Here's Evan Barnes's "Brutal Crush." It's the first novella in the Seasonal Firsts series, which are all novellas surrounded around seasonal celebrations.
["I tutor the hockey captain I hate.
Zane Ivarsson is a monster on the ice and a nightmare in the library.
He’s everything I’m not: privileged, powerful, and cruel. But there’s a darkness in his eyes I recognize, a possessive fire that ignites a terrifying pull deep inside me.
But he isn't the only monster in my life.
Someone else is watching. Someone who leaves obsessive gifts at my door. Someone who calls me his “little bee.”
Someone whose threatening notes seem fixated on my interactions with Zane, praising me with a dark craving that makes my skin crawl.
My stalker’s final Stay away from the Sigma Halloween Party.
So, of course, I go.
But on a night where every predator wears a mask, I walk straight into a trap. The party is a hunt, and I’m the prize.
Suddenly, the only one intent on protecting me is the man I should fear the most.
He says he’ll keep me safe in the dark. But what happens when the monster wants to keep you all for himself?"]
Well that was just fabulous. I knew it would be a little trope-t, but I didn’t feel cliched or overly done. It was a beautiful balance of dark and stalkery plus fluff and hidden sweetness. It was obsessive and protective and secretive and a bully romance and a horrible Halloween hunt with some backstabbing hockey players.
I think we all knew that the stalker and Zane (the bully) were the same person, but there was a few fantastic red herring clues to make you second guess.
Trigger Warnings: violence, threats, stalking, bullying, and more.
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