Friday, June 12, 2020

Review: The Forever Crew by C.M. Stunich @CMStunich


The Forever Crew by C.M. Stunich
Series: Adamson All-Boys Academy #3
Publication date: January 24th, 2020
Pages: 288

Synopsis (according to Goodreads):
The secret is out.

I'm officially dating the entire Student Council, but that's not the only thing that's outside the norm at Adamson All-Boys Academy.

Nah, I think the murders are a bit more remarkable, although my dad might disagree. He's not exactly thrilled with my fake fiance or the other four boys that make my pulse race.

With two current students dead, and three attackers on my tail, it looks like I'm next. The fact that I'm a target isn't in question, but are the people closest to me involved somehow? Everyone's a suspect--my family, my classmates, even my new boyfriends.

Okay, that's it. I'm going to do it: I'm going to attend Adamson in a fucking skirt, and kick some ass.

Follow the clues, catch the bad guys, secure my future. Because, murder-mysteries aside, this is my final year of high school, and nothing lasts forever, right? Not even a forever crew.

***THE FOREVER CREW is a 120,000 word lighthearted reverse harem/high school/murder-mystery romance novel with a bully/suspense twist. This is book three of three in the series (with a fourth book crossover coming, titled "Orientation", that connects the series with my "Rich Boys of Burberry Prep" series). Contains foul language and sexual scenes; any sex featured is consensual.


Available at:
Free in Kindle Unlimited!!


Review:
Final book in a whirlwind romance series that I have lost sleep over, skipped meals for, and swooned thoroughly over is finally here. I really loved the last two books with how they tangled a mysterious string of murders with a hot exploration of sexuality and love. But with the cliffhanger from book two, my heart was breaking. How in the world could one of Charlotte's boyfriends possibly have anything to do with the murders or the people who are trying to hunt her down? Especially one of the boyfriends I was growing to truly appreciate. My heart was in my throat as I dove into the next book.

Charlotte questions everything and everybody surrounding her. She has her suspicions of key players in the people trying to kill her but with no concrete evidence all she can do is speculate. The danger is causing Charlotte to question even her father being behind it all. He has been trying to bulldoze over any decisions she tries to make for herself from day one. He conned her into going to school at Adamson, then shipped her back home, then ridiculed her for her actions to get back to the school to the point where he stopped treating her like his child and more as a troublesome student. He even threatened to expel her as a headmaster if she didn't toe the line. 

All the while, Church and his Council are using any and all connections to try to dig up dirt on the suspects on their long list. Add to that the fact that a group of female students are being introduced into Adamson All-Boy Academy and the problems just keep coming. It is the introduction of these new females that causes Charlotte to question whether her disguise is worth it anymore. It is starting to cause problems with the way the Council works trying to shield her from her secret coming out. It may be time to drop the persona she has adapted and start living once more as Charlotte and not Chuck. 

This final installment attempted to tie up a lot of loose ends from the previous two books but it was a bit of a muddled way of doing it. Charlotte's father was all over the place and even in the end we never really understood why he was acting that way. Charlotte deciding to de-boy seemed to be kind of a "oh, shit, girls are coming? ME FIRST!" She didn't want to be the guinea pig as the first girl at the school but she decided to out herself before the other female students had gotten the chance to join the school. It really felt like she just did it because she didn't want the other girls to get the attention of being the first female student when all along she had been rebelling against being exactly that. Also, I absolutely loathe the term "okay boomer" and seeing Charlotte say it repeatedly to her father made me cringe. She truly had zero respect for the man and then wondered why he tried to control her so heavily? That whole dynamic just seemed to not be very developed.

Do not get me wrong, this, like the other books, was masterful. I still thoroughly enjoyed it. I just didn't devour it as quickly and with as much vigor as I did the first two books. I did develop a serious crush on Church though. He went from "meh..." to "le sigh" for me. He even managed to bump Spencer out of 2nd ranking for me... Ranger will always be bae. 

The Forever Crew is the captivating conclusion of a steamy romance with mystery, murder, and mayhem of the most sinful ways.