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Asa by Jay Crownover Series: Marked Men #6
Publication Date: April 21st 2015 Royal Hastings has been a cop, first and foremost, for most of her adult life. So when a call-out goes wrong and her partner ends up in hospital, she finds herself suspended from the job, indefinitely. With too much time on her hands and a heavy load of guilt weighing her down, she seeks solace in oblivion – otherwise known as a golden-eyed bartender with a rap sheet as long as her arm.

Asa Cross has spent his live on the wrong side of the law, but a near death experience has left him rebuilding his life and relationships. But being good is tougher than it seems – especially when being bad looks as good as Royal does.

On paper, the cop and the con seemed doomed to heartbreak – but when love has stolen your heart, how can you walk away?

The Marked Men series has officially come to an end and I'm in mourning. I've loved this series from book 1 when I picked up Rule at the beginning of last year and these boys and their ladies have a special place in my heart. Even Asa, the Southern charmer with a dark past.

So, as you probably know Asa obviously focuses on Asa and one of the most kick ass ladies in this series, Royal. Royal and Asa already have a past since Royal had to arrest Asa in the previous book even though what happened wasn't his fault and Royal was extremely reluctant to bring him in. Due to his past, Asa is determined to keep Royal at arms length because he doesn't get involved with cops and also because he feels like he doesn't deserve a happy future.

Oh Asa, Asa, Asa. I wanted to give this boy a smack around the ears and tell him to get his shit together more than once throughout the book. Asa is on a self destructive path because he feels like he doesn't deserve a happy ending after the way he acted in the past. He's clinging onto his guilt over what he did and it's preventing him from moving forward. Asa is a charmer. He's sexy, a straight talker and extremely protective of his sister and people he cares about. He can't seem to understand that he's changed and he's no longer the boy he used to be.

Royal is a bad ass. She's in a bit of a downer after her partner got shot in front of her and she blames herself. She's stuck in a pool of guilt and can't seem to shake it. No matter how many people tell her it wasn't her fault, she just can't seem to move past it. She's fierce, tough and incredibly sexy, but Royal also has a lot of her own shit to figure out.

Royal has been drowning her sorrows over her partners injury and her suspension in the bar where Asa works and has been constantly propositioning Asa and trying to get him to take her home. But Asa's having none of it and is trying his hardest to keep some distance between them. But with the chemistry sizzling between them, it's not long before Asa has Royal pressed up against her car in the parking lot. Asa revolves around two characters trying to absolve themselves of the guilt they carry and finally getting to a place where they can both be happy. But Royal and Asa both have a long way to go before either of them reach that place. Asa is constantly trying to scare Royal away and prove that he's not what she deserves, and he can't see that he's put in a lot of work to get himself in a decent place.

There were a lot of pregnancies, births, weddings and engagements in Asa, which all left me with a stupid grin on my face and sometimes a few happy tears. My old favourites were constantly present in this book and I loved seeing how close knit their group is. They all care so much about each other. Rome has been a huge help in getting Asa to where he is today, and I loved seeing their bonding moments together.

The Marked Men series has been such an amazing series to read. It will always be one of my favourites and I still can't quite believe it's over. No more from my favourite characters. It's been a hell of a journey and these characters will always have a place in my heart and I can see myself re-reading this series every year. Asa was a perfect end to a fantastic series and I just want to thank Jay Crownover for writing such amazing stories and extremely loveable characters.