Publisher: Author
Pub Date: May 28, 2026
Genre: Adult, Romance
Format: ARC
Source: Author
Book Links: Goodreads Amazon
At Ashford
University, power doesn’t belong to the professors.
It belongs to the students.
The ones with the right names.
The right connections.
The ones who decide what happens behind closed doors.
Becky Dawson doesn’t belong there.
She’s not rich. Not connected. Not invited.
But she knows something’s not right.
And every answer leads back to one man.
Carrson Ashford.
Cold. Controlled. Untouchable.
They say he’s dangerous. They don’t know the half of it.
Now Becky’s on the hunt.
Studying him, following him, learning patterns he thinks no one sees.
Because Carrson isn’t just a man.
He’s a door.
The heir to a world built on power, ambition, and survival.
But Becky isn’t the only predator here.
Carrson notices. Pushes to see if she’ll break.
When he presses a blade to her throat, she doesn’t run.
When he tells her to stay away, she steps closer.
When he tells her to run,
she waits to see if he’ll chase.
That’s a problem.
Because Becky Dawson?
She was never supposed to be part of his world.
But now that she is,
Carrson can’t decide
whether to destroy her…
or make sure she never leaves.
Before Pretty Vicious... there was Pretty Ruthless.
Set in 1994, this dark academia secret society romance is where is all begins,
where power is everything, obsession is inevitable, and love is the most
dangerous game of all.
Carrson and Becky have a lot going on. Both have their own issues, both want power and well they are so alike it's no wonder they were meant for each other.
Becky lost her twin and ever since then she has been hurting. She takes that and pours it into these sad journal entries she writes to her and it does make you feel for Becky. She also took all of that pain and hyper fixated on something to give her meaning/purpose and that just so happened to bring her to Carrson.
Before actually meeting him, she had already discovered a lot more than anyone outside the order has figured out about what's going on. Least her theory on everything before she's proven right.
Then the two officially meet. Well...if you call sneaking up on someone playing with knives in the forest meeting.
From there is when things really pick up even more. Everyday Becky shows up while Carrson is training. Neither really speak much. It's like a mind game but one both secretly enjoy.
The one day that Becky isn't there, Carrson should be glad but he isn't. It doesn't feel right and he goes looking for her and from there everything changes.
From this point on, I was hooked even more and before I knew it, I had devoured the rest of the book. It's dark, it's romance, it's dark academia and everything you've come to love from Lexi.
I'm loving this series so much and can't wait for the next book!
