Cruel Boy (A Dark High School Bully Romance) Kindle Edition

Focused Primarily On High School Bullying, But Gets Inside The Head Of The Bully, Too - Pulls Together For Meaningful End!Samantha Cook might be rich like all the other kids at Falcon Elite Prep School, but that means nothing when it comes to fitting in. She loves painting and photography, both of which allow her to escape into her creative mind. She would be lost without Monica, her one and only friend. Monica manages secure invites to parties and talks Sam into attending with her. Sam usually agrees to attend for the sake of keeping an eye out for Monica, but typically melts into the walls and becomes invisible rather than making any effort to mingle herself.Last year had been a horrible year for Sam. Her dad left, and now her mom's boy toy is unfortunately still staying at the house. Her mother hated what Sam had done with her hair, turning it white blonde, but that only makes Sam more happy with it. While the start of senior year promises to be no different than the others, at least it gets Sam out of the house.There are still all the same cliques. The most handsome guy at school is still there with the jocks. The quarterback. A total jerk. Did her remember her from that horrible party over the summer?There are the same mean girls. One in particular has it out for her, and the bullying begins before Sam even sets foot into the school. Although Sam doesn't engage much socially, she is thankfully perfectly capable of mouthing back.Nate Wilson has a lot going for him. He is the star quarterback at Falcon Elite. He is popular. His girlfriend is the richest princess at school. And he is on track for a football scholarship. Even though financially he can afford to go anywhere to college, the scholarship would have pleased his mother. It was her dream for him to pursue a football career. It just wasn't his. But she died last year, and he and his father barely speak, so football it is.Nate's friends tell him he has been off since that last party over the summer. The one nobody really wants to talk about. He is distracted, and even his girlfriend can't keep his interest. But when he spies that girl with the white blonde hair on the first day of senior year, she certainly has his attention. And something else, which he intends to get. She immediately become a his obsession.Sam and Nate are tied together by the tragic end-of-summer party at a beach house that they both attended. Sam had been taking pictures that night while her friend Monica was with a boy, and Nate wants those pictures. They are his key to freedom. His dark and menacing looks are meant to terrify her, but she doesn't back down. Yet beneath the one thing that links these two together and puts them at odds is a deep and undeniable connection. But the mixture of feelings only serves to confuse them since they are essentially at odds with one another. It is impossible to take a step forward without then taking two steps back because intentions are always in doubt.For the majority of this book, Sam is the victim of bullying - by Nate as well as by one particular mean girl. Warning: it can get uncomfortable. I have personally never witnessed anything like it, but I suspect it is more common these days.Sam and Nate's story may be focused on bullying, but it allows a fascinating insight into the mind of the bully. Nate wishes he had known Sam before because he feels drawn to her, but nonetheless he does what he feels is necessary to secure the pictures, even if misguided. She makes him feel vulnerable, and he doesn't know if her can trust her. She sees beyond his bullying. Nate's behavior is arguably unforgivable, but Sam's natural intuition and her connection with him give her the strength and courage to want to help him. When Sam and Nate do finally connect, it is even more meaningful because they managed to overcome what essentially made them enemies. They earn a HFN.This book is nicely written with only an occasional error. The plot is complex. The story is cleverly crafted with layers of revelations that eventually piece together the entire story. The characters are well-developed. There is one point that isn't abundantly clear about Sam, though, and which is the premise for the whole story. Why did she refuse repeatedly to share a copy of the pictures with Nate or offer them to an authority figure? There seemed insufficient reason given for her to be so stubborn about that point. On an odd note, the volume of lip licking becomes tiresome. The POV alternates between between Sam and Nate. I rate this book four stars.I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

This was another good read. I liked how Sam and Nate relationship took off from hating each other to loving each other. Definitely enjoyed this book.

This was my first book by Clarissa Wild, and despite my 3-star rating, it won’t be my last.Now my thoughts on Cruel Boy.The prologue was interesting and so memorable that I had it at the forefront of my mind the whole time I was reading. It also helped that every chapter seemed to mention what did or didn’t happen that fateful night on the beach 😅Honestly, this book was slow for me. I rolled my eyes soooo much, I thought I would’ve eventually given up on the book and stopped reading. But, I pushed on. I didn’t really like any of the characters, but Sam, the lead female, seemed to have some fight in her as the story went on so she was redeemable to me. Nate, the lead male, was meant to be cruel but honestly, I just saw someone tortured over something he did...or didn’t do. The repeated calling him a sinner was too much for me because I couldn’t see what the author was trying to convey.I like a good Bully Romance, but the tactics used in this book was kind of weak to me. Sometimes things came out of left field, as if it didn’t fit with the scene 🤷🏾‍♀️ And then Sam kept repeating the “bad things” that Nate did to her (always the same 3 things) and I was like, “Dude, enough already. Either forgive him or give him the pictures and be done with him.” 🙄The eye rolls just wouldn’t stop. My ultimate eye roll, though, was the rap lyrics 🤦🏾‍♀️ Once again, straight out of left field. After a while I started skimming, but then things started to heat up around the 58% mark. I dug in and didn’t stop until I finished.When the truth about everything from what happened in the prologue came out and the fight between Sam and Robby ensued, I was on the edge of my seat cheering her on to whoop some a$$! Lol!I liked the last 35% of the novel more than I did everything before it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sorry but no, i got to like, 40cpercent and they were still weird, i didnt really like either character because they both contradicted themselves. He was mean because he wanted the photos back? But aggressively so at some point, why on earth would that make her give them back, especially showing a topless photo of her, if she was really that mad at him those first few tines she could've easily outed him or threatened him back, there was zero reason to be attracted to him if she thought he could be a killer and often scared her, for all the bravado and spunk the author tried to give Sam, she turned right into a cliche around him not to mention it didn't seem like her character to be that way. It all just had this underlying immaturity that made it hard to want to keep on reading. Especially because you can probably imagine what happened for the most part, it was just getting repetitive trying to get there and i wasn't interested in getting frustrated with a book. Not to mention she had spat at 2 ppl by this point. Who spits? Gross. Too much whiplash of emotion to bother with

I really enjoyed this book, I thought Nate was awful but not the worst bully I’ve read about. The storyline was really good and the twist about the dead girl was really in expected. I did like Nate and Sam as a couple but I think their chemistry needed more build up.

Didn't download even though order went through. Not showing on Kindle or digital page. Not impressed.

Wow what a disappointment! This book had the making of a great story but ended abruptly and what I feel was half finished. After the reviews I read I couldn’t wait to read it but unfortunately I’m left feeling like I’ve wasted my time!

Clarissa this book was amazing.very emotional at times.. Once I started reading i could not put the book down. The story grabbed me right from the start