Revenge on a former bully, sign Andrew up. But being mean to Justin starts to feel really wrong when they begin a friendship and Andrew realizes not everything is black and white. A lovely story that will have you rooting for the characters from the start.
From the blurb:
Andrew
I’ve come a long way since being the gawky, geeky, gay kid who was constantly picked on growing up. Having just sold my tech start-up for so much money it broke my phone calculator, I’m now at a loose end wondering what to do next in my life.
Then I run into Justin. Justin, the golden boy from high school. Justin, the popular jock who turned my life into a living hell for four years.
And do you want to know the kicker? He doesn’t even recognize me.
Even worse, it looks like karma hasn’t done its thing because Justin definitely hasn't been punished for his previous sins.
Maybe my next mission in life is to give karma a helping hand…
Justin
My life looks perfect from the outside – good job, good friends, no worries. Only I know it is all based on a lie. I’ve never been honest with anyone about my sexuality.
Then I meet the new IT guy at work who has just moved into my apartment building too. Given I seem to be having an extraordinary run of bad luck with technology at the moment—like having my email randomly decide to spam the entire company with images of trolls in intimate embraces —Drew’s been a lifesaver. And the more I get to know Drew, the more I want to confess my secret in the hope we can become something more.
But I can’t help the niggling feeling Drew is hiding something from me…
The Revenge Game is a laugh-out-loud journey through misadventures in revenge and the unexpected twists of fate. It’s where old grudges spark new attractions, where secrets unravel, and where two men learn all about redemption and love.
SNik's review:
First in series (The Revenge Club). Enemies to lovers. Former bully. Jock/nerd. Slow burn. Dual POV.
A chance sighting of one of his former bullies in London of all places brings back all the horrible torment tech billionaire Andrew suffered in high school, and maybe now he can get some revenge. Justin got as far from Texas as possible, he doesn’t like the person he was and hopes to live more authentically, and maybe his new coworker and neighbor can help.
This is a well written, full of emotion story, with two men still haunted by their pasts and stumbling upon someone that might make letting go of those things possible. I’m not a big fan of secrets between main characters so I did struggle with that, but I really did enjoy the way Andrew and Justin’s relationship built slowly as they shared pieces of themselves with each other. Forgiveness is hard, and both Andrew and Justin have to contend with it, but the overwhelming feelings they have for each other really feel true and obvious. Good start to a new series with an angsty trope.
Good start to a new series from Jax Calder. Andrew spent his high school years bullied by Justin and his friends, and when he sees him again, Justin doesn't even remember him. So as gar as great plans of socially akward humans take, he starts his revenge. What he doesn't expect is the man now to be a good person. They become closer to the point. Andrew regrets his life choices and what's to come clean but knows it will hurt they man he now understands. Justin learns his past mistakes he chose to block out. Don't always stay in the past. Together, they learn to trust and move forward to get the happiness they've longed for but never were able to have before each other.
"πΈ πππ'π π πππ ππ ππππ πππ. πΈ πππ'π π πππ ππ ππππ πππ ππππ πππππ ππππ'π ππππ ππππππππ ππ ππ. π±ππ ππππ πππ'π ππ ππ."
What happens when you run into the man who bullied you all through high school while living in a foreign country and he doesn't even recognize you? Well Andrew decided it was a sign from the universe to get revenge. And as a tech genius worth millions of dollars, Andrew has more options than most at his disposal to put his plan into action. He had everything set for his brilliant take down of Justin, but he never saw coming what it would cost in the end.
"πΊππππ π ππ ππππππππ ππ ππ πππππππ’πππ.
πΈππππππ, ππ'π π πππππππ πππ ππππ πππππ ππππ'π ππππ ππππππππ ππ ππ ππππππ£π πΈ'π πππ π ππππ πππππ ππππ ππππ ππππππππ ππ πππ."
Here's the thing. Andrew never took into account how people in high school are usually not the same person as they are in adulthood. There is a big difference in world view from a 15 year old and a 27 year old standpoint. Not to mention the hundreds of other factors that change from childhood where you rely on your parents, to adulthood where you rely on yourself. In this circumstance, Justin was always a good person, but external factors led to him being a not so nice one in school. As an adult, Justin has grown into one of the kindest men ever. Even Andrew listing the horrible things Justin did to him in high school never hardened my heart towards him.
"πππππ ππππ ππππ πππ ππππππππ ππ’ πππππππ πππ πππππππ ππ ππππ π πππ πππ, πΈ ππππππ πππ π ππππ ππππ ππ πππππ’.
πππ πππ π ππ πππππ π’ππ πππππ ππππ ππππππ ππππ’ πππππ π’πππ πππππ."
I read the majority of this book with a big sense of foreboding. As Andrew and Justin's tentative friendship began to involve into something more, I just knew it wasn't going to end well when everything came to light. How do you tell the man you're in love with that you aren't who he thinks you are? Even more so that you are actually someone he knows and tormented as a kid, a time in Justin's life he doesn't like to think about for good reason. There was a lot of baggage to unpack between these two. And even though Andrew started off their relationship pretending to be someone else, he and Justin were very much in love with their real selves by the ending. Looking forward to Leo's turn next!
Angel's review:
I haven't read very many books by Jax Calder, but out of the ones I have read, this one is definitely my new favorite. It's full of comedic humor, witty banter and silly characters. Along with showcasing that you never really know what someone is going through until they tell you.
When I started this story I was very eager to read it and to see how far Andrew was willing to go with his revenge scheme. At the same time though I was worried at how far it'd go because there was bound to be fall out, someone was going to get hurt no matter how the revenge game played out and that's what I was dreading. Mainly because sometimes the conflict feels forced, or it's only mentioned but then gets resolved instantly. But that's not what happened here and I really appreciated how everything in this story just flowed so effortlessly!
Seeing as how Justin was Andrew's bully all throughout his high school years, I understood what prompted Andrew to not only plan a revenge sequence but for him to also act on it. However, as time went on and Justin opened up more to Andrew he (and us readers) learned that not everything that happened in high school was as black and white as previously believed to be. Justin was getting abused and bullied by his stepfather and struggling with accepting his own sexuality, and while that doesn't excuse his behavior, it certainly explains why he did what he did back then.
The buildup of these two getting to know each other was so good! I really enjoyed how much effort went in to really building up a connection between these two men, and I absolutely LOVED how they didn't instantly fall in bed together, and they didn't instantly fall in love. It took time and trust to work up to both of those moments and I really enjoyed that aspect of it. Everything from the side characters, to the technological mishaps that Andrew created, to the romance that built between himself and Justin was all written in a really fantastic way. I was invested in these two characters as soon as I started this book, I needed to know what happens between them and how they would overcome the inevitable hurt that was on their horizon. (Which can I just say... was also handled really well! I liked that the conflict played its own role, it had a reason to be apart of this story and it didn't get resolved in a rushed way, which I really liked. ))
I really enjoyed reading this story, it made me smile and laugh out loud, and whenever his cats got mentioned I 'aww'd' out loud. Especially when a certain someone falls for a certain dog.
Heather's Review:
When you've held a grudge since high school and your bully doesn't even have a flicker of recognition, you can either walk away or plot revenge... This book takes the idea of a revenge scenario to a bit of a comedic extreme and then of course, the adult Justin has grown up and become much different since high school....
We get some fun American/Brit comparisons, a dash of IT humour and a growing mutual interest...
You have a sense of foreboding, knowing Andrew's identity and their connection will eventually come to light... but that just adds to the drama..
I can't wait to see what happens with the next Revenge story...
The Revenge Game is currently available as an e-book and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription
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