Cruel Hate (Hidden Valley Elite Book 5) by Isla Vaughn – Review by Stephanie Runyon

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

Aspen asks Phoenix to be her fake boyfriend.
He refuses because he doesn’t do relationships.
When they told Aspen’s parents that she was pregnant, her parents began bickering with each other. Phoenix and Aspen leave and her parents don’t notice.
Every time they meet up, Aspen and Phoenix don’t get along and end up fighting.
Aspen kept having dreams of Phoenix and a baby girl. She was also married to Phoenix in her dreams. Phoenix’s grandfather was Mark Reid’s employer. He was Aspen’s father, and it was his insurance that was helping with the doctor’s appointments. When his grandfather tells him to throw his next fight or he will fire Mark Reid, Phoenix feels conflicted. Phoenix’s grades had fallen since Shane disappeared and refused to help him. Phoenix had dyslexia and needed a tutor. Aspen took over his tutoring after she found Noel reading his assignment to him. She read the assignment out loud and made recordings for him to use when they couldn’t align their schedules. Aspen felt alone during the pregnancy because her parents only told her about abortion clinics and didn’t seem to care otherwise. Aspen was afraid after her last doctor’s appointment. Something was possibly wrong with the baby. She told Phoenix, and he said he would be there at the appointment. The doctor performed the amniocentesis, 2 weeks of waiting for the results was stressful on both sides. Where was Shane? What would the test results reveal? Would Phoenix really throw his fight?
Isla Vaughn continues to build suspense in the fifth book in the Hidden Valley Elite Series. Cruel Hate takes on a nefarious feeling when Phoenix’s grandfather becomes involved. Shane’s behavior was off so much that even Damon and Cole had noticed. Aspen was worried about how long she could continue attending school when she had the baby. She had already set in her mind that Phoenix wasn’t reliable and that she was on her own.The end of this book left me stunned and eager to read the sequel. The story deserves a 5-star rating. The intense drama will appeal to readers who like romantic stories with a plot beyond just steamy scenes.

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