Losers Part 1

It’s hard to not hate.

Hate might be a strong word for a book I did finish.

Though I am not reading the second book. So does that mean I am DNF’ing the series?

I’ll try to explain.

This book started out with strong references to its prequel. I considered waiting until I read the prequel to continue but I already spent my monthly audible credit and didn’t want to purchase the prequel, so I trudged on. 

I gathered the prequel took place during their senior year at a high school party, where the FMC got drunk and dared to kiss the boots of one of the MMC’s. These MMC’s are ‘losers’; poor kids with shitty home lives, trapped in the foster system, kicked out of their christian homes, selling drugs, etc, etc. Very stereotypical. 

But after the party the FMC and four MMC’s continue their own private game of truth or dare, where the FMC ends up on her knees and experiences her first role in submission and finds out she likes it way too much.

Once I worked out this little tidbit I didn’t feel like it was necessary to read the prequel. A whole book just to pigeon hole guilt over a dare in high school, kind of a loose plot line.

The first 20% of the book is a bit confusing. I couldn’t tell if they were in high school, college, or just talking about flashbacks some of the time. But the story ended up taking place just after graduating college.

However the characters, side characters included, read as if they were still 16 years old. 

Now I’ve always been told I am mature and have an old soul, but the internal thoughts these characters were having are from people that don’t have real consequences. 

Maybe I’m just at an age where stupid teenage mind set is a turn off in my characters. Sue me. 

Oh and before I forget, the FMC has the exact same name as a girl I actually went to high school with. So that was a bit weird to read.

Anyway, the FMC has been away for four years after ghosting them the day after the dare went down. 

When they do cross paths the guys give her a bit of a hard time but the tension is too strong to deny and they let it go rather  quickly. 

Now our little FMC was the popular cheerleading captain of school, so she tries to slip back in with her old friends and we quickly see how judgemental and two faced they are. 

Her character goes through the classic arc of admitting she isn’t that person anymore, stand up for herself and her choices, and ultimately choosing the losers over the popular kids. Because they are real, and ‘get her’.

Lame.

The losers have spent the last four years going to their mechanics shop, racing street cars, and minding their own business. But high school never ends and the once popular kids hold a grudge.

They destroy the MMC’s street racing cars in an attempt at ‘putting losers in their place’. An actual crime that would cost them jail time and legal fees. 

The FMC finds herself on the wrong end of the fight and is framed for the destruction. Rather than take revenge they punish her sexually, which doesn’t feel like a punishment at all.

The next day it turns out her own car needs a new engine and the MMC’s agree to do it as long as she continues to be their plaything until it’s done. 

It’s no surprise when she agrees without much hesitation.

The rest of the book is just them having various group sex. 

Let me tell you, it gets old. Fast!

The guys are also in their own relationships with each other, but rather than meant to be, it came across like convenience.

No one in town likes them, but the only other people mentioned are fellow high schoolers. What about adults in town? The guy that runs the grocery story? Some chick that moved her with her family? Neighbors?

There are more people in the world than fellow high schoolers.

Very little plot actually happens. They attend some races, another house party where they get revenge, have a paintball fight, and question what the whole thing means and if it ever needs to end.

Oh yay, and randomly one of the MMC’s abusive father gets reintroduced as a potential threat but nothing comes of it.

By the end of the story the MC’s are basically together without saying they are together. So what’s the point of another book that is nearly 500 pages long?

I feel like these were done in reverse. There was no slow burn. No denial, not even that much tension. They all knew they wanted each other, and moved forward. 

The writing was okay, no qualms there. But I don’t think I would jump into another Harley Laroux book. I hear good things about Her Soul to Take, her best work yet. But I don’t think that is my kind of story.

Spice🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Worldbuilding🗺️

Ick Factor 😐

Fangirl Moments 

Errors/Plot Holes 

Tropes: BDSM, Dark Romance, Enemies to Lovers, Why Choose, Reverse Harem, MMFMM, LGBT, Erotica, Christmas, Smut, Small Town, Found Family

Title: Losers Part 1

Author: Harley Laroux

Genre: Romance

Series: Losers

Format: Audiobook

Length: 16 hours

Published: September 30th, 2022 by Harley Laroux Publications