Cruel Start (Hidden Valley Elite) by Isla Vaughn – Review by Stephanie Runyon

Cruel Start by Isla Vaughn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Phoenix hates Tracey, Shane’s girlfriend of two years. He knew she was a gold digger. While playing football on the beach, Shane’s shoulder is dislocated. Instead of riding to the hospital with Shane, Tracey hangs back at the beach. Phoenix intercepted Tracey when she finally showed up at the hospital. Instead of letting her go back, he lied and said that Shane’s football career was over. Tracey didn’t show up for Shane’s physical therapy appointments. When she tried to visit Shane at the house, Phoenix repeated his lie.

Meanwhile, Aspen was trying to escape the constant fighting at her house. Her sister had moved into her boyfriend’s house. Aspen overheard her father shouting how his life would have been different if her mother hadn’t trapped him with the pregnancy. A party was being held at the cliff that Aspen liked to dive at. Her friend Erin introduced Aspen to Piper, Teagan, and Tracey. Piper thought Aspen looked familiar, but Aspen said they had only arrived in town. The girls were friendly, except Tracey was still standoffish. Phoenix hit on Aspen at the party. Piper encouraged her, so Aspen followed Phoenix to a secluded spot. Aspen lost her virginity that evening. However, Phoenix then walked away afterwards. Unfortunately, Aspen does not have the chance to walk away.

This novella left me wanting to dive right into the next book. This is the perfect teaser for this series and it leaves a lot of scenarios in the air. Phoenix, the always quiet and reserved one of the entire group getting into a bind with a poor girl depending on her scholarship to stay out of the toxic life her parents had is definitely worth reading.

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