REVIEW: Jet by Jay Crownover

In Jet (Marked Men #2) by Jay Crownover, Jet Keller lives for music. Nothing makes him feel more alive than writing and performing with his heavy metal band Enmity. Then Jet meets Ayden Cross and his world suddenly goes up in flames.

“You’re smart and ambitious, and you have no f****ng idea what that Southern drawl does to me or how fast it would cause us to end up naked and tangled up.”

She is seemingly everything he is not, from her future career in chemistry, to her cool demeanor, he knows Ayd should be way out of his league but he doesn’t care. Jet tries his best to hide his true feelings for Ayd but he knows he will eventually cave. He only hopes he won’t lose his heart in the process when she figures out he can’t give her the kind of future she has planned for herself.

“We can’t pick our families or where we come from, Jet. All we can choose is who we want to become in spite of them, and because of them.”

Ayden has spent most of her adult life working to have a solid future and financial security. Her upbringing was less than stable and she found herself in situations she never wants to repeat. Rocker Jet Keller is the exact opposite type of guy she should fall for, but she can’t change the way her body responds to him. But as Ayd falls for the bad boy, she worries she might be the only one who can help him realize how wonderful he really is.

‘I was a genius when it came to chemistry, and what was going on between us was bound to explode eventually.’

Jet is a New Adult novel that had me all kinds of fired up…in a good way. I guess I shouldn’t have expected anything less than emotional overload from a love story about a heavy metal rocker and a southern beauty who majors in chemistry!

Every scene was wrought with intense emotion, be it anger, lust, happiness or regret. Author Jay Crownover did an incredible job drawing me into each character’s viewpoint, showing all the angles from which they were seeing the issues. I really enjoy that format which most New Adult stories use, swapping back and forth from our male and female protagonist’s POV, and it worked wonderfully in this novel. That being said, it can also be frustrating to know that if one character would just explain things to the other, it would save them a lot of misery. But I suppose what would be the fun in that for us readers? 😉

Ayden and Jet seemed like very different people at the outset until we got to know more about their past and true personalities. Without giving too much of the plot away, they both had family issues they struggled greatly with growing up and took on a lot of guilt because of it. I loved, loved, loved how strong Ayden was. She thought she was weak, but it was obvious to everyone around her that she was not. She was selfless almost to a fault, which was part of the friction between herself and Jet.

And speaking of Jet. Holy. Hotness. There’s just something about a guy who at first glance seems dark and dangerous but who actually hides a heart of gold underneath. I loved the dichotomy of his personality. He screamed heavy metal onstage yet could sing old country love songs out of the blue; he looked like he could hurt someone without thinking twice, but he really only wanted to protect his loved ones. And even though falling for Ayden brought him to his knees emotionally, it was ever so satisfying to see someone who went through hell growing up finally find the person that truly understands him completely. *sigh*

I highly recommend Jet to New Adult fans. The main characters are completely engaging and even the secondary characters more than carry their own weight. You can read this as a standalone as I have, but I think (like me) you’ll be adding book one, Rule, to your TBR as well!

Book Info:

Published November 19th 2013 by William Morrow Paperbacks  | Series: Marked Men

With his tight leather pants and a sharp edge that makes him dangerous, Jet Keller is every girl’s rock and roll fantasy. But Ayden Cross is done walking on the wild side with bad boys. She doesn’t want to give in to the heat she sees in Jet’s dark, haunted eyes. She’s afraid of getting burned from the sparks of their spontaneous combustion, even as his touch sets her on fire.

Jet can’t resist the Southern Belle with mile-long legs in cowboy boots who defies his every expectation. Yet the closer he feels to Ayden, the less he seems to know her. While he’s tempted to get under her skin and undo her in every way, he knows firsthand what happens to two people with very different ideas about relationships.

Will the blaze burn into an enduring love. . . or will it consume their dreams and turn them to ashes?