Royal Elite - Levi
- its.brittanyb
- Apr 7
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 18
“Those who don’t play chess think the king is the strongest piece, because the game ends when he dies, but they don’t stop to think that if the queen dies first, the king doesn’t have a chance to survive.”
REVIEW
Would I read this again? Yes No Maybe
Spice Level Legend How spicy is this book?
Tropes | Trigger Warnings |
Enemies to lovers, Morally Black MMC, Bully romance, Dark Romance, Dual POV | Bullying, Parent loss, Car accidents, Drug use, Dub con |
Spicy Chapters |
23, 35, 37, 44 |
SUMMARY
This is Book 1 in the Rina Kent Universe. Most of these books can be read as standalone. Check out the reading order page for the recommended reading order.
Astrid Clifford, daughter of Lord Henry Clifford and Jasmine, who died in a car crash 3 years ago. Since the car crash, Astrid has been living with her dad, her wicked stepmom, Victoria, and stepsister, Nicole. She started at RES - Royal Elite School. A high school in London for the rich and powerful. She hates it there and tries to just blend into the wall. She has one good friend, Dan.
The end of their junior year, Dan convinces Astrid to go to a party that the football team is throwing. Dan is on the football team (and don’t be confused like I was - they are British, so they mean Soccer, not American Football) but Astrid has never been to a game and tries to stay away from them. Why? Because the two most powerful kids in school are on the football team, Levi and Aiden King. Levi is Captain and other than Aiden, he runs the school with his buddies - Xander Knight, Ronan Astor, and Cole Nash (These names sound familiar? If you’ve read any of the Legacy of Gods, they should).
Astrid tags along to the party but Dan soon leaves her to go hook up with some girl. Astrid is drinking her drink but starts to feel funny so she tries to go find a bathroom, and Dan. She needs to get out of here. She accidentally winds up in the bathroom connected to the room that all the previously mentioned boys are in. Levi instantly takes notice. He at first jokes that he is going to share her with all the guys but then takes her in another room alone. Astrid, unknown to her, has been drugged, someone slipped Ecstasy into her drink. She is rubbing all over Levi like a cat in heat. Levi realizes she's on drugs and says he doesn’t do druggies and throws her out. Of the house. That's in the middle of nowhere.
She starts going through the woods trying to find her way out. She hears people running behind her, so she starts running, when she finds the road, she also finds a car - that hits her. And leaves her for dead.
Fast forward to the beginning of senior year. Astrid has spent all summer in the hospital and physical therapy after being hit by a car. She has no memory of what car hit her. She remembers hearing someone say call 911, but she has no idea who that was.
Astrid’s goal her last year is to stay hidden, not to draw attention, just get through this year, and get the f out of RES. But Levi has decided that Astrid is interesting.
This starts a pretty funny back and forth - where Levi tells Astrid to do something, like meet me after school, and she’s like I’m not listening to you, when he tries to bully her into doing what he wants, she retaliates and gets revenge on him. She paints the windshield of his car, she breaks into his football locker and spray paints all of his uniforms.
And yes, this pisses Levi off, but also…intrigues him. And he does his own shit to get back at her.
Throughout all of this back and forth, aka foreplay, Astrid tries to resist her attraction to Levi. Spoiler alert - it doesn’t work.
Important things that happen other than their relationship.
We find out that the drugs that were in Astrid’s drink were actually meant for Nicole. Nicole put drugs in her drink and in Dan’s. She has had a huge crush on him forever and he doesn’t give her the time of day. She ended up taking advantage of him that night, since he was on ecstasy.
Astrid’s mom died from a car accident. Astrid doesn’t have much memory of the actual crash, so she forgot that her mom hit someone that was in the road.
Henry Clifford wants Astrid to stay away from the Kings because the person that her mom hit in the road? Levi’s dad, James. James had suffered from mental illness and drug abuse. He was possibly on drugs the night he was standing in the middle of the road enjoying the rain. Jonathan King knows this but has hidden who the driver was from Levi. Until of course, at which time he wants to deliver a blow, and tells him to try and draw a wedge between Levi and Astrid. Which works for a short time. When Astrid finds out that her mom is the one who killed Levi’s dad, she isolates herself from Levi for a time.
Henry and Jasmine were married for a time, but Jasmine was a tattoo artist and was not “elite” like the Cliffords. Henry’s dad made him get a divorce from Jasmine and marry Victoria - an arranged marriage. Before the accident, Jasmine and Henry had been talking. Henry was going to divorce Victoria, and reunite with Jasmine and Astrid. Jasmine was going to tell Astrid that night.
So who hit Astrid? Victoria. Victoria also fucked with Jasmine’s breaks, which is why she couldn’t break properly and hit James. She had found out that Henry was going to leave her and Victoria believes she is entitled to the Clifford name and that her daughter, Nicole, should be adopted as a Clifford. So when the first accident only killed Jasmine and not Astrid, she decided to wait a bit, and then tried to take Astrid out herself.
Who said call 911 when Astrid got hit by the car? Levi and his friends. They set the house on fire to piss off Jonathan and were running away. Levi did not see the car that hit her but made sure she got help before he took off.
At the end of the book, Victoria pulls a gun on Astrid and Henry, but is stopped by a tearful Nicole, who is begging her not to commit murder. Victoria is taken to jail and Nicole leaves - to where? I don’t know. I do know though, from Niko’s book, that Astrid mentions that Brandon had his first crush on her stepsister's brother. So, I don’t think this is the last we will hear from Nicole. …. Unless Henry marries someone else?
In the epilogue, one year later, Levi is in London, attending college and playing football for the Arsenal’s. He asks Astrid to marry him and of course, she says yes.
Questions I have that I’m sure will be answered in upcoming books.
Where is Dan?
Where is Nicole?
Why is Aiden always shooting daggers at the “Ice Princess”?
Who is the Ice Princess?
Astrid makes a friend while watching the football game, Kimberly Reed, why does Xander hate her so much?
