<b>CHARACTERS</b> 

 

</ul> 

 

<b>SUMMARY</b> 

 

<blockquote> 

 

Elodie and Rome met before—as in, they crushed on each other for a hot minute, Rome got handsy, and Elodie pushed him in a pull. 

 

Can I make it anymore obvious? 

 

But their meetings don’t stop. They meet again when Rome drunkenly saves Elodie from a group of charmers, and he gets arrested for it. And they meet again when their parents are getting married. 

 

…wait, what? 

 

New house, new school, new stepdad, and new stepbrothers—Elodie and her sisters are in for a lot of “new”. And Rome’s “new” position of a bench boy isn’t going to fly. 

 

So now Rome and Elodie meet again and again. At their lockers, where Rome demands Elodie switch. In history, when Rome tries to lightly bully Elodie into being embarrassed. At a party where Rome intends to make a mockery of her, only to help her when she’s roofied. Even at a movie theater date she has with another boy, where she loses her virginity to Rome. 

 

…huh. 

 

The more Elodie and Rome collide, the more they both sees sides to the other that’s new and maybe even lovely. But when Elodie unwillingly meets with the man who was the source of her and Rome’s worst meeting, well… 

 

Let’s just say, the guy will never want to meet them again. 

 

</blockquote> 

 

<b>OVERALL</b> 

 

This title was so edgy and the contents were too 😭 

 

Rome isn’t a “heartless monster”. He’s just Some Asshole©, really, and a misogynistic one who probably would believe in “Sigma Male” shit. I will concede that this was a bully romance, but bullying on normal high school antics rather than anything deliciously dark. I agree that there were some dark elements, such as the attempted gangrape and kidnapping, but this was far from a dark romance or anything of that nature. 

 

The introduction claims there’s “dubious consent” in this book. Not really? Outside of Elodie getting drunk, in which she maybe dances a little, that’s really it. 

 

I think this was a solid read, hence it being 3⭐️, but I guess Elodie fluctuates too much for my liking and isn’t internally consistent. I really enjoyed when she stood up for herself and showed Roman what it was like if she was just a broken toy. But suddenly, she’s insisting to him “No, Gage didn’t flirt with me!” and giggling and stuff? 

 

Okay…? 

 

What happened to the strong girl we had not five minutes ago? 

 

Not to mention, it was pretty ridiculous about the doctor thing. But I also understand, from Rome’s POV, that his family came from wealth. I think I need more showing about the amount of wealth his family has to have a doctor making a house call. Doctors can certainly draw blood, but I guess I was more of “Why didn’t they go to Planned Parenthood?” 

 

While the male cast in high school were largely incels (outside of Brady and Wilder, love em), I felt bad that Elodie really didn’t have friends with other characters. 

 

But she’s a smart cookie and a strong one (at times)! I loved seeing her confront her trauma and wanting to make her statement, understanding the whole affair. 

 

I enjoy stepsiblings romances mainly because I’m a sucker for the dirty and taboo-adjacent element. This didn’t really have that. The parents were pretty accepting, which is fine! But I’m here for Stepbro acting like a dirry mfer about being the FMC’s stepbro 😏 

 

Overall, a solid 3.5⭐️ read rounded down!