Title: Stolen Crush

Series: Lost Daughter of a Serial Killer

Author: C.M. Stunich

Publisher: Sarian Royal

ASIN: B0981V7Y7Y

ISBN: 979-8539987350

Goodreads Rating: 4.3, Amazon Rating: 4.6

Personal Rating “Hate is such a useless emotion, such a waste of valuable energy. (Stunich, 2021, p.508).” haha, bet.

2.5/5⭐

Finding out you’re the daughter of a millionaire true crime novelist isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
When I was two, I was kidnapped. Kidnapped by a loving family, sure, but still kidnapped.
Now, my biological mom wants me to live with her on the opposite side of the country.

Her … and my new stepdad and his jerk of a son: Parrish.
Wannabe tattoo artist, languorous rich boy, pouty mouth.
Starting a new life on the West Coast sucks, especially when there’s no love lost between me and my new family.

Oh, and my biological father? Did I mention that he’s a serial killer who wants me to play his games?
Find the right clues, follow the right trail, or someone I love gets hurt.
But what if he’s just kidnapped someone I hate instead?

Parrish Vanguard is a royal asshole.
The question is: does he deserve to die?

With the help of Parrish’s best friends—Maxx and Chasm—I have to risk everything to save a boy who considers himself my sworn enemy. Even if I save his ass, he’ll never thank me.
Lucky for him that our love-hate relationship isn’t a deal breaker.

I’ll play, Dad.
Start the game.

---

Reviewed on Fable and thus is a bit more unhinged than my normal stuff.

One thing I like about CM is how basic she is as a writer. Her stories follow a pattern that isn’t too hard to decipher but has some surprise elements. While this is a reverse harem, it doesn’t reach the depth of her other stories. See, when CM says harem, she means it. This results in dudes coming out of the woodwork trying to boink the MC in the most unbalanced ways. That usually happens because she caps the relationships off at five or more guys, but fails to give them a unique personality. So it ends up being a situation where the readers pick their favorite guy by his name and absolutely nothing else, because he is a canvas on which to paint their fantasy.

This story seems to be no different, with each guy being given the most basic descriptions but with names unique enough for you to tell them apart. However, the difference here is that there are only three guys. This surprised me and will probably continue to do so by the end of the series because I think it stays just the three dudes, unlike another of her series where it’s three right up till the second-to-last book, where she adds an additional two guys to the mix. I hated it so much that I stopped reading. There is such a thing as too many sausages at the sausage fest…just saying.

That being said, we have Parrish, Chasm, and Maxx. Or, from the only personality traits we know, Rich Boy Gamer, Rich Boy Gamer #2, and Jock. Want to know more? Well, too bad. Because every other trait about them ends up being a persona to hide that they are all on fact, sad rich boy gamer/jock, we know Chasms race but the others are ambiguous at best. This isn’t that important in the grand scheme of things, but it is still important enough to pay attention to because of the massive lady boner the FMC has towards Asian culture. One can assume that Parrish is biracial because his grandmother is described as having almond-shaped eyes, which he inherited, but it is hard to figure that out. And yes, almond-shaped eyes are found in many ethnic groups, but let’s be real here: writers typically use them for people of Middle Eastern and East Asian descent. Added to our aforementioned FMC love for all things East Asian, the assumption isn’t exactly unfounded. And by this I mean, she loves anime, video games, and Kpop, and constantly points out Chasms’ exoticness. Like he is a kitten lost in a zoo that she must protect, but also hates because how the heck did he end up in the zoo in the first place? Oh, and she is a streamer. Not a famous one until news about her kidnapping comes out, but she plans to use it to her advantage when solving mysteries.

Good for her.

It’s not just that, either. Dakota makes it her personal mission to point out every hidden detail that reminds her of East Asian culture, and it gets old quickly.

It should be known that despite her story being coded for adults, it is very much a YA series. Like all of C.M.’s novels, the writing is written with teens in mind, no matter the age of the characters. It is easier for them to do this because they are all 16 and older. The only reason why an adult may have an issue with this being in a kid’s hands is due to the rather detailed sex scene. Ok, so it isn’t detailed, but it is there, and for many, that is enough to start clutching some pearls.

What I dislike most about this book is how in-your-face it is with political stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for it. I mainly read M/M and as a queer POC I eat this stuff up on the daily. But there is a point where it gets to be too much, and this story crosses that line like a jaywalking toddler. I found myself annoyed with the MC because she just saw the worst in everyone. She was judgmental and vindictive, and blamed it on the patriarchy far too much. But let someone else match her energy and she would immediately start crying like a fool. I wanted so badly for someone to rock her shit but no one did. It was sad.

For example

“Is Tess always so …” I struggle to find the right word as Chasm turns the volume back up on the music, but not quite as high as it was before.

“Uptight?” he queries, and then gives another barking laugh as Parrish shoots him an evil look. “Yeah, pretty much. Why? Let me guess: it was all puppies and kitty cats back home?”

His voice straddles the edge between playful teasing and mocking derisiveness, leaving me unsure how to respond.

I regret saying what I did to Parrish last night, but at the same time, I’m not about to let these two bully me. “If you mean, did my grandparents love me unconditionally and show it through words and actions? Then yeah, it was puppies and kitty cats. Seeing as you’re always at Parrish’s place”—not about to call that sterile asylum home—“I’m guessing your homelife most certainly isn’t.” (Stunich, p70)

Oh and what is it that she regrets saying last night

“This girl is not my sister,” Parrish repeats, a phrase I’m sure he’ll have to utter as many times as I protest the name Mia.

“You’re right,” I start as he turns away from me. Even before I say the words, I know that I’m going to regret them. “I’m not your sister because Tess isn’t your mother: she’s mine. You don’t seem to have one yourself. Didn’t she run off when you were a kid? I can see why. Clearly, you drove her away.” (Stunich, p60)

Don’t get me wrong, the boys are bullies, but they are nothing compared to Dakota. She hits them where it hurts and wonders why they despise her and don’t want her around.

She isn’t the only problem. There are maybe two people in this book who can do no wrong because evil doesn’t reside within them…currently.

Max and Maxx deserve the world.

The summary shows that at least one of them becomes corrupted and I hate that for them.

Either way, I have zero desire to read the next book but I am in the mood for pain and will more than likely take a dive into that well of hell.

Wish me luck!