Zepp Hunt wasn’t the king of Dayton high school. He was the top of the food chain. And I was next in line to be dragged into the lion’s den. At least that’s what he thought… with tattoos and a rap sheet.
Until I couldn’t.
Until we traded favors, and I owed him three months of my life. I never thought I would end up in his bed, and when I did, I had to remind myself that he hated me as much as I hated him.
Until I didn’t.
Zepp Hunt was no prince, and I absolutely refused to be his damsel in distress…
more
I was not prepared for this book! It was SO FRIGGIN’ GOOD! Cole and Lovell dominated my emotions with this book. They created such a vivid world that was simultaneously revolting and beautiful all at once! This book had some major angst, drama, steam, and heart tugging emotional moments! Definitely a page-turner, delicious, and a unique bully romance with a happy ending sure to make you swoon! Five ZEPP IS MY PRINCE stars!
What I liked about this book is they both were not perfect. They were both bad ass and doing what they had to to survive. I didn’t really like his friends. They were jerks. I also think the story completely changed once sex was involved. Very angsty and a lot of violence. But the romantic was good.
Stevie J. Cole and L.P. Lovell are some of my favorites duos/collaborative authors. They write a promising story from Dark Romance, enemies to lovers, mafia romance, contemporary romance, down to their new releases. I admire so much how they can create such well-grounded main characters, favorable chemistry, slow-building of sexual tension with just the right amount of angst, push and pull elements that entail within the storyline.
I’ve read No Prince last year in one sitting. I devoured and ate it up. That should sum up how great the book was. I know High school Bully Romances can tend to be overdone or stretched to the point, yet this book somehow stands out. Perhaps it’s how they capitalized the profound relationship building between our main characters or the funny banters and dialogue being thrown in the narrative.
Across-the-board if you’re looking for something angsty, a page-turner, and dark read that has a bit of bully aspect in it as well knock you out, pick up No Prince.
•••
Title: No Prince
Series: Dayton 1
Authors: Stevie J. Cole, L.P. Lovell
POV: First Person (Dual)
Main Characters: Zeppelin ‘Zepp’ Hunt and Monroe James
Books in the Dayton series are stand-alone, but most enjoyed if read in order:
Book 1: No Prince
Book 2: No Good
•••
Hero:
heroine:
Plot:
Storytelling:
Sexual tension:
Sex scenes:
Story ending:
•••
Overall rating:
Angst: High Focus
Darkness: Medium Focus
Humor: Medium Focus
Kink: Low Focus
Romance: High Focus
Sex Frequency: Medium Focus
Suspense: Low Focus
Tags: slow-burn, enemies to lovers, angst, high school romance, dark, broken main characters, strong/badass heroine, Tattooed bad boy, and highly recommend.
•••
Different and good
I kinda loved this. Instead of the different dynamics and social standing we always get from these type of books, it’s two characters from the same side of the tracks just trying to make ends meet. I loved how this flowed and the storyline. But towards the 75% mark it kind of dragged and lost momentum for me.
Wow! This book was so much more than I thought it would be when I bought it. This story had its little hands around my heart the whole way through, and if I had tears, I would have been crying. Both Zepp and Monroe were equally fleshed out and explored. I really liked both of them as characters.
“Every fiber of me knew he was a bad idea, but he also felt like the only safety in a world of chaos.”
Watching these two, seemingly invulnerable, people take the journey of learning how to love and be loved was powerful and heartbreaking. These two have never relied on anyone, never loved anyone so fiercely… There’s definitely a feeling of desperation between them, neither wants to lose the other.
“I wanted out of this shithole town so bad. Away from her. Away from the reminders. But I didn’t want away from Zepp.”
The sketchy small-town setting of Dayton was well-developed. I felt like I understood Zepp and Monroe’s hopelessness about getting out.
“He was no prince, but Zepp Hunt was mine. Always.”
There was a lot of angst in this book, so be prepared for a rollercoaster of emotions. But it was so so worth it. I’m interested to see where the authors take the supporting characters’ stories. Hendrix was so gross, but also hilarious. What’s going on with Jade? Wolf? And Bellamy’s story is next…
This is a book that I’ve been meaning to read since I saw the release promo. If there’s one thing I know, from the few other books I’ve read by Stevie J Cole and LP Lovell is that this duo writes broken characters with an unbridled rawness that shapes itself into beautiful heart wrenching chaos.
I loved Zepp’s characters- he’s my every bad boy dream, and he embedded himself in my veins from the very start.
“He made me want to break for him because that kiss said he’d catch my scattered pieces and rearrange them into something hard and indestructible.”
I’ll admit I struggled at times with Monroe but looking back I really understood her in the end. I loved their connection and I felt a buzz every time they were together and could easily get intoxicated on just their chemistry- and when it got steamy, it was like an inferno. Zepp and Monroe grew as characters and they brought out the best and sometimes worst in each other. The secondary characters added so much depth to this story.
I know that this story and these characters, will stay with me for a long time to come. No Prince is a book one I’d happily recommend. I did felt like there was a lull in the plot where so much was happening all at once and it just wasn’t moving fast enough and had me warring with myself, I did have to push myself to break through it but it was so worth it. Also, I should add that I was apprehensive as to how this plot would play out in the end as this writing duo isn’t afraid to push boundaries and keep it real.
4 NO PRINCELY STARS
This was my first book by both authors,
and I gotta say I love their writing.
This was definitely a wild ride, with
a mix of harda** teens. They had to grow
up in not the best of circumstances, but made
the best of it. Hoping they continue and make
this a series(crossing fingers).
Absolutely loved this book! It was so well written, I could literally feel the small town suffocation and helplessness of the characters. Monroe was such an amazing character – ballsy on the outside but with a soft centre. What can I say about Zepp except WOW. He was such a beautiful character. He didn’t just stop being a bad boy overnight like in so many other books, but he evolved throughout. I was so invested in the characters that I cried like a baby. Loved the ending and now I need a book about Jade and Wolf please!
One of my top reads this year. It hooked me instantly and I coudn’t get enough. 6 stars!
loved it
* First time reading authors
No Prince is unlike anything I have ever read. No Prince is a defendant one of a kind. You have the bad boy, the good girl that is not so good, and the group of friends that are just freaking awesome! You have to have every one of these characters to make this book.
Stevie and LP talk about a lot of different things that go on in the world with teenagers, hell with a lot of underprivileged groups right now. These kids set out to find ways to make money, stay ahead of their parents and their problems, and try not to end up in jail. But in the meantime, Zipp and Monroe have a chemistry that can not be ignored or matched in anything else going on.
I read this book in one sitting, I was up till 2 a.m because I had to know what was going to happen next. I am hoping to see we get more from this group. They are all trouble makers in their own right but deserve love and a way out.
Just read this book! So good.
No Prince was the best book I’ve read all year!!! The angst was phenomenal!! I was gripping my kindle through the whole book just waiting for what was going to happen next!! My heart got a workout it never signed up for! I swear this book was everything and more!! There wasn’t one moment I didn’t love and the writing blew me away!! What I wouldn’t give to have that talent! I swear I haven’t been so sad for a book to end in a long time!! Five stars plus plus plus on this one!!!
I absolutely loved this book. The fact that the characters had such great chemistry. I really enjoyed how Monroe wasn’t weak at all and gave back as much as she was given. Zepp has such fierce loyalty to those he saw as family and that never changed. He was unapologetic about who he was. Their story made my heart clench at what they went through and at the fact that they never gave up. Both authors did such a brilliant job at writing this that I actually forgot it was a co-write until I got to the end of the book. I can’t wait to see what they do with the next one.
The characters in this book lead tragic lives but manage to trudge through daily lives anyway. The push-pull between the H/h will keep you turning pages.
I liked the dark, gritty parts of this book. The characters kind of made me smirk and they were pretty much man-hoes. I loved how strong Monroe tried to be and how she kept he focus on escaping Dayton. She was always the hidden diamond in the poor, rundown trailer park…sacrificing so much to survive and fiercely independent. Zepp…he was a plain ol’ drug dealing, car stealing bad boy who can’t keep it in his pants. He only had eyes for Monroe once he got a taste. I loved them but…at times I didn’t love how they communicated. Or didn’t communicate would be a better phrase. So dial the angst up to ten and enjoy the ride. The ending is wrapped up a little too quick and tidy for me but it was a nice, twisty tale and definitely kept me entertained.
***5 “Be bad for me!!!” stars***
“I didn’t need a white knight or a savior. This was not a fairytale. I was no damsel, and Zeppelin Hunt was certainly no prince.”
This isn’t your classical bully story and with these two authors, you should know better than assuming!!!!
The blurb doesn’t catch almost anything of the atmosphere in here…
And this writing duet never disappoints…
It wasn’t my first rodeo with these two, and what i really love with them is that you can’t find flaws in the writing part… If you wouldn’t know that they were two persons behind this book, you would believe that only one author have written this story…
And that is magical!!! No??? And very skillful!!!
“That’s what love did. It made people blind. It made people do stupid things. Like stay in Dayton…
This story was very different from what i have used by Stevie J. Cole and L.P. Lovell, but it grabbed me from the first moment and i couldn’t stop reading…
I loved Zeppelin and Monroe fiercely and i wanted to learn their story and their backgrounds…
These two were two kids from the wrong side of tracks…
Two kids with similar backgrounds, but with opposite dreams and aspirations…
But these two were fitting so good together… They were so good for each other even though they were leading a shitty life…
“It made me feel like I was important to him, and that was all any of us in this shitty life were really seeking: to mean something to someone.”
Zepp was the bad boy with the bad reputation… And he was a bad boy….
A boy that he could do anything for some bucks… From stealing cars to dealing drugs…
His brother and his two best friends were meant the world to him and girls were only desposable, until Monroe got in his way and the game changed for both of them…
“She was one girl out of a million -and I guessed, maybe that was why it did bother me. She was the girl that had managed to catch my attention and the only one who didn’t want it.”
“I hated her almost as much as I wanted to fuck her.”
Monroe wasn’t a good girl… But you couldn’t tell that she was a bad girl either…
She just had to do whatever she could to survive…
This last year and then she will kiss goodbye this shitty town and the shitty park trailer that she is living…
She had hopes and dreams and she was determined to succeed, but then… she had to struck a deal with the devil…. and Zepp took away three months of her life…
Will her heart and life remain untouched from crossing paths with Zepp???
“I had a single dream: to get away from Dayton. This town was a cesspool, pulling people under, drowning them in its filth.”
“Fighting him was pointless. He always won because I’d sold my soul.
For three whole months.
For a damn shitty car.”
Well, honestly, i don’t know how much to say about this story, other than i loved it very much…
Our heroes were full of flaws and weaknesses, but together they could create magic…
Magic in the weirdest place when they had stucked in between a nasty rival between two small towns…
They had found in each other a safe haven when everything were falling apart around them…
And their love were the greatest gift in this shitty conditions that they were living…
But is love enough???
“The lines between us were shifting. We’d been enemies, but we weren’t that now. I told him we were friends, but we weren’t that either and I wanted something from him. I just didn’t know what.”
“He made me want to break for him, because that kiss said he’d catch my scattered pieces and rearrange them in the shape of him. Hard and indestructible.”
I loved very much Zepp and Monroe…
I liked that Monroe wasn’t backing down in anything and i loved how well she was playing Zepp…
Zepp was needed a girl like her… A girl that wouldn’t try to fix him, but accept him as he was and that girl was Monroe…
Zepp proved to us that he was more than a statistic, cause he could sacrifice everything for the one that had win over his heart…
This two together were explosive in every way and i enjoyed their company way too much!!!
“Every fiber of me knew he was a bad idea, but he also felt like the only safety in a world of chaos. Dangerous. So very dangerous.”
“Monroe James wasn’t as all what I had thought she was-what anyone thought she was. And she was so much better than I deserved.”
And now I’m wondering…
Is it a possibility for this writing duet to give us more books about this bunch???
There were too many possibilities in here with Wolf and Jade, with Hendrix and Bellamy that i would love to read…
Please consider to pick up this book!!! It was just perfectly imperfect!!!
“So, you think I’m gonna kill you, but you’re still here, huh?”
“Yeah, well, I trust you.”
And that… That it made me feel like I was worth something to her. And I liked it and hated it at the smae time.”
***I was received an ARC for the exchange of an honest review. Thank you!***
No Prince is a High School Bully romance that will grab your interest from the start. This was Zepp and Roe’s story about two broken characters who clashed at every turn but ended up being perfect for each other. The storyline was well paced and unique and you will be invested in these characters. The secondary characters greatly added to the story and will definitely catch your interest. This slow burn romance was well paced will great back and fort banter. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to lovers of YA bully romance.
No Prince but a hellavu knight
He isn’t a Prince. He isn’t an “upstanding” citizen. He isn’t “relationship ” material. By all accounts, Zepplin Hunt is just a guy. For Monroe, he is just another guy until he is THE guy.
Enemies to lovers is one of my absolute favorite tropes. It gives you an intense starting point and emotions that are already on edge. No Prince is mode than just an emotional edge. It’s two battered souls looking for something stable and avoiding hope like it’s the plague.
No Prince is a real life trailer park fairytale. There’s no man to whisk you away. There’s no carriages. There is a beautiful tatted up boy with a heart hidden under all that ink that will take your knees out from under you like you had been hit with a baseball bat. There is a level of trust so real you can feel it. There is hurt so deep it makes your heart cringe. But the most important and truest thing is the love so real you can feel it through the pages.
No Prince is filled with a motley crew that will have you shaking your head. I alternated between disbelief and utter shock. I laughed my butt off and choked on the words I read more than once.
Cole and Lovell have managed to tease all of my senses and emotions with No Prince ‘s fun, sexy wonderful-ness.
I love when two Amazing authors come together and gives their readers a story that you won’t soon forget. I loved this bad girl meets bad boy, enemies to lovers story. There is just no way to read and not love these two characters. Monroe is such a strong character that takes no crap and I absolutely loved that about her and how strong she is. It was so nice to get that out of the main female character.
Ohhh and Zepp is that bad boy that you will absolutely fall in love with all of his roughness and cockiness. I loved their whole story and couldn’t get enough of them or the other characters. I’m hoping to see the other characters get their own books. Fingers crossed.
Happy Reading Everyone!!!