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Eli Travers
Recluse. Artist. Angry.
My Nasty Little Monster
I became his obsession. His love became my prison.

Arabella Gray
Brave. Good Girl. Broken
Our love was twisted with hate.
Doomed from the start, destined to fail.

We thought we'd defeated the monsters of Churchill Bradley Academy. Turns out they were hiding in the shadows, thirsting for blood.

What will happen when the past refuses to stay buried and the monsters come back out to play?



Dare to Live is the stunning conclusion to the Churchill Bradley Academy series.

564 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 17, 2023

347 people are currently reading
1289 people want to read

About the author

L. Ann

48 books996 followers
If you are looking for gentle romps through the flowers, with lovers holding hands and never making mistakes, then my books are not for you.

I don't write heroes or heroines, I write people with baggage, history and problems. My characters are flawed, they're messy, they make disastrous mistakes that are hard to come back from. My stories are not sweet or kind, they are dark and, at times, cruel. They deal with uncomfortable subjects and I do not apologise for it.


If you like plot twists, characters you don't think you'll ever grow to love but eventually do, sarcasm, dark paths and messy relationships, then come on in. The water may be deep and shark-infested, but I know the way out ...I promise.

You can find L. Ann at the following locations:-

NEWSLETTER ➙https://lannauthor.com and get a FREE E-BOOK!

AMAZON -- https://www.amazon.com/default/e/B078...

FACEBOOK -- https://www.facebook.com/LAnnAuthor/

READER FB GROUP -- https://www.facebook.com/groups/lanns... - join her Reader Group on Facebook and be in with a chance to pick up ARCs and swag before anyone else.

BOOKBUB -- https://www.bookbub.com/profile/l-ann

INSTAGRAM -- https://www.instagram.com/lee_ann_aut...

TWITTER -- https://twitter.com/LeeAnn_Author

VIP Reader Group - https://clubdamnation.com

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5 stars
1,289 (63%)
4 stars
523 (25%)
3 stars
183 (8%)
2 stars
36 (1%)
1 star
14 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 278 reviews
Profile Image for ❥ KAT ❥ Kitty Kats Crazy About Books.
2,637 reviews11k followers
May 7, 2023
thumbnail-IMG-0079-2-copy-1
ღღ DARE TO LIVE ღღ Is the final full length dark romance book within the 'Churchill Bradley Academy' series. Spoken in 'dual perspectives' by two new to me authors. HERO: Eli HEROINE: Arabella

As a whole, back to back reading, this gets my 5 stars..

God I’ve never read anything like this series before, or inhaled anything as quick as I have with these books. This is the first time in a very long time where I've read just for me, no time line to read it by, this was such a refreshing stress relief. I know this series won't be for everyone, there's a few triggers, Eli can be volatile and at times not very likeable, but delve deeper and my heart beat in synch with his, he had my full attention. I loved all sides of him.

They do have a lot of sex, like a lot a lot
Hate sex, like sex, love sex, dare sex, but every single time it's fresh, it's new. It was never repetitive.

This series had my emotions wrapped up so tight, up and down like a rollercoaster, the bullying, their falling out, the death of close friends, the terror, it could've gone a whole lot darker but it was just enough to keep me invested in this series.

Now my biggest dilemma is what to read next!!.
Profile Image for esperanza ♡.
125 reviews31 followers
June 28, 2025
I’m just going to write my thoughts on the whole series in this review because I don’t feel like making reviews for each individual book right now lol.

the drama and plot in these books were pretty entertaining. arabella was so annoying at the beginning of the series because she had no backbone but she kind of got better throughout the series. eli is okay but I don’t like that he’s a manwhore. I just hate books where the male lead has been with multiple women while the female lead’s a virgin 👎🏻. anyways, I like eli and arabella together and this series overall was fun I guess ☠️.
Profile Image for RavenRose.
131 reviews149 followers
March 24, 2023
Great closure to the series! These books were definitely an emotional roller-coaster, you experienced everything! I have not had a book hanger like this in a while, I tried reading two books since and can't get into them lol I definitely miss Eli and his games with Arabella. Great job to the authors!!
Profile Image for Lammie.
744 reviews38 followers
September 27, 2023
Every once in awhile you come across a book or book series that has that little something extra … a story that will live in your soul. This series and this book in particular was it 😊.

Eli and Ari lived through more trauma, pain, and loss than any young people should ever go through and didn’t end up with each other after the end of book 3. Book 4, the final book picks up 10 years later.

The story begins with Ari living in LA. Elena, Ari’s mother, who grew so much during this series talks Ari into going to Eli’s cabin to check on him because he is sick. Eli has turned into a hermit, living alone in his cabin in the woods for the last 5 years.

Neither character has moved on from each other or the the events that happened at Churchill Bradley Academy. When the school decides to reopen and invites the senior class to return for a week and have their prom … Ari, Eli, and Miles are convinced to go for closure.

Little do our MC’s know that the events from 10 years ago have not reached their conclusion and things are going to get scary.

The plot was brilliantly resurrected for this last book. I sometimes got frustrated with Ari’s distrust of Eli even knowing that he deserved it. Written in dual perspective, knowing how much Eli loves Ari, I yearned for these 2 to let go of the past and find each other again.

There are 2 epilogues to tie up the series, though I could have read endless epilogues 🥹🥹

There is also plenty of spice. These 2 are pure 🔥 together.

Kudos to the authors, I hope we will get many more book from this duo.
Profile Image for Bourbon, Books and Brenda.
1,091 reviews101 followers
March 3, 2023
Dear Authors…. Was it necessary to run my heart through a blender?
*****
Rating: 5 Stars
Steam: 3 flames
Genre: Second Chance, Thriller, Dark Romance
Triggers: Bully
*****
This book took us further into Eli and Ari’s world and will be the first to tell you this took me on an unexpected roller coaster ride. From the first page to the last, this book surprised me. Everything that I thought I knew/understood was flipped on its axis and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to find out what would happen next.

I will be intentionally vague once again because the best way to go into this series. What I will say is that this is well-written, the characters will take up residence in your heart and mind, and the storyline is so layered that you will be amazed at how it all comes together.

This is not an easy love story, and to be honest I should hate this couple being together…but this author duo was able to not only make me fall for the bully, but cheer for the relationship and I do NOT read bully romance and I loved this series.

Do I recommend? Wholeheartedly! L. Ann continues to impress me with everything she writes and somehow she has made me love genres that I wouldn’t normally read…. Well done!
Profile Image for lolareadsx.
30 reviews3 followers
July 31, 2023
the kids names 🥹🥹 best series i’ve read this year
Profile Image for Deathbyslow_angst.
80 reviews1 follower
May 21, 2023
Devastated it's over!! The hangover is real

This series was everything! The perfect dark romance, it had everything you could ask for in a book. I'm in a book hangover, letting Eli and Ari go is hard. There was a moment in this book, I was ready to hate the authors. I wanted to throw my Kindle! But it ends with a HEA! So all was well again, lol!
Profile Image for Lori Kays.
475 reviews30 followers
June 8, 2024
My god, what a mess! ***Spoilers**Sometimes a time jump can be a great narrative tool if done well, this ain't it. The first half of the book was pretty good, although a 10 year time jump with them being broken up for the majority of that time was too long and honestly made no sense. As in love as they were supposed to be it makes no sense she would feel smothered in less than a year and then they would live both their lives in limbo and build up 10 years of walls and excuses, just for her to decide to come and stay with him while he's sick. Anyways, that wasn't great, but getting to see them live their new lives and seeing how they were growing and fitting together was well done. I liked hearing about both their careers and how they'd changed as people and how the trama had effected them, but as soon as the reunion at school is brought up it's a downward spin around the toilet. Where to even start with what a mess it was. For one thing, 2 friends were murdered there and Arabella was nearly murdered there, and they agree to go for "closure"? No waaaaay is that believable! Maybe for an afternoon, but overnight? For a week? Get out of here! They're all adults, most adults hate going back to their highschool reunion for 1 night let alone an entire week and that's without the multi-murder baggage. They stay in the dorm rooms?? And NO one is married or in a relationship except Lacy and Brad and Miles and Ivan? Also, Lacy and Brad have kids and they just what? Dissappear on them for a highschool reunion summer camp? Like I get that it was supposed to be some FBI ploy, but that's such a shallow excuse at best and the fact that anyone showed up, least of all EVERYONE showing up for that long just is so beyond belief. Also, they remodeled it and yet ALL their old stuff is still in their rooms? ALL their projects are just sitting there? A car has been left in the lot for 10 YEARS? My god, what? No one picked up their stuff or sent it to them in 10 years? The school closing for that long doesn't make sense either, again if it would have been a year or 2 or at most 3 or 4 years, that would have been plausible, but there's no reason for it to be closed and untouched for as long as it was. It all felt like a very choreographed setup just to make a bunch of adults relive their entire highschool experience again, which really wasn't needed. Arabella had already forgiven Eli for all the things that happened between them, that isn't even why she left him, so the whole "Meeting each other in a different way" but continually reliving everything they experienced and lived through was just tedious and redundant. It felt like yet another excuse to drag the school drama on even longer. Both the main characters and the minor characters repeatedly make the most stupid decisions over and over and over again to the point of being ridiculous. The ending drama was just the cherry on the sh!t sundae that was this story. The FBI, the fact they they not once did anything remotely smart and instead just got lucky over and over again. And in the end, the original reason for Arabella leaving, her feeling smothered was NEVER addressed! She decide they want to be together alright, but she just gives up her whole life and moves back into the old house forever?! She gives up her whole career and stay locked up behind a security gate to have babies?! We never get hear more or see more about her stain glass career other than that she has a room dedicated to it? Uggh, just so incredibly dissappointed. Way too much time and filler wasted at the school and not enough time actually living their lives and working things out. Could have skipped this book all together and just done a long epilogue in the last book. Considering how invested I was in this series I want a do over!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for tanya c.
111 reviews29 followers
January 25, 2024
this series is honestly perfection. like i’m obsessed w bully romances but this has to be one of the best i’ve ever read n i will never forget this series.

so we have arabella n eli, ours mcs who are jus two kids who want the same thing. there parents affection & time. all they want is to be heard, to be seen.

THE TENSION!!!! oh my fucking days. u start to see the jealousy seeping out of eli very early on in book 1 & honestly it’s so hot. chapter 86 & 87 of the first book. OBSESSED PLS. i jus know he talks u thru it. i mean i’ve read it but I JUS KNOW THIS MAN WOULD TALJ U THRU IT✋🏽 the hate sex. i jus need a minute pls. WOW😮‍💨

but anyways onto eli. i love tht man. i hate tht he’s misunderstood. and it’s rly sad seeing his internal thoughts n seeing tht he acts the way he acts bcos ppl won’t give him a chance or understand the real him. but he doesn’t gaf n does him regardless. love u eli🩶

KELLAN & ELI. pls. omg. from the scene where kellan watched eli relive himself. but i love their friendship. kellan is an amazing friend. he’s thoughtful and understanding. and it’s amazing how well he can read any situation perfectly. they’re well suited & have the grumpy x sunshine vibe🤌🏽

now i get bella i do. but she’s a little bit silly let’s say. and naive as shit. well she was to begin with. but seeing her development & growth throughout the series is amazing bcos eli n well the whole school rly put her thru it. she finds her voice. she finds herself. n to see her stand up 4 herself n defend herself was so a moment, felt so proud of her🥹

ok but arabellas mother was a rat but she grew on me. and she grew as a person. and we love to see tht character development, it’s rly beautiful. and the way she pushed ari n eli in the right direction & gave them words of wisdom whn they most needed it was also amazing.

BUT PLS the plot twists in book 3💔💔the pain n suffering eli had to go thru was too much. the poor boy. this series had me crying at 2am. kellan’s letter is all imma say, jus pure fucking tears😭

i thoroughly enjoyed this series oh my word. wht a fucking rollercoaster of emotions w such an amazing end. the way this series was crafted n put together was immaculate. i will deffo miss reading ab eli n bella. to me this is an underrated series which all of yall need to read asap. thank u to the authors 4 blessing us w such an amazing dark n twisted series! i literally cannot wait to read the monsters of churchill bradley academy like i am so freaking excited🖤

( ps the name of kids in the epilogue of the final book had me BAWLING & reading ravensong was too much for me😭)

- a dark bully romance
- step siblings
- enemies to lovers
- a 4 book series
- a MF romance
- dual pov

rating: ♾️/5⭐️
spice: 2.5/5🌶
Profile Image for JACKIE TIMPANE.
1 review
May 12, 2023
Ok - I was addicted to this series so I have a lot of love for it, but this book just let me down. Similar to other reviews, a lot of this plot wasn’t realistic. No rich ass school would keep student possessions, host a prom, keep 10 year old art projects, or assign students to their old dorm rooms (especially when faculty knew Ari was attacked in hers years ago?) Kellan’s car still parked in the parking lot, after a multimillion renovation, really rolled my eyes. Also, can we talk about the complete lack of any dialogue from the villain during his final stand AT ALL? We barely got anything from Eli’s perspective before he is shot and blacked out. No build up, no suspense, nothing. Ari just walks in, pushes over the girl into Evan, grabs the gun and then shoots him. He has been our villain for FOUR WHOLE BOOKS and the whole build up climax of the series scene was barely 3 pages. No verbal confrontation, no villainous threats. This man was a MASTERMIND of stalking and threats for 10+ years and is smart enough to break out of a mental institution, yet there is no tension AT ALL in his final scene? No dialogue between him and Ari? So anticlimactic. The first half of the book was enjoyable and I didn’t mind the return to the school, even if it was unrealistic. But this books big ending scene was just completely rushed. There are a lot of things I liked about this book, but just feeling disappointed at the lack of suspense and plot for Evans final threat.

Also the women at this school are straight up feral for Eli’s dick and the husbands are just like “okay!” I mean, we know his dick is magic but damn…
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for ᴏᴜᴍɪ ✧.
128 reviews4 followers
January 3, 2024
Did I enjoy the book? Yes. Did they annoy me at times ? Also yes. Did I shed some tears? Double yes. Would I recommend it to you? Well if you like extreme bully romances with a bit of suspense and with a lot and I mean a lot of hardcore smut, then yes! If you’re not into that then no!
Profile Image for Danielle.
155 reviews2 followers
October 28, 2023
Dnf.. started reading it thinking it was just going to be a long epilogue but ita another 500 pages long of more unnecessary drama. Boring! I liked the first 2 books, but then it became very long winded and too much
Profile Image for Amber Nicole Nicole.
Author 47 books941 followers
September 26, 2023
Stunning

This whole series has kept me hooked from the start.

I've laughed, shed many tears and smiled. This is dark. Don't get me wrong, but it was amaZing.
6 reviews
April 15, 2024
Wow , amazing

High school bullying is all too real , twists around every corner. Couldn't put the books down. I don’t normally put a review, but this deserve it. If you need a who done it . Its here . No spoiler alert. Definitely we'll written.
Profile Image for Coralie Spencer.
243 reviews
September 13, 2024
Wow!! What a ride!

I am definitely going to be suffering a book hangover after this series! This had everything I didn’t know I needed…dark romance, mystery, anguish, but also enduring love and still a HEA. What am I going to do after Eli and Arabella have stolen my heart?! 😭
Profile Image for rookbbg.
60 reviews
May 24, 2025
UGHH I CANT THIS SERIES WAS SO AMAZING OMGGG
Profile Image for Vi.
79 reviews
October 18, 2025
second chance will always be loved by me
130 reviews2 followers
February 18, 2023
Well, here I am at the end of the last book.
After book three, I honestly did not know where Dare To Live would take me. But take me it did! This book had me double guessing and questioning everything....and nearly everyone.
I NEEDED this book!
L.Ann & Claire Marta....what have you done? Nothing will ever be the same again.....and I thank you.
Red or Green......and the answer will always be Green.
Well done.
Profile Image for saintvitiosisgf.
199 reviews27 followers
June 20, 2024
this is what I mean when I say last book in a series needs to be closure and a good ending. this is that and the epilogue was the cutest thing ever
Profile Image for Bridget.
273 reviews14 followers
February 17, 2023
ARC review:
There aren't words good enough to express the feelings this book invoked in me. I sobbed, I yelled, I laughed, I fell in love with the naSty lIttle moNster.

This has to be by far the best bully-academy series I ever had the pleasure of reading.

I hardly ever re-read books this is definitely one that will be read again and I'll buy in book form to go on my special bookshelf.

I love the beautiful surprise hidden in these pages. Amazing job ladies!
Profile Image for Crystal.
345 reviews2 followers
May 4, 2023
Really enjoyed this series overall. I'm still not over what happened in book three. I will never get over that. I would happily throw down an Uno reverse card and not have a book four to be honest. Seeing Eli let Kellan's voice go in the end had me up in my feelings. I loved the epilogue. I'm always happy to catch a glimpse into the future, so I really appreciated that.

I do feel like this one was just a bit drawn out and a little repetitive. The spice was excellent. In the series, the spice was really good, though we get it. Our boy likes to go down. It happened a lot, which is why I felt like it got repetitive.

The whole idea behind the fourth book threw me off. I just don't understand why the school was closed for the entire 10 years, and only now reopening. Why was Kellan's car left there? I feel like Elliot would have taken care of that for Eli but I like the idea of Eli restoring it.The real reason behind the reunion finally came out, and I guess I could buy it, but it just felt like a bit too much of a stretch for me. The whole Lacy thing was awkward and super embarrassing. Like ma'am you are 28 acting like you're holding court in high school again, really? Ew.

I wish we'd gotten to see Arabella and Elena work their issues out. Elena really was a shit mom, and I feel like, because we didn't see anything to the contrary, that she got off too easily. She needed to grovel, and we missed it.
Profile Image for Jessica.
166 reviews2 followers
January 28, 2024
DNF at 25% I loved the first 3 books but having a 4th book was unnecessary to the story. The third book ended on a nice note everything was wrapped up and nice and pretty and a little bow the fourth book being that it’s almost 600 pages long and ended up being redundant. A lot of instant makes sense like how fast Arabella was willing to jump back in the bed with Eli even though they were broken up for 10 years she wanted closure like it’s been 10 years you don’t need closure you know what I mean I just couldn’t get behind this book and, I felt like I was forcing myself to read this and I just had to put it down and move on.
2,745 reviews21 followers
October 25, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The first half of this book brought me back to Book 1 where I really didn't care for Arabelle. She really needed a swift kick. I still adored Eli and loved his relationship with Elena. This story really has a lot of redemption elements for multiple characters. Some things didn't make sense but eventually it came together fabulously. I am still upset over happenings at the end of book 3 but this was a great read and series overall.
Profile Image for Katlyn Smith.
75 reviews3 followers
February 19, 2023
Not needed

2-3 stars. This wasn’t horrible but it also wasn’t needed. Could have just put the epilogue and maybe a couple chapters in book three and called it good
Profile Image for Karen Mc .
1,102 reviews770 followers
March 9, 2025
“Show me your darkness.”

HOLY WOW!!! I’m still reeling from a romance that stormed my heart, slamming into my soul with a force I never saw coming. Dare to Live by L. Ann and Clare Marta is the final story in the captivating Churchill Bradley Academy series. It’s the heart-thrashing tale of a tarnished hero and a heroine re-growing her wings to fly, two souls tethered together as they break and burn while battling demons.

Step-siblings Eli and Arabella were created for each other with combustible chemistry and an undeniable, soul-deep connection. Broken sees broken. Like sees like. Real sees real. And these characters? They are life!!! My heart shattered and soared for these strong soulmates who find salvation in each other. I couldn’t love Eli, Arabella, and their powerful journeys enough.

I was in awe of this book that burns with fire, desire, and vengeance. Dare to Live shows the beauty and bravery among the broken, the fierceness among the flaws, and the healing and undying love. It is a must-read romance for the survivor of whatever made and makes you stronger, the believer of second chances, and the romantic who finds forever and fated love.

Dare to Live was my kryptonite, pulling me into its fire-breathing, heart-stopping, angst-wielding web. Oh did I love every twist, turn, bruise, and burn. This intense book stole my breath as it had me in the biggest chokehold. I. Can’t. Stop. Feeling. This. Romance. Dare to Live blew me away!

I can’t recommend and love the Churchill Bradley Academy series enough. It was the best escape! Such a heady high!!! It felt like I was walking into a haunted house of horrors … unsure what danger I’d encounter next, but oh did I revel in the darkness as I was dipped into the unknown. This fusion of bully, stepbrother, suspense, second-chance, and dark romance was my weakness … my undoing. This series is a dark romance lover’s dream … it’s everything!

💋💋💋💋💋💋 but worth all the monster kisses

➡️ https://amzn.to/4iy5Xjj

Reviewed on behalf of Bookalicious Babes Blog
Profile Image for Eileen (Bangor Belles) Robinson.
1,164 reviews30 followers
June 8, 2023
Entering this book, my emotions were already raw and tangled.
Their lives have moved on and now ten years later, the trauma's they endured are still heavy in their hearts.
Ari is now working in fashion which was her dream,
Eli is successful in his career, but they are thousands of miles apart, and haven't seen each other since their split.
Now they are thrown together again with a reunion at the Academy, the place of Horror's they have never recovered from.
Oh boy, this was raw!! the one place that gave them so many scars, would they be able to survive a week, the the terror's that haunt them.
So be prepared, we think its all over and now the mushy loving end with arise!! WRONG!! You have to work for it!! Lethal danger follows them, but can they really be the winners this time!!!
Omg I have loved this series! Definitely not for the faint hearted but omg the characters just invade you, the twists and turns grip you, and through it all Love is a major player the keeps you being optimistic!
Sad it all has to end, happy it is ending and Eli and Ari get peace and everything they need,
now I need to find my heart and glue it all together again!!!
Profile Image for Only.ever.books.
1,479 reviews25 followers
February 20, 2023
ARC Review

🖤 Dare to live 🖤

Churchill Bradley Academy #4

By L. Ann & Claire Marta

Rating: ⭐ 5/5

Emotions: 🖤  🌶️5/5


The conclusion


It starts where you do not expect it. Ten years after the previous book with a reality you didn’t want to. But as everything real in life, not all is flowers and rainbows. The things in the past aren’t something they could easily overcome. They haven’t really moved on and cope with the past. And Arabella and Eli have to fight for their happy end. Their way is heavy, hard and nothing easy. 

It is not easy to write a proper review for these books, they have you going through the emotions. With lots of twists, turns and plots. 

The last book rounds the circle and ties the ends together.

CBA was closed and is about to reopen and invites all the seniors from the past to attend a prom they didn’t have. Memories are sure to appear  and closure needs to be found. And in the meantime before that happens?

And in the end? You get your broken heart repaired. 
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