RATING: 2.5/3 STARS Genre: Contemporary Romance Standalone/Series: Standalone How I got this book: Bought He was that boy in the playground. The one that pulled your pigtails. The one that lifted your dress in front of the entire school. Now he's that guy in the office. The one that steals your lunch from the fridge. The one that gets away with everything. I'm sure you know him. Everyone knows that guy. He's a #JERK. Presley Malone knew her relationship with her fiancé, Jason, had run its course. The second that ring came off her finger, she didn't expect to be the pawn in an immature game played by the office jerk. His name is Haden Cooper, and he is six years younger than her. Immature and irresponsible, getting drunk and stoned every weekend like he never left college. He rode a motorcycle, carrying a different girl each week. He was everything a jerk should be—insensitive, unreliable, and most importantly, a heartbreaker. Haden enjoyed playing games, and when it came to Presley Malone, it was all too easy. Miss Know-it-all with her over-the-top OCD was soon going to get a taste of what it was like to live on the edge. But what starts off as an innocent prank soon becomes an unhealthy obsession. He is wrong for her and she is wrong for him. It's a battle of the sexes ready to go to war. But in this battle there are no winners, and it takes only one fateful night and six tequilas for their lives to take an unexpected turn that changes them both forever. This review is part review, part rant which will is going to contain spoilers so feel free to turn back now.
So, I had really high hopes for this book. Enemies to lovers is probably my favourite trope of all time and this book started off extremely similar to The Hating Game by Sally Thorne which I love. I got swept away by the story, the author managed to keep me interested the entire way through the book even though I had major issues with the characters. My first issue is with the lead male character Hayden who starts off as a bit of a jerk (no spoilers there) but who actually turns out to be pretty messed up. He's controlling, possessive, borderline violent, childish and in my opinion very abusive. There's a scene in the book where Hayden is sober but Presley (the female lead) is absolutely hammered and what results is a very sketchy love scene that from my perspective was borderline rape which is not something I wanted to read about. After that, Presley seems to develop Stockholm syndrome/insta-lust towards Hayden even though there's no emotional or intellectual connection whatsoever. Throw into the mix Presley's "relationship" with Hayden's cousin, who is another immature, controlling, violent male and things start to get weird. After that comes a shock pregnancy and honestly, I feel sorry for the kid because his parents and the people in their circle are insane. Add to that Hayden's shotgun engagement which is never really explained at all, and his fiance who's painted as a bitch but for absolutely no reason since Hayden and Presley are pretty much having an affair behind her back. Side note: this all takes place over the course of a few months! I found it hysterical that Presley kept referring to herself as being a moral person, yet she continued to flirt with, kiss and possibly have sex with (it's unclear whether it was real or a dream at this point) an engaged man. She broke up with her own fiance because she wanted "more" but as soon as she finds herself pregnant with Hayden who's about to get hitched she's quite happy to consider getting back together with her ex just so she doesn't have to go through motherhood alone - suck it up sweetheart, single mums are amazing! After all the issues I had with the two main characters, there's the equally stupid friends to contend with. We've already covered Hayden's cousin but let's not forget the women in this book who seem to have absolutely zero self-respect because they're quite happy to let men who are married or abusive control them and take advantage simply because they don't want to be single. Not exactly a book filled with role models. So anyway, after writing this, I'm no longer sure about the rating, I have no idea why I continued to read this book, what kept me hanging on until the end, maybe it was some insane hope that things would turn out okay, that the characters would change, would become better people. I guess when I got to the end and it was revealed that Hayden married his fiance only to leave her three hours later to return to Presley and his baby, I almost threw my kindle at the wall because, nope there was absolutely no redemption to be found here. Whilst I don't typically write negative reviews, and this one could be called mixed at best, I just had to vent about the problems I had with this book. The thing that's most strange is that besides the fact that I hated pretty much every single character in the book, I loved the writing style. Aside from a few typos, it held my attention, it kept me wanting more to the point that I stayed awake until 2 am reading this book, unwilling to put it down. This review isn't me hating the author or even the book, I guess as a woman, I just don't agree with the way the characters carry themselves and their decisions. Even more so than the problematic male characters in this book, I find the women's willingness to throw themselves at these abusive men, just because they "look hot" to be pretty pathetic. Phew! That's it, rant over! If you've read this book, if you had the same problems I did, or if you loved it, I'd love to hear from you in the comments! Comments are closed.
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About Kay (She/Her)
Book addict, film mad, music lover, business owner, writer and mum (not necessarily in that order), living in the UK. About Sophie (She/Her)
Sophie loves books (obviously). She has a passion for photography and spotting wildlife, and is interested in anything made with passion and creativity. THIS BLOG IS SPOILER FREE!
Rating system: 5 Stars - AMAZING!! 4.5 Stars - Almost perfect! 4 Stars - I really loved it 3.5 Stars - I liked it alot 3 Stars - I liked it (I don't typically review books that I rate below 3 stars)
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