5 Smooches
Synopsis
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?
Review
“To keep Race and those traitorous feelings at bay, I was awful to him . . .I mean really, really awful. I was cold. I was disinterested. I was rude, and sometimes I was flat out mean.”
Can I just say how much I LOVED Brysen and Race. Brysen is Race’s middle ground in my opinion. She comes from right between the Hill where Race was raised and the Point where he has decided to make his home. To say they are attracted to each other would be a VAST understatement but Brysen knows that Race is BAD and TROUBLE and pushes him away at every chance she can. That is till he saves her and pulls her out of a party where someone opened fire.
“You’re the only one I was worried about.”
In the face of danger emotions get out of control and Brysen allows Race to kiss her and from there on out they can’t turn back. But where does a smart, intelligent middle-class girl like Brysen fit into Race’s life in a place like The Point.
“I kissed him back. It wasn’t romantic, it wasn’t sweet and filled with tangible longing or loving care. It was brutal, violent, hard and hot, and nothing in my entire life has ever felt better.”
What I love most about the men of The Point is that they are not good guys, they do bad things to get by and have no regrets in the end. Race is running a crime empire and someone out there is showing him up by causing trouble all over the place and that trouble seems to always involve Brysen. Rae knows something is different about this girl and feels incredibly protective over her.
“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?”
When it becomes evident that neither can really control their feelings around each other they have to decide if they care enough to withstand the crime and drama that comes with a place like The Point. Brysen isn’t sure she can live a life where the man she cares for does bad things and puts himself in danger everyday and Race is not willing to give up the standing he has worked and sacrificed so much to achieve.
“You think you are going to single-handedly pull the Point out of the fire, Race?” “No. But I do think I can control the burn,”
Often in books the man is either the Good Guy Hero or the bad man you love. What Jay does so well is mixing the two, the men of The Point don’t apologize for the things they do nor are they willing to stop doing them but still somehow you cannot help but see the good in them, Even if sometimes that good is hidden behind layers of illegal activity and questionable decisions.
“”Brysen Carter was a good girl. A pretty blonde from the right side of town, but, man, could she kiss like a dirty girl,”
The Welcome to the Point series is so different than The Marked Men series that Jay is famous for but no less captivating and fun. The stories are exciting and fast paced with just the right touch of a sexy anti-hero and a good girl willing to go a little bad for the man she loves. Jay Crownover always delivers characters you can love and a story you want to jump into!
“This” — he pointed between him and me as he pulled open the car door — “is happening.”
With just two books out, This series it is quickly establishing itself as a must mead and a top recommendation for me! I can’t wait to get dirty again with the next man from The Point!
“It isn’t always easy. You aren’t always easy, but I have yet to regret any of it, Race.”
~miranda
