Born on the poor side of town...Ballerina Dovey Beckham is a scholarship student at Briarcrest Academy, determined to prove she’s more than just a girl with the wrong pedigree. She does whatever it takes to succeed in her endgame, even if it means surrendering her body…but never her heart.
Until the day she meets him, and he rips apart all her well-laid plans. Suddenly, the girl everyone thought unbreakable might just shatter.
Born into wealth and privilege...
Cuba “Hollywood” Hudson is rich, spoiled, and a star football player. With his fast cars and superficial girlfriends, he lives the high-life, hiding his secrets from the world.
Until the day he meets her, and she offers him something he’s never tasted... love.
But once in a lifetime kind of love doesn’t come easy. When trust crumbles and doubts creep in, both will have to decide to either love or let go... forever.
Welcome to Briarcrest Academy, where sometimes, only the wicked survive.
The good thing about an author you haven't read before is that you have no expectations...actually you probably even have lesser expectations than none - you almost assume it won't be as good as one of your favorite authors...
But then you read that new author and you wind up really loving the story...that's how I felt about Nora and Leo. I was captivated by it and read it through quickly and then have been waiting for the next book in the series.
Here's the next problem after you fall for a new author...you have expectations. Sometimes they're met and then sometimes they're better - but occasionally - even when the writing is good the story winds up not meeting your expectations...
I hate to say it, I really do - but I was a bit disappointed in this book. Ugh, I know - I want to hit myself for thinking it, let alone writing it. How could I feel this way about a story that came from the same writer that brought me Leo?!?
I almost think this would have been better as one book instead of a prequel novella and separate book. I liked the novella...I felt like I was just starting to get into it with them when the novella cut off and then I didn't understand what could have happened to completely derail what I had just read.
Something about the break in time lost me. I wanted to feel a connection to either character and for some reason I just didn't. While I understand where each character was coming from and fully understood what made them the way they were, I just didn't feel it with them like I did with Nora and Leo - and that's where expectations are a bitch.
I wouldn't take anything away from the writing itself, Ilsa Madden-Mills is a great story teller. The writing flowed and I wouldn't say she left anything out...the disconnect could just have easily been me.
I absolutely would continue to read her books, I'm hoping Sebastian's book brings me back to the feelings I had for Briarcrest before this one.
**ARC provided by Net Galley**
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