Resurrecting the Enemy

by M.E. Clayton

What do you get when your father is a psychopath, and your mother is fearless?You get Ramsey Reed Jr.Ramsey Jr.Ramsey Reed Jr. was the product of one of the most powerful men in the country and the formidable woman he had fallen in love with and married. Born into power, wealth, beauty, and privilege, Ramsey Jr. was untouchable. He was his parents’ legacy, and he took that role seriously. With the world and all its puppets at his fingertips, there wasn’t anything that was out of Ramsey’s reach.With Ramsey in his final year of school, he was the reigning king at Windsor Academy, but then he always has been. Ready to take on the world, when he gets caught handling some business, all he can do is make sure the witness knows what’s at stake. However, when he finally catches his prey, there’s nothing stopping him from getting what he wants, and what he wants is Lake Warren.LakeLake Warren was a just a regular girl, who went to a regular high school, and who led a regular life. Though she was surrounded by the opulence of Sands Cove, Windsor Academy, and all the wealthy families who owned all of Sands Cove, Lake didn’t live that kind of life. She was part of the working-class that made Sands Cove operatable. However, she didn’t mind. Lake had a good life, and she knew it.With only one more year of school left, Lake is ready for the next chapter in her life. She wants to go to college, become a photographer, find love, and lead a happy life, God willing. When she finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time, her bad timing risks all her best-laid plans. Knowing what she’s up against, all she can do is run far and fast from the unstoppable threat, and that threat is Ramsey Reed Jr.When the risk is dangerous, but the reward is just too tempting…After Lake Warren turns Ramsey’s world upside down, there’s nothing stopping Ramsey from having her. Invigorated by the hunt, the more that Lake resists, the more determined he is to have her, and not just for the sake of winning. Ramsey plans on keeping Lake forever, no matter how hard she fights him.After witnessing something she never should have seen, Lake finds herself caught in Ramsey Reed Jr.’s snare. Knowing exactly who he is, and what he’s capable of, Lake does her best to convince him that she didn’t see anything. She also does her best to avoid him, but he’s not making it easy.When they can no longer stay away from each other, jealousy and betrayal infest their already volatile relationship. Soon, Lake realizes the truth behind the saying that there’s a thin line between love and hate, and there’s no doubting which side of that line Ramsey is on now.Secrets will be uncovered, mistakes will be made, and people will end up paying a steep price. Everyone will also learn that when Ramsey Reed Jr. says he’ll burn the entire city to the ground in order to have what he wants, he means just that. This book contains adult language, adult situations, explicit sexual encounters, violence, and drugging. If sensitive to any of the aforementioned issues, please do not purchase.

Genres: Dark, Dark Romance, Enemies To Lovers, New Adult, Romance, Contemporary, High School

188 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2020

About the author

There's not much to add to my bio, I'm pretty boring...LOL. My favorite thing is to read and, last year, I decided to trade in some of those reading hours and try my hand at writing. The experience has been one of the best things I could have ever embarked upon. It's turned into a hobby that is fun and thoroughly enjoyable. When I'm not reading or writing, I'm spending time with my family or friends.

Reviews

[⚔Irunía⚔ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've noticed recently that authors who don't put words like "psychopath" or "sociopath" into their characters' mouths on every single page actually write slightly psychotic and stalkerish characters waaaay better.
The hero was so OTT obsessive that it was unbelievable. I'm probably not making any sense... Like the author tried to make him the almighty ruler of his school/town/the world but at the end of day he is just a weird guy I'm rolling my eyes at lol.
I do love me a tad crazy dudes in books but Ramsey didn't live up to my expectations. I was so over his antics halfway through

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes he’s over the top, yes slightly stalkerish (or a lot) but he is so freaking obsessed I couldn’t help but love him. He is also faithful, which is a huge turn on for me. He knows she is it right away, and never looks at another girl after meeting her.
h is a virgin
H is not, but he’s not desperate either. He seemed to have went through a slut phase but came out of it before he met her.
He is an asshole at one point, but keeps his d&$; in his pants and he does grovel.

[Beeg Panda · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is a next generation book of Facing The Enemy
Ramsay and Emerson Reed's eldest son's story

I read this book mostly to see what was happening in their lives after all these years

Ramsay Junior is his father (minus the sociopathic psychopathic tendencies) reincarnated
he's not so much an alpha as he is an asshole
with his "might-is-right" beliefs
I still sort of, kind of, against my better judgement liked him, although he needs a damn good hiding or two... or ten
if I didn't have his POV I would've hated this little shit
the only reason this worked for me is because I have his POV
he will never let her go
he will always fight for her
he will never cheat on her
she will always matter more than anyone else
he is going to adore her for the rest of his life

she's a sweet girl next door kind of h
kind and loyal and just plain good people
she seriously cant believe he's attracted to her and is convinced he's going to let her down

which he does

SPEC...TAC...U...LAR...LY

the author is good at these scenes
its her thing, so I couldn't wait to see how she was going to go about it this time

and boy, does she deliver
so I shed a tear or two...his mother needed a moment...his father went ballistic because "history repeating itself" and all that

the grovel was more of an explanation of why he did what he did
I get why he did it but the massive scale of it was wayyyyyy offside

its not really a dark dark read for me, mostly because I know what to expect from this author and the dark stuff was being carried out by brats - I can't really take them seriously, despite the shit they catch on

its not romance because they don't really know each other
don't spend enough time together
so while a connection is there, its not of a romantic nature - more obsession and a meant to be situation

The best part of this book is here where the hero's father tells him this about the hero's mother (the Hxh of Facing The Enemy)
"if it ever got to the point where one of us did walk, your mother would survive it. I, on the other hand, wouldn't"

these are words the hero can say to his son in years to come

[Rosebud · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ramsey Reed Jr may be a privileged eighteen year old high school senior but it's a well known fact that he rules his school, his town, and in the future more. He and his peer family members can pretty much do whatever they want without consequence or accountability knowing their parents will never allow any consequences or fault to occur.

Lake Warren's future is uncertain which is why she'd dedicating her senior year in High School into bulking up her resume, applications, and portfolio to maximize her chances of getting into a good college.

It's a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time when Lake is a witness to Ramsey assaulting someone so severely it's questionable if they'll live through the experience. Thinking Ramsey might do the same to her, she runs, but is caught. Caught in the crosshairs of Ramsey who makes it clear he now owns her. Owns her body in whatever fashion he wants and for as long as he wants.

Lake has no intention of allowing Satan 2.0 (Ramsey) to threaten her and get away with it. He and his family may own the police force, school system, judicial system, politicians, medical system, business community, travel industry, etc but he won't own her.

* * * *

I just want to throw out this factoid before I get into the story itself. The book cover. That's the first thing that drew me in to checking out this book. It just welcomes the freaky reader (like myself) giving the impression (subjective opinion) that this is going to be dark or paranormal and that the female is at the core of that premise. Newsflash. The lead female comes from a blue collar background and attends public school as a mainstream High School senior. Oh, and she's an eighteen year old virgin. The book cover has no correlation to the actual story so consider it as that shiny object that's intended to draw your attention. Adding here. If you click on the sample for this book, the author does provide an inclusive explanation that esentially points out she's an independent author who does all aspects of her craft solo while working a full time day job. Kudos to her and I appreciate and admire her for it. That's why I'm clarifying the visual book cover but giving no judgement. New to me author though.

Ramsey Reed Jr.. Satan 2.o with a six pack. Heir to powerful parents who have no qualms in breaking laws or bones. Whatever it takes, he does it without censure or consequence. He has minimal moral scruples but has utmost love and loyalty for his family. He loves his parents and his parents love him.

Lake Warren. Normal mainstream girl looking to graduate and pursue her passion for photography at a good college. A recent break up with her boyfriend for cheating on her is the deciding force in her decision in keeping her nose to the grindstone without further distractions. Her only walk on the wild side is occasional drinking with her friends at parties.

That's the baseline for the two going into this story. As this is a new release I'm being cagey on more so you'll have to read it to discover what happens when an overly jealous/possessive entitled male decides a naive scholarly snarky female is his to own. His to play with. His to .......... well, I guess you get the point, but, this is when I say for those who are on a need to know basis that yes adult content is expected and it's the sweaty raunchy dirty kind. 😍😉😁

Secondary characters. Lakes' bestie Eden NEEDS to have a story of her own. Author make that happen.

I really enjoyed this story. Wanting to say that it's NOT a high school bully romance but it is high school and it does include erotic content. Poor life decisions are made but that's expected as the characters are at that age where they feel indestructible and all powerful. That doesn't mean I didn't want to reach into the pages of this story and b*tch slap a couple along the way. It's really frustrating to read character exploits that defy logic - but again - the ages of the characters justify why. I guess.

My underlying issue with this story isn't the lack of adult content because I found myself reaching for the proverbial ice bath/beverage of choice and need to smoke a cigarette (sorry if the cigarette reference isn't politically correct and I don't smoke anyway but you get my drift). It isn't the jealous/possessiveness of Ramsey as who wouldn't appreciate that kind of man. It also isn't the lack of depth for several angst, emotional, or story line twists that did frustrate me as to gloss over that content detracted from believability. No, it's my internal debate over two words: lust vs love. Lust is different than love. I can't say more as to would be spoiler info.

For the price and reading experience, I really enjoyed this read. Not a biggie fan of high school themed stories but the author did feature adult aged characters (18) so I'm good. It was pointed out (by author) this is an independent story not attached to any future series format so for those who look for that sort of thing - yup.

[Alexandraa XX · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn this book is great but also not that great either because many scenes from this book i clearly think is not even humanity or even right. Like it shouldn’t be that way, why take it far like that into that level that shouldn’t.

I hope the next book can be more good than this one because the author really need some change.




SAFE LOVE ROMANTIC HOT LOVE STORY.
This is a safe love story so do not worry lol.
The hero even think to himself when he meet the heroine and after couple times meeting the heroine, he put a mindset and promise to himself saying “I WAS GOING TO MARRY THIS GIRL.”


NO CHEATING


LOVE IN FIRST SIGHT
“The second i had put my hands on Lake (the heroine), something had changed. And the desire to own her was growing with each passing minute of each passing day.”
The hero really became obsessed with the heroine like he never did to anyone before, so hot!

THE HERO IS OTT LET ME REPEAT MYSELF. OTT POSSESSIVE PROTECTIVE ALPHA MALE.



THE HERO ALWAYS SAID TO THE HEROINE AND TO ANYONE AND TO HIMSELF THAT the heroine is mine mine mine. Like so hot!🥺

“She’s fcking mine, I DON’T GIVE A FCK WHAT TRUTH IS. HELL I DON’T GIVE A FCK IF SHE WANTS TO BE MINE OR NOT. SHE’S MINE”



MANY JEALOUS SCENES FROM THE HERO!

“No one else is was ever going to see what was underneath her clothes ever again. Only me.”

And many more you should read it its very hot.


THE HERO IS NOT A VIRGIN. THE HEROINE IS A VIRGIN. Only two times the heroine talks about her ex because the hero asked her so.


DRAMA WITH OW AND OM but not too annoying. The OW is actually hates the heroine from the same school of her so it was a old friend turns enemy for the heroine, so its not ow from the hero’s past. The OM is the heroine ex boyfriend.


IT HAS SEPARATION i forgot how long but not too long and the hero actually beg the heroine lol. BOTH ARE LOYAL AND DIDN’T GO TO ANYONE ELSE.


VERY HOT SMUT SCENES. So hot lol


YOU WILL SEE THE HERO’S FATHER and mother on this book and how still romantic they are and how the hero’s dad is in love with their mother.
“I’D FCKING MURDER AN ENTIRE CITY FOR YOUR MOTHER. AND HAPPILY SPEND THE REST OF MY LIFE IN JAIL FOR IT, IF THATS WHAT IT TOOK TO MAKE YOUR MOTHER HAPPY.”


HAPPY ENDING. Got married and pregnant.



There are couple things that I didn’t like and pretty much think this is not right like wtf. It was such a good book but why are something like this to even have to be in it anyway, not cool anyway lol.

1. THE HEROINE GOT A DRINK FROM HER EX AND IT MADE HER FEEL DIZZY. The ex was about to do something but the heroine’s best friend caught in time and drag her away from him. The heroine is saved. The ex only do that, BUT THE HERO KICK HIM AND MAKE HIM BROKE HIS LEG THAT BAD. Like both his leg! Like wtf? Thats too brutal for someone who didn’t go that far to the heroine. I know the ex shouldn’t supposed to do that but why that it that far? Like the hero take too far and it made me not liking him when i read that scene.

2. THE HERO LIKE 4 TIMES ALWAYS SAY SOMETHING LIKE THIS AND he said that he only say that to see the heroines reaction to it and he wants the heroine to be jealous once in a while because is hard to see her jealous. He said this:

“I CAN GET SX ANY TIME I WANT FROM ANY NUMBER OF GIRLS IN THIS TOWN.”
Like stop saying something like that.

He can say that but when the heroine pay him back by saying something like to another man, he got very mad and vicious about it. Like when you don’t want the heroine to say to you then don’t say it.

3. WHEN THEY WERE IN THIS BIG MESS OF MISS-UNDERSTANDING SITUATION AFTER THEY WERE FINALLY TOGETHER, THE HERO MADE IT SUCH A BIG DEAL TO HUMILIATE AND MAD TO THE HEROINE. He use his brother, closest friends and even the heroine’s enemy to be mad at the heroine and allow then to say such horrible words :( to her face and in front of anyone. So cruel and unnecessary. He didn’t even let the heroine talk to him about the miss understanding he got all up in his head but he just cut her off and let everybody humiliate her so badly i even start to cry....
He even made the heroine’s photographs work to be deleted from her college application so she won’t be getting into that college she wanted to. SEE WHAT I MEAN? ITS TOO MUCH AND TOO BRUTAL. For a big understanding....

4. THIS HAPPENS WITH THE HERO’S FATHER WITH HIS MOTHER SO THATS WHY.... (the whole big miss understanding part, the hero got so mad and have revenge to the heroine so fcked up that made the heroine hate the hero very much) THATS WHY I’M ASKING WHY THE AUTHOR MADE IT AGAIN AND EVEN MADE IT SO BADLY? Can’t you do better? Like can you DO BETTER AUTHOR? Because can’t be better than how can u grow?

I have high expectations with this book because is from the book that i love. His parents is more amazing than this one. So i have high expectations to this one could be so much better. But noooo....

it just get worst.

I’m little disappointed.

I gave it 4 stars because of the possessive, the hero is protective and stalking and obsessed with the heroine, the hero’s parents is doing great, and the epilogue is cute far and nice. I hope the author can make a better one. Like the possessive, stalker and obsession loyal safe love story is good but please don’t make the whole big mess to be so much a big deal. You turn the hero when they have a big arguments such a total freaking fcked up. You don’t have to take it to the next level like that.

The hero’s father even said, its like time repeat itself because i was once like you son. I have a big miss understanding with your mother and i pay the price. LIKE SEE? SO WHY EVEN PUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT? CAN WE NOT GET A NEW EXPERIENCE?

The when that big miss understanding happens, it says the heroine is not completely forgave the hero. Like wtf? Argh.

[Nicole Hale · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO GOOD

I always automatically one click M.E. Clayton’s books everything I read of hers is amazing. When I seen this pre order I was so stoked to get a second generation book!! If you have read The Enemy Series then you should know why I am so excited! I flew right through this and I know it says a standalone but I need more from these characters!! I need Dash and Maddox’s books 🙌🙌🙌

[Shyralf · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 ⭐️⭐️ 1/2 Stars! Wasn’t feeling this one at all.

[Kristy Mills · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hated that I didn’t connect with this book. I was so looking forward to it. I LOVED the first book with Ramsey and Emerson so I was hoping this would be a repeat of that. And it started out that way. I was loving it. I loved how Ramsey saw Lake and just knew she was it for him. Much like his dad.

I loved how he tried to bully is way into her life. I even loved the eventual and inevitable mistake he makes with her. I love those scenes because it creates the opportunity for some great grovel.

But it was also that point of the book when I realized something pretty huge was missing for me. Ramsey messes up and hurts Lake and it’s time to make amends. I realize this is Lakes chance to walk away for real. Because I never felt like Lake was ever engaged in this relationship. I never felt like she wanted it or him. All their interactions happened because Ramsey bullied her into it. Which I liked, but there needed to be SOME indication that Lake wanted him back. And sleeping with him just wasn’t enough because that whole weekend was just skipped. They spent a whole weekend together and that would have been the time for us as the reader to see Lake open up to Ramsey and maybe Ramsey be a little softer with her. Because he has those soft feelings he just never showed them to her.

So when Maddox comes and tells her she needs to forgive Ramsey before he burns the town down, it annoyed me. Lake was not to blame in any of this. Maddox accuses her of never indicating she even wanted to be with Ramsey and implies it’s her fault that Ramsey didn’t trust her because of that. Well yeah, he hit the nail on the head with that because Ramsey told her they were in a relationship, again which I like, but I also never felt like she was on board. But that doesn’t make any of his reactions, her fault.

And then when he comes to grovel I was even disappointed by that. He says “what is it going to take?” To be forgiven. Seriously? I would have walked away right there. And then he lets her have a tantrum in front of the school, he says he’s sorry over and over but We never truly get the grovel. Not like his dad in the first book. So when Lake caves and tells him she loves him I didn’t believe it. It was just words the author wrote on the page because they didn’t match how I thought Lake felt towards him. When did she fall in love with him? They only ever argued. She was always annoyed with him. I just never felt the connection between these two, like I did with Ramsey and Emerson. But I didn’t realize it until the end of the book. So I finished and read to the last page but I didn’t believe any of their HEA. And that sort of devastated me because I was loving the book so much up until that point.


One thing I loved about this book was the interactions and scenes with his dad. I loved seeing Ramsey and Emerson through his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FAVORITE QUOTES


“You’re really telling me it was love at first sight?” There have always been jokes, and looking at the both of them, you’d believe it. But still.

“For me, it was,” he clarified. “Your mother…uh, she had different feelings about it.”

I laughed. “Made you work for it, did she?”

His face softened, and there was so much pride in his expression, it felt like I was intruding on something very personal. “Your mother made me fight for it, Ram,” he corrected. “She was the most magnificent thing I’d ever fucking seen. She still is.”

I felt what he was saying, and that was scary. “There was a witness,” I admitted. His back straightened as his expression cleared.

“And?”

“She’s the most magnificent thing I have ever fucking seen,” I told him.


~Ramsey Jr and Ramsey

[100sweet · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 41%.

I have no idea who all these characters are. There are so many people mentioned in this story. The story was also lacking. The H and his friends seemed to have it all and their "influence" seemed pretty ridiculous. There were several one-dimensional characters such as all of the rich girls who were beautiful but sluts. The h decided to go to a party and drink even though she never does that. I hate when authors do that. I am going to give this book a hard pass.

[Adriana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I swear I have no idea why I didn’t read this earlier. I love all of M E Clayton’s books but this book omg Ramsey Jr sure give his dad a run for his money Damm . Possessiveness hotness and obsession and king Alpha this is Ramsey Jr to a point this book was hot as hell I mean who doesn’t love a guy who would literally kill everyone for you lol now I need the rest of the kids books especially Maddox and Dash

[LiteratureLover · Rating 4 out of 5]

~My thoughts~
While it was just a chance encounter, this story took off just with one look. Ramsay Junior is similar to his father in attitude, unfortunately, the protagonist is like the girl next door, normal life with the normal drama. While history was repeating itself, I love that Ramsay and Emerson never really told their children to what extent their father distorted her trust in him. While it is acknowledged that Ramsay worships Emerson, Emerson also has said that they don't have a healthy relationship and they are codependent on each other.
While this story does not focus on the parents but on the next generation, it does feel like history does repeat itself but this time it wasn't just the main protagonist, Lake, it was also her best friend Eden. While Lake does not have an attitude toward Ramsay it was more along the lines of stubbiness and "wtf what is it you want from me?" kind of attitude. Even though she experienced something so traumatic what I loved was the fact that Eden was the one who went to Ramsay's house to confront him about his action against Lake and what had happened.
I loved the drama of both generations having a history of emotionally damaging the girl in the relationship but one was a co-dependency one, this new generation has an obsession with the chick. Even the female protagonists are different in attitude to situations, but I felt that Ramsay jr. was more driven to have Lake back at all costs even though he hurt her emotionally.

[Jessica *The Lovely Books* · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not satisfied in the least. I honestly don’t know what to say…but Ramsey Jr is NOT his daddy. He’s a poor comparison and he seems like one of those dudes you see on dateline. You know the one. The weird dude who can’t take no for an answer and then ends up killing the woman he’s infatuated with. Yeah…that’s RJ to the T!

He’s creepy and I wish our dear heroine would have ran far, far away!! Unfortunately, I want to see the other character’s stories play out. Hopefully the heroes are better than RJ!

[Mary Cerda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy Smokes

I thought Ramsey Reed Sr. was a complete psycho but Ramsey Jr. Holy cow. Well reading about these two characters is very hard at times and I hate them...you can't help but love them too. They are so lucky they both fell in love with incredibly strong woman. To read about a love like this you can't but be jealous of not knowing that kind of love, but knowing I would never survive that kind of love.

[Ꭿຖᥲ·♡ ྀི · Rating 4 out of 5]

4✯

°Virgin heroine
°He's a ONS kind of guy
°Switching POVs
°Insta love/lust
°Both MCs are 18 y/o
°They weren't with others after meeting
°Possessive obsessed controlling OTT asshole hero
°OM/OW: the heroine's ex and the girl who made them break up caused drama, they made it seem like the heroine had cheated on the hero with her ex and, just like his father did to his mother, he humiliated her in public
°No cheating - the hero was 100% faithful, no other girl existed for him
°Heroine pushed the hero away
°Intimate scenes only between hero and heroine
°They were separated for almost 2 weeks - both celibate
°Potential triggers: the heroine's ex drugged her and tried to rape her but her friend saved her; attempted rape of a side character (off page); the girl who caused the break up between the heroine and her ex drugged him and raped him (off page)
°The hero didn't grovel enough in my opinion, but after reading his POV I believe that, just like his father with his mother, he'll live forever with the regret and shame of what he did to the heroine
°Epilogue: 5 years later married with a baby on the way
*~*~*~*

**“I will never fucking let you go,” he repeated. “I don’t care if you’re mad at me. I don’t care if you hate me. I don’t care if I have to fight with you every single day for the rest of our fucking lives.”**

**“You are mine, Lake. You are mine, and I am yours, and there will never be anyone else, for either one of us, ever fucking again.”**

**Lake was staring up at me like she was baring her soul to Satan. I could see it all in her blue eyes. She was waiting for the punchline. She was waiting for me to use her and move on. And if I could see that all in her eyes, the only question left was, if she didn’t believe in us, why was she letting me do this? Why was she giving herself to me? This time, it was me asking the question, “Why?” And then she said something that had me almost dragging her to the courthouse by her hair. “Because I’d rather regret you than never have experienced you.”**

**No way would my father ever do something so heinous to my mother. He fucking worshipped her. But then, hadn’t I just done the same thing to Lake? Rather than hunt her down and demand answers, I had believed someone else’s manipulations, and let the pain of her supposed betrayal call the shots. And then, there was the fact that I wanted to punch my dad in the face for having ever treated my mother like that.**

**“Don’t touch me!” She pulled away from me, and staring down at her tear-stained face, her heaving rage, the hate in her eyes, and the heartbreak all over her face, there was no way I was ever going to leave this girl alone. Lake was it for me, and there was nothing I wouldn’t do to make this happen.**

**“I hate you,” she insisted. “I hate you so much.” “And I love you,” I countered. “I love you so damn much, baby.” She looked up at me, and she looked a hot mess. Her face was splotchy, her eyes were red, and her makeup smeared, but she was still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Love did that. Love made you recognize a beauty that was deeper than visual. Love made the girl in my arms looked better at her worst than other girls at their best.**

**And then she really threatened to drop me to my knees when her entire body began to shake, and she started crying in my arms. I turned her around and pulled her close as she cried into my chest, and her pain was enough that, if I were a better person, I’d let her go. However, I wasn’t. “Baby,” I whispered in her hair, “I’m so fucking sorry. I’m so goddamn sorry, Lake.” She was shaking her head, her face pressed against my chest.**

**Lake was never going to forgive me. She was going to stay with me, and she might even love me one day, but she was never going to forgive me for what I did to her, and I was going to have to live with that for the rest of my life. That was my penance. I was going to have her forever, but I was never going to have all of her. She was always going to hold a piece of herself back because Lake was never going to trust me not to turn on her again. In this moment, I finally knew real heartbreak. Did that mean I was going to let her go? No. Did that mean I was going to ever stop trying to win her over? No. My hands tightened in her hair, and my lips crashed onto hers. I was going to have to show her. I was going to have to show her, every day, for the rest of our fucking lives.**

**“I own all of you.” “And what about you?” I asked, still vulnerable. “Do I own all of you?” His chocolate gaze never left mine as he said, “You have every piece of me, Lake. My heart, my mind, my body, and my soul. And I will never let anything, or anyone, come between us ever again.” I didn’t necessarily believe him, but I couldn’t punish him forever. Forgiveness or not, I wanted to be happy and holding this over his head wouldn’t accomplish that. So, I said the one thing I knew to be true. I said the only thing I was feeling right now. “I love you.”**

[Zariareads · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5⭐️

The writing is good but the characters like Ramsey, Deke, Ramsey Jr and the others is toxic and cruel

The whole family is cursed to be so cruel and do things before they have al the facts🙄😡

[darkdirty-bibliophile · Rating 5 out of 5]

History repeating itself With a twist

I absolutely love M.E . I was a bit nervous to read about The kids but enemy series Is 1 of my dark romance series I love it .So I expected a lot out of this book And for the most part I was extremely happy I hope that she continues to series I would love to see Eden get her dark prince??

[SansaReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this bully book! I’m a bit biased because anything this author writes I absolutely love and find her to be a hidden gem.

[Cocolabinocle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m usually a M.E Clayton Stan, and I’ve read a lot of her work. I also appreciate the fact that this is strictly a hobby so we know she’s not going to try to write stuff just because it sells or engage in any shady marketing schemes some authors have been known to do in the romance book communities.

I was super excited to read about Ramsey JR. However, for some reason, this one just missed the mark for me. I think it might have been the fact that it was too similar to a lot of her books, and I felt like I was reading the same story over and over. I was also disappointed that Ramsey would make a lot of dirty promises yet didn’t deliver.

I also felt like this was too insta-love, and while I usually don’t mind, this time around, I legitimately could not tell why Ramsey fell in love with lake and vice versa?

Overall, this book was pretty “meh” to me. Will I still be reading anything else she comes out with in the future? Absolutely.

[Lori [semi-hiatus] · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/3.5 I can't settle on a rating and that's because there was not enough groveling. His apology was "you will forgive me or I will end your entire family" type of shit. That didn't work for me, plus the betraying body syndrome after the H made that statement.

Safety: safe, h virgin, H not manwhorish, no cheating, but H was extremely cruel to h because he thought she cheated (she was drugged and some photos were taken of her going to a room with her ex bf, but nothing happened) and proceeded to delete her entire life from the internet and to insult and humiliate her publicly by saying he was passing her to his mates because she was a slut. Super harsh, and while his inner monologue showed he felt guilty, I wanted to see more of that through his actions towards the h.

[LaBlue · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author’s reasoning is insane!

But I love it!! This book may be a standalone but it is a sequel from “The Enemies”, series. A next generation really. This series is what led me to be a fan of this author’s works. She writes such OTT, toxic romance that it’s borderline psychotic.

Having said that, this book makes up for the flaws of the first book in the series “Facing The Enemy”, where the leads made up too quickly after a somewhat horrific bullying/revenge scene that had me flabbergasted that the story had ended with an HEA at all. This book managed to make that books story understandable while making this book work for that HEA. The revenge, the groveling was so tart and enjoyable that I was seriously put out when it went right into the HEA epilogue. I WASN’T DONE WITH THE GROVEL FEST AND PAYBACKS TO THE TRUE ENEMIES!

I am really not done with this story. I’m positive I will be rereading this story many, MANY more times. That is my definition of a good book! The only reason this story didn’t get five stars was for a couple of pet peeves I have with this author. The first and most common pet peeve is this authors grammatical issues. Seriously, get a real editor already! I really want to be forgiving as this author is self published but it’s really too annoying and distracting from a really interesting story when words are used wrong or the sentence structure shows that more than one line is merged together incorrectly, or words are missing altogether.

My last pet peeve is going to sound partially racist and I apologize in advance but I hope it’s not taken that way. The names of the characters, the nicknames, and the titles of this authors stories are simply put, stupid. This author has two separate series with the word “enemies” in it. “The Enemies”, and “The Enemies Duet”. Two completely unrelated stories and now this book so far has not been attached to “The Enemies” series but it is plainly a spinoff or sequel or whatever, of that series. So the author is just trying to confuse people or really lacks imagination in this area of her writing.

The names and nicknames of her characters are equally stupid and confusing. This is where the racism comes in (again sorry), it’s a modern thing to do to name girls with boy’s name and vise versa but it is also a very “white” people thing to do when names for girls are Mackenzie or Delaney or Lake. I swear reading these names is like watching the Wayne’s brothers movie “White Chicks”, or even Eddie Murphy’s movie “Trading Places” except the names aren’t normal white people names like back in the day like Brad and Todd. Then this author used the same names so much that she then started using acronyms to separate the characters. First of all, the names are too off putting that I forget who the gender is supposed to be and I forget whose who because I can’t relate to these stupid names, but then to start using RJ for this one and DJ for that one, I mean WTF!!

Seriously WTF?! What is wrong with a regular name like Jane or Sarah? Sh!t I would even be okay with Lacey! It’s VERY girly!! But this author makes all the names unusual and gender nonspecific to the point that I start skimming over all the names and that makes it hard to read and keep track of who’s who and what’s what. As for the nicknames, the diamond thief, really?!? The crown prince, oh please! Another series the “Holy Trinity” series, those nicknames were just absurd!

My point is this author still has work to do. She showed definite growth in explaining the emotional toxicity of this series relationships, but she still needs to grow in her creativity. Enjoy!

[✨✨ Claire✨✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This seems to be like marmite - you either love it or hate it.

I'm sad to say I'm erring towards the latter ☹️

I thought this was a standalone as nowhere said it was a carry on or part of a series - until I got to the end of the book and it was listed under the series there. I hope me not reading the previous books affected the resulting feeling of the book!

I can believe in love at first sight. That wasn't the problem. The problem was how Ramsey went about it. It was.... cringe worthy. How can he expect any girl to swoon at his actions?? A complete mysoginistic, self centered, stalker like, bully. I believe he felt a connection. But the way he went about it wasn't love.

And as for Lake? A weak FMC, disappointingly. OK, at best feeling a connection... how can she think any of his actions proved his feelings? If the way he was with her was a preview of how life would be... Christ I'd run for the hills!

I was shocked at how callous he was at taking her virginity. My god, does he not care that he really hurt her? And then immediately after she's meant to feel grateful that he "saved oral and anal sex just for her"?

The final straw was the way he treated her after the Halloween party towards the end of the book. So he went to his friends D. Js and Lake went to her friend Beth's. She had to argue to be able to go but first had to go to his so he could "pump her full of cum and put his mark on her so everyone knows she's his". I mean.... COME ON!!!! There's talking dirty and being alpha and thgeres being just wrong and THAT is wrong.

The treatment of her afterward... how the hell she forgave him.....🤬
I don't think this takes over a very long period of time. Months I think. So Ramsey has more negative actions to his name than positive. But this last act... that could destroy her whole future...

And when he goes on a huge temper tantrum and his friend has to ho to her school, pull her out of class and beg her to stop him....

I'm sorry. I think you can feel my frustration thru my words. Like I say - marmite. Others have enjoyed this. Alas it wasn't for this time. My apologies to the author!!

[Melluvsbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is 1st book of the 2nd generation of the Enemy series. ME Clayton returns to the formula that I think she does best: HS/college OTT bulldozery Heros


What I liked:

• 18 year old virgin h - she's feisty without being overly annoying

• OTT j/p bulldozer H - it's insta-love for him

• Several j/p scenes 🖤

• OW drama... but it's pretty light - the H only wants the h... this is more b*tches being b*tchy and jealous

• some decent angst - H effs up 😈

• typical HS drama --- I love that stuff ❤️

• the H doesn't change his spots - he starts out as a bulldozery asshole and he ends that way too 😍

• it was fun seeing the parents interact (from Facing the Enemy)

• there is a little dubcon-lite



What I didn't like:

• I would have preferred a bit more relationship development... the h was reluctant, for good reason, but I never felt like the author helped us and the h truly fall in love with him. 🤷‍♀️

• the grovel was tepid at best. 😐 He didn't address the things I thought he needed to.

• we get a lot of telling, rather than showing... lots of ruminating in their heads

• the ending feels a bit HFN... but then, happily, we're given an epilogue... however, the epilogue didn't seem to have a point. I mean, we get the feeling they achieved the HEA...but there was nothing super demonstrative that made you feel all that much better about the ending of the last chapter - it's a run down of the last 4 years, but nothing super satisfying. A baby does not an HEA make. 🤷‍♀️



Bottom Line? 3.5 ⭐️s -- I liked it overall. I'll definitely read the next in series





⚠️For the SAFETY SQUAD⚠️

• no cheating - h does think he cheated at one point

• no sharing

• The H is aggressive and takes what he wants - there was one scene that could possibly be taken as dubcon, but I think it was pretty tame

• While this didn't really feel like a bully book, to me, there are bullyish things that take place

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

JP/psycho/HS romance

This wasn’t very long and the author self publishes which she leaves as a disclaimer in the front so you know up front that it’s not edited to perfection and that she writes on her own time at her own liking. I have never read one of her books before but this book I enjoyed. I wish it was longer or even a series. Rj is the type of male lead I love, aggressive, alpha and psycho for the chick he wants and loves. I just wish this book was more bc author could have easily drawn this out but maybe I’m just selfish lol. Really enjoyed it though! It’s not perfect it’s got grammar issues, and stuff but that’s to be expected and it wasn’t like where I couldn’t just read right through it

[Li · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW!!!! If you’re a fan of Facing the Enemy, this book will having you cheesing, swooning and crying.

Facing the Enemy follows Emerson and Ramsey while Resurrecting the Enemy is years later with Ramsey, Jr. and Lake. Ramsey (aka R.J.) is as psycho if not more than his father. The h (Lake) is not as fierce as Emerson but she is not one to bow down Ramsey. She definitely turns his psycho switch a little brighter.

I highly recommend reading Facing the Enemy first before your read Resurrecting the Enemy. There are scenes with Ramsey’s parents that will leave you heartbroken that goes back to their book.

My first read of 2021 and it’s starting off right with this book! ❤️❤️❤️

[Aina Aneanu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Relationship status with this book: it's complicated. Let me explain.

I love the author, and the previous generation (now parents) were surely ott alpha jerks, but at least they were charming, and the chemistry between them and the girls was there along with solid feelings, so I was looking forward to see the new generation. Oh man, what a let down!
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed reading a great part of it, it's the last 1/3 that made it clear this one was not going to make me happy.
Here we have a rich spoiled psychotic prick with his equally insane posy destroying a girl for the sake of his fixation. Let's be clear, the only feelings come from the heroine, her bestie and "hero"'s dad.
And as much as I liked the heroine up to one point, even shed a tear or two for her ordeal, her becoming his doormat for the lame betraying body bs caught me by surprise and left a bitter taste. What happened to her standing for herself? If you can't draw a line between lust and love you need help, and having a backbone is better than feeding a toxic relationship for the sake of lust.

As for the "hero" he was my main issue with this book: he claims to love her, but he doesn't give a shit about her feelings, her plans, her aspirations, her mental health, he makes sure her first time with him is a violent and painful one just for the sake of "making it memorable" for her, he destroys her future without a trace of remorse justl for his frigging ego-trip, and his first words after the shitstorm he brought as revenge are not even a lousy "I'm sorry", but "what does it take" as if her forgiveness is on sale. He says he would do anything for her to mend things, yet he forces her to be the one doing everything and anything for him, even his vengeance on the two people who set her up is not for her sake, but for lashing out his anger.
And not only his mighty asshat-ness is too cool to properly grovel despite already knowing what he did to her is beyond forgiveness, that he broke her, instead all along he keeps claiming he loves her too much to live without her, yet he keeps pilling up, hurting her on purpose, manipulating her, treating her like his ftoy and even making her beg - dis-fucking-gusting!

Newsflash: if your shitty wants and sick fantasies are always trumping her feelings, her sanity, her future and her well being, then sure as hell this is not love you have for her.

Oh and don't get me started on his brother's demand from her to get over everything just like that and forgive him - excuse you?! How about not dare look her in the eyes after what you helped doing to her? Yet another entitled prick.
All along not one of them asked her how the heck was she feeling after being drugged, betrayed, humiliated and destroyed, or how can they help her, at least out of guilt, the only exception is her best friend (I adore this girl) who fought tooth and nail for her, now that is true love.

I hope the next books in the series are more like what I usually enjoy, because this wasn't the norm, bullying and abusive - sure, but don't call this "dark romance", the last part is obviously missing.

[Nikita Parikh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book Title: Resurrecting The EnemyAuthor: M.E. Clayton
Format: E-Book

Book Title: The book title is appropriate to the story.
Book Cover: The cover is HOT and will make you melt in all the right places and also why I picked up the book.
My review:
      The story gives you the vibe of an arse-hole who once if he sets his mind to something would literally go to any means necessary to achieve something or someone. The story is set in high school and the male lead actually hails from a family who is both wealthy and feared in town. The story follows his journey of a girl who he caught in a place she shouldn't have been.
       The story line was intriguing and the chase between Ramsey and Lake was OTT HAWT and made me tingle in all the right places! Every time Ramey cornered and became this over possessive arse for Lake, I was salivating!  The angst was what made me want to continue reading! The author did a fantastic job with that!
       The reason why I was reluctant to give this a 4 star or even a 4.5 was because I did find a lot of grammatical error as well as poor editing! Maybe, its just me being a little anal about it but when there were a lot of errors, I couldn't overlook them! Also, I personally despise it when there are literally so many characters that are introduced and it becomes difficult to keep a track of them!
       The ending of the story also seemed a little abrupt and it left me confused, flustered and dissatisfied. The story has a lot of potential if a little rework is done because I really loved the story and a lot of characters. Overall, I'd definitely say that the book is a one time read and if you enjoy your fictional heroes who're a jealous, stalker-ish, over possessive, arse-hole but will grovel when he's wrong this book is definitely for you!

Final Verdict
Title: 3.5/5
Cover: 4/5
Plot:3.5/5
Characters:3.5/5
Language and Vocabulary: 2.5/5
Final overall rating:3.5/5 

[Ashley Estep The Art of Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Resurrecting the Enemy is Ramsey and Emerson's son. As soon as I read the blurb I had to have it. I thought for sure their son would be a ruthless and crazy as they were.

While I enjoyed Ramsey Reed Jr. and Lake I really thought RJ would be way more ruthless. His father was a ruthless psychopath and I wanted that for his son as well. While there were aspects of him that were mean he was never as ruthless as his father. I mean I'll never forget that scene in the hallway in Facing the Enemy. While RJ did some mean things he never showed his full on psychopath.

There story was dark and twisted at times but never fully what I expected. It was still a good story with great characters. I loved not only RJ and Lake but the side characters as well. I also won't say no to the other children getting stories of their own.

[**Story chaser** · Rating 5 out of 5]

M.E Clayton does: bully / enemies-to-lovers / jealous possessive hero's right.

I have read a lot of her books and I always get sucked in and struggle to put the books down.

This book was not different. It was suspenseful and full of angst. It reminded me so much of Facing the enemy (Ramsey's parents book), as they said, history repeats itself. The Reed men are CRAZY, but you cant help smiling.
I did however feel that the end was rushed, as if the author could not wait to finish. The whole book had me on the edge and I feel the last 3 chapters had so much potential, but it lacked. The epilogue was very short and added no value to the story.

Never the less, I am really hoping we will get Dash and Crew's books.

[Kit Sinatra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a sucker for a stalker obsessive hero. I can’t help it.

These two go together like gasoline and a fire, but I’m not afraid to get burned.

Favorite quote:

“You know, people think evil is supposed to be this dark, ugly thing,” I told him as I snapped picture, after picture of him. “But it’s not.” He stood there, silent, and let me take my fill. “Evil is the most beautiful thing in existence, I think. How else would we fall prey to it, then? If evil came to us in its true form, we’d run scared. We’d run frightened. We’d run as fast as we could and never look back, don’t you think?” I didn’t let him answer. “Evil needs to be breathtaking in order to lure you in. It needs to be seductive to hook up. And it needs to be powerful to hold you in its grip.”

[Andréa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not a typical romance. Though I admit I questioned my own sanity when reading about the hero basically stalking the heroine made me swoon. But hey I guess it was bound to happen at some point : if you can't judge them, join them right. Anyway the hero was a real piece of work and because of that the ending couldn't have been any better than what we got. It was imperfect and not what I look usually look for but it was real and it made sense. I didn't even think we would get satisfying conclusion to be honest. It felt impossible with the circumstances.

I'm not sure I liked all that happened. Well I know I didn't but it was still interesting. I have mixed feelings for sure about this book.