Bully Me

Willow Heights Prep Academy: The Elite, Book 1

By: Selena

Narrated by: Amanda L'Orien

My name is Crystal Dolce, and I’m anything but sweet...

It’ll be easy, my father said. When we move to a small town in the south, we’ll own it, my brothers said. After all, my family is rich as sin and used to getting whatever they want. How hard could it be? Except, when we arrive in Faulkner, someone already owns this town.

The Darling family.

They are every bit as wealthy as we are, and they’re not happy with our new money moving in. The three Darling cousins, each one more cruel and gorgeous than the last, rule the halls of Willow Heights the way my brothers ruled our prep school in Manhattan. None is worse than Devlin Darling, who makes it his personal mission to ruin his new rivals.

The Darlings see my brothers as a threat. They want them gone. It doesn’t take them long to find my brothers’ one weakness.

Me.

Note: Bully Me is a high school dark romance suitable for listeners 18+.

©2020 Selena (P)2020 Selena

Willow Heights Prep Academy: The Elite

Bully Me (Willow Heights Prep Academy: The Elite, Book 1) is a dark bully romance with its own twisted moments. I've read and listened to a quite a few bully romances, however; this one is quite different and some actions were stomach puking feelings. And a bit much for my taste as I read/listen to a lot of dark bully books but just some of things were too much for my taste. The writing is very good, the characters are fleshed out, the plot unfolds smoothly, and the writing style is vivid and bold.. if you are looking for a different darker bully romance this series is for you.

Nararated by Amanda L'Orien; her inflection was smooth and easy to listen to. But with so many characters; Darlings & Dolce's it would have been more pleasurable with more narrators.

The Narrator Makes This Story

When I first started listening to this story, I didn't know if I would enjoy it. However, after listening to the narrator go from a New York to a southern drawl in the span of a few seconds, Amanda L'Orien made me keep listening. This fued between the Darling and Dolce families is getting interesting!

Good and scandelous

I'm enjoying this series by Selene,Since soap operas are kind of thing from the past..I enjoying all the juicy tidbits and craziness....10s across the board!!!

Could’ve been more.....

2.5 STAR SERIES.....

This review is for all three books. Bully Me ~ 4 stars, Betray Me ~ 2 stars and Bury Me ~ 2.5 stars.

This series had a Romeo and Juliet kind of vibe. Which I found entertaining and interesting. Who doesn’t like a good Forbidden story.

“If the Capulets and Montagues had known how it would end, would they have done things differently?” Even Crystal seems to think her families are like the epic love story.

Crystal Dolce and Delvin Darling families are sworn enemies. Making it impossible for them to be together. Sounds good...right?
Well sorry to disappoint. I was really hoping this book was going to be something I could have written home about....
Seriously this book had so much potential, but unfortunately Selena fell short with her female main character. For starters not only was Crystal annoying, but she was beyond pathetic! To the point it was embarrassing, because there is no possible way someone can be that stupid and pathetic!

I know this was a dark bully romance, but when there are that many disturbing and disgusting scenes happening to the heroine and she doesn’t do crap about it, well for one, I loss complete respect for the heroine. Plus I feel there is no way for the Hero to redeem himself and I felt that Selene tried to do exactly that in her third book, but no amount of groveling can make up for what Devlin and his cousins did. Nope! I wasn’t having any of it. Delvin and his cousin went WAY pass the point of no return in my opinion.

Also If your going to write about the Mafia then you better have a strong FMC and she better be able to hold her own and Crystal was soooo not that at all. Me being Italian myself I was disgusted how Crystal acted and behaved. If Selena would’ve had Crystal put up fight or do some repulsive things back to the Darlings this series would’ve been awesome! But Instead she was a doormat that pinned over the Hero throughout the series. All the while Delvin and his cousins treated her like a dog. Literally....if I had to hear one more time about that freakin dog collar or how her traitorous body betrayed her I seriously thought my ears would start bleeding!
Authors, Stop! with that would you!!! You make women sound stupid, like we have no willpower. 🙄

All Crystal talks about in book 2 is how she’ll get her revenge. I was so excited thinking “yes” finally she going to get back at these guys! Good lord was I ever wrong...The so called revenge...was so weak it was laughable...(due to Amazons guidelines some words had to be altered below)

“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” I say. “You think your family is better because they’ve had money for generations, but the truth is, you’re just living in the past. Your family will never reclaim its glory because you can’t go back in time. Everyone here is so enamored with the glory days of old, but the truth is, it’s over, Devlin. And those stupid traditions and attitudes you hold onto aren’t doing anything but holding you back. Because you think you can ruin a woman by screwing her, but I’ll let you in on a little secret. We’re not living in the 1800s anymore. A woman’s worth isn’t judged by the thickness of her hymen anymore, Devlin.” “I didn’t say it was,” he says, giving me a stormy look. “Then you should know that screwing me won’t ruin me any more than it ruined you.” “Your reputation probably says otherwise.” I shrug. “You think I care what all these backwards hicks think of me? So you tricked me into giving you my virginity. That shows what kind of person you are, not me.” “I thought we talked about that.” “And you thought I forgave you,” I say. “That’s cute, Devlin. You’re not used to girls playing you, so I’ll make it clear for you. I don’t like you, Devlin. I don’t want anything to do with you. You were nothing but a means to an end.”

Yep! there you have it folks! The Ultimate humiliation revenge....Wow! such powerful words! Seriously a 8-year-old could’ve done better than that! Like come on Selena that’s all you could come up with? Even Devlin’s comments in that revenge speak was more degrading then hers words. What was even more laughable then her revenge was that Crystal actually thought she broke Devlin’s heart with those words and even apologized for it in the third book. (Due to Amazons guidelines words had to be altered below)

“He tenses, and I don’t blame him. I made him screw me until he cared about me, and then I ripped his heart out like some heartless witch who needed it to fill the void where her own should be.”

Umm....Did I miss something, because I never even got that impression that Devlin was devastated? He barely blink n eye after that so called revenge. It wasn’t until the third book that he seem to show some feelings and that even seem nonexistent. I never felt that connection between Crystal and Devlin, because it went from nothing to Bam 💥 I’ll die for you kind of love. The only time I felt there connection was during the sex senses. Now the sex between them was off the charts hot! That I can say Selena didn’t miss a beat on. They were hot, steamy and dirty! I absolutely loved Devlin’s dirty talk!

It was beyond annoying that Crystal always referring herself as a monster, which was the biggest joke of all! Someone clearly needs to send Selena the definition of what a monster is, because Crystal wasn’t even close to being a monster. She was more of a weasel... not only was Crystal a doormat to the Darlings, but she was a doormat with her own family. Seriously I would’ve told Royal where he could stick it!

Needless to say by the time I got to book 3 I just wanted to get this series over with. At this point it was like Crystal forgot all the horrible things that happened to her, but still found the time to be such a hypocrite with her ridiculous comments...

“Just… Don’t let him walk all over you, okay? I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Umm hello! Is anyone home up there? She would say things like this throughout the series. Did she have amnesia?

Anyhow I just wanted this book to be over with. I can’t even write anything positive about the ending either, because that was a complete disaster/disappointment too. Way to many un-answered questions and of course it wasn’t a shocker that Crystal ended up being pregnant since her and Devlin never used any type of birth control. Way to go to show responsibility! Overall the series was such a disappointment, because it really could have been an awesome series if it was written with a strong FMC because the storyline was great.

Audiobook: This was my first time listening to Amanda L’Orien and she was absolutely awesome! It looks like this was her first time narrating a Romance book. I hope she will continue doing more audible narrating in the future. Her performance is a five-star!

Intense and Captivating!

This is the first book in the Willow Heights Prep Academy: The Elite, a Dark Bully Romance. This is a great start to the Series! The storyline is intense, and captivating! The world building between the Dolce and the Darlings is complex, and intriguing. The characters are great and well developed. The story ends on a big cliffhanger, and I can't wait to listen to Betray Me, the next book in the Series, to know what happens next. Amanda L'Orien did a great job with the narration.

bully me

I did enjoy this book. It's not like the others that I have read because it's more about one family versus another family and the things each does to the other to be the top of the food chain. Both sets are pushed hard by family members to be the best, and it seems like there's lots of ancient history between the two that we don't know about.
I read and listened to this and enjoyed it. I will read more to see what happens next

Fantastic book!!

🔥🔥🔥. ARC REVIEW- Bully Me by Selena. 🔥🔥🔥
Oh my…Bully me is sooo good. I enjoyed reading Bully Me immensely. Started by grabbing my attention and ended with a Big Bang! I was totally engrossed in Bully Me.. The cliffhanger at the end of Bully Me did its job very well as I can’t wait to read Betray Me. Lucky for me the whole series is out already so I can dive into Betray Me, book two in the Willow Heights Prep Academy. Bully Me will keep you engrossed from beginning to the very end and is filled with so much of my favorite elements. Bully Me is filled with lots of drama, angst, twists, turns, things going sideways, emotions, and very hot 🔥. I just love the way it’s the Dolce family vs the Darling Family and how the Dolce family is the new kids on the block and the Darlings will not just standby and let them take over. Selena did an extremely good job with Bully Me. Selena has quickly become one of my favorite authors and Bully Me is just one book from her that I enjoyed. I highly recommend Bully Me, Willow Heights Prep Academy series, and Selena as an author.

I took in turns both the audiobook from Audible and read the ebook from Amazon and I am so happy I did. I love audiobooks but when I can’t listen being able to read is a great way to enjoy a book. The narrator, Amanda L’Orien, did a fantastic job. I thought she enhanced the whole experience and will look forward to hearing her voice on other audiobooks. If you have the option of listening to the audiobook then I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Excellent listen!

The narrator is excellent. She has different voices for each of the characters and her voice is lovely to listen to. I listen to books while running or traveling and this book is perfect. The story itself is amazing, there is plenty of action and steam. There is bullying and protective older brothers. The mafia and handsome southern cousins. The female main character is strong mentally although she has never had to be until now.

Okay I see you Selena

Let’s me start by saying I would rank this book about a low 4 stars or like a solid 3.8 stars (if this could be a rating) so because of that I’ll rank on here a solid 4... This author is new to me and was part of a 26 books in 26 days and/or 26 books by end of September challenge so I put it on my to read list, I mean the name of the book alone was appealing to me... I’m so glad I got the chance to read, well listen, to this book. Now it isn’t my favorite or the best RH high school bully romance book I’ve ever read nor my top 5 but the plot and twist and turns kept me reading and wanting me to finish the series.

As to narration, it was alright... Amanda L’Orien isn’t my favorite narrator but she is by far not the worse I’ve heard. Would I seek books out that she reads, no. But I wouldn’t turn away from a narrated book by her and trust me there are some books I would do this with.

As to the actual book, without giving too much of the actual plot or twist away, I can say at times I was a bit frustrated with the heroine of the book and I wanted to knock some damn sense into her. I mean there is a difference between being strong and being strong (if you get my meaning). Like she was strong but she allowed too much stuff to happening and allowed it to happen kinda made me upset. But again, there was enough to peek my curiosity so on to book two for me.

Dolce vs Darling

I'm reading this series completely backwards and I am okay with that🤣 I started with Royal and Harpers series which i absolutely loved and devoured and I'm (im)patiently waiting for the rest of the books to be written. I figured I'd read about how this crazy rivalry between the Darlings and the Dolces all started.

This book takes us on a crazy emotional rollercoaster that I dont want to get off of! I started the next book already because I couldn't stop at that cliffhanger! The Darlings come from old money and rule this town. Their name means something, holds power. The Dolces are new in town. They are use to being on top in NY and are looking to take over. But the Darlings won't go down without a fight.