Rowdy by Jay Crownover

Rowdy by Jay Crownover
Series: Marked Men #5
Publisher: Harper
Publication Date: October 24th 2014
Source: Bought

After the only girl he had ever loved told him he would never be enough, Rowdy St. James knocked the Texas dust off his boots and decided he was going to do everything in his power to live up to his nickname. Life was all about a good time, good friends and never taking much too seriously. Only now he has a new coworker, a ghost from the past who’s making him question every lesson he ever learned.

Salem Cruz grew up in a house with too many rules – and no fun allowed. She left it all behind as soon as she could, but she never forgot the sweet, blue-eyed boy next door who’d been in love with her little sister. Now, fate and good intentions from an old friend have placed her right in Rowdy’s path and she’s determined to show him he picked the wrong sister all those years ago…

I only started reading Jay Crownover's Marked Men series this year, but it's quickly became one of my favourites. I've been looking forward to Rowdy's book ever since I started the series. Rowdy is such a mysterious character, and we don't really know much about him or his past - only that he got his heart broken when he was younger - so I couldn't wait for his book to finally unravel the mystery of Rowdy.

Finding out about Rowdy's past actually broke my heart. Rowdy never knew his dad, and his mother died in a car accident, so he'd been in foster care since a very young age. Young Rowdy was extremely sweet, adorable, naive and my heart broke for him. After Rowdy had his heart broken, he gave up on finding love and never let himself get too involved with women. He closed himself off, but he was still so sweet and adorable, but also sexy and extremely charming. I adored Rowdy.

When Salem arrived at the end of Nash, I knew she was going to cause some trouble for Rowdy. It turns out that Rowdy lived next door to Salem's family when they were growing up, and he had a strong bond with Salem and her sister Poppy. Salem never fit in with her family, and she was always rebelling against her father's rules. She's feisty, strong and confident. She was determined to get out from under her father's rules, so at 18, she packed her bags and left - leaving behind her sister and Rowdy.

Rowdy and Salem both work in the tattoo shop together, so there's no escaping each other. Salem is determined to make Rowdy understand, but Rowdy doesn't want anything to do with her. He's still hung up on the past, and he doesn't know whether he can trust Salem. Rowdy always hinted that something happened with Poppy - who broke Rowdy's heart - and we find out a lot more about Rowdy, Salem and Poppy, and we see how much guilt Salem carries for running off and leaving Poppy with their father. I loved seeing Rowdy and Salem together, and seeing the way they interacted with each other. It was pretty obvious that they were meant to be together. They had some serious chemistry in the bedroom, I think they have the hottest relationship of the series for me -  but they had a lot of shit to sort out before they could even think about being together properly. And the Poppy showed up in the second half and shit got real. It was crazy and had my holding onto my kindle for dear life. My heart was racing because I just wouldn't have been able to deal with it if something happened to any of the characters. 

I love that all the characters in this series are so intertwined into each others lives. I always get to see my favourite characters! I was totally right about the Shaw & Rule thing (SPOILER: OMG. Shaw is pregnant! A baby Rule!); I had a stupid smile on my face thanks to Rome & Cora; Jet & Ayden are still having some problems, but they're amazing and Nash & Saint are just adorable! Asa is also quickly becoming one of my favourites, and I felt so bad for him in Rowdy. He just can't catch a break. I'm dying to read his book, and if he and Royal don't get together, I will not be happy.

Yet again, the epilogue has just left me dying for the next book. I just can't get enough of these guys, their girls and their world. It's such an amazing series, and I just need Asa right now!