Review: Leveled (Saints of Denver #0.5) by Jay Crownover

Book info:
Title:  Leveled  
Author:  Jay Crownover
Series:  Saints of Denver #0.5  
Genre:  New Adult Gay Romance 
Published: December 8th, 2015
Source:  I purchased the book

Okay, I have to admit that is my first romance between two men novel.  I've read stories with gay characters before.  But most of the time they were side characters, or it was not this type of a romance.  What I mean about "this type" of romance is a story with the sex scenes included, not just the romance.  No, it is not my usual read, but it is by a current favorite author of mine.  And, the characters are ones that I knew from other books in her other series, and they were characters that I had gotten to know enough that I wanted them to have their own happy endings.  And WARNING!!!! I might have a spoiler or two for some of the books in the Marked Men series in this review.  Starting with the very first paragraph!

As with all of Crownover's books, we get both sides of the story with alternating chapters.  First we have Orlando.  We met Lando back in the very first book in the Marked Men series, Rule.  Lando was Rule's twin brother Remy's boyfriend.   Remy's boyfriend that no one except for Shaw, his best friend at the time, now Rule's wife, knew about.  Lando has had a hard time trying to move on to another serious relationship after losing Remy.  Since Remy died in a car wreck the same night the two of them had an argument, Lando has always felt kind of guilty about it.  Lando is a physical therapist who helps athletes, military vets, and other big cases. 

Dominic is our love interest.  Dom was Royal's partner. Royal is who we really got to meet in the book I reviewed earlier this week, Asa.  If you read that book, you know that Dom was injured in a police incident, so bad that he needed major therapy if he was going to be able to get back to work on the force.  Dom has always been a cop, always wanted to be to take after his father, who died in the line of work as a police officer.  He meets Lando when he goes for physical therapy.  Of course the two of them are attracted to each other.  But both have their own issues that keep them apart. 

After losing Remy the way he did, Lando doesn't want to fall in love with Dom, because Dom's job is dangerous, and he could also die, and Lando doesn't know if he can handle another loss like that.  When the two of them give into the attraction, it is Dom's insistence on getting back into his police work that keeps the rift between them.  In the end, both of them have to decide if the other one is worth overcoming their past fears and hold ups.

It was definitely a romance, even with it being between two guys.  But of course there were things that were weird for me as a heterosexual female.  Just the thought processes to start with.  Also, I definitely learned about the actual sex between two men.  Things that I didn't realize.  I have friends who are gay men, but obviously I don't ask them or talk about their sex life in detail.  So I always just assumed sex for two men consisted of about one position, and then maybe oral sex?  If you don't want to or are uncomfortable reading about sex that isn't your norm, this is not the book for you.  Although I guess you could skip those parts when it gets into the detail and move on, and still get to enjoy the romance of the story. 

A good story, not sure if I'll read a lot more of gay romance like this, but I did find it very informative, and it didn't bother me at all, just opened my mind to some things I'd not thought about.

Audiobook Review: Asa (Marked Men #6) by Jay Crownover

Book info:
Title:  Asa 
Author:  Jay Crownover
Series:  Marked Men #6  
Genre:  New Adult Romance
Published:  April 21st, 2015
Source:  Digital audiobook downloaded from public library

So, this was a bit of a bittersweet listen.  It was the last in the Marked Men series, although fortunately the author has a new series she's in the middle of, Saints of Denver, that includes people we met in the Marked Men series, and also includes the characters, like Asa, that we now know and love.  This book was interesting for me because in the books previous to this one, it was often hit or miss on whether the narrators would pronounce this character's name correctly.  I knew how I said it in my head, but I had to make sure and tweeted to the author asking.  And I was right.  It is "A-sa" not "Ah-sa."  But anyway, here's my summary of the story.

As with all the books, we get the viewpoints of both of the main characters, this time it is Asa, who is Avery's brother - from the book Jet.  The female is Royal, a cop, who lives across the hall from Nash and Saint.  What we know of Asa is all the horrible things he did to his sister, or let his sister do for him in the past.  Since she went to him when he was in the coma and then brought him back to Denver to live with her, he has been working as a bartender at Rome's bar.  He's trying to be a better man, but just knows that he will always be that bad guy, and that he doesn't deserve anything more than one night stands.  He definitely doesn't think he deserves a good girl like Royal.

At the end of the last book, Rowdy, Royal and her partner were part of a very dangerous situation that left her partner, Dom, out of commission and recovering from gunshots and a fall from the side of a building.  Royal feels guilty, and it is affecting her job.  She is afraid that she choked, that what happened to her partner is her fault. That if their roles had been reversed, he wouldn't have let the same thing happen to her.  So when we begin the book, she is on a bit of a self-destructive path.  She's definitely attracted to Asa, even though in the past she was the one who had to arrest him for a crime that he turned out to be innocent of committing.  But she keeps trying to get him to give her a chance.  And he keeps trying to show her just how bad he is so that she won't keep trying.  

The story had some very emotional parts, and definitely some steamy parts, especially when Asa finds his creative uses for scotch.  I really enjoyed this book, as I have with all the others.  The reason it got a 4 instead of a 5 star rating on Goodreads for me was because I hated the way Asa dealt with the issue at the end.  I know, I know, it was probably needed for the drama and the story. But still.  I can't imagine anyone not telling right away when they figured out what he did.  Other complaints I had were at first the narrators just talked so slow!  Yes, Asa's southern drawl made sense, but the narrator for Royal was too slow as well.  I also hated that the author would kind of stop the scene right in the middle of a sexy scene.  It was so frustrating the couple of times it happened.  And the scenes in the book were very steamy. There's one at the beginning that is steamy and was embarrassing to read!  Especially when you know that Asa did it on purpose!  If I'd been Royal at that part, I'd have been pissed, but really embarrassed as well!

A fun thing now from reading all of her books, at least the ones set in Denver, is that I pay attention to every character wondering if they might get their own story in the future.  And I can't wait for at least two more in the Saints of Denver series.  I don't know what I'll do when that series is over.  

And I can't wait until the first weekend in October when I get to meet the author!