Leveled
A Saints of Denver Novella
Jay Crownover
Introduction
Surprise! It’s Lando’s book … way earlier than planned!
So here’s the thing … I needed a bridge between the old and the new. I finished the Marked Men series and couldn’t have been prouder of my boys, or my readers, with where we left things. And then I jumped right into working on Built, (available for pre-order now) which is Sayer and Zeb’s story and was supposed to be the first book in the Saints of Denver. It’s an amazing book. I also couldn’t be more satisfied around how it kicks off the new series, but there was this need for a way to connect the two and that was where Leveled came in.
Lando and Dom are the perfect mix of old and new, the perfect combo of then and now, and with switching the publication dates around, it really gave me the opportunity to close all the doors and tie up all the story lines that were left from the Marked Men series. It felt right. It was a story that poured out and was so sexy and fun to write. These boys are a handful … together and separately … that is always a treat to bring to life on the page.
Of all our original cast in the Marked Men, none deserved closure and the choice to move on and find love like Orlando did. I was happy to give him this story and there are enough familiar faces in this book making appearances that even though this isn’t my typical kind of story, it will make all the fans of the original series really happy, and hopefully any new ones that are picking this book up as their first Jay read.
I hope you enjoy the boys as they battle their way through love and fear and just in case you are wondering, the time frame of this book and pretty much all the Saints of Denver books takes place in that space of time between the end of Asa and the epilogue … so the six months or so that lead up to the wedding … you’ll have to read the Marked Men to know what wedding I’m talking about;)
Also, before you dive in, I want to say that any liberties taken with police protocol and reinstatement after an injury are my own and done so for the sake of the story. Sometimes the reality of things makes for boring fiction, and the lines need to be bent and tweaked to get the story where it needs to be.
I have nothing but respect and admiration for the men and women that choose to protect and serve and it’s an honor to give them a voice and a story in my work.
Chapter 1
Dominic
Leveled.
Laid out.
Knocked sideways.
Flattened and collapsed.
Breathless and stunned.