DNF @ 30%
I just couldn't get into this at all. I didn't care for either character. Sorry!

This book is written in first person, present and trades between the hero-Jamie Owens and heroine-Kylee Jensen, with each chapter. It was hard for me to adjust to this style of writing. The story drew me in and because I was enjoying it so much the writing style got easier to deal with.

Jamie Owens, former tattoo artist, who's been in New Orleans, is back in town to help the family get their dad's construction business, Blue Bay Construction, back on its feet after he died. He left home at 18 after being wrongly accused and convicted of rape by a pampered rich girl who spent her summers in Blue Bay, an oceanside vacation town. He was beat up by her 4 brothers and was in the hospital for a long time. As you can guess he was emotionally scared by this, especially because his dad didn't believe his innocence.

Kylee Jensen just moved into an oceanfront cottage her big city attorney father bought her as a law school graduation present. She's a goodie-two-shoes who has spent her life seeking her father's approval. She never seems to be good enough. He wants her to marry Trevor Jackson, another attorney in the firm. Kylee has no chemistry with the guy and so that's a no but she can't seem to get her father to see that. She sees Jamie on the roof next door and we have insta-lust. She decides to give herself something she wants this summer and lets him know she's available for a fling for the summer. Little did they know it would me so much more than that.

I really liked how these two very different appearing people find commonalities and open up their lives to each other. The sex, which is explosive, was just the catalyst to get the process started. Neither one is willing to commit their heart and expose secrets that work to tear them apart later in the story. Cathryn weaves the story to a satisfying HEA.

Thank you Cathryn and St. Martin's Press for the NetGalley ARC for my unbiased review.

Book 2 in the Blue Bay Crew series, Leveled is a great follow up to Demolished. I like Jamie and Kylee their chemistry sizzles and the interaction and storyline make for a great quick read. I would recommend this to book and series.

Cathryn Fox delivers a hefty helping of hot and steamy in our second outing with the Blue Bay Crew, where Jamie and his new, albeit temporary, neighbour, Kylee waste no time in getting to know one another.

“An affair with Jamie Owens, Blue Bay’s very own bad boy. How naughty.”

Levelled can pretty much be summed up in one sentence: soft porn with a storyline. The dirty talk did venture into eyerollworthy territory on occasion and the bigger storyline could have done with a bit more depth, but there’s no taking away the fact that Jamie and Kylee were fabulous together.

“...this summer you became my best friend, and you make me brave.”

As they fall for one another and let their guards down, we really get to see Jamie for the amazing man he is and Kylee grow stronger from being surrounded by people who love her unconditionally, and that was when this story cranked up a notch for me. Fox has created a great family in the Owens’ and whilst they may be loud and raucous bad-boys, they also have huge, gentle hearts, will fight for those they love and are soft lumps when it comes to their gran. And all that will keep me coming back for more.

3.5 Stars.

3.5 Leveled by Cathyrn Fox is the second book in the Blue Bay Crew about brothers who return home after their father passes to save the family construction business. Each features a brother and their romance. Fox delivers a quick, sweet and deliciously hot story that will melt your Kindle.

I am so loving this series and the Owens Brothers. Damn hot! That's the way Cathryn writes them and that's the way I like these men.
This was a great story, Jamie, Sweet boy as his Gram called him burned beyond belief in his younger days by a little rich girl and her nasty brothers. So badly he leaves town. Heads to NOLA and starts his own tattoo shop and is damn good at it. That works well for him leaving home and the foul taste in his mouth until his father calls the boys home to take over the construction business and then dies.
The boys are all back, even the cousins and we get to see them once again in this book.
Kylee is there in a cottage along the water he father bought for her to appease her agreeing to work at his law firm. He's got her all set up to marry some dork wad she barely can stomach and runs her life. Meanwhile she's over the top with Jamie. She sees, she wants and as much as he tries to stay away, he can't. These two launch into a great and smoking hot relationship with Jamie and fits right into the rest of the family. Kylee doesn't want to be a lawyer, she wants to design clothing. And she's really good at it.
When her father and what he is to be pay an unexpected visit, the proverbial crap hits the fan in the worst way and hurt Kylie goes back to Atlanta. She's not happy. He's not happy knowing what he's done and it takes a few prods from Gram and his brother to go get his girl. But does he?
This is another must read and as I said, I'm loving these brothers. Cathryn writes such a great book with plenty of steamy and the men will melt your socks.
4.5 stars

**arc from NetGalley and Publisher**
**I received an advanced copy of this book for review. The opinions and honest review above are mine alone. **

Oh my word this is one of the best books I’ve ever read by this author and she really does know how to write spectacular books too. This one is phenomenal and this is one of the best series I’ve read so far this year. 2018 is going to be such a fantastic year for this author going by this book and it is such amazing and pleasure to read this story. It’s got a really well developed storyline, and characters that you can relate too and like very much like there are a part of your friends that your reading about and the romance is just wow it’s just perfect and will have you turning the pages so you can get the most pleasure out of this book. I would totally recommend both this book and this author and series and I’m super excited for more to come from both this series and author.

First book I've read in the series, there are definitely spoilers for the previous book. But that's to be expected as it seems like we are following the brothers and possibly the cousins of the Owens clan.
Jamie Owens has trust issues where women are concerned and rightly so with his painful past. But when he paints Kylee with the same brush things don't turn out the way he expects. Kylee is tired of being under her father's thumb, but she doesn't see any way out of her bleak future. So deciding time away for the summer is the perfect farewell to her dreams. She gets more than she bargained for when Jamie comes to her rescue. They are combustible from the start and watching the characters interact and develop was scorching at times. Definitely a series to watch.

a scorching story with a good plot and characters. Enjoyed

I really liked this book. Kylee was a little annoying in the beginning with how he'll bent she was on having a summer going with a bad boy, basically everything Jaime hated. And I didn't like how quick to judge based on appearances Jaime was but I suppose that's what the point of the story was. They both got better throughout the book and I really liked their chemistry. I'm looking forward to reading more about the Owens boys!

Oh Jamie. My heart broke for his past, and I swooned at him in the present. Sexy, demanding, romantic, and lovable all in one! Kylee is one strong woman, who doesn't know her strength until she needs it. I loved these two together, and honestly, I love this whole family and can't wait for more!

This girl liked this book. If you read Leveled, you'll get the reference.
Blue Bay is a beautiful setting for this series. I love the idea of being able to walk out your door and you're on the beach. Plus the closeness of Jamie's family is so special. And since Kylee doesn't have that closeness, she is surprised when Jamie's takes her in at the very first meeting. Thank God for match making Grandma's.

Definitely going to go back and read book one in this series because I really liked this one. I love book with big, loud families and the Owens clan is fun to read about. I liked Jamie and Kylee and the progression of their relationship from just a quick fling to more. The only thing that really kept me from rating this higher is Kylee's backstory. It seemed so underdeveloped and I am tired of parent who are evil and controlling for no reason. It has become so overdone. Still this was a really enjoyable read and I will be looking for the others in this series.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I actually felt nervous when I started ‘Leveled’; Cathryn Fox isn’t always an author whose erotica hits the right spot for me, but I’m actually happy to say that I got my dose of smut with Jamie and Kylee, whose one-night stand-turned-summer-fling because way more than that. Both had a chemistry as well as an ease around each other that I found believable and while some parts became a bit like a porn-movie, it was fun reading about, well, the various ways a hard long object can go into an expandable slot.

The struggle to keep their own personal pasts out of the equation however, came alongside the overwhelming need to keep it about sex only. Jamie’s own demons revisited him in the form of the rich girl looking for fun, though he could barely discern that Kylee was in fact, trying to be only the rich girl looking for fun because of a father who had long dictated her behaviour and choices in life. It’s sort of strange to see both of them coming at it from opposite angles, with this kept up till nearly the end of the book as they try to rein in and downplay their affair as a simply summer fling.

Interfering relatives on the other hand, are the bane of most of the stories I’ve read so far, especially when their irksome actions can span the entire spectrum of giving abysmal advice to being absolutely controlling. Unfortunately, this wasn’t too different in ‘Leveled’, where they actually played a role—how large the role is probably up to interpretation—in keeping both Kylee and Jamie apart, though admittedly, both could have engaged in something called communication instead of running away. I didn’t like how Kylee walked away without the gumption to find out the truth about Jamie’s past and her inability to put herself out there when it mattered kept me frustrated, while on Jamie’s part, the past that came back to revisit him didn’t feel at all resolved.

Obviously, climaxes and resolutions can be tricky; leave it too late and the conclusion and HEA can feel rushed. I don’t doubt that Jamie/Kylee’s HEA was definitely deserved, but I did wish however, that Fox had written things differently at the end which would have made me a more convinced believer in a pair who could fight equally for each other without stumbling when push came to shove.

Hot and sexy from the get-go, with just enough emotional baggage to make both characters loopy until the end. This book has some seriously sexy heat between the two leads, an instant attraction that they both take advantage of immediately. They are hot together, and while burning through that heat, their emotions start to a hold. They both deny it when it happens, each of them, for their own reasons, believe this to be a summer fling

Jamie and Kylee will have you wanting to reach out and hug them, there are so many reasons you'll want to comfort them. They do offer comfort to each other, even when they don't know the root. They slowly open up to each other, and even as they tell each other it is only a fling, the plans for the future start to enter their minds.

So sweet at moments, so sexy in others, and a solid fledgling romance that grows solid through it all!