Shattered Princess was not at all what I was expecting, in the best possible way. Our main characters have mountains to overcome, but if they can do it I can see a love of epic proportions, if they don't get in their own way that is.

Aurora (Rory) Hale Casper is a complex and complicated character that I found myself rooting for from the first chapter, as her world is crashing down around her she picks herself up and walks in to the lions den... well hellhounds den and does it with her head held high.

Cole is determined to not care about Rory and with good reason, he knows he has secrets that would not only destroy himself but her as well, and that knowledge is something he would do anything to forget. Life doesn't let you forget though and those secrets come out at the worst moment.

Through the ups and downs of not only the story, but the unraveling of Rory's past we find that her life wasn't easy in any way, the people that should have protected her didn't. and that has scarred her, it would anyone and only time will tell if all of the hurts and betrayals can be corrected.

Personally I can't wait to keep reading this series, I need to know what happens with Rory. Cole, Eli, and Finn, as for her family, well her step mother has a lot of explaining to do, I can't help but wonder how she'll talk her way out of what happened in that conservatory.

Usually you see the new girl getting bullied
or being constantly harassed. That's not the
case with Rory. This heroine didn't need any
saving, she got that done all by herself.
They try a bit in the beginning but it quickly ends.
The reason is because she has three guy's always
watching out for her; Cole(love interest),
Finn(half-brother), and Eli(long-time friend).
Rory is bold and afraid of nothing and no-one.
We're given a couple answers, but left with a few
questions as well. I have a feeling that all the secrets
the parents are keeping are about to blow up in their
faces in the next book. Can't wait for Broken Heir to
come out.

When I first started to read this book, I was skeptical. It seemed like Vant just threw us in to the story, and I actually looked back to make sure I hadn’t missed a book. I am glad that I gave it a chance. I enjoyed reading this dramatic enemies-to-lovers romance. That trope happens to be one of my favorites and is very popular with other readers. While it might not be the most well written (several errors, though I do realize that this is an arc), book that I’ve read lately, I still plan on picking up the next installment!

Thank you so much to Netgalley for sending me an ARC of Shattered Princess in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows Rory after she moves into her wealthy father's home and tries to settle into her new life. Unfortunately, she struggles to fit in as her brother and her friends bully her relentlessly.

I struggled with the romance of it all, as she falls in love with Cole, one of her tormentors. Bullying romances are not for me but I really wanted to give it a chance as they seem to be the IT category right now. So I wanted to get it, I wanted to love it. But I just can't get behind the premise.

I did really like Amber's writing and I loved that it was dual POVs so we got to see what was going on in Cole's head.

This book is amazing definitely will reread, the first few chapters i felt were slow but it was an amazing book overall.

I may have lit the match the first time, but I wouldn’t be the one left burned this round. The elites run this town, but they aren’t ready for a girl like me. Especially the boys who made it known from the beginning I wasn’t wanted here that one summer I stayed with my father. I hadn’t belonged—I knew that—but now I was coming back. Forced into the one place I despised after my addict mother unexpectedly dies. Only months before my eighteenth birthday. The worst of them all is my half-brother’s best friend. The leader of the group. The oppressor, my enemy. Those hate-fueled cerulean eyes still haunt me in my dreams. He thinks he can break me, but what he doesn’t know is I’ve already been shattered. I hope they’re ready because I wasn’t the obedient, delicate person they remembered. It’s my turn to watch them simmer. Welcome to the world of the hellhounds. You’ll hate it here.

I love the enemies to lovers trope so I was really excited to start this book.

Unfortunately, I really struggled with this book.

I did not hate it, but I also did not love it.

Let me start out with what I did like:
The characters. I loved the characters and their relationships.
Rory is not a push-over. The things she does are done for a reason, it's not just done to provoke the bullies. It felt more real life.
The storyline itself reminded me a lot of Zodiac Academy which I really enjoyed.

My biggest complaint is the grammatical errors. This was an ARC so it's totally possible this has already been fixed for release. However, it made reading so difficult. There were sentences with words completely missing. I often had to re-read a sentence multiple times to grasp what was going on.
My other issue was the confusing time jumps. I'd be reading one paragraph and the very next paragraph was suddenly in the future. While I don't think they needed to be separated by a new chapter, some sort of separator between the two paragraphs would have made it much less confusing.
I also felt like Rory and Finn's relationship was portrayed unrealistically. One moment they hated each other and suddenly they don't. I wish there was some more buildup to that relationship given.

TW: sexual assault, bullying

Thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the ARC of Shattered Princess

This new adult high school enemies to lovers, bully romance is so good. This first book in the Hardin Hellhounds series was intriguing from the first page.

The elites are the rulers of this town, and the female main character was never made to fit into the town. A certain group of boys made that perfectly clear one summer when she stayed with her dad. Some people would keep away, but not her. Not when she had no other choice but to come back after her addict mother unexpectedly passes away.

The group of bullies come back with a vengeance the moment she shows her face again. The worst of them all is her half-brother’s best friend who just happens to be the leader of the group. She won't break the way she once did, not after already feeling as though she has been shattered. She isn't the same person she once was. Not by a long shot.

I honestly can't wait to read more in this series and to find out what will happen next after that cliffhanger of an ending. Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book.

This is the first book from this author that I’ve read and it certainly wont be my last. I am a massive fan of multiple povs and this book has a dual pov with I absolutely loved. The tension between the two main characters was enough to not let me put the book down! I am really looking forward to the next book in this series. Really recommend :)

I was blessed with an arc for this book. And let me tell you dropping everything to read this book was absolutely worth it! I was hooked from the first page! I have to say that you do really need to like bully-romance though. If that is your thing I think you’ll enjoy this book a lot. The chemistry between Rory and Cole is amazing.
I will definitely be checking out the next book once it’s out!

Absolutely loved this book. The characters were wonderful and the story took you on a rollercoaster of emotions.

Rory grew up with a distant father and an alcoholic mother. Not a great start. When she was sixteen Rory went to her father’s house for the summer and her step-brother and his posse treated her with absolute disrespect, causing Rory to run back to her mother. Now, 17 almost 18, Rory’s mother passes away leaving her with nowhere legal to live but her father’s. Rory returns to the rich life her father has and the seemingly endless torment from her brother and his friends.

The title of this book is a little deceiving, not being fantasy but solely being a romance. That being said the romance in the book was strong. The book driven by the characters and the enemies to lovers trope. This isn’t my favorite type of writing, but it can be enjoyable for those who enjoy character driven books. Another aspect of the book that I struggled with were the transitions. Sometimes the book would transition to a new scene without any warning or distinction which made it difficult to keep up. However, I got used to it and a little bit of rereading fixed it. I would recommend this to someone who enjoys character driven books and the enemies to lover trope!

Trigger warnings: addiction, strained parental relationships, emotional abuse, death, and alcohol use

I really liked Rory in the beginning of the book before she was forced to live with her father. She was pretty bad ass and had a backbone. I usually don't mind bully romance books but this one really bothered me. I didn't really buy the relationship between her and Cole. He had always been awful to her and then towards the end of the book you are shown "glimpses" of when he was supposedly there for her and it just seemed like too much. I mean hating each other so much and then in the next sentence it went to love. I'm not sure when it even happened and thought it was missing a build up to that. I also feel like the book didn't flow well - there was no lead in to the next scene and it felt like it was just happening.

Things I did like. The cover is gorgeous!! It's what drew my eye to the book in the first place. I liked how Rory's dad finally stood up for her with her step mom and saw what a rotten person she was. I liked Rory and would have liked to see her sassy attitude follow her throughout the story. It just felt like she was weaker and more unsure of herself as the story went on.

This book does end on a cliffhanger.

I liked the description on NetGalley but unfortunately dIdn't engage with the writing so sadly DNFed this one

If you liked the Paper Princess series, you’ll like shattered Princess.

Rory is 17, supporting herself by working in a diner. Her estranged and super rich father takes custody of her after her mother randomly dies. Rory’s half brother and his two best friends bully her (yes it’s a bully romance besties). Cole is the leader of the his friend group, which is called the Hell Hounds.

I went into this blind. The cover looked cool so I ran with it.

This pulled me in. Again I think this was similar in vibes to Paper Princess and that’s why I liked it.

I like Rory’s character a lot. She feels genuine and stands up for herself.

Cole is lowkey boring. Rory should be with Eli. Even though they barely interacted in this book, I ship it.

The romance is good. Slowburn with lots of tension.

3.5/5🌶 there were like 1 1/2 spicy scenes in this. I assume spice will ramp up as the series progresses.

I NEED A FINN AND HAILEY BOOK ASAP PLEASE

I personally thought that this book was underwhelming but still enjoyable

This book follows Rory who has to move back to her Father’s house and everyone hates her because of some fire.

I don’t think that the fire situation was explained good in the beginning leaving me confused throughout the whole book as it was RARELY ever mentioned up until the end of the book.

Rory’s brother hated her at the beginning but he went to loving her the next chapter. I think that their relationship wasn’t explained enough and it was just so unreasonable for him to hate her then love her the next chapter if literally nothing happened between them.

The relationship between Rory and her Father was briefly talked about through the whole book and they just felt like they had no personality. Now i do understand they were side characters but even side characters need a personality.

Now onto Cole… he was the classic bad boy with daddy issues who hated Rory yet couldn’t seem to keep himself away from her even though he treated her like shit. I’m not going to lie i actually loved his character up until he started acting like a bitch to Rory even though she did NOTHING wrong. Also, the plot twist at the end just pissed me off because i felt that it was just so underwhelming i wanted to cry.

Now to the good things about this book because why would i hate on a book if i gave it 3 ⭐️?

I actually really liked how accepting Rory’s brother was of their relationship. It was a nice break from all the protective brothers who kill the sister’s every boyfriend.

I LOVED the relationship between the Hellhounds i just felt that in some way they were all just connected with each other and i loved that.

I loved Finn’s personality despite the fact that the relationship between Rory and him made no sense. He was so chill i just loved it ❤️💜

Also, i really liked the plot of the book although i do think it could have been more developed but maybe that will be it the second book 🤔

I also really liked how Rory was standing up for herself and didn’t give a shit what other people thought.

I really wished she joined the Hellhounds though…

Overall, this book was a very enjoyable read for me although it did have dark themes in it, which i would recommend to search up trigger warnings for, as i do think it’s a dark romance? it wasn’t extremely dark in my opinion which was also refreshing but this obviously depends on each person!

Thank you so much for letting me read this book! 💜❤️

Spoilers Ahead
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Recieved an Advanced Readers Copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was really good fun to read, once of those "read it in one night" deals. The characters were so well developed and you really do get attached to them throughout the whole book.

I would say though i was left a little confused sometimes as it was hard to tell who dialog belonged too and it wouldnt hurt to have a little more detail on locations or scene setting, it would really help you imerse yourself in the world a little easier.

The ending... Love a cliffhanger and this was so fantastic, it will be a great run into the second book, which i already NEED! But it also hit you fully in the feels.... 4/5 stars purely because of the odd few things that could do with a little more explination. Thank you so much for letting me read this early ❤

I got this eARC from NetGalley. Thank you to Victory Editing and Amber Vant for allowing me to read and review THE SHATTERED PRINCESS before its release.

OVERVIEW
Enemies to Lovers
Found Family
Love Triangle
Dual POV
High School/New Adult
Content Includes: sexual language, violence, drugs & alcohol, sexual assault memory

This was a quick read and had me sucked in pretty quickly. Rory’s strong personality is captivating. You can tell she has had to advocate for herself in many areas of her life. She’s fierce, won’t put up with your crap, and is also friendly to those who are kind to her.

The dual POV was lacking for me though from Cole’s perspective. Many of his chapters left me wanting and I often felt reading it from Rory’s perspective or leaving it out would have been better. Overall, he didn’t have many redeeming qualities, so that may have played a factor in my perspective of him as well. I hope the sequel will give him more of a hook.

The plot twist and cliffhanger at the end have me though. If I was able to get my hands on the second book in THE HARDIN HELLHOUND series, I’d be reading it right now.

Goodreads Review posted 1/29/22
Instagram Review posting 1/30/22

This is Rory's story. She is summoned to live with his father. A rich man with a huge house and a not very nice son.
Finn is Rory's half brother and he, with his two best friends, is the high school king. They are determined to ignore her and humiliate her.
But sometimes your enemies become something else, right?
As usual, I'm not telling anything that can spoil this book for you. But let me tell you, when I finished it, I couldn't help shouting Whaaaaaat??
Because dear Amber Vant, how am I supposed to live without the second book???
It's been a long time since I have read a book this good in NetGalley. I was totally hooked from the first chapter and I got obsessed. I love everything in this story. But the end is not just a cliffhanger! A new word should be created for a cliffhanger like this!
And just like that Amber has destroyed my life until August...

This book is your typical bully romance with a proper enemies to lovers vibe but unfortunately it just misses the mark for me!

I had high hopes going into this book but I didn't connect with many of the characters outside of Rory, Cole, Finn, Hailey and Eli! However I absolutely loved the tension between Rory and Cole. Cole is full of clichés as his family are rich, his dad is a piece of work and he is used to everyone falling at his feet! Whereas Rory refuses to do that with him. Rory has clearly been through a lot in her life and you just want things to work in her favour!

The writing style seems fairly patchy with things being mentioned but then never explained which is frustrating! It also feels like the book is trying too hard.