Rich Boys of Burberry Prep - C.M. Stunich

Ramblings of a Bookworm...

Filthy Rich Boys (Book 1)
#whychoose?  The Queen of this tag strikes again with Rich Boys of Burberry Prep, the wonderful C.M. Stunich.  I can honestly say this bully romance cut me to the core.  When you mix four beautifully cruel souls with one as pure and innocent as Marnye's, you would think she would break, but she is an astoundingly strong heroine who will bow to no one.

What they don't know is that the hardest hearts are forged in fire.  With their cruelty and their jokes and their laughter, they've forged me into something spectacular.

Whenever I read bully romances, I always try and imagine myself in the shoes of the heroine.  I can usually nod along and say, "Yeah, okay.  I guess this makes sense."  However, with Filthy Rich Boys, I found my mind bouncing all over the place.  Just when I thought I had a grasp on things and understood all sides, another wrench was thrown in and I had to start again.

As I do with all the books I read, I determine what my favourite attributes of the "hero" (book boyfriend) are, but I've had a hard time with these reverse harems deciding who my favourite is and ranking the boys.  Is it Zayd with his happy-go-lucky rockstar demeanor?  Tristan with his poise and unflappable psyche?  Creed with his laid back attitude?  Or Zach in all his football playing glory?  (I'll give you a hint: it changed in each book - hell, even multiple times per book...)

Bad, Bad Bluebloods (Book 2)
Nothing can be as sweet as revenge, especially when the revenge is done cleanly and without technically getting your hands dirty.

Revenge is wicked sweet, but forgiveness is a virtue.  Too bad I've never been holy.

I truly admire the strength of Marnye Reed - after the hell she went through freshman year, I don't know if I would ever be able to go back.  But she rose above it all with her head held high, and she quickly became one of my all-time favourite heroines.  Blow after blow, she manages to keep pushing through to the bitter end.

Bad, Bad Bluebloods introduced a fifth rich boy to the folds, and he quickly rose to the top of my "favourites" list.  Windsor was witty and a true bright light among the darkness, and I appreciated his addition to the already widely different personalities to the crew of boys.

The Envy of Idols (Book 3)
With five strong, powerful, influential guys by your side, what could possibly go wrong?  I feel like those are the famous last words I muttered to myself as I dove in head-first to The Envy of Idols...  only for my eyes to bug out of my head and my hand to fly to my mouth in shock several times.

If I can melt that outer steel of his, and dig down to what lies beneath... he'll be a fucking firestorm.

The character development in this series was absolutely spectacular.  Watching Marnye grow and shift with all the obstacles in her way, seeing the tough, cold exteriors of the boys slowly melting away to show glimpses of their true selves, it was all something else.  How C.M. Stunich manages to write about six complex and vastly different main characters so flawlessly truly baffles me, and I applaud her immense talent more and more with each book I devour by her.

In the Arms of the Elite (Book 4)
Though the final book in this series was just as tumultuous as the first three, I felt an odd sense of peace as I read through it.  There were just as many gut-wrenching, tear-inducing, heartbreaking moments (if not more to be quite honest because I have a tendency to get attached which makes it that much harder to fight through...), but after watching all the characters grow and change throughout the pages, knowing they were in their Senior year of high school was bittersweet and I felt oddly like a proud parent.

Life is always ticking by, one second at a time, and nothing is over until it's over, but... for now, I'm happy resting in the arms of the elite.

 I found this series to be full of karmic relief, and I couldn't have been more thrilled.  Everyone well and truly got what they deserved - the good, the bad, and the ugly.  I cannot wait for the Idols of Burberry to mix with the Student Council of Adamson in Orientation.  Seriously, no chill over here.

In the end, after very careful consideration, I came to an incredibly difficult decision and crowned...  Zayd as my #1...  I'm intrigued to know who your favourite was, so please let me know!

Rating:

Book Boyfriend: 10/10
Flow: 10/10
Plot: 8/10 (legit the only reason is because I had an incredibly hard time getting past the characters being 15 in the first book - legit ended up picturing the whole series as university, not gonna lie...)

Overall: 9/10

Currently available on Kindle (and Kindle Unlimited)

* Synopsis *

Break the new girl.
That should be easy, right?
Trash like her doesn’t belong at Burberry Prep.
No, Marnye Reed is going down, and we plan to make a spectacle out of it.
Let’s see who can make her fall in love first.
Bet’s on. Any takers?

***

Take on the filthy rich boys.
They’re the idols of the school, veritable gods on earth.
Old Money. New money. A rising star.
These guys are nothing like the ones at my old school.
I might come from nothing, but I’m determined to be someone, and I won’t let them get in my way.
They say they’ll make my life a living hell; I think they mean to keep that promise.





Break the rich boys.
It’s tricky, but doable.
Jerks like them don’t deserve to rule Burberry Prep.
No, Tristan, Zayd, and Creed are going to pay, and I plan to make an example of them.
Then there’s Zack, the varsity football d*ck. Oh, and did I mention a prince just transferred to the academy? Whatever will I do with those two?
Revenge is wicked sweet; I can’t wait for a taste.

***

Defend ourselves against the charity case.
We’re the Idols of the school, the kings of the campus.
Marnye Elizabeth Reed.
That girl is nothing like the ones we’re used to. We just can’t decide if we hate her … or love her.
She might come from nothing, but she sure is determined to stir up something at the academy.
She says she’ll meet our challenge dead-on; we’ll make sure she regrets that.

Share the new girl.
That won’t be easy, will it?
Especially not while trying to keep our thrones in the Burberry Prep social scene.
Marnye is learning to forgive us; the least we can do is protect her.
Let’s see who can make her fall in love first.
This time, there’s no bet. This time, it’s just our hearts on the line.

***

Take on the filthy rich girls—and do it with the help of the boys.
It’s us versus them, and it’s not going to be pretty.
The king of the school, a pissed-off narcoleptic, a tattooed rockstar, a varsity football player, and a prince.
Five guys to back me up, five boys that give me butterflies.
They say they’ve changed their ways; it’s time to see if they can keep that promise.

Choose between the rich boys.
I’d rather face the Harpies than make that choice.
How can my four years at Burberry Prep really be coming to an end?
No, Tristan, Zayd, Creed, Zack, and Windsor are everything to me right now.
My strength, my passion, my heart, my empathy, my joy.
Love is a cruel master, but I have no one to blame for this but myself.

***

We fell in love with the charity case.
Idols of the school, the kings of the campus, and we’re nothing without her.
Marnye Elizabeth Reed.
This girl has twisted our world upside down, but the Infinity Club is about to knock us all on our asses.
Big money, political ties, family bonds, obligations: shit is going down at the academy.
The rest of our lives, the rest of her life … it all comes down to this one, final moment.