Bully King by J.A. Huss Blog Tour

High Court College isn't for everyone. And the secret society that meets deep in the woods is even more exclusive. Only a select few will get in during the summer rush—and Cadee Hunter wants to be one of them. Too bad it's Cooper Valcourt's mission to make sure she fails.

Bully boys.
Arrogant tyrants.
Blue-blood bastards.
Call them whatever you want.
Around here, we just call them Kings.

Fancy boats.
Lakeside mansions.
Luxe watches and bespoke suits.
The Kings of High Court College act like Gods.
And Cooper Valcourt is the worst of them.
He is the bully king.
His family owns everything.
And his mission is to put me in my place and send me packing.

But Cooper and I have a history filled with secrets.
And everyone knows that power doesn’t come from having money.
It comes from holding secrets.
And I’m holding one of his.
A very dark secret that can bring him to his knees.

*****

Bully King is new-adult, dark, bully romance from New York Times bestselling author JA Huss featuring boys with power and girls at their mercy. It’s a campus shrouded in lies and a summer rush into an elite society that can propel a poor girl straight into the ruling class.

If… she’s willing to pay the price.

Book 1
Buy Links

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~  Also Available with KindleUnlimited  ~

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Shannan – ☆☆☆☆☆
Bully King is part one in the new duet by J.A. Huss.

Bully romances completely intrigue me. I never know if I want to side with the victim or the bully. But I always love a good bully and J.A. Huss did not disappoint. This book, these characters had me so invested. Four characters that share a past and a present. Men who are forced to act and treat others a specific way to appease their fathers and families and then the unsuspecting victims.

I'm trying so hard not to ruin the awesomeness of this read while also singing its praises. Bully King will have you invested and reading in one sitting like I did.

I am dying to find out what happens next. I need the finale now!!


Mary – ☆☆☆☆☆
Cooper and Cadee grew up together but there is a difference between them. He is high class and she is the help's daughter. But that didn't matter to them. Cadee, Cooper, Lars, and Ax all were the best of friends for the longest time. One year when they were 15, they began picking on her and by the end of the year, they were all the best of friends. And then something happened and now they don't speak or even look at each other.

Now Cadee's mother has passed away and she has to move. That is when she gets a chance at something else. But is it really a good thing? This summer internship, or whatever they want to call it, seems to be nothing more than the rich bullies pushing around a poor girl.

Can Cadee handle the summer or will she quit and leave? Will the secrets she and Cooper keep hidden be revealed? Will everyone learn her secret of what really happened when she was 15?

I love J.A. Huss and knew I wanted to read this one, but I thought, not another bully story. But wait, it is not just another bully story. It is so much more that it will leave you wanting more. I need the next book now, please.


Erica – ☆☆☆☆
4.5 Stars

Bully King is the debut in a brand-new duology by J.A. Huss.

This will be short and sweet, because I won't ruin the plot. Lots of boiling frustration and white-knuckling the tablet, entire novel read in one sitting.

Which is the point, isn't it? Rage-read about the injustices dealt to innocent victims, while the author tries to sway the reader to empathize with the bully.

This is the middle of the story. Taking place in the present, the mystery is in the past and in the future. Where has the story been and where will it go next...

Cadee has a past three years in the making with three best friends, who equally shared her and bullied her.

When I read bully romance, I'm always torn between sick fascination and frustration.

Most of the time, it's like Lord of the Flies. They're doing things, both bully and victim, where if they just stepped out of their roles, life would change for the better. Stop the cycle set in place by others before them. Get off the rollercoaster... I'm glad Huss feels that same way.

Then there is the romance, where I've never been satisfied with a Redemption thread, no matter how many books I devour. Because no matter what, as long as the victim loves their bully, they truly earn no respect due to a lack of self-respect. The bully always gets a pass, the forgiveness a quick blip with no true journey, which tears out whatever backbone their victim manages to muster.

Why am I stating that? Because I felt that as I read Bully King. Not a negative or positive, just fact.

So I struggle, because now there are three possible bully white knights, the narrator Cooper, the obvious winner who was the coward of the foursome. Where I kept wondering who is going to stab whom in the back due to envy or possessiveness. But who Cadee ends up with wasn't my page-turning motivation. The why of the Glass House was.

But where I was lost, other than a sick need to pass the buck and not take responsibility for the part he played, even after finishing the novel... why did Cooper ever bully Cadee in the first place? Why stop hanging out with her? That's the focal point but it's never clear.

I also found their large age-gap unsettling, especially three years in the past, when they were high school seniors (now college seniors) and she isn't even a high school senior in the present. Yes, she's of age now... but what occurred between the four of them, as I discovered the twist, made me lose any hope I had for Cooper. Because the sharing and bullying was even more disgusting by three eighteen-year-olds and a fifteen-year-old battered child, after everything that occurred. It felt unnecessarily and illogically abusive. I'm to empathize with Cooper at the end, after he bullied and tortured a victim for no reason whatsoever, after earning her trust, helping her, and caring for her... he cut her off and bullied her. Even the other two in the foursome didn't understand, just going along. I don't think Cooper even understood his reasoning. I know I have nary a clue. What we're told as the why in the beginning makes zero sense at the end.

I was captivated in sick fascination during every page, trying to talk around the plot for those who haven't read it, yet also say enough to get my point across for those who have.

I'm ravenous for the conclusion, hoping for clarity on the fuzzy and illogical motivations of our anti-hero.

JA Huss is the New York Times Bestselling author of 321 and has been on the USA Today Bestseller's list 21 times in the past five years. She writes characters with heart, plots with twists, and perfect endings.

Her new sexy sci-fi romance and paranormal romance pen name is KC Cross and she writes novels and teleplays collaboratively with actor and screenwriter, Johnathan McClain.

Her books have sold millions of copies all over the world, the audio version of her semi-autobiographical book, Eighteen, was nominated for a Voice Arts Award and an Audie Award in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Her audiobook, Mr. Perfect, was nominated for a Voice Arts Award in 2017. Her audiobook, Taking Turns, was nominated for an Audie Award in 2018. Five of her books were optioned for a TV series by MGM television in 2018. And her book, Total Exposure, was nominated for a RITA Award in 2019.

She lives on a ranch in Central Colorado with her family.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Bully King (Kings of High Court College #1) by J.A. Huss to read and review for this tour. Shannan received her review copy via the author’s ARC team.