Beautiful Brute

Court University #3

by Eden O'Neill

I gave him my virginity.

But it turns out he wanted so much more.


Stepbrother nightmare. That's Jaxen Ambrose.

He's beautifully vicious, lethal, the villain, and I'm nothing but the plaything that gives him his high.

He says I must pay for my sins. I do that or he'll end me. He's got it in his sick mind I've done something to him. That I've taken something from him but I'm no thief.

The only thief is him. My enemy, my obsession. He involved me in his wicked game without me even knowing. Before he was cruel, he was kind, a stranger who'd been gentle and sweet. I even believed him capable of love.

Only, that love turned out to be what I should fear most, his wickedest play of all. It's true that his cruelty could break me.

But his love could destroy me.


Warning: Beautiful Brute is an NA stepbrother romance that contains graphic content and situations some may find triggering. It's recommended for readers 17+ and is a standalone novel with no cliffhanger. It's book three 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. Enjoy!

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

396 pages, Paperback

Published September 2, 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.

Subscribe to Eden's newsletter and get a link to freebies! ➳ https://bit.ly/2TBbygm

My Tiktok ➳ https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMJnSCRBc/

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Eden's Facebook group ➳ https://bit.ly/38Ow81K

Facebook page ➳ https://bit.ly/37O75L8

Reviews

[Rain · Rating 1 out of 5]

What the heck did I just read?

Boy meets girl... boy takes girls virginity that night. Boy immediately screws girls best friend and roommate. Girl walks in and hears sees EVERYTHING. Boy had no guilt over it... EVER. No groveling, not even an attempt to make it right (not even at the end). All because he thinks his dad cheated with her mom when they were 11. And what’s worse is that it’s not like it really added angst. Because after the author is finished with that plot point, it is forgotten. As if any normal person could just be ok with that. He never tried to make it right. Doesn’t acknowledge it, how pathetic are you to forgive someone something they don’t even care if you forgive them for. That is what makes this plot completely stupid. I’d still hate it if he tried to grovel, but I could at least understand how some people liked it I guess. But this? This is just bad writing. I’ve read some doormat characters in my time, I like a lot of reviewers I have even seen a few that I liked abs forgive for it. This is just laughable. She is literally the most loath Eric character I have ever seen and he is just a giant douche. I’ve read male characters that other people would probably say did worse and liked them. Because the authors write them well! This is dumb. You can’t have a major plot point, that NO ONE could forget about, just stop mattering because it’s inconvenient for you to DO YOUR JOB and tell a decent story. I can forgive a lot of things, but bad writing deserves to be on blast.

[Dawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hero screws the heroine (taking her virginity), then a day later screws her roommate/ best friend and rubs it in her face. All of this during this story, so the visuals are great... I’m out!

[tahiyat · Rating 1 out of 5]

this books genuinely made me suicidal. like fr wanted to kms reading this. bc like … tell me why i was actually so scared of this guy like he was PREADATORY ASF THISNCOULD HAVE BEEN A HORROR STORY. the way he literally manipulated her and then literally had sex with her friend had me wanting to scream just like the mc. NOT TO MENTION, the author trying to sell this whole “she’s still attracted to him” even after he’s done this horrible shit to her like can we can a realistic version where ur step brother fucks ur friend after he’s fucked u, moves in with u - like ur not supposed to be *heart eyes* at him, ur supposed to HATE HIS GUTS AND MAKE HIM PAY, but no - apparently we hate women in this book and think feminism is a waste of time. not saying that every book has to be political but can authors like this get a fucking grip. like it’s embarrassing at this point. like what is this bs of jax being like about girls how they’re SO READY, SO WILLING to get into bed with him that it makes them slutty. like what’s the alternative? not be willing? yeah that’s called r@pe u fucking moron. this book made me hate men. men don’t deserve anything in life. bc how is this grown ass adult still sad his daddy broke up with his mommy awwwe like literally kys u are too grown to be caring about this, and as if he didn’t have a good life with his 2 moms. 2. U HAVE 2 MOMS AND UR THID FUCKING UNGRATEFUL. men deserve NOTHING. NOTHING.

u know it’s bad when even the other evil men jaxon is friends with are like dude what’s ur issue. like this is coming from LJ, the man who fucked his gfs mom. HER MOM. and even he’s got an issue. these men need to go to therapy. i’m begging. plz.

the best part of this book was seeing december <3 and the other girls being bffs and having her bsck - december was literally the ONLY ONE standing up for her 😭 LIKE GIVE THR GIRL A BREAK. not to mention jax only cared about her after she nearly died? it takes DYING for this man to have a conscience. like fr death penalty.

and then she goes on a date with some new loser, jax comes and saves her, he doesn’t even properly say sorry for almost getting her killed and they do the nasty, GIRL STAND UPPPPP YALL BE HAVING WEAK KNEES ALL OF YALL. IM SICK TO MY STOMACH.

no bc how are u gonna wanna have sex with the town bicycle, mans is so ran through he could have made so much money if he was a sex worker. and she was still like UWU OMG CUTEEEE ILY 😘 like girl i cant even defend u

now. the whole STEP BRO AND STEP SIS THING. how was no one else like … ew. LIKE THIS IS WEIRD. THIS IS FUCKING WEIRD. jax is a weirdo for knowingly having sex with his step sister and then calling her a slut for it. he called HER the slut. HIM. LOOK IN THE MIRROR. only men are allowed to be slut shamed idc. WHY WERE THR PARENTS SO CHILL ALSO? like after the pic got sent they were like wtaf but then let it go like CMON. ARE WE NOT GONNA TALK AVOUT THIS BORDERLINE INCEST? YALL ARE NOT THE CULLENS STOP TRYING TO THINK U CAN BE. also why was kit just discarded afterward like apparently they had sex all night long and through the week but kit was NO WHERE IN SIGHT LIKE if my bestie was fucking a guy who did her dirty i would not be sitting idly that’s for sure.

and ik what y’all are thinking … jax gave her his kidney blah blah blah like i literally don’t care. that’s the LEAST he could have done, seeing as he was literally a menace to their family and for what? bc he was like boo hoo my daddy left me like u are LITERALLY GROWN. move on bro go to therapy like a normal fucking person. god men are so pathetic it makes mad.

he gives me short vibes i feel like he’s short. i think i read it somewhere. how are u gonna be built like a gnome and act like this. it’s giving me the ick. seriously.

overall, one of the worst books i’ve ever read and ruined my entire week. i would give this a 0 stars if i could.

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

Surprising stepbrother/bully/roommate romance!



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

The heroine: Cleo - she was brought up by her mother and since she was eleven, by her stepfather as well. Her stepfather was a senator and her mother worked for him. They lived in a modest home in Miami, and she was a good girl. Her best friend and roommate since freshman year is named Kit. She is staying at home for the weekend before going off to her senior year in college.

The Hero: Jaxon - when he was eleven, his father remarried and moved to Florida, he stayed with his mom and hasn’t been there to visit, but decided it is time to get to know his father again. So is moving down to Florida for his final year in college. He is still angry at his dad for cheating on his mom and breaking up their family, despite the fact that his mom found love with another woman and has been happy.

The Story: Cleo goes to a nightclub while her parents are away, they should be home late the next day and Jaxon will be arriving at about the same time, so she goes out dancing with her best friend Kit. When she meets Brett, he checks off all her boxes. He is tall, muscular, handsome and has dark messy hair and bright green eyes. She decides to take him home to her childhood bedroom and lose her V-card once and for all. Though in the morning when her parents come home early, she is surprised and runs downstairs to greet them, even more surprising, is when Brett comes downstairs, and she finds out he is really Jaxon.

You know what was really weird about this book? Cleo’s parents gave her a car for her high school graduation and she wanted a 1970’s station wagon. What??? What is wrong with this girl? Who in their right mind would ever want that? I think nobody since I haven’t seen one on the road for more than 25 years. Also, she talked about how modest her parents' home was but also, they have staff, like gardeners and she had nannies, and they have ‘people’ that could run to the store if she needed something last minute before she left for school. I think her idea of a modest home and mine are very different.

This was a stepbrother/bully/roommate romance, since it turned out that Jaxon was the third roommate in their co-ed dorm at Bay Cove University. I have to say that I really thought Jax was childish at first, still hating his father so much. However, there was one point when his dad took him and his three best friends golfing for a weekend, and he didn’t recognize the three friends even though they had been friends even before his father left.

Royal had even been their next door neighbor. It really made me see how he could still be so mad at his dad. Especially since his dad adopted Cleo and apparently was a great father to her, all the while ignoring Jax and not contacting him until he was out of high school. I can say of all bully romances I have read, this one was one of the few that I could actually understand his anger towards both his father and the girl that basically took his place in his father’s heart.

“I think in that moment I truly did hate him, but not because he had me cornered in this shower. But because of what he gave me and took away. To what he’d allowed me to feel only to end up being a psychopath in the end. He was crazy. He was psycho.”

The story turned out to be much better than I expected and even better than the first few books in this series. There were plenty of family secrets and a lot of pain from the past that needed to come out into the light. Plus there was a lot of chemistry between Jax and Cleo and I liked that. It was surprisingly good and I really enjoyed it.

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[Lana ❇✾DG Romance❇✾]

DNF

I'm a sucker for a mean hero. As a matter of fact, the meaner the better. Taking your stepsister's virginity when she doesn't realize you're her stepbrother and you hate her and her mother with a passion? Well, it should have been pretty much catnip to me. Do I care that he sleeps with her bestie the next day only to rub her face in it? Nope. Unfortunately I absolutely couldn't jive with the heroine. Heroines like this are just not my cuppa at all. I also just didn't click with the writing style and ultimately figured to cut my losses with this one. I skimmed through most of it but nothing really hooked me and I finally just DNFd. Some books are just not for you, and this one was mine. I'm sure plenty will love it, I wish I was one of them. No rating since I didn't finish

Find me on:

[*CJ* · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Beautiful Brute" is the story of Cleo and Jax.

OH MY GOD.

In the first half of the book- I hated the hero. He was gross, psychopathic and unnecessarily mean. He slept with the heroine, called her and her mother a whore, didnt tell her that they were an element of revenge against his dad aka her stepdad, had sex with her roommate and multiple other girls, was verbally aggressive. I wanted to punch him.
In the second half of the book- He changed. Feelings get involved. Pasts and lies are revealed. The meanie suddenly becomes a softie. People almost die for each other. Kidney boy. A complete 180.

I cant believe I enjoyed the second half so much- I was almost going to DNF this. But Im glad I did not because the enemies to lovers/ bully trope totally worked for me. It was angst filled, hot and he did redeem himself- ALBEIT HE NEEDS A STD CHECK BECAUSE GROSS.

Unsafe
3.5/5

[zahraa · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 - beautiful brute review 💌
+bully romance, check tw’s

my girl eden NEVERRRR disappoints because this was so good. i could not put this book DOWN. it was addictive, entertaining & so so so amazingly written. as the (self nominated) #1 court saga / eden oneill fan, i am not suprised im the slightest that i loved this book.

first and foremost, jax. THIS MAN 😭😭 he had me yelling & gasping for air, and screaming out laughing. he was bold & did not hold back his hate for cleo at first, but when this man falls, he falls HARD. his love for cleo, as well as his character development were so amazingly written!!

my girl CLEO 😭 my baby, you absolutely deserve the world and more. bad things just kept happening to her but i’m so happy with the ending, she deserves every second of it.

so far, this has to be my fav book in this series (i have a feeling the next one will be my ultimate fav tho) because of how emotionally driven it was. eden’s writing made me feel SO MANY THINGS and i’m not mad about it. as i’ve said before, anything eden writes, i will read.

overall, this book had such a captivating plot!! i’m so happy we got to see more of the past characters i love them so so so much!! i CANNOT wait for ramses’s book, im starting it as i type this 🫣🫣

** AND RAMSES CATCHING THE BOUQUET?? I YELLED.

[౨ৎ˖ ࣪⊹ hanah ౨ৎ˖ ࣪⊹ · Rating 2 out of 5]

₊⊹⁀➴ 2 stars
i kind of regret reading this...?

[MyGuiltyPleasureRead · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful Brute is the third book in the Court University series, but I admit that this is the first book for me by this author.

Yes, guilty! I’ve never read this author and I started the series with the last one, but it’s okay, I don’t feel like I’ve lost anything to be honest.
Now that I confessed all my crimes, we can talk about the book. This is Cleo and Jax’s story who happen to be stepsiblings (Cleo’s mom married Jaxen’s father).

I didn’t perceved this as a taboo book because first of all the two didn’t grew up togheter and they didn’t know eachother before spending the night togheter (if you not consider Jax’s instagram “stalking” of his father), and second an more important I didn’t felt the drama that a taboo romance should have. I mean, I would have liked a more dept view about their felings like doubt, fear ecc in regard this forbidden relatioship.

I mean, their parents were not happy about their relationship but everything is so rushed in favor of other drama that as a reader I didn’t feel the struggle a relatioship like this should have. More, to be honest I didn’t even feel the change from enemies to lovers…. As I said, everything semed so rushed to me and I don’t know why considering that you have pages in wich every single hour of the day is described (why?), so we could have had more indeept info about their feelings .

Now, about the story, I need to say this, the author have chose the right title because Jax is in fact a brute.

I tried to empathize with him because I don't think I would have been better of him if all my life I thinked that my dad have abbandoned me, so I totally am okay with his desire to get revenge and I can undestand his hate for Cleo (the child his father love instead of him), but I didn't have liked how trash-y he was in the beginning.

The "thing" with Kim? the author totally could have skipped that part. It's so nasty that the she thinked that get the two hooked up was a good thing.

I'm not okay with this, I know it was part of the revenge, but as a reader I don't wanna read explicit scenes of the H with other women, how can I believe in his feeling afterward?
This scenes and the lack of feeling between Jax and Cleo have totally ruined the book for me, so here why I can’t give more that 2.5 stars to this book.

[Laura Blanco · Rating 1 out of 5]

acabo de leerme la rosa de guadalupe sin darme cuenta.

[Valentina · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Touching romance

Enemies to lovers tale that is captivating from the first scene where we meet attractive, bad boy Jax and sensitive, sweet Cleo. Cleo has spent the magical night of her life, happy and uninhibited, with a new charming man, but little does she realize her stepbrother, Jax, has motives that were anything but altruistic.

This story follows Jax's plan to hurt his father for abandoning him as a child. What better way than through his father's new family, targeting the beloved Cleo, stepsister whom his father dotes on.

I liked the characters in the story, the special personalities of Jax and Cleo, and the return of characters from previous books. The emotion was heartfelt -- Jax's turmoil of not being enough, his conflicted envy of Cleo's relationship with his father and his ties of father's new family; as well as Cleo's guilt over her deceased brother. These two tortured souls eventually love each other with such warmth, tenderness, and intensity. Jax's care and generosity made the story very touching. Both characters came into their own maturity, understanding, even forgiveness of life's trials. I also liked the untraditional family structures well-presented as conventional. Again, supporting characters contributed to the enjoyment of this book.

A bit of a medium burn, more than a little descriptive, which at times could have been a faster pace, but still an excellent, moving story. My favorite in this series.

[Diana R. Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

new favorite

This is the 3rd book I’ve read from eden and it it’s definitely my new favorite! The story ticked me off to start with but the. As it began to unravel and the truth showed I fell in love!! Looking forward to the next!

[Paks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ugh, Cleo.

It might be just me but once I can’t really mesh with the female main character, the book becomes unreadable. Cleo, miss goody two shoes, was TOO goody two shoes. She’s a senior in COLLEGE, but a lot of her reactions are juvenile (screaming, “panic attacks” at her OWN actions, icing out her BFF for 3 weeks because her BFF dared to live her life up, MY LITTLE PONY really?!?!!) I skipped through a lot of the story. I disagree with the positive reviews that each subsequent book got better. I think there’s just something very similar about the female mains in Knight, LJ, and Jax’s books that I couldn’t get over even though they all look completely different.

[Ellie Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yeah it was really bad

Jax fucked her friend, sent and took a raunchy photo of her without asking for her permission, basically physically abused her at the start and was an over all proper prick and they still ended up together?

Make it make sense this book literally sucks ass and has put me off so much I may not read the 4th book

If I could give it 0 stars I would

⭐️

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I despise everything about this book. Don’t recommend at all, only recommend to have someone to share my misery with. This book made me not want to read again for a month…

Spoilers:

First off, what psycho wants to sleep with his stepsister to get revenge on his bio dad who he just assumes cheated, without ever knowing he for sure did, just that there was infidelity involved in his parents divorce… duh it was your mom you stupid idiot. Then he’s like, she’s pretending to be a nice person, why would she do that?? He was acting like the typical female romantic book character that everyone hates. He didn’t even ever do anything bad to his dad, he just kept trying to kill this one girl’s whole life, and she just finds it hot? I don’t think so. Also, he slept with her friend, she completely forgave him for that, she forgave him so quick because he was nice literally once, the hell is that? She’s like, I’m a strong independent woman, and then just lets him do anything he wants.
Then this man finds out that he hates his dad for no reason and his moms lied to him his whole life and they were the ones who cheated, and he’s like, that makes so much more sense… and immediately forgave his moms and his dad, he was ready to kill his dad for cheating, but forgave his moms for lying to him for 20 years and making him hate his dad? That doesn’t make any sense. And then his phone died and he didn’t see any of the missed calls from this chick, but texts her, and then she crashes her car and almost died because she was texting and he decides he can’t be with her because he’s the one who put her in the hospital? She was texting while driving, her fault, the crash was unnecessary and weird, and this guy just gave his kidney and everyone was worried about him dying? What about his girlfriend literally dying across the room? Then he had “complications” I don’t think so, but he could miraculously kiss her when he had just had surgery, sure. He wasn’t going to die from giving someone his kidney, and no self aware person would be like, no, don’t save this dying girl’s life because you donating your kidney could be bad..
Also, how does she conveniently have a kidney condition that was never mentioned? And how does he have the same blood type but literally no one else, out of dozens and of people do? That doesn’t make any sense, also, I don’t think dozens of people just sign up to donate a kidney. Then this girl, after this guy has a traumatic event at his dad’s birthday, comforts him by talking about her brother’s death, it’s not about you dude, stop talking about yourself. Also, they really need to stop fucking so much, especially when he calls her stepsis while they are. And calling her stepsis in general while they are dating is weird as hell.
Also, why does this man not have a lock on his phone? No one in this story had a password to their phone? That doesn’t make any sense. Also, if you have best friends, but they are mentioned so little, and when they are there it is so awkward and forced, why include them?
There is so much wrong with this story and I didn’t even mention it all and I can’t do it, idk why this is so highly rated, y’all are insane. This is a level of toxic I cannot get behind. Also the weird territorial ness of these men is astounding, if a man said I was his and only his and he owned me, I would not melt on the spot, I would gag and run away because that is scary and controlling, which he just showed in the beginning when he literally attacked her and continually SAed her under the guise that she wanted it, and she just let it happen? Absolutely not.

[Lisa Brydon · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. I understand that all of these books are meant to be enemies to lovers, but the outright misogyny and borderline SA at the very beginning of this book is disgusting. For a man supposedly raised by 2 moms, Jax is disgusting in his attitude and language towards women. It's not written like he's trying to justify his behaviour, but more like he truly believes these things. I feel bad for Chloe, but for once one of these girls needs to actually stand up right away at the beginning. They all let the boys get away with too much for too long, but each book gets a male lead who is less redeemable than the last. I stuck it out in book 2, but I am not willing to see redemption for a man this vile when I know it's going to be weakly excused and poorly written. I can often forgive a lot in an enemies to lovers romance, but not this time.

[Alaina]

rtc

[Liz [reads books] · Rating 5 out of 5]

First book by this author. I liked it a lot!

[Bookiechick Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

JAX!!
.
My poor heart. It definitely went through the ringer with this book. The highs and lows. The good the bad. All of it made for an emotional, exciting and heartwarming read.
.
I swooned so hard! Royal was number 1, but jax? He’s in a league of his own. You really can’t pick a fave for any of the guys in this series but jax came close. I loved every minute of this book. I was captivated from the first page and the story wouldn’t let me go till I found myself at the end and tried so hard to drag that Epilogue out.
.
Jax and Cleo, honestly couple goals. I loved reading their journey. They definitely went through their fair share of obstacles and where they ended up at the end was beautiful. The title is definitely apt for this one! I loved how they both balanced each other out while also giving being and giving that little something that brings out the best in each other. The plot was great and I must admit didn’t see a couple things coming which I enjoyed. I love unpredictability and this had some unpredictable twists.
.
Bravo Eden! Another amazing book in this series. I cannot wait till the next book!

[Allie Felix · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tapping out at 5%

This writing is AWFUL. It was physically painful to read this. It felt like a 12 year old writing fanfic. The writing makes no sense and it’s already so repetitive. The female lead is supposed to be a college senior (guessing about 21/22) yet she acts like she’s 13.

I simply cannot.

[ιᥒgᥱ ♚ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!!! This story was brutal, and cute.
And the ending tell me I think I know about who the last book will be. :D All I can say if im correct. Yasss! Always loved his caracter so much! Keep on writing please. And maybe a spinoff in the future would be great!

[a!nsley · Rating 1 out of 5]

{1.25⭐️} WHAT WAS THIS—I got recommended this based on trope recs on booktok and I was lied to. I don’t think I can sue anyone for that but I’d like to.

My favorite quote, from the love interest, in the epilogue (POST character development) “You can’t hate me cause you ain’t me.” I am crying.

[Alexa · Rating 1 out of 5]

once again tiktok made me do it and i did not like it

[Regina Phalange · Rating 1 out of 5]

All those in favor of Goodreads adding an option to give zero stars say "Aye."

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars



•Bully Romance
•Step-siblings
•Virgin FMC
•Hidden Identity


IF YOU DON’T LIKE BULLY ROMANCE, DO NOT READ THIS. This isn’t the craziest mmc I’ve ever encountered but he is pretty mean at times. I did notice a lot of negative reviews due to this so I want to make it very clear this is a bully romance and the mmc is mean to the fmc. But imo that just makes it so much better when he goes soft for her 🥰


Jaxen despises his dad after he left his mom for another woman, abandoned him and became a father figure to the other woman’s daughter. He decides he’s going to transfer to the same college his step-sister attends (which is in Florida where his dad lives) and he’s going to wreck his dad’s perfect little family.
Cleo meets Brett at a club and has a one night stand with him, the next day she finds out Brett is actually Jaxen and he’s her step-brother and that he knew who she was when they slept together. He starts taunting her, moving into her coed dorm room, sleeps with her best friend, toys with her constantly. She can’t stand him but he’s always there, always around.


This is my favorite so far in this series. I absolutely LOVED the mc’s. Jax just wanted to be loved by his father and it hurt seeing him be a father to a girl he wasn’t even blood related. Cleo blames herself for something that happened when she was a kid and because of that she doesn’t see her worth majority of the time. When Jax said ‘why do you get everything, even me?’ I about broke down 😭 poor baby.

The way their relationship got outed about took me out. Omg. It was so embarrassing. I was so happy when they got their HEA.

I also liked seeing all the previous characters in this book. If it weren’t for a few very cringy moments/ things said this would’ve easily been a 5 star read for me. (There were also some grammatical errors).

If you like bully romances with step-siblings definitely check this out!

[Missy Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eden has done an amazing job with this series, I really do think that this has become my favorite of hers. She has this way of writing these characters that have different layers to them. Over the course of the book you get to see those layers slowly peel back to the heart of the matter. Beautiful Brute is the story of Cleo and Jax.

So in this enemies to lovers romance we have our lead Jax, who has had issues with his father for well being a crappy dad. So when his dad remarries and he has a new step sister, well he sees the perfect opportunity to get revenge on his dad. For he dotes on her more than he ever did on him. Enter Cleo, said step sister. Let the games begin.

So the characters were well written, I found them both likable, and together they are fire. Their chemistry was addicting. So we know that Jax would have issues but what you do not know is so does Cleo. So watching these two work through their problems and grow, was very satisfying. So overall I would highly recommend this story and this author.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was eagerly waiting for Jax's book since he and Ramses were my favorite characters.

I was so surprised Jax was a total asshole in this book. He was always so fun and a jokester so I was in shock. But honestly this is a dark romance novel so I don't understand why people were complaining about this story. Dark bully romance means guy is typically an asshole.

What I noticed is an error. In previous books they always spoke about Jax being shorter than the guys where he fit under their arms that he apparently was under 6 ft. In this book he's 6'2" so how is that??

Anyway..I enjoyed the story. Jax wss a manwhore so I was disappointed that Cleo slept with him again after all the women he continued to sleep with in front of her.

I thought Cleo was a little too naive. She's in her early twenties but yet had her room as my little pony and even her pajamas?! Wtf.

I'm glad at least in end of novel Jax started to be his fun loving joking again. I never get tired of reading about these guys.

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

... shot through the heart...

I've read every single book by this author, and Beautiful Brute just became my favourite one.

So many feels! I loved it so much, and I loved everything about it - the hero, the heroine, thier parents, friends ( I love this gang), the plot, the story line, writing style, the heartbrakes and the moments of love.

Cleo is the good girl. She's a virgin when she sleeps with Jax. When the words 'I'm your stepbrother' are thrown in her face she feels lost.
Jax is the villain you'll love. He knows Cleo is his stepsister when he sleeps with her. He does it because of the revenge. He feels empty, cold, hateful even. He was ripped of a father when he was just a boy, and Cleo got his father as hers. But the more he is with Cleo the less he hates her.

Beautiful Brute is the most emotional book by this author so far. Those moments, when I as a reader saw that lost, broken boy in Jax, were the most beautiful ones to me.

[Mona Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a story, I mean seriously I was not expecting this from fun loving Jax from Eden's other series. From the very first page, I was hooked. And then Jax, my boy Jax I wanted to hate you I really did because you were just so un-Jax that I just couldn't wrap my head around it. And then Cleo, sweet naive Cleo got to you....and seeing all of the Court boys with their ladies? Amazing and so perfect
This book will rip your heart out, smash it to pieces, put it back in and then rip it out again, and yet you will not be able to stop reading it. Bravo Eden Bravo, I absolutely loved every moment of this story.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Family ties mean something different to Cleo and Jax. Jax has his own issues with his family and they start to include Cleo (unknown to her). It starts a battle of wills between her and Jax. One where he'll use any means necessary to break her. Things dont work out according to plan and some old wounds resurface. Some that made my heart hurt reading them. Really sad. Regardless even when Jax was being a bit of an idiot you couldnt help but like the two of them and hope they get their HEA. What Jax does for Cleo does make your heart melt (how could it not?). Well this book was just as good as the others in this series and im loving every minute reading it