#Review: Built – Jay Crownover

Posted 27 June, 2017 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 11 Comments


Warning: This book includes mature content such as: sexual content, and/or drug and/or alcohol use, and/or violence.
#Review: Built – Jay CrownoverBuilt Series: Saints of Denver #1
on 5 January 2016
Pages: 352
Reading Challenges: Read a Series in a Month
5 Stars

Sometimes you have to tear everything down to build something new…
Sayer Cole is frozen inside. At least, that’s what it’s felt like for as long as she can remember. She’s yet to let anyone past her icy exterior – and the one guy she thinks might melt her heart couldn’t possibly be interested in someone so uptight.
Rough, hard and hot-as-hell, Zeb Fuller has rebuilt his life and his construction business since protecting his family sent him to jail all those years ago. His elegant client, Sayer, makes him feel like a Neanderthal in denim, but despite the many hints that he’s been dropping to get to know her better, she seems oblivious to his charms.
Just as things finally start to heat up, Zeb’s past comes back to haunt him and he needs Sayer’s professional help to right a wrong and to save more than himself. As these opposites dig in for the fight of their lives, fire and ice collide in an unstoppable explosion of steam…

Built was a very emotional story, and my heart broke for Sayer more than once. Zeb was there to pick up the pieces and help her build a new one, though.
Review - (un)Conventional Bookviews

Built definitely got to me, because Zeb and Sayer – while seemingly so different from each other – were very similar when it came to the truly important things in their lives. Sayer, holding on to control of every aspect of her life tried her best to resist, but Zeb was too persistent. Zeb was also reliable, strong and loyal and so very lovable.

The whole Saints of Denver series worked well for me, and Built was one of the reasons why. The overall story, the side characters, the writing and the love was all very well done. Written in dual points of view, third and first person perspective, past tense worked well for the story, and also managed to help me know enough about the main characters to appreciate both their strengths and their flaws.

Fave Quotes - (un)Conventional Bookviews

So yeah, I missed having him around. I missed watching him, hearing him, and even smelling that unique scent that all men who worked hard for their money seemed to have.

It was an eye-candy feast that I would have appreciated more fully if I hadn’t noticed the muscle ticking in his cheek under thee facial hair that covered it and the emotion in his eyes that darkened them from a deep green shade to one that was almost black.


Warning: This book includes mature content such as: sexual content, and/or drug and/or alcohol use, and/or violence.
#Review: Built – Jay CrownoverCharged by Jay Crownover
Series: Saints of Denver #2
Published by William Morrow Paperbacks on 24 May 2016
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance, Suspense
Pages: 361
Format: Kindle
Source: Kindle Purchase
Reading Challenges: Read a Series in a Month
4 Stars

Avett Walker and Quaid Jackson’s worlds have no reason to collide. Ever. Quaid is a high powered criminal attorney as slick as he is handsome. Avett is a pink-haired troublemaker with a bad attitude and a history of picking the wrong men.
When Avett lands in a sea of hot water because of one terrible mistake, the only person who can get her out of it is the insanely sexy lawyer. The last thing on earth she wants to do is rely on the no-nonsense attorney who thinks of her as nothing more than a nuisance. He literally has her fate in his hands. Yet there is something about him that makes her want to convince him to loosen his tie and have a little fun…with her.
Quaid never takes on clients like the impulsive young woman with a Technicolor dye job. She could stand to learn a hard lesson or two, but something about her guileless hazel eyes intrigues him. Still, he’s determined to keep their relationship strictly business. But doing so is becoming more impossible with each day he spends with her.
As they work side-by-side, they’ll have to figure out a way to get along and keep their hands off each other—because the chemistry between them is beyond charged.

Charged had a lot of suspense and heartache mixed in with the scorching hot sexytimes! Crownover really does know how to bring on the hotness!

Review - (un)Conventional Bookviews

Charged had a deeper sense of danger, but also some more fun than Built included. I really enjoyed getting to know Avett better, as I had thought she was simply a spoiled princess, but she was so much more. And she completely brought out the humanity Quaid had tried to get rid of by becoming the most successful defence lawyer in Denver.

Because it started with Avett in prison, because she was charged with having done a hold-up she had no idea was going to happen, the tension between her and Quaid was palpable from the beginning. At first, it was more irritation than chemistry, but that changed rather quickly. Both Quaid and Avett needed someone who could show them that a different way of living might be much more satisfying than what they had been doing up until that point.

The suspense was really well done, and I enjoyed how smart Avett was in Charged – she showed that she was a grown-up who was capable of making tough decisions and sticking with them. Written in dual point of view as the rest of the Saints of Denver series, I loved the banter between Avett and Quaid, as they had strong personalities and both wanted to be right.

Fave Quotes - (un)Conventional Bookviews

I tapped the edge of my thumb on the black-and-white mug shot photo and couldn’t stop the grin from tugging at my mouth. She tried to fire me. 

The man was a predator, a civilized beast in a designer suit. There was more to the handsome lawyer than met the eye. I was dangerously intrigued by what kind of secrets his killer grin and steely blue gaze kept hidden.

#Review: Built – Jay CrownoverRiveted by Jay Crownover
Series: Saints of Denver #3
Published by William Morrow Paperbacks on 14 February 2017
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance, Suspense
Pages: 368
Format: Kindle
Source: Kindle Purchase
Reading Challenges: 2017 New Release Challenge, Read a Series in a Month
4 Stars

Everyone else in Dixie Carmichael's life has made falling in love look easy, and now she is ready for her own chance at some of that happily ever after. Which means she’s done pining for the moody, silent former soldier who works with her at the bar that's become her home away from home. Nope. No more chasing the hot as heck thundercloud of a man and no more waiting for Mr. Right to find her; she's going hunting for him...even if she knows her heart is stuck on its stupid infatuation with Dash Churchill.
Denver has always been just a pit stop for Church on his way back to rural Mississippi. It was supposed to be simple, uneventful, but nothing could have prepared him for the bubbly, bouncy redhead with doe eyes and endless curves. Now he knows it's time to get out of Denver, fast. For a man used to living in the shadows, the idea of spending his days in the sun is nothing short of terrifying.
When Dixie and Church find themselves caught up in a homecoming overshadowed with lies and danger, Dixie realizes that while falling in love is easy, loving takes a whole lot more work…especially when Mr. Right thinks he's all wrong for you.

Riveted took me on a trip away from danger, where danger was lurking in every dark corner, and it was impossible to know whether Dixie or Church was the target.

Review - (un)Conventional Bookviews

Riveted did exactly that to me while I was reading it – I was riveted from start to finish, especially because Dixie and Church had been dancing around each other in prior books in the Saints of Denver series, and I was eager to see what would happen if they finally gave into their attraction and went for it.

I was very happy with what happened once Church realized that Dixie just might be the one for him – even if he had decided he didn’t deserve to be happy in any way, shape or form. The danger that followed them while they were biking from Denver to Mississippi heigthtened both their and my senses, and even while looking at their trouble from different angles, I was incapable of figuring out what was going on until it all came to light.

Fast paced, this story had excitement, romance, forgiveness, loyalty and family as main themes, and I couldn’t get enough.

Fave Quotes - (un)Conventional Bookviews

If she looked that rumpled and messy after a night alone in bed I couldn’t keep my mind off of wondering what she would look like after hours of hungry hands and an eager mouth having their fill of her soft skin and sweet smile.

It felt better than anything ever had even though we were standing up, fully clothed on the side of a highway.

#Review: Built – Jay CrownoverSalvaged by Jay Crownover
Series: Saints of Denver #4
Published by William Morrow Paperbacks on 20 June 2017
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance, Suspense
Pages: 362
Format: Kindle
Source: Kindle Purchase
Reading Challenges: 17 Summer COYER, 2017 New Release Challenge, Read a Series in a Month
5 Stars

Hudson Wheeler is a nice guy. Everyone knows it, including his fiancée who left him with a canceled wedding and a baby on the way. He’s tired of finishing last and is ready to start living in the moment with nights soaked in whiskey, fast cars, and even faster girls. He’s set to start living on the edge, but when he meets Poppy Cruz, her sad eyes in the most gorgeous face he’s ever seen hook him in right away. Wheeler can see Poppy’s pain and all he wants to do is take care of her and make her smile, whatever it takes.
Poppy can’t remember a time when she didn’t see strangers as the enemy. After a lifetime of being hurt from the men who swore to protect her, Poppy’s determined to keep herself safe by keeping everyone else at arm’s length. Wheeler’s sexy grin and rough hands from hours restoring classic cars shouldn’t captivate her, but every time she’s with him, she can’t help being pulled closer to him. Though she’s terrified to trust again, Poppy soon realizes it might hurt even more to shut Wheeler out—and the intense feelings pulsing through her are making it near impossible to resist him.
The only thing Poppy is sure of is that her heart is in need of some serious repair, and the more time she spends with Wheeler, the more she’s convinced he’s the only man with the tools to fix it.

Salvaged was like a hurricane of emotions! I laughed, I cried, my heart fluttered and it broke…

Review - (un)Conventional Bookviews

Salvaged was such a beautiful story, because no characters I’ve gotten to know in past deserved happiness more than Poppy and Wheeler. They had both been through hell, with no one to help them, and feeling both left behind and unloved. Seeing them open up and receive acceptance and love made me so happy. Even it there was still heartache in store for both of them during their story.

There was both suspense and mystery present, as well as some people who were far from happy with the budding relationship between Poppy and Wheeler. I just wanted to cheer both of them on and tell them they should grab love and happiness with both hands to never let it go.

The epilogue of Salvaged was amazing, too, because all the characters from both the Marked Men series and the Saints of Denver series were present, and I got an intimate peek at what was going on with them after the ending of their own story.

Fave Quotes - (un)Conventional Bookviews

There was just something about that beautiful girl with her wounded eyes that made me want to assure her she wasn’t the only one feeling shredded and alone.

Being needed was nice, but not when it turned into being needed for the things I could provide instead of being needed for the man that I was.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

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11 responses to “#Review: Built – Jay Crownover

  1. I’ve read Riveted and enjoyed it. Salvaged is my next read. And I need to buy Built!! Yay, so excited. Thank you for sharing, hon. This author is my new favorite. ???❤️

  2. Stephanie @ Bookfever

    Sounds like all these books were pretty damn great. I still have yet to read a book by this author. ?

  3. Wow, Lexxie.. a five-star series. All f the characters sound well developed and I love a dual narrative in these type of stories. It looks like you became emotionally invested and I love when that happens.

  4. Making my toes curl with these reviews!! I gotta try out this author. I believe my library has book one, so I will have to see if they have it available. Hope you are well.

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