Sinners

Pawns of Patience #1

by Cassie James

A lost heiress finds her way home.

She’s about to wish she hadn’t.

The town of Patience is home to the privileged, the elite, and the ruthless. Everything Juliet is not.

After spending the first sixteen years of her life in a dead-end town, she’s thrust into the spotlight of a legacy she never knew she had. With it comes a decades long mystery about a hidden family fortune.

But if Juliet wants to claim the treasure her grandfather left behind, she must survive a dangerous game of cat and mouse with four boys that are equally as hot as they are cruel.

It’s a dangerous game they’re playing. Not everyone will survive.

There are two types of people in Patience:

The sinners.

And the pawns.

Sinners is the first book in a series of full-length reverse harem high school bully romances. Some scenes portray subject matter that may be difficult for some readers. Enjoy at your own risk!

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, High School, Why Choose, Young Adult, Enemies To Lovers, Dark Romance

262 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2019

About the author

Cassie James is a midwest-adjacent romance author. Her love of happy endings is rivaled only by her obsession with pictures of cute dogs. She has two fluffy beasts of her own that she shares with her real life book boyfriend.

Reviews

[Donna ~ The Romance Cover]

DNF @ 66% ~ Tried hard with this one but I just couldn't get into it at all. The story was stilted and lacked flow and just didn't hold my attention and I kept putting it down and felt no inclination to pick it back up again, so finally gave up. Shame though.

[⋆☆☽ Kriss ☾☆⋆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

(This series goes downhill from here, as a heads up. This first book was a bit hopeful but it crashes so hard very soon after this. Do not recommend.)

After all the nonsense I've endured from contemporary RH romances, this was actually a rather nice read. It still has its demerits--things I wish authors would start abandoning--but there was enough that was done better to allow the read to be likeable.

The "rich heiress discovered again" plot isn't new to me, but I can't recall seeing it attempted in a RH story before, so I like that the author, right off the bat, went for something beyond "poor girl gets scholarship to rich school" that a lot of RH's do.

I also liked that Juliet's family is of particular interest, not just for being old and powerful (which is what every story does; the girl always belongs to the #1 family in any given upper class social circle), but because her late grandfather reportedly left behind a treasure of immense worth and everyone in the town is obsessed with finding it. It's an interesting way to create a dynamic in the story because you have to wonder whether people's motivations when interacting with Juliet stem from this.

Another positive of the book is that Juliet doesn't constantly mention to the reader how horny she is, which has very quickly become a pet peeve of mine in romance novels. She still, sadly, is more willing to kiss and hug guys who aren't especially kind to her than I'd like--why do none of these heroines block kisses or slap faces? They just see an asshole come in for a kiss and pucker up, then after they suck face for a bit do they remember the guy is awful and get angry or embarrassed--but I'm happy that there's still a level that keeps it from grating me to the point of wanting to punch the heroine for thinking more with her pussy than her brain.

As for the bullying aspect, I think Smith and Patrick are currently the most redeemable, but I feel like Jax is really not (nor is Ace, but, I'm not sure if he's going to be in the harem). While he may not be spreading nudes or sex tapes or anything like that (which is 10000% revenge porn), the violation that comes with spreading pictures of an underage girl in a vulnerable spot while clad in just her underwear is still pretty severe. Her home address was even attached, so the repercussions can be life threatening, not to mention that it probably makes you feel dirty and used to know strangers are looking at you online and that someone knowingly inflicted these feelings upon you by taking advantage of you when in an inebriated state when all you wanted was to go home to sleep.

Assuming Ace is part of the harem, the author will have to come up with some very good explanation for why he even took the pictures to begin with. I'm betting Jax blackmailed/extorted him into it, but still, I hope if he is a love interest that there's time taken to actually redeem him, since just letting him get off for being complacent in a revenge porn scheme isn't going to sit with me.

The ending had a very sudden murder inclusion, which is sadly becoming a weird staple for RH. There are at least five other series I can think of that have a sudden murder tossed into the mix.

Warnings for mentions of sex, drug use, alcohol consumption, alcoholism, older men hitting on underage girls and the insinuation that those girls sleep with the older men, lots of groping at the hands of a love interest, revenge porn, swearing, etc.

There's no explicit sex scene, but, odds are this series will contain one later on.

I'll be looking into the next book in the series to see what's up.

[Simone Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

So..... I'm still really confused about what's going on behind the scenes. I get the whole grandfather's treasure hunt, but i still feel like i don't know what this book is about.

[Paula Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Juliet has been busy trying to survive the rough life she has been given with two parents who don't care about her and would rather find their next fix than give her food on the table. She has a plan of escape though and is busy saving up her money from her diner job. That is until one day the police walk in and give her some shocking news, her parents have been killed but the more shocking news was they weren't her "real parents". Her real parents were rich and wealthy and lived in the town of Patience. When Juliet was a baby, she was kidnapped. Juliet is now picked up by her aunt and taken the town of Patience where she learns that she is the long-lost heir of her families fortune. The town though isn't happy about her arrival as for years, there has been an unwritten treasure hunt for her grandfather's fortune and now that the rightful heir has arrived in town- it's no longer open for the grabs. The thing is though Juliet doesn't want the fame and money, she is happy surviving. Now with four boys wanting to drive her out of town, will she use her strength from her old life to show she isn't going anywhere or will their revenge tactics and their charms which leads her running back to the wrong side of the tracks.
Find out in Book #1 in the Pawns of Patience Series by Cassie James, and yes, this book does end in a cliffhanger. I had personally hoped that at least one of her parents were still alive as that would have been a reunion twist or maybe even an older sibling which would have strengthened and added something different to the RH/ Bullymance storyline.

[Namera [The Literary Invertebrate] · Rating 3 out of 5]

RTC

[Amara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hooked

A long lost heir to a fortune found after being missing, a treasure hunt, several alpha holes, and in a RH bully romance setting? Count me in. Diving into the next book now.

[Dana aka ♥Belladonna♥ · Rating 1 out of 5]

This work needs a developmental editor.

The plot and character motivation do not come through clearly or believably. Characterization and scene-setting/description are threadbare. The writing is imbalanced, as the author uses heavy narration, repetitive introspection, and little dialog, leaving the reader confused and distant from the emotions and actions of the story. The treasure hunting angle that pops up about halfway through is an odd motivation for bullying teens who are already extremely wealthy.

Taken altogether, it is a confusing jumble without a likable character in the bunch.

[Busy Bumble Bee Book Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been on a Reverse Harem Bully Romance kick lately. I have to admit some are hits and some are major misses. I actually just found this book last night and didn't realize it literally just released. Because if I had realized that I probably would have waited to read it. Because I Need The Second Book like Now!!!

I have to say that as far as bully romances go this one is a bit on the tamer side. There's still a little bit of bullying. But not as much as in some other books or to the extremes other books have taken it.

I thought Jess/Juliet was a likable character. She's a young girl who fimds that for the past sixteen years of her life the people who she thought were her parents aren't really her parents. And she suddenly thrust into a new life that she's not expecting from one extreme to the next. I actually thought she handled herself fairly well.

I have to say I have some mixed feelings on Sadie's intentions. Maybe I'm reading way too much on whats going on there, but she seems a bit supicious to me.

Now the boy's I think maybe the most likable one is probably Smith. I think he really likes Juliet and not just because of her last name. We'll have to see if Jax can pull himself together in the second book, because I think there's more there than we can see right now . Than there's the other two Ace who's beyond mysterious and I really want to know what's going on there. And than Patrick he's also a bit of a mystery, I can't figure out if I should like him or loath him.

I saw a few mistakes here and there, but they were easy to overlook. Overall I really liked the start of this series I think it has great premise and overall has a different feel to it to other books in this genre. I was hooked from the beginning to the end and couldn't put this book down!!!

I'm giving this book 4 Stars out of 5 and seriously I Need the Second Book Right Away!!!!

[Soscha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm really starting to enjoy the whole bully romance genre, most of which seem to be of the reverse harem variety. Also most of them have a Mary Sue setup: poor girl gets rich or lands rich admirers---many, many male admirers, but at least on surface treat our poor girl like the insufferable dicks all those types did back when we were in high school.

It's sort of a lonely teen girl revenge fantasy, but our Mary Sue doesn't actually *hurt* anyone---we just want them to us.

And this is exactly why I enjoy this genre.

This is a enjoy first volume entry into the genre, and based on the number of characters I'm assuming "Pawns of Patience" is going to last a good many volumes from here. Being as the heroine Jess/Juliet is 16 at the start of the book, the level of erotic heat is pretty low, so if that's what you're after, well...down, girl.

There's a cliffhanger ending here, obviously, and I decent mystery building. I'll continue reading the series to see where it goes.

[Mariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read review

A definite must read book -- this review is rather short because I'm eager to read the next in series --. Perfect storyline, and while the plot didn't really having anything dramatic in it, that twist at the end preludes to some of the drama I expect the top of the .01% to get into.

My only complaint is the transitions? They were rather awkward when moving from one scene to the next and the passage of time wasn't clearly marked.

Anyway read this book!

[Brynnlee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not the kind of book I normally read. In general I’m not interested in reading about contemporary teens. I also wasn’t sure how I would feel about a high school bully romance. My tolerance level for bullying behavior varies depending on the characters age and the setting. So why did I pick this up? I wanted to try something else by this author. I like her writing style in general, but I wasn’t overly fond of this particular book.

Our mc lives in a town where it seems most people have trouble making ends meet. Her parents are addicts, and her wages from a crappy job are the only thing that keeps the electric bill paid. Then in the opening chapter the cops show up. Her parents have been arrested, and somehow it’s been discovered that they kidnapped our mc when she was a baby after a robbery gone wrong. It turns out her real name is Juliet and she comes from a very wealthy family in an old money town. Her only surviving relative is a Great Aunt who she’s sent to live with.

Juliet is enrolled at the local private school where she quickly finds herself at odds with several of her classmates. There are four boys total who each bully her in various ways (cruel remarks, grabbing her butt, taking pics of her in her underwear when she’s drunk). Juliet isn’t an easy mark, but she runs just as hot and cold as the boys. She’s attracted to all of them even though they often treat her like crap.

Nothing much actually happens in this book. It’s almost entirely devoted to Juliet settling in and dealing with the guys. Even her interactions with them aren’t that interesting. There’s the one major incident with the photos, but other than that it’s mostly just Jax pawing at her and saying cruel things. She barely interacts with two of the guys for the majority of the book. I wish more time had been spent on Juliet’s discovery that her parents weren’t really her parents. Even if I was happy about that that I probably still would have had a major identity crisis. She barely even thinks about all of it after the first two or three chapters.

As for Juliet herself, I thought she was an okay character. I liked the fact that she was strong and tough. She’s not a naïve, innocent girl desperate to be loved and accepted. She has her weak moments, but she’s not afraid to speak her mind and call people out for their bad behavior. If only she wasn’t so obsessed with how hot the guys are. At least she doesn’t forgive them, but that doesn’t stop her from kissing them every chance she gets. I’d really like to see her make them suffer at least a little bit.

As you can probably guess I wasn’t impressed with the guys. Jax is the worst of them and if he has redeeming qualities I haven’t seen them yet. I think I’m supposed to like Smith by the end of the book, but I didn’t. He seems way too fake. I could picture him as one of the dad’s hitting on underage girls at the country club in twenty years. Patrick and Ace are barely in the book. I guess I like Jake best by default (her childhood friend), but he’s not around that much and I feel bad that he’s been replaced by all these crappy new guys.

One of the things that bugged me was the whole treasure hunt storyline. It isn’t brought up until halfway through the book. At first we think the guys are jerks just because they’re jerks and because of her background. Then we’re told that they want to chase Juliet off so she doesn’t find the treasure before they can. It’s a dumb reason to be cruel in general, but are they even that close to finding it? And what makes them think Juliet will beat them to it? They would have been smarter to try to seduce her into working with them.

One last thing before I wrap this up, the current cover for this book is horrible (girl in black lingerie with a garter belt and a leather jacket). It this supposed to be Juliet, a 16 year old high school student? A part of me wishes it was. I could see that Juliet punishing the guys for being bad in a way that everyone would enjoy. Maybe Juliet becomes that woman by the end of the series, but she’s not there yet.

I don’t know if I would bother continuing this series if it wasn’t already complete and published. I know it seems like I disliked it, but that’s just how I write reviews. As I said at the beginning, I like the author’s writing style, I’m just not sure I like the guys and I thought this book was kind of boring. I’m willing to try the next book though to see if the author can change my mind, especially after that cliffhanger.

[Alisha Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

🤔🤷🏽‍♀️

I’m not really sure how much I actually liked this book, obviously enough to finish it but not enough to rave about it. Personally though I feel this is more of a 2.5 stars for me unfortunately. Which sucks because I really liked the blurb.

Sinners is the first in its series. It’s a contemporary bully YA RH, and ends with a cliffhanger.

I think the storyline has potential. There’s a mystery to be solved and now a possible murder?! But I felt there’s a bit of disconnect because I feel it jumps in a few places without closing the loop, and I’m not talking about leaving you hanging because it’s part of the mystery, no I’m talking about some of the characters being in the middle of a conversation and after asking a question but not getting an answer, and I felt like “was that conversation really necessary especially when you’re not going to answer the question?”

I also felt the characters need a bit more development quite frequently i saw the FMC a bit of a contradiction, she is made out to be strong and nobodies doormat but she frequently allows it to happen even after being warned. Smith has this hot cold reception to Juliet and yet she can’t stop kissing him, there barely a relationship build-up but she’s all for him for example he admits to stealing (doesn’t matter how long ago) but she doesn’t question his motives and thanks him for returning her property. Jax has been nothing but a a-hole, there’s not much of anything redeeming in him, he is largely at fault for a lot of Juliet’s heartbreak but she keeps going back to him to, even when she tells Smith she only wants a relationship with Smith so confusing. Then there’s Jake, now we don’t get to read much about him but he’s the best friend from her previous life, he deserves to know where he stands and know that’s a two way street but Juliet leads him on then expects him to be okay with that. Yeah I’m not sure !? I’m obviously going to read the next book because I like solving mysteries.

[Sandy Knox · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW!
This book has me scratching my head. I'm finished but I still have no clue what to think. Lol. But I can say Jess/Juliet should pack her bags and go back to Nikon with Jake. These fake people in Patience are just cruel and snobby except Sady of course. I like her but I think she's hiding something too. But the guys are all a bunch of no good pricks and Jax is the worst one of all. I wish Juliet would either throat punch him or kick him in the balls and I really wish she'd get control of her hormones and stop kissing these guys. Lol. I don't know what kind of game Smith is playing but he's got an ulterior motive. I'm sure of it. One thing I can't figure out is why they're all afraid to stand up to Jax. I don't like Kathryn but I do like Cece. I wish Juliet would become better friends with her. Kathryn treats Cece like crap and she just takes it, I think out of desperation just to have beautiful friend in the inner circle. Overall I'm lovin it. The suspense and mystery has me consumed. The beginning was a surprise finding out about Jessica's parents. I can't wait to get on with the next book just to see what's gonna happen next. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

[Anna (read.all.night) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series was so fun and fast. After a few DNFs this week it was exciting to find something that pulled me in right away with an intriguing premise and interesting plot. I read all 4 in one (work) day which was pretty crazy even for me 😅

That being said there were some things that drove me absolutely crazy. Like one guy did some almost unforgivable things to Juliet and never really apologized. And one guy didn’t really fit in the group and shouldn’t have ended up as part of it. And my favorite favorite guy didn’t get a good sex scene 😭😭😭😭😭

Juliet usually made boring / stupid decisions and I wanted to shake her shoulders at every turn. Is something exciting about to happen? She’s going to ask everyone to sit and do nothing first to take a beat. She finds out a cool and important secret? She’s not really gonna tell anyone or ever bring it up again.

I was dying at some points and not super satisfied with the ending, but it was still some of the most fun I’ve had a reading a series this week. So I’m giving it 4 stars and I do recommend it, but if you want to rant about it hit me up 😅

[✨✨ Claire✨✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not too convinced about this one.
Not sure it even came under the "bully" category tbh. In comparison to others there was very little.

I didn't feel any chemistry between Jess/juliet, our FMC, and any of the MMC - Smith, Jax or Patrick. In fact it says this is meant to be an RH? I'm not entirely sure who that it's suppose to include - I'm going to guess these 3. We barely touch on Patricks character and only graze on the fact that Smith and jax like to share.


Maybe because these are 16 and 17year olds?
There were no sexual encounters in the book beyond some kissing, and not much strong language either.

It always felt a bit flat.

The family treasure hunt had me feeling a bit "oh no, really"? Not something I really want to read if I'm honest.

The cliffhanger came out of the blue. But it wasn't even like an "oh no, poor *** what a shame. Gasp. Whatever will they do".

I'm not inclined to carry on the series at this point but please please if any of you readers can convince me it gets better I'd be happy and willing to give it another chance!! I hate hating books as I know the authors put so much work into them!!

[Cecilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, this is not that unique of a RH. its a contemporary.
The main girl discovers the parents who raised her where not her real parents when they get put into jail.
Then she moved in with her real very rich great aunt in a rich area. She grew up super poor in a bad area.
So, I've seen this kind of set up ALOT. But, thats okay.

The 3 guys treat her meanly, and bully her. I don't think what they do to her is EXTREMLY mean. Which I like. I don't like when guys in bully romances do horrible things to the girls and then at the end the girl is fawning all over the guy who treated her like garbage.

I am not such a fan of the whole plot in the terms of her grandfather's hidden treasure, and everyone in the town wanting to find it and get rid of her.
Anywho, so I am not in love with the first book. BUt, i feel like it has a chance to get better. I like that the main girl has a strong personality and is tough. And ends on a murder of someone and we are left wondering who done it.

[Paola A Sánchez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I WAS TOTALLY ENTERTAINED.

It was obviously not the most feminist book of them all, but for the little amount of pages it was funny to venture through. I mean the "love interests" were all pretty toxic, from start to end, and it's a bit surreal that she would let them do these things to her only cuz of their looks, no way, but as I said before this one was to allure me, with an easy to read little one. But I do have an issue with all this story, why on Earth does the girl on the cover has blonde hair? Doesn't Juliete have brown messy hair? It got me confused, and now that I know the covers of the rest of the series are of the same blondie, wth, I don't get it. But anyways, this is for starters, this is like a boarding-school contemporary for impressionable little 15 year olds to feast, or to young women in their early 20s as me that just look to find a shameless guilty pleasure to eat in one sitting.

[BookishBlondeNerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trust no one

I don't trust any of them! Lol. I feel like there is such a mystery to everything. No one is being honest or genuine even when they seem they are...or maybe I'm too cynical. Untill ,ore is revealed there are too many secrets at the moment to know who is truthful. I like Ace and feel like he was blackmailed or something. There is more there I'm sure.

Juliet is thrust into this weird world where nothing people say is actually what they are saying. Even her aunt seems to have some agenda. I'm sad her friend is allowing his jealousy to ruin the friendship because she needs him... someone she trusts implicitly.

The treasure hunt seems weird and I'm sure there is more to it. Family secrets and such. I want to like and trust Smith but I feel it also may all be a ploy.

The story is written well and makes you question everything! Lol. Very engaging and can't wait to uncover the truth.

[Rachel The reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings

I wasn’t sure about this book at first. Jessica’s story seemed rushed and so implausible and her kidnap badly explained. I almost gave up reading at that point but decided to continue.

It’s fairly similar to other rich kid high school bully romances around at the moment though it’s actually well written. However the characters need more development and their motivations still aren’t very clear. Maybe hearing some of the story from a different viewpoint would have helped. I would have liked Jessica to be proud of her past and keep her name instead of switching to Juliet, though I understand why the author changed it.

So if you can get past the above, the story did gradually improve and the cliffhanger ending made me intrigued enough to want to read the next book.

[MLMOPINIONS · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to start off by saying I am a huge RH fan and I even enjoy the “bully” love stories, but what I don’t enjoy is when the story becomes repetitive. The RH/Bully loves stories have become nothing but repetition.

RH/Bully stories have become nothing but a modern retelling of Cinderella. Only this time Cinderella is the last living “heir” in her family line, her peers treat her poorly, and there is no Prince Charming; but multiple boys bent on making her life a living hell.

They torment and humiliate her, they underestimate her, and as always she falls hard for every single one. I am a sucker for RH novels, but I wish these authors would bring more originality to the stories. I read them because it’s free with Kindle Unlimited, but I wouldn’t purchase a physical or digital copy.

[Meagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to start off by saying I am a huge RH fan and I even enjoy the “bully” love stories, but what I don’t enjoy is when the story becomes repetitive. The RH/Bully loves stories have become nothing but repetition.

RH/Bully stories have become nothing but a modern retelling of Cinderella. Only this time Cinderella is the last living “heir” in her family line, her peers treat her poorly, and there is no Prince Charming; but multiple boys bent on making her life a living hell.

They torment and humiliate her, they underestimate her, and as always she falls hard for every single one. I am a sucker for RH novels, but I wish these authors would bring more originality to the stories. I read them because it’s free with Kindle Unlimited, but I wouldn’t purchase a physical or digital copy.

[Jennifer Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really don't care for the story line but other then that

The characters are okay it's just the story line is so dull, boring, so on so forth. I don't know why she thought this would be interesting the whole story is based around some mystery family treasure?? It makes no sense at all to me what the big deal would be surrounding this treasure. I mean the whole reasoning behind the boys hating Juliet is because they thought she would come swooping in and grab up the treasure for herself since she was poor and had no money. I mean really that's a seriously piss poor excuse to hate someone. Only to be topped off with a mysterious death cliff hanger. Oh joy I hate cliff hangers but I have nothing better to read so I guess I'll read the next to see where this goes.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great idea of a different take on the bully genre. We meet Jessica/Juliet, who is a poor girl with addict parents just trying to survive, on the night CPS shows up and changes her life. She’s thrust into a whole new world and a legacy/birth right she never knew about. Her new life brings new challenges

I wish the author would have went in to more details about her “parents” and how Jess/Juliet feels with her life being turned upside down. We really don’t get to see what internal feelings that she has and it’s immediately forgotten about. The book is short so maybe that’s why we don’t get any of these details. There was a good unexpected cliffhanger that had me wanting to read #2.

3 stars.

[Jodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bullies, mysteries and lies! OH MY!

Loving the hell out of this series so far. Love a bully romance and reverse harem. While the harem has not really been formed yet, it’s going to happen. I can see the future! There’s an underlying similarity in all these types of books...a formula if you will. But each one has the author’s spin on it to make it unique. This series is no exception. A lovely couple of mysteries included. Love me a mystery. I love to try to figure out whodunnit before it’s revealed. I hope I’m successful this time too. I hope things can be worked out with Jake as I don’t like any of the guys (so far. Fingers crossed for redemption) in Juliet’s future harem. Bring on book 2!

[Sarah Tindale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Undecided

So reading this book still has me on the fence I mean there no full moment but the only thing that gets me is they way juliet let's people push her around there are little insistence where she has a back bone but it's like everywhere she turns she constantly getting walked on but close to the end of the book it sucks me back in because I am so ready for her to put everyone in there p!ace starting with jax .but all in all the book was good it had is moments well written everything flowed and the character s of the story are well written an portrayed will be buying the second book I will say it dose have a way of hanging on to u because it did leave a impression.

[Melinda clinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Give me more

Rags to riches. This was a fun read with lots of twists and unexpected turns.

I’m struggling with all the loose ends... the connection between the main character the guys in particular, the development and relation to the issues the supporting character keeps popping up. There’s an issue for every kink; Addictions, abandonments, controlling, faithless, denial... so many vague issues with the potential to make the next book gold!

Fingers crossed it all makes sense in the next book!

[Lorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hit the mark

The storyline flowed and the characters were relatable. Speculation appreciate the bullying to be not overdone where it because old really fast. The RH is slow'ish and the romance undertone worked well. Only reasons I didn't give this a five stars was I didn't like the FMC at first. I mean she came from a poor life and her attitude/non appreciation of the new better life was annoying at first. After that change, I started to liked the FMC. Can't wait for book two.

[Kasumatata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this

I really enjoyed reading this. This book was definitely an amazing introduction to this world/series. Juliet is an outstanding FMC, with a fierce personality, cultivated by the life she had growing up. We are introduced to a bunch of interesting characters and a compelling plot set in the town of Patience, where people are obsessed with a treasure hunt that is part of our FMC's legacy. But there is a lot more going on that kept me glued to this book. Definitely recommended!

[BB · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

Pretty good, but there's quite a bit of telling rather than showing. Conversations that happen with love interests are glossed over instead of letting us see what happens for ourselves. Some characters in the harem stand out more than others, but hopefully that'll change in future books.

Overall, I really like how the mc isn't a doormat or TSTL once she starts her new school, unlike some other bully-rh main leads. The town and town history are both intriguing. Excited to find out more!

[Autumn Miller ~ autumnbookreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars
I really liked this book. The beginning started off a bit slow, but it picked up after a while. Honestly, the stellar characters and their development covered the slow pacing well. Learning all of their dynamics and getting glimpses into their mysterious pasts captured my interest!

I also particularly enjoyed the pacing of the romance. There was just enough set up without pushing things too fast. I’m honestly so excited to see where this story will go next and how these characters will continue to develop!