5 SMOOCHES!
I adore Jay Crownover’s writing, I love her characters and her stories, I love how she makes me feel and think. She draws me into her characters’ struggle with edgy, gritty, deeply emotional stories intermingled amid a steamy, hard-fought romance. Her stories consume me, her characters stay with me, and I look forward to a new story from Jay with kid-in-a-candy-store anticipation. I know she’s going to wreck me in the best way, and while I may not walk away from the experience unscathed, I will be satisfied, fulfilled and hungry for more.
Downfall is a complete standalone, and while set in the same world as The Point series, Jay Crownover has taken great care to ensure that this book will not spoil those books and that it can truly stand on its own. Sexy, suspenseful and heartfelt emotion, Downfall was an engrossing story about right triumphing over wrong—even if the good guys had to do a little bad along the way.
Solomon ‘Solo’ Sanders—aptly nicknamed for the loner he was—was the quintessential Crownover hero. Tattooed, rugged, rough-around-the-edges and blunt, he was a bad boy with a heart of gold from the wrong side of the tracks. He had his limits, though, and his morals, an unwavering sense of justice and right versus wrong usually won out. He did test those boundaries, and he also wasn’t averse to using his fists to make his point. Solo’s plate was full caring for everyone around him, so it’s not really surprising that he had a knack for being in the right place at the right time, especially where Orley was concerned. Their connection was instant, buzzing and electric from the start, the kind of chemistry that is impossible not to act on. In Orley and her sweet daughter, Noble, Solo found things he didn’t even realize he’d been missing or even wanting.
Orley Vincent, a young single mom from the right side of the tracks, was on the run and hiding in plain sight in the one place she thinks her past won’t think to look for her. The problem was that it was obvious to everyone that she didn’t fit in. But there, amongst the perceived dregs of society, on those mean, unforgiving streets of the city, she learns her life’s most valuable lessons. Born and bred into a life of privilege in a place most would consider safe, secure and civilized, Orley was surprised to find so much good in a place that she had always considered bad. It took giving up everything and starting over in the city for her to learn how to appreciate the things that mattered most in life and to find real love.
A story about learning to trust, about finding the good in wherever you may be, and learning to fight for what is right, Downfall was a passionate and sweet romance that drew me in from the first page. I devoured it in a day, and I simply didn’t want to put it down. I loved Solo and Orley and everything about their unlikely yet perfectly matched pairing. Five smooches from me for Downfall by Jay Crownover!
~Danielle Palumbo