My top reads for 2014

Listed in no real order these are the books I devoured, recommended and really just stuck with me all year long.
How many of your favorites did I share?
If you haven't 1-clicked any of these and your TBR is looking empty add some of these titles for sure J

Oh and if you are wondering my favorite of my own book I published this year it was Better When He's Bad.
Don't get me wrong, I swooned over Rome. I let Nash break my heart and was happy to fight for Saint, and it's true no guy will ever be as hot as Rowdy St. James. But Bax let me do something different. He let me step out of the box and expand my skills. He let me push New Adult in a different direction and honestly he was just SO MUCH FUN to write. If you haven't read the Point books this is me silently judging you O_0!

http://www.amazon.com/Better-When-Hes-Bad-Welcome-ebook/dp/B00I2PH5QW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1419715758&sr=1-1&keywords=better+when+he%27s+bad
 
The Dusty duology: Innocents and Delinquents
Mary & Sarah Elizabeth: Have you ever read a book that just spoke to you on so many levels it left you dumb and speechless? I sure hope so because that is the ultimate reading experience for any book lover and this set of books knocked me on my ass this year. Ummm…I had no idea it started as fan-fiction and I don't care!! I'm glad I never knew because I don't think I would've given it a shot if I had known. The way it's written is like a love song. It flows effortless and magically. It chronical what it really is like to fall head long into love with the wrong person who also happens to be the only person. These ladies did a fantastic job. This was my top recommended read of the year. I couldn't stop talking about it…still can't.
Thomas was the boy I first loved. Every impossible, painful, glorious bit of him took me back to another time in my life. It was awe inspiring. So yeah…LOVED it and lived it.

http://www.amazon.com/Innocents-Dusty-Book-Mary-Elizabeth-ebook/dp/B00LRYFSZ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417487986&sr=8-1&keywords=dusty+innocents


http://www.amazon.com/Delinquents-Dusty-Book-Mary-Elizabeth-ebook/dp/B00OTSKNII/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1D9J4S5W732AQH0F90ZZ


Destroyed
Pepper Winters: This is the 1^st author I had to contact to tell her how amazing her work was with this book. (both my fan-girly moments this year happened with Australian authors. Good stuff coming from down under I tell ya) I told her when I was done with Fox and Zel I needed therapy and a nap. And that's really how I felt. Pepper does dark in such a uniquely beautiful way. It's like poetry and torture all in one neatly wrapped package. The way her characters bleed and struggle, the way they love literally jumps to life on the page. Sometimes her words are so sharp and clear they feel like they might actually injure you when you're reading and man-oh-man is that talent. My mind doesn't work that way but after reading this ladies truly twisted and fantastic books I kind of wished it did. I envy that kind of head long dive into madness and the surfacing with something so uniquely pointed and bright. By the way Pepper is adorable and really lovely in person.

http://www.amazon.com/Destroyed-Pepper-Winters-ebook/dp/B00IUNAHZ2


The Original/Whole New Crowd
Tijan: I demanded Tijan be my book bestie because I just love what she does so much. It made me feel less like I was stalking her. I love her voice. I love the family she builds within her stories. I love the way she strips her characters down and really gives you the bare bones of what makes them tick. I love all the things she does and am never disappointed whether it's a long standing series or a standalone. Her writing feels really free and unforced and I think that's why I enjoy the stories she tells so much. Plus I like the attitude she gives to her female leads. Even when they appear weak they never really are.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Original-Crowd-Tijan-ebook/dp/B00N1WYUXM


Wild
Sophie Jordan: No boy in any NA book has rocked my world like Logan did. I adored him. I liked his wild side and his bossy demeanor. This good girl gone bad story is so HOT and still super sweet. Sophie write relatable characters that are all just trying to figure out who they want to be…since that's pretty much what I do to I feel a real kinship with her writing and her characters. Plus LOGAN!!!!! I can't stress that enough.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_11?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=wild%20sophie%20jordan&sprefix=wild+sophie%2Cdigital-text%2C193


Wicked and The Return
Jennifer Armentrout: You'll notice these are the only paranormal titles on my list. Why? Because it's not a genre I prefer to read but if Jen writes the words I'm going to read them and more than that I'm going to love them. She's just that good. I've loved Seth since covenant. He is by far one of my all-time favorite secondary characters and I love that now he gets his turn to shine. Plus he's older and wiser, so we get to see him sexier than ever.
Wicked is the perfect mix of New Adult and Paranormal. It will appeal to lovers of both genres. It's a read with lots of laugh out loud moments and some serious heat. Plus I was tickled pink to see some familiar names and characters that are super close to my heart get a mention. Oh and I thought I had the big twist, the big reveal all figured out cause I'm cocky like that but Jen went another way with the story and I was stunned…she can do that. Stun and amaze all in the same book.

http://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Trilogy-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00NFW2OOA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417488301&sr=1-1&keywords=wicked+jennifer+armentrout


http://www.amazon.com/Return-Titan-Jennifer-L-Armentrout-ebook/dp/B00PQL59WM/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417488327&sr=1-1&keywords=the+return+jennifer+armentrout


Monster in his Eyes & Torture to her Soul
JM Darhower: One word-Naz. This man is the ultimate ain't-hero. I can't get over what an amazing job she did with him. Just when you think there is a line he won't cross, when you are lulled into thinking love has changed him…BOOM! Nope. The guy is a killer straight up and its god damn amazing. I loved Sempre but man Naz totally blew my mind…oh and JM liked the Marked Men so not only is she extremely talented but obviously has great taste in books too ;) We had a mutual fan-girl moment in Vegas. It was dope.

http://www.amazon.com/Monster-His-Eyes-J-M-Darhower-ebook/dp/B00JZCLV4S/ref=sr_1_1_ha?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417488396&sr=1-1&keywords=monster+in+his+eyes


http://www.amazon.com/Torture-Soul-Monster-Eyes-Book-ebook/dp/B00NP4U422/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=04PW85RTEGH76TPBG12N


Rival & Falling Away
Penelope Douglas: Umm I forced Pen to be my friend so I could get my hands on these babies early. I AM OBSESSED with this woman's work. I love her characters, their fearlessness, I love the way she writes sex and passion...OMGZ I just love all the things about her and her books and I'm super glad she hasn't taken out a restraining order on me. Pen is guaranteed to never disappoint and I love that you are never exactly sure what this cast of unpredictable characters are going to do until they do it. Her books make me happy and really that's all there is to it.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_5?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=rival%20penelope%20douglas&sprefix=rival%2Cdigital-text%2C198


http://www.amazon.com/Falling-Away-Fall-Penelope-Douglas-ebook/dp/B00KWG5TVM/ref=sr_1_9?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417488465&sr=1-9&keywords=rival+penelope+douglas


Forever With Me
Kristen Proby: This book is the sweetest, sexiest, most amazing, and heartfelt way to end this series. K-Pro killed it. Dominic is a stud and this book is full of all the things that made you fall in love with the With Me crew in the first place. It's a fitting and fantastic farewell…sniff

http://www.amazon.com/Forever-Me-Seattle-Book-ebook/dp/B00PSMR5QC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417488569&sr=1-1&keywords=forever+with+me


All Broke Down
Cora Carmack: Cora writing a boy with some attitude and some rough edges…yes please! Cora writing that boy with her usual humor and witty dialog and you know you have NA gold. Cora amping up the heat and sexy time and you know this book is going to land on my favorites list. Yes I'm a perv and prefer less pants in all my favorites…sue me!

http://www.amazon.com/All-Broke-Down-University-Novel-ebook/dp/B00HU5NEG0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417488615&sr=1-1&keywords=all+broke+down+cora+carmack


Ugly Love
Colleen Hoover: I've always really like Colleen's writing style. There is something so real and honest about it. Miles and the things he struggles with and even the harsh way he is with Tate feels so authentic to me as both a reader and as an author. It felt like you reach out and touch the pain this man was causing this woman and how helpless he was to stop himself from doing it. Plus this is one of my favorite HEA at the end of a book ever. Big time, sappy, over the top swoon!!! Totally made for the big screen…bring on Nick Batman with very little clothing ;)

http://www.amazon.com/Ugly-Love-Novel-Colleen-Hoover-ebook/dp/B00HB62MC0/ref=sr_1_1_ha?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417488648&sr=1-1&keywords=ugly+love


Rush
Nyrae Dawn: This is the book that solidified that I had to write Lando's story. This is such a beautiful love story between two people that you really don't notice it's about two boys because really it's only about love and the person you're meant to be with. This is a romance for people that really want to read about love and soul mates. This is a book that will touch your heart in so many ways.

http://www.amazon.com/Rush-Nyrae-Dawn-ebook/dp/B00E3DWAUI/ref=sr_1_1_ha?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417488688&sr=1-1&keywords=rush+nyrae+dawn


Sociopath
Lime Craven: This was a twisty, odd, not sure how I really felt about it book…So since I couldn't decide it stuck with me which meant I really liked it in the end. It made me think! A darker read with a really brutal kind of romance this is for those that love CJ Roberts, Aleatha Roming, CD Reiss, and Pepper Winters. It's not totally black like some of those ladies go but it definitely isn't a fluffy bunny kind of love story either. It'll make your heart pound and the ending will surprise you.

http://www.amazon.com/Sociopath-Dark-Romance-Lime-Craven-ebook/dp/B00OJ6A5RE/ref=sr_1_8?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417488717&sr=1-8&keywords=lime+craven


Dirty Angels
Karina Halle: Okay so Karina is the coolest chick I know and she writes the coolest books on the planet. I'm really lucky she tolerates me fawning all over her because I'm sure it's annoying. This woman follows zero conventions and it makes her writing amazing. I loved Javier when he first made an appearance in Sins and Needles and I knew when it was his turn for his story Karina would kill it. Talk about a bad, bad man…ugh he is so dirty sexy it hurts. I love it when the main characters make it a little hard to like them let alone root for them.

http://www.amazon.com/Dirty-Angels-Karina-Halle-ebook/dp/B00K7MB38E/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417488776&sr=1-2&keywords=dirty+angels+karina+halle


The Alabama Summer Series
J. Daniels: This is a fun contemporary series with really hot dudes and some awesome sexy-time. I really like interconnected stories in the same series like I write and these have been a real treat this year. Fun and easy reads.

http://www.amazon.com/Where-Belong-Alabama-Summer-Book-ebook/dp/B00LD6IYUS/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417488829&sr=1-2&keywords=alabama+summer+j+daniels


http://www.amazon.com/All-Want-Alabama-Summer-Book-ebook/dp/B00PXIK98C/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417488829&sr=1-1&keywords=alabama+summer+j+daniels


The Promise
Kristen Ashley: We all have that one author that could write a book on the life span of toadstools and we would still buy it and read it because their name is on it. KA is that author for me. I love her words, her storytelling, her pacing, her romance and her sexy time. She is my white whale. The legend I chase in hopes to live up to those standards one day. I read everything she released this year and of course loved it but the reason I picked The Promise was because I felt like I had been waiting for Benny and Frankie's story for a million years and I was happy to finally have it in my hands.

http://www.amazon.com/Promise-Burg-Book-5-ebook/dp/B00JXW6GFE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417488930&sr=1-1&keywords=the+promise+kristen+ashley


Bang
EK Blair: EK's writing is beautiful even when she is trying to cause her readers to have a nervous breakdown. This book breaks…no smashes and tap dances all over what should happen in a traditional romance, or even in a traditional suspense book. It's full of twists and turns and so many, "what did I just read?" moments that it's unreal. It's a shock to the system in such a good way. It feels like fresh air and a slap in the face at the same time.

http://www.amazon.com/Bang-Black-Lotus-ebook/dp/B00K8I6OTA/ref=sr_1_1_ha?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417488946&sr=1-1&keywords=bang


It Ain't Me Babe
Tillie Cole: As a rule I don't one-click biker books so I'm not really sure how I found this little gem but I am so glad I did. The background for both the leads in this book is just unforgettable and the character development is astounding. There is no skimping on biker culture or the life of the woman spent stuck in the cult. This is good stuff right here, from start to finish it is so much more than a simple hot biker book.

http://www.amazon.com/Aint-Me-Babe-Tillie-Cole-ebook/dp/B00JZ5V744/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417488989&sr=1-1&keywords=it+aint+me+babe+tillie+cole


Ridge
Adriane Leigh: Manwhore, totally screwed up, complex, addict…how can that be sexy? I dunno but Ridge sure is one beautiful, complicated man with a really engaging and engrossing story to tell. I really like this entire series but Ridge and all his fucked-upness is the brother I remember most.

http://www.amazon.com/Ridge-Wild-2-Adriane-Leigh-ebook/dp/B00IQVDSYK/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417489033&sr=1-1&keywords=ridge+adriane+leigh


Raw
Belle Aurora: Belle is the second author on this list I contacted fan girl flailing over their amazing words. This woman has author balls the size of Texas and I love her for it. That ending! Yes!! All the yes to writing a nontraditional happy ever after and not caving to pressure from EVERYONE to do a sequel…yeah, yeah I know Dirty is coming but like I said AUTHOR BALLS.

http://www.amazon.com/RAW-Belle-Aurora-ebook/dp/B00HNG4AB4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417489074&sr=1-1&keywords=raw+belle+aurora


Five Ways to Fall
KA Tucker: I am disgustingly envious of the way Kathleen uses words. She's brilliant and her storytelling is sharp and always on point. However the reason I could never get FWTF out of my head was because of Reese. She is without a doubt my favorite heroine of 2014. I loved her fire and her spunk. I felt her confusion and heartache on every page.

http://www.amazon.com/Five-Ways-Fall-Novel-Breaths-ebook/dp/B00DPM7U26/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417489109&sr=1-1&keywords=five+ways+to+fall+by+k.a.+tucker


Mayhem
Jamie Shaw: This book and the lead boy are why we dream of rock stars. This is a rocker book that rings slightly more true in terms of falling for a band boy than most. Plus it's sweet, light hearted and full of more swoon than sex…oh there is sexy time but for once the rocker has to work a little bit for it.

http://www.amazon.com/Mayhem-Jamie-Shaw-ebook/dp/B00L1AJUKE/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417489156&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=mayhem+jaime+shaw


Prisoner
Annika Martin & Skye Warren: Love that more and more authors are writing really BAD guys are their main leads. Grayson isn't a nice guy…ever but when he softens just a fraction it makes my heart twitch.

http://www.amazon.com/Prisoner-Criminals-Captives-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00OT2RNSW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417489203&sr=1-1&keywords=prisoner+skye+warren


The Gentry Boys
Cora Brent: Hot southern triplets with a penchant for finding trouble. Really what more do you need? This is a solid, funny and sexy trilogy that is perfect for any NA lover…which I totally am.

http://www.amazon.com/Draw-Gentry-Boys-Cora-Brent-ebook/dp/B00M8PKVF4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417489311&sr=1-1&keywords=gentry+boys+series


http://www.amazon.com/Risk-Gentry-Boys-Cora-Brent-ebook/dp/B00O0CMU1G/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=05GCNKBHEM62778TF1N7


http://www.amazon.com/Game-Gentry-Boys-Cora-Brent-ebook/dp/B00PHMVK82/ref=pd_sim_kstore_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1HSDEJ56PWQ6BMZZ3GAB

Tattooed Dots
Kimberly Knight : I love that Kimberly was brave enough to write something she struggled with and suffered from into a story. I think it takes guts to really put yourself out there in the world like that. Kimberly is a great friend and a wonderful person. She's had to deal with a lot of crap over the last two years and I think it's admirable instead of wallowing she put it into words.

http://www.amazon.com/Tattooed-Dots-Halo-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00HSSV3QC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417489766&sr=1-1&keywords=tattooed+dots


 

If You Ordered Books From HBR *Important Update

Hey All,

If you ordered signed books through the Houston Book Rave back in October and have not seen them yet I need you to email me.

jaycrownover@gmail.com

and copy Mel at booksmakemegiddy@gmail.com...so that if one of us misses it the other won't!

Unfortunately the 3rd party vendor has been unwilling to work with me or my team on getting the books out to those who purchased them in a timely manner so I will be taking matters into my own hands of course with Melissa's help.

I need the proof of purchase from HBR and I also need you to write down a physical address to send the replacement books to.

I know the address is already on the receipt already but I have a mail program that I use and I cannot copy and paste from the PayPal receipt which I need to do in order to expedite the process and ensure you get the books quickly as possible.

I appreciate the patience everyone has shown while trying to figure this situation out. I assure you the new books will be coming directly from me once I have the stock in place to send out. There will be no further delays or mishaps.

Thanks everyone!

Jay

Time to dive back into the Point...

My friend Ali at Black Heart Reviews made these for her review of Better When He's Bold....

Headed back to the Point on Feb. 3rd and if you haven't met the boys you should because Bax's story in Better When He's Bad is on Sale right now for $1.99 until Thanksgiving.
Order links below including the pre-order for Better When He's Brave :)


Bax

Race

Titus


I just love those Point boys so much....Race is unlike any other character I have written before.
I usually go for brawn over brains but his mind is probably the sexiest thing about him....he's one smart criminal.

Annnnnd I don't care if peeps don't dig the cover....I love it :) And ultimately that's all that matters.

1 more week to go! This is the last peek before release day :)

We are 1 lil ole week away!! I love these two and I love their story. I think all the best romance has a little bit of love and loss in it and I love having to fight through what was to get to what is....

Here is the last sneak peek until judgment day....again I pulled this from MY manuscript not the ARC or the finished copy so any errors are my own and shouldn't be in the final copy.

Happy Tuesday, thanks for being so patient and #let'sgetrowdy!

I remembered Salem being patient and funny as two kids trailed after her like she was the queen of the world. She never tired of the questions, of the attention, of fixing up my hurt feelings when I had a bad day at school—which there were a lot of—and she never looked at me like she found me lacking even when everyone else in my little world was trying to guide me in a direction I wasn’t sure I wanted to go. She was always my biggest cheerleader and it never mattered if it was because I scored a touchdown or drew her a picture.

Along with all those memories came the other ones, the ones that made it hard to breathe and made my head throb and my heart hurt.
I remembered Poppy and her big, sad eyes telling me she would never love me the way I loved her, that we would always be from two different worlds, and therefore it would never work out. I literally put my young and soft heart in her hands and she had chucked it back at me like it was nothing. I had had a crush on her—was so sure that I’d loved her—for what felt like forever. I just knew she was my one. She was steady. She was unfailingly kind and generous. She was lovely inside and out, but to her I wasn’t enough. I didn’t have the right background, the right upbringing, and in all honesty the right skin color for her to ever be able to bring me home and tell her dad she was spending the rest of her life with me. I would have given her the world—only she didn’t want it—or me.

I also remembered standing in the driveway watching Salem and her dad scream at each other while she threw all her things into the back of a rusted-out Bonneville and her telling him point-blank she was never going to step foot in his house or in Loveless again. She was my best friend. She was the one that always made everything better, and even at fifteen I remembered thinking I would never make it the rest of the way through high school without her. How was I supposed to pick which college I was going to go to? I was going to tell my foster parents, Poppy, everyone, that I didn’t want to play football, I wanted to paint and draw. I wanted an art scholarship not an athletic one and Salem was the only one that would support me in that. I needed her to give me the strength to fight for it, but in the blink of an eye she was gone.

She saw me where I was lurking and got back out of that car so that she could give me a kiss—a real kiss—on the lips and I remembered she tasted salty and sweet because she was crying as she told me good-bye. It was my first kiss and the memory of it was tied to watching yet another person I cared about leaving me on my own. She tried to tell me she would write, call, send a carrier pigeon, but I just walked away from her because I couldn’t listen to it and I knew she was lying. Once she was gone, I wouldn’t matter anymore, which had proven to be true.

Now all those memories were tangling and colliding with the new ones I had of the way grown-up Salem felt pressed against me. The memory of the way my dick twitched when I saw her sanding at the top of the stairs that first day she got hired to work at the shop. There was the irritating remembrance of the way she burned as hot as the sun when I touched her and that she still tasted salty and sweet, but now I was old enough to want to know if she tasted that way everywhere on her body, not just on her pouty lips. I couldn’t stop seeing the way her dark eyes gleamed like polished onyx, or stop thinking about the way her full mouth felt better than anything I could ever remember feeling, and the fact she tasted like chocolate and history in the best and worst way was haunting me every minute of every day. I knew that if her phone hadn’t gone off I was a split second away from trying to get my hands in the waistband of those short-shorts she had been wearing, and even closer to tugging the shoulder of her sexy top the rest of the way off. I wanted to touch all that caramel-colored skin and put my mouth on the pointy tips of her breasts that I could feel poking into my chest.

It was all crashing and colliding so loud and hard that I felt like I couldn’t see or hear anything else. I actively avoided going to the new shop and even harassed Rule into taking my shift that week so I didn’t have to see her. I couldn’t get on top of it and as a result I was drowning in the past and running away from the future. I was exhausted.

Only 2 more weeks to go!!!!

Want a signed paperback of any of my titles including Rowdy?

I generally don't do signed pre-orders but here is a chance to get my fellas signed sealed and delivered to your door. This does include Rowdy.

This option is only available until Nov. 1st so if you want my 3rd grader scrawl in one of your books you only have a few weeks to order.

Just click here:
Signed Books

I'm so excited to FINALLY have an option for those of you that have asked...granted it's a short window but it's better than nothing!

3 more weeks :)

4 weeks until Rowdy...So close my freinds

I'm pretty sure these two are the hottest set of the group so far....They should be.

They have a lot of lost time to make up for.

1 week left until you guys can meet Bax. I'm so stinking excited!!

I've never been more anxious for a book to release...ugh I just love all the things about Bax and Dovie...I really-really do.

Plus on the Monday night before release day I'm going to be hanging out on Twitter answering all the questions you may or may not have about the Point..it'll be fun!!
Use the hashtag #getbadwithbax and let's get to the POINT!! ha ha ha....see what I did there.

2 weeks!! Bad is BEST!

Are you ready to see what goes down on the streets of the Point?

All kinds of fun and dirty things....

3 weeks and Bax will show you how good being bad can be!!

You guys this boy...this book....it's all the things!

I love my Marked Boys...but Bax is on a different level...in a different world and telling his story really just gave me such a thrill!!

I can't wait for everyone to meet him.

Let's get ROWDY!!!

I love him and I love Salem, so they are something out of this world when they get together!

We're counting down to BAX!! I can't wait for him to have his way with book-land

He's tugging at the leash!

He's ready for you....are you ready for him?

4 weeks away...GET BAD WITH BAX!!!

Where I be at for RT 2014 :)

This is what my agenda for RT 2014 looks like:

TUESDAY 5/13:





1:00-3:00
Garden District Book Shop Signing
2727 Prytania Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
Tel: 504.895.2266
I’ll be this event a little late around 1:30ish or so. I’ll be signing with Cora Carmack, Jen Armentrout/J.Lynn, Sophie Jordan, Lisa Desrochers and Nichole Chase. This is a great alternative to the huge signing on Saturday if you are looking to beat the crowds!!

Garden District Book Signing



8:15-10 pm
Never Have I Ever New Adult Pajama Party
2nd Floor Gallery 4

WEDNESDAY 5/14:

I have open! I’ll be lurking around…prolly at a bar…and if you follow me on Twitter @jaycrownover, you’ll see that throughout RT I’ll be tweeting where I be at and if you come find me and you are the first you can score an ARC of Better When He’s Bad. I am oh so easy to spot…super red hair, and lots of ink!!

THURSDAY 5/15:

I’ll prolly be lurking around the New Adult panels this day. I’m not on any actual panels this year but I like to see what my fellow peeps are doing in the genre.
7:00-7:30 I’ll be at Saints and Sinners for the RT pub crawl…woo-hoo! Sounds super fun.

FRIDAY 5/16:

There’s a New Adult panel on Friday I’ll probably stick my head in as well.
6:00-7:45 pm
Avon Krewe of Muses signing.
3rd Floor Acadia (Grand Ballroom) Complimentary books and e-books from a gazillion authors. I’m pretty sure Jet is my fella for this event if you come by to see me.

SATURDAY 5/17:

11:00-2:00 The Giant Book Fair- Sooooo many authors. I’m slightly terrified! Come find me in the crowd!

Authors at the Giant Book Fair

Kindle Daily Post-Opposites are super fun to write about.

Why do I like writing about couples that seem so opposite from one another in so many ways?

Read this article I wrote for the Kindle Daily Post to find out :)


Kindle Daily Post by Jay Crownover

5 more days!!

I forgot to post the 1 week left teaser here!! Oops!!

We only have a fews left until we get Nash stateside...those of you that are Marked Men lovers across the pond can meet him right NOW!!!!

All nice guys should be like Nash :)

We only have 2 more weeks until Nash!

Are you ready to find out what those flames on Nash's head are all about :)

3 weeks until Nash lands!! Woot!!!

Every lady should get to snuggle up to a guy that is equal parts hot as hell and sweet as sin!!
ALL NICE GUYS SHOULD BE LIKE NASH!!!


3 Weeks :)

Time to start the NASH countdown!! 4 weeks!!!

He'll be here before we know it!!!
Are you as excited as I am?
:)

I didn't forget NASH is coming!! I swear...It's hard having 2 hot fellas with release dates so close to each other :)

Get BAD with Bax

Cover reveal of BETTER WHEN HE"S BAD....it's a good one and def. one of my favorites to date :)

Welcome to the Point
 There’s a difference between a bad boy and a boy who’s bad . . . meet Shane Baxter.

Sexy, dark, and dangerous, Bax isn’t just from the wrong side of the tracks, he is the wrong side of the tracks. A criminal, a thug, and a brawler, he’s the master of bad choices, until one such choice landed him in prison for five years. Now Bax is out and looking for answers, and he doesn’t care what he has to do or who he has to hurt to get them. But there’s a new player in the game, and she’s much too innocent, much too soft…and standing directly in his way.
 
Dovie Pryce knows all about living a hard life and the tough choices that come with it. She’s always tried to be good, tried to help others, and tried not to let the darkness pull her down. But the streets are fighting back, things have gone from bad to worse, and the only person who can help her is the scariest, sexiest, most complicated ex-con The Point has ever produced.
 
Bax terrifies her, awaking feelings she never thought she could have for a guy like him. but it doesn’t take Dovie long to realize that some boys are just better when they’re bad.


Available June 17th....You can preorder now!!

Come on you know you want to get BAD with Bax

Back Cover Blurb for Better When He's Bad

Ugh...I really hope everyone loves Bax and embraces his dark and sinister world as much as I do!!


BETTER WHEN HE"S BAD
June 17th.....pre-order now my friends. You won't regret the decision

Welcome to the Point




There’s a difference between a bad boy and a boy who’s bad . . .

meet Shane Baxter.

Sexy, dark, and dangerous, Bax isn’t just from the wrong side of the tracks, he is the wrong side of the tracks. A criminal, a thug, and a brawler, he’s the master of bad choices, until one such choice landed him in prison for five years. Now Bax is out and looking for answers, and he doesn’t care what he has to do or who he has to hurt to get them. But there’s a new player in the game, and she’s much too innocent, much too soft…and standing directly in his way.

Dovie Pryce knows all about living a hard life and the tough choices that come with it. She’s always tried to be good, tried to help others, and tried not to let the darkness pull her down. But the streets are fighting back, things have gone from bad to worse, and the only person who can help her is the scariest, sexiest, most complicated ex-con The Point has ever produced.

Bax terrifies her, awaking feelings she never thought she could have for a guy like him. but it doesn’t take Dovie long to realize that some boys are just better when they’re bad.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

For Valentine's day this year I want you to meet BAX!!


I just LOVE him to a million and one pieces. He was so much fun to write.


He's the hero-well anit-hero, of my new series Welcome to the Point!

His book BETTER WHEN HE'S BAD is out June 17th right after NASH!!

I'm so excited for everyone to get a chance to meet him :)

Midnight Nash Teaser

I really loved writing a love story for these 2!!

Pre-order Nash now.
Available APril 29th.....

“Let’s give it ten minutes. Ten minutes, and if it isn’t going to work for both of us, let’s cut our losses and no one gets hurt or”— one of his black eyebrows shot up and a self- deprecating grin pulled at his mouth— “left hanging.”

“Ten minutes?” It didn’t sound like nearly enough time to touch all that smooth, burnished skin.

“Ten minutes.”

I could handle ten minutes without freaking out. Heck, when he kissed me the first time, it had lasted longer than ten minutes. I could do this, wanted to do this, but that didn’t mean my hands stopped shaking or the idea of getting naked with him didn’t have my stomach dipping and second thoughts trying to shove their way up from the depths. I talked a good game about letting sleeping dogs lie, but really I could feel they were always there, tugging hard on the leash. on the plus side, getting naked with him again meant I was finally going to see the rest of that tattoo.

Who is my favorite?

Who’s my favorite?

As always when I write a post like this it's unedited....just me rambling from my head like I do. If my notoriously bad spelling and epic run-on sentences bug you...look away!


Which boy is my favorite? I get asked it once a day, in every interview I do, for every blog tour-and I know the answer should be “I don’t have a favorite.”
I don’t. I really don’t when it comes to the Marked Men.
I love Rule because he was the first and he changed my life. He opened the door and gave me a shot at being a writer. He helped heal my broken heart.
I love Jet and the way he speaks through music. I think he has a beautiful soul. He makes me fan girl and I absolutely have a book crush on him.
I love Rome because he made me think, made me stretch and look at a different type of guy. His story was heartbreaking and sweet. I just wanted to hug him.
Nash has the type of personality that I think I would look for in a man now. He’s smart, he’s a thinker and I like how accountable and self-aware he is. He speaks to the more mature part of my personality. Plus I want to rub my hands all over the flames on his head.
As for Rowdy and Asa we’ll have to see what they bring with them to the table. These boys always end up surprising me by the time I’m done with them.

But my favorite…the guy that really got to me, the story that consumed me was Bax’s. BETTER WHEN HE’S BAD was by far the book that was my most favorite to write, my favorite to spend time in, my favorite to create and get lost in. The world of The Point and the people that are trying to survive in it, is just engrossing and a flat out good time.

When Jet came out I knew people were going to compare the 2nd book to Rule. What I didn’t expect was the backlash because Jet simply wasn’t Rule. I didn’t know what to do with that. It made no sense to me. How could someone not like a book-hate it even- just because it wasn’t a carbon copy of the first book in the series? Granted this was the response of only a handful...well a large handful of readers...but it was enough that I noticed and went all spazzy over it.
I was baffled and then came all the negativity towards Ayden. Again I just didn’t get it. She was tough, she made decisions to protect those she loved, she was trying to do the right thing the way she saw it, she had a troubled past, she was leery of commitment because of what that would do to the person she loved….Dude she had every characteristic the heroes do in every romance book since the beginning of time. I read a lot…I mean a lot, so I know this to be a fact. I had no idea giving those traits to a chick was going to translate into her being-whiny-needy-dumb-annoying. What? How is that possible? I was so confused and honestly hurt. I felt really misunderstood and that maybe I didn’t really have what it took to do this writing thing.
Anyway I was lost, muddled and really ready to just stop what I was doing. If you know anything about me I get crazy hyper focused on one thing and can’t let it go to the point of obsession. I do it with everything, but with writing especially. You should see my epic freak outs when I get edits back from my editor. I full on melt down-then just sit down and do the work, but not without going crazy first.

When I sat down to write Rome all that feedback and criticism from Jet was flooding my head and I couldn’t get past it. I didn’t want to write another book that was torn apart just because it wasn’t Rule. I stared at a blank computer screen for a few days-watched the cursor blink at me-and thought, “Oh shit, what am I going to do?” I still had Rome to write and by then Nash, Rowdy and Asa had sold as well. I needed to figure it out.
Well I did an interview during that time and a huge focus the interviewer keep asking me about was bad-boys. How did I write such a realistic bad-boy? What makes a guy a bad-boy? Why do ladies love a bad-boy?

I kept saying, “I don’t think Rule and Jet are bad-boys. They are just guys that own who they are and have claimed their skin and lives as their own. Sure they have some attitude and some badassness, but any cocky young man that has the world in his hands would. They have jobs, they have family and eventually they find true love-nothing about that is bad.”
BOOM! Like a shot of lightening out of the sky it hit me. There is a difference between a bad-boy and a boy that IS bad, bad in all the ways a person can be bad.
I set Rome aside and jumped into The Point. I had to…Bax wouldn’t leave me alone.

Bax is bad- it’s what he’s good at. I wrote him with no rules, no restraints, and no fear that people would read him and compare him to Rule. I unleashed every crazy, twisted, wild thing I could think of and worked it into his story. It was a blast and my writer’s block and my own personal mental block was gone. I finished Better When He’s Bad in a little over two weeks and then wrote Rome in the following 20 days. That’s a little over 200,000 words in a bit over a month. It’s nuts is what it is!
Bax kicked open the door that had closed on my creative mojo and he will forever be my favorite for that alone needed his energy, his F-The-World vibe to kick me back into gear.
Because of Bax I embraced how different Rome was from his brother and I wasn’t scared to write Nash with a little bit more softness than the other Marked Men have had. (He’s still a total badass I promise! It’s just a little more reserved than his bestie.)
Bax and his world reminded me that I’m just supposed to do my thing-that’s what I’m good at. Plus he’s dead sexy, super complicated and the way he works- the choices he makes- are staggering to watch. It’s just a good time, a fun walk on the dark side….
So there you have it- as of now Bax holds the place as my favorite. I hope you all pick up his book when it’s out on June 17th so you can see why. The new crew in the new series is something else. You can pre-order now!!! (Shameless plug)

And since you made it all the way through that post let me introduce you to my new main guy: (if you have followed me from the beginning, I posted this paragraph on my author page almost a year ago when Bax first took over my brain)


My name is Shane Baxter, Bax to most people, and I’m a thief.
Got a girl? I’ll take her from you. Got a sweet ride you dropped a mint on? I’ll take it from you. Got expensive electronics you think are safe? I’ll come and take them, because you probably didn’t need them anyway. If it isn’t nailed down or attached to you by unbreakable chains, there is a good chance I can make it mine. It was the only thing I was good at. Taking things that didn’t belong to me was second nature; well, that and finding all the worst kinds of trouble to get into. I was only twenty-two, had gone in for a nickel right on the heels of my eighteenth birthday, but that wasn’t even close to the first time I got busted or banged heads with the law. I wasn’t a master of good choices or clean living, but I knew my strengths and I stuck with them and I took care of my own. Whatever the cost may be.

Ready to meet Nash?

Here our boy is!!

Ready to meet NASH!!!
Feel free to share the hotness and those to die for lips with the world!
April 29th peeps...Preorder now!

Will their past determine their future?

Saint Ford has worked hard to achieve her childhood dream of becoming of nurse. Focused on her work and devoted to her patients, there’s no room for love. She doesn’t need a guy making waves in her calm, serene life—especially when he’s the unforgettable hottie who nearly destroyed her in high school. Dark, brooding Nash Donovan might not remember her or the terrible pain he caused. But he turned her world upside down . . . and now he’s trying to do it again.

Saint has no idea that Nash isn’t the cocky player he once was. Uncovering a devastating family secret has rocked his world, and now he’s struggling to figure out his future. He can’t be distracted by the pretty nurse he seems to meet everywhere. Still, he can’t ignore the sparks that fly between them —or how she seems so desperate to get away from him. But the funny, sweet, and drop-dead gorgeous Saint is far too amazing to give up on—especially since she’s the only thing in his life that seems to make sense.

When Nash discovers the truth about their past, he realizes he may have lost her heart before he could even fight for it. Now, Saint has to decide: is Nash worth risking herself for all over again?

New Series!!!

WELCOME TO THE POINT


So it's been an epic couple of weeks in the World of Jay.
If making the bestseller list wasn't enough to have me over the moon I finally get to share that I'll be doing a new series with HarperCollins and my kick-ass editor Amanda starting this summer My secret is out!!!!

I can't say much yet but I will tell you that it's a pretty intense ride and nothing like the Marked Men...my book bestie told me this series is like me on steroids if that's any indication of what I'm throwing at you next.

It's dark, it's gritty, it's sexy and sinister all rolled into one....it's The Point!!

The first book: Better When He's Bad will be out this summer right after Nash and the second book Better When He's Bold will be out fall-winterish right after Rowdy....the 1st book should be available for pre-order in just a few weeks...

All the Questions

I did a chat with readers on Facebook Monday night and asked them to ask their most burning questions about the Marked Men. Several people asked the same thing so I thought I would take a minute and throw out the answers to the seemingly most common questions people have about the boys and myself.

This is going to be raw and unedited so grammar-police read on at your own risk!!

1: Will there be another book/novella about Rule and Shaw?

The simple answer is no.
The more complicated part of that is- I don’t see another story for them. I don’t feel it and as an author if you aren’t invested in the book you are writing, the journey your characters are taking then it’s going to suck. I’m honored so many people loved Rule and Shaw, but I’m on to different things, different stories and that’s all there is to it. I’m not about to create drama, a silly storyline to cause conflict in their love story because so many readers would like another book about them. I’m not one to take the easy road, to do what’s expected and that’s what I feel like I would be doing if I wrote a hundred more books about Rule and Shaw. Pretty soon it would just be Rule and Shaw at the grocery story arguing over cereal and nobody would buy that book.


2: Will I ever do a prequel about Remy?

Again the simple answer is no. I love Remy. I love the role he plays with his brothers. He is very necessary to both Rule and Rome’s storylines. Early Remy though, I think would be so sad and heartbreaking to write. He was in the closet. He was using Shaw in a really harsh way. Shaw was in love with Rule and he didn’t know she was alive. There was just so much angst and dishonesty going on at that point I feel like it would taint the way I want his memory to be depicted in the rest of the series.

3: How many books in the series and what order do they go in?

6 books for sure…who knows if anymore hot dudes will fall out of my head after that?
Rule-Jet-Rome-Nash-Rowdy and Asa are all getting a story.
First 3 are out now. Nash will be out April 29th, Rowdy will be here in fall and Asa will be here end of the year or early next year.

4: Am I working on anything else?

Yep but its secret for now. Maybe in a few months I’ll have more to say but it’s very, very different from the Marked Men. Not paranormal, but still different.

5: Are the guys or the books pulled from real people or my real life?

Sort of. The guys have some physical attributes of guys I know or guys I think are hot. I do live in a military town so there was lots of inspiration for Rome running around! Rule is a mix of my ex-husband and my very first boyfriend ever in terms of inspiration for looks. I think all writers put their life and personality into their books. It’s hard not to. I mean I worked in bars, I know a million and one band guys like Jet, I’m super tattooed, I have friends that are my family, I live in Colorado-all of that can mirror the books but nothing directly in my life has found its way into a plotline yet.
I draw inspiration from all the things around me. I’ll see a guy or a girl on the street. I’ll hear a really cool lyric in a song. I’ll be tossing stuff back and forth with my book bestie. My secret project was spurred by the fact so many people didn’t like Jet when he was first released. I felt really misunderstood-felt like no one was going to give me a chance to write anything but Rule and I was really frustrated by it. So I had this idea and went way into left field and created a whole new world out of everything that was churning and burning inside of me. I get inspired by anything and everything around me-I just have to remember to pay attention to it all.

6: How long does it take to write a manuscript?

A really rough unedited draft takes me about 2 months. I can write a chapter a day which breaks down to 5,000-8,000 words a day if that’s ALL I’m doing for the whole day. Editing, proofreading, rewrites, copyedits take way longer than that. All around from the first word on the page to publication it’s about 6 months (if I make my deadline) and remember the publisher sets the release dates…NOT ME!

7: Who/What do I read?

I love JR Ward. I will read anything Jennifer Armentrout writes. I really dig KA Tucker’s vibe and the slick kind of story she tells. I’m in author love with Lisa Desrochers. Kimberley Knight and Anne Leigh are both really good friends of mine and they both tell really sweet-thoughtful love stories that aren’t my typical read but I think they are both really talented authors so I read their stuff and get mushy. Kristen Ashley is an automatic one-click for me and I almost passed out when she followed me on Twitter. I don’t get the chance to read as much as I used to which is a shame-but I always try and keep a finger on the pulse to see what’s happening in the book world and if it was a hit I’m sure it’s on my Kindle.
My favorite, favorite author of all time is a lady named Anne Stuart. She’s been in the game for a long time. She wrote the original bad-boys. Her stories have no comparison in my mind and I tell myself if what I’m doing is half as creative and half as cool as what she does then I’m doing alright. I literally screamed and jumped up and down in front of my computer when I got an email from her. (Thank you Barbara Samuels for making that happen!)

8: Where do the names for my characters come from?

I honestly don’t know. When your name is Jennifer you tend to gravitate towards more interesting names. In real life my bestie’s name is Settie...see different. I knew the boys had to have names that were cool enough and interesting enough to stand alone as the title of a book and when you have a guy named Rule you can’t put him with a Debbie or a Joan so I needed something that sounded expensive and classy. Shaw fit the bill. It just kind of followed suit with the rest of the gang. Each guy had to have a unique name to carry the book title so that meant the girl had to have something cool to balance it out. I’m actually running out of them!! Pretty soon I’ll be writing about Mark and Susan 

9: Do I have any quirks when I write and what is my writing space like?

I write at a desk in my master bedroom. I’m pretty OCD so everything has a place and a purpose in my creative space. I don’t ever write in the morning. I don’t do much of anything until after noon in all actuality. One of the perks of working from home and being my own boss now. I either leave the TV on Investigation Discovery or turn on I-Tunes when I write. I do need some kind of background noise to counteract the noise in my head. I generally sit down to write and work a solid 5-9 hours like a real work day because if I get distracted by the dogs or errands or my phone than my mojo goes away and it takes me a full other day to get back to it. Like I said I’m pretty OCD so if I start a chapter I HAVE to finish it the same day even if it means working until 4 in the morning. And I always have a Pepsi on hand…because I need it to live!!!

10: What made me want to write?

I always loved to read and write. I had a huge library when I was just a little girl-my parents bought me books for xmas every year. I was totally that girl. I wrote in high school-won a few contests here and there but then real life happened and I had to have a job and pay my mortgage after college. I still wrote, still had ideas for books in my head but never had any follow-through.
When I got divorced in 2012 I was having a hard time sleeping and I was really stressed out so I turned to something that had always been comforting to me-writing. I started Rule and all the stress and bad feelings, sadness and anger went somewhere creative. When I didn’t sleep I wrote. Rule was the first full novel I actually finished. I started looking into self-publishing and just kind of went for it. I never planned on it taking off or it turning into a career but it did and I basically won the literary lottery.
I never planned on being a writer but now that’s what I’m doing I appreciate that it’s a dream job-that I am so fortunate to get to call myself that and I do my best to live up to the opportunities provided to me every single day. All I can do now is be the best writer I can be.