The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.But who said the devil was a he?In my world, she was out to cause havoc on all our lives. She’ll use the one thing I care most about to control me—force me into her Elite world, filled with sin, deceit, and power. And under her spell, I’ll lead a sinister brotherhood of seven at one of the most prestigious … most prestigious universities in New Orleans.
Seven tasks set forth by the devil herself, promising nothing less than the forbidden fruit of power. What they don’t understand is it will all end in bloodshed and regret.
They call me the alpha. The one in charge. The one with pride bigger than any task I could be given. And my pride won’t let me be anywhere but at the top of the food chain until she gives me what I truly want.
My task is Meghan Benedict.
She’s too pure for me to touch, too good for me to ruin—and the only thing standing in my way to freedom.
Accept your sin wisely, for the tasks given to earn your place are not for the weak…they’re for The Elite.
As they say, pride comes before the fall.
I am Mason Blackwell.
I am Pride.
more
Great follow up to book one. Plot keeps the story flowing and there is no confusion going from book one to this one. We find out more about the Elite Seven. The story gets a bit deeper and we find out some secrets. I like how the stories so far are intertwined. Looking forward to the next in series.
This is the second book in this series and I absolutely loved it! This one tells you how Mason became part of the Elite Seven. This story is dark and twisted! Just the way I like it. Can’t wait to read the rest of this series!
7 authors, 7 books, 7 sinners – and a plot filled to the brim with intrigue, suspense and mystery.
If the Elite Seven series is one thing, it’s intricate and complicated. Each story intertwined, each revealing more secrets of who the Elite really are and how they came to be and why. It’s thrilling. Exciting. Shocking.
Although written by seven different authors, this is not a series of loosely interconnected standalones. No, these authors needed to work together closely to reach this level of complexity and shocking revelations of a secret society. I love it.
With that being said, with so much to reveal, to discover, the romance side of the story takes a slight backseat. Still, Meghan and Mason’s chemistry was palpable and intense. Mason, his loyalty, ethical code and strength with all he has been through, and Meghan, sweet but not so innocent as she might appear…
Now onto WRATH – I cannot wait to learn more about the Elite!
Wow! Absolutely loved book 2 of The Elite Seven!!! Two sins in, and I am already addicted to this series!
I’ve been jonesing to read Pride, especially after the intense way Lust ended and all I can say is that from the very beginning, Pride took that intensity, turned it up on high and kept it going all the way through! This book was just, “Whoa!” but in the very best way. It demanded my complete attention and I just HAD to know what was going to happen next! J.D. Hollyfield brought the heat, the feels, and the action — she brought it all and I loved every minute of it.
Pride was dark, delicious, and dirty. It was gritty, naughty, and raw, but with sweet, heart melting moments too. It went from zero to sixty in a heartbeat and stayed there for much of the book. Mason and Megan were just wonderful, I absolutely loved and adored them so much. Pride was so fan-flipping-tastic and now I’m even more eager to read the rest of the series!
I really enjoyed this book. This is shaping up to be a really good series! I felt so bad for poor Mason and his sister Evelyn. I enjoyed seeing Mason take control though… he wasn’t just going to roll over and be a patsy. This was a fun and sexy story, I can’t wait to read Wrath next!
This is just the second book in the Elite Seven series and all I have to say is WOW! This story is complex, and I cannot even imagine the amount of planning it took to coordinate all the stories! It is utterly mind-blowing!
Okay, back to Pride. I loved the twists and turns of this book! The characters jump right off the pages and have such chemistry, it is undeniable! Hollyfield takes student-teacher to a WHOLE new level, and I loved it!
The only little knick is that the overall story is similar to Lust, in the sense of the structure, but I was thoroughly entertained by both. Hollyfield captivated me from the first page until the very last, and left me needing the next one!
This book kept me entertained!! I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next!! I loved this one me can’t wait for the next one!! Mason is a great addition to the harem!!
Holly Hotness!
Mason Blackwell had a though life. He knows he can’t trust anyone but himself, but everything is about to change with Meghan Thorne.
Everything he does is to protect himself and his sister, all his life is for her, until that night with Meghan.
Meghan is a mixture of hot and cold, angel & devil and I love her! All the sex scenes left me breathless and aching for more, and the author knows well how to describe all the feelings.
Pride shows us more about the brotherhood and the sacrifices, and I can’t wait for more!
Pride is the second installment of the Elite Seven series. If I thought Lust was dark, Pride is a lot grittier with angst, heartbreaks and malice. To me the backstory of the initiation to the secretive Elite Seven was the main attraction to the series. I was proud to see the building of comradery and brotherhood between the seven guys as they continued on their initiation. Some lights were shed on the secrets, deceits and mystery behind the club, yet more questions were raised with the unexpected twist and turns. The forbidden, taboo and naughty romance between Mason and Meghan was a great addition to the already intriguing story. Leads on the next installment, Wrath, was left as a cliff-hanger to this book and I cannot wait to see what the next author has in store for us.
I received an advance reviewer copy of the book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
https://maggiesescape.wordpress.com
Pride is the leader, the alpha of The Elite Seven, “the essence of all sin”. Mason’s story is unputdownable…a little taboo and a whole lot steamy!
Mason, caught in a situation he can’t get out of, trying to survive, worried about the only person in his life he cares about…his sister. Eventually forced to do whatever he’s told to do in order to ensure her safety. The well-being of his sister is continually being held over his head and I wanted to scream at the unfairness. He may have unwillingly become the leader of the Elite Seven, but he’s all in now and had to make a deal with the devil along the way. His task is one he can’t trade in a coin for and it’s one he can’t bring himself to do, but with the stakes so high, does he have a choice?
The mystery and intrigue in The Elite is crazy suspenseful. It’ll keep you guessing, wondering who else is involved and what’s going to happen next! The set up at the end for the next book, Wrath, left me needing it like yesterday!
4.5 Cranky Stars
Mason Blackwell AKA Pride has a doozy of a story to tell. His whole life ruined by Lillian once his legal guardian now his sworn enemy. She has used her pull and her money to put Mason in the one place he doesn’t belong for 2 years and dangles his sister over his head. When he finally caves to her blackmail his life takes an even worse turn. He is given a task. To run an elite group of guys all dedicated to the 7 deadly sins. He is told to expose a professor who he has had a previous encounter with. Feelings come into play and Pride knows he needs to take down Lillian once and for all.
Holy crow Lillian is a witch with a capital B. I despise that woman. I felt sorry for Megan. Just a pawn in her sick game. She was truly innocent. I like how relationships are mended and old friendships are reunited. The chemistry between Pride and Megan is smoking. They burn up the sheets and your kindle. I mean seriously my cat jumped on the back of my chair and I felt like I needed to hide the words because I didn’t want to offend them. I loved it though. The Elite are truly brothers though some I’m still suspicious about. I love this series and now waiting on pins and needles for Wrath.
5 out of 5 stars!!!
This series of books may very well kill me as I wait between each one!! Mason’s book was harder than Rhett’s. Mason’s life was uprooted and he was so abused in the system that I hated each person that took advantage of him. My heart broke each time he’d experience another boot kick or baton whacking….and most of all, I really came to despise Lillian.
Megan and Mason’s first encounter was HOT. Their second encounter was almost comical. The time they spent together helped heal my heart a little knowing Mason had someone who cherished him – even if she wasn’t supposed to.
The author did a great job of keeping me in the story and giving me a chance to feel like a part of Mason’s life. The way the characters keep coming together and the way the Elite Seven have formed such a strong brotherhood makes my heart happy despite the darkness they keep encountering.
The Elite Seven gets a little grittier in this book and I can only imagine what’s coming in the next five books. This collaboration might be my new favorite and I can’t wait to read more.
*** I voluntarily read a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ***
Shivers all over the body. Down my spine. Hair standing still.
Since the very first moment I came upon The Elite Seven, I had felt my heart give out with the overload excitement. The mystery, darkness, corruption it was hinting at, were at the levels that speaks deep into me, what gets me rolling and what truly makes my blood all revved up and heated up.
Pride got out of me so many damn emotions that I didn’t know what to do with them. Also, for the first time in the history of my reading/reviewing career, my anger and hate for the villain (Lillian) reached levels that I have never ever reached before. For the first time in forever, I felt such murderous feelings about her. I wanted to invent the worst punishment worse than the deepest level of Hell itself and send her there to rot.
As for Mason, he got my blood heated up from the start with his explosive personality. And his undying love and devotion to his sister? Made me wanted to jump right into the pages and swoon in front of him. And jump him every time he showed his alpha-ness with the Seven.
What I have understood and felt deep in my marrow is that The Elite Seven will challenge every bit of my dark reading tendencies and will fill me up with so many intense emotions as I have never experienced before. Well, Seven, Bring. It. On!!!!! I am ready to take you to the finish line and enjoy the hell out of this ride.
If you love dark, sinful, intense, raw, FANTASTIC reads, then this series is definitely for you. And if you love reading dark, tortured, asshole male characters that you love to hate and for who you’d drop your panties without a second thought, then I bet that these Elite Seven sinful men are the perfect fit for you and the book boyfriends that you will never get off your Top Picks.
I can’t wait for the next 5 men to get released!!!!
Ah this book is FABULOUS!
It picks up right at a good spot from Lust. (Trying to figure out how to say that without spoiling anything)
This book follows Pride, obviously, and while it takes a different path it’s just as incredible as Lust. This book is far kinkier than my normal read, so I definitely could have done without that.
The events that transpire for Mason in this book really make you question the world today, and if something like The Elite really exists.
There are a lot of big, disturbing revelations in this book and I cannot wait to get my hands on Wrath!
Ah, the Mason …
I wrote to you on the occasion of the first volume of the series “The Seven Elite” or “Lust” that Mason and Micah are my darlings, and it’ll be rooting for them.
Micah as I have to wait, as the second volume of the series “Pride” wandered on my reader quite recently and Mason did not have to wait.
But it met my expectations?
Mason Blackwell and his younger sister soon became an orphan. Also quickly he ran into serious trouble, which ended a two-year prison term in prison for assaulting her husband that will haunt him for the rest of his days – Lillian Griffin.
Before the end of the sentence a woman comes to Blackwell, and he immediately goes berserk. The boy wants to see his sister – Evelyn, who disappeared without a trace, and for which he is sitting in jail because it was wrongly accused of having sex with her husband Griffin. Lillian has no intention of anything Mason facilitate and informs him that it took guardianship. From now on, though Mason does not want to be faithful dog Griffin and do everything it wants.
And one of her desires is conducting secret club at the university, “The Elite”, which is to be built with seven members, each of which corresponds to a different sin. Mason is to be pride, and all members have to perform the task entrusted to them.
Not much time passes, as Blackwell gets its own case – has to know and reveal the secret of Megan Throne.
Girls, with whom he spent one and a wild night, which turned out to be his teacher, university prearranged Lillian.
I have mixed feelings about this book.
I liked the idea and writing style of the author. Mason’s figure is well done and here also I am very happy because I got the Duma, he wanted to receive. The problem is that the task he had been given a similar (if not identical) to what was Rhett with “Lust”.
You see … and here and there, they have to pick up the cane, which he vilified.
As this theme will be repeated for the next five books are sincerely I doubt that the latter were interesting.
And the tip, which was surprising, also does not knock. Bit of a shame. The book had potential, but it has been trampled in the bud.
As for the characters is a total of only Mason I like. Megan is too flat, little Evelyn is present, and Lillian … this bitch.
The rest of the club, of course, also appears and is Rhett, which we already know is here in the greatest use. You can see that the author does not want to show to the end of another form, or (perhaps) did not know exactly what they are.
Mason met my expectations, as I mentioned earlier. Definitely suited to be the pride of the club. It is hard, merciless and arrogant.
I would recommend “Pride”? You bet! Although the book is not phenomenal, it reads it fast and fun, and the main character raises its rating. Anyway, as you enjoyed “Lust” and a “Pride” you like it. The whole project looks really epic, and that the author has chosen to “The Elite Seven” are (mostly) perfectly matched, because their books are self-similar climates. And so I look forward to the most this one only for Micah, or “Greed”, but all other nicely combine with each other and pull the story forward.
Although at present, with the club are rudimentary information, “Lust” and “Pride” stories were rather secretive individual members of the gang. I hope that in the next volume will be maintained a continuous history that will solve only in the last volume.
This series is really starting to get intriguing, JD Holyfield has done an amazing job of telling a tale of the power one can wield with hate and revenge in their heart and mind.There is no predictably in this storyline, I was left eager to read the next page and the next to see what would happen. Looking forward to Wrath’s story!!!
I’m loving the Elite Seven Series!!!!
Ker Dukey set the bar high with “Lust”
And, so, it’s mindblowing how seamlessly J.D. Hollyfield captured the same essence in “Pride”.
This was the perfect continuation to this amazing series that I can’t get enough of and devoured in one day!
Mason’s story was so intense and filled with angst, that I found myself feeling every emotion he was put through.
And to see him love was truly breathtaking to behold.
Omgawd those steamy scenes were beyond out of this world hot!
Eruption Overload!!!
Thank you for giving us such a complex broken hero to fall for.
Hulk has my heart and you have a new fan.
XX
J.D. Holyfield should be proud of this book.
**giggles**
I’m so clever.
**ahem**
All kidding aside, this was a good book. I loved the story and the characters. It was a great continuation of the series that left me excited for the next book.
Oh that was so good! Mason Blackwell aka Pride had a tough life growing up. Now he is caught up in the Elite Seven to save his sister and he is willing to do anything, even sell his soul. When he gets his initiation will he be able to go through with it or can he find a way around it? This series is pure gold and I can’t wait for more. Oh and can I just say how much I want to throat punch Lillian!!!! This is the 2nd book in this series. Told in dual POV. I absolutely love Mason!