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RELEASE BLITZ: Stray Awakening by F.A. Ray (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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REVIEW: The Bitter Rivals Fiasco by Hayden Hall
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.
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 bitsSoundtrack: Masquerade Butterfly
Artist: Miura Ayme
Album: Masquerade Butterfly
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THE BITTER RIVALS FIASCO: Kindle I Audiobook
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RELEASE BLITZ: The Duality of Swans by Lilly Atlas (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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RELEASE TOUR: When We Meet Again by Hayden Hall (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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BLOG TOUR: Grabbing My Slyce! by Dann Hazel (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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COVER REVEAL: For The Night by Cara Dee
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REVIEW: Death In The Spires by K.J. Charles
Death In The Spires – K.J. Charles
The newspapers called us the Seven Wonders. We were a group of friends, that’s all, and then Toby died. Was killed. Murdered.
1905. A decade after the grisly murder of Oxford student Toby Feynsham, the case remains hauntingly unsolved. For Jeremy Kite, the crime not only stole his best friend, it destroyed his whole life. When an anonymous letter lands on his desk, accusing him of having killed Toby, Jem becomes obsessed with finally uncovering the truth.
Jem begins to track down the people who were there the night Toby died – a close circle of friends once known as the ‘Seven Wonders’ for their charm and talent – only to find them as tormented and broken as himself. All of them knew and loved Toby at Oxford. Could one of them really be his killer?
As Jem grows closer to uncovering what happened that night, his pursuer grows bolder, making increasingly terrifying attempts to silence him for good. Will exposing Toby’s killer put to rest the shadows that have darkened Jem’s life for so long? Or will the gruesome truth only put him in more danger?
Some secrets are better left buried…
From the bestselling, acclaimed author of The Magpie Lord and The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen comes a chilling historical mystery with a sting in the tail. You won’t be able to put this gripping story down!
Death In the Spires is foremost a murder mystery. While there are some queer romantic elements, it is one man’s quest to solve the decade-old murder of his friend, an incident that destroyed his life.
The story is set in Oxford at the turn of the century and in Jeremy Kite’s POV. Jeremy, a mathematics major, is there on a scholarship. He’s painfully conscious of his club foot and provincial accent, especially when surrounded by sons of lords and maharajahs.
On his first day, he was adopted into a group that became known as the Feynsham set.
Toby Feynsham – a marquis’s son and fearless leader of the group. He has the audacity of someone who doesn’t worry about the consequences.
Nicky Rook – Toby’s best friend since childhood. Nicky is blunt and sarcastic. He’s also known to be in love with Toby. Later became Jem’s lover.
Hugo Morley-Adam – a rich man’s son and a celebrated athlete. He and Nicky were fencing rivals. Hugo is a likable fellow and has political ambitions
Ella – Toby’s twin sister and the more cerebral of the two. A statuesque woman, Ella is a chemistry major. She and Aaron started dating later on
Pru – Ella’s friend and a mathematics major. Pru is petite, more introverted and, like Jem, came from a working class background
Aaron – an African man majoring in medicine. Aaron is also into athletics and frequently runs with Hugo. They also discovered he cannot act when the group auditioned for a Shakespearean play.The group made waves around the campus and even starred in Cymbeline, a hit among the students. At their peak, the Feynsham set was glorious. Then Toby was found dead, everyone was suspect.
Ten years later, Jem received a letter accusing him of the murder, so he decided to investigate.
I love Jem! He’s smol, he’s tired, he’s jobless and almost broke, and his leg hurts, but our boy’s not leaving any stones unturned. He’s a man who wants to start living his life and he can only do that if he puts spectres of the past to rest once and for all.
The plot alternates between flashbacks to university days and the present day. Jem was forced to swallow bitter truths, reopen old wounds, and reveal secret crimes during his investigation.
The complicated relationships of different personalities, their spectacularly vitriolic fallout, and their begrudging reunion interweave with the author’s go-to themes of class difference, excesses of privilege, the importance of consent, and the right to bodily autonomy.
Jem also reunites with Nicky. The romance here is very HFN. I didn’t like it but we were warned this is not romance-centric.
I love the dark academia vibe! K.J. Charles always has a way of making her settings immersive. Gaslit streets, pea soup fog, imposing ancient buildings, and shadowy figures stalking Jem popped up like movie scenes in my mind.
The mystery was twisty-turny, suspenseful, and very effectively made me thoroughly invested in finding the truth. I thought I had a handle on it, knowing the author’s style, but she still pulled off some unexpected reveals.
And, of course, the writing. Apart from the nuanced characters and plot twists, the author’s sharp wit, humor, and overall word wizardry make reading a breeze while also being a masterclass in writing.
Overall, Death In The Spires is a vision of youth through rose-colored glasses and jaundiced eyes. Brilliantly written, wonderfully atmospheric and as gripping and addictive as promised!
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: Shake It Out
Artist: Florence + The Machine
Album: Ceremonials
If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to buy your copy of Death In The Spires. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.
DEATH IN THE SPIRES: Kindle I Audiobook
If you like my content, please consider supporting me on Ko-fi or PayPal. Your donations will help keep this website going. Thank you so much!
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RELEASE BLITZ: Fractured Hope by Kady Cordova (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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RELEASE BLITZ: Fractured Hope by Kady Cordova
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RELEASE BLITZ: Starting From: The Complete Collection by Lane Hayes (Giveaway)
