Just Drop Out: Hannaford Prep Year One

When you read a bully romance, especially high school related, the important part is the believability. The story can be constructed gross, even wrong, dark, twisted, but if the actions and/or relationships feel believable, then everything is good... even perfect. And this is the book..the book where I do not feel sick to my stomach during hints of RH or affection towards various guys simultaneously... the book took me in and did not let go... the interesting part is that it rarerly happens nowadays... I have just read everything to be read at the moment (regarding usual bully romances)...Another interesting thing is that I usually hate violence towards women, I hate every part of it, but this heroine is so strongly built that I can gent through the violent parts towards her as I feel her strenght and I adore her... It is such a rare occasion, that I need to think twice while writing these words... the FMC is the best I’ve encountered so far..This is another book after cruel intentions (Siobhàn Davis) and War (Laura Thalassa) I tried to read slowly..*spoiler - I could not do it..so I read it quick... too fast for my liking..I do not know if this book is RH, but this is the first one I do not feel forced upon as this kind of relationship is okay, and actually I love all of the guys, which is still a surprising fact for me. I adore them all three, but Harley is my favourite.. I hope that there will not be RH in real, but I still love the book and am eager for the next one!!!I am still reading the book and Lips is amazing.. so amazing, I want to be near her. Avery is also a perfect add to the mix!!This book surprised me.

This is hands down the best book series I have ever read, and I have read hundreds of books. This series checks every single box for me. I read all sorts of genres but my absolute favorite is Romance and in the last few years I have become a fan of RH though it's hard to find it done well. I can really only think of five authors that have created works that I felt really nailed this genre. J. Bree is leading the way in my opinion. What are these checked boxes you may ask? Here we go:1) Strong FMC. Lips (fmc) is fierce but retains her soul. I have never read a fmc as well put together as her. She is the warrior in this series. While she has been through so much she retains her heart and soul and most impressively, her self-esteem. She is relatable, human, loyal, brave, strong. I want to meet this person so bad, heck...I want to be this person. If you prefer a strong female h who can handle her own, I think you'll be hard pressed to find a character who does it more realistically. This first book has quite a bit of the "bullying" but unlike other books with that plot line, it never feels miserable to the reader and that my friends is all due to our bad@$$ fmc Lips! She is so cool and collected. It's not that the bullying doesn't bother her, its that she has experienced and overcome so many worse obstacles that honestly the bullying comes off as more of a nuisance than anything. It never rocks her confidence or self-esteem and therefore as an invested reader, it never rocked mine. Thank you J. Bree for showing us such a mature character going through this tough situation.2) Slow build for the relationships. I've come to realize about myself that I prefer a slow build with lots of heat and steam and plenty of character and relationship building as opposed to a fast burn/rush to the smexy times. Don't get me wrong, I want sexy times and I want them to be super hot when they happen and J. Bree handled this aspect beautifully. Book one doesn't technically have smexy times but the heat and steam is there in spades and frankly the characters are so darn fascinating that you don't even miss it. You can tell when we get to that stuff it will be worth the wait and having read all four books I can promise you the sexy times will rock your world, all the more so because we took the time to really get to know these characters. This was the best build I have ever read. Hands down.3) The H's (male characters), too often authors are making two big mistakes when writing the male characters, the first being that they have too many of them. This is just my opinion but my perfect number of guys for an RH is three (four tops), that's primarily because I don't want there to be favoritism and I want to know every guy is getting plenty of time with the fmc and when it gets to be too many guys that just doesn't make sense to me, and the second issue is when some of the male characters aren't well fleshed out as truly different characters with different personalities, in which case they start to blur and you don't know why they are there. J. Bree nailed the H's. Harley, Blaise and Ash were so different and their relationship pace with Lips was on different timelines and had very different obstacles to be overcome but at the same time these three guys were a tight group of chosen "brothers" and you can totally see how Lips fits with them and it's not implausible that they would choose to share this relationship.4) This is totally a personal preference but there is no M/M in this series. I've noticed that cropping up in more and more RH books lately and I get why but that doesn't particularly do it for me. I want the relationships to be completely focused on the fmc and that's how it is in this series.I've read this entire series and am going on record as saying book 2 is my favorite (the redemption is sooo sweet) so I'm going to finish off this review of book one and pick up the review on book two.Anyone who hasn't started this series is so lucky because this phenomenal series is complete (actually I hope its not complete, and J. Bree decides to take us into the college and early adult years, because I will never be done with these characters), but it's complete for now. You have a full four book series to read so you won't experience any of the heartache and stress from waiting months for "the next book" to release. Start this series now, prepare to experience a game changer in the romance and RH realm.

No spoilers but the lead, Eclipse 'Lips' is meant to be this hardened, bloodied harass survivor but is walked on and over the ENTIRE book. I picked this because I was intrigued by the idea of pampered high society bullies unknowingly targeting a female John Wick type and how she'd own them but nope, Lips spends most of her time metaphorically clutching her pearls over how sick and twisted the rich kids and how she would never. You can have a character do bad things, even enjoy them and still have limits but the author keeps trying to push the the good girl narrative but Mary Sues the big, bad wolf when needed Even when the Wolf seems to be all bark and physically incapable of any bite.Even the world building waffles. The school has zero tolerance for fighting\drinking and enforced single sex flooring but blindly ignores the host of kids bloodied or literally murdered, the drink\drug parties on the property and boys going to the girls floor\rooms whenever. The idea is that wealth buys that blindness but even if the students have a pecking order, no way the wealthy parents are not on this super prestigious school demanding to know why their kids are bullied \blooded\murdered or had nudes being passed around with or without their consent because that is the kind of thing that reflects badly on them.I also wish the Jackal was a benevolent, ride or die friend\family member instead of yet another bad because it distracts from the story so much. I will check out the second book because the last chapter renewed my interest somewhat but from this book alone I wouldn't recommend the series.

I'm in love. I truly am. I love the FMC, Lips. She is the ultimate badass chick. Smart, sassy, fierce, she's a badass who doesn't need a knight in shining armour to save her, cos she can damn well save herself. She's been bullied, beaten, threatened, propositioned & she's still staying, still unbroken. I want to be her when I grow up. Definitely a book worth reading, my hats off to the author, I bow down at your feet in awe

FM 6 ways to Sunday WTF did I just read!!! But damn it I bloody loved the hell out of this book.......Jesus Christ this was one hell of a book ride, it was so enthralling sooo engaging and interesting I just couldn’t put it down, the characters all of them are so interesting and LIPS damn that girl is one hell of a badass that’s for sure, I’m not the type to give away spoilers but all I will say is that, this is a very very good book and very interesting and it’s definitely 💯% a must read definitely recommend it.

This book is hands down my favourite from this genre (not counting the rest of the series which are also my favourites!) What makes it even more impressive is that it is J Bree's first book!There is the perfect formula: girl from foster care gets in to a posh prep school through academic brilliance and then gets bullied but is a badass all the way through! If i say some of the good stuff which happens towards the end then it'd be a spoiler but basically she gets a bestie and their relationship is one of the best things to ever happen to her and gives us readers all the feels! Also there are hot guys (let's just ignore the fact they are 15 when she starts there). You won't be sorry continuing this series if you like the reverse harem, (light) bully romance genre.

I rarely read bully books, generally because I find the story all a bit same-y. This is in a different league. Utterly. I love the fact that the mc is the baddest-ass in the school unbeknownst to her tormentors and the rest of the school, and yet she's the only one with a decent moral compass. I love her attitude, I love the story, and I hate the boys sooooo much right now, although as things get revealed I'm changing little by little! More than anything I am in awe of just how this girl can let these taunts go - her inexorable confidence in herself is just so refreshing - especially as often in bully books the mc can be a bit wishy-washy. Love this. Off to read book 2!

This was a great book with an excellent storyline and it flowed through out. It embodies what bully romance genre is. Lips our heroine and FMC is strong tough and resilient, just looking for a better start to her life. This book had action, romance and intrigue I’m on to the next!!

It’s actually on my third re-read of the series I’ve decided to review this book.I LOVE this series, and book 1 really sets up the story and gives you a feel for the characters. It’s written so well and the story is so gripping that you’ve already bought book 2, 3 & 4 before you’ve finished 1.Highly recommend and good reading!!