“He was my best friend…” I say more to myself than her. “Yeah, so was I but you seem to have forgotten that part of your life.”The bet was simple. You draw a name from the hat. That’s the girl you have to seduce. It wasn’t hard for me to do, in fact, it was something I did all the time. I was known for breaking hearts. Sex was just that, sex. And it didn’t take me very long to get a woman on her … very long to get a woman on her back.
And then I drew her name: Jules Peterson.
My former best friend. My first kiss. My first love. Three years ago, she shattered my heart into a million pieces. She left me right when I needed her most.
And as fate who have it, she had entered my life once again, at almost the perfect time.
She was a transfer, fresh meat, and she had just put a target on her back. It was my turn to make her pay. It was my turn to break her heart.
Holding onto that hate, that anger, that f*cking heartbreak. It does something to you. It breaks you, and it broke me, it tainted me, just like I would do to Jules.
She used to be my everything, but now she was nothing but The Bet.
**The Bet is book one in the North Woods University series. It is a full length, standalone, novel. It contains adult themes and contents that are not suitable for all readers. It is NOT a young adult novel.**
more
This book will have your emotions all over the place. In the beginning Remington(Remmy) seems like a lost cause. He is mean, arrogant, ruthless with no cares. When he was younger his mother left and also around that time his best friends “abandoned” him. From that point on, he covered his feelings and never allowed another female to get close. He was a player, a user with no apologies. After 3/4 years, his best friend, Jules, returns. They argued when she left but she thinks Rem is over it. Not by a long shot. He makes her life HELL. He does some things that make you want to punch him and totally hate him. Jules is a good person, She is coming home after an awful tragedy and is try to get her life together. She tries to connect with Rem but it is useless. Not only does Jules have to deal with Remington, but she has another dangerous admirer who will stop at nothing to destroy her. She is a strong individual what bends but does not break. The story has good characters and a very good plot. There may be triggers for some: dubious consent, attempted rape and violence. Those things added to the story and made for character growth.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The Bet is simply everything!! I had no idea what I was walking into when I started reading this story, but what I found was something I never expected. What I experienced was every single human emotion that ran the gamut from barely there to an uncontrollable category 5 tornado. My heart was utterly destroyed by the end and yet it miraculously came alive again with pure, overwhelming hope and love. I can’t scream from the mountains and hills loud enough to sing the immense praises of this soul restoring journey. Nothing can truly touch the incredible power and awe-inspiring magnificence of this precious masterpiece.
Remington is floating through life clinging to the only emotion that keeps him safe and grounded. His pure hate is the energy that keeps him going. Without it, he would surely disappear and vanish. His actions, his words, and his motives are the result of the immensity of how one emotion can fuel every aspect of his life. He wouldn’t be who he is without out. It empowers and gives him everything he needs and wants. Jules has come back to her hometown with nothing but her heart. Her life has imploded and all she has left is a shadow of the family she once knew and loved. She is determined to not let her tragedies pull her down. Instead, she is determined to go on with her life as if nothing happened. The first step in her plan is to finish college. Out of the blue, she runs into her old best friend Remmy who she never expected to ever see again. Overjoyed at this unlikely surprise, she crosses a line that threatens to pull her under and bury her forever. When hell becomes reality, Jules will fight for all she is worth no matter the consequences. Can two hopelessly lost souls find their way back to each other, or will one small misstep leave behind more devastation then the most deadly of storms?
Remington pulled at my heart big time. He made me realize just how destroyed he was at losing not only his best friend but the love of his life. My heart hurt so much for him, but what he chose to become in order to hardened his heart to the pain was something that pained the heart of his family. Nothing could have changed their separation, and they both had to deal with their suffering. While Jules pulled herself together with some help, Remington chose to turn it into something truly ugly. I wanted to put Jules in a box to keep her sweet and innocent heart safe, but life never leaves us unscathed. She had to walk through the pain in order to understand the suffering that Remington lived through. Without this, they would have never been able to understand the other or have a chance to move on. To live through our suffering changes us and allows us to grant the same compassion and grace to those around us going through the same or worse.
The pure and astonishing talent of Beck and Hullman are truly the stuff of legends. They instinctively know how to grapple with my heart and slowly tear it to pieces while at the same time making it whole. A talent that few authors possess and one that I dearly love. Their stories leave me feeling changed and looking at people around me in a different light. That alone makes their books priceless in my eyes. What a magnificent treasure that I hope is savored and cherished by more people then I can count!
Remington and Jules story was an absolute amazing story that I could not put down and one that will stay with me even long after Ive read it. It was that good. They had been each others first love and even though he refuses to admit it now that shes back, they still love each other. They have this deep connection that even a few years away can not break or lessen. I love how he still tries to protect her and still loves her. I really could not put down whatsoever.
The Bet is anything but simple!!!
This story had my emotions all over the place. I mean one minute I’m feeling elated and happy and the next “bam”, I’m angry. Remington is nothing but a player and a user of people. He doesn’t care about a single person but himself, he’s self-absorbed and a total jerk. He blames his lack of caring and the fact that he drowns out his feelings in women, alcohol and weed on one girl from his past, Jules, the girl who broke his heart. When she shows up at his college out of the blue, he is furious and decides that she needs to pay for hurting him. The yearly bet that him and his buddies participate in is the perfect revenge on Jules. It’s time to take her and then break her. Jules is only back because of a recent tragedy in her family and although the rest of Remmy’s family welcomes her back, she can’t understand the pure hatred that flows from Remmy towards her. It hurts her, but she refuses to let Remmy break her, she will stand up for herself and she’s determined to find the old Remmy again. This book is intense, emotional and super exciting. I couldn’t put it down and I highly recommend it as a must read. I am looking forward to Vance’s story, which is hopefully coming soon in The Dare.