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Series: Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #2
Publication date: June 26th, 2020
Pages: 694
Synopsis:
The sex tape
The fish stew
The Unspeakables
The storm
The font
The bathtub
The ice
The gun
The clothes
The humiliation
The shower
The letters
THE VOW
I had my chance to run from these brutal boys and I didn't take it. The bonds between us are too strong now. Bonds of blood, oaths, betrayal and vengeance. And I tend to make good on all of them. I've made my list. And I won't stop until each and every one of their crimes has been paid for.
Divide and conquer. We're going to tear them apart from the inside out. I won't quit until I've had my pound of flesh and then some. These broken boys paint themselves up as kings and stand themselves on a pedestal above everybody else. But that only means they've got further to fall. And they're going to fall hard.
I know their strength now, but I've learned their weaknesses too. And I might just be becoming their greatest one. My father taught me how to survive, and it's time to use everything I know about predators to lure them into my own trap.
Lies, betrayal, seduction. I'll use every weapon at my disposal to bring them to their knees and once I'm done with them, they won't own me.
I'll own them.
This is book 2 in a dark romance series with love-hate themes, scenes of intense bullying, sexual scenes and may have triggers for some readers. It is a reverse harem which means the main character will end up with multiple partners.
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Review:
The cliffhangers Peckham and Valenti subject their readers to is absolutely cruel. The first book left off on such a critical situation that I didn't even have time to go and review the first book before hopping straight into the second (thank you Jesus for Kindle Unlimited). I wish I could say that I regretted that decision but, nope. Throw me back into Tatum and her Night Keepers' world pronto!
As the battle between the looters and the students of Everlake Prep starts to subside that attention is turned to the fact that Tatum was exposed to an individual with the Hades Virus. The Night Keepers are forced to realize their affections for their Night Bound girl when they are tentatively waiting to find out if their fight to protect her was all of nothing. Tatum narrowly avoids being infected and has decided to make the Night Keepers pay for all the torment they have put her through. She has a list and she will slowly cross off each of their offenses before she leaves to meet with her father and get to the bottom of his involvement with the release of the Hades Virus. But some of the lengths Tatum will go to to exact revenge may end up breaking the boys she is starting to find less than repulsive.
Saint, the most heartless of the Night Keepers, is shown in a different light as we slowly learn about his dark past and the reasons he needs his rules and routines to function. Tatum strikes at him in a way that utterly shatters him which causes Tatum to suddenly realize that revenge may not be worth causing the scars that suddenly become apparent on each of her boys. They have all suffered and while she unable to trust them completely after the wounds they have left in her heart, she does start to wonder if this war they have waged on each other is worth the pain they are causing each other.
When it comes time to escape the clutches of her Keepers and seek out her father, Monroe volunteers to help her along her journey. But this journey may be the last she seems of him and that causes their affection for each other to reach new heights. But the story will never end with passionate kisses and warm fuzzies as her father confides the truth to Tatum and they are confronted with an army of gun-wielding adversaries trying to keep their secrets contained by 'cleaning house'. Can the rest of her Night Keepers find her and save her from the clutches of true evil or is she destined to lose everything, even her own life?
I and finding Tatum in this book to be absolutely wonderful. She is so strong and so determined to stand up to those who have wronged her that she will stop at nothing to make them feel the pain they have unleashed on her. Albeit, she takes it a bit far at times but I do like that she didn't just curl up in a ball and wait for them to realize she is something special. She demanded it. She stood on her own feet and pushed back at every turn. She wasn't afraid of the consequences. She lost everything but rallied anyway. She is what every woman should strive to be.
The book did scatter a bit with how much was going on which made it hard for me to keep track of everything going on at varying degrees. Very 'okay is she on good terms with this person or is there some issue happening'. I also was confused with the addition of so many antagonists all at once. I should have kinda seen it coming after reading the Harlequin Crew series so far but a stalker, kidnappers, and tormenters? That's a lot to process. But it was only a small discomfort in all.
I have never seen a slow burn enemies-to-lovers series that stretches across books. The first book was all hate-filled animosity and torment; Kings of Lockdown was a dash of the first with a deeper lick of heat that made my heart race and stutter with the need to keep reading.
