Rule by Jay Crownover

Opposites in every way . . . except the one that matters

Shaw Landon loved Rule Archer from the moment she laid eyes on him. Rule is everything a straight--A pre-med student like Shaw shouldn’t want--and the only person she’s never tried to please. She isn’t afraid of his scary piercings and tattoos or his wild attitude. Though she knows that Rule is wrong for her, her heart just won’t listen.

To a rebel like Rule Archer, Shaw Landon is a stuck-up, perfect princess-and his dead twin brother’s girl. She lives by other people’s rules; he makes his own. He doesn’t have time for a good girl like Shaw-even if she’s the only one who can see the person he truly is.

But a short skirt, too many birthday cocktails, and spilled secrets lead to a night neither can forget. Now, Shaw and Rule have to figure out how a girl like her and a guy like him are supposed to be together without destroying their love . . . or each other.

*****

My bookish friends know that I’m not a fan of the New Adult stories. In fact, I’ve sworn you’d have to drag me kicking and screaming into this genre… There’s just way too much drama, too many misunderstandings, more angst than my head and heart can stand… The thing is, at 53 years old, I’ve lived through that pain myself, and having a 33 year old daughter, I lived through her living through it, too. Thankfully my 22-year-old girl has managed to avoid it, and my 19-year-old son has managed to steer clear of hormonal, high maintenance girls. Never thought I’d be so thankful for his addiction to Xbox Live and video games! The drama, the angst, the bickering, the unaccepting parents… yep, I lived through that crap and don’t want to read about it in my romance escapism!

But that said, there was something different about Rule. And I don’t just mean Rule, the man; I mean the whole story. There was something about it that drew me in and kept me reading, even though there were times I wanted to throttle both Rule and Shaw. Their immaturity, their lack of communication, the way they reacted to one another... I found it frustrating on a “been there done that” level. But the more I read, the more I invested in them and wanted to see them grow as individuals so that they could make it work as a couple.

And Rule and Shaw aren’t the only people I invested in! As bitchy as Rule’s mother was, my heart broke for this woman who lost her son, Remy, Rule’s twin brother, in a car accident. I can’t even imagine the grief she’s endured. Hell, my son just left for Uganda on a two year mission for our church and I break down sobbing for missing him… how any mother can stand the anguish of losing a child to death… well, I just can’t fathom that kind of pain. Sure, I wanted to slap her upside her head a few times, too, but in the end, she was another character I couldn’t help but care about and wanted nothing more than to see her heal.

What does this mean for me? Well, I’m not sure I’m ready to just dive right in to the genre, but maybe I’ll snorkel in… you know, slow and easy like… I definitely want to read more in this series. I want to see how things work out for Rome, Rule’s older brother, and I’m truly looking forward to revisiting Rule’s mom and dad to see how they’re changing as parents, now that their family is mending.

The bottom line: I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Rule. It’s not without flaws – some minor editing issues and times when the story dragged a bit – but overall, poignant, cute, romantic and sexy… definitely an entertaining story.

My thanks to Avon Books and Edelweiss for providing me with a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.