Atticus Rainier was a sophomore at Westlake University and thought higher education was a joke. Especially attending Westlake University which was a family tradition that basically gave him a VIP pass for everything from getting out of jail or getting that unattainable job. Especially since it was only an hour from his childhood home.
He was just coming to the intersection and had to slam on brakes as a vintage Camaro decided to cut directly in front of him and to make things even worst they slowed down coming onto a green light only to speed through when the light turned yellow ensuring he couldn't make the light. Then he arrives at the college to find that the jerk was parked in his reserved space...with a freshman sticker on the bumper.
When he catches up with his best friends, Canon and Silas, a girl cuts in front of them and races ahead. He couldn't take his eyes off her, but when he tried to catch up to get her number she headed for the ladies' room and he was running late for class. He decided that he would wait in the same hallway in the morning and try to catch her.
Arriving at his second class he is setting up his music when he sees the same woman speaking to the conductor. He still hasn't seen her face, but when he hears her voice it sounds familiar and when she tells him her name his heart stops. Lili...but why would she be giving a different last name? And why would she dare show her face in his school?
Lili...his childhood best friend, his first crush, the reason he now had a heart of stone. The reason his mother is dead.
Lili had deliberately come back to be a thorn in his side and take everything from Atticus and his father...just as they had taken everything away from her. She had backed out of her plan last semester because she still had butterflies when she saw him, but after watching him the Atticus that she had known four years ago no longer existed. He had turned into a man she could never love. Cold and domineering. Using girls before tossing them aside.
And the final nail that destroyed that love was the last words he spoke to her on that horrid night four years ago that ruined her life. But, she was back and with a plan. Atticus and his father would pay.
I loved this story! It is very well written and the characters are fully developed and relatable. Lili had seen their parents in a compromising position and was trying to think of a way to tell Atticus when there were screams from his house and then it was too late to tell him. When he realized that Lili knew that his father was having an affair with her mother and hadn't told him he turned his back on her.
This story is action-packed from page one and will keep you turning the pages as both Atticus and Lili are determined to ruin the other's life due to one night of tragedy. Fair warning there is a near rape scene that may be a trigger for some, but that scene is also a clarifying moment for Atticus.
This is book one of Atticus and Lili's story and doesn't have a major cliffhanger, but leaves you with some questions about her foster mother which had teased along throughout the story. Who did she see? Why did she adopt Lili? And most importantly, what is she gaining from Lili's vendetta?
Highly recommend!
BEAUTIFUL STORM is book one of the WESTLAKE ROYALS Series
Start the series with the BEAUTIFUL LIAR novella, the prequel to the WESTLAKE ROYALS Series!
Available in Kindle Unlimited!
Start reading BEAUTIFUL STORM today!
Available in Kindle Unlimited!
Check out all my interviews/reviews for Jaime Ellis!
https://readingbydeb.blogspot.com/2023/02/author-at-glance-jaime-ellis.html
https://readingbydeb.blogspot.com/2023/02/author-at-glance-jaime-ellis.html
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