Bully Romance - Untouchable by Sam Mariano and Hate Me by Ahsley Jade

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I am not one to shy away from dark romances. I like them. I like finding out the reasons for the wrongs done, trying to understand people's motivations, I like the redemption in the end (though you don't always get it), I of course like the spice, and I do like that sickening feeling in your stomach when you read certain scenes. Proof I am still a normal human being I suppose LOL

I have read some bully romance in the past, but nothing as dark as Untouchable. Untouchable is NOT for the faint hearted; the opening scene is very unpleasant to read. I confess I was certain I was not going to be able to finish the book and I was not going to like it. In the end, it was damn near perfect.  There is an argument to be made that it romanticizes sexual abuse, but it IS FICTION. It's not real life. Which brings the question, in my mind at least, why are some dark romance readers ok with murder but not this? If you are going to have a problem with this you absolutely, 100%, should not be reading mafia romance, many MC romances, and most, if not all dark romance. So those murderous main male characters are works of fiction and this isn't? Pick a side and stick to it.

Ok, rant over. I just got annoyed with some of the reviews this book got from apparent Dark Romance readers. Know your limits! My limit is underage abuse by adults. And even that I can tolerate reading if the adult is the bad guy and not the love interest.

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So, if you can get past those first scenes (and they are BAD!), then you, like me, might just end up loving this book. When the book started, I was certain there was nothing that guy could do to redeem himself. And you know what? he didn't. But in the end, I understood him. Even felt bad for him... 

Zoey was a fabulous character. But man I was screaming at her while reading it. That women has a back bone the size of a mountain and is absolutely nuts. Because you have to the nuts to put up with Carter's sh**. The guy is messed up emotionally, morally, mentally... and she is a power house of a women to not just deal with it but challenge it, accept it, and make it better. 

The other bully romance book I read this past week was Hate Me. This one is not as hard to read as Untouchable. Knox is an ass but you figure out why and you figure out he is not really the bad guy at the very begging. There are some dark scenes in this one too, but because you know why he is the way he is early on it makes it all a lot easier to carry on. 

The rumor going around school is that Knox killed his mother. Considering his dad had him institutionalized soon after his mother was killed that is a good assumption. And the guy does nothing to change people's minds about it either. He is horrid, a bully. 

Aspen is sweet and pretty much Daddy's little girl until her father dies. Her mother remarries and to none other than Knox's father. Making them stepsiblings. 

The romance between the two builds with time. I enjoyed seeing them grow and change and challenge each other. The ending was also really well written, one doesn't walk away from things like that easily and how she dealt with Knox's character at end was superb. 

All in all, if you are ok feeling a little uncomfortable, those books are epic reads and I highly recommend. 

Find the books: Untouchable - Hate Me