Better When He’s Bad by Jay Crownover ♥♥♥♥♥

Jay Crownover has done it again, and this time I wasn’t even sure it was possible. When I heard about Better When He’s Bad I was really excited to read it. The Marked Men series is one of my favorites, so I was sure I would love Welcome to the Point too. But I doubted there was any way I would be falling in love with a criminal. Boy was I wrong. There was no way not to love Bax.

Bax is just getting out of jail after five years. He knows someone set him, but he’s not sure why. Now that he’s out Bax is looking for Race, his best friend, and the guy he knows holds all the answers. Race is nowhere to be found, but Race’s younger sister, Dovie, wants to help Bax find him. Dovie is mostly untouched by all that comes from living somewhere like the Point, anyone can see she’s mostly pure and innocent; Bax is dark, bad, and irresistible. Is it possible to create something beautiful from their tainted and convoluted pasts?

It’s difficult to describe the beautiful relationship that blossoms between Dovie and Bax in the midst of such an awful situation, and the lengths they are willing to go to in order to save each other.  Bax may be bad, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be good. This book is sexy, fast paced, and thrilling. I could hardly put the book down. I dare you not to fall in love with Bax. It may just be an impossible mission. 

Better When He's Bad on Goodreads

Make it Count by Megan Erickson ♥♥♥.8

Make it Count by Megan Erickson is one of those book s I picked up because quite a few authors were talking about it on Twitter. Since I enjoy those authors, I thought I would take their praise to heart and give Megan Erickson a try.

Make it Count is the story of Kat and Alec (with a good about of Max sprinkled on top). When we start the story, Kat is dating Max, a pretty craptastic boyfriend. Kat is struggling with her classes (and on academic probation), and she’s in need of a new tutor since her previous one quit. The tutor she’s assigned is nerd hottie Alec. Alec just happens to be the roommate of Kat’s boyfriend and his best friend. Even worse? There’s no denying the almost tangible energy between Alec and Kat.

This book was such a joy to read for many reasons. First, the relationship between Alec and Kat is fraught with all sorts of moral dilemmas. Those are always fun to read because the answers aren’t always so black and white. It was also very refreshing to see all sorts of diversity woven throughout the story; there was diversity in ethnicity, socioeconomics, and even on learning styles, but at the same time it didn’t feel as if those things were there just for the sake of being diverse.

And I just adored Kat. She was both strong and vulnerable. She seemed like someone you would want to be friends with, and she had many of the insecurities that made for a very relatable character. As they said in the books “nerd is the new black,” so there was no way I wasn’t going to love Alec.

Give the book a shot. It took me a few chapters to really get into the story. But once I got into it I didn’t want to put it down!

Megan Erickson on Goodreads