ARC: Cruel Intentions, by Cora Kent

i’ve never read a “stalker romance” and felt like the character was super sweet and adorable. and that’s bordering on how i felt about Xavier towards the end… he definitely started out being super unhinged, and a straight bully towards Kaye (i truly wanted to smack him at times, and her for not smacking him.) but then we get to the root of everything- and come to realize he was masking these deep feelings he had, but still hurting about what his father did that destroyed his family life.

side bar: hate to say it, but i’m glad he unleashed a little bit of that chaos onto his dad. it was VERY well deserved.

but i did end the book really liking Xavier, and seeing how he owned up to his stuff, and was more than willing to put in the work to prove himself.

as far as Kaye, i was soooo happy she came out of her shell and started standing up for herself (and putting Xavier in his place.) i still think she should’ve round-housed Malcolm, but i can understand how it may have been a “pick your battles type of thing.”

this book definitely gives the stalker edge, some hot moments (the rose maze was #chefskiss), a nice enemies to lovers build up, and a ton of surprises. a few that i was definitely not expecting.

cannot wait to get into Dark Obsession next, because ommggggg- the tropes in that one! whew!