsy bitsy problem…

You see Cora’s sexual radar went off when Rome was around… and he was equally smitten and both were a stick of dynamite just waiting to blast….. and when it did… neither one of them were prepared for the nuclear level of the connection and need. Cora was able to see Rome for who he was… all of the hurt, fear, loss and confusion. She had the tools to help him but still knew he was everything she had decided she didn’t need.

So this what we have; two people who for some reason are good for each other without really “getting it” until confronted with reasons to be real and not hide from the realities of their now serious connect.  And what was the most impressive was Rome, even through all of the demons and fears he had… was able to recognize his safe haven in Cora and express it to her. I really was impressed by that. 

There was also a few other story points in this book which impressed me. Cora in her heard strong focus to rid this Archer family their dysfunction and heal all of them decides to do an intervention and bring parties together to get the necessary closure regarding Remy and his life. 
I felt this was handled in a mostly realistic way. I don’t know if everything in “real life” would have gone so smoothly….… and those with life experience touching on these matters would have a better idea … but I felt the author really tried to handle a situation which was important for all concerned  in a smart way.

Another issue addressed was how we can still see people one way when they are really trying to grow and be something better… Rome had his demons to work through and so did Asa, Ayden’s brother. The parallels for them and the same for Rome with another character added depth and understanding to the story.

I felt if there was one thing which caused a little frustration for me was some of the repetition of Cora’s needs and reasons for being the way she was. I also was not completely thrilled with one of the plot points used… however; it was and ended up being a catalyst for major acceptance and change so it worked in the end. 

Jay Crownover has made me love this group of characters. I am invested deeply in their well being and future. I have seen them grow as people, make serious changes in their lives, learn about life, embrace love and be open to where it takes them. I am primed and ready to see the next chapter. Nash and “the Saint” have a heavy load to carry and I will be happy to help them through it.

About Jay Crownover

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.

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