Brutal Heir

Court University #1

by Eden O'Neill, Addison Barnes (Narrator), Christian Leatherman (Narrator)

Never trust a campus god.

Knight Reed is a devil heir with a chip on his shoulder. The arrogant a-hole I love to hate.

His name may be Knight, but that armor is black as coal. He’s a beautiful god with a wicked heart. I know because my mom used to work for his family. An act of brutal violence in the woods and he gets my mom fired, ultimately leaving us homeless. That was the last time I saw him face-to-face.

At least, until recently. 

He’s frat boy royalty at my new university, a campus god amongst the rich and elite. There’s little interest in a freshman like me.

But then I cross him, putting an end to me being invisible here in his world. 

At a party, I see something I shouldn’t have seen. Now, suddenly, the campus god has me tackled on a bed with his hand around my throat. He tells me to forget what I witnessed. Do that or the end result will be bad for me. He’s hellbent on crushing my little dove wings and all I see is that cruel boy from the woods that day.

When it comes to Knight, I can’t seem to stay out of his way or keep my trap shut around him, no matter how hard I try. He tells me my little mouth will get me in trouble, but I think he’s wrong.

I’m not afraid what will happen if I spill his secrets. What terrifies me is how badly I want to see what might be beyond all that coal-black armor...

It’s possible that, to some small measure, I’m tempted to give in to the only devil I’ve ever known.

The dark knight himself.
 
Warning:  Brutal Heir is an NA bully romance that contains dubious content and situations some may find triggering. It’s recommended for readers 17+ and is a standalone novel with no cliffhanger. It’s book one in a series of standalones titled Court University, which is a spin-off series about characters featured in Eden O’Neill’s Court High books. Reading the Court High books first is not necessary for the enjoyment of Court University. The characters' origin stories merely begin in Court High and can be referred to at any time if the reader so chooses.

Genres: Romance, Dark Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Dark, College, College Romance, New Adult

Audible Audio

First published July 1, 2020

About the author

Eden O’Neill is an Amazon top 10 bestselling romance author known for sweeping readers off their feet with dark romance, fire-emoji-level spice, and a whole lot of angsty feelings. Eden inspires audiences to embrace their desires without shame—whether they want to fulfill them through fiction…or otherwise.

She teases over 100,000 followers on Tiktok and Instagram every week with her sassy (and ultra spicy) videos that pack an emotional punch. Her debut dark romance series featuring a found family spanning multiple generations has sold over 85,000 ebooks and paperbacks and continues to tantalize readers with passionate stories about morally gray heroes and the heroines who have no problem breaking them.

When Eden is not penning spicy reads, she can be found at Disney World with her favorite human and a vegan beignet. She’s also a dog mom of one good corgi and another one who’s doing her best.

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Reviews

[Clau · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should probably stay away from this kind of books (meaning: bully romance).
I always end up hating:
a) both main characters (the girl because she completely lacks personality and self respect, and the dude because he usually is an idiot who goes from hot to cold in 2.5 seconds);
b) the parents/adults in the book (because they simply don't care about the violent way the hero behaves);
c) the friends, who push the girl towards the boy, without caring when he acts like a fucking psychopath.

Well, to keep this review short, that's basically what happens in this book. I'll only add that the dude does whatever he wants because he is filthy rich and every one admires him.

[Niharika Aggarwal · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 ⭐️
I don’t know why I even went through this stupid book. Knight was not redeemable. He was an ass. I don’t understand why Greer stuck by him. If she was as beautiful as the writer described her to be she could be with anyone but him. He kept fucking with her and there was literally 0 grovel. What a waste of my time. Please don’t read it.

[Ꮗ€♫◗☿ ❤️ ilikebooksbest.com ❤️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty standard college bully romance!



The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💙🖤❤️💜
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌍
Character development: 🤨😟😳😍

The heroine: Greer - she just started as a freshman at Pembroke University when she sees someone from her childhood at a party, Knight Reed. When she was nine, she lived in his house and her mother was the maid to him and his grandfather. She saw him kill a neighbor's dog after it chased and bit her and she told her mom, who told his grandfather, who then fired Greer’s mom because he didn’t want the hassle or scandal that came with others knowing what his grandson did. Greer and her mom were homeless, living in their car after that.

The Hero: Knight - He comes from wealth and power. In his town, he sits at the top of the food chain and at university he reigns as king. He is tall, broad and handsome, and can get any girl he wants. His father died when he was eight, and his mother was in a car accident shortly after that, he was raised by his grandfather whom he loves very much.

The Story: Knight sees Greer at a party that his frat house is holding. She is attending with one of his frat brothers. He remembers her from when they were young and is attracted to her from the start, so when his frat brother plans to drug her and take advantage of her, Knight threatens him. The evening takes a brutal turn and Greer ends up seeing something she wasn’t supposed to. Knight wants to keep her quiet and basically stalks her to make sure she keeps her mouth shut.

Knight bullies Greer, which in turns frightens her, and keeps her up at night, but also, she finds herself attracted to him and unable to resist when he eventually comes on to her. They get closer despite themselves. I didn’t like some of the things Knight did but found myself liking his character overall. His motives weren’t always clear though it turned out they were in Greer’s interest most of the time. Either way he was interesting, and she couldn’t resist him either.

There was quite a bit of family drama and Knight didn’t always behave the best, but overall this was a pretty decent bully romance. Though it was a bit shorter than I expected. I liked it overall and plan to read the next in the series.

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[CeCe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Verbiage was awkward at times.
The relationship felt forced.
The story had a good start, but then it fell apart.
It was supposed to be a bully read, but the hero Knight, was just annoying. Greer’s friends were ridiculous and immature with Knight.
I skimmed a lot just to see what would happen. The conclusion was disappointing.

[Irma *Irma The Book Whisperer* · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You’re going to listen to me. Listen to what I have to say. What you saw tonight could cause problems for you.”
“What kind of problems?”
Too much fucking talk. My hand squeezed her throat, another incentive, and it worked. She stiffened immediately, her face scrunched in fear. I didn’t want to scare her. Honestly didn’t, but if it kept her quiet…


Greer is a girl from Knight's past, from way back when they were just kids. And they meet again. She sees something she shouldn't have, and he tries to protect her, but he has to be a bit cruel. She needs to see that the aftermath of the situation is no joke.

He's afraid she'll go to the police, so he starts shadowing her. But by doing that, he becomes a part of her life. He can't get away and neither can she.

One day her teacher finds a simple word in her brilliant school work, and this one word puts Knight's world into another perspective. Yes, it's like a domino effect. His life is about to change, but will it be good, or will it be bad?

Brutal Heir is a perfect book for a reader who loves angst, but also craves to be crushed by emotions!

[*CJ* · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Brutal Heir" is the story of Greer and Knight.

Oh my god.. HOT. I enjoyed this soooooo much!

This book had everything I love- enemies to lovers, childhood animosity, a hero who cannot let go, loads of angry sex, jealousy, family drama, betrayals, deaths, reconcilation and HEA. It totally worked for me and I cannot recommend this more!

Unsafe
4.5/5

[zahraa · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 ✰
+ bully romance, check tw’s

once again, eden oneill did NOT disappoint. i had seen some mixed reviews, so i had been a bit scared to start this book, but i’m glad i did!

knight was a character i was really excited to read about, especially since i love bow & thatcher, and he truly exceeded my expectations! his development throughout the story was great, especially as we got to learn more about his childhood and upbringing.

the overall plot was equally as interesting. eden manages to suck you into this court universe, pulling you by the heart strings & making you feel all sorts of things!

i loved greer’s character!! there was so much tension between her and knight and you could tell they matched each other perfectly!

so excited to read the next one!

[Sabrina · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book gave me whiplash with how fast Knight went from "hating" Greer to being all in with her. I didn't even understand the motivation behind Knight being such an asshole and that just made it even harder to connect with the story. The entire beginning aka the scenes that actually gave a tiny bit of reasoning why Knight was being mean to and following Greer around basically become nonexistent after 20% or so. It was honestly really off how the story progressed from that first scene and again, I just didn't understand.

Everything between Knight and Greer felt really forced and they lacked chemistry together in my opinion. I've seen a lot of people say this was an enemies to lovers story but it didn't really seem like it since Knight and Greer had no reason to be enemies. And I can't really say Knight bullied Greer, he was just a little mean and pushy towards her about keeping her mouth shut about what she saw. Which again, I didn't understand.

[Elle^᪲᪲᪲ (slump) · Rating 2 out of 5]

lol i need to stop reading those romance bully brainrot.

[Alondra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me recordó bastante a los de Royal Elite. Estuvo bueno, siento que manejo bien todos los clichés que metió. No hay más drama del necesario y últimamente estoy amando eso lol. Lo único “malo” que podría decir es que es demasiado corto, siento que los personajes pudieron tener un mejor desarrollo y también pudo meter más historia, en especial de la vida de Knight en el presente, se me hizo super raro que siempre mencionaba lo importante que era su hermandad, pero no los vemos hasta el final y fue como un hola y chau 😂😂.
Also, POR QUÉ NO PONEN MÁS GRANDE QUE HAY UNA SAGA ANTES QUE ESTÁ ?😭 🤦‍♀️ todo se entiende normal pero ahh😫en lo personal a mi me gusta leer todo en orden. Así que esto me saco un poco de quicio 🙂.

[Melissa, Book Boyfriend and Husband Make Three · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me.

Brutal Heir pulls you into this world during the prologue, but in a I’m so traumatized by what just transpired I had no choice but to continue if for no other reason than to find out the why.”

*I do need to say that I felt that was for shock value and shouldn’t have been included. I understand it was to show the fierce protective instinct that Knight had for Greer that should have been shown in a different way.*

Greer had a small amount of sass, but she also didn’t, there were moments when I felt she should have pushed back against Knight with the stubbornness mentioned in the blurb instead she continuously lets him off the hook. The person that is spoken about in the blurb in reference to Greer isn’t the same character you get inside the story.

Knight was the ruler of Pembroke University, he was an alpha-hole, and Greer got a majority of his aggression. They had an immediate connection, but there were times I felt like Greer should walk away because of Knight’s actions and at times his reactions to situations.

Knight and Greer had a shared bit of history that connected them, but there were bits of that that when explained made little sense. Everything that should have been a major point of escalated drama added to the story wasn’t, it just smoothed over quietly all wrapped into a perfect bow.

The beginning chapters were very clear on explaining the timeframe of and between events, but I wish that had been something that had been carried throughout the story. Things would happen, and there was no reference as to if the next was hours, days, or weeks later. It was rather confusing.

There was a whole “shocking” element of the storyline that wasn’t all that shocking, and yet, it was something else that could have had a more detailed and sensible reasoning. Even the aftermath of that event ends up being wrapped with only a few sentences.

Overall, I did want to know the outcome of the story, but in reaching the end, I was wishing I had stopped reading during the prologue. I just felt as though at the end there were pieces missing to allow me to feel as though I had, “a complete” story as there were several things that were unanswered, and things that were meant to be a large part of the story were short changed with the lack of further explanation.

**Gigantic Side Note**
There is NEVER a reason to have a detailed scene of a brutal attack on a dog. The entire scene was added for shock value, and later it seemed the author just threw a reason together as for the why and not only was it utter nonsense it further cemented my thought that it was in fact for shock value.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received Book From Author For Honest Review.
I Give this Book a 4/5 Star Rating.

*Please note the review you’ll read below might sound like I’m contradicting myself with the rating I give this Book.
But Honestly, I Really did enjoy the Book. I Cannot Give this Book 4.5 nor 5 Stars though.

HEA(?): Yes
Heat: 4/5
Romance: 3-3.5/5
Drama: 3/5
Suspense: 3.5/5
Dark: 2/5, Dark Lite (for me)
Surprisingly there is a bit of dark in this book.
By the way I LOVE Dark Books, Darker the Better. But I weirdly didn’t expect this book to have what it -has- in it (and that is NOT A bad thing! Lol.) But one of the scenes did feel a bit ‘dismissed or was kinda given a blind eye’
Bully Scale: 2-2.5/5, it (for me) is pretty lite.
Predictability: 3.5/5
Relationship Type: MF

I know this might sound weird but Knight was too >immediately< likable for me, it in all honesty bothered me for some reason, I guess cause I wanted it to be more suspenseful and have him grow on me.
I really was craving some tension and purposeful silence on his end, like I got in Prologue.
I also weirdly don’t know how I feel about Knight & Greer communicating so ‘easily’ with each other.
I guess cause everything was transitioning too smoothly and calmly even with clearly slung insults & aggression here and there, during the beginning and near the middle, I did find myself having a bit of a time trying to keep focus on the book.
But AFTER around the 45%, the book got much better and I was able to retain my focus.
Loved the heat, and how Knight treated Greer later in the book, where I felt it fit much better.
I did find it was a bit ‘quiet’ in the drama area, cause you really only see after effects, not the full drama that causes the effects > treated like drama being done behind closed doors from ‘prying eyes aka the reader’.

Cause it’s almost like your not supposed to have any urge to fully Dislike Knight, so you’re kinda prevented from seeing him in ‘action’ as a kind of bully.

But I Will Recommend This Book & Author.

[Valentina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

What started out as conceivably a bully romance, evolved into something more mature, a storyline with more feeling and natural human expression. I would not characterize this book as a bully romance or even dark. Instead it read like a contemporary romance involving a hero who from childhood was always smitten with the heroine, and a heroine equally drawn to the hero — misunderstanding friends to lovers.

After the two find themselves attending the same college, their love affair rockily begins. I thought the character development in this book was excellently written. I felt as if I knew each character personally, emotionally and physically. The hero was large, muscular, dark eyed, alpha; the heroine, almost angelic in appearance, petite with inner steel. I liked that both characters demonstrated vulnerability and strength, and at the right point in the story recognized their growing feelings. There was no undue push and pull in this tale. The hero’s storyline was particularly interesting, tragic, inspiring a great deal of sympathy. The sexual chemistry and build up were tension-filled; the relations, steamy, passionate, and without timidness. These two characters were clearly compatible; they fit.

Besides title and blurb warning, I would qualify this read as contemporary romance with a little badgering to the heroine, not dark. In parts it was a little longer of a read than I thought necessary. While not exactly my taste, great for those who like a medium-burn love story with feeling and steam, with likable vulnerable characters with a backstory, and new challenges.

[BookBitchhh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not mad that I read it, but there were some errors and sometimes the way things were worded just left me having to reread the same sentence multiple times.

There is a scene depicted where Knight murders a dog as a child. Regardless of the reasoning behind it, didn’t really like that.

I see a lot of reviews saying they didn’t like Greer cause she basically just falls immediately for the dog murdering , toxic Reed. I mean she is a dumb character. But I was also dumb too at nineteen. However , I couldn’t get over how easily she came to want him around. But then again, to say I’ve never been intrigued by an asshole in real life, would be a lie. Lol. Sooooo.

I also try to suspend reality , and am usually pretty good at it but the reveal kinda had me going....huh?

*spoiler ahead*

I just don’t see why his grandfather , if wanting to keep knights mother away from him, didn’t he just off her instead of keeping her in a secret medically induced coma? Oh, and for TWELVE years. Like. Huh?

[Tiffany · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugghh

I'm so tired of these bully romances where the females don't have a backbone. Its sickening watching them fall all over themselves for these guys. I'd like to see a book with a stronger woman. It just burns me up watching them degrade themselves for these guys. Then bam the guys in love and sorry for being a narcissistic alphahole. No thanks

[This bird · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many things wrong with this book ! If you like a really bad guys and pathetic girls ,then that's your book ! Also The girl has vibrator ,but its a Virgin , wtf ?!😏🤦

[Shyralf · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Stars! It’s was just meh for me on this one.

[sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Usually I like a good dark romance, with some enemies to lovers action. However this book bordered more on sexual harassment than an interesting intellectual battle with intimate tension. On top of this there was a lot of bad female tropes and shaming in the book, stemming from the character constantly talking about hating her romantic counterpart for all the toxic crap he pulls but then swooning in his arms because her sex drive cannot possibly listen to logic. In addition her friends are made out to be mindless girls that simply fall and bow to these hot frat guys and would do absolutely anything for their attention. There is one part that I found particularly gross which was when the main male lead slut shames Greer in a completely serious way and we as the audience are supposed to just get over that and accept that they would make a great couple? Besides all of these reasons I have previously stated the main reason this book deserves two stars is because of the ungodly amount of times it is mentioned that the characters drink only milk, who just drinks milk?! Overall, there were many flaws that made the characters annoying and unbearable which made them the perfect couple in the sense that I would never want to be friends with either of them whether they were alone or with each other.

[Nicki ⍣ · Rating 2 out of 5]

My rating is closer to a 1.5 and I decided to round up because why not? I’m in a generous mood. Listen, it’s not great but I can’t deny I was entertained by the sexy times which is the reason I decided to read it anyways so... This is fanfiction/wattpad 101 and I’m cracking uppp! This book stars our favorite brooding mcbroody who definitely needs the highest degree of therapy offered to man and the woman who saved him with her pussy. I cannot imagine my mother telling me that a child who murdered a dog at 11 years old is boyfriend material! BITCH RED FUCKING FLAG. IDGAF IF HE DID IT FOR YOU.. Also his name is stupid.. I’m sorry for some reason I just wanted to call him Reece the entire time?? Maybe I read a book with a character who had the same depth (non-existent) like this one or maybe I just think that Greer and Reece sound better than Greer and Knight? Idk 🤷🏾‍♀️

Will not be reading the other books in the series cause I’m sure it only goes downhill from here.

[Shh... One More Chapter · Rating 1 out of 5]

There's a very graphic description of one of the main characters murdering a dog with a rock in the first few pages. I stopped reading there. That isn't "dark" it's just effed up.

[leslie ☾☀︎ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t know why I even tried. Knight was an ass the entire book. He was given a sad background and it was supposed to excuse his actions? He was literally abusive and used his power to screw people over. The way he treated other women was actually disgusting. There were also several scenes with ow including a sex scene which weren’t necessary. There’s nothing I hate more than when the H has sex with other women because he can’t get the h out of his mind.

I hated that Greer took knight back so easily after all that he did cause he was “protecting her” all along. There’s a thin line with bully romances and this one was on the wrong side. I don’t think there was a single redeeming quality for knight.

2/5 ☆’s

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fast, convoluted and full of errors

This one was just odd. First off, we have a tiny smidgen of backstory. Then we have no relationship building, just hot and cold, bully treats her like trash but omg he's hot so I'm just gonna keep going back for more. Then we have this I guess secret society that is spoken and made to be a big deal but ultimately apparently isn't and is forgotten about. There are so many errors and countless scenes where the writing leaves us confused and scratching our heads. All this seems to add up to an author who had a decent framework for a story but didnt manage in any way to flesh it out and create an enjoyable, cohesive book.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Daft!

This book is pretty daft! To be honest, I'm probably not it's target audience and found myself laughing and eye rolling at some of the ridiculous teenage angst bits! The characters and their relationships are all totally unbelievable. Except the way the rich boys cover each others backs, I didn't believe in anything else. Even this theme was not exploited in full. On a serious note, it is toxic to reinforce the outdated idea that boys are mean to girls because they like them and that girls should be somehow grateful or turned on by their abusive behaviour. Then they will, somehow, miraculously, overnight become really sweet nice guys! Just, no.

[Dana Isaly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I devoured this book in a few hours! It was a great bully romance, just the right amount of tension, and an actual plot! So happy that I discovered this author and I can’t wait to read more of her books.

[Kanmani · Rating 1 out of 5]

Skimmed the last half

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greer and Knight's story! Soo I wanted to read this one for quite a while but I always got distracted. I'm happy that I finally read it! It was so easy to read and somewhat sweet. The ending was a little rushed though, but still an enjoyable story.

[Dilara · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5-5
Bayıldım resmen kitaba bana biraz off campus vibe ı verdi ve bir günde bitirdim aşırı akıcıydı yani kitaba 0 beklentiyle başladığım için bu kafar sevmiş olabilirim ama tam çerezlik bully romancedi

[Kitty Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Really liked Knight. Though he has a friend named Royal Prince. Any parent who names their kid that needs smacked.

[Medollga · Rating 1 out of 5]

If "It is so bad. I wanna give you a 0, but that's not possible. So I give you a one." was a book, it would be this one💀😅

[_booktique2_ D Amora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Knight reed can put his hands around my throat anytime.