Hating You

A Blackthorn Elite Novel, Book 1

By: J.L. Beck, Cassandra Hallman

Narrated by: Blake Richard, Olivia Amayo

Two years ago, she ruined my family’s life. Maybe, she thought it was only a little lie. That she did the right thing, that the worst was behind her, that no one had gotten hurt.

Oh, how naive the black haired beauty was! Fate has finally brought her back to me...to Blackthorn Academy.

Once upon a time, I was obsessed, consumed with the need to make her mine. Now, I just want revenge, and I’ll do whatever I can to get it.

You see, the beautiful, sweet Willow doesn’t realize the mistake she’s made, yet. She doesn’t realize that she’s entered the lion's den, and there won’t be any escaping her fate.

I’m Parker Rothschild, and I’ll become her nightmare, her enemy, her bully.

By the time I’m finished with her, she’ll be begging me for forgiveness and pleading to confess her sins.

Please note: This is a stand-alone dark bully romance. This audiobook contains scenes that may be triggering to some listeners. This is not a YA romance novel and should be listened to only by those who are 18 or older.

©2019 Beck & Hallman LLC (P)2020 Beck & Hallman LLC

3. 75 stars

Overall a good story but I think some things needed to be expanded on more. I didn't fully connect with the two main characters mainly because we never see how their relationship was in the past. I needed that to understand why their feelings were conflicted. I get the hate but didn't fully feel why they liked each other. Also one huge thing I didn't understand was why the h's sister never gave the h the full story on that fateful night. The smexy times were definitely hot and it is a story that you want to finish.

Narration was good, a few times in the beginning rustling can be heard during the female narrators chapters.

Dark Romance Win

This was one of my favorite dark romances so far. Read so many that were just too dark or not dark enough. This one is a great medium. Read the book and listened to the audio. Not sure which one I liked better. Both are great!

Welcome to Blackthorn! You’ll never want to leave!

This was a fantastic start to the Blackthorn Elite series!!
Willow’s future has been laid out for her the moment she decided to protect her sister. Little did she know, entering Blackthorn Academy is like walking right into the lions den and it’s going to change her life forever.
Parker Rothschild has a chip on his shoulder and the person who put it there just dropped herself right in his lap. Determined to get revenge for his brother, Parker sets on a mission to make Willow pay.
What starts as an enemies to lovers quickly develops into a heat-induced connection between Willow and Parker. As both try to fight it, they find they can’t overcome the constant desire that ripples through them for the one person they each should hate; each other!
I absolutely loved the unexpected twist in the story. I definitely didn’t see it coming!!
Just when you think you have it all figured out…BOOM!!

I listened to this on audiobook and it was my first time hearing narrators Blake Richard and Olivia Amayo. I highly enjoyed both and thought they did a great job bringing Parker and Willow’s story to life. Their voices meshed well and they hit all the right emotions in their performance. I definitely plan on checking out more of their work and can’t wait to dive into the rest of this series.

So much potential

The story/plot was really interesting but felt short changed a little. I think this one could have or should have been a duet where it explained more about Willows sister situation and how they got to where we are at for the beginning of this book. Willow and Parker were both great characters and their stories were nicely blended. I love the combo of these authors so I’ll keep going with them. ❤️

Great dark romance

Parker was a very dark no care individual and he truly had a dislike for Willow. This story is the ones I like very much. These two authors know how to write these dark intriguing stories. Narrators did a great job.

Epic

This book is amazing! If you are looking for a bully romance then this one is for you! Parker and Willow are hot!! The heat between the two is undeniable and the push pull makes for such a captivating story!!

Young Love

Definitely an enemy to lovers theme. My heart went out to Willow. She is an innocent put in a horrible situation worried about her sister and dealing with an angry young man. Parker believes she lied about his brother being responsible for her sister's rape. But everything is resolved in the end.

Heavy storyline

This was a good but dark story. There are twists and turns and sadly tragedy. The narrators were very good.

I loved it so much

I devoured it in 2 days. From the storyline to the sex, it was pure addiction. I laughed, I was shocked, I was HOT, I even cried. This book had it all. I loved how completely caught off guard I was near the end.
This book can be triggering to victims of Sexual Assault/Abuse. Though I appreciated that the author didn't tip toe around those topics or those thoughts.
I'm writing my first novel and I thought some of my darker scenes were going too far but this book has inspired me to have confidence in them.
It was amazing and I can't wait to read more from this author.

Good dark romance

*I was given this audiobook in exchange for an honest review*

Minor spoilers

Story: if you enjoy bully and/or dark romance, you’ll probably enjoy this book! I do enjoy these types of books- usually. I enjoyed the overall plot and the characters. At first I wasn’t sure I’d like Parker but by the end I did end up liking him.
I don’t typically enjoy books that push the boundaries too hard on consent. This book was almost hitting my limit in this regard but it wasn’t as bad as other books I have read and I was okay to finish it.
I wish we would have gotten to know Willow’s sister a little more. I think some aspects of the story would have hit harder if we had a few scenes of them together. 4/5 stars ⭐️

Performance: at first I wasn’t a big fan of either of these narrators. The female grew on me throughout the story (except in ch 11 when it sounds like she kept pulling away from the mic). The male voice on the other hand was not the best. He sounded like he was trying to hard to sound sexy. 3/5 stars ⭐️