**this rating is based on the entire series, not just this one book.
I was scrolling through KU at 3 am this morning in search of a good RH book when I stumbled upon this one, and then proceeded to read all three books (they are very short, and while the writing is definitely choppy and the author time jumps a lot, it's still easy to get through.)
Bully books are hella clichéd, especially high school ones, and this is no different. The reason behind the bullying in the first place is so fucking dumb, and just one conversation could have easily cleared everything up. Trent, the ringleader of this group, figured the worst in our heroine Emma, and his two other best friends, West & Reese, who were also best friends with Emma and IN LOVE with her just blindly followed Trents actions and made her life a living hell without thinking twice about it. *major eye roll.* they were all soooo in love with her but yet immediately decided she was this evil succubus who needed to be punished. *sigh*
Book one is a lot of telling but no showing about the bullying, and between the constant time jumps, over the top plot line and underdeveloped characters, not much goes on besides some hate sex.
Book two is much of the same for the first half, until Reese & West use their brains and realize that the girl they love just might have been telling the truth all along!! Romance isn't dead yet guys! I'll admit, I did like the soft moments Emma and Reese had, and I equally enjoyed her with West. They both seemed to have a connection with each other besides just hate fucking everywhere. But Trent is just so stupid 🙄 i don't think I've rolled my eyes so hard before at a supposed hero.
As for book three, that's where things really improved. The writing got a LOT better, and I felt the connection between all of them truly start to form. It's at this point that Trent realizes just how wrong he is, and grovels for pretty much the entire book which I definitely enjoyed. Reese & West became the best versions of themselves with their girl, but the main thing holding everyone back was who Emma was ultimately going to choose.. until she just decided not to. Even though she's been having sex with them all this entire time, this is truly the only RH book in the series for me. By the time it really started to take off though, it was basically over, and I wish we got to see more of them all. I also wished their individual relationships were fleshed out a bit more. We never really get any insight on who these boys really are outside of bullying and Emma's vagina (🤷♀️) but I did enjoy Trents redemption. The other two definitely deserved her more, but I love the fact that he realized that, but he still wasn't going to lose her again. Plus when they all started their group hump, those scenes were quite dirty, which was needed after all the over the top drama lamas.
Overall this was just an ok series with a pretty good ending. The last book is hands down the best, but I feel like these books had the potential to be *so* good, but it was all just surface level for so long. I felt like giving up multiple times, but my ass was invested so I powered through.. though I am glad i did. Like I've said, the third book almost made up for the previous two.
If you're looking to dip your toe in the RH romance world this would make a good starting point. Just beware that some of the major plot points are truly dumb, but this author does have some potential. I just may check out her other books.. at a later date.