meganlatelysreviews's review
5.0
This book was pure smut and I AM HERE FOR IT!
Ramsey has been abused, cast aside and mostly ignored by others his entire life. At the beginning of senior year, he inadvertently meets Foxyn, Theron and Leyton who are freshman at the time. They make it their mission to bully Ramsey every chance they get. They had no idea that Ramsey secretly loved it after a while until they meet again in college years later.
Without giving too much away, I'm just going to say that this was an excellent take on the bully romance trope.
I received an ARC from Brea on Facebook in exchange for an honest review.
Ramsey has been abused, cast aside and mostly ignored by others his entire life. At the beginning of senior year, he inadvertently meets Foxyn, Theron and Leyton who are freshman at the time. They make it their mission to bully Ramsey every chance they get. They had no idea that Ramsey secretly loved it after a while until they meet again in college years later.
Without giving too much away, I'm just going to say that this was an excellent take on the bully romance trope.
I received an ARC from Brea on Facebook in exchange for an honest review.
mer2609's review
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
lillyreads_08's review
3.0
Be Mine, Cruel Valentine is the fifth and final book in the Corrupted Cupid series. We have Ramsey, who was bullied relentlessly in his senior year by three freshmen, Foxyn, Leyton and Theon. Those three are tight; they are like brothers. Six years later, when his former bullies are in university, Ramsey reappears before them; now it's time for him to claim them.
I was excited for this story, but sadly it fell a bit flat for me. While there is no redemption for the bullies (they are as cruel as ever), and Ramsey is no saint as he became a twisted man, I thought it would be darker. It just fell a bit short of what I wanted. Don't get me wrong; this book has violence, blood, and pain, it's an extreme bully romance. I had an issue with Ramsey's personality, but I really liked Leyton out of the bunch. We also get an appearance by Elio from [b:Savage|61269175|Savage|Brea Alepoú|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1654988254l/61269175._SX50_.jpg|96605615].
This book is level 5 spice. It's extremely hot, no question about that. The sex is rough, violent and unhinged. I enjoyed it. While this is MMMM, the bullies do not have a relationship with each other instead, it's one bottom and three tops type of arrangement. While I'm not crazy about poly/harem stories, if I'm going to read one I prefer that type of dynamic so that was a plus for me!
This was an "It's me, not the book" situation. I think most people will enjoy it - those who are into these tropes. Please check TWs, as this story is not for everyone.
I was excited for this story, but sadly it fell a bit flat for me. While there is no redemption for the bullies (they are as cruel as ever), and Ramsey is no saint as he became a twisted man, I thought it would be darker. It just fell a bit short of what I wanted. Don't get me wrong; this book has violence, blood, and pain, it's an extreme bully romance. I had an issue with Ramsey's personality, but I really liked Leyton out of the bunch. We also get an appearance by Elio from [b:Savage|61269175|Savage|Brea Alepoú|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1654988254l/61269175._SX50_.jpg|96605615].
This book is level 5 spice. It's extremely hot, no question about that. The sex is rough, violent and unhinged. I enjoyed it. While this is MMMM, the bullies do not have a relationship with each other instead, it's one bottom and three tops type of arrangement. While I'm not crazy about poly/harem stories, if I'm going to read one I prefer that type of dynamic so that was a plus for me!
This was an "It's me, not the book" situation. I think most people will enjoy it - those who are into these tropes. Please check TWs, as this story is not for everyone.
marina14's review
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
caiacassiopeia's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
fast-paced
2.0
Okay, the author is in general an insta-buy author for me,
because I love the spicy harem stories and kinks they wrote so far!
But I expected something else.
This is a Dark MMMM Bully Romance
but the bullying had only a short appearance in the prologue.
the authors note stated that they don't speak spanish.
I don't speak spanish either but I knew what they meant with "(...)puta"
In another review I saw the explanation how to use the terms correctly and it would've been such an easy change if they used a native spanish speaker to adjust this.
idk why it wasn't used
The anti-cupid-voice, which was a note from the author, should infuse the lust/love into the characters
I thought this might have a bigger part in the story and thought this was quite cool, but aside of one/two "sentences" it kinda ended there and wasn't adressed in the book. So if you haven't read the note, you would maybe get confused.
The obsession was entertaining, but the cruelty was (again) just a short plot point, and the side-character who was "the new lackey" was never mentioned again
I know this might sound harsh but these points are the main reason for the low rating.
---
reading the authors previous stories, the Gay-Harem Dynamic came almost always with some polycule/polyamory and it was my own fault for assuming, so I won't take this into my rating, but I thought it might be necessary to mention!
This was a strict 3 tops one bottom Harem/Poly Concept and while they had foursomes, they were all revolving around Ramsey and the 3 Tops saw themselves more as "brothers"
---
Tags are based on my personal impression/opinion and don’t have a 100% reliability.
If you don’t know if a book might be something for you:
Read reviews, ask questions and be a responsible adult.
Tags:
1st-person age-gap anal-play blowjob bully bullying college dark degradation dirty-talk first-love first-time foursome gay gay-harem humiliation kink marking masochism multi-pov murder mutilation piercings primal-play rough6 stalking toxic violence virgin (...)
There was a kink in the epilogue I just don't enjoy, the kink wasn't mentioned (as far as I know)
I haven't taken this into my rating, but find it necessary to mention
I enjoyed the humiliation, primal play, pain play and so on, but I couldn't lean back and enjoy because my mind was always revolving around the points that didn't add up for me.
because I love the spicy harem stories and kinks they wrote so far!
But I expected something else.
This is a Dark MMMM Bully Romance
but the bullying had only a short appearance in the prologue.
the authors note stated that they don't speak spanish.
I don't speak spanish either but I knew what they meant with "(...)puta"
In another review I saw the explanation how to use the terms correctly and it would've been such an easy change if they used a native spanish speaker to adjust this.
idk why it wasn't used
The anti-cupid-voice, which was a note from the author, should infuse the lust/love into the characters
I thought this might have a bigger part in the story and thought this was quite cool, but aside of one/two "sentences" it kinda ended there and wasn't adressed in the book. So if you haven't read the note, you would maybe get confused.
The obsession was entertaining, but the cruelty was (again) just a short plot point, and the side-character who was "the new lackey" was never mentioned again
I know this might sound harsh but these points are the main reason for the low rating.
---
reading the authors previous stories, the Gay-Harem Dynamic came almost always with some polycule/polyamory and it was my own fault for assuming, so I won't take this into my rating, but I thought it might be necessary to mention!
This was a strict 3 tops one bottom Harem/Poly Concept and while they had foursomes, they were all revolving around Ramsey and the 3 Tops saw themselves more as "brothers"
---
Tags are based on my personal impression/opinion and don’t have a 100% reliability.
If you don’t know if a book might be something for you:
Read reviews, ask questions and be a responsible adult.
Tags:
1st-person age-gap anal-play blowjob bully bullying college dark degradation dirty-talk first-love first-time foursome gay gay-harem humiliation kink marking masochism multi-pov murder mutilation piercings primal-play rough6 stalking toxic violence virgin (...)
There was a kink in the epilogue I just don't enjoy, the kink wasn't mentioned (as far as I know)
I haven't taken this into my rating, but find it necessary to mention
Spoiler
sploshing (sex where food is involved) is one of my few hard-pass-kinksI enjoyed the humiliation, primal play, pain play and so on, but I couldn't lean back and enjoy because my mind was always revolving around the points that didn't add up for me.
soda's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I enjoyed this story for what it is. Even though I had a few issues with this book, I still had a pretty good time reading it! It was really hot and I devoured it like nothing else.
What I like most is that it was a spoke-and-wheel relationship and only Ramsey was involved with the guys. The guys were not involved with each other. I definitely want more books like this! Because of the niche tropes (bully and spoke-and-wheel), I feel like I enjoyed it more than I should've.
What I like most is that it was a spoke-and-wheel relationship and only Ramsey was involved with the guys. The guys were not involved with each other. I definitely want more books like this! Because of the niche tropes (bully and spoke-and-wheel), I feel like I enjoyed it more than I should've.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence
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