C.M. Stunich: Devil's Day Party

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51813790-devils-day-party

Book Blurb:

I crashed my shitty yellow VW Beetle into Calix’s Aston Martin.
To be fair, he deserved it.
But Calix and his friends, Barron and Raz, they don’t see it that way.

Not that it matters.
They’ve bullied me for years, and I’ve never known why.
At least today, they have something real to be pissed about.
All of which would be fine, if today was a normal day.
But it’s not. It’s far from normal.
My mantra has always been: this too, shall pass.

But not today.
Not the worst day of my life.
Hot bullies, busted cars, and pain.

Somebody kill me now.

Tropes:

*High school Bully Romance *enemies --> more *Why Choose *Spice 

*Kissing between F/F & M/M  *death *Dark Romance *Fantasy *Ground Hog Day vibes

*Time loop story *State Challenge Arkansas

Thoughts:

This is my first book by this author, I love the movie Groundhog Day and needed a book for my 50 states challenge set in Arkansas so figured I would give this one a go and I'm glad I did.

Karma (FMC) is stuck in a time loop situation for an unknown period of time to start with it's Devil's day which is taken very seriously in their town with a huge party thrown every year.  Our FMC goes to a wealthy private school but is not from a wealthy family and has been bullied by many of the other students including our MMC's Calix, Raz and Barron.

Karma's initial day begins with her waking up in her car after she has very clearly been involved in a car accident with one of her bullies Calix... he naturally is upset and he and his friends threaten Karma telling her not to bother showing up to the party tonight... they take her car and trash it as a prank and basically rub this in her face later at the party... basically her whole day just keeps getting worse she gets in an argument with her family, steals her mom's car and crashes... expecting her life to be over she's surprised when she wakes up in her car at the time of the accident from the day before only everyone else is acting like these events haven't happened before... what is going on?

It takes Karma a little time on repeat to get things together, depending on how she interacts with her friends, her bullies and her family depends on how her day will go sometimes she ends up locked in a room, finding out her friends secret, but no matter what happens usually there is an embarassing illicit video that gets leaked of her and Calix from the year before when they got together... even though there are supposed to be no phones at the party.  The other thing that happens is she can't seem to make it so that someone doesn't die at the end of her day before the reset occurs.

The MMC's are bullies so things are dark and they often treat Karma and others poorly, they are wealthy and run the school because they can.

While in this loops Karma figures the best way to know her enemy is to get closer to them... she begins to get closer to each guy in turn and over time finds out that maybe their strong emotions towards her isn't hate at all... but love another strong emotion. 

There are a few mysteries in this story surrounding Karma, who is releasing the illicit video?  she quickly figures out it isn't one of her three guys... but who else could it be and why would they do it?  She is at the bottom of the barrel already in the scheme of things as far as high school heirarchy goes.  The other mystery is how can she create a perfect day that doesn't end with anyones death?  It seems every time something is going right... something still goes very wrong. 

This book is of course repetitive throughout being as she is reliving the same day and just trying to recreate things that worked in prior days vs. trying new things to see what happens to change the day and try to figure out what she could potentially do differently to get out of this loop.  

Karma struggles as she gets to know the guys individually because now that she's been involved with each guy how could she possibly pick one over the other?  Would there ever be a day she could have all three?  She struggled as each day was starting from scratch with all of the guys.

I did struggle with some of Karma's decisions during some of her days... but I get that she's a teenager too so was acting her age by making some of these choices.  Being a high school bully romance there were times that I didn't like the lead characters much or their behaviors... but they did seem to have some growth towards the end. 

Check your trigger warnings if you read this one it a dark romance and there are a lot of darker elements in the story.

Have you read this one what did you think? 

Rina Kent: Twisted Kingdom

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/225100340-twisted-kingdom

blog post for book 1 in this series:  https://elbyslibrary.blogspot.com/2026/02/rina-kent-deviant-king.html

book 2: https://elbyslibrary.blogspot.com/2026/03/rina-kent-steel-princess.html

Book 3 Aiden & Elsa's story --> read in order

Book Blurb:

The kingdom isn’t supposed to fall.

The truth screws you over before it sets you free.
Masks drop. Secrets unravel.
Elsa’s race after the past blinds her from the present.
I’ll fight for her. I’ll bring her back.
I’ll protect her even if it’s the last thing I do.
We made a promise.
She’s mine.
Are you ready for one final game, sweetheart?

*Sports romance (football/soccer) *High school bully  *spice *enemies --> more  *miscommunication/no-communication    *touch her and 💀 *Dual POV  

 *check your trigger warnings there are loads  *repressed memories  *PTSD  *Possessive MMC

*lots of secrets  *family drama

Thoughts: 

I did enjoy this book more than the 2nd in the trilogy but truly feel like this story line did not need to be split into three books it was repetitive with their on again off again push and pull not moving forward with the plot but then coming back together for spicy times while not resolving any of their issues.

Aiden and Elsa both have a shared tragic past that even though Elsa can't remember what happened she is still drawn to this boy... who is very possessive, jealous, and throws extreme temper tantrums if he doesn't get his way... this being said this whole series has thrown me off that these people are still in high school but they are trying to act so much older.  Aiden and all of his friends need mental health help they have all the red flags.

This book finally gave us more of the back story of what happened as Elsa gradually regains her memories that she's been cut off from for so long and things were wrapped up by the end... I was skimming through more of the spicy parts to get to the end faster and don't see how they could get in the mood to do certain things when they were in certain situations like... there is no time for that right now!  The 3 books were over 900 pages and didn't need to be.  

This series for me has been like a reality tv show... is it the best out there?  no... but I have to keep reading this it's over the top dramatic and I can't stop myself from wanting to know what happens next. 

Have you read anything by this author?  Have you read this series?  what did you think?  

Rina Kent: Steel Princess

 Royal Elite Book 2 --> Part 2 of Aiden & Elsa's story 

blog post for book 1 in this series:  https://elbyslibrary.blogspot.com/2026/02/rina-kent-deviant-king.html

goodreads link:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/225098842-steel-princess

Since this is a series of 3 books I'm just going to put the book blurb here then my thoughts about the book at the bottom:

The princess isn’t supposed to dethrone the king.

Elsa
He said he’ll destroy me, and he did.
I might have lost the battle, but the war is far from over.
They say it starts with one move to dethrone the king.
No one mentioned he’ll yank me with him on the way down.

Aiden
If Steel’s little princess wants a war, then war it is.
There’s only one rule: my rules or none at all.
By all means, show me what you got, sweetheart.

*Sports romance (football/soccer) *High school bully  *spice *enemies --> more  *miscommunication/no-communication    *touch her and 💀 *Dual POV  

 *check your trigger warnings there are loads  *repressed memories  *PTSD  *Possessive MMC

*lots of secrets  *family drama

Thoughts:

This book starts off where the last book ends Elsa has overheard a conversation that she was never meant to hear between a few people close to Aiden and begins to spiral while she tries to separate herself from Aiden he is relentless between playing mind games with her and telling her that she is going to be with him forever... seriously over the top for a teenage boy.

Elsa wonders about her past and overhears conversations between her guardians (aunt & uncle) related to her past and memories might be coming back and begins to wonder if anyone is telling her the truth in her life.  She has repressed memories and goes to her psychiatrist to see if she can try to unblock these memories as she's been getting glimpses in her dreams (nightmares).

While in this book we do get a bit more of her back story... it really isn't enough as most of it is spent with spicy times between our leads... oh to be young again!  To be honest the actual plot progression wasn't all that much and led me to wonder why their story line needed to be spread over 3 books since the spice was over powering.

I did ruin what happened for myself in this book and the next one because I'm a mood reader and skipped ahead to the 4th & 5th books which give away some of the story from these books but I also did this because some of the trigger warnings were hard for me to read through.

Aiden and Elsa's relationship thru this one is on the toxic side they both make each other jealous throughout the book get upset, sometimes give each other the silent treatment for a bit... then they meet back up and go at it like rabbits.  

While I'm invested in this series at this point and plan to continue to read the third book in their story line this book felt like filler a lot of repetitive scenes with the same outcomes and we are back to square 1 again.  

Rina Kent: Vicious Prince

Teal Van Doren has been adopted into a wealthy family along with her brother (Knox) after surviving terrible childhood abuse and running from their mother rather than spend another night with her and what she has left them to deal with.  Now years later Teal is 18 has made a choice she has decided to accept an arranged marriage in place of her foster sister Elsa.

Ronan is an Earl's son and with that comes certain responsibilities... including apparently the old fashioned tradition of an arranged marriage, he doesn't want to be married any time soon he wants to continue to party and do what he pleases with many woman... sometimes multiple in the same night he has been able to get all of the ladies thrown at him to break off the engagement... until Teal.

Ronan thinks that he can make Teal call it off after catching her in a compromising situation but she refuses as she has reasons of her own to keep the engagement on and even goes out of her way to be kind to his mother who he loves but she is in fragile health.  

The longer they are engaged the more time they spend together and maybe they aren't as different as they originally thought while Teal is a loner by choice and has some rumors being spread about her life outside of school she just doesn't care enough about being popular to notice... in fact she has walls up at all times and doesn't really show emotions.. until Ronan breaks through her walls and she struggles to put them back in place.  

Ronan is the life of every party but behind his confidence and image he portrays he has his own hidden demons... Teal is the first person he has found that can sooth his inner turmoil... just maybe he doesn't want to break off their marriage after all... but when he finds out what she's really up to will that break them both?  
 

*high school bully  *sports romance (football/soccer)  *rich heir MMC  *Arranged marriage *opposites attract

*FMC Grumpy/ Sunshine MMC  *spice *possessive MMC  *morraly grey MMC  *Dual POV *Spice *Emo FMC *Enemies --> more 

*Mental health (PTSD, past trauma) 

*Check your trigger warnings 

Thoughts:  

I'm going to talk about this for every book in this series but the characters are written as if they are way older than they are... I did like Ronan he's the party boy but I could tell even in the previous books that I'm sure that he was putting on an act.  

Again just with the previous books my heart goes out to the lead characters no one should have to go through what they did and they are both survivors trying to cope with things in their own ways... are the ways the healthiest ways to deal with things, probably not if you decide to read this read your trigger warnings as there are plenty with really hard scenes to get through (past memories).  

I don't think this book will be for everyone and I would probably advise not to read it if you have any history of SA.  

On a lighter note Ronan has named his junk Ron Astor II this actually made me LOL because it was so obnoxious and ridiculous.  

I did enjoy seeing Ronan go from the golden retriever, womanizing party boy to a one woman man by the end of the book and Teal start to explore her past trauma by opening up more and letting herself feel the emotions instead of shutting them out.  

If you've read a Rina Kent book you probably have an idea that it's going to have darker elements, this one was just ok for me took me a bit of time to like the FMC since in the first part of the book her inner monologues read more like she was shutting down and robotic once you get to know more of her back story I did feel more for her.  I liked the MMC from previous books but you did see his "Darker" side come out a bit when he was trying to bully Teal into asking to drop the marriage arrangement.  

Rina Kent: Black Knight

 Book 4 

I've been interested in reading this story since I began reading the first book in this series Xander and Kimberly were best friends once as children he was there for her on her worst day (when her grandmother passed away) and she was there for him on his when his mother left without even looking back... they made promises to each other but sometimes people don't keep their promises.

While Xander went on to be one of the most popular guys in school Kimberly struggled with being bullied and wanted to just be invisible... unfortunately she couldn't escape the bullying at home either since her mother is toxic mostly in her own world with her artistic talents she hides away while ignoring her children Kim's father works out of the country and is rarely home thankfully she finds purpose with taking care of her younger brother.

Unfortunately for Kim her younger brother looks up to Xander who lives across the street from them and has been her bully all this time... Why can't he forgive her for what happened years ago?  

Throughout this book you are seeing that maybe there is more to Xander and Kimberly's past than what Kim think's happened but since there is some miscommunication/no communication going on it takes a bit to get to the truth... but once the truth comes out will they ever be the same?  

*2026  *friends --> enemies --> more  *high school bully *dual pov  *Spice  *slow burn *family secrets

*family drama  *miscommunication/no communication *touch her and 💀 *young adult  *teenagers

*morally gray MMC  *flashbacks in book

*mental health trigger warnings (eating disorder, self harm, SI, alcohol addiction, abandonment) 

*part of a series but can be read on it's own (there were some spoilers for the series before it in the book so I would recommend not reading out of order like I did if you don't want the spoilers) 

Thoughts:

From the first book I read a few weeks ago I knew that Xander and Kimberly's story would be emotional since you could see how hard Kim was struggling with no longer having Xander as a friend and she was harboring guilt and grief of no longer having his friendship in her life and whatever happened between them must have been big.  From Xander's side you could tell that he was still struggling with it too since even when he was her bully his friends were getting to her by even being near her.

My heart went out to both of our leads and I wanted to give both of them a big hug Xander at a young age ran after his mom as she left without saying goodbye Kim was right there with him and didn't leave even when he told her to go... when you have that kind of friendship it's devastating to lose it especially at a young age and even more so when you don't know why he can't get over the past incident.

I did struggle with Xander for his treatment of Kimberly over the years she was a beautiful young lady who had a huge heart and for an unknown (to her) reason he allowed her to be bullied when he told her he would be her "Knight" and protector.  I was so mad at her mother for treating her so horrible.  

Kimberly being fat shamed and bullied at home and at school ends up leaning towards innappropriate coping mechanisms to cope with her internal struggles, feeling alone and not wanting to bother anyone she internalized a lot of her emotions bottling them up and hiding secrets of her own.  Xander is hot and cold with Kim which doesn't help with her spiraling emotions.

Both of our leads were battling their own demons but once they come together again it was like the missing piece of a puzzle fitting back together... only when family drama comes back to haunt them and big family secrets are exposed will their brittle renewed friendship be able to survive the truth?

As with the other books in this series that I did struggle with the characters acting like possessive adults when they were still teenagers in highschool.  This had a lot of twists and turns and I was here for it, I loved how they were both flawed but eventually owned it and worked on self improvements together.  

Mental health is important:  https://988lifeline.org/

Rina Kent: Deviant King

 Royal Elite Book 1 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/225088565-deviant-king

Elsa has big plans of making new friends and starting well at her new Elite school she has big goals of getting into the college of her dreams (Cambridge) and right off finds a kindred spirit in a timid girl named Kimberly... only first day in she makes it on the wrong side of Aiden King... the "King" of the school and she has no idea why this is her first day she's never even met him before what could he have against her?  But this encounter sets up for how she's treated the rest of her school days because the leader of the school has made his declaration.  

A few years go by where Elsa and Kimberly are bullied by the popular kids at school and as their final year at school comes around they are both just looking to get through the year with as little problems as possible... only Aiden King has decided to ramp up his attentions... and as much as she dislikes him after all the things he has done and had his minions say about her over the years she can't help but wonder why she feels at a loss whenever his attentions from her are gone.

Aiden is at the top of the schools heirarchy... the other boys want to be him, the girls want to be with him... all except her... he is tired of looking from a distance and has decided to get closer to her than ever this year... As the King he always gets what he wants and she is his even if she doesn't know it yet.  

Elsa has a hidden past that even she doesn't know because she can't remember but the end result was her parents deaths and her moving in with her aunt and uncle now when her nightmares are getting worse the one there to comfort her is the most surprising of all... her bully Aiden how can she feel so comforted by him, she hates him doesn't she?  

*Sports romance (football/soccer) *High school bully  *spice *enemies --> more  *miscommunication/no-communication  *Virgin FMC  *touch her and 💀 *FMC POV  *drama

 *check your trigger warnings there are loads  *repressed memories  *PTSD 

Thoughts: 

This is book 1 of 3 in their story line so we don't get the full story this is only from Elsa's side so we don't really see the story from Aiden's side yet.  

Aiden for no obvious reason on Elsa's first day of school corners her in front of the school and tells her he is going to destroy her.  Aiden is a spoiled rich boy who has no problems using his family name to get whatever he wants when he wants it... he is manipulative and plays a load of mind games with everyone including Elsa.  

I had a harder time with Aiden than with his cousin Levi... Aiden is colder and I couldn't help thinking that he was 16-18 years old just settle down there buddy you arn't going to destroy anyone yet... just play football, study, hang out with your friends and enjoy your youth while you can before it takes 3 months to schedule a lunch date with even 1 friend because everyone is too busy and your schedules don't match up.

Elsa tries to stand up for herself and I did think she was a sweet girl who was struggling with childhood trauma she doesn't remember but I couldn't help thinking Girl!  you keep setting yourself up for failure with running into your bully by going into secluded areas where he can easily confront her without anyone knowing... for as smart as she is she's not thinking clearly with these situations.

There are a few mysteries going on related to Elsa's past that she is starting to remember and our MMC was a complete mystery because you don't know what he's going to do at any given moment he's obsessive and unhinged especially when it comes to Elsa.  While he never officially did anything she didn't want he was definately on the edge of crossing the line so check your trigger warnings before reading this.    

While there were a lot of elements that were not for me it does have a lot of what I want in a book series with drama and mystery it kept me turning pages and I did start to warm up to Aiden more as the book went on I plan to continue the series.  

Rina Kent: Cruel King

 Royal Elite Book #0 

Astrid is happy to fly under the radar, she's not popular, she spends a lot of her spare time watching her favorite show "Vikings" and creating art.  She's way out of her comfort zone at her school and has been ever since her mum passed away in a car accident and she had to move in with her wealthy, stuffy father. 

 Her best friend Dan (who is on the football team) talks her into going to a party after school with the popular kids and pretty much immediately ditches her to go find some ladies... on her own she ends up drinking unknowingly at that point something had been dropped into the drink and she runs into one of the "King's" of the school --> Levi King is wealthy, entitled, he's the football captain and he is used to getting his way with anyone he wants and he sets his sites on Astrid... only to find out her last name this is where we find out there is some beef between his Uncle and her Father (they were both told to stay away from each other)... Astrid ends up in trouble when she is locked out of the house on the run from some unknown Pursuer(s) it's dark she's in the woods and lost she ends up getting hit by a car.

After several months of Rehab we find our FMC back in school and continuing to run into this "Cruel King" but the longer she spends time with him she realizes that he has reasons for coming off as cold and calculated even though he tells her to drop the case she wants justice and to find out who hit her... the doctor's think she'll get her memory back but she has a block when it comes to that night.

Astrid has to deal with troubles at home with her evil step mother and step sister, her dad always takes their side... her mom would never have done that, and now she is finding it harder and harder to fly under the radar since being in line of site of the "King" and he doesn't want to let her go... she is his even if she doesn't know it yet.  Thankfully her best friend Dan is still there for her when she needs him.  

Will they ever be able to have a true relationship if there are dark secrets surrounding their whole relationship?  Will Astrid ever remember what happened the nights of the accidents (hers and the MVA she was in with her mum)?  Will the truth destroy the fragile relationship they have built and would their families even be ok with them being together?  

*High School *Bully  *Virgin FMC  *Spice  *trigger warnings  *family drama  *rich/elite life

*dark secrets  *sports romance (Football/Soccer) MMC  *touch her and 💀 *enemies --> More

*Posessive MMC  *loss of parents (for both MMC and FMC) *mystery *forbidden romance

Thoughts:

I really felt for Astrid she was still grieving over the loss of her mum and learning how to deal in a world she's not from with her stuffy new family who goes out of their way to make her feel uncomfortable (wicked step mom/step sister vibes).  Levi had been through a lot he was tired of being under his Uncle's thumb and was often acting out against his uncle to try to take control of his own life... mainly he would like the opportunity to go pro if given the option that would be a great option for him.

The story was often cringy they were all teenagers but Levi being possessive and trying to assert dominance over everyone on his team and Astrid felt more on the ridiculous side, he's a young man I kind of just wanted to give him a hug and tell him that things would be ok.  

That being said... for whatever reason I couldn't put it down, it was dramatic, there was a few mysteries going on, they had a hot/cold on again off again... wtf is happening with their relationship situationship going on and I wondered throughout if Levi was still playing head games with our girl or what... He's the hot, badboy I totally would have had a crush on in high school but would have never approached.  

I wouldn't recommend this to everyone but if you enjoy bully romance you might enjoy this one, there were definately some things going on throughout this book that weren't usually my type of reads... but I had to find out where this was going and I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series.  

Nelia Alarcon: The Darkest Note

 read in 2025

I haven't read many books in this genre as I tend to like a happier/sweet/funny kind of reads, this has elements from the darker side of life as it follows a teenage girl Cadence who has had to grow up fast after her mother commits suicide and leaves her and her sister to fend for themselves not wanting to be separated from her sister she works multiple jobs after school to pay the bills... they haven't gone into the foster care system because her and her sister find out that they have an older half brother who has been given custody of the girls but seeing them as a burden he allows them to stay where they were living to continue on with their lives.

Cadence is a talented musician but struggles with stage fright the only way she can play is when she dresses for the part putting in contacts and wearing a red wig she feels safe from being seen.  It is through her talents that led her to getting a scholarship to a ritzy school filled with a bunch of spoiled rich kids who she doesn't fit in with and don't want her there... but she knows that graduating from this school can lead to more opportunities for her and her sister and she has already been through so much no one at this school can break her.

This is where our MMC Dutch enters the picture he and his 2 brothers rule the school they are talented musicians and recently have returned from a world tour their father is a famous musician as well.  Dutch and his father don't get along well but it isn't brought up too much throughout the book.  Dutch and his brothers are looking to get a close friend (Sol) back into school they all did something wrong but he took the blame for it and got kicked out of school now they haven't heard from him since and are all worried about what happened to him there is an on going subplot to try to find out what happened to him.

Cadence runs into Dutch and the other Kings pretty much right away at school they are mean to her --> and Dutch (mostly) does everything he can to get her to leave on her own... it turns out that his friend Sol can't return to the school even if he does find him because Cadence took his spot on scholarship. 

There were elements that were overly dramatic to this story like how Cadence's alter ego with the red wig has enchanted the mighty Dutch to the point where he is pretty much instantly infatuated with her... not realizing that she is his nemesis that he wants out of the school.  There is also an unknown secret character they call Jinx that knows everyone at the schools secrets and is willing to spill them all for a high enough price. 

Cadence and Dutch spend the book in a love/hate relationship where one minute he is sweet to her and one minute he is sour... he also has a few run ins with her alter ego that got heated but I found it hard to believe that he didn't recognize her when she was only wearing a wig... it's like Clark Kent wearing glasses no one knows he's superman.    

There is no spice in this book only kisses and mentions of more... Dutch continues to get with other willing girls at the school while fighting his feelings over who he really wants Cadence/the red head (still same person) and sometimes he is getting with a groupie immediately after meeting with our FMC...  👎 

When Cadence gets notice that she might be losing her home she feels like the world around her is caving in will she be able to raise enough money to keep her and her sister together?  Will their brother step up to help?  Will she be able to stay at the school when Dutch and his minions are doing everything they can to get her thrown out for reasons unknown to her?  I still don't understand why Dutch and his brothers think that getting Cadence kicked out will make room for their friend to come back he was expelled from the school for a reason... they really like to throw around their money and power but since they are still teenagers it just felt to me like a toddler having a temper tantrum.  

The story kept me turning pages but I had troubles truly liking the MMC... and felt terrible that our FMC who was already struggling when the MMC had everything in life was treating her this poorly.  I'm still going to give the next in the series a try because the book ended on a cliffhanger with several unexplained situations so maybe will be explained over the next few books?  

*bully romance  *high school *rich rock star MMC  *Musician (both MMC + FMC)  *hidden identity 

*virgin FMC  *player MMC  *cliffhanger  *MMC with a zillion red flags --> run girl  *enemies/more

 *Death of parent (suicide)  *drug use mentioned (mother)