Review: Better When He's Brave by Jay Crownover Book 3 in Welcome to the Point Series

Wow!!! I feel like I just stepped out of hell and survived to talk about it! What a wonderful dark read by Jay Crownover. I love that she steps out of her "rainbow" world and moves to the dark-side for this intense series.

Where to start, ok the world. JC has described the Point in both prior novels and yet spent almost half the book rebuilding this world for the reader. We get it is dark, grimy, deadly in fact it very comic like in the intensity of how far it has fallen. In my mind I liken it to the tv show "The Arrow" with the dark, heaviness of the world. The lengthy descriptions lost me a bit in the first part of the book. The inner turmoil also cut into the interaction which would have built up the relationship between the two main characters which was a bit lacking. By the half way point though the story was into full swing and all the action just held me frozen to the book I couldn't have put it down even if I had tried (which I didn't ).

The expression two negatives make a positive is really what won the day in the romance of this novel. The negative aspects of our MC's personalities seemed to grab each other and sooth them so they could function and bring out the better aspects of their characters. I love this twist on the love story as it is fresh and unique to this novel. The female MC really wasn't very likable going into the novel, in fact she was a bad guy. I loved seeing how JC turning her into someone we could understand and empathise with and actually grow to like. Titus our main male characters we have seen in all the books so far. He came across as the "clean", "good" brother but his flaws are there and his "grey" just was buried a bit deeper than his brother's .

JC's creative genius shows through as does her talent making this dark, gritty book into a romance with a villain that was as evil as any you would find in a psycho thriller or horror story. I could not believe the evil she created with this character in a contemporary romance but I LOVED it. I enjoyed this darker take on CR yet not so dark that it crossed the line that romance readers could not handle it. It is a testament to JC's writing skill and instinct about her readers.

I could get into what the story is about but I don't want to spoil it for those of you who have not read it yet and those of you who are already engaged in the series will have a feeling about what is to happen. The next books in this series will be so exciting I can't wait to read about Nassir and Booker we already find out the challenges they are going to fight with their lady loves but I'm sure the"Point" will toss in a few that haven't been foreshadowed. I can't wait!

A dark 4 star rating for this dark, edgy novel that takes us places romance novels usually fear to tread. I recommend this as a Fall read!