Review – Avenged by Jay Crownover – Bookalicious Babes Blog

Avenged: A MacKenzie Family Novella by Jay Crownover

Light is easy to love. Show me your darkness. ~R. Queen

I love books bathed in darkness with a sliver of light, as they dig deeply into the depths of hell but somehow find a bit of heaven. Jay Crownover is a mix master of black, shadowy stories that still shine like gold, such as her latest romance, Avenged. Avenged is the perfect fusion of light and dark, heaven and hell, and sin and salvation. Scorching and spine-tingling, Avenged is the newest Jay Crownover sensation that is full of soul and steam!

This story struck me hard like lighting immediately, feels threatening to flood like a dam ready to break. I was CAPTIVATED from the first page, as Avenged UTTERLY CONSUMED ME, eclipsing me like the sun and the moon as this book covered me with darkness and light. This intense and incredible story cut through me like a knife. I was on edge with bated breaths, heart racing, hoping that the light would surpass the dark. Tears fell like raindrops, preparing for a storm, but praying for the sun.

“When you let a wild animal out of a cage, it can be impossible to control.”

“I’m not worried about getting bit. In fact, I’m kind of looking forward to it.”

Avenged is a fractured but fierce and fire-hot fairytale. This is the story of a troubled Snow White and a tainted Prince Charming. Fate brought them together, a man and a woman who toe the line between dark and light, and now must find salvation. Two broken souls who, when joined, become whole. However, the past may strike and tear them apart before they find heaven among the pits of hell.

“We were supposed to be here. We were supposed to save each other.”

Avenged sank into my soul, stamping itself everywhere, as this tale imprinted me with words that became feels. I felt ALL OF THE FEELS. I FELL HARD for Avenged a story that shook my soul with a force I did not see coming, but one that engulfed every emotion like a raging inferno. I LOVED every pulse-pounding minute! The mash-up of characters from several series was fresh and fun, making this story unique, but then again, Jay Crownover’s books are always one-of-a kind…just like her.

A master painter of stories of dark bled with light, I love Jay Crownover’s tales that are tarnished but so perfectly imperfect. Jay Crownover is one of those wondrous writers of brilliant books that break you, bind you, and brandish themselves to you forever. It’s that ‘Crownover Crack’ that hits me hard each time, where I’m rendered with the worst—yet best—emotional hangovers. My Avenged ride through heaven and hell was a riveting roller coaster, one I’d do again in a heartbeat. ❤

She was the promise of everything that could be.

★★★★★ ‘Snow White’ stars

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New York Times bestselling author Jay Crownover brings heat and heart to Liliana Hart’s MacKenzie family with AVENGED…

Girl meets boy…

On the worst night of her life when she’s decided to take a drastic step that there is no going back from.

Girl is used to sitting by, letting fate deal cruel hand after cruel hand to good people with soft hearts and she’s had enough.

Girl thinks it’s time to fight back against fate and against men who aren’t careful with all the precious things a woman in love has to give him.

Fate shows girl who’s boss and turns her world and plans upside down without breaking a sweat.

Boy meets girl…

On the best night of his life when he’s decided that he’s going to make moves to be the man he was always meant to be instead of the man he was trained and conditioned to be.

Boy is used to a solitary life, quiet in the woods and knowing the only thing that might be looking for him is trouble and trouble is no longer his stock in trade.

Boy thinks it’s time to show trouble who’s boss, even if this trouble has big blue eyes and a body made to make men stupid. Trouble only gets the upper hand if the boy falls prey to its temptation.

Trouble turns the boy’s quiet, serene life sideways without any effort.

Trouble is fun and fate has a wicked sense of humor when it comes to this boy meeting this girl.

She might be Snow White, but there was no way in hell I was anything close to Prince Charming, or any fairytale prince, for that matter. Hell, I wasn’t even the Huntsman that showed mercy and refused to end an innocent life. I was more along the lines of the Big Bad Wolf. I lay in wait for my prey, ready to pounce, all while wearing a civilized front that very few could see through. I had sharp teeth and even sharper claws and I’d been using both for as long as I could remember.

The old me would eat this girl up without a second thought. I would have left her to her fate in the snow. I was impressed as hell with the way she popped up to her feet, with all types of adorable indignation and sexy pride radiating off of her, even though she was obviously hurting and about to fall over.

I was the old me as recently as this morning.

I was the old me until I looked in the mirror after my shower and finally took the time to examine the still-healing slice across my throat. In a rare moment of clarity, I realized how close I had come to meeting my maker. The wound had been there, healing for months, but today was the day I really saw it and realized I no longer wanted to be the kind of man that deserved to have his throat slit open every time he was distracted and not on the defense. There was no way I would have a halo waiting for me on the other side; I had known that for a long time. It was always bound to be horns and a tail for me because I’d been actively courting my own corner in hell for as long as I could remember. I was the guy that had waterfront property on the lake of fire but I no longer wanted to watch the world burn. Those flames got too close and they were leaving scars on more places than my neck.

I wasn’t a guy that deserved a second chance.

I wasn’t a guy that deserved redemption.

I wasn’t a guy that deserved forgiveness.

I wasn’t a guy that deserved compassion or pity.

I wasn’t a guy that should have been rewarded with a shot to redo and retry everything I had done wrong…but I was a guy that was given that shot. And for whatever reason this morning, while I was looking in the mirror, I told myself it was time to stop squandering it.

I could be the guy that deserved forgiveness. I just had to work at it…harder than anyone else ever had.

A MUST-CLICK ROMANCE!!!

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2nrLGUs

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/avenged-jay-crownover/1125272065?ean=2940156795222

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/avenged-a-mackenzie-family-novella

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/avenged-mackenzie-family-novella/id1129363587?ls=1&mt=11

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Jay_Crownover_Avenged_A_MacKenzie_Family_Novella?id=HLOODAAAQBAJ&hl=en

Jay Crownover is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Marked Men and Welcome to the Point series. Like her characters, she is a big fan of tattoos. She loves music and wishes she could be a rock star, but since she has no aptitude for singing or instrument playing, she’ll settle for writing stories with interesting characters that make the reader feel something. She lives in Colorado with her three dogs.

Visit Jay Crownover’s website