Toxic Hearts

by Emm Darcy, May Sage

Erica

The only thing Chase Archer hates more than me is how much he wants me.

Day and night, he punishes me for crimes I didn’t commit, making me bear the weight of my mother’s sins.

Then he decides to change the rules of our twisted game. After what he put me through, he thinks he can claim me? I’ll never give in, even if I have to destroy my heart along with his.

Chase

So, I might have messed up. I didn’t have all the facts. If I’d known then what I know now, I would have claimed her the first time we met, and never let go.

Instead, I tried to break her.

Not that any of my mistakes matter. Erica will be mine, even if I have to destroy my heart along with hers.

Genres: Enemies To Lovers, High School, Romance, Dark Romance, Dark, Young Adult, College

260 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 29, 2022

About the author

Pen name for author May Sage

Reviews

[Sonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bully versus a feisy-ish girl

I'm torn about this book, but I liked it once I finished it. I love all the buildup and tension, even the one smexy scene, but the ending was rushed.

Side note- I read this months ago when it was part of the Filthy Elites anthology. My review got merged on it but never showed up here (until now)

Chase has been bullying Erica for months now. Why? Her mother is his dad's mistress😬, and he's going to make Erica pay for it😅. His dad not only has his side-chick, but he moved them onto their property (they have their own place though), which only adds fuel to the fire when it comes to how Chase feels towards Erica.

Chase might bully Erica, but she doesn't let him overwhelm her because she argues back. He constantly makes comments about her smexual experience, and she's feisty back. During these parts, she came off as abrasive, but she's really only had ONE intimate partner😬. She's putting up a front in order to battle it out against him. But underneath it all is a ton of smexual tension👀.

What I liked: Possible Spoilers-
-The tension🔥. Oh lawd👀. Since the first time we see them argue, they have this raw, passionate chemistry🥵. When they're arguing, when they're agreeing, or even when they're in the same room, it's tension galore😅

-The n0nc0n/dubc0n scenes😉. Yeah, yeah, I know. It's not everyone's jam, but it's definitely mine👀. Their first encounters aren't exactly consensual😬, but then it becomes pleasurable for her as well 🥵

He nudges my panties aside and presses the head of his c0ck forward, slow and hard. “So f*cking wet. You’re coating my c0ck, doll.” 
My breath hitches and I gasp at the sudden fullness, at the flood of heat, at his f*cking audacity. “Chase! You can’t do—”
I don’t finish my sentence, because he thrusts forward, hard.  Oh, fuck. “I just have, pretty baby doll.”

-The one full smex scene🔥. Okay. Well more like two since it’s like back to back. Sigh. Man, I can't BELIEVE we don’t get more😒 (but then again, this book is on the short side- less than 200 pages). Chase gets extra angry at Erica, and there's only one way to assuage his anger👀... and I was here for it😉

“When will you understand? I don’t take orders from you.” I keep kissing her under the water, sparing no part of her back, arms, and neck. When she turns, she’s frowning, so I kiss the spot between her eyes, too.  “What the hell are you doing?”  I don’t have an answer for her, so instead, I drop to my knees…

-Chase's JP side👀. Oh yeah... I love OMD scenes😈. Vincent, Erica's previous best friend who betrayed her, tries to be aggressive with her, and Chase isn't gonna have it💁🏻‍♀️. He's the ONLY one that can be forceful with her 💅. GTFOH Vincent! Doing that is only gonna get your a$$ kicked 💁🏻‍♀️

-Grovel ish? Once Chase finds out the truth about things, he changes his behavior towards Erica (which she questions and is hesitant about). It's not a grovel in the traditional sense, but he tries to make amends for his assholy behavior😅, but then...

-He realizes Erica likes his assholy behavior lol🙃

-MINEMINEMINE

Mine. Erica needs to be claimed, right here, right now. I carn't afford to let her have freedom, not in Thorn Falls, where she could be taken from me by any of the predators circling us. Mine, mine, mine.

-The fact that Chase only wants Erica and his d doesn't work for anyone else👏🏻🔥

my cock simply isn't interested in anyone but Erica. It hasn't even twitched for another woman since she moved next door. She broke it.

-Erica's feistiness- for the most part🫣. There were times I wanted to roll my eyes, but other times, I liked her comebacks 🙃

-The way Chase defends Erica😅. Sure, he bullies her, but he's the ONLY one that can lol💅

-Erica's a science girl👏🏻. We don't have enough of those in books. She also ice skates❤️

-no c0nd0ms😈... gah... the way he doesn't even care that she's not on the pill 😈💦

-He calls her baby and doll 🥹

-Chase could be sweet/swoony too 🥰❤️

Chase laughs, moving to put my seat belt on for me.  "I can do that myself," I say, taking the clasp back from him. He takes my hands in his and massages my palms until I let go of the belt. “I know you can. And you can get yourself off, too.” My breath hitches as he leans in to take my lip in a dazzling, hot, and gallingly quick kiss. “You still like when I do it for you.” Chases clicks the clasp into its lock and closes my door before walking to the driver's seat.

things I didn't like/wanted more
-The ending was rushed😒. SOOOOO much happens in the last little bit. It really needed to have been drawn out a little since some serious things happen

-More smex scenes😑. We get some smexual scenes, but only one full smex one (it’s like a two in one lol… so I guess two smex scenes)😒. With ALLLLL the tension throughout the book, I don't know why we didn't get more😑. Sigh...so much potential here😒

-Erica's feistiness- there were times I rolled my eyes😬. I didn't like how she made it seem like she was suuuuper experienced when she's only been with one person, but I also didn't mind how abrasive she could be (see, I'm torn lol)

Overall, I enjoyed it. I wish it was longer

⚠️safety squad⚠️
-no cheating/sharing/owd
-noncon/dubcon
-bullying
-praise kink
-OM- OM1- h’s former best friend still wants her. She doesn’t. When he forces a kiss on her, the H steps in and takes care of him 💁🏻‍♀️. OM2- the h’s one-and-only previous partner asks if she wants to help him relieve stress. She says no
-OM1 attacks h
-OW-the H always has the head cheerleader on his arm, but he’s not interested in her and doesn’t see her that way
-no condoms 👀 on purpose 😈
-there’s some darkness/death

[Hey Lin]

Ok, I usually don’t care if the girl is a whooore and has sexy with lots of guys but....I’m fine. I like them inexperienced and shy 🤷‍♀️😂 gah, this girl kept talking about how she gives lots of smexxeroo and meh. It was such a turnoff.

Her mom is basically a hohoho and floats from man to man or swindles them. Her moms latest is the boy bully’s father and the father is effing the hs mom. He’s also marry!!!! Shock! Horror! Gasp! 😐 so now he’s mean to her. Okur. Any reason for the bullying? I dunno. Apparently it’s her fault that her mom is effing his dad 🤔 *nodding slowly *

The writing was a bit mid (my middle schoolers way of sayin it was meh, not the worst but not the best. In the middle aka mid). Ehhhhjh, dnfed around 10% 🥺

[Lady Lauren Explorer · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75

This was just too short for how good it is!

I love how Chase grovels in the middle. Like the way he goes about it is crazy! Very crazy! He is definitely on par with Carter (Untouchable) and Dare (Even If It Hurts).

I love him as a hero and I really wish this was longer, but I do know that there is going to be a interconnected series following his best friend and his best friends cousins, so I’m definitely reading that!

Wish there was more to ending! But I’m definitely waiting for Cam’s book!

[Elisa ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 50%

i'm sorry, i love bully romances, but i like my bullies to have been in love with the heroine, and this is not the case :(

[˚₊‧꒰ა vruxreads ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ahh complete waste of my time! The hero was selfish and pathetic who bullied the heroine for someone else's mistake. He called her whore, urinal, slut and many more things. The heroine was a strong character and that's the only thing I liked about this book. She wasn't a meek and cry baby like other bully romance books.

But once the hero got to know the truth, he changed like one moment he was a bully and the next moment he got all lovey-dovey. The ending was abrupt. BORING READ! DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME.

‼️no cheating, the hero was the previous man-whore, the heroine was not a virgin, there is OW and OM drama‼️

[Brigette G · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick enemies to lovers story. We’ve got the elite/school yard bully (Chase) and the feisty/nerd/hot girl from the trash side of the tracks (Erica). There’s power plays, more nerds, strippers, swingers, stalkers and a mum that’s playing hide the sausage with Chases dad.. Did I mention Chase and Erica they live on the same property? #awkward

Erica doesn’t know how to be in a healthy relationship, but luckily for her - Chase likes to chase.. #cheesyIKnow

The story actually had potential, but it was too surface to really reach any real depth. There were a few scattered suacey bits, but not enough to wet my whistle.

Consider this a good/quick read while your waiting for your next book to come out - but just know it’s not enough to spin your feathers ;)

** I read this as a part of the “Filthy Elites Anthology”

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was exactly the type of book that I needed to read right now. It met my darkness needs, and kind of pulled me out of my latest slump. I would have loved for the story to be longer, however it didn't need to be. Any extra would have been just so that I could keep living in their world. I would have loved to see how the college years went. I'm hoping that we get to see these characters again, through the other Founding Families kids' stories.

[vivareads · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m disappointed, it had a lot of potential but failed to deliver (or at least for me)
It was too rushed. The “bullying” part was never shown, just mentioned… and it never did really affect the h.
h was too annoying. H was a bit better, not much tho.

[Medollga · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was sooo good! Partially because I had no expectations, but also because everything just worked together. It's a bully highschool romance with a possessive alpha hero and an incredibly interesting heroine. They have great banter, they fight, they have smutty scènes. the backstory about the parents killed me 😂😂😂

[Books123]

DNF@34%.

Didn’t keep my interest also the chapters are not labelled by POV so when chap 10 was in Chase’s POV I was confused at first.

[Tabatha Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars bumped to 5. I didn’t realize it when I borrowed this from KU but I had already read this in the Filthy Elites anthology. I only read 3 books from that anthology but they were all stellar. I’d never read anything by this author, any of her pen names, as far as I know.

The bullying here isn’t too intense. Mostly name calling and mild harassment. Eventually it takes a more noncon/dubcon turn because he’s obsessed with her. Chase isn’t much of a groveler. I honestly think he just doesn’t know how. I think if he knew how to grovel to fix his misdeeds he would try. Instead he just decides to be nice and respectful(to a point) and earnest with his intentions. She keeps pushing away and he won’t let her.

This is a pretty awesome read. I loved both H/h. His obsession and determination are perfect. The h was tough but not annoying.

The whole bullying thing stemmed from him being angry her mom was having an “ affair” with his dad. When it’s revealed that H’s mom knows and is good with it he no longer has a reason to bully h and he feels like a ass.

Now, the one thing I’d change up in this story is the 3rd act reveal they all his rich buddies are part of the rich people swinging sex club Hs mom is in. They don’t bang his mom or anything but it still was gross. The whole sex club thing is clearly important for Cam’s book so I may not continue this series. I’ll hold off til I can get a better sense of the sex club stuff. Normally that would not bother me so much but It will depend on how it’s handled in that book after the way it was in this one.

Medium burn. They have sex at 52%. I’d call it noncon. There’s a dubcon BJ earlier on.

No virgins
No condoms
Dubcon
Noncon
Push away from h
No OW drama
Mild OM drama
No cheating
No scenes with others
No cliffhanger
HEA

Safety - I’d say this is fairly safe. No cheating or OW drama. The h has an ex BFF whose big mad she rejected him as a boyfriend. He turned all her former friends against her. He’s a little punk

There’s another guy, Damian, she had a friends with benefits relationship with that’s over before book starts. He asks if she wants to kick it back up, she says no.

There’s a point earlier when H hangs out with another girl and h is jealous. It’s in the bullying part. Nothing happens. He’s not into the other girl. It’s a friend thing.

[Sofia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was craving the bully trope for some odd reason and found this book after just typing "Bully Romance" in the KU search bar, and while I don't necessarily regret picking up this story, I certainly won't lie and say it's something you should definitely read, because it's not.

I didn't have any big issues with this story. If anything, it was fine, although I will say, this book combines a few weird aspects, is rather unbelievable and just isn't really good at displaying a groveling bully. This book follows the rich kid, poor kid, eastside, westside bully trope, with a few added elements that didn't feel necessary There's a rich person swingers club in this book that the MMC's mom is part of. His parents aren't actually together and conceived him in an orgy and that's why his dad is dating the FMC's mom, and the FMC's mom is kind of neglectful and just kind of heartless? All in all, I think there were many other different explanations that could have been given besides that one . In addition to that, as I mentioned above, I want these tormentors to beg for forgiveness, and I feel it is very difficult to find the right balance of groveling for this trope, just because most of the time, it doesn't feel as if they're doing enough to earn that forgiveness, which is the case for this story in my opinion. We also don't really get a full glimpse of any true bullying. It's all just mentions of stuff in the past and what not.

In truth, I just don't really think this was a good representation of the bully romance trope. The writing was fine, but the content matter felt odd, and unbelievable. It really focused on separating the rich kids and the poor kids, but it didn't do so in what I felt was a tasteful manner.

All in all, two stars. I don't fully know how to word my thoughts regarding this story, but either way, I read it and now I'm done with it.

[Aurora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 Stars ⭐️

This book follows Chase and Erica. They are both in High school, and they meet after Erica's mom starts working/dating Chase's dad. This is a bully romance so there are some scenes that contain bullying, though this book was quite mellow in my opinion with the bullying aspects.

I wish it would have been longer. It is quite a fast paced book, which made the characters a little less believable together. I wish we would have gotten more scenes of them together as a couple/actually getting to know each other. It feels like a little one-sided relationship, like Chase decides he's okay with Erica and stops bullying her and wants to date her immediately. There are also some surreal aspects (Like their engagement at the end.... like you guys had sex once and maybe spoken 10 times.... also why are the adults so okay with this?)

Anyways, this was your average high school bully romance. There are some crazy parts (the parents mainly), and it is fast paced (like crazy fast). But read it if you like highschool drama and bully romances.

[London D · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ½ stars. Great storyline

I loved the book. The storyline and plot were a fast read, and enjoyable, without the author dragging the story excessively. I liked the main characters Chase and Erica both characters mature and grow throughout the book. In the beginning, I thought it was the usual plot; the other woman, the cheating billionaire, the evil wife, the bully, and the disappointed daughter. It is not. I actually guessed what was happening in the parent's life, and all of a sudden the wool is pulled out from the eyes and everything makes sense. I liked how the author handles the story, sure I would like to read more about Chase and Erica but thought the storyline had an initial, a middle, and an end without the nonsense that other authors have going on with their writing. The storyline is perfectly composed, and it kept me captivated. I liked the secondary characters Rhys, Cam, and Roman. Cam is a mysterious character. He is very interesting, he intrigues me and I am ready to read his story.

[Anna Whin · Rating 4 out of 5]

omg WOW i didn’t know i would’ve liked this book so much.

if you knowww me, you knowww i love a good bully/obsessive Hero romance and this gave exactly that. ya know the type of books where the Hero is so obsessed/infatuated by the heroine but doesn’t want to be so he bullies her? my cup of tea for dayzzz

this starts off by Chase bullying Erica because Erica’s mom is seeing Chase’s dad. he’s so obsessed with her because Erica is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen but hates her because he thinks her family is trying to break up his. bullying goes on but i loveddd that Erica had a backbone and did not take this shit. some spicy scenes later, Chase finds out that his parents are actually in an open relationship so he allows himself to truly fall in love with Erica and IT WAS JUST SO CUTE! crazy, but cute! he started doing really sweet things which made Erica extremely suspicious but they ended up falling in love and living happily ever after ✨🌟✨🌟✨🌟

safety: no owd, no virgins, dubcon/noncon
• OMD: very slight scenes that made Chase crazy with jealousy 😛😛

[h ♡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't with this book 😭🤣

chase beats a guy half to death for kissing erica in CHAPTER THREE!!!

& when erica gets a ride home by damian, chase storms out the house instantly like he's about to rain down fire on the other dude for sharing the same air as erica.

👀🤣 like bro chill

and erica is just as bad. why does she talked about sucking cock every other page 🤮 when we asked for sexual liberation this is not what we meant.

also erica threatening oscar, LOL the second hand embarrassment 💀 all he did was question if she cheats on tests and she threw her salad at him and said:
“You don’t speak to me. You don’t look at me. You keep your judgmental, spoiled micro-nose out of my face for the rest of your life, or I’ll show you just why you should be afraid of Westside kids. Understood?

like girl, sit back down, nobody is scared of you 🤣🤣🤣

anyway dnf 34% because I'm so over reading bad wattpad style books.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never have high hopes for bully romances. They just kind of piss me off more than anything. And to be fair, about 50% of this pissed me off. Chase was a piece of shit. And overall, it was a little cringey with how ridiculous the storyline was for high schoolers.
But then he grovels. And while Erica dubiously consents to "relations," she still gives him as much vitriol as before. Maybe even more so after Chase starts to like her.

I only have one thing that really stood out and took me out of the story. When the author starts giving us Chase's POV, there's no warning, it's just a new chapter and Erica is being referred to in the 3rd person. A title heading would have been nice. This is the case in the paperback version I have, I don't know if it's different in the ebook version.

Otherwise, it's a good time for a high school bully romance. Kind of cringe, kind of dumb, pretty fun though.

[Debleena · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not even worthy of 1 star.

I can't understand how on Earth did this garbage get a 4+ star reviews with people mooning over the dirt boy Chase. I love me a nice bully romance,a dark bully romance but not ones where the bully doesn't get any comeuppance.
Chase doesn't grovel and just keeps pushing and forcing Erica. I absolutely loathe Erica, I don't know what she saw in her tormentor, what made the stupid girl even like an iota of Chase's personality when he has been a privileged asshole his whole life

This book was utterly disgusting and quite frankly I guess the author hates the female gender with how she writes her stories with spineless,too forgiving pathetic heroines and cruel, stupid,vomit inducing shitty heroes.

Reading this book was one of my worst mistakes of my life.

Ps- Sorry not sorry for the downright rude review.

[_book_topia_ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not normally a fan of dub-con/non-con but Chase Archer’s kind of f**ked up had me giggling. He’s an absolute nut job, but a funny one at that. There’s a scene that’s a little uncomfortable so if you really don’t like the whole non/dub con this ones not for you. But it really worked here.

You know what else I loved ?? Erica, her badass and couldn’t give a shit attitude was perfect to balance Chase and his entitled prick routine.

The story had some aspects to it that were a bit out there, but I’m presuming it’s to set the scene for Cam’s book. But I literally couldn’t get enough of it.

I’ve now added Cam’s book to my tbr, it’s meant to be darker than this one, and also another by the author that’s in the same light hearted tone as this one.

One of those rare finds you get when reading an anthology and I’m so happy I did!!

[Reeonna George · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read!

The bully scenes were incredibly mild! I feel like there could’ve been more detail added- like exactly what it was that drew the girl to boy type stuff. 3m is skipped in the beginning. But the author pulled it off to keep me engaged & I genuinely liked her characters.

I feel like I usually don’t like bc a book expands TOO much & is repetitive, but this time I wanted MORE.

4 stars though bc there were a lot of errors. Which was annoying & would stall me. Mostly not fully spelled words, like the last letter would be missing (this was repetitive) & just a few other errors. Genuine errors, not British me reading it wrong errors.

Over all a good book! Will definitely be reading the next book released!

[I Hate Romance Authors Who Hate Women · Rating 1 out of 5]

Comically Bad.

What an preposterous book! These kids are 18, he’s slept with half the girls in his school, has more money than God, was conceived during an orgy, is friends with people that are in sex clubs with their own parents and he also killed a man with his bare hands because why not? Her two best friends are a stripper and a prostitute, he ex friend tries to kill her, she’s a dyslexic math and science genius who goes to school, has a job and has figure skating practice 4 times a week.

Side note: he called her a ‘urinal’… lol! Personally, I wouldn’t let that slide.

[TheReadingDumby · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was actually, like, super freaking good? i didn't expect a lot from this, but then all of a sudden the book was awesome. the characters were super complex and kept me interested and the world and story themselves were super compelling. while i really hated the disrespect spewed by the male main character for the first while, i totally understand the main reason he did, and his development made him a much better character in me eyes. also, might i just say, FUCK YOU VINCENT YOU STANKY, RAPEY, EVIL SON OF A BITCH. overall, ti was a very good book and i would recommend checking it out.

[RedFlower · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must start by saying that I was pleasantly surprise with this storyline as the female character Erica is a fiery teenager, and she fights back in every corner.
I loved it, it's an easy read and Emm Darcy wrote it amazingly!

Wonderful strong characters throughout the book, and I also enjoyed very much the banter between Erica and Chase. Chase becomes obsessed with Erica and it was lovely to see their relationship grow.

Amazing high school bully story, and I recommend to everyone into this genre!!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Booklvr89 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love love love Sam Mariano's Untouchable, and have been looking for ages for more stories like it. This is the first book in a while that has hit that mark.

I love Chase. I love how he works to get his way. I love that she is a hot nerd. Just not one dang thing I didn't like about this book. My rating is 100% five stars all day long!!! This will be a frequent re-read for me.

Can't wait to read Cam's book.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Cynthia Mejia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply delicious!

As my first book from Emm Darcy, I didn’t know what to expect. Let me just say that Toxic Hearts was so good and this will definitely not be my last book by this author. I absolutely recommend this book.

The story was well written and the characters were engaging. I really enjoyed Erica. She was strong and feisty and stood up for herself. Chase was equal parts infuriating and irresistible. The side characters were also good. Can’t wait to read Camden’s story.

[R Rais · Rating 4 out of 5]

I freakin love this book!
Love the main characters! Both Chase and Erica are headstrong and determined. Love their fights for they are like foreplay to steamy times.
I could use more explicit details on the smegsi times though.
And if you like your books dark, this is not. Little grey ish bullying, yes. But still crazy in love with the characters!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

h and her mom move into the brownstone on the H's family estate. He hates them because the mom is having an affair with his father, who happens to be her mother's boss. Messy much? But of course H hates h but also wants her. When he finds out things are not as they seem...he does a 180 and basically claims the h. Forces an engagement on her. h thinks H is just messing with her head. She dislikes him but also wants him. Teen life is hard

[Tamotha clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Erica and Chase

Chase and Erica both was attracted to one another Chase is jealous of Erica being around any other male and Erica is jealous of Chase being around anyone else but her but they have a problem they think that Erica mom is going with Chase dad and cheating on Chase his mother and Erica also thanks her mother is going with Chase father that's where the conflict in their attraction to one another.

[mands · Rating 4 out of 5]

Livro super problemático e com coisas que nunca devem ser aceitas em um relacionamento. O famoso gênero dark. Mas não é um dark tãoooo forte.
Mas o que dizer se mesmo assim eu gostei? A escrita é muito boa e é mtooo rápido de ler.
A nota foi alta pq o livro me chamou a atenção e gostei que a Érica não era nada submissa e ela sempre sabia o que estava acontecendo e o poder que ela tinha. Isso foi diferente dos livros que já li desse estilo e gostei.

[Tranese · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm definitely buying this one!!

First book to be read by the author Emm Darcy and May Sage. I finished this book in one sitting, once I started it, I could not put this down!! I loved Erica's and Chase, and their whole dynamic. Neither cowarded, or apologized for who they were. They fought and found each other until the very end