Dayton

“You once said I was broken. But you’re only really broken when you lose hope.”

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1. NO PRINCE by Stevie J. Cole

SYNOPSIS

Zepp Hunt wasn’t the king of Dayton high school. He was the top of the food chain. And I was next in line to be dragged into the lion’s den. At least that’s what he thought…

Good girls wanted to tame him. Bad girls wanted to be tainted by him. Everyone bowed down to him. And me? I hated Zeppelin Hunt with every fiber of my being. Which was why I stayed away from the arrogant bad boy with tattoos and a rap sheet. Until I couldn’t. Until we traded favors, and I owed him three months of my life. I never thought I would end up in his bed, and when I did, I had to remind myself that he hated me as much as I hated him. Until I didn’t.

Zepp Hunt was no prince, and I absolutely refused to be his damsel in distress…

BOOK REVIEW

To be completely honest with you guys, I expected a typical high school bully romance when diving into No Prince. Oh boy, how wrong I was. And the blurb definitely didn’t do the book any justice... Stevie J. Cole was a new to me author, but fucking hell was she that good. The writing was incredible, especially when it came to portraying the main characters as unsupervised teens (which is a huge issue with the majority of the books in the genre), struggling in adult life and doing all sorts of nasty shit such as selling weed, stealing cars, and stripping in order to survive while having to fend for themselves…

I didn’t need a white knight or a savior. This was not a fairytale. I was no damsel, and Zeppelin Hunt was certainly no prince.

Zeppelin Hunt was a seemingly typical alpha bad boy who possessed all the bad habits and played around, not giving a single fuck about anyone outside of his inner circle, and that was the only thing I needed in his character. Some girls saw Zepp in all his brooding, shithead glory, and they wanted to either be used by him or save him. Zepp, in his turn, wasn’t opposed to the former but didn’t give two shits about the latter. Zepp was perfectly aware of who he was and what he needed in his content life. He would do absolutely anything for the people he loved the most (not to spoil the events in the book but pay close attention to Zepp’s outstanding protectiveness). And when it came to his relationship with Monroe, I cannot necessarily pinpoint why, but he was just perfect for her...

She was one girl out of a million—and I guessed, maybe that was why it did bother me. She was the girl that had managed to catch my attention and the only one who didn’t want it.

Monroe James was such a relatable female character. She was strong-willed, determined, and hard-working on the outside, but still vulnerable and craving for love on the inside. Aren’t all we females the same (and don’t at me with your radical feminist opinions, females are also humans and allowed to be weak and vulnerable from time to time)? Monroe craved love but feared it greatly because according to her, love made people blind and do stupid things like stay in Dayton… (oops, SPOILER!) after getting to know a certain sexy asshole.

“Everything I did was because I loved you.”
“Then I don’t want your love because it hurts.”

Basically, No Prince was a love story about a guy who used to be a player and was taken to his knees by a girl who stole his heart, for different reasons and some the same. I absolutely adored Zeppelin and Monroe together. They were two damaged kids from the wrong side of tracks. Two kids with quite similar pasts, but with very different dreams and aspirations for the future. The two were pretty much the same but opposite all at once. But despite everything, Zepp and Monroe were just fitting, filling the howling gaps of each other. And considering the unfortunate circumstances they clearly didn’t deserve (don’t get me wrong, the two were not particularly endearing characters), Zepp and Monroe managed to do the single most important thing—they meant something to someone… They both loved fiercely when opening themselves up fully without regrets.

“It’s not pretty.”
“The truth never is. Anything pretty is always a lie.”

Stevie J. Cole created such a compelling world that was simultaneously revolting and beautiful. No Prince was not what I expected from a high school bully romance and had everything to make a perfect for both thought and entertainment book—lots of drama and angst, emotions, and steam. It was such a delicious page-turner with many laugh-out-loud moments and jarring heart-stoppers. Highly recommend!

2. NO GOOD by Stevie J. Cole

SYNOPSIS

He was the reprobate king of Dayton high. I was the bitter princess cast out of my kingdom. And we were at war.

It started off with a lie, and a one-night stand gone terribly wrong. Although I knew nothing good would come from my encounter with Bellamy West, the small town’s gorgeous bad boy, I didn’t expect him to throw jet fuel onto the already flaming wreckage of my life. Then step back with a sexy smirk on his face to watch me burn. And burn I did...

He got me fired. I got him arrested. We were enemies until we weren’t. Until one touch went too far, and I found myself craving each dirty word. Every filthy promise. Bellamy West was no good, and I wanted to be bad. Screw falling for Prince Charming, I wrote my love story with the villain. And for that, I paid...