Built (Saints of Denver, #1) by Jay Crownover
DEDICATION
Dedicated to the best dad any gal could ask for. My dad has always had a way about him . . . a rock-solid reliability that has made him forever my hero and number one badass. Because life is never easy we haven’t always seen eye to eye, but at the end of the day I have always known whatever needs to be done, my dad will be there to take care of it. He’s the real deal and few people I have encountered have managed to live up to his legend.
This one is for you, DadVo.
INTRODUCTION
Are you guys ready for this? I am so ready!
A new adventure. A new cast of characters. Something so different yet still familiar and comfy like a favorite pair of well-worn jeans.
I have to tell you that it only took one second, a single moment when these two met, for me to know they had to have a story and that it had to be epic. It had to be special, and larger than life, because frankly Zeb Fuller is both of those things. I needed to do my bearded wonder justice. Without Sayer and Zeb and their undeniable spark there would be no Saints of Denver. (I actually posted about the fact that they needed a book the second they met on Facebook when I was in the middle of writing Rowdy.) Their chemistry in that tiny little moment was so bright, so electric, so addicting, that it exploded in my head and I just knew they would be a perfect mess and that trying to get these two together was going to be a challenge I couldn’t resist.
I adored writing this book. I loved getting to go back to places that feel like home, but seeing them and describing them in a whole new way. I know it will make my readers happy to see some familiar faces (it’s always nice to check up on old friends here and there) but I sure hope the new ones steal your heart along the way. I’m pretty sure they will. ?
If you are a new reader just being introduced to all my crazy, welcome, I’m so glad you are here with me. Strap in for a sweet, sexy, often unpredictable ride.
If you are a longtime reader who is familiar with the series that started this whole journey, I’m sure you’re curious how the time line in the new series relates to the Marked Men series. While it might not be an exact match, in my head the start of the series takes place in the six months between the end of Asa and the epilogue in the final book. So that fall/winter before Rome and Cora’s wedding is when all the madness and sexiness begins.
As always, thank you, kickass readers, so much for being here. Thank you forever for letting me be here. There will never be a better place to be.
The fact that I get to keep doing this, that this is my actual, real-life job, never ceases to amaze and humble me. You’ve let me tell so many stories, let me bring so many interesting, valuable, important people to life with my words . . . it’s a dream come true and I couldn’t do it or have any of these opportunities and escapades without you.
You are EVERYTHING!!!
EPIGRAPH
I have not failed. I’ve just found ten thousand ways that won’t work.
—Thomas A. Edison
PROLOGUE
I met her at a bar.
She had a beer bottle in her hand even though she looked like she should be sipping champagne out of an expensive flute, and that inexplicably turned me on. She was pretty and looked completely out of place in the no-name bar sitting across from one of my oldest friends who also happened to be her long-lost brother. He was the reason she was here. In that split second that I laid my eyes on her I wanted to be the reason she stayed.
I knew it was rude and that the two of them needed some time together, some time to figure out what they were to each other now that she had blasted into his life unannounced. If I was a better friend I would have left them alone. As it was, I made my way over to the tiny table and sat down. I was covered in sawdust and had drywall mud caked in the hair on my head and on my face, but she didn’t flinch or bat an eyelash when I purposely broke up their party of two and placed myself as close to her as I could without actually touching her.