I went back and forth between three and four stars on this one. There was a lot to like about it, but I couldn't really like the heroine, Maddie, therefore, I am calling this one three star. I get that I'm hella picky about certain issues, so I'm just going to list my main ones right off the bat.

Number one: Maddie is eating lunch, and she's devouring her food. The dialogue in her head is about how she's not one of those girls who doesn't eat. That those girls have never “known true hunger” (according to Maddie). This is supposed to be a commentary on how Maddie grew up so poor that she often went hungry, and we are supposed to feel sympathy for her. But then she goes on to say that some girls don't eat because they "are anorexic and are trying to lose like 4 pounds or whatever" But that they COULD eat, if they wanted to. Nope. This is ablest as fuck. I don't like that a serious illness, such as anorexia was made light of in this way. It's irresponsible.

Number two: Victim blaming - Maddie goes out on a date, and before she can even leave the driveway, her date tries to rape her. Aric, who is at her place babysitting (due to the plot, this does make sense) intervenes. When she's mad, and says that she was handling it (she's upset and being prideful) Aric pretty much asks her what she was thinking wearing such a short dress. As in, if she hadn't been wearing such a short dress, her date wouldn't have tried to rape her. Fuck that. I can totally get that it could be part of Aric's character to say that in anger. It just would have made sense, and been really great if Maddie had called him out on it. Like a big "Fuck you, Aric. My clothes don't give anyone the right to touch me without my consent."

So, now that I have the problematic issues out of the way, I will talk about the actual plot, which I did like. This is supposed to be a bully romance, but if it is, it's a super light one. I didn't really feel that Aric was much of a bully, in fact, I liked him quite a bit. Maddie is more of the bully in this story, which I liked.

I fucking LOVED that Aric isn't your typical manwhore. He doesn't sleep around. There are elements of abuse in this book, as Aric is being blackmailed by Maddie because he has been having an affair from the time he was sixteen with his best friends mom. I like the way that was handled. Aric absolutely thought the relationship was okay, at first, but then, once he steps away, he sees that he was too young and that the older woman took advantage of him. There was a power dynamic there, and the older woman abused it.

I wish I had liked Maddie more. I just think, compared to Aric, her character felt a little one dimensional.

Aric's parents were written fairly realistic. The side character of Hannah had me intrigued so much that I blew through the second book to get to her book, which is the third, and final one in the series.

While I definitely hated the very few problematic aspects of this book, and again, I understand that I am being super critical, I just believe that we can do better with issues such as rape culture and mental illness, all in all, I did enjoy this book.

If you are just beginning the bully genre of romance, or you like the lighter ones, this is a good one to start with. Nothing too angsty. I loved the hero. And I did immediately start on book two in the series, so that's always a good sign.