This book is about Mia and the hottest guys at Hidden River Academy: Buck, Shawn, Cale, Reid, and Colt.
They are everything and she is nothing. She doesn't belong, and they're going to make sure she knows it.
Mia Quinn never asked for her mom to get thrown in jail. She never asked to get shipped off to her uncle's, and be enrolled as Hidden River Academy's newest charity case. But she's going to make the best of it, even though the students drive Range Rovers and Lambos, and she's never even had a bike to call her own.
She figures she'll keep her head down, study hard, and be back at the trailer park with her mom in a few months time.
Except the guys, and girls, of Hidden River Academy know when someone doesn't belong, and Mia Quinn? Doesn't belong. They've got a plan to get rid of this new upstart who's crashing their rich-kid party. If she doesn't go on her own, they're going to make her. The first person to want her gone? Buck Barron, star football player at HRA, currently living with Mia's uncle while his parents are MIA on a globetrotting trip. He doesn't appreciate Mia crashing "guy time" at home, and Mia knows it.
To most students at HRA, Buck, Colt, Shawn, Reid, and Cael are the most popular students in the whole school. But to Mia? They are equal parts nightmare and bullies. Can she survive even a few weeks at Hidden River? Or are the guys, and the girls who trail after their every move, going to run her right back to the trailer park?
This 50,000 word contemporary bully romance novel is the first in a series by USA Today Featured Author, KT Strange.
KT Strange is a reverse harem romance author from the Great White North. After spending ten years in the music scene, babysitting drunk rock-stars, she’s finally read to settle down (somewhat) and write a few good books inspired by her life on the road with bands.
Suffice it to say I have read my fair share of trailer park girl entering world of the beautiful and privileged. This was by no means a stellar read.
Even if the concept is popular, the content should be original. But here we have a complete ass of a hero and a stupid heroine who lives with her uncle who doesn't see how his niece is being disrespected at the school where he is the football coach. REALLY??
The bubblegum sweetness coming from a girl who's mom was drug addict and dating a complete loser, baffles. It contradicts. It makes no sense. Her lack of fight was frustrating to read. She was not believable.
The hero, Buck? Was a complete asshole while living in her uncle's house? How the hell does that work? I would have put that little shit in his place ONE TIME. She never does! And she's family.
I fundamentally found that this story was badly thought out and felt absolutely rushed. Her having sex with asshole only solidified me thinking she's stupid. I mean, even as they are doing it, he's tepid and says the most vapid shit I ever heard. It's hard to love a story with bad MC's. And these two are just...ugh!
Cliffhanger was a doozy... But I'm not sure I'm going to stick around for more. I like my heroines with a little more fight. And a little less clueless.
This was a pretty solid opener to the series - Mia moves into the house of her uncle and is treated fairly badly by her housemate Buck. For unexplained reasons he's also living with her uncle while his parents globetrot. She gets bullied by a bunch of people at school for being poor (though not really by Buck) and though she's a pretty soft heroine, I hope to see her toughen up in the later books. And, unlike Marnye, I'm just glad she wasn't terminally stupid (though she did make some questionable decisions).
The portion of the book where Buck and Mia get together is probably the bit I'm iffiest about, because it felt very abrupt. But once they were together they were adorable. I was also a little concerned because one of the guys in her soon-to-be-harem seems VERY dedicated to his girlfriend, but I'm willing to see what KT does with this situation before I make any judgements.
Overall: sweet, surprisingly low on the bully content (from the heroes) and with a characteristically wicked cliffhanger.
I was surprised by this book. I read a couple reviews and they were not good so that kinda put me off. The first couple chapters were slow going for me because of that. I had to tell myself others opinions dont matter and I pushed on a couldn't put this book down. Yes, there was a ton of errors though and that drove me crazy. That cliffy though! Solid 4 stars!
I hate the way they talked about her, And the way she acted like a pushover prude. I hate the way the bully romance was a tad lame. I hate it that it lacked a certain mood.
I liked the big dumb jocks, And the way they protected their girl. I liked the '90s references, So much that I gave this poem a whirl.
I hate the way it all ended, And I'll hate it if there's a love-triangle ahead. But I really, reaaally liked Shawn, So eh, I say: Mia, go for Mr Red. ;-) IfyaknowwutImeaaaan.
Ok, I'm done. But on a serious note: (And the following might contain mild spoilers.)
The book was a lovely light read, but I really wish Mia had had a bit more of a bite to her. I kept yelling at her to show some teeth. And I also found it odd that Mia and Buck were always super silent with each other (I believed it was mentioned a few times how they/she enjoyed the comfortable silences), even at the start of their relationship. And yet, they were supposed to be getting to know each other..?
I didn't find too many annoying mistakes, as someone had mentioned, but one thing bugged me: In the movie 10 Things I Hate About You, Heath Ledger doesn't use a paintball gun, unless there are different versions of the movie out there somewhere, and I've always seen the one without the gun? When Heath and Julia have their paintball fight, they smash or throw balls filled with paint on/at each other. (That's not a super important point, I'm just a super huge fan of the movie.)
Overall, if you hide your angry feminist and your stick-up-a-butt attitude, this book was a-okay and enjoyable.
Oh, and PS. For a true Reverse Harem fan, this book will be a slight disappointment. The RH, if there will be one, is only veeeeery slowly kindling in this one. And something tells me Mia ain't yet a harem-collecting kinda girl, or is she? We shall see.
I haven't finished the book. I was looking forward to reading this 1. I've been reading it ony phone and I'm 4% in and there are a lot of mistakes. Now I'm not usually 1 to criticize for this but with this particular book it just feels like the author has been too much in a rush to release it and not took the time to check it. It is hard to follow because of the mistakes.
WARNING- that cliffhanger will leave you panting for more words!
Now I was really looking forward to this book and the first half was ok for me. What bothered me was I like my heroines to have fight, the thing I hate the most is when they just take the shit being slung at them lying down. It annoys me no end. Mia in my opinion could’ve stuck up for herself more.
Also some of the characters that were mentioned in the blurb weren’t in the book? Which baffled me, but I’m assuming that’s because they come into play in the second book maybe?
It’s also not really a RH book like I thought it was going to be.
I hoping the plot will be a little more developed and match the blurb come the second book.
I am interested to read the second book though and see where the author takes it from here and where the other guys come into play.
I'm going to go with 3.5 stars, because sadly it needs another read through from an editor asap. While there wasn't a bunch, there definitely was enough that I had to read parts over to make sure I understood. My grammar sucks, but if I pay for a book i expect it to be edited well.
Mia annoyed me at first, but slowly got a backbone so I liked her by the end.
It's a little ehh at first since it wasn't fitting in with the blurb. I'm guessing the rest of the main male characters will show up in the later books enough so we can get to know them. Currently we know nothing honestly about anyone except Mia. Paige is evil so far...but who else is really faking it? I'm curious because I think they all are hiding secrets. The ending shocked me, even though I was hoping it wasn't going to happen. Will is be sitsahs before mistahs? Guess we gotta wait. Ugh. Also why does she like these dudes...other than they are hot?
When this said “bully romance” I immediately thought of CM Stunich’s Filthy Rich Boys, however the difference between the two books is that the bullying situation only lasts for a bit more than a third of this book, whereas in FRB it was the whole first book and part of the second. That being said, I’m not sure if I’m totally sold on this series yet, but we’ll see I guess!
Title: Hidden River Academy Author: KT Strange Genre/Trope: RH/Romance/Bully Romance(really only for the first third of the book) Heroine: 3/5 Hero(s): 3/5 (Buck) 3/5 (Shawn) Plot/Originality: 2/5 ~Steam~: 1/5 HEA/HFN: No *********** Similar Books: - Rich Boys of Burberry Prep series by CM Stunich
This author and her little friends are bully's who like to threaten physical violence if you leave a bad review. According to strange, words hurt, but it's okay for them to threaten to stab and cut reviewers on facebook, who don't like her work. Apparently it's also okay for strange and her friends to message said reviewers and call them names. I've read a few of her books, but you best believe I won't anymore.
First off the amount of mistakes present makes me wonder what the heck this authors beta readers were doing with their time. There are a lot of grammatical errors.
Secondly, she’s treated like utter trash by one of her harem men. By chapter 17 (where I stopped) he still hadn’t even apologized for being an arse....more than an arse, he was straight up CRUEL.
Next there’s a lot of drama put in for the sake of it. When reading YA I expect drama, but I also expect said drama to make sense.
I really enjoyed reading this book and I'm curious to see where it will be heading next, hoping the heroine and guys get their act together a little more. I am here for it!
Life sucks a lot for our girl Mia. But she's not giving up. I hope to see character growth though as things progress. I have fallen into this story though and can't wait to read the next.
I liked the plot of the book, but things happen to quickly. Mia is from the wrong side of town. Moving with her uncle, going to a new school. The people who you would think would bully her are ones who support her.
I really need to reread this book, and then read the rest of the series, so when I do that may or may not change my rating, but in all fairness to the author, I was going through some serious shit when I was reading this, and I just don't think my brain was connected.
I adored Mia! She's just your average girl, who's not average at all. This book introduces us to her and is mostly about her and the relationships slowly building between her and the people around her. The romance between her and Buck, it was just phew!!!. It kind of has me questioning how in the world the other guys can stand a chance or how it'll work out between them. That ending- how?!! Just how?!!! I absolutely cannot wait for the next book. Mia stole my heart and so did Buck, now I want to see what the future brings for them.
I have laughed and cried so much through this book, I'm simply a mess right now.
The characters are complicated perfection. The plot is everything I loved and hated about school, with real world issues thrown in to hit so close to home. And that ending. THAT ENDING. I'm so hyped for the sequel it's unreal.
I really enjoyed getting to know Mia. She has had it super hard and definitely deserves a harem!!! I like how this author is kinda hinting at who the guys are going to be but still keeping us guessing! I hope we get to see more about how the feelings of ****** developed leading up to what happens at the end. Can’t wait to read the next book!!!!!!
Love teen drama, angst, and quick storylines. Can't wait to find out what happens next. Feeling sorry for Mia and everything she's going through. And what a little cliffy at the end..... "Sigh" now we wait!! I recommend this book Thanks Jamie Nibarger Ellis
An awesome read. I enjoy reading a book and feeling ALL of the emotions!! You bad it's a cliffhanger with way too many months in between!!! Just saying....😉
Alright, so this book was entertaining and it kept my attention, which is very important to me when I read a new book. However, there were too many grammatical and composition errors that literally had my head spinning. Certain paragraphs were written in a way that made no sense. Many times I had to go back and read those paragraphs again only to correct them in my own mind. I'm not sure if this book was a first for the author, but it definitely needs some editing.
Okay now onto the actual story line. It was a good story, I'm interested to find out what happens in book 2, but I'm not crazy about the name for the main male character in this book. Buck? Really? I just feel that a guy who's described as good looking as this one should have a different name other than Buck. I don't know. I thoroughly dislike the name but overall I pushed through (mentally changing his name in my mind) and kept on reading.
This book is a quick read, there were some parts where I felt that certain things were rushed, for example certain relationships. Some characters barely even spoke more than a few words before they were hooking up and professing love to one another. That kind of threw me off and left me feeling slightly confused. I can't say there was any anticipation between characters. The build up wasn't really there. But I'll hand it to the author, it was an entertaining read.
So I gave this rating a 3 star mostly due to the lack of editing. I hope book 2 has more finesse and anticipation, along with editing as well. Don't knock it, overall it wasn't a horrible book, it just needs a bit of tweaking.
I have been reluctant to start a new series especially one that isn’t completed because naturally I know I’ll enjoy it so much that I’ll become the impatient little monster for the sequel... I should have listened!
Hidden River Academy is a slow burn bully RH romance and it’s written where the harem is yet to form; only one love interest is introduced though there is loads of interest in our FMC, Mia.
Mia’s Uncle takes her in when her mother is sent to jail and she is given a full ride to Hidden River Academy, a very prestigious private school. Buck the star quarterback is living with her uncle and from the moment they met there is tension. Not many people are happy to be sharing their school with Mia because of her pedigree, and is bullied by her peers. Friends are hard to come by and she does have a few of them but there will always be this underlying mistrust, or waiting for the other shoe to drop.
They characters are well developed and slowly theirs backgrounds are revealed. I’m interested to find out more about Buck and his situation as well as Colts but I guess this will come as more books are releases. I will say there are times that I did roll my eyes at Mia only because i feel like her character contradicts herself a bit. She has a spine of steel but is easily fooled by Paige and sobs uncontrollably. I’m not empathetic to her situation but some scenes revolving around her emotions gave me whiplash.
Readers beware this book ends on a cliffhanger so I suggest reading closer to July when the next book is due or be prepared to schedule a re-read!
Okay, so this story isn’t really RH at this point. The note from the author is that she’s had this almost completed for nearly 3 years and never published it. It’s almost like she was writing a M/F bully romance and then when the genre picked up popularity in the last few months (after Boys of Brayshaw, Cruel, FRB, Broken Wings, etc.) and the demand for an RH Bully became apparent she was able to tweak a few character interactions and the last 5 pages of the story turn into a slowly developing RH.
It does look like the plan is to expand it in the next book, but even some of the M/F Bullies that are out have more of a relationship dynamic with non-love interest ‘betas’ than this story does. In fact it’s hard to even find them believable as anything more than acquaintances.
I’m actually kinda mad that she’s given a best friend who is clearly in a happy relationship for 99% of the book when we know the whole time that somehow the boyfriend is going to end up with Mia. Inevitably this is going to mean she’s going to hurt the one real friend she’s had.
This story didn’t really have a lot of plot development. There are definitely bully elements, but the motivations are unclear and you end up with more questions than answers. I’m sort of confused by the story. The book was definitely too short, each scene could have used much more description and development. To me this felt like a draft, it still needs more flesh.
It also needs another round of proofreading and editing, but that isn’t impacting my rating.