Royal Elite - Xander
- its.brittanyb
- Apr 17
- 5 min read
“At first, it was painful, then it became a permanent ache, and now, I can’t breathe.”
REVIEW
Would I read this again? Yes No Maybe
Spice Level Legend How spicy is this book?
Tropes | Trigger Warnings |
Friends to enemies to lovers, Dual POV, Bully romance, Forbidden love, Dark romance | Bullying, Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Fat shaming, Suicide ideation, Self-harm, Suicide attempt |
Spicy Chapters |
16, 17, 29, 30, 32, 36, 37, Epilogue 1, Epilogue 2 |
SUMMARY
This is Book 4 in the Rina Kent Universe. Most of these books can be read as standalone.
Xander Knight and Kimberly Reed have been best friends since they were in cribs. When they were 6, Xander’s mom left. Kim followed Xander down the road as he chased her car crying. She sat with him in the streets and hugged him.
Xander, Cole, and Aiden were kidnapped when they were 8. When the kidnappers realized they had two extra kids, they dropped Cole and Xander off by some woods and let them find their way home. Xander ran like crazy and got lost.
When they were 11, Kim was getting jealous that Xander was spending more time with the guys. She decided to play a trick on him. She told him that their (can’t remember if it was hers or his) cat got out of the house and she was afraid it was in the woods behind their house. Xander wandered off into the woods looking for the cat. He was gone for a few minutes and Kim started to feel really bad. She was afraid he got lost and would start to have flashbacks from when he was kidnapped. She ran to get one of their parents and it took them hours to find him. Kim finally found him and when she did, he pushed her away, told her not to touch him, and was basically like I hate you now. Kim expects Xander to get over it, but he doesn’t. He gets meaner as they get older. He starts rumors about her, he doesn’t straight out encourage the other kids bullying but he doesn’t stop them either. When Xander pulls away, the guys pull away too. Kim and Silver used to be really good friends but Silver starts to be mean to Kim too. Before Kim knows it, she is the school outcast over a child prank. At the beginning of her sophomore year, she meets the new girl in school (Elsa) and they become best friends.
At the end of her junior year, a rugby player named Adam, plays a mean trick on Kim that ends with him dumping paint on her. Silver sees it, and tells the principal so that Adam gets into trouble.
After that, Kim goes away for the summer and comes back having lost a bunch of weight. Xander is immediately like um no, now other guys will think she’s hot, but they can’t think that, because she’s mine.
(It’s almost like it's their senior year so all hell breaks loose with everyone. If you have read the last 3 books, it is happening at the same time as this book (Vicious Prince and Ruthless Empire are also happening at the same time).)
Xander does his very best to stay away from Kim but he just can’t. He corners her at Ronan’s party while he is drunk and kisses her. Then gets mad at her, blames her for him kissing her, and leaves.
He is skulking around so much that he is annoying the crap out of the rest of the guys. So they decide to just help him out. He gets super drunk one night and they call Kim over. He thinks he is dreaming and they hook up (no sex). The next morning he’s like omg, best dream ever, it's still happening. And KIm is like Xander, no, this is real. He gets so mad and says mean things.
For Kim’s entire life, her relationship with mom has been awful. Her mom is the worst mother, no she didn’t leave like Xander’s but she should have. She has done nothing in Kim’s life except make Kim feel badly about herself. Kim hates herself because of her mother. Kim started cutting herself as a coping mechanism. Not only does she cut, she developed bulimia over the summer. Her mother has made her feel like she is worthless and fat. After her and Xander hooked up, and then he said real mean things, and she just felt like she was completely alone. She decides she is going to binge, she buys all the food that she always wants to eat, and just overstuffs herself. Her mom comes in and sees her and proceeds to tell her what a disappointment she is. After her mom leaves, she cuts her wrists. Bad this time. Really bad. She starts texting Xander and then passes out.
Xander knows something is wrong and he rushes to her house and finds her. He gets her to the hospital in time and calls her dad (who has been away on business). Xander feels like this is mostly his fault and he feels awful that his actions could have taken Kim away from him forever. So he finally tells Kim what his problem is. That day in the woods when he was 11, he got close to a road and heard Kim’s mom and his dad fighting. He finds out that Kim is his dad’s biological daughter. And, even as a young kid, he knows how he feels about Kim, and he knows it's not how a brother should feel about a sister. So he decides to push her away, and separate from her. He thinks that if he is super mean to her, she will stop trying to be friends, and maybe his feelings will die like their friendship. Kim gets immediately disgusted because of the things they have already done and the fact that she is in love with him. He tells Kim that he has agreed with his dad to go away for rehab. Xander has been drowning his feelings with alcohol and by participating in underground fight clubs. Now he can’t start his day without some vodka in his coffee.
A few days later, Kim’s dad talks to her and asks her if Xander said anything to her. She tells him what Xander overheard all those years ago. He basically tells Kim that there is a lot that she doesn’t know. Yes, Kim’s mom and Xander’s dad are her biological parents. But … Xander’s dad is not Xander’s biological dad, he (Kim’s dad) is. So they are not siblings, just share a real fucked up family tree, without blood involved.
She immediately goes to Xander’s house because she knows he is leaving for rehab soon. Xander is like wtf did you not hear me in the hospital, you’re my sister. She tells him everything and then they finally have sex.
Xander’s mom shows up and tries to blackmail Xander’s dad for money. Says she will tell everyone about the kids belonging to the wrong dads, make such a scandal, and scandal is never a good thing for these rich, powerful families. Xander’s dad was like fuck off and somehow (probably in an illegal violent way) make her go away.
Xander does end up going to rehab. Kim’s parents get a divorce. Even though both Kim and Xander’s moms suck, they have two dads that love them and want what's best for them.
Epilogue 1 is three years later - Xander and Kim are living together and he asks her to marry him.
Epilogue 2 is five years later and Kim is pregnant (Spoiler - with Cecily).
