From New York Times bestselling author Jay Crownover comes CHARGED, the latest in her sexy The Saints of Denver Series, releasing May 24th! Known for her strong heroines and alpha males, you won't know what hit you as you read Avett and Quaid's story. Keep reading for more about the Leagle Eagle and Avett and order your copy today.

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About CHARGED:

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Marked Men books comes the second installment in the Saints of Denver series featuring a bad girl and a by the book attorney who could be her salvation...or her ruin.

Avett Walker and Quaid Jackson’s worlds have no reason to collide. Ever. Quaid is a high powered criminal attorney as slick as he is handsome. Avett is a pink-haired troublemaker with a bad attitude and a history of picking the wrong men.

When Avett lands in a sea of hot water because of one terrible mistake, the only person who can get her out of it is the insanely sexy lawyer. The last thing on earth she wants to do is rely on the no-nonsense attorney who thinks of her as nothing more than a nuisance. He literally has her fate in his hands. Yet there is something about him that makes her want to convince him to loosen his tie and have a little fun…with her.

Quaid never takes on clients like the impulsive young woman with a Technicolor dye job. She could stand to learn a hard lesson or two, but something about her guileless hazel eyes intrigues him. Still, he’s determined to keep their relationship strictly business. But doing so is becoming more impossible with each day he spends with her.

As they work side-by-side, they’ll have to figure out a way to get along and keep their hands off each other—because the chemistry between them is beyond charged.

Excerpt

Avett

I blew out a breath and felt that bottom I had careened onto reach up to embrace me even tighter. “It is what it is. I’ve let both my folks down a lot over the last few years but getting caught up with a guy that would rob the bar, a guy who could threaten my dad’s people.” I shook my head. “I deserve to rot.”

I was being overly dramatic but that’s how I felt. I deserved to sit in jail and so much worse than that. Self-pity was good company down here at rock bottom and I wasn’t ready to let go of the warmth it provided just yet.

He gave me a look I couldn’t read and headed for the door. “I’ll call your parents for you and see if we can have something in place before tomorrow. Working on your case will be a lot easier for both of us if you aren’t incarcerated. Remember, you need to listen to me, Ms. Walker. That’s the first rule in all of this.”

Panic hit me like a truck. What if he called my dad and my dad told him he’d had enough of his problematic daughter and her endless nonsense? What if he couldn’t love me anymore? Jail I could survive; losing my father for good, well, it would be the end of me.

Without thinking I jumped to my feet, which had the chains on both my hands and my legs rattling loudly, and two uniformed officers hurried into the room. I was about to make maybe the worst decision to date but I couldn’t stop the words from sliding off my tongue.

“Don’t call my dad!” Recklessness, thy name was Avett Walker.

The attorney turned around and looked at me like I had grown a second head. He didn’t say anything as the officers moved to either side of me and told me to calm down.

“You can’t call my dad.” The words sounded as panicked and as desperate as I felt on the inside.

His broad shoulders lifted and fell in a shrug like he really couldn’t give a shit that he was about to ruin my life…which was saying a hell of a lot considering where I was.

“I have to.” He sounded bored and impatient with my outburst.

I narrowed my eyes at him, and that vortex of awful, which I always seemed to be smack dab in the center of, started to spin faster and faster around me.

“Then you’re fired.” I saw the cops exchange a look and my rushed words had the blond man turning fully back around to look at me. “I don’t want your help. I don’t want anything from you.”

Finally, there was something other than indifference in his gaze. There was surprise, maybe a hint of admiration colliding with a huge splash of humor in the pale depths.

“Sorry, Ms. Walker, but you didn’t hire me, so that means you don’t get to fire me.” That grin of his, which should be registered as a deadly weapon, flashed across his face again as he watched me, and then he was gone.

Okay, so if you saw my previous thoughts on this book from before I read it then you know that I was beyond nervous about liking Avett. She was just such a brat in the other books that I was pretty positive I wouldn't like her. Which would kill me because this author is one of my favorites so I want to like everything she writes, and I didn't want a unlikable heroine to ruin the book. Well I never should have doubted Jay because of course she wrote a kick ass book with a heroine that I ended up loving.

"Don't worry, Sprite, bad decisions make for good stories."

Avett Walker has many issues from her past, and the way she deals with them is to be as self destructive as possible. But when one of her many bad decisions leads her to be sitting in a jail cell, needing to be helped out yet again, she wakes up and realizes she's doing more damage to those around her than to herself. Now she just needs to figure out how to turn her life around without causing those she loves anymore heartache.

Quaid Jackson, aka legal eagle, is used to sitting across from criminals in orange jumpsuits and an I-don't-care attitude, so meeting his next client in lock up is nothing new. Until he see's the pink-haired girl he'll be representing and feels an overwhelming need to help her in any way possible. And when danger from her past shows up he wants to be the one there for her, even if it means putting himself in the crossfire.

Even though she doesn't want to lean anyone for help, Avett accepts Quaids offer to get her back on her feet. She doesn't want another person in her life to hurt because of her so she tries to stop herself from getting too close to him. But Quaid is almost impossible for her to resist, especially since he's decided she's what he wants.

"You're the best bad decision I ever made, and you are, by far, my favorite story to tell."

I can't lie and say that Avett wasn't a very screwed up heroine. But her flaws are what made me like her since she owned up to them. I was very nervous about her character because it never goes well when an author tries to redeem someone I already don't like. And that's the perfect part of this story - Jay Crownover never once tried to redeem Avett or make her character likable. Avett was who she was without remorse, she didn't give excuses for her behavior, she just accepted them and tried to become a better person. I really liked that she took her past and moved on from it by learning from her mistakes.

And Quaid, well just be prepared to need a change of panties...or better yet, don't wear them. This man, I swear Jay somehow got into my naughty file of fantasies and built this character around everything in there. Once he started to open up and become more of the man perfect for Avett he went wild with the hotness, and I almost couldn't keep up. I went into this thinking that he would be the sweet part to the story, but then the real Quiad was revealed once he loosened up a bit and I just wanted to rip that suit right off of him. His character didn't really "change" per se, but he became more himself and I liked how his character developed.

Bottom line, this story isn't just a romance, it's a story of growing up and how your past doesn't define you, it's what you do with your past that does. Previous characters made appearances which I, of course, loved but they didn't take over the book and there wasn't an overabundance of information about them, which I liked. There are also new characters that have me on the edge of my seat to get their story, but I don't know who will be next. So if you can't find me in the near future I'm most likely stalking Jay to see who is going to get a book next.

And don’t miss the first titles in The Saints of Denver Series!

LEVELED

Studio portrait of young bearded man --- Image by © pinkypills/Corbis

BUILT

About Jay Crownover: Jay Crownover is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Marked Men, The Point, and the Saints of Denverseries. Like her characters, she is a big fan of tattoos. She loves music and wishes she could be a rock star, but since she has no aptitude for singing or instrument playing, she'll settle for writing stories with interesting characters that make the reader feel something. She lives in Colorado with her three dogs.