Asa Cross doesn't feel like he deserves any good in his life, not after the way he behaved in his past, to his sister, and to people who didn't deserve the trouble he brought to them. Having carved out a place at The Bar with Rome, and his sister living in Austin, Asa finds himself at yet another crossroads. Only this crossroads isn't to stay on the right side of the law or the wrong, it is where to go next. 
 Royal Hastings is reeling over the shooting that put her partner in the hospital with a questionable future while she was left without a scratch. Weeks of avoiding the hospital, and doing her best to catch the attention of the hot bartender who also happens to be friends with her best friend's boyfriend have not helped her forget her guilt. 
 When her penchant for locking herself out of her car catches up to her at 3am and the only one around to help her out is Asa, they both give in to the attraction that has been simmering (and been denied by him) for some time. 
 I loved watching these two go back and forth. His mindset that he wasn't good for her from the beginning only proved how much he has changed since we first met him in Jet. Her determination to get him to see the present rather than only his past was both admirable and cause for the battle of wills that often erupted between them. 
 I marked more favorite quotes while reading this than I have in a very long time. So much of Asa and Royal's words to each other and their internal battles were worded so perfectly that I couldn't help but take note. 
 I want to be sad that this is the last Marked Men book, but after finishing I can't be anything except completely satisfied and content. The final two paragraphs in Asa's narration of the epilogue summed up the entire Marked series so perfectly that I suddenly want to carve out the time to reread all of them this weekend (even though I've already re-read several of them, and I'm not a re-reader at all). 
 On a final note on the Marked series, I originally read Rule because I was excited to see a book set in Denver, close enough to home that it feels like it's taking place in my backyard, but it wasn't until Rome that I truly fell in love with ALL the Marked Men. The stories, the writing, the characters themselves have just gotten better and better as this series has grown and it is one of the few that I find myself reaching for when I need to go home. I don't have ink, nor have I ever stepped foot in a tattoo shop, but this Marked family feels like home. 
 While this is the last Marked book, Jay has been very clear that some of our favorite (and not so favorite) secondary characters will return in her upcoming Saints of Denver series, including Zeb and Sayer in the first book. I have several other predictions of equally opposing characters that would make for entertaining reading and can't wait to see what is in store for that spin-off. 
 I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.