HATE CRUSH by Ashleigh Zavarelli: ARC review & Release Blitz

Hate Crush by A. Zavarelli
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

“I knew you were poison the first time I saw you, but I wanted to drink you anyway.”


So, here am I, clearly in the minority... 

I've been a huge fan of Mrs Zavarelli's work for years. Her mafia stories never fail to enthrall me to no end. 


Stella is barely 18 when she starts her senior year in her boarding school, Loyola. Her path seems all traced by her parents. But, failed by her dysfunctional family, she adapts, fights for what she thinks is best for her. 

Sebastian is her teacher. Moody, versatile, cruel, he is looking for the student who will stand up for themself, their passions and their dreams. When he meets Stella, the challenge arises, and the game is suddenly on. Her light tickles his darkness, her determination plays with his demons. 


Mrs Zavarelli wrote two amazing lead characters.  I loved Stella's resilience. A true fighter, she never lets go. I could totally feel her struggle and pain, her loneliness. 

If I only rated the emotions, the emotional pain and Sebastian's dangerous games, I would have given Hate Crush 5 shining stars.  Unfortunately, the storyline felt rather anticlimactic; I actually caught myself rolling my eyes at several scenes, which led to a certain loss of interest. You know that moment when you say "No, just no", and your reading bubble explodes? That's what happened...


I VOLUNTARILY REVIEWED AN ARC COPY OF THIS BOOK. THANK YOU!!!

View all my reviews

 

HATE CRUSH by A. Zavarelli Release Date: November 21st

   

AVAILABLE NOW!!

((LINKS TO COME))

   

Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47873100-hate-crush

   

Blurb: They call him the devil.

When I crash-landed into him on my first day at Loyola Academy, I was sure that couldn’t be true.

He was the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen in real life.

Little did I know he was also the cruelest.

I went from starstruck to stunned the moment his cynical eyes cut through me.

I can’t tell you what it was that made him want to punish me. But from that day forward the brooding recluse of a man made it his goal to torment me.

I want to loathe him, and some days, I do.

But good or bad, nobody’s attention has ever tasted so sweet.

What do you do when you have a hate crush on your bully?

Worse yet, what do you do when he’s also your teacher? 

   

Excerpt: There’s something about Stella that makes me believe she will always go the extra mile to seek approval from those with authority. I can see it every time she looks at me. And before the end of the hour, I’ve made up my mind. In the past, I picked easy, obvious targets for my projects. Without fail, they failed me. They couldn’t withstand the expectations of their peers and their family and the machine that is Loyola Academy.

 But Stella won’t fail. I feel it deep in my gut. A spark of hope that I haven’t had with any of the others. A want I haven’t experienced since my own college days. I will push her harder than I’ve pushed anyone else before her, and she will cling to hold onto herself in the face of any storm I might bring her way. I will open her eyes to the realities of this world. And in the end, she will despise me for my ruthlessness, but she will be grateful. 

Stella LeClaire, welcome to my final project.

   

About the Author: A. Zavarelli is a USA Today and Amazon bestselling author.

She likes all things chocolate, books that come with warnings, and putting her characters through hell. Her tales have been known to flirt with darkness and sometimes court it unabashedly altogether. Revenge themes and tortured souls are her favorites to write and this gives her an excuse to watch bizarre and twisted documentaries in her spare time.

She currently lives in the Northwest with her lumberjack and an entire brood of fur babies. 

Connect w/A. Zavarelli:  Website: https://www.azavarelli.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AZavarelli Twitter: https://twitter.com/AZavarellibooks Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/azavarelli/ Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/a-zavarelli Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13549895.A_Zavarelli Amazon: https://amzn.to/2S3zrKS Newsletter Signup: http://www.azavarelli.com/#!mailing-list/c46c