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Series: Loxley Prep #1
Publication date: March 24th, 2022
Pages; 268
Spice: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Synopsis:
I've lost my family, my wealth, and the place I called home for the past five years.
Now I've moved back to where it all began...
With the guys I thought I'd never see again.
Abel, Ronan, Wells, and Bishop were my friends at one time.
The only girl they would let into their inner circle.
Now they hate me.
They think I'm a traitor.
And I don't know why.
But I am bound and determined to find out.
The problem is, there is a super fine between hate and lust.
What happens when we all cross it?
Traitor is the first book in the Loxley Prep enemies-to-lovers reverse harem series.
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Review:
Lennon is returning to the hometown she left long ago. She comes back with a mission in mind: to find out why her four best friends turned on her so easily when they were kids. Her Aunt Darby has other ideas for their trek back home which includes winning the heart of her old high school sweetheart, Brewster. As she joins her friends turned enemies in the hallowed halls of Loxley Prep she starts to try to piece together what happened when they had last seen each other. In a series of flashbacks and memories she remembers the boys they were and compares them to the delicious men they have suddenly become. But there seems to be a mystery surrounding all of them. Lennon is determined to get to the bottom of their troubled past but in doing so she may end up dredging up more of those ghosts that should have stayed forgotten.
As far as bully romances go this was a lot more emotional abuse than physical. The boys are Lennon's end all. She loves them and always has so seeing them look at her like she ruined their lives in enough to make her question everything they once had. I did like that each of them had a varying level of animosity for her. Wells and Ronan came around much faster than Bishop and Abel who I don't know if they ever will come around. Abel was particularly vicious and knew just how to hurt Lennon without even lifting a finger. A few snide remarks and rejections and he had her basically sobbing in abject pain. It was brutal to read and made my own heart clench.
In every reverse harem there is a boy that usually speaks to me more than the others. That was Bishop for me. Despite the fact he was a royal asshole, he was clearly the protector of the group. Abel was the leader, but Bishop was the one to make sure they all got everything they needed from a proper education to a guardian willing to step up and fight for them. Bishop was also a hot teacher which, y'know, yes, please. He was not the most connected to Lennon but the strong, soft spoken guys are always the ones I go for in books.
Lennon was a spitfire. She didn't cower. She didn't grovel. She didn't resort to trying to seek revenge despite their terrible treatment of her. She took their punishment and only offered a plaintive "why" in response. If I had been her I would have raged at them. Given them a taste of their own medicine and gave up completely on rekindling anything with them despite the fact they had all gone through literally hell with each other. She was one of the most enjoyable heroines I have read about in the entirety of 2022.
In all, I thoroughly enjoyed this first installment into a series that has more twists and turns than a corn maze. I have not been able to guess anything correctly the entire book. From who can be trusted to who is behind what great, big bad situation to why the boys are acting the way they are. I love that the author was able to keep an experienced reader like me intrigued and guessing. I hope there is much more mysteries to solve in the subsequent books.
