Unlovable: Dark Bully BWWM Romance

Ben & Libby #1

by Jamila Jasper

She wasn't supposed to love a brute. At her new English college, Liberty draws the attention of the school’s vicious Ben Fox.She’s quickly at the mercy of a man who has never taken "no" for an answer... A man who sees the new woman on campus as a challenge to conquer. This enemies to lovers romance story is Book #1 in a completed 6 book series

Genres: Interracial Romance, Enemies To Lovers

488 pages, Paperback

Published July 16, 2024

About the author

My stories put black women first and that will never change. If you enjoy interracial romance stories with kickass alphas, strong women and action-packed storylines, you’ll enjoy my growing catalog of interracial romance stories.

Learn more about my books here: https://linktr.ee/JamilaJasper

Sign up to my text or email list and get a FREE interracial romance book:
https://slkt.io/iNmd

I love getting to know readers and staying in touch. Please add me as a friend on Goodreads and I’ll follow you back so we can share reviews and recommendations. Don’t hesitate to add me on here and chat. :)

Reviews

[Jessica Austin · Rating 1 out of 5]

You will pay for your crimes Jamila 🙏

[Nazbit91 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did she even edit this? Like….has it been checked to see whether it even MADE SENSE

DNF DNF DNF at 13%. It reads like a class project rather than a novel …the story is sooo unrealistic it made me roll my eyes more times than I could count.

The dialogue made my eyes bleed. Note to american authors writing about British culture. We DO NOT say ‘slag’ ‘right’ ‘mate’ ‘cig’ in every other sentence.

There was nooo reason for Libby to go along with anything, yet she did.

Also WTF would bullies tell you their deepest darkest secrets within 5 minutes of talking to you. Nonsense!

I’m actually really annoyed 😒


An example of the dialogue:

“There a problem, mate?”
“No problem.”
“Right.”
“Some girl fucks you once and you become her lapdog?” 
“Shut up, mate,” Theo said, “I don’t want to argue with you. You’re drunk, mate.”

[Sweet Potato · Rating 3 out of 5]

So many inconsistencies, so much cringe. But did I stop reading? No. It was an easy read and I have low standards (at the time of reading)

[Yoneidis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more than just a high school drama. Topics such as racism, bullying, abuse, addictions are discussed here.
The h, Liberty, is an American black girl who studies in England and let’s say that in the school where she studies there are several people who are posh, cocky, sexist and racists, among other things.
Liberty doesn’t have any friends, her roommate is a bitch, and the most popular boys, including Ben, seem to have her in their sights.
It’s curious, they humiliate her but at the same time they look for her to tell her all their secrets; guys want in her pants but they make her feel bad for it, bc they don’t know how to treat a girl who’s not willing to get trampled on by anyone.
I’ve spent a good part of the book wanting to slap more than one.
Liberty is strong, but eventually everything that they do to her begins to take its toll on her, but fortunately they cannot finish her.
This is the first book and I’m dying to know what awaits Ben and especially Liberty in the next book.

[Peace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Children participating in grown up activities. No limits on drugs, smoking, drinking, and sexual activities.

Young adult drama with mean girls and boys taking bullying to the next level.

This is not my preferred genre. The main characters were much too young, immature, and naïve for my liking but the storyline held my interest. 3.5 Stars.

I forgot to add that the entire story was told in the heroine’s point of view only. I really should remove another 1/2 a star for this.

[Keiandra Milton · Rating 1 out of 5]

I honestly don’t know where to begin with this book. Libby’s character felt completely unbelievable if I hadn’t been told she was a Black woman from America, I would’ve assumed she was either mixed or British, because no real Black woman I know would tolerate half of what she witnessed. She was written in the worst possible way, and it was honestly embarrassing to read.

On top of that, the book was filled with misspelled words, run-on sentences, and moments where it was nearly impossible to tell who was speaking. I have no idea where the author drew her inspiration from, but wherever it came from, she should never return there again. Every character was poorly developed, and the entire story felt like a mess from start to finish.

The fact that some readers rated this higher than one star honestly makes me question people’s reading standards ;this book deserves to be forgotten entirely.

I honestly couldn’t get through this book. The storyline felt disjointed and lacked direction, and at times, the content was so inappropriate it made me uncomfortable to read. Overall, it was a chaotic and disappointing experience.

[Joelle Willis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book free from Goodreads in exchange for this review. Unlovable is the story of Liberty Jones, a bright African American teenage orphan on scholarship to a posh British boarding school. Despite the age of the characters I think this skews a bit older than the typical YA category.

Upon her arrival at the school she is immediately despised and ostracized for no apparent reason by the rich and entitled students. The popular girls and the rugby boys team up to torment her and bully her relentlessly. Some of the things they do are downright criminal, yet Libby just puts up with it all, in fear of losing her scholarship and a chance at Oxford. You'd think someone in authority would have noticed things were amiss in the dorm after the wall next to Libby's room was grafitti'd in poop. But no. She never reports any of this to the authorities, choosing instead wanting not to be a victim.

Awash with teenage angst, steamy sex in intricate detail, and incompetent proofreading, the story barrels along from torment to torment and hookup to hookup. Some characters are more three-dimensional than others, but the main ones are clearly drawn and the story compels you to keep reading. Plotwise, if the characters had communicated, a lot of problems could have been avoided. Teenagers! They never just spit it out.

Wait, did I mention this is a romance?

[Mickela Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

My original review never posted or it got deleted? Idk but it was very hard to rate this book because I did completely read it but honestly it wasn’t that good. It felt like I was reading a wattpad story that wasn’t written the best and would contradict itself sometimes. However it did get me out of a reading slump and I read it in basically one day so I can’t rate it lower than 2 stars. It was just ok nothing amazing or special. I just don’t think bully romances where the man doesn’t gravel for chapters do it for me, especially with how severely she was bullied by everyone in this book specifically. And the ending where he tried to flip it and was mad at her for not telling him that she was being blackmailed…it didn’t sit right with me at all and she accepted his half-assed apology immediately. She really had no real respect for herself and I stand by she definitely deserves better than him. There were good moments but there were so many more that just left something else to be desired. And then when I actually looked at the series and I realized there are 6 books for this one couple…yeah no. I’m just going to stop it at this one book

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful

This is a great book! I began reading it thinking it was going to be another irritating story of racism, but it’s not! It starts out with a girl who has moved from the US to England to put her past behind her. As she is the only African American student everyone at the school puts her down and she has no friends to talk to. After having put up with the hurt and humiliation for awhile she begins to fight back and is taken to task for it by the dean. However, she isn’t faulted for the fighting as the Dean has heard rumors of the bullying from other students. Ben is the school jock, he’s the guy everyone wants to be with or friends with. He begins by tripping her in the cafeteria and goes from there to becoming a friend and then becoming a boyfriend, however, he’s jealousy of anyone who she speaks to and has a hard time keeping himself calm when she’s around. They make a good couple but both have issues that keep them apart.

[Linnetta Solomon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story of Liberty Jones is a wild a crazy one. Alot of twists and turns, and not being able to know who to trust.. Being a good student landed her a scholarship to a boarding school in England. Which was best for her to get away from troubles in St. Louis. But low and behold she ended up having troubles there too and being alone. Liberty goes through alot during her first semester, due to mean girls and jocks. She thought that is she kept her head down and focus on her studies she would be fine. She was very wrong about that. Especially when Ben Fox started to pay attention to her.. That's when things really go crazy and she started to fight back.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Adalle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pure Drama

This book definitely needs a HUGE warning disclosure on it. “Unlovable,” is packed with pure drama and action , and I’m looking forward to seeing where Liberty and Ben’s story ends.
Note:
I do want to say this, though I felt that a lot of the chapters could have been combined instead of being separated like if it was not related in subject from its previous chapter. Just like this review somethings are best grouped together.

Any opinions expressed within this review are solely and uniquely made by me and I am happily leaving this review. I originally voluntarily received an advanced copy of this book via bsprout.

[B. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave two stars because I could see the potential for the story, but others are right it needs heavy editing. She also needs an editor familiar with British English and slang because she uses the same words over and over again in a manner that is very unrealistic. When I got to the end my suspicions were confirmed that this is a novice writer who probably started out on Wattpad or a similar website. She lists her Patreon where she releases chapters of new works early to her subscribers. There is nothing wrong with this, but if you are going to re-release for professional purposes then editing needs to be a priority.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

So worth the wait.

When I first received the email for this book release back in March, I couldn't wait to start reading it. The description pulled me in completely and it was even better than I thought it would be. I like that Libby wasn't a total push over, she fought back when she had to, but I also appreciated the moments she just needed to cry and feel when she was being treated horribly. By the end I adored Ben and I'm so curious about his family. I can not wait for book two!

[B*tchy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun start. Lots of typos.

I’m definitely down for this series. I love the banter between Liberty and Benjamin, and the crazy dynamics kept me captivated. The mystery bully arch for me fell so flat because I knew who it was right away. It truly could have been dealt with. However, I appreciated that it was written exactly the ways teens/young adults would react. I plan to continue with this series. Hopefully the typos and formatting are better. It was a bit confusing to get which character was talking sometimes. 3 out of 5.

[Mosaic · Rating 1 out of 5]

The characterization is too juvenile and childish. Once again, it feels like this meme, and that's not a good thing.



In addition, the novel has common grammar errors. For example, when you are writing a dialogue, you don't capitalize the words when you have a comma in a dialogue.

[evette w · Rating 4 out of 5]

So very worth the time!

This was everything you would expect in a young adult romance. We are getting all the drama,the angst and the passionate plans they can come up with and execute.All the drinking, the drugs that are being passed around and the lack of adult supervision is just ridiculous. The writing is just stellar, its as if you are one of them and you are telling the story.As for Ben,Libby and Theo there's more to the story.

[Cammyjoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Libby & The Bullies

Imagine been alone in a foreign country with no family, bo friends, not even ONE & been bullied by many of your elite-privileged-entitled teenagers… such was Liberty’s situation. All she had were her scholarship and she will do whatever she can to keep her valedictorian’s position. She is smart and strong…
Her and Ben have something growing and that will create enemies who want to harm her … Get your copy and find out what happened!

[MissZeta05 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to keep reminding myself that these were 18-year-olds because the book kept making the characters try to tackle serious adult issues in a very juvenile way. More typos and grammar mistakes than I was expecting from a book that was edited and published, but hopefully that will change in the next book. Just a personal preference, I hate the C U N-ext T-uesday word and it really ruins parts of a book.

[Kashelia B. Jackson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing but porn

I had to force myself to finish this book. There was way too much crude language, sexual activity, and drug & alcohol use. These were teenagers acting like corrupt thirty year olds. I became interested in Ben and Liberty's story, but couldn't get past all the vulgarity. It was just too much! As much as I'd like to see how things work out for Ben and Liberty, I will NOT be purchasing the other books in this series.

[Sylvia A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liberty had so many hurdles to overcome for someone so young but she’s smart and so resilient. The gorgeous hunky rugby boy Ben only made things worst but as fate would have it he would be the source of some normalcy for her. Great story and a definite pages turner. I neglected all of my chores to finish this captivating story.

[Latasha Waters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlovable

Interesting dynamic between Libby and Ben. I believe I wanted to punch a few book characters in the face who were tormenting Libby. Libby and Ben have serious issues in their attempts at dating. It seems some of their classmate will go to great unimaginative lengths to keep them apart. Oh I'm so ready for PART II.

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

just wow

First of all, I’m going to need Libby to stop being so naive and gullible. I think Ben just wants to screw her. How do they just get a slap on the wrist, but the crap happens in real life. I’m trying to figure out why it is so many books. I will read the next and see it through.

[Latoya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay

So, this book had a few intense moments 😬. It is dark. Some editing issues were noticed. I found some parts drawn out and the main character annoying. I wanted to give up sometimes, but I just stuck with it. I am glad the FMC's torture ended. I think the story was okay, if not very busy. I liked Theo most. I won't be continuing the series.

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate bullying full stop.

Didn’t get to read this book. The writer must have done a good job in it. However from family experience the bully relationship ended in murder so bugger that.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes cruel but enjoyable

If you are a fan of the bully romance enemies to lovers genre you will enjoy this. II enjoyed the well written Black female lead. It’s sexy but not full of sex and steamy right where it needs it.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book in a giveaway and I was so grateful! I got to read Libby and Ben's story from the beginning! I enjoyed their story immensely with all its twists and turns and the start of the romance between Ben & Libby. I hated that Libby had to go through so much though. An excellent read!

[Valerie Harewood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teenaged angst, but inthralling

I enjoyed this book; although at times it was a bit longwinded or maybe that was my excitement. Overall I would recommend it if you like teenaged angst. However, I am now about to buy and download the rest of the series.

[devitalise]

i turned my kindle over every time i locked it because the covers on this series are so off putting to me.

this was fine i didn’t have a problem with this like i do with almost every other book i’ve read from the author. should have stopped here.

[Audrey Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bullies

Reading about been bullied by this group was not my thing. Read the first book but was not able to continue. There should be a trigger warning at the beginning of your book. Americans are never that docile just so you know.

[SndyNYC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlovable

Sweetheart Teenage Romance … Hard to believe that 18 year olds are that educated but could not figure out that it was Hannah & Jess. Theo is not a real friend; he should have told her about Blaire.