Frat Brats of Santa Barbara: The Bitter Rivals Fiasco – Hayden Hall

I fell in love with the enemy. Twice.

Hudson

For my twenty-first, I threw a masquerade party and met the most exciting guy on the planet, dressed as a fallen angel. Then, I never saw him again.

And just when I think my life is perfect, in walks my nemesis, Tate Anderson.

The guy’s got no finesse. He looks down on everyone, especially me. So, when the mischievous wannabe matchmaker of a professor forces me into a project with none other than Tate, I seriously consider dropping out.

Except, the more time I spend with him, and the more we growl and bark at each other, the tighter my chest feels around him.

To put him out of my mind and escape the feelings I’d kept at bay for so long, I keep throwing the biggest parties in the city. Like some modern version of Jay Gatsby, I hope to run into my mysterious fallen angel, but he’s ever so elusive.

Until he shows up again.

And I take his mask off…

Tate

My life sucks but don’t make a mistake thinking I would let anyone know.

Especially not Hudson Blackwood. That guy’s gloating enough already. Ugh… He laughs too much, pretends he’s so cool, nothing really bothers him.

Well, except the fact he’s stuck with me on a semester-long project. But I’m stuck with him just as much. He’s also hot as hell and knows it, which makes him infinitely more annoying.

And if that’s not enough, my stepmother is spending the last of my late dad’s fortune on her two sons and I have to study every waking moment to keep my scholarship.

The only escape I’ve had since coming to Santa Barbara were the masquerade parties a tall, handsome guy dressed as The Phantom keeps throwing.

Before I know it, I am hurtling into love and I hate it. I know my stepmother will uproot me again before the year is done. Besides, I don’t even know who this smoking hot Phantom is. This can only end one way, and it’s not good.

It’s just better for everyone if the masks stay on.

The Bitter Rivals Fiasco is an enemies-to-lovers story featuring one certified player, his moody, lifelong rival, and a Cinderella-meets-Great-Gatsby storyline. This is the fourth book in the Frat Brats of Santa Barbara series. While it can be read on its own, it’s just more fun to read them in order, since the series follows a group of friends as they grow and mature at a prestigious, boys-only business school, Highgate Academy.

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The Bitter Rivals Fiasco is a blind read that turned out to be a win! Not perfect, but fantastic enough to hook me on the Frat Brats of Santa Barbara series. The book is the 4th installment of the contemporary romance series by Hayden Hall, set in a prestigious all-boys business school.

The plot is a Cinderella + Romeo and Juliet retelling with a side of Phantom of the Opera. Bitter rivals Tate Anderson and Hudson Blackwood hate each other since high school after Tate’s father edged Hudson’s parents out of a deal. They met again at Highgate Academy and promptly resumed one-upping each other in class so intensely that the professor assigned them to work together on a project.

Tate’s father was a workaholic who always told Tate to choose his battles. The man later married a cold-hearted woman who pretended to care for him, then grabbed the power of attorney out from under Tate’s nose when his father was on death’s door.

Now, the solitary broody Tate has to earn the money that was rightfully his, doing all the chores in the house and whatever else his stepmother orders in exchange for a meager allowance. He’s in Highgate on a scholarship he is busting his balls to keep, on top of his other tasks.

In contrast, Hudson comes from a loving home, is surrounded by friends, and is so rich he throws parties at the most exclusive clubs whenever he wants. On his 21st birthday, he threw a masquerade party where everyone was encouraged to be as unrecognizable as possible.

Cue the Phantom, the Fallen Angel and one unforgettable night.

Tate, as Cinderella, abides by his stepmother’s rules, as per necessity, but by no means a doormat. He snarks, negotiates, or even loses his temper at the last straws. But then, has to pay the price later on. His stepmother became especially vile towards him when he came out. She forces him to live in the attic and locks him out of the house when he’s out past curfew.

Hudson used to crush on Tate in high school until he learned what happened with their fathers. He held on to his grudge until he learned the true state of affairs. Then, as the prince, sweeps his fallen angel off his feet, and with the help of their fairy godmother, a.k.a. Hudson’s badass mom gives a satisfactory comeuppance for the villain.

This is an enemies-to-lovers story, and this part is done to sizzling perfection. The succeeding masked encounters in more parties, still anonymous to each other, and their public interactions as bickering rivals created a fabulous, squee-tastic buildup to the big reveal.

The antagonism mixed so deliciously with the magnetic pull towards each other. The air of mystery, the tingle of anticipation, the zing of sexual tension, FEELS you can cut with a knife!

The friendships were also one of my favorite parts. The Frat Brats were loyal friends to Hudson, cheering him on his pursuit of his fallen angel. Though they were wink*wink* to the angel’s true identity, knowing Hudson has no clue and looking forward to him blowing his mind when he finds out.

Alex is a fellow student and another fairy godmother, the master designer who created Tate’s beguiling look. He and his boyfriend Franklin befriended the lone wolf. They and the Frat Brats were memorable so I’m looking forward to their books.

The writing is why I’m not 100% into the story. The prose and the dialogues tend to veer towards melodrama. Not sure if it’s because of the fairy tale themes, but sometimes the phrasing is too fancy, like something out of a Victorian romance novel. One reviewer used the term “purple prose.” The effect is enhanced by how narrator Jon Waters sometimes sounds like he’s about to break into a British accent.

Still, The Bitter Rivals Fiasco is a retelling done right, with well executed tropes, familiar yet still exciting. All in all, sweet, spicy and utterly captivating!

Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bits

Soundtrack: Masquerade Butterfly
Artist: Miura Ayme
Album: Masquerade Butterfly

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