BLOG TOUR STOP: REVIEW, EXCERPT, TEASERS, AND GIVEAWAY: #Hater by Cambria Hebert

It started with unspoken animosity. The bitter bite of jealousy. And now its full blown hate.

It was during my first football game that I first felt the first chill of hate. I looked it right in the eyes and felt its sticky tentacles reach out for me. I’d never experienced something so cold and empty before.

The effect of that look lingered, like an unspoken promise, long after it was gone.

Becoming a couple – becoming the other half of a campus celebrity wasn’t easy. I let down walls guarding my heart and he looked past my glasses and accident prone tendencies. Romeo and I are an unlikely match, a #nerd and a jock. But we made it.

And we’re happy.

Zach doesn’t want us to be happy. He wants Romeo to pay for getting him kicked out of Omega and for the night he spent in jail. He’s going to use anything and everything he can to get his revenge. Including me.

As the weather on campus grows cold and the days become dark, revenge becomes the center of someone’s life and the happiness Romeo and I worked so hard for is threatened.

I can’t help but worry that our love is going to be overshadowed by hate.

Haters are going to…

Hate

Ruin

Destroy

Seek Revenge

To the point that…

Hate threatens to overshadow love…sacrifice future goals…dictate how lives are led

Roman Anderson and Rimmel Hudson have overcome so much to be together, but now that very happiness that they worked so hard to have is being threatened, and it’s up to the both of them to fight back with everything they have in order to secure their relationship, their future careers, their entire lives. Romeo and Rimmel have quieted the naysayers and held steadfast to who they are and what they want, but do they have what it takes to take on someone so obsessed with revenge that he’s willing to do just about anything to ruin them both?

I really liked #Nerd, but I loved #Hater. I loved Romeo’s commitment to Rim and his need to show her through everything that she is it for him. I loved the strength that Rimmel found to beat back her fears and trepidations when it came to Romeo’s world and prove to everyone that she’s right where she belongs.

Romeo’s player status turned me off from him a bit in #Nerd; I didn’t doubt that towards the end of book 1, Rimmel became so much more than just a fraternity mission, but anything that starts out that way makes it difficult to see it as anything but dishonorable, even after he does things to redeem himself. In #Hater, Romeo is 100% about Rimmel and his relationship with her. He works hard to protect her, even when she doesn’t like his actions. His love for Rim resonates off of the pages of the story with how he treats her, what he says to her, and how she comes before everything – except for maybe football – at least during the season. I loved watching Romeo transform from a player off the field to an affectionate and loving boyfriend – a totally swoonworthy book boyfriend at that.

Rimmel’s a nerd after my own heart. She holds steadfast to her passions and her goals. With Romeo by her side, her confidence improves, and although she still remains timid and shy, she’s not afraid to stand up for herself and protect what’s hers, especially when the threats come at them.

The continuation of Romeo and Rimmel’s story adds character depth to the hero and heroine and also illustrates the depths they’re willing to go to, to protect the love they’ve worked so hard to build. Readers get a bit more insight into the type of people Romeo and Rimmel’s best friends are, which adds another great dynamic to the story.

#Hater was a fantastic read and I can’t wait for #Player.

A complimentary copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

5 poison apples 

Copyright by Cambria Hebert

The distance between us was getting wider.

She thought I would just drive her back to campus, that I would just let her walk away mad.

Hell to the no.

I still remembered the night she got out of the Hellcat and walked away from me. The night I had to tell her getting close to her had only been a bet. The hurt in her eyes still cut me to the core.

I didn’t want a repeat of that night. Not ever again.

Zach had been the cause of that night, and he was pretty much the cause of the space between us now.

He was a hater. Plain and simple.

I couldn’t. I wouldn’t let the hate he spewed so willingly overshadow everything I had with Rimmel. I agreed with my dad.

She was a keeper.

Her hand was stiff as I pulled her along toward my place, but she still allowed me to lead her. When we got close to the pool, she moved closer to my side, and I angled my body in front of her to block the sight.

Once inside, we didn’t speak. She took off her heels and coat, and I went to turn on the fire in the bedroom. When I came back, she was crouched down in the living room, petting Murphy, who was zigzagging around her feet.

“You took pictures of me when I was sleeping.” Her voice was calm and quiet, but it filled the room.

“Yeah, I did.” I wasn’t going to apologize for that. Deep down, I must have known things might come to this. I was a lawyer’s son after all. I knew things needed to be documented.

“You could have just asked.” She straightened up from Murphy and looked at me. “Instead, you took advantage of me and never said a word.”

“I didn’t take advantage of you. I was just doing what I thought was best.”

“Well, you don’t get to decide what’s best for me!” Her voice rose, and Murphy paused in purring to look up at her.

“I don’t get a say?” I shot back, trying to hold on to my temper.

She took a deep breath. “Of course you do. But you didn’t say anything. You just did. Just like at dinner. You just announced I was getting a restraining order. There was no conversation.”

I opened my mouth, but she kept talking.

“How am I supposed to trust you when you do things like this without me knowing?”

“You don’t trust me anymore?” I said the words with quiet calm. Surely this wasn’t enough to ruin the trust between us.

She blew out a breath and paced across the room. “I didn’t say that.” She spun away from me and looked at the wall. “I’m just upset.”

I strode across the room. It was darker where she was. The lights were off in here, and from this position in the room, the crackling fire in the bedroom didn’t cast much light.

My feet stopped when I was directly behind her. Usually, I would touch her without thought. But right then I paused.

Fuck. That.

I wrapped my hands around her wrists, then loosened my grip to slide my palms up her arms to rest at her shoulders. I felt her exhale, and I wrapped one of my arms across her chest and pulled her back against my front.

“I could tell you I’m sorry,” I whispered in her ear. “I could whisper how much I love you and that I won’t ever do something like this again.”

The back of her head hit my chest as I spoke. The silky strands of her perfectly straight hair tickled my lips as I talked, and the scent of her shampoo enticed me closer.

“But I’m not going to apologize.”

She stiffened, but I strengthened my hold, unwilling to let her pull away. I kept my voice whisper soft and my lips right beside her ear.

“I’d do it again, in a friggin’ heartbeat if that’s what I thought you needed.”