I knew I’d ruffle feathers, but the day I walked into Rockport High, I had no idea the cheap shots that were to follow.
You see, the Ballers and I have a history. They play basketball. I play basketball. But they hate that I play basketball as good as them. And the only thing they hate more than that, is me.
That’s right. I’m a girl, and I. Can. Play. Make no mistake about it.
The Ballers can do their worst, but I will make it onto the RHS boys’ team. This is my last resort to make a name for myself, and I can’t let them interfere—even if the so-called kings of the school have declared war against me.
Game On is a reverse harem high school bully romance novel.
E. M. Moore is a USA Today Bestselling author of Contemporary and Paranormal Romance. She's drawn to write within the teen and college-aged years where her characters get knocked on their asses, torn inside out, and put back together again by their first loves. Whether it's in a fantastical setting where human guards protect the creatures of the night or a realistic high school backdrop where social cliques rule the halls, the emotions are the same. Dark. Twisty. Angsty. Raw.
When Erin's not writing, you can find her dreaming up vacations for her family, watching murder mystery shows, or dancing in her kitchen while she pretends to cook.
To keep up with her and her books, you can like E. M. Moore on Facebook! (Just copy and paste the following link into your browser.) https://www.facebook.com/EMMooreBooks/
Seriously after reading the blurb i thought the heorine ll be strong and put the guys in their place but its the opposite. I was more interested in her friend Dawn’s relationship with her bf David. They were more intresting couple than Tessa and her harem. Tessa is a fucking doormat that what she is. She is supposed to be strong girl who is in the boy’s basketball team but rather than that she does everything the dudes tell her to do. She cant fight for herself, she chooses her lust over her self respect and then blames in on her hormones. Seriously she is pathetic. Her dad is an idiot who basically cheated on her mom and hid it from Tessa but when she gets to know she is like “ he is still my dad and humans make mistake” LIKE GIRL... her mom is legit so fucking sweet and she does not deserve an idiotic dude like Tessa’s dad and and idiot doormat like Tessa. The guys on the other hand are whiny af. Lake especially cuz he is so jealous of Tessa and that she can play basketball. I have never seen someone so jealous. The other guys are just whiny. Through out the book we are reminded again and again that these dudes rule the school but when it comes to protecting Tessa or claiming her they cant stop anyone from bullying her. Tessa doesnt even stand up for herself in front of the mean girls, she lets everyone bully her. Even the guys, they are so mean to her and passes her to each other like they do to all the girls but Tessa makes excuses for their behaviour and make them a saint. GIRLL.. for the love of god have some self respect. Orgasms and hot dudes are not more important than ur pride. UNDERSTAND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.
I've realised while reading this why I keep coming back to bully romances. Apart form the fact that they are everywhere and I cant avoid them anymore its the adrenaline rush. Its a bit like a roller coaster, you don't want to get on the ride and you nearly wet your pants on the ride up but you'll keep coming back for more. I think I developed a heart condition during this one. I could actually feel my heart beating in my chest during parts. So if you like a emotional roller coaster then this one is a Slam dunk
This book isn't just a bully romance its also about woman in sport, overcoming bias and gender equality. I got extremely emotional involved, so much so that I cried at the end. Just a little OK i'm still mostly dead inside . Its a testament to the authors writing that I was so into it my heart broke for the FMC.
Is not you're average bully romance with entitled bullies picking on the lower class for being poor. Oh no This turns it on its head, the FMC Tessa is the daughter of a rich and famous basketball star. When the girls team gets cut at her private school she decides to move to the public school to play for the men's team. Basketball rules at this school and the kings of the court are also the kings of the classroom. The 5 Rock Ballers are not just going to welcome a girl with open arms. Especially a privileged one with a history of kicking their asses.
Tessa is an amazing character with a great story, shes strong, athletic, and works harder than the boys to achieve recognition in her sport. I'm not a basketball fan (or any sport really) but I really enjoyed the sporty aspect to this book. Lots of training and games really gave it a little something different to the classroom setting you normally get in academy style RH.
The Bullying was horrid as you'd expect, but again following the theme its a little different. It didn't all come from the potential harem, the most gut wrenching stuff came from everyone else. The first half is centred on the Rock Ballers hate but they slack off in the second half so you can deal with the romance without wanting to punch the MC for her stupidity. She is complacent in her bullying which is frustrating. Bullying on a scale of "FRB" to "Secret Girl" I would put this somewhere in the middle.
It wasn't all prefect, as usual there plenty of the dreaded traitorous body going round. She hates them but can't help but want to be part of them .... "Here I am pushing for more women’s right with the basketball stuff. We should be created equal and all that, and then one guy makes a scene because he doesn’t want another hitting on me, and I’m a pile of goo at his feet. Hormones, man. I don’t know what else to say about that"
I found myself shouting at my kindle a few times "why are you letting him do this!" The redemption is all part of the BullyVerse but just once I'd love to read one where the harem comes from outside the bully's and she gives the the fingers and doesn't forgive.
Wouldn't that be refreshing
I need a whole heap of revenge in the next one. I want Lake strung up by his balls and the rest buried.
The Low Rock Ballers Ryan Linc Hayes "Ice man" Irving Sloan Ivy Alec Christ...oplaus something Lake I hate you with a vengeance O'Brien
1.5 BUT I’m rounding up due to the fact that I think....THINK....it’s got some promise.
First...let me be straight with you. I’m biased. See, I grew up in Southern Indiana where basketball was a way of life! You lived, breathed, and ate basketball. You learned to dribble while learning to walk. Every house had a basketball net. High school basketball was a event that everyone and their momma attended. If you played, EVERYONE knew your name and your stats.
So...yeah..I know a little about the game...
Unfortunately, besides the basketball this is just another school/bully romance that is flooding the shelves now. The heroine...ehhhhh....apparently she’s got game. I say apparently because we are only told that she does. We’re told that she works on her skills constantly, we’re told that she’s this kick ass player, we’re told that she attends a camp every summer that only the best of the best attend. BUT...she’s not good enough to pull any interest while playing it her private school. She has to go play on a boys team at her dads alma mater. 🤷♀️ The Hero’s...WEAK!!!! They rule the school BUT after claiming her they can’t stop the girls in the school from bullying her. They can’t stop their own teammates from being massive dicks to her! They won’t even tell one of the core guys to back off. They choose her BUT continue to let their “brother” humiliate, assault her AND do nothing about it! Does that sound to you like they rule the school? It was also extremely distasteful how they “shared” all the girls in the past. One guy screws a girl and she gets passed around between them all. They make NO effort to hide it. It’s thrown in the heroines face frequently. That has me questioning how the heroine is suppose to be different...so what, she can play ball BUT they end up treating her exactly the same 🤦♀️ This is only made worse because the heroine doesn’t care. She get jealous but when confronted about being shared she doesn’t bat an eye. She just goes with it.
What transpired at the end further diminished my opinion of them. IF they can win me over there better be lots of groveling. I’m talking massive amounts y’all BECAUSE it was bad how they just turned on her.
Final point...this is the third school/bully book that ends with the heroine vowing “revenge” at the end. Can we PLEASE get some originality??!!
This is so frustrating to read. Why does tessa even feel attracted to those assholes is beyond me. Like why do authors write female characters who prefer an orgasm over her self respect? On one hand she is shown like this girl who is super talented and is likely to go pro but on the other hand she is attracted to guys who treat her like garbage. And she ignores people like Chase? What is wrong yo?
From the blurb I thought there would be this girl who will kick asses of some arrogant pricks but we didn’t see as much basketball as we see the female character getting humiliated and going again and again for it even though everyone warn her.
I don’t know if I want to read the second part if it is as dumb as the first.
Seventeen year old Quintessa Marie Dale dreams of playing professional basketball. When the private school she attends stops the female basketball program, she can either give up or find a different path. Tessa decides it's time to leave the halls of her fancy private education, and attend the public high school instead. The school is closer and the basketball team just so happens to be the best in the state. There's just one problem, there's no girls team there neither. But unlike the private school, the public one can't forbid her to play, as long as she has the talent to make the team. The gender issue is far from the only problem Tessa faces, as the "Ballers", the kings of basketball themselves, don't want her around!! Ryan Linc, Lake O'Brien, Alec Christopoulos, Hayes Irving and Sloan Ivy are not messing around. There's no lengths they won't go to, no lines they won't cross, to get Tessa to give up her plan.
Tessa is far from your typical whiny and weak high school heroine. She's so strong and driven, that she won't let anyone deter her from what she wants to achieve. Of course she's not immune to the bullying and hatred she suffers, but she refuses to bow to the pressure. She's crossed path with these five guys before, at a basketball summer camp run by her dad. Her dad is somewhat of a basketball legend, which doesn't exactly help her as most people don't see her talent, only her last name and assume she's a daddy's girl who gets everything handed to her. Tessa has always felt some connection to these guys, and it's safe to say that she has very mixed feelings about almost all of them.
So there's a new genre in the Romance sphere, called Bully Romance. It's a bit like Dark Romance, but the focus is (of course) bullying. When one of my favourite authors asked me to beta read her new book in this genre, I was just too intrigued to not give it a go. Little did I know, that I'd end up staying awake till 4.30 am just to finish the book, because I just couldn't put it down!! At first I was a bit suspicious of this genre, because I don't feel like bullying should be romanticised. But I don't actually feel like that's what's going on here. To me it's more about the character growth, set backs and of course the drive and emotion behind peoples behaviour. I'm not going to lie there is some hardcore bullying going on, so if that's a trigger for you I'd suggest you don't read this book. But if not, I cannot recommend it enough!!
20+++++++******* WOW!!!! Blown away!!!! CRACK BOOK ALERT!!!!!!This is for sure in my top ten of all times!!! It’s been a while since I’ve been this giddy over a series ...... why??? You say.... well this book has everything I love ❤️ *Not 1 but 4 extremely POSSESSIVE , JEALOUS ALPHA MALES *BADASS HEROINE( by far my favorite ever written) *BEST LOL MOMENTS Absolutely the best and Funniest sidekick a girl could have *UNPUTDOWNABLE!!!! * GASPING AND SHOCKING moments This really looked like it was going to be another lame bully and reverse harem book by the cheesy cover and name (trust me I’ve been reading plenty lately and they all suck)...... but this authors writing style is addictive... I will definitely be following this author from now on.... I don’t know where this author has been hiding but I’m glad I found her... I don’t normally write reviews but when I find a little gem like this and see that only four of my friends have read this .... I feel I’m obligated to let everyone know about it.... I hope you enjoy it as much as I did ..... now on to book 2.
Tessa has grown up in the shadow of her NBA superstar father and he has been training her since she could walk. Her old private school had a female basketball team, but when her parents announced their divorce and her father stopped his donation to the school, the team was cut. Now the only way for Tessa to ever be noticed and be able to play professional ball is to play for the Ballers of Rockport High. The thing is though they have never had a female on their team and due to being a public school, they have to allow her a fair shot. This is bound to ruffle more than a few feathers as the guys on this team are not only the king of the school but Tessa knows them from Basketball camp and has some not-so-good memories with them. The other thing too is that there is already someone on the team in her position and there can only be one which means she must fight for her role on the team and the boys aren't going to roll over and let her onto the team. They will make her work harder than any of the others in the hazing and even go so far to make her fall in love with them, only to ruin her. Unlike a lot of the other bully novels, this one gets a bit more personal as her father features quite a bit as he is the "star of the basketball community" and they use her father against her often throughout the book. This book does end on a cliffhanger and I didn't mind Ryder and a few of the others on the team but Linc whom plays the same position and the most to lose if she gets on the team - I hated him with a passion as he was pure evil and bully material as was his little brother when Linc got him to join in on the bullying whereas the others do have little rays of goodness shining through. I am now looking forward to reading Book #2 and hope that Tessa puts the guys in their places and comes out on top.
I think my review can be summed up in one sentence.
HOT DAMN, THOSE SEXY AS SIN, FRUSTRATING AS FUCK BALLERS!!
This book was refreshing to read as the heroine was a take no prisoners kinda girl, she had her goals, she knew what she wanted and she wasn’t stopping until she got what she wanted, consequences be damned.
The guys were assholes and we all know I love me a good asshole! But Lake.... I hate him! I don’t see how he can be redeemable come book 2.
That ending just pissed me off lol and I don’t know if I’m pissed off at what happened or if I’m pissed off at myself for not seeing it coming.
I so did not see that coming! Tessa is trying to survive her parents split and basketball is her life so she focuses on that. She has to transfer schools to have a chance to play but whoa buddy is it one uphill battle as its the boys team. The star players hold a grudge so let the bullying commence. Just when it looks like things are going to get better we get one check of surprise. Book two is going to be explosive!! I totally loved even though I can't stand basketball so I give it 5/5 stars.
This book was absolutely phenomenal! It's not often a book sucks me in so fast like this one and so much that I can't put it away. I felt with the characters from page one and was taken on a roller-coaster ride throughout the book - making me laugh, making me cry and had my throat clogging up all the time. With a bully romance you have to find the perfect line between too harsh and too soft and E.M Moore hit that line spot on!
Now for the story : Quintessa 'Tessa' Dale knows she's going to be facing problems and making waves the moment it comes out that she changed from a private to a public school, wanting to play for their basketball team. The biggest problem? The Ballers. A group of give guys, the best basketball players Rockport has, who hate Tessa ever since they spent their summers together at basketball camp and she showed them up. Oh and what they don't know? She's not planing to play for a girl's team - no she wants into theirs. When those five guys strike out and make her life a living hell, turning the whole school against her and trying to to get her to not only leave the school but her dreams of basketball as well, will Tessa shrink back or will she take the challenge head on? Add in a famous basketball player as a father, a crazy best friend and her ambitions and you get one hell of a book!
I can't even describe how much this book affected me. Tessa's emotions through this book were so well portrayed as well as all that happened that you just couldn't not feel right along with her. I loved her determination, her ambitions and her sass. She didn't let anyone push her down without fighting back as hard as she could and didn't let it stop her from achieving her dreams. The guys sucked me right in as well, making me love them, making me hate them and making me despise them for their behavior. I absolutely can't wait for the next book, E.M Moore did an amazing job with this one!
I loved this three-book series. I don't read a lot of sports romance. It was the bully aspect that attracted me to this series, and the bully elements are strong. But what made this series a winner for me was the ferociously committed FMC, the unrelenting pace, and the surety of the author's writing. There was never a moment where I felt the story was inauthentic. I always felt Tessa's dedication to her sport. The basketball scenes kept my interest (not always the case with either sport or fight scenes) - they're just right in terms of detail and pace. Highly recommended.
This is one of the best bully RH books I have ever read. I waited I told the 2nd book in this series came out to start this I e and wow am I glad I did. I never want it to end. This is my first book by this Author I've read but man was I miss g out. I love love loved this book! I just hope revenge is just as sweet!
I really liked this one!! Hayes is my favorite. I love how even though Tessa is tough amd badass on the basketball court, she is still vulnerable at times. I hope someone does something about Lake soon. He's getting on my nerves.
**Here's my warning for my review. Yes my review needs a warning. There will be many foul words ahead. If you can't handle it, don't read my review. Check out the one I leave on Amazon where I swap the words out for non foul words**
Now you may ask yourself why I felt the need to include a warning instead of just edit my review. Here's why. This book...this book deserves all the FUCKS. And all the stars. Five is nowhere near enough for this one. Like holy fuck. These boys. The Ballers are a group of fuckers. I love them, I hate them. Ok really I don't hate them all. I'm just really mad at them right now. Except Lake. I hate that fucker with a passion. So here's the rundown.
Tessa is a rich girl. Her dad is famous. She is in no way spoiled though. She has worked for everything she has and she has worked her ass off. Basketball is her life. She has trained and sacrificed for her dream. When her school drops the girls' basketball team she comes up with a plan. She's going to swap to the public school and play on the boys' team. She's good enough to do it too. She just has to get past The Ballers.
Ryan, Sloan, Alec, Hayes and *disgusted face* Lake. These are The Ballers. The kings of Rockport High. Basketball gods. Hot as sin. The problem. She knows them. She's gone to camp with them for years and things aren't very friendly with them. So when they find out she's at their school, well they aren't happy at all. They make it as hard as they can for poor Tessa to not only make it through the day, but to make it on the team. What they don't seem to understand is, Tessa isn't going to back down.
Tessa is a BEAST. She is fierce, hard working, determined. She's my freaking hero. With everything she is going through, she will not back down. She knows what she wants and she is going to get it. Fuck everyone else. I Love Her!
Hayes, he's the strong silent type. I have to say that right now he is my favorite and you will all see why.
Ryan is a douche. I say that with love though. He seems to be the leader of the pack. Sometimes he needs to step up though. Dig his head out of his ass.
Sloan and Alec, I go back and forth with them. They can be so great and then they can sink so low.
Lake doesn't even deserve my words. That fucktard needs to jump off a cliff. He can start with the one that E.M. left us dangling on!!!!
Ok we aren't really dangling off a cliff. We are just set up for the next book. Which I need like NOW. I don't know the last time I was this wrapped up in a book and its characters. I was shaking when I finished. I didn't know what to do with myself. I don't usually post on spoiler threads and the like but I couldn't help myself with this one. I needed to vent all my frustrations out. I was so invested in this story, in these characters. I HAD to tell everyone about it.
There seems to be a flurry of bully romance out right now. I've read a few. This one though, this is my absolute favorite. It's different than any I've read. I think b/c Tessa is such a fierce and unexpected character. I don't know exactly what it was that set this book apart from all the others out there for me. All I know, I fucking loved it. Don't think for one minute I'm not going to be harassing the hell out of E.M. to finish the second book.
I highly, very strongly, like really listen to me here, suggest that YOU READ THIS FUCKING BOOK!
Well, this is the greatest disappointment after Uppercut Princess. What is it E. M. Moore? I really thought she was one of my favourite RH writers now. But this? It disgusted me. I don't like any guy from this book. They are all disgusting. And the worst? Quintessa 'Dormat' Dale aka The Dog in Heat.
What's wrong with this girl? Why she is so useless? She is supposed to be strong? Gosh. No. This is the weakest character in the history of characters. She is supposed to be a good Baller? Where? Bitch, where?
What did I just read? I don't even remember a bully romance being this bad. I remember I hated Filthy Rich Boys but it had Windsor and he made everything better...here? Why? Just...why? They play with her feelings, humiliate her, they treat her like a whore and every other girl that they pass around and instead of kicking them in the balls she falls on her back and spreads her legs... because that's exactly how self-respecting woman will act. Right?
And it's supposed to be RH. In my head, why I love RH is because every guy is so different...there is a nerd, a jock, best friend, designer, doctor and yada yada. But here? They are all the same. Alpha-self-centered-bullies. What is there to like? What is so special about them?
Ryan a jerk that played with her feelings and broke her heart? Lake with his fucjed up mind that has some issue with her abd her being a girl (nothing will redeem him, seriously, he is just a bad person. Through and through. Nothing will bring him up in my eyes, no misunderstanding, no deep hurt. Bullshit) Hay...what is his name? He is supposed to be the mysterious guy? Whatever that means. I am so over this type of love interests. It's plain and boring. Ugh Solan the rich guy with Daddy and Mommy issues that gas kind of feelings for Tessa. Yeah sure. He has dick, not feelings Alec...a pussy. Oh I like you, like really like you, but they are my friends I can't do shit about them bullying you because I am a pussy. Sure I will make out with you but I have this bro code and it's more important. Lol. Give me some good boy already RH. This is bullshit. Gosh.
The thing with Chase is crazy. She is such a bitch. They beat him up. 5 on one. And she didn't even blink. Oh. Blooded fist? You okay Ryan...my ryan?. Ughhhhhhh. The only normal guy, that gives a fuck about you and your mental health and still. I guess for her it is in quantity not quality.
Also, 5 super great Ballers and not even one black? Let's be real. This is so white. Too white. Damn I am white and this is blinding me.
That's why Uppercut Princess is better. Sure there is Jonny or whatever his name is. And he is like all of them in one, but I still like him. Buuut there are others and they do good, they try, even though they have little about them. They are pretty much all jocks besides Jonny and the security guard. Still. It's much, much better than this pile of ...urgh
Don't even ask me why I will still go for book 2. It's because of Moore. I like her writing. But I hate this story.
“Holy shit,” she says. After a moment of staring at me, she continues with, “I’m so glad I asked you to sit with me at lunch today. My life just got so much more interesting.”
I had to get through the first third of the book to finally feel it. After that I was all in, captivated wholly. But there's this thing - I hated all the boys. 10 year old boys take care of their girls better then these fellas did. I did love Tessa. She's a fighter, a cracker, a superstar! The real hero in this book.
I had somewhat high hopes going into this book but it was such a let down.
Tessa. Tessa. Tessa. Tessa. I didn't get her. She was portrayed as being some strong heroine who didn't take shit from anyone. That was certainly not the case. She took shit from everyone and she never stood up for herself. There would be moment I thought she finally would, but then she just lets me down. I thought Dawn had more guts than she did.
She didn't stand up to her schoolmates, her "ballers" or her dad.
I thought her dad was a dick. The way he treated her mum was awful, but the way he treated his own daughter...it was sickening to me. He seemed selfish and self absorbed and took little to no responsibility for his actions.
I did like Tessa's mum. She deserved so much more and I wish we got to see her level up. Something Tessa should have done also.
That brings us to the so called ballers. I really hated that name, I was a bit confused as to who the "ballers" were. Was it everyone on the basketball team or just those boys? Who know.
I didn't like any of them (except Hayes, but that's the second book) I don't understand how you can claim you care so much about someone, yet treat them like complete shit. It's also Tessa's fault for allowing them to as well. Then they get jealous if she even looks at someone else, I would never personally allow it.
Also, the whole "Tessa's only here because of her dad" thing got old really quickly so every time that came up I just rolled my eyes.
I'm sorry, this review is all over the place but I hope you get the gist. I'll edited as I see fit.
Leaving the bullying aside, it was a pretty average read. But honestly, I've kind of come to expect that from E.M. Moore's books in my case
⇢ What to expect: ∘ New Adult ∘ Sports Romance // Bully Romance ∘ College setting ∘ Rivalry ∘ Female Basketball player ∘ Reverse-Harem (5 love interests) ∘ Possessive & Jealous Alphaholes ∘ Hate to Love
I expected a tough protagonist who doesn't take shit from anyone, but what I got instead is closer to a doormat FMC.
Tessa is a girl whose father is a well-known basketball player, and she aspires to be the same. That's why she enrolls at Rockport High, the school where the Ballers are the stars. Unsurprisingly, they have a history together, and there's nothing pretty about it. It's clear from the start that this girl trained her whole life for this, and it seems that the boys simply can't accept the fact that she's a good player.
On a scale from low to high, the bullying was a mid level, most of it coming outside of the harem, but them not doing anything about it definitely didn't help matters. And that's one thing I don't think I'll ever get over. The misogyny in this book really got on my nerves and I don't see it changing anytime soon.
Alec, Sloan & Hayes managed to warm up to me, but as for Ryan & Lake, they can go back where they come from for all I care.
All the stars because Tessa needs some love. I liked the grease vibe beginning of the characters having history. I went from hating the guys, confusion to hating them again.
Tessa is a strong MC and for all the crap she goes through I’d happily take an anti-harem ending. Show em all who’s boss and leave them in the dust because none of them deserve her.
More emotional, humiliation bullying plus dumb mean girls. Lake is probably the worst bully I’ve read in this genre so far. I hate him. Really hate him. But the guys are just as bad if not pathetic. The only one I’d give a pass would be Hayes.
Felt sorry for Chase and Shawn. Now Dawn, that is a true best friend. Great story but poor Tessa.
You guys, I wasn’t ready for this. I had heard brilliant reviews for this book, and I had it sitting on my tablet for a few days before I finally dived in, and man I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. I’m not kidding, my phone went off and I yelled at it. You don’t understand. You NEED TO READ THIS RIGHT NOW. Tessa is daughter of NBA legend, so of course everyone believes she’s handed everything on a silver platter. But she has such a down to earth personality. She’s got some sass, but she’s not a snarky bitch, she doesn’t respond to petty bullying, instead choosing to be the better person and letting it appear to slide of her shoulders. She’s got backbone and I throughly enjoyed reading her character. Her inner thoughts and dialogue really intrigued me and kept me captivated. The boys AKA the ballers. Ryan, Sloan, Alec, Hayes and Lake. Love to hate them. I think Sloan got me in the heart strings straight away. I’m a little #teamsloan. Lake, don’t get me started on lake or this review will not end. These boys run the school. They’re assholes for lack of better word. But there’s some serious character development and plots that can come from these boys. I love how E.M has created such unique and different personalities for each boy, without it being too extreme that you couldn’t understand why they are friends. They’re all so uniquely different, but they could be the same person at the same time. They’re written extremely well, and I have a weak spot for boys POVs so I would die to be able to see into their heads (make this happen E.M.?!?!) The plot isn’t your typical high school bully romance. Yes, it’s high school, yes, it’s bully, yes, there’s some romance, but that added element of something so simple as sport makes such a difference to how the plot plays out. E.M. has done a brilliant job at blending these components together to make a book that is so utterly captivating and entertaining, while staying true to the feel and look of high school romances (well as much as to can in fiction). This book is a 5/5 in every aspect for me, and I cannot wait to dive into the next book in August! Go get this book and make sure you Pre order book two!
HOLY SHEMOLES!! I don't think your heart is supposed to pound this hard while reading a book. My anxiety was kicked into high gear the entire time. But in a good way.
Quintessa, or Tessa as many people call her, is the daughter of a well-known former NBA player. Everything looks upon her one way because of the money her father has accumulated from playing. But she isn't that way. She works hard for everything she has. Especially basketball. Probably more so than others because she's a girl and who her father is. She wants to prove a point. A point that she knows will have backlash, but it's worth it.
Tessa is a bad a woman. There is no if and or but about it. She is strong. Fierce. Loyal. Everything in a perfect woman. It doesn't matter that no one wants her there. This is her school now. And I love that about her. I love that she doesn't get knocked down easily. Especially when she so obviously could walk away and still prove a point.
Now the guys. OH man these guys. There are so many things I could say about them but I feel like it would give a lot away. I can't even really tell you who my favorite is because of everything that went down. But it would probably be Hayes for reasons that will make sense after you read it. Let's just say if these were real people, I would be tracking them down to throat punch a few. LOL.
The storyline is one of the best bully romances I've read so far. It's unique. Intriguing. And pulls you in immediately. The ending isn't necessarily a cliffhanger, but you want more right away because of it. It will be hard waiting a couple of months for the second book to release. That's how much I enjoyed it. I want to devour the entire thing now.
Overall, go pick up this book now. You will not be disappointed. Everything about it was phenomenal. The characters. Story. Romance. The best ever.
This is told from Tessa's point of view. And I would say about a medium-burn in the romance department. Nothing hardcore.
Pages: 460 My rating (stars): 3.5 Read other books from this author in the future: yes
This book has some bad bullying in it. I mainly read it because I hoped that it would not be so bad. And the story was about basketball. The story got to me, and I hope Tessa will be tougher in the next sequel so I will give it a shot.
Just not enough heat for me! After several recommendations I gave in and read this book but I was afraid that it would be a little to tame of a bully book for my tastes. I plan to read the second in the series, as this first did a lot to set things up for what is to come in the future. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed it’s better.
I’m a bit torn. So far, I’m stuck right in between digging the bully romance, and wanting to scream in frustration. I’m definitely curious enough to dive into book 2 next. But, at the same time, I’m leaning towards a 3.5 for this one.
I adore E.M. Moore as an author, and this story was no different. Not my favorite, but it was quite different and interesting.
The problem for me was in the characters. Tessa started out as a strong character, but she slowly faltered for me. It gives me secondhand embarrassment when a FMC has a “traitorous body” because is that really a thing??? Women can’t control themselves because a guy is hot? The scene with her in the hallway with her “secret admirer” was one instance of this. I also didn’t appreciate her practically begging at the end to them. Like girl, you’re way stronger than this.
The guys suck. To me, there are no redeeming qualities. If the next two books were her getting sweet revenge and ending up with Chase or another guy that’s none of those 4, I’d be happy. Knowing she’s gonna end up with them somehow is killing me right now lol. I think they’re cowards. They’re big men on campus, but can’t get the girls to stop harassing her? The coach and other staff see this at games and don’t do anything to stop it??? And then they side with their friend, just because they’ve been friends forever, when he’s hella harassing her and bullying her for no reason? No. That’s irredeemable for me, and i want revenge lol. (But alas, i just know Tessa’s not going to be that kind of character.)
Also the whole thing with her dad..... ugh. I want him to suffer, and Ryan’s mom too. I hope her mom ends up with the hottest, richest and most romantic man ever.
Despite the characters, i am interested in continuing the series and the plot. Who knows, i didn’t think Johnny would be redeemable either in the Heights crew, and he did so 🤷🏻♀️