Spoilsport : A Dark High School Romance by Layla Simon – a 5/5 review!

Esme has left town in order to leave her bully behind. Starting over in a new high schooI, a boarding school, she is making new friends and focusing on her studies. Things are looking up, until there is a new student on a rugby scholarship who happens to be the very bully she was escaping.

Seb is obsessed with getting his revenge on Esme who has not only ruined his repuation, but also his mother’s. Esme and Seb’s passionate dynamic starts with hatred but ends with something else. A past of misunderstanding leads to a rescue plan, but which one needs rescuing?

I definitely recommend checking out the trigger warnings before starting this book because it is dark, violent, and yet hopeful. It was fast-paced and I found myself up very late at night because I simply had to know what happens next. The writing is masterfully layered and I found myself rooting for the crimes that would end up being committed. It is dark and the only criticism I would have is that it reads more like a college romance than a high school one. That aside, it is a great romance with deep feelings and difficult challenges to overcome.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Kingmaker (All The King’s Men #1) by Kennedy Ryan – A 2/5 Star Review!

The title and reading the book description did not prepare me for this book. I thought it would be a romance of opposites attract and instead it was a patched up plot that heavily involves politics, climate change, and capitalism. The connection between Lennix and Maxim seemed forced at times and immature at others. Grown adults relying on jealousy to attract each other was not doing it for me. I didn’t care for creepy stalker Maxim or the volatile Lennox. I still am not sure if the title The Kingmaker is a good one as they briefly mention it as a nickname that felt confusing to me.

The plot is hard to follow at times because it focuses on their bonding (for a week), then on Maxim’s Antarctic Adventure, then it’s mentioned that he also has to go to the Amazon but there is barely a reference to his time there. There is a lie by omission which leads to a gap of ten years where Lennix goes from being a grassroots protestor fighting to save lands that they are building pipelines on to Louboutin shoes and debating on a news show. It seems like the author had a hard time focusing on one concept so they just threw all of the concepts into the story. And then had the audacity to end it on a cliffhanger. Is it a romance? An action-packed adventure on climate change? A potential presidential candidate political campaign story? A story about indigenous women going missing and the lack of action about it? The answer is e. All of the above.

Thanks to NetGalley for the Digital Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. At the time of this review, the book is set to be released on 05/23/2023.