Brutal Game

Kings of Reina University #1

by Jo Brenner

I tried to get revenge against his team, and now he’s making me pay…

In public, Jack Feldman is king on hockey star, golden god, brother to a billionaire, admired and wanted by everyone.
In private, he’s my ruthless tormentor bent on destroying body, mind, and soul.

When he catches me trying to get justice against his team, he threatens to ruin everything I care about unless I give him whatever he wants.

But what Jack wants is me.

He’s obsessive, possessive, and determined to wreck me.
And as he drags me down to the depths of his depravity, he brings out a part of me that wants to be wrecked by him.

He’s made it clear he owns me and will never let me go. When I fight back, he fights harder. He’s playing a dark and twisted game, but I can’t let him win.

Or his dark obsession will destroy us both.

Brutal Game contains several dark themes that some readers may be sensitive to. For more information, please visit the author's website at jobrenner dot com.

Genres: Dark Romance, Sports, Hockey, Sports Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Dark, College

416 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2024

Reviews

[Grace Btrs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before you go any further, read carefully:
- This is DARK, with capital letters.
- It's bully romance with sexual blackmail
- There is dubious content and non-con.
- Perfect examples of power play.

If you still venture further, know that It is, in fact, a 5-star read.🏆
Also, know that the author and MCs call it for what it is.
There is no gaslighting, no sugar-coating, and no brushing it under the rug.
(He atones and grovels)

The power dynamics are shown in 2 different ways, and it makes you stop and think deeper than simple events and simple facts. You recognise the depth of desires and control and the balance of powers in different types of relationships.
This makes the book shine.

Lastly, this sentence from the Author's note sums up everything you need to know about the book:
[in fiction]... a safe place to explore fantasies and kinks, catharsis from our own traumas and wounds, and, finally, the ability to confront some uncomfortable truths about power and the lack of justice head-on.

Know that this book is definitely not for everyone.
If you are still here after all I said. GO READ THIS BOOK NOW!!

I have received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[deeena · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf like 5%

Mainly because i read a review on here that said that the MMC drugs and rapes the FMC in front of his team mates. Hard line for me.

Also FMC is described as curvy and a bigger girl right on the first page. Which I know 100% will mean we will read about her being curvy/round/stretch marks every other chapter. I cannot stand when authors try to be inclusive in the most obvious and unimaginative way.

Also I skipped to like the middle of the book to see how it flows and it’s written very juvenile and out of pocket for no reason. It’s like a Wattpad book on steroids

[Lana ❇✾DG Romance❇✾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 STARS

She’d stolen something from me, something I couldn’t entirely describe. My control? My equilibrium? Something worse? Maybe we were even now, since I was stealing her, but it didn’t matter. She’d pay. Forever, if I had a say.

Now if you know me, you know I love me a good bully romance. When that also happens to combine hockey and morally gray MMCs, stick a fork in me. I'm done.

Admittedly, I haven't read anything by Jo Brenner yet. But when I saw the blurb to this book, I just knew this would be my first book from her. And having read it, I can tell you that it definitely won't be my last. What a twisty and spicy number this was!

Aviva is a woman on a mission. She's a recent transfer to Reina university with one goal in mind, revenge for her brother who was once a rising college hockey star. But when Aviva goes searching for answers and evidence, she lands smack dab in the middle of the crosshairs of the hockey team's golden boy; Jack Feldman.

Jack won't let anyone stand in his way of making it to the NFL. And a girl after his team and coach just won't do. So what's a guy to do? Blackmail her into being you sex slave, obvie. But all kidding aside, this man was all sorts of unhinged and deranged. So obmiouly I fell immediately head over heels. If you like your fictional men obsessed, you're going to love Jack. The man will stop at nothing to get Aviva, even if he has to manipulate her into him. And manipulate her he does. But she's also his willing victim.

I loved Aviva's fiery temper and backbone almost as I loved watching Jack try to bend her to his will. The chemistry between them was incendiary. I was immediately hooked on this story and these characters. I was also so intrigued by Jack's best friends and teammates. There are some cameos from characters from previous books (related to Jack) that I will also be checking out immediately.

This was such a fun read and going right up there with my S Massery obsession. If you like mean MMCs with a degradation kink and FMCs that give as good as they get and don't just take anything lying down (pun intended), you'll definitely want to check this one out! I can't wait for more in this series!


ARC courtesy of author in exchange for an honest review

Find me on:

[Milena · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wtf

[ForeverreadinG · Rating 1 out of 5]

This abomination of a book doesn’t even deserve a ONE star rating.

Tf did I just read???

How do you consider the MMC to be possessive of the FMC but he goes around drugging her and raping her in front of his team mates??

LIKE I BEG YOUR FINEST PARDON RN?!?!?

I swear to god sometimes I can’t believe it’s WOMEN writing these horrendous stories about other women. What a shame. Truly.

I’ve read better CNC content than this rubbish

[link · Rating 1 out of 5]

i know that i hate dark romances but sometimes i give one a chance and i remember why i hate them

[Kylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 ⭐️
4/5 🌶️

DAMN THIS WAS GOOD!

[100sweet · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 40%
Insta-lust, degradation, and humiliation. Forced exhibitionism while drugged.

[Cristina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very insta-lust, as soon as the H sees the h, he’s obsessed with her. Ehh, it just didn’t do anything for me.

There were a few things that didn’t make sense to me. Their “romance” if you can call it that, it was pretty much sexually degrading acts. 😞

[Helen Isabel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a major letdown. The plot was boring and went nowhere. Jack was unbearable, rude, entitled, and impossible to like. Aviva started out strong but turned into a doormat, letting Jack walk all over her while barely fighting for justice for her brother.

There was zero romance here. Jack is just a guy who couldn’t handle his feelings and took it out on everyone else. I’ve read bully romances before, but this one missed the mark completely.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

ating: 4.5⭐️/2🌶️
Darkness: 2 🖤
My Review:
If you're looking for the perfect dark bully romance, this book hits all the right spots! I was seriously missing a good hockey bully romance after S Massery’s brutal series, and this was exactly the fix I needed. 🙌

Jack and Aviva? Whew, where do I even begin? Their dynamic was so twisted and intense, especially with the situations Jack put Aviva in. His possessiveness and the way his love grew throughout the story—just wow! Aviva, though, was absolute FIRE 🔥 and the perfect match for Jack’s brutal energy.

I thought I'd just read for an hour before bed, but my entire Saturday night disappeared because I couldn’t put it down! 😂

Now I’m just over here really hoping Isaac's book is next because I need more of this world!

[Sweets · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF@50%
I love myself too much to finish reading this book...

[Caraline Corvi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I do not know why I finished this book. Genuinely disturbed.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is DARK & BULLY, so check your triggers. The author lists them on her website.

That being said. I devoured this book in 24 hours. It has the obsessive hockey hero, who was battling his own issues with the accusations against his coach, the man who basically saved him from an abusive home as a child. The heroine who fights him, but also struggles with enjoying what he gives her. Overall the sub-storyline with the brother, which brings the hero and heroine together was intriguing, and there was a lot of exploration for the hero in breaking down his blind loyalty to someone and struggling his past.

The heroine does give as good as she gets (sometimes) and sometimes she just takes it, so there was a little back and forth from her, but I thought it overall made sense as her feelings grew for Jack, her loyalty to her brother and her cause, and how she was struggling with her enjoyment of what was happening between them.

There were some parts that were repetitive, like if he talked about her honey and apple scent one more time…I don’t mind it being referenced, but in the opening of the book, it was repeated too much.

The ending, I also would have liked more justice. I know for those who have read it might be like but he did get it, but not in a real satisfying way (for me anyway). I wanted to see his world actually crumble, to see his victims get to stand up to him. It was very quickly resolved when that was the impetus of the whole story.

There was an also an element of the type of “play” the H & h were involved in that made me stop and consider if it was really a good choice for this book based on the sub plot with the brother, especially with some of the revelations being made. I think if the author would have addressed these through the H & h, it would have sat better with me, but that never happened.

Overall, it was a good read, solid writing. I’ll definitely read the next one, which follows his hockey friend and her best friend.

[Jamie Engel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why aren't more people talking about Jo! WOW!! This was an arc re-read for me and even from the beta read I knew this one was going to be a new favorite of mine. I could not put this down even during my re-read.

If you have been looking for darker sports romance...specifically hockey then this it. This story follows Aviva and Jack. Aviva comes in as a transfer to get revenge for her brother. Jack plays on the school's hockey and very close to who Aviva wants to get revenge on. Once he finds out why she is there, he blackmails her into being his plaything.

Jack was so unhinged in the most delicious way. This book is definitely not for the lighthearted...the things he does to her...well let me just say it has me questioning somethings about myself LOL.
From the start you can see the chemistry between the two and their banter was top notch. I was fully invested in this one immediately.
Aviva was such a smart ass. I absolutely loved her interactions with Jack and loved what they brought out in one another. Truly ended up being a perfect match.

Thank you Jo Brenner and team for allowing me to beta and arc read this one. I cannot wait to read more from Jo.

Overall: 5
Spice: 4

Tropes:
- Hockey Romance
- College
- Enemies to Lovers
- Bully Romance
- Virgin FMC
- Touch her and die

Please check your triggers warning before diving into this one.

[Black_White · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've never liked this genre of "bully romance" (or whatever it is called), I've tried reading this genre a few times and this was by far the worst.

Jack is an Idiot and I hated Aviva because she actually liked Jack from the get go even when he was r**ing her. Jack was such a disgusting person, I don't know how to explain it but I didn't hate him because he wasn't even a person to me, he was that bad. He was also obsessed with his 'lie detector' instinct, which was clearly utter BS considering how he couldn't detect was a POS his coach was. I don't know why I continued reading this book, I think I was hoping Aviva would grow a backbone and stop pining over this guy.

I also don't really want to go into the fact that Aviva has been seeing a therapist for years and that her goal is to be a therapist. What a therapist she would be....

The coach might have groomed her brother and sexually abused him, but Jack and his teammates (just about all of them we see) are no better. Aviva is out here trying to get justice for her brother whilst also justifying the mental and physical (specifically sexual) abuse from Jack as well as his teammates. Other than her brother (who we don't see enough of for me to determine my opinion on) all the other men in this book are DISGUSTING.

NOTHING about this book is ROMANTIC in any way, it's just straight up abuse.

[sisy 🪽 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Need more grovelling.

[addereadsbooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brain rot brain rot brain rot brain rot brain rot brain rot

[Koisty · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Princess Stars ⭐️
Spicy Rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

This woman. My heart—that organ I was sure had died when I was a kid—beat steadily in my chest, so fucking content with the world. With her. Aviva was brave, loyal—and finally her loyalty was mine, the way I’d craved since I’d first gotten to know her.

This was an interesting read, and honestly, it gave me exactly what I was looking for. I wanted something fast-paced, dark, with a hockey angle that included bully elements, AND I GOT EXACTLY THAT!!! When Jackie - @ms._violetglikestoread recommended this, I KNEW I HAD TO READ IT, as it was almost a perfect checklist for what I wanted!

𝙎𝙮𝙣𝙤𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙨:
We follow Aviva Gold, who’s on a mission to find proof that the university hockey coach sexually abused her brother. After her brother spoke out and no one believed him, he lost his scholarship, his dreams, and spiralled into a massive depressive episode. Now Aviva wants justice. However, when she is trying to find the evidence, she gets caught by the captain of the hockey team and the coach's star player, Jack "Hat Trick" Feldman who decides that Aviva is literally his walking sex dream on legs, and as a result, she is going to be his "plaything" for the future. If she disagrees he will tell everybody about what he caught her doing, and she will lose her scholarship. So… let the brutal games begin.

𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨:
Aviva is almost like a textbook brat. She’s feisty and very determined to make things right for her brother. She carries a deep sense of guilt over everything they’ve endured in the past. They're orphans after their parents were murdered, and now he's the only family she's got. Because of this, she is strong-willed and independent. But she is also a woman, so "naturally" still weak and so can be easily overpowered by someone bigger, stronger, and more ruthless. This is a major theme in this book, because HELLO this is A BULLY ROMANCE. That power imbalance, the magnetic pull, and how that spirals into a toxic, problematic, obsessive “love.” She's humiliated, bullied (duh), forced into situations of non-consent, and OBVIOUSLY develops a warped sort of Stockholm Syndrome. That toxicity from their hate breeds into a very problematic love.

Jack... I keep wanting to describe him as like a cute puppy, but like he's not a cute puppy because he's an arsehole who does not understand the word NO, or understand boudaries. But he is still kind of sweet and adorable, especially when he realises what he's doing to Aviva and the repercussions of his actions, so he tries to make amends for it. I mean, he does grovel through giving her orgasms, but like that doesn't sound too bad, does it? He just has this odd little sweetness buried beneath the mountain of red flags that made him endearing.

BUT DO NOT IGNORE HIS MOUNTAIN OF RED FLAGS... He forces her to lose her virginity, drugs her non-consensually, and tracks her with a tracking device. He is a problematic man and is not the type of man that you should aspire to be with.

Their relationship is explosive, toxic, and entirely driven by sex. Aviva does follow the typical, "I'm a virgin, but then I'm addicted to sex" theme, which I just overlooked because it is a very typical aspect in a dark romance. But as a result, you get the appropriate payoff of the "I had her first, she is now forever mine" and "I don't share" microtropes...

𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▶ Dark Romance
▶ Hockey Romance
▶ Forced Proximity
▶ Bully Romance
▶ Touch Her You Die
▶ College/University Romance
▶ Virgin FMC

𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙨:
➢ Squirting
➢ Voyeurism
➢ Public Sex
➢ Hand Necklaces
➢ Degradation and Praise
➢ Non Con/Dub Con
➢ Spanking

and 𝙈𝙞𝙘𝙧𝙤 𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▷ "Greedy Girl"
▷ Hockey Jersey "Heat"
▷ "Look at Me"
▷ "Who did this to you?"
▷ Potato Sack over Shoulder
▷ "Chin Lift"
▷ Nicknames
▷ Curvy Woman
▷ Obsessive/Possessive MMC
▷ Poor Girl/Rich Boy
▷ "Mine"
▷ Mental Health Rep

Overall, I'm just happy that it gave me what I wanted. It was spicy, explosive, it was packed with EVERYTHING YOU WANT IN A DARK BULLY HOCKEY ROMANCE!!!

[Lammie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️

Now this was a bully book done extremely well 😈.

Jack was an obsessive unrepentant jerk and he was written with a perfect balance. What he did at the beginning to Aviva was despicable and unforgivable, but despite at that you couldn’t help but want more 🤷. Aviva was a strong survivor and her love a loyalty to her brother Ash was incredible. She was the perfect match for Jack.

I can’t wait for Isaac and Tovah’s story, and I’m going to read Micah’s trilogy soon. Very soon 😈🙌

[Valentina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical bully romance, I really liked the main characters. Jack was the jerk who turned sweet because he falls in love with the heroine he originally was going to get back at. Aviva was sweet but strong scholarship student on a mission to clear her brother's reputation and get to the bottom of what happened to him.

Jack is obsessed with Aviva, and there is a lot of possessiveness and "mine" claiming in the novel. The book was spicy with a line of toxicity between the couple who were wildly attracted to each other. Loved the dubious consent. Aviva submitted to Jack really because she wanted to, sort of a consensual non consent, though she was annoying refuting her interest immediately after her passionate, sexual indulgence. A bit of girl power with the side characters I'm sure we'll read about in the next books; and some bro unity from the guys. Guys with whom Jack initially thought he might share Aviva, but no, he was too possessive.

While the storyline was not particular inventive, I enjoyed it and would like to read another book in the series, especially if the guy is as alpha dominant and overpowering as Jack.

[TheReaderVert · Rating 4 out of 5]

You don't get to say no

Ok, so you know it's true love when s0mno helps you get over your argument 😍. Jack is the OTT obsessed and jealous MMC we love seeing in bully/dark romances. He has past family trauma to work through, and the author does a great job of dislayong and layering those traumas into the character so the internal conflicts to the romance feel real. The price is high, and once the stakes cross over, I was on pins and needles, trying to figure out how the author was going to fix it. On the other side of the coin, we have Avivia. She's a little fury spitfire that isn't "NLOG" or "sassy" or "bada$$". No, she's loyal to a fault, smart, cunning, and a little thief, but the broken pieces of her story fit the MMCs. Until the end, we have to ask who's truth/reality is correct; Princess or Hotshot?

Sweet spots:
🤌🏾dubc0n
🤌🏾nontothecon (a lot a lot)
🤌🏾forcedFingerBanging
🤌🏾ForcedBlowises
🤌🏾ForcedKittyCatLicking...is it really bad if he gives you head in public after you say no 🤷🏾‍♀️)
🤌🏾Squirting
🤌🏾TouchHerandGetYourFaceBrokenvibes
🤌🏾StealingHerV!rginity
🤌🏾ForcingHertoTakea💊
🤌🏾PutaSecretTrackerinHer

One-liners:
“And anyone who has hurt you will pay.”

"Lie, cheat, or steal. Aviva would be loyal to me, and me alone."

“Who broke you? Who hurt you so badly....?”

"My c♡nt. Mine. Just like I was hers."

[Ally · Rating 1 out of 5]

Its actually 0 fucking stars. I wasn't even going to put this on goodreads but I felt like I needed to finish it to be able to tell everyone not to ever ever read this stupid book. Fortunately, I have no triggers...but this is definitely NON-con, not dub-con. The mmc literally thinks "I'd raped her" and the fmc agrees. And the writing sucks. The story sucks. This whole fucking book sucked. Kudos for me for finishing because I just refuse to DNF usually....but again, I ONLY finished this so I could give a horrible review with some warnings.

[bella · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is so bad, I want to give you a zero, but that's not possible, so I give you a one.

[Lori Kays · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well...I liked it a lot better than "Butterfly" so there's that. The sex scenes were great, I enjoyed that it was a fast burn and as always, I love a good hockey romance. I liked the possessiveness Jack had and any time a tracker is used to stalk the h heroine, I just can't get enough of that.

Now, for what didn't work for me. To sum up the whole issue, this book mixes over the top fictional elements with realistic situations and they just don't mesh! First and foremost, I'm sure this is a controversial opinion but I don't enjoy reading plus sized heroine romances, for several reasons. One, the way it's described ALWAYS sounds unattractive to me. She talks about her rolls and her round tummy and her size 18 dress. I don't think this would bother me so much if the hero was at her level, make him a super funny guy with a beer belly and a normal dick if you want realistic, but I'm sorry, it is DELUSIONAL to think that a 6'4 extremely fit and otherworldly attractive male who is a college hockey star and sleeps with gorgeous model like women regularly would suddenly see a random overweight woman and be insta-love obsessed with her. Like I can NOT suspend my disbelief about that. I get it's fiction, but we all have our things that just take us right out and that's one of them for me.

The other thing that irked me and was such a weird combo of fantasy and realism was the fact you have a guy who's blackmailed, drugged, raped, publicly humiliated, abused, tortured and bullied the heroine as the hero, which stay with me! I'm all for IF it fits the tone of the book. I love non-con and dark romance in a more fantasy based setting, but when you combine it with the villain doing the same things as the Hero, only NOT as bad, but he's talked about as this unforgivable evil....it makes it hard to care about any of it, which then just makes it kind of pointless filler. Also, it was so hard to take the heroine and her "righteous always angry" personality seriously, when one minute she's talking about taking down the patriarchy for letting "men in places of power who abuse others" and meanwhile, she literally sucking the cock of one of the biggest perpetrator of this out there! 😂 It felt like the author was just trying to stick some politically trendy topic into the book without giving the issue real substance.

Really the bottom line was that while I liked Jack as a hero and I liked that aspect of the book, it just didn't at all go with the narrative Aviva was trying to give of "strong independent female" and made it REALLY hard to take her seriously. She didn't seem like a badass, she seemed like a foolhardy moron who talked a big game, but was constantly being put on her ass 😂

All in all, this book was okay, I finished it, daddy wasn't mentioned once, so that's really fabulous honestly 😂 might be willing to check out another book by this author if it seemed to fit the tropes and mood I'm looking for at the time.

[Abbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m he only reason this isn’t a five star is because of how these started out it took me a loooooong time to start liking Jack.
The plot was really good, the pace and the tension we’re amazing and I really want Asher to get his happily ever after

[Michellelovesreading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark college, hockey romance. This was so good. I definitely recommend this book

[tee ✧˖° · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t know what to think or feel. I don’t even know what’s real anymore. 😟

[Nicole Faber · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ this was such a easy quick read! I actually can’t explain how annoyed the nicknames Aviva and her brother had for eachother made me lol it really brought this rating down at least .5 for me

[Bria Boyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

SOOOO FREAKING GOOD! Devoured it - ugh loved it so much!