Better When He's Bad: A Dark and Dangerous Romance Featuring an Ex-Con and a Fiery Redhead (Welcome to the Point, 1)

With her previous series Ms. Crownover proved she knows how to write drool-worthy heroes and with this series starter her talent for creating compelling heroes continues with the enigmatic Bax. Where her previous series dipped a toe into troubled waters, this one dives in wholeheartedly with a city that's gritty and corrupt and full of questionable characters. It all makes for a compelling read that sucked me in from the very first page to the last. Bax has just been released from prison after serving five years in protection of his friend, Race. All he wants to do is make up for lost time with a willing woman, but finding his missing friend soon becomes his priority and brings him to the home of a woman claiming to be Race's half-sister. Meeting her changes his life irrevocably and complicates his search for Race as Dovie makes him feel and think things he's not felt or thought before. That's not to say she completely reforms him though. Bax is too ingrained in this gritty world to ever escape it completely and revels in his image and deeds too much to leave it all behind. Being with Dovie shows a more tender and thoughtful side to him. With her he's Shane and a man of worth in her eyes. He's the epitome of antihero as he doesn't shy away from doing what needs to be done to protect those he cares for. He has his own moral code that is deep-seated and accompanied by a strong sense of loyalty. He's proud to be a bad boy and this self-abashed honesty won me over completely and still has me dreaming of him! Dovie's growing up was far from ideal as her father wanted her nowhere near his picture-perfect life and her mother left her to the foster care system. She learned to watch out for herself and be leery but she's somehow retained a sweet nature which calls to Shane. Being with Race showed her what love and family is and she's desperate to find out what happened to him. To do that, she's willing to sell her soul to Bax's devilish side as she joins him on a journey to the Point's gritty underbelly. As they dig deeper, the truth about Bax's going to jail and the secrets Race is mired in only lead to more questions and twists that kept me on the edge of my seat. Through it all Dovie stands beside Bax. She knows she can't change him, and wouldn't want to as his choices have made him the man she's come to care for, she loves him without reservation rough edges and all. Their relationship is definitely one of opposite's attracting where she brings out his softer side and he makes her stronger than she thought she could be. Their connection is steamy and I can fully understand Dovie's attraction to him as he has me drooling over him as well. Dovie is an immensely likable character who's sweet yet sassy. She's good at taking care of others which is just what Shane needs as he's been alone far too long. I enjoyed seeing their relationship evolve into something truly special and rare....a love that is unconditional. This story had me entranced from the very start as this world is a dark and gritty one with characters that you can't easily classify. This is a world that's not just black and white, it's full of grey as people don't always make the best choices. Into this world comes a very special couple that despite all their differences fit together beautifully. Both of the main characters are compelling in their imperfections and admirable in surviving a world that continually tried to drag them down. The cast of secondary characters are equally engaging and I look forward to getting to know them more fully in the next installment as Ms. Crownover has again crafted a masterful tale of suspense, emotional intensity, and a sweet and sexy romance. Ms. Crownover captured my attention with her Marked Men series and has now made me an even bigger fan with this first installment in the Welcome to the Point series. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to those readers wanting a book that doesn't take the easy way out but gives readers exactly what they want with an endearing romance and larger-than-life characters!

I love myself a bad boy, especially a bad boy who falls for a girl when he doesn’t think he’ll ever fall in love for a girl. Bad boys who embrace their badness, flaunt it, and make no excuses for it – these are the boys us girls find the most intriguing. Bad boys are alluring. They’re dangerous and seductive, dangerously seductive and hard to deny. It’s an interesting concept in life a girl with a straight track to a good life falls for the charm of the bad boy then without even realizing it accepting the challenge of making him hers forever. This is the premise for Better When He’s Bad by Jay Crownover. Bad boy meets the good girl wrapped up in the mysterious, miserable turn of events in his life. As a huge fan of the Marked Men series by this author, this new series left me really intrigued. As with all her works, the author lured me into her world with a fast-paced yet very detailed and descriptive story. My biggest issue – the hype surrounding this book put my expectations in the stratosphere and while you could say those expectations were met you could also say they were met in a totally different way than I thought. The fact of matter proves to be – Bax just isn’t that bad. I mean he’s bad; he’s bad ass, he’s scary, he’s tough, he’s the boy who grew up in the rough neighborhood with the rough mother and did what he need to survive. But he’s not really all bad because he’s the boy with a soft heart, a conscience, and a need to understand why the wrongs in his life stay wrong. To me, a true bad boy doesn’t care and that’s just not true for Bax. This revelation wasn’t disappointing because his character was good – just totally different from my expectations. Dovie’s the good girl in the story but in an interesting twist she’s the good girl who also grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. She’s tough, she gives as good she gets, and she handles Bax in a way that’s totally fitting to her character. It was interesting choice to have her from the same background as Bax but show her as the exact opposite in choices she made about where her life was going. They way they were together endears the reader to their story. We see something Bax as Dovie sees him that makes him even more special. He stays bad and he lives with that inside him but he also works to make her feel something more too. It was a fun ride through The Point. I enjoyed Bax and Dovie’s story and read through the whole book rather easily and swiftly. Ms. Crownover’s writing sets a tone, a dreary ambiance, to where the reader’s feel like an innocent bystander as the events of the book unfold. It’s darker and gloomy in The Point and thanks to descriptive writing we feel part of the plot. Twists and turns along the way provide a good bit of action. Bax and Dove engage during the hard times and the soft ones. I’m not going for five stars because Better When He's Bad isn’t what I expected and some points I thought were contradictory to things that happened early on in the book but overall I really enjoyed it and look forward to visiting The Point again.

Originally Reviewed on The Bewitching Bibliophile Book Blog as part of the Book Launch Blog Tour, I received a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review, it did not affect nor influence my review. Ok so y'all already know I fangirl hard over Jay's Marked Men series, so when I heard she had a new series coming out and this guy was badder than Rule?? Girl chile you know I signed right the hell up right?? Of course you see the title, you know I did. My heart belongs to Rome but then Bax came along. He did his very best to hijack my heart and let me explain why. I love Bax, when I went into this book I had no idea what I'd signed up for; Bax makes Rule look tame and I do mean tame. This story grabs you by the throat and drags you down into the ground and makes you a part of it. I loved the grittiness; the showcasing of a world that normally doesn't get any love. Bax was a kid from the streets, someone who loved cars and was able to parlay that into a job, not a legal one but still it kept him in food and home because his mother wasn't well, his brother had abandoned him and he doesn't know who his father is. His life was a hard road through the toughest parts of the city, the parts the bright lights hide and pretend isn't there, it's the parts the people with money come to play in and leave behind when they have decided that slumming is no longer their thing. But people have to survive and Bax & Dovie struggle to survive, thrive and still have something worth smiling about. I loved reading this story, I told my sister it was like reading an old school rap song, amazingly graphic, raw, raunchy and real. It pulled me in, made me feel like I was watching the story unfold in real life. Although I have never lived on this side of the city I have friends who are from there, I have driven through it, I have worked with people from these parts of town, and I have worked with patients who have survived these parts of the city, and it's about time, the stories start being told. It made me feel like I was there and witnessing it real life, I loved Dovie and OMG Race!! (who was briefly in there was still not enough to make me very excited for number 2 "Better When He's Bold") Dovie was likeable character, she was vulnerable, yet tough and boy did she love fiercely. I loved how she was open to seeing more than meets the eye but also saw reality. She refused to be stuck with just what she was born with, she wanted more and aimed for that; she tried to be a good role model and give back to those who have less than her and all the time, she strives to stay above the fray, and not get pulled down by the many vices that rule the city. I LOVE THESE BOOKS!! (And no I don't get paid to say this, I just love them!!) I would fangirl more but y'all need to see it for yourself. It was like an episode of the Wire just as gritty and real. I was completely absorbed and found myself checking the counter to make sure I wasn't running out of book before the story gave me everything it had. Bax!??!! OMGAWD Bax, he's just so amazing. I'll be real I have no idea if I could have made his decision in the warehouse. That moment made me feel so many feels, just the rawness of it, the fear, the desperate moments of hope, the fleeting glimpse of love, and just knowing any moment it could go all the way wrong. I was deeply emotionally vested in this story. There was mystery, trying to figure out who all the players where, why they were playing, and even why this game in partiular. Please check out the series, I just know that I can't wait for January 2015 for book 2). This is an amazing story and it's about time the 'average guy from the block ' gets some love in the new adult genre and I'm happy Jay is writing it. ★★★★★ Happy Reading and please don't forget to share the love with others and of course with Jay. I'm not even ashamed to say I have already read this again for a second time this month. LOL

"Do you want me to lie to you?" I grabbed his hand and forced him to hold the towel so I could work on his face. I cleaned him off with a cotton ball soaked in peroxide, which had him swearing and scowling at me. I found the little butterfly Steri-strip I bought and slapped a couple on his cheek. "Yeah. I think I do." I couldn't tell the difference when he lied to me anyway. He grunted and narrowed his eyes even farther at me when I slimed some antibacterial goo on his lower lip. "then no. You wold be exactly like all the rest." 4 3/4 stars, I love Jay Crownover it seems that whatever she writes I can't get enough of. This girl knows how to write a hero to make me melt and fall in love as fast as lightning. And she (thank goodness) knows how to write a heroine that I not only don't hate but love. The second I heard about this book I knew it would be a release day read. I literally counted down the days till Better When He's Bad was released. And can we just pause and talk about the title Better When He's Bad *sigh*. I was hooked the second I started this book and would get mad when real life forced me to put it down. Bax and Race were best friends so when Bax got put in prison for five years and he knew his friend had something to do about it Bax sat and stewed for five years trying to figure out what happened. When Bax was released he wanted to find his friend to know what happened but Race went missing. Now it seems that everyone is looking for Race. While Bax was looking for Race Bax finds Dovie, Bax is shocked to find out she is Race's sister. A sister that no one seemed to know he had. Dovie grew up worse than most, so when she found out she had a brother and he took her away from the danger she lived in and made a family for the two of them Dovie learned what love and family was and she would gladly do anything for Race. Race always told her about Bax and that no matter what she could trust him so when Race went missing and the mysterious Bax with the star tattoo showed up she knew he would help her find Race. Now Bax and Dovie are trying to find Race so they can find out not only why he turned on Bax but also what he has over the man who runs their town. The more they dig the more questions they have and the more they know that Dovie may be in the cross hairs of the danger. The longer they spend together the more Bax and Dovie's attraction becomes to hard to deny. soon what started as only a physical attraction turns into something neither thought possible. And when Race finally shows up and the truth is revealed Bax is willing to do anything to keep the girl who stole his heart safe no matter the cost. This book blew me away. I enjoyed it the entire time I was reading it but then when the truth was revealed I was really surprised. Ms. Crownover wrote this book so well, the storyline was executed so well and it was so smart that I couldn't help but enjoy it the more I read. I usually am one to guess the twists and turns and the story line but this one I didn't see coming at all. Jay Crownover really impressed me and after reading all of her book I didm't think I could like her writing anymore than I already did. I loved Bax, what wasn't their to love, he was so good at being bad and even better at loving and protecting Dovie, he was tough but so gentle and loving with Dovie. Bax was willing to do ANYTHING for Dovie to make sure she was safe and he wanted nothing more than for her to be happy. Dovie was a great heroine she was smart and kind and she didn't take crap from anyone or melt into a puddle just because Bax was hot or kissed her. This book was filled with characters that were too easy to love. before Race even showed up I was in love with him and hoping he was book two( and he is). When a man does everything to protect his friend and sister you know he's one you want to know more about, and the little we saw of Dovie's friend (who will be Race's heroine) makes so unbelievably impatient for book two. I really hope we get a book three to this series because I want Bax's brother Titus's story as bad as I want Race's story. He did all he could to protect Bax even if Bax thought he was one of the people who turned on him and helped to put him in prison. I love anti-hero's I wish more authors wrote about them but I also know that it's a thin line between an anti-hero and a jerk and Jay knows that line. Bax was so good at being bad I didn't want him to change. I do wish this book had an epilogue I would have loved to have had that icy on top of this great book but this book still left me with a smile on my face and my calendar marked for book 2.

There is something inherently sexy about a bad boy, be it the songs he rocks, the bike he straddles, or the horse he rides. Yet, what if the "bad" in the boy could not be tamed? What if it were more than his womanizing, egomaniac ways? What if he was criminally bad and had no remorse for his crimes, in fact, he never planned on going straight? Would he still be as insanely hot? I can only testify to my opinion, and that would be... yes, because in the pages of a book, the worst of the worst can bring women to their knees. Also, loyalty is a trait to be admired in a world where selfishness seems to be put above selflessness. But that's not a rant for this blog... a reminder, maybe, but not a rant. If you've read Rule, Jet, Rome, and/or Nash, also by Jay Crownover, you know these guys to be a bunch a misfits banded tighter than blood through tough lives and the love of ink. They're all out for a good time, including booze, women, and old fashioned boys games. They are fun. Fun to look at, fun to be around, and certainly they must be fun to sleep with... well, the women who tame them certainly think so, at least. Best I can say, they are fun to read about. Better When He's Bad is not a fun book, nor is it about a man sowing his wild oats. It's gritty and raw, even cringe-worthy at times—but in the best of ways. I would say Jay Crownover stepped her writing up to phenomenal heights with Bax and his story. (I'm twitching to read Race's story next.) When I read the first paragraph, I had to wonder if the same woman who is still writing the Marked Men series could possibly be the same woman writing the Welcome to the Point series. And no, I don't mean that literally... of course she's the one writing both series, I just believe this shows the range she has as an author, as well as the growth of her writing along the way. What I loved: Bax and the people who surrounded him are mysteries in of themselves. The twists and turns, and the completely unexpected. I loved the way I sat on the edge of my seat wondering how Bax was going to get himself and Dovie out of an unfathomable mess. I loved Bax for having at least one person he would protect besides himself. Jay's ability to draw out the suspense where Bax is concerned speaks to my earlier argument about her ability as a writer. My thoughts about the notorious Bax, in particular, are: While criminals are not my ideal choice in a companion, Bax made it appear possible. Or should I say, Jay made it appear possible. The trouble Bax jumped into wasn't nickle and dime crap. He walks out of 5 years in prison to find himself involved in something bigger and much scarier than before, primarily because he's found a female worth taking care of. My thoughts about Dovie: She is Race's sister, and Race is Bax's best friend, but the three of them couldn't be more different. Honestly, I'm not completely sure how I feel about Dovie. To be so good, she certainly stepped up and handled Bax like a natural. The one thing I couldn't piece together in my head, was when exactly they fell in love with each other. One second he's her protector, the next he's unwilling to let her go. I'm not certain I ever completely bought their relationship, but at some point I forgot about how they became what they were and just went with the story. What I could have lived without: There is one scene I could have lived without ever reading, and no, I'm not going to discuss it, I'm not going to tell you which scene it is, I'm just going to leave it on the wayside and pretend like it never crossed my eyes. So why bring it up at all? Because it is particularly violent and put an image in my head I can't erase. I'm a grown woman, and if it bothered me, I want people to be warned that there is graphic material associated with the book. Was it enough for me to not reread the book? No, I'll probably just skip over it. Would this book have gotten 5 stars without it? No. The lack of me buying the entire romance played into that. Was the scene pivotal? I honestly have to say yes. Perhaps there could have been a better way, though I can't think of a more shocking and captivating one. Bravo, Jay Crownover! I'm going to admit to being more of a Marked Men girl myself, and I'm looking forward to Rowdy in October, I believe. But don't you worry, with just the small snippet of Race's story, I'm excited for Better When He's Bold.

My Review I have a confession to make. I used to read a lot of NA (New Adult) and romance books. What is NA? Well, based on what i've read that has been classified as NA, it's a book set around the years between 18-late 20's. And all of the books that i've read that have been labeled NA have been romance or had 'adult situations'. I know that currently there are a lot of authors who are focusing on this genre that are aiming to broaden it's reach a little. Instead of just being romance, they're trying to introduce NA with no adult situations and more fantasy/paranormal/sci-fy. Anyway, that got way off track. I used to read a bunch of romance, but I got tired of it. I was seeing the same situations and character styles over and over again. And I was reading a lot of books that just. . .weren't that great. The writing wasn't awesome, and the books goals seemed to be to get to the steamy scenes. So I stopped reading as many of them. A few months ago, I was reading some blogs and saw several bloggers posting about Jay Crownover. I was intrigued and decided to give one of her books a shot. And that was Rule. I was hooked! I read Rule in one day and I loved what I was reading. Yes it was steamy, but I love some good romance. It was also well-written and her characters were totally engrossing. So when I heard that she had a new series coming out, I decided to pick up Better When He's Bad. Overall, I don't really love the trend of the bad boy as a romance lead. I think sometimes it's an excuse to write guys who behave horribly and have them come off as attractive. And don't get me wrong, the whole alpha male thing can be hot, but it was getting overplayed for me. I saw it in way too many books. And Better When He's Bad is all about the bad boy, Bax. Initially, I thought I would hate it. Bax is just getting out of a five year prison sentence and the first day he's out, he's already had some fun on the side and gotten in a fight with some of the goons he used to work for. Overall, he's just not that nice of a guy. But there's the catch. Even though he does some criminal things, and I do mean criminal, the main reason I stuck with this book and ended up liking it is that we actually see Bax overcome the bad childhood he had and end up trusting another person. Dovie is Bax's best friend Race's sister. After Bax gets out of prison, he immediately tries to track Race down, but he's nowhere to be found. In trying to find him, Bax stumbles on his sister, Dovie. He's not exactly blown away by her personality, but he has to admire her drive and stubbornness in trying to help find her brother. The chemistry between Bax and Dovie is hot. We can see where this story is going as soon as they have their first conversation but that doesn't ruin the story at all. I really loved Dovie. She's been handed a really bad lot in life, but she's kept her head up and done her best to make the best of a really bad situation. I think a really realistic part of this book is that Dovie doesn't fix Bax. Although we may want her to fix him, and have him come out the other side a totally different person, it's much more realistic that we see Dovie do her best to show Bax where he's going wrong and have him be the same person on the other side. Just a little bit more open and considerate of his actions. The thing that kept me from loving this book was Bax honestly. I understood the idea that Jay Crownover was trying to make. Growing up a criminal in a bad part of town does not make you a very nice person. And even though Bax was an attractive guy, I spent 3/4's of the book kind of disliking him. He's an ass, he doesn't talk much and he doesn't make concessions for anyone. I think if we had seen more redeeming qualities in Bax sooner in the book, it would have been a better story for me. The fact was, he was a jerk for most of the book and then at the end we see him kind of coming to terms with the actions that will effect the rest of his life. Overall though, it was an entertaining story. The chemistry between Bax and Dovie is really hot, and the steamy scenes are . . . .really good. *fans self* I wasn't thrilled with Bax as a character and I definitely prefer Rule, but it was a good read and really well written.

So I wouldn’t necessarily say I was avoiding starting this series, but it was more like I was saving what I knew would be a sure thing for a rainy day. You know, when you get in such a book funk that nothing will pull you out? You need something that even though you may have not read it before, you just KNOW with every fiber of your being that this book will pull you out. I’ve never been wrong with these choices before, and I didn’t start now. This book was just…WOW. The emotional pull between right and wrong transcended and bled throughout the pages from the first until the last. If you are looking for a perfect anti-hero, look no further than Shane “Bax” Baxter. This was a man, that though at times may have seemed a little jaded and had an Eeyore “Oh bother” esque attitude about him, you just knew it was from what he had experienced growing up in the Point. Life had gotten this man down, but rather than letting it beat him, he just accepted things the way they were. There was no telling him that life could be any differently, until he met his anti-Bax in Dovie. If ever a book needed a breathe of fresh air, she was it. Her light flew from the pages, and though she had the same abandonment issues and rough upbringing Bax did, life hadn’t gotten her down completely. She still saw a light at the end of her tunnel (no, that wasn’t a sexual innuendo ;-) ) My love for their story knows no bounds. As I write this, I am only 70% through, but I know regardless of the ending, my love will stand true. I love how right from the get go, we are introduced to all the players that will be in the subsequent books. That was one of the things I loved the most about Crownover’s Marked Men series; how she built a strong foundation without shoving every character down our throats. It’s quick, yet gradual at the same time. It’s a slow burn that allows you to slowly fall in love with them. It’s a drive that forces you to forget a time when these characters didn’t exist in your life. This story is raw and gritty and completely unlike her debut series. Both have their merits, but I don’t feel like they are even in the same category. My love for them is a separate entity entirely and I wouldn’t have it any other way. If you tried to compare the two, you would come up disappointed. Which is fantastic in my opinion. Even when you fall in love with characters and a series, if an author were to write the same thing over and over it would become boring and problematic. I applaud Crownover for taking a chance with the subject matters tackled in this series. Even when times are as bad as you think they can get, she still allows a little silver lining and hope to fetter through. There was never a time when I lost faith that something good would come from this. Still, with 30% left of the book, I hold hope. I can’t at this moment see how it will end well, but I’m okay with the fact of where the characters are at even now. Because I feel like they came into each other’s lives for a reason. Bax teaches Dovie how to let go and stand up for herself. He teachers her how to live free. She teaches him how to truly let love in. How to accept the bad with the good and be proud of both. How no matter dire the situation, there is always a way out, even though you may not see it. I love the strength they find in each other, even if the other doesn’t realize it. I’m not completely sold on Race yet, but I have a whole other book to fall in love with him, so at this point, the feelings are moot. Having now finished, my opinion has not only NOT changed but has grown. This book was just phenomenal from start to finish. I love that Dovie didn’t try to change the person he was, merely make him see the man be had become. There’s nothing wrong with good and evil; it’s the balancing act that can get tricky. Our main characters navigated this flawlessly, with only a little mess here and there. But that’s life; messy. Messy makes you appreciate what you have more. Messy makes you treasure those you love more. Messy makes life interesting. For anyone on the fence, give this book a shot. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!

This is the first book in the Welcome to the Point series from Jay Crownover. I love her Marked Men series (still making my way through it!) and couldn’t wait to get into this one. Where as the guys in the Marked Men are bad – Have tattoos, piercings, sorted pasts/family issues, the guy we start with in this series Bax is BAD. Like just out of jail bad. We definitely get a grittier, darker story here. “Do you want the truth, or do you want me to lie to you?” So turns out I dig gritty and dark. I really liked the Bax and Dovie’s story. It had a lot to do with both of them but also I liked Titus (can’t wait for his story btw) and the setting of the Point. So the short of the story is Bax gets out of jail and is looking for his only real friend – Race. He winds up finding his sister, Dovie. Together they wind up looking for him. Bax’s half brother, Titus, is also around to help and such (whether Bax likes it or not). Bax and Dovie are pretty much complete opposites. Bax is big, bad, brash, man whorish and a criminal. Dovie is hard working, good, innocent and determined. So of course they fall for each other. But it does take a little bit of time to develop as they both want to find it as neither of them mare each other’s typical type. They do, however, share a tough childhood from tough place, so they do have that as common ground. “I hated to admit it, but he was all sorts of sexy felon. God, what was wrong with me? That kiss had made me stupid.” I love Dovie. We would so be friends. I love that she has such a good heart. She helps her neighbor with her two kids, she works at a community house where other less fortunate kids live and she is going to college. But she is also totally normal. She can’t resist the hot bad boy. She have been a little quiet but she did stand up for herself when she needed to. I also like she didn’t have to get all dolled up or be super sexy to win the guy. “He was unpredictable, he was a criminal, he was hazardous to my sanity, but then he held me when I couldn’t sleep and he touched me like I would break. It was an intoxicating combination that I was having no luck in fighting.” Bax is bad. But eventually his heart shows through, at least for Dovie. I like that we get to see his character grow but not completely change. He didn’t miraculously become a saint so its believable. I also like to see his relationship with his brother Titus evolve ( something I hope to see more of in his book.) “I suddenly understood there was a difference between bad and evil.” Bax and Dovie are looking for Race, dealing with the local bad guy and having their romance blossom. Then eventually some really bad stuff goes down. We get to watch how everyone reacts and deals with the aftershocks. “You don’t need anyone to show you how to be good, you’re so much better when you’re bad.” Truth. Bax is better when he’s bad (at least kind of bad.) If you like new adult/bad boy type of books this is really good. Looks like a great start to a new series.