SYNOPSIS:
There was a time Jude Delouxe didn’t hate me, and I’m fairly certain it was when he didn’t know I existed.
Senior year, I finally caught his eye long enough to throw word vomit at him like the obsessed teenage girl I was.
That was then.
You see, the most wanted guy in school blamed me for losing his second chance with his girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend? Whatever. Point is, the Adonis loved to hate me.
It wasn’t my fault he’d followed me. It wasn’t my fault he’d stared too long and stood a little too close, just daring me to accomplish my wildest dreams.
And it most certainly wasn’t my fault his ex-girlfriend arrived when he’d decided to kiss me back.
Then the cruelty began.
I’d thought I could handle it, so long as his lips kept gracing mine and he kept giving me more scorching firsts. Until he took it too far, and all his carefully kept secrets blew open the doors to a brand-new world. A world he was all too familiar with.
Obsession became loathing, and fear replaced naivety as Jude was forced to hold my hand and help me navigate a secret society rife with sin and debauchery—the crème de la crème of Peridot Island.
If I weren’t careful, I’d do more than lose what remained of my heart. My first love and greatest foe wouldn’t be satisfied until he’d devoured my soul, too.
REVIEW:
Triggers: Bullying, Sexual Content & Violence
Hero: 4.5/5
Heroine: 5/5
Sex: 4.2/5
Plot: 4/5
Would I read again? Yes, this is one of my favorites
Would I read future boos from this author? Yes
Fern and Jude were neighbors for quite some years before Jude even knew Fern existed. The minute fern saw Jude, she was enamored with him, and like all good girl bad boy books, Jude didn’t know of her until she placed herself in his path.
She was obsessed and was willing to take whatever he gave, which was why he thought he could’ve done anything.
Jude had me screaming at this book because the guy doesn’t think about anything; he does whatever he felt like, whenever he felt like.
Every single encounter encouraged fern to obsess even more over him, and then he threw it back like he didn’t like or encouraged any of it.
For the first half of the book, the hero bullies the heroine all because his ex-girlfriend saw when he kissed her and, from there, everything he did was to either get back with his ex or mess with the h. He completely humiliates her at her prom in Front of everyone and then goes about life like nobody’s business, taking his ex out on dates and moving forward.
One of the best characters in this book was ferns’ mother, January. I loved how willing she was to go above and beyond to make sure Jude paid for what he did to her daughter while cleverly making sure her daughter doesn’t end up in a position that she couldn’t handle.
In the next half of the book, you see fern navigating through her college semester and life while trying to move on from the boy who destroyed her heart and reputation. You also saw Jude trying to understand what he did to her while wanting her back.
While I think Jude should’ve grovelled way more than he did before fern decided to give him a chance, I will say that I was happy to see that they got a HEA. This is one of those books that I read every time I’m in a book slump because it drags me out and shows me why I fell in love with reading.
