Nash

Author: Jay Crownover

Genre: New Adult Fiction

Release Date: 4-29-14

Format: e-book

Number of Pages: 260

Stand Alone or Part of a Series: Can be read as a stand-alone, but is part of The Marked Men series.

Summary:

Saint Ford has always worked hard to achieve her childhood dream of becoming a nurse. Focused on her work and devoted to her patients, there’s no room for love. She doesn’t need a guy making waves in her calm, serene life – especially when he’s the unforgettable hottie who nearly destroyed her in high school. Dark, brooding Nash Donovan might not remember her or the terrible pain he caused. But he turned her world upside down…and now he’s trying to do it again.

Saint has no idea that Nash isn’t the cocky player he once was. Uncovering a devastating family secret has rocked his world, and now he’s struggling to figure out his future. He can’t be distracted by the pretty nurse he seems to meet everywhere. Still, he can’t ignore the sparks that fly between them – or how she seems so desperate to get away from him. But the funny, sweet, and drop-dead gorgeous Saint is far too amazing to give up on – especially since she’s the only thing in his life that seems to make sense.

When Nash discovers the truth about their past, he realizes he may have lost her heart before he could even fight for it. Now, Saint has to decide: is Nash worth risking herself all over again?

Happily Ever After: Yes

What I Liked Most About This Book: Saint was pretty relatable. I doubt that there is a girl on this planet that hasn’t felt insecure a time or two in her life – especially around a hot guy. I like how real Jay Crownover’s writing is. The whole Marked Men group seems like an every-day, average group of friends and family that you can find living in your town. A lot of books I read( and enjoy) aren’t that way…the people are so fantastical – even in contemporary stories – that they don’t feel like they could be real people living real lives. At least not real people I would ever get the privilege of running into. Along those same lines…I also liked that we got to see quite a bit of the other couple’s in the series. These people are all supposed to be friends...real friends attend each other’s weddings and funerals, pace nervously together in hospital waiting rooms, hang out on a Friday night, ask each other for advice. All of these things happen in Nash and when they do we get to catch glimpses how Rule and Shaw, Rome and Cora, and Jet and Ayden are doing in their happily ever after. We didn’t get to see as much of Jet and Ayden in Nash as I would have liked, but Nash was always depicted as being closer to Rule and Cora, so I suspect we will get our closer glimpses of Jet in Rowdy’s story when that comes out.

What I Liked Least About This Book: I felt like we were told that Saint was picked on and bullied, but we were never shown it. We actually had more scenes where we were shown how badly Nash was bullied by his mom and step-dad than we did for the character who actually had personal issues and hang-ups because of the supposed cruelty she suffered. It seemed that all of her hang-ups and self-esteem issues were all in her head – which could have been the author’s point, since ultimately Saint had to learn to love herself in spite of what others thought. I just feel like it may have been better to show us real instances of her being bullied or teased because then it would have been easier to sympathize with her feelings.

Share A Quote From The Book: “Trust me, the person you are is remarkable and exceptional. If you get acquainted with her, your entire life will change.”

Would I Recommend This Book: Absolutely.

Would I Re-Read This Book: I’ve already re-read all of the other Marked Men books- this one won’t be any different.

Rating: four and a half stars out of five

Other Comments: Every time Nash mentioned hanging out with “the Archer twins” as a kid my heart skipped a beat. I think we truly missed out because Remy had already died when the series started with Rule.  I know its Nash’s story, but I wish we had gotten a bit more from Nash’s POV in high school because I would have liked to get to see Remy and how he fit into and interacted with the Rule/Nash/Jet trio. I wish there was a Remy prequel…I’m just so dang curious about him!