Title: Better When He's Bold
Series: Welcome to the Point #2
Author: Jay Crownover
Release Date: February 3, 2015
From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jay Crownover, comes the second book in a combustible new series, Welcome to the Point, that is sexier, darker, and better than ever.
There’s a difference between a bad boy and a boy who is bad. . . . Welcome to the Point.
In a dark and broken kingdom, a ruler has be fearless to control the streets and the ruthless people who run them. Race Hartman is just bold enough, just smart enough, and just lost enough to wear the crown. Places like The Point will always have bad things and bad people, but the man in control of all that badness can minimize the devastation. Race has a plan, but can he prevent total annihilation without destroying himself?
Brysen Carter has always seen the real Race—a guy too pretty, too smooth, and way too dangerous. Basking in his golden glow is very tempting, but Brysen knows she’ll eventually get burned. She has enough problems without the risky danger and mayhem that comes with a guy like Race. Too bad Brysen faces a threat close to home that might be more dangerous than anything The Point has ever produced.. And the only person interested in keeping her safe is the one man she can’t allow herself to have.
Sometimes being bold is the only way to stay alive. But can she let Race save her life . . . if it means losing herself to him?
When is a bad boy not a bad boy? That's the question I kept asking myself while reading Better When He's Bold, because Race is a contradiction. A good bad guy, or a bad good guy? Both, perhaps.
Race Hartman sits upon a rotting kingdom. The Point will always be The Point but Race plans to limit the fallout, stop the rot from spreading.
Brysen Carter admires the golden king from afar - keeping her best friend's brother at arms length, like she does everyone else, is the only way to survive.
But when Bry is threatened, Race is the one that stands to protect her. It's a bold move for a man with a target on his own back. But it may just pay-off. Because saving her could mean saving himself.
Oh, Race. I wasn't exactly his biggest fan in Better When He's Bad, the excellent predecessor to this book. Whatever his motivation, he made some hefty mistakes, and I loved Bax enough to be pissed on his behalf. But Jay Crownover may have changed my mind about the pretty (bad) boy.
Race Hartman sits upon a rotting kingdom. The Point will always be The Point but Race plans to limit the fallout, stop the rot from spreading.
Brysen Carter admires the golden king from afar - keeping her best friend's brother at arms length, like she does everyone else, is the only way to survive.
But when Bry is threatened, Race is the one that stands to protect her. It's a bold move for a man with a target on his own back. But it may just pay-off. Because saving her could mean saving himself.
Oh, Race. I wasn't exactly his biggest fan in Better When He's Bad, the excellent predecessor to this book. Whatever his motivation, he made some hefty mistakes, and I loved Bax enough to be pissed on his behalf. But Jay Crownover may have changed my mind about the pretty (bad) boy.
Race is smart. Wily, even. I liked his conflict; his attempts at finding the right balance between who he was at his heart and who he had to be to survive. I loved his unwavering affection for those he cared about and was willing to protect. His flaws didn't detract from the man he knew he wanted to be, they just made him more relatable and real.
I alternated between frustrated with Brysen and awed by her pluck. She's strong, a deserving queen and a good character - one who is easy to get attached to, one you want to root for and one that occasionally surprises with her good and bad decision making. Again, her flaws make her human. And a story like this needs that.
I very much enjoyed this story, although it felt incomplete - something I assume/hope is rectified in the third book - because although it was a typical bad boy/good girl/damsel in distress story, it was well-written, chock full of interesting characters, including Bax and his Dovie, and fast paced.
It was a mystery, one that intrigued, never bored. It was well set up and thought out, and definitely makes me want to take another trip to The Point. This time, with Titus - another contradiction, no doubt, and one I'll be happy to try and puzzle out.
Better When He's Bold is the second book in the Welcome to the Point series and can be read standalone - although reading book one would definitely be smart.
I alternated between frustrated with Brysen and awed by her pluck. She's strong, a deserving queen and a good character - one who is easy to get attached to, one you want to root for and one that occasionally surprises with her good and bad decision making. Again, her flaws make her human. And a story like this needs that.
I very much enjoyed this story, although it felt incomplete - something I assume/hope is rectified in the third book - because although it was a typical bad boy/good girl/damsel in distress story, it was well-written, chock full of interesting characters, including Bax and his Dovie, and fast paced.
It was a mystery, one that intrigued, never bored. It was well set up and thought out, and definitely makes me want to take another trip to The Point. This time, with Titus - another contradiction, no doubt, and one I'll be happy to try and puzzle out.
Better When He's Bold is the second book in the Welcome to the Point series and can be read standalone - although reading book one would definitely be smart.
~ Review by Beth
I nodded stiffly and bent over to get my laptop out from under the
seat where I stashed it. When I turned back around, I felt heat rush into my
face because bent over like that, I had clearly given Race the opportunity to
check my ass out at its best. The green in his eyes had turned to something
much darker, and I gulped nervously.
“What’s wrong with the computer?”
I held it protectively against my chest while his eyes rolled over
me. It was unnerving to be the sole focus of a guy like Race. I felt like he
was trying to get a look inside me, like he was systematically trying to figure
out all the bits and pieces that made me tick.
“I don’t know. I turned it on and the screen was just blue. I know
it’s bad, but everything I need for school is in there, so I have to do
something.”
He lifted a sandy brow and reached for the laptop. “You don’t back
anything up on an external drive or on an outside database, like Google Drive?”
I groaned and shoved my palms into my eye sockets. “Really, Race? If
I was smart enough to do that, do you think I would be praying that you can fix
it? Nothing is ever that easy in my life.”
He just watched me, his mouth turning down in a little frown. I much
preferred that look on his exquisite face to the one he wore when he was
flashing that sexy dimple at me. It was easier to resist.
“When do you need it back by?”
“I have a paper on there that is due tomorrow, but the teacher is
pretty cool and will let me slide until Monday if I explain the situation. What
I really need are my Math Theory notes. I have an evil TA who’s got it in for
me because I turned him down when he asked me out. I’m barely passing the
class, and without the notes, I’m beyond screwed.”
His eyes sank even further into midnight and his frown got even
tighter. His broad chest rose and fell as he took a deep breath and let it out
slowly.
His eyebrows dipped low over those dark eyes, and his voice was even
rougher than normal when he asked me, “What is going on with you, Brysen? Why
does every single thing you’ve said to me tonight make me want to hurt things
and various people?”
I gulped a little and shivered as we just watched each other
silently.
“Life isn’t always fun and games, Race. You have to know that better
than most people.”
He shook his blond head and took a step back from me. I really,
really wanted to reach out and snatch him back. He was so bad for my
self-control.
“No, it’s not, but you’re a good girl and too pretty for words.
Things shouldn’t be that hard for you.”
Well, they were, and I was just going to have to live with it.
“Do you think you can save it?”
He took another step back and grinned. I swear everything that made
me female melted and turned liquid when that dimple indented his cheek.
“I’m pretty skilled at whatever I put my mind to, Brysen.”
The sexy undercurrent made me want to whimper.
“When do you think I can have it back?”
“Give me your number. I have a bunch of shit to take care of
tomorrow, but after that’s all handled, I’ll look at it. Give me until the
weekend.”
That was only three days. Aside from Math Theory, I should be able
to make do until then. I rattled off my number and scowled when he didn’t pull
out his phone to enter it in.
“You’re going to remember that?” I hated that I sounded like I was
pouting about it.
“I won’t forget it, Bry. Everything about you is very memorable.”
Ugh … that kiss. It was going to haunt me
forever. I shifted uneasily and pushed off the car.
Jay Crownover is the New York Times and USA Today
bestselling author of the Marked Men and The Point series. Like her characters,
she is a big fan of tattoos. She loves music and wishes she could be a rock
star, but since she has no aptitude for singing or instrument playing, she'll
settle for writing stories with interesting characters that make the reader
feel something. She lives in Colorado with her three dogs.
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