Keane - Her Ruthless Ex: 50 Loving States, Massachusetts

Broken & Ruthless #1

by Theodora Taylor

My ruthless ex is broken, bitter, and determined to get me back I used to be a sensible, responsible good girl who kept her nose buried in textbooks and worked hard to make her father’s dreams come true. Then Keane happened. He was a crude, rude, ruthless Southie bully who only cared about his hockey career and pucking his way through a string of girls. I hated him and I thought he hated me, but then one unexpected spring break kiss changed everything. I had no business spending one night with him, much less that wild, intense summer. He was freedom and ruin in one ridiculously sexy package. Moving across the country to go to med school and eventually marrying Keane’s total opposite seemed like the right things to do at the time. But now I’m divorced, and back in Boston with a nine-year-old secret, I’ll do anything to protect. And as for Keane? Well, my ruthless ex is broken, bitter, and determined to punish me for walking away.
READER If you’re looking for a typical enemies-to-lover, secret baby romance, this intense, highly psychological second-chance love story isn’t that. This book is ONLY for readers with open hearts and open minds, who can handle love stories that color outside the usual lines. If you’re not that reader, please do not One-Click this book.

Genres: Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Sports, Contemporary, Interracial Romance, Second Chance, Contemporary Romance

326 pages, Paperback

First published August 19, 2019

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Theodora Taylor writes hot books with heart. When not reading, reviewing or writing, she enjoys spending time with her amazing family, going on dating nights with her wonderful husband, and attending parties thrown by others.

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Theodora Taylor schreibt feurige Bücher mit Herz. Wenn sie nicht gerade selbst liest, schreibt oder Deutsch lernt, verbringt sie am liebsten Zeit mit ihrer Familie oder geht mit ihrem wundervollen Mann aus.

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Reviews

[DeeReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love is Love

Theodora Taylor's writing style has always grabbed me from the very first page of her daring stories but this one was so prolific due to the timely subject matter she cleverly weaved in Keane and Lena's engaging tale.

So cheers again to Theodora Taylor on another epic story to her 50 Loving States series!



Hero or should I say anti-hero, Desmond B. Keane aka Keane was that bully and noted hockey jock that readers will love to hate... literally and figuratively! So this story started with
a mean bully bullying for lunch money!









His actions were always rude, crass, manipulative, mean and tactless even as he aged in the story but when he haphazardly meets Lena in high school with her 'band nerd' supposedly boyfriend' Vihaan, well it's a lust that Keane and Lena had never known before. So be it lust or LOVE, the feeling always found a way to thrive with these two even when they didn't know exactly what it was!



This story was cloaked in paybacks, miscommunications, revenge schemes, blackmail; secrets, arguments, bias and even past pains that had haunted the hero and heroine with vivid flashbacks.

What I enjoyed most about "Keane" was the way he didn't all out fall into the perfect man for Lena but he just became a better man still having the rough edges. And Lena she wasn't perfect either but she was a good person: a people pleaser who was always attracted to Keane, the bully but made sacrifices for her father because her father had done the same for her. She was also a proud mother bear ALWAYS!



Many of the likable secondary characters made this story rich in the fundamentals of love being love from Con to Vihaan and of course Lena's son, Maximillian aka Max. You really get to see all the sides of Keane in this story when it came to Lena and Max but even when you did, he was still as blunt, as rough and as rude as ever... Nice was a part he tried to be but love him or hate him, Keane was always Keane, a hellraiser or "the devil."



The 'feels' in this story will hold you because stories like these really do exist!

Looking forward in reading Stone Ferraro's story next after that short teaser!


ARC provided for my honest review without many spoilers~lol


5 prolific stars due to noteworthy subject matter!!!!!

[Darlene I read WAY to many books · Rating 2 out of 5]

love and a Bully

1.5 ⭐

NOW the RMR version is wayyy lighter then the full orginal version.. and wayyyy better honestly.. i enjoyed this wayyy more... or maybe i should say the RMR of this story to the full book??? But yeah... this one was better... wish i hadn't read the full book...


Full book is keane -Ruthless Ex (ebook)

I just finished reading the full book... and i disliked it.. since the dude was a bigger asshole.. in his adult years... blackmail, hate fucking and all that... plus i didn't feel the connection when he bullied her in the adult years...
I understood why he was mad that she kept his son away.. but man.. he was a dick that last night together when they were younger... and how he acted i understood her reason to keep her child away even if it was wrong.... plus the 100 fucks or 120 fucks?? Both couldn't act like adults and fix it.. both to me were childish...

Only thing i enjoyed about the full book was how Keane reacted to his daughter became his son.. that was a good moment..

Angst, Drama, secondary chara, sexy times, virgin/ no virgins & Manwhore guy

Slow-burn
Bully romance
Enemies to lovers
Push/pull from both
Second chance
No condom
HFN

[DarkDamsel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Desmond and Lena

4 stars for this bwwm enemies to friends sports romance. You know I am a serious super fan of TT, she is my fave however, as much as I love her writing sometimes I might not like the characters. In this case I could not get on the Lena, the heroine’s bandwagon and let alone her father. What saved the story at all was Keane (Desmond) and Max. I really get into these stories so much its like these 2D people jump off the pages especially with excellent writers like Ms. Taylor. Still worth the read!

[Steph's Romance Book Talk · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 Stars / 2 Steam Fans

This was just a NOPE! A bully story and I didn't like it!

This specific video review will be included in the August 2019 wrap-up.

For other video book reviews check out my YouTube Channel: Steph's Romance Book Talk.

[Donyae Coles · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was Taylor's at bully romance and I even written by an author I enjoy, I am just not a fan of that trope. At all. But more than that, I gave this a two star because it just seemed too derivative of Taylor's other works to stand out.

On the plus side, there were way less egregious typos and grammatical errors in this text than some of her older ones so that's awesome. Her world building was smooth in this, she locked Keane into the universe with no hiccups and it's easy to see where this couple fits into things and if you've read all the other books, what order they should be in.

But some basic issues. The characters were pretty flat and mostly unlikable. The h had that stilted and over clinical way of talking that seems to be an issue with many of TT's educated women and I don't know why that is. The dude was straight up emotionally abusive though. He was mean and manipulative and I didn't like that at all.

And their story seemed like a mash up of a few other other books we've already read.

The sports star that loses their career due to disability. (His One and Only)
Summer of hate sex so kid can go to special camp (Holt)
Their custody deal. (Vaguely felt like His Revenge Baby)
Unrequited high school love. (His For the Summer)
Dude has Mafia ties. (Luca, even uses the same Mafia dudes. Also Her Russian Surrender same story elements)
Really smart woman just making really silly choices. (like all of her books if we're being honest)

I probably wouldn't feel this way if I had read those books by different authors but because these are her works, they're all just so similar. And because she constantly references the past works it's really hard not to notice the overlap in stories.

So this one didn't do it for me as much as her others have.

[Karen's Bookshelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keane and Lena's story was a little different from what I usually expect from Theodora Taylor but sometimes you have to step outside your comfort zone and Keane-Her Ruthless Ex was definitely that for me. Lena and Keane's love story was a complicated one that has more twists and turns , ups and downs, and secrets on top of secrets. For a big chunk of the story, I was thinking there is no possible way for these two to have a happy ending because there was just to much working against them. There were even times that neither Lena or Keane were even likable to me, and I wasn't even sure that they belonged together. Luckily for her faithful readers as well as the newcomers, Ms Taylor can weave a story to not only the unbelievable possible, she can make it happen in the most wonderful way and that's what takes place between Lena and Keane. This is not you run of the mill romance but it is one that will have you thinking about it for a long time after you've finished .

[Erica M. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too much

I really didn’t like Lena. She was annoying. I have no problem with transgender, gay, lesbian, etc. I’d just prefer it not involve children, be in my fictional romance novel... involving multiple characters. They have genres for that. I typically love this author and I was really looking forward to this book.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Huge S/O to Ms. Taylor for creating a character, Keane, with a backbone! Well done, ma’am. 👏🏾❤️

[theswooncollector · Rating 4 out of 5]

**Full review + my favorite quotes on The Swoon Collection**

What an angsty second chance romance!

OVERALL RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Really Liked It!

I'm really glad I picked this up because this book was so unexpectedly good, and I loved it! I loved the characters' history, the secret baby angle, the "agreement", and that inevitable part when they both finally gave in and became honest about what they wanted. I was rooting for them even as Keane kept f*cking up, and I'm glad that they found their HEA.

Theodora Taylor is a new-to-me author, and now I'm excited to read her other works to see if they could give me the same feels as this book.

WHAT I LOVED 💕

💜 So. Much. Angst. They both made choices that they thought were best for themselves at the time and ended up hurting the other.

💜 Keane was obsessed with Lena from the start. They met when he bullied her best friend for lunch money, and she tried to stop him. From then on, Keane was gone for her.

💜 The fact that Keane hears "More Than a Feeling" in his head when he feels high on Lena was freaking cute. That's how he knew she was special, by the way.

💜 Lena learned to shake off the guilt of wanting to please her father by doing what he wanted.

💜 The author's writing made me feel so invested.

WHAT DIDN'T WORK FOR ME 😞

In the first part of the book, he called her "fat" a couple of times, and it made me uncomfortable. Although, I understand that he's crude — so it fits with his personality — and I also know how obsessed he was with her body, so it was easy to let it go.


SWOON SCORE: 🦋🦋🦋 Cute Enough to Keep

Keane was not an easy man to like or love because his main rule in life was to "asshole or get assholed". Still, I loved how obsessed he was with Lena from the moment they met.

No, he hadn’t noticed her at first. But when he did, she became all he could see. For seconds…minutes…eternities on end.

He knew she was it for him so when she broke up with him that summer, six years after high school, it crushed him.

“I’d just won the Stanley Cup. I was headed to the party to end all parties. I knew I could get laid by anyone I asked that night, but the only person I wanted to be with was you. I’d reached the Holy Grail, won the Stanley Cup, and it didn’t mean shit because I couldn’t have you.

When they met again as adults, he still felt deeply for her, even when he was trying to hate her. He would do anything to keep her close. It took him time to finally be vulnerable, but when he did, it was amazing.

She’d put him through so much, and you know what, it didn’t even matter. She was his now. His forever. From that moment on, Lena’s ruthless ex, would become the man who would love and cherish her. And never fucking ever let her go.

SPICE LEVEL: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 Hot and Explicit

Keane and Lena are explosive together, so if you're looking for some delicious hate f*cking that includes begging and repeat-after-me BJs, then this book will hit the spot.

“You heard me. Beg me, bad girl. Beg me for your next orgasm. Beg me for this dick.”

DID I LAUGH? Yes, there were some funny moments. I loved the epilogue!

DID I CRY? Some parts made me tear up, especially since Keane was pretty ruthless.

DO I RECOMMEND THIS? ✅ YES! Please do not judge the cover and read the author's reader warning on the blurb.
 
♥♥♥
 
GENRE: Contemporary
POV: Dual, 3rd Person
TROPES: hate to love, second chance, interracial romance, secret baby, hockey
HFN OR HEA: HEA

LET'S CONNECT!

[Mstcat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fans of Theodora Taylor are certain to enjoy Keane, the latest installment in the 50 Loving States series. The story follows a formula that I've grown to expect from this author. That's both a positive and negative in terms of my reading experience. If you're a fan there are certain things that likely appeal to you when it comes to Taylor's work. The alpha-hole hero for example and the passion that turns to hate that's masking unrequited love storyline are all present. The author continues to show that she's skilled at her craft, however, I continue to wish for something that doesn't so closely follow her usual outline.
That said, there are unexpected twists in Keane that shook things up and added something new to a story that was reading a little too familiar. Without giving away any spoilers I'll just say I wish Keane's reaction to this twist wasn't so suspect as I don't believe it would have been the same under different circumstances.
At the end of the day, I recommend reading Keane. If you're new to Theodora Taylor you're certain to enjoy it in terms of the story and the quality of the writing. If you're already familiar with this author, you'll appreciate the twists as well as the good read. I'm giving Keane 3 out of 5 stars.

[Tphyllis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah heads up

I normally don't give a bad review the story wasn't a bad story, the female got on my nerves but the story overall is good . Now the problem I have is with the homosexuality. you need to let people know what they are getting into! not just letting them find out dang near the end of the book. yeah not cool at all. in the blurb say something. I like to have my choice in the matter instead of hitting you with a sneak attack.

[Kelli Harvey · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is just SICK

I use to Love this author but now we can’t even read a simple storyline without pushing agendas and sexual propaganda .... I am so done children should always be sacred

[Liyah P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok I received this free book through ARC but having said that I still have pre-ordered it. Authors like Theodora Taylor who write these wildly entertaining interlock stories just have to be shared. The book Keane did not disappoint either for those who have read Theodora's other stories you will like to see snippets of previous beloved characters. Keane's love for Lena was beautiful to read and I enjoyed their wild relationship. The little twist about Max was definitely not expected but once its out there just as compelling. Bottom line if you love great character building stories read this one. If you are new to Mrs. Taylor warning you will fall in love with this author and her great story telling. Cheers Theodora and please please keep them coming.

[Gina Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, I was not expecting that. Not once had it ever crossed my mind about what was going on with the child. I think I was really caught up in the drama between Keane and Lena. They had quite a bit going on. Keane was a very flawed individual, but so was Lena. I was giving her a serious side eye whenever she would tell Keane about his issues. Baby girl had some too. I did like Keane in spite of how crude unfiltered he could be. Anyway, I did enjoy the book overall and think Ms. Theodora Taylor did a good. I look forward to reading her next release.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Rochelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the prequel that was on the Read Me Romance podcast and I just needed to see how this story ended for Keane and Lena. I really like the story. I wasn't a big fan of the jumping from past to present. I am happy that they were able to get through their differences and get the HEA that they both deserved.

[Nile Princess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a hard one to rate Review to follow.

[QuinnReads]

'Shake It Off' Bucket List

**The following is for Keane: Time of My Life. I won't be adding a star rating to the top until I read the full book, as this is only a prequel. **

Dawn is instantly a favorite of mine when she stops Lena from leaving the beach bar with a "6." 😂 The fact that she's wasted and still is able to fight for her friend is very awesome.

"Yeah, I know he had a name, but I was jealous, so I didn't bother to use it. I didn't stop being jealous until he showed up to prom with another dude."
-- Desmond Keane

I'm not sure the full impact of that statement sinks in for Lena, but I do like that she still decides to "be bad" with him. Even though things get rocky, I like how this ends and I look forward to the full book.

I listened to this on the Read Me Romance podcast. At the time of this review, these older episodes are still available (Episodes 42.1 & 42.2).

The narrator is Sharmila Devar. I really like her portrayal of Lena, but her Southie accent for Keane isn't quite right.

Story: 4 stars
Narration: 3.5 stars
Listening Speed: 1.5x
Listened On: 1/15/23

[L. Boogie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, I already hate the male lead in this story.

So these losers were ok with graham willing to rape a girl for points to their dumb game. Dafuq

Keane has already exhausted his three strikes out limit with Lena as far as I’m concerned. Now he’s thinking about himself instead of Max. Considering how Max was conceived you’d think he’d be less of a dick but I don’t think he knows how. So far I can’t root for them as a pairing.

120 fucks no condom. I can’t believe she’s willing to put her life at risk like that. He was a hoe in hs, a professional athlete at one point, she don’t know how he gets down now. At this point I don’t like either of them. Her stupidly when it comes to him is frustrating.

Now I’m convinced that Con is gay. Waiting to see if my prediction pans out.

This arrangement btwn Lena and Keane is just so fucked up. I cannot co-sign.

Good. I’m so happy max responded the way he did when keane went against Lena’s approach with max regarding his true paternity. Serves him right.

Oh shit. I was confused when Vihaan said her, thought the author made a typo. Now it all makes sense.

I appreciate Keane’s response to finding out about max but I still not championing the pairing. Too much foul stuff happened btwn them for me to want this hea.

I KNEW IT. And I knew it would be with Vihaan. Con is mad predictable

Wow Lena’s dad was pure trash. So many cultures look down on black people. Glad he knows he was a coward. Of course she forgives him but he still thinks other cultures are too good for theirs

Though I was Lukewarm at best toward the MCs, I really enjoyed reading a story about this sensitive issue like gender assignment and how kids struggle or are supported by it was cool and refreshing

[Sonya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC- Advanced Reader Copy; the review and opinions are my own and not influenced in anyway by the advance copy.

For the first part of this book I wanted to just beat Keane- he was a bully, harsh, horrible, and so nasty. I hated the derogatory language and actions that he and his friends used and I had no idea how anyone would like him- let alone love him! Hate him-yes! Hate to be attracted to and around him yes but love him-NO! No!

Midway through the book more and more layers were revealed and while I still could not excuse or condone why Keane was the way that he was I understood that he had received some tough knocks from life and gave back in full force what he received in his childhood. A surprise was revealed that I definitely did not see coming and had no idea that Keane would care less about; he surprised me and revealed that he is capable of growth. The plot thickened the emotions were real, friends had their own story that wasn’t a surprise but explained a lot and the book and character grew on me. I enjoyed a romance that I could not put down even when I did not know if I was feeling it in the beginning but that I later enjoyed because the writing was so strong and made you pause that I got the appeal and loved the story lines. Great read!

I liked the update about the family and the preview of Stone, which I can not wait to read.

[Suely Pio · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I'm done... and I have a feeling of time poorly spent.
Keane is men child... He acts like an 8-year-old boy who picks on the girl he likes. I really didn't like him. The sex part where anything but hot, it was boring and condescending, there was nothing dominant and hot in it.
And the Female just allow him to walk all over her.
Not worth the time

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[belle ☆ﾐ (thisbellereadstoo) · Rating 3 out of 5]

keane was a bully. he has a mean streak, consistently rude, and overall unlikeable but turns out he carries a torch for the responsible good girl the whole time. having read a few books by the author, the book has the same layout as holt and zahir. keane and lena became lovers but separated for reasons unknown. 10 years later, they reunite and things are spiralling downhill once more. i liked seeing the contrast in their relationship as time passed. when they were younger, their romance was always on the high. i think keane totally consumed lena’s mind, vice versa. and their current relationship, years later, is more intense and complicated than ever.

[Savannah- Quad Motherin' Book Readin' Diva · Rating 2 out of 5]

** because it truly was JUST OK. And thats primarily for no grammar/editing issues.

I'm realizing that maybe this just isn't the author for me. The only thing that redeems stories like this is hot sex, and the sex scenes aren't even good to me. This guy is just a dick, this girl is a fool letting a dick be a dick to her. The arrangement is abusive and demeaning and she never gets a backbone. I'm all for alphas being alphas, but this man has ZERO to redeem him. Alpha doesn't have to mean unlikeable.
I never liked him. Not one bit. None. Nathan. Nada. Hell, the only likeable characters are the standard gay bestie and the kid. And them just barely.

I'm done trying to tour these 50 states.

[Jessica Calaway · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[kittykat AKA Ms. Tortitude]

OK, so I'm not going to rate this one, as the bully thing is not usually something I would choose to read, so it would be unfair of me to rate it on that basis. Things as early as page 1 of the prologue rubbed me the wrong way but I had a reason for continuing on even though I desperately wanted to DNF, which is a rarity for me.

Anyway, I continued on by skimming until I got to the part I chose to read this book for, which is the inclusion of a transgender child and how his story would be handled within the narrative. 9-year-old Max is a great character and seemed age-appropriate and even if I didn't know ahead of time that he was trans, it was pretty clear from the way the narrative unfolded early on. Not having any experience with any trans folks I can't comment on how well the rep was written, but in my ignorance, I didn't find anything offensive to it, and the bully father was surprisingly accepting.

In fact, I commend any romance authors who are willing to include what some people may consider 'controversial' issues, that they 'prefer not to read' in their books, but as kids can emerge as genderqueer very early in life we can't just ignore that fact. It makes me wonder how some people would react if their own very young child began showing significant signs that they did not identify with the gender they had been assigned at birth. And I say this as someone who is still at the beginning of my journey to understanding gender non-conformity.

Even though I have decided not to rate this book, it would be remiss of me not to mention a few of the things that I found disturbing. These all take place in the Prologue which is set in high School, Sophomore year so they are 15/16?...

Quote 1

“Just so you know, I plan to kill myself if Mr. Marchetti refuses to let us play anything from the current millennium this year,” Band Nerd was saying.

... His girlfriend made a chiding sound in the back of her throat, half laugh, half groan. “Sweetie, don’t say that. I’d be so sad.”

“I am completely serious—”

trivialising suicide idealisation and nothing more is ever said about this.


Quite 2

He dropped his gaze down to the rest of her body, and immediately regretted the impulse decision.

She was the kind of big he hadn’t known he liked until this very moment. Curves for days. Lush hips and a spectacular rack—he could tell, even though she had them way too covered up under the blue and red Boston Glenn uniform jacket. Quite a few BG girls had introduced themselves to him already, and most of them had tugged down their red uniform ties and unbuttoned their shirts to show him some skin. But this girl wore her blouse buttoned all the way up, with the knot of her tie squeezed so tight under her collar, he wondered if it was choking her.

His hands itched to reach out and tug the tie down. To let that perfect braid loose, too. Then haul her to him and kiss that disapproving frown off her mouth. Would her plump lips taste as good as they looked?

Again, they are 15/16. As horny as some boys are at this age, these are the thoughts of someone much older than that.

Quote 3

He couldn’t risk letting himself look at her again. Popping a tent in his slacks while dangling a guy in the air just wasn’t a good look.

So he is showing himself as a bully already.


Quote 4

He wanted to look at her. Fuck, did he want to look at her. Devour her with his eyes and try to figure out how to get her to spread her legs.

Again he is 15/16.


Quote 5

“Who was that?” Keane asked, when Con fell in beside him.

“The Paki or the fat girl?” Con asked. Technically his name was Chris, but he was one of three guys on the team from Wisconsin, so they all called him Con, and the other two Wis and Sin.

“The fat girl,” Keane answered.

“That’s Lena Kumar. She’s black, but her dad’s a Paki, too…or an Indian—I can never tell which is which. But they’re not rich like the other Indian kids. Both of them are here on scholarships.”

“They fucking?”

Yet again, they are 15/16. My issue isn't that similar thoughts don't appear in the heads of teenagers... but how they are said, and this is just not authentic sounding, and was it really necessary to put something like this in the mouth of such a young character in this particular story? Plus, the slur is not to my recall, ever challenged on page. P**i is a slur, a play on the name of the country Pakistan and is used here in the UK against all people of South Asian descent which has connotations similar to N****r in the US. I was honestly shocked to see in in the pages of a book written by someone other than a British person as I didn't think it was a term used outside of our borders.


Quote 6

His words paused Lena’s argument. Vihaan was right. The boy who slammed her best friend against the lockers sure didn’t look like any of the bullies she’d seen in action back when she met Vihaan at Dorchester Middle.

This bully wasn’t bulky and beefy, but cut and broad shouldered in a way that made his uniform strain against his flexed back. His eyes hadn’t been set in a perma-glare like the world owed him something for giving him a too big body and too big emotions at the same time. And he also hadn’t been poorly groomed.

No, he’d struck her as handsome, actually. Even when he had Vihaan pinned against the lockers. Clean cut and sharp jawed, with hair that somehow managed to look soft and perfectly gelled at the same time. For a moment she’d gotten lost in that profile. If he looked this good from the side, what he would look like from the front?

She’s soon found out when he’d shifted his violent gaze from Vihaan to her.

Had she thought him handsome? Upgrade that to hot. Insanely hot. Forget his muscular body, or the fact that he stood so tall, she barely reached his shoulder. His face alone made his school uniform look like something being modeled in a catalog for rich people who only liked to look at beautiful things. He was so hot he sucked all the oxygen out of the air and made it hard to breathe. To see even.

She had been pretty sure there was still a school and a hallway jam-packed with rich kids doing exactly nothing to help Vihaan. But for moments on end, all she could do was fall into his intense green eyes.

Is this what all the high school bully 'romances' are like? It's ok he's a total trainee psycho because he's a hottie???



Quote 7

“Don’t pout,” Vihaan said, when they reached the three decker where he lived in a third floor apartment with his mother and brother. “Besides Keane is so hot, I find myself wishing I could afford to board at Boston Glenn, so that he might find me in the shower and assault me. In fact, I think I will fantasize about this tonight.”

I shouldn't need explain to anyone why this is so Problematic (capitalised on purpose). In so many ways.


Quote 8

“I don’t have too much homework today,” she said, changing the subject. “You should go upstairs and take a nap.”

Even when she had a lot of homework, Lena never admitted that she did. What she’d referred to as a nap was technically the only sleep her father got on weekday school nights, since he refused to hire an assistant clerk with money that would be better invested in her college fund.

He must have been tired, because he didn’t give any protest. Instead he tapped a finger on a thick envelope and said, “The Irish will be by tonight. This is for them.”

Lena simply nodded, though the sight of the envelope filled her with disgust. This was another reason she didn’t love Southies. Her father had been paying bogus protection money to them since he saved up enough to buy the original owner out of the store.

So he's just going to leave his 15/16 year old to the mercy of gangbangers???


Quote 9

His cock instantly turned to concrete.

He’d been right about her. She had been hiding a fantastic pair of tits under that uniform. But now she stuck them out and said, “I’m here to see what I can do to make you leave my boyfriend alone.”

“That right?” Keane asked, his voice low as his dick pulsed, panting for a taste.

Normally he had a policy about messing with other guy’s girlfriends. It was a hockey thing. Don’t shit where you skate and all that. Bros before hos who could ruin your team’s chance at a championship.

But Band Nerd wasn’t on his team, Keane reminded himself. Also, he didn’t deserve a set of tits like the ones Lena was shoving in his face. Probably didn’t even know what to do with them.

Again, 15/16 years old.


Quote 10

Keane picked the envelope up and read:

Dear Keane (sp?),

It has come to our attention that your Boston Glenn Scholarship does not cover your lunch money needs. In the spirit of helping, here is the first of five dollars that will be delivered every weekday, so that you may enjoy your mid-afternoon meal without impeding the lunch time needs of others.

All our best,

Scholarship Kids Helping Other Scholarship Kids

Keane read the words on the front of the envelope, then looked inside. Sure enough, there was a five-dollar bill.

He’d noted all the “our” this and “our” that, but he knew exactly who had left this envelope for him. And a slow grin spread across his face as he went from simply wanting to bang the girl with the big tits to actually starting to like her. Sending a note like this to a guy like him required major balls, and he had to give her respect. Not just the mental kind, either.

From that day forth, he never messed with Band Nerd again. And even though he put himself on a monthly rotation of easy pussy after a week of not seeing her in the hallway, he continued thinking (and occasionally dreaming) about the girl who left an envelope with a five-dollar bill in his locker every school day.

Firstly, he is being paid off by the friend of the person he had begun a bully campaign on, ie no detrimental consequences and he still gets the money. Secondly, yet again I find it disturbing that a 15/16-year-old is written to be talking about "a monthly rotation of easy pussy".

End of Prologue. So literally, all this is JUST the Prologue.



All in all, these bully 'romances' are absolutely not for me. And even at the end, the supposed HEA Lena ended up apologising to Keane the one who bullied her, for certain things that I felt it unwarranted. But then I also don't buy a 'romance' between these characters either so there is that...

[Willie G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'LL PASS ON THIS ONE

I couldn't finish reading this book. I understand everybody has a political party that they support and issues that they want to say " Hey, look at me . I support transgender kids and persons too", but I can do without reading about it in a romance novel. I see, hear and read about all of these issues enough weekly. I've had my fill of it.
When you are grown and you want to try the trans-species thing be my guest ;however, leave the poor kids out of it. There is a large section of the homosexual community who is irate about our kids being seduced and used as political tools to win elections.
We should be protecting our kids not confusing them more with ideas of pretending to be something they are not genetically. Let them grow up and mature, then choose to be who you are.
Hormones come into play in a child's growth mentally and chemically as well as physically. A child will often enough change his or her mind during childhood and/or puberty.
It is dangerous to entertain ideas of gender opposite of true genetic sex. Gender is not Biological Science, but Subjective Feelings of Believing you are identifying with the Mitochondrial DNA Boy or Girl you are not. Etc. Etc. Etc.
There are times when parents go overboard trying to relate to their child while they are trying to find themselves. Helping your child become something they will eventually resent you for making them into WILL cause you and them a lifetime of REGRET.
Lena and Keane are very dangerous parents. I think Max would have been better off with Vihann.

[Colouring in · Rating 4 out of 5]

We are back to human stories finally and in third person no less. Fantastic. It’s what I like to read from TT. I was kept hooked from the start. Keane is my kind of asshole alpha. Lena ... honestly i thought it was a bit lazy to paint her dad as the stereotypical convenience store owning, disapproving of anything profession other than a medical degree, skinny Indian man. And Lena was the meek subservient daughter desperate to seek her father’s approval.

I also wished there had been a better exploration of the relationship between Lena’s parents. That was glossed over and only reintroduced towards the end. And oddly Lena recovered from his ground shaking secrete quicker then she was able to with Keane who comparatively treated her better than her father.

Their son/daughter ... I honestly don’t believe children can decide what gender they are at 9 years old. Tom-boy or dressing as a different gender perhaps but not wholesale decide they identify as one gender over the other. And I don’t believe in non binary genders. I guess I’m not they woke. Sue me. Gender dis normative disorder is too serious a subject matter to be treated with the surface level exploration that took place in this book.


Also a minor point but why are the surprise babies always boys in TT’s books? And somehow always have blue eyes?

Anyway, round very enjoyable. Looking forward to Stone’s story which we got a sneak peek of.


4 stars for all the reasons above

[amaareads · Rating 2 out of 5]

I went in expecting a messy, angsty second-chance romance with all the push-and-pull drama, but instead, I got a story that just frustrated me. Keane? Absolute man-child. He was mean, manipulative, and honestly, I didn’t see the appeal at all. Lena? I wanted to root for her, but she kept letting him walk all over her. Their relationship was supposed to be intense, but it just felt toxic. And the whole "120 times, no condom" thing? Girl, be serious.

The only part I genuinely liked was Keane’s reaction to his kid’s gender identity. That moment was handled well, and I appreciated seeing it in a romance novel. But aside from that, this book just didn’t hit for me. The characters were flat, the relationship felt more abusive than angsty, and by the end, I just wanted it to be over.

If you love bully romances and don’t mind a hero who’s more jerk than redeemable alpha, you "might" enjoy this. But for me? Hard pass.

[Veronica Hillman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the author but I had a hard time following the story. A lot of the story seemed incomplete which made it hard to really grasp the backstory of Keane and Leana. I really wanted to like Keane but I really felt like he had a lot of excuses for being a bully and was never held accountable. The reasons for break up was really weak. I kept wanting more and never got it. Also I felt the entire issue with the kid was sloppy. If you are going to talk about a serious topic like that it should be more developed and not a just a plot twist. Overall ok read it was a page turner but I think it was because I kept wanted to know why and how but ultimately was disappointed with weak answers that shouldn’t have been so life changing

[Crystal Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read!

As a typical TT book, I couldn't put it down. It was a great read , gave me the twist and turns that I love in her books. But I will have to agree that it did feel like it was missing a lot of the story, that's the only reason for the four star. Personally I love that you write on topics people are too scared or timid to write on but I feel as if you could have done a bit more with this one. Still great, just felt like it was missing that special something you always give in your books. I'm so excited to read Stone's book and I'm even more excited to read Dawn's story!!