In The Bully (Calamity Montana #4) by Willa Nash, Nellie Rivera moved to the small town of Calamity, Montana, with the 
hopes of finally finding a place to call her own. After years of feeling like an outcast and having even been bullied in school by now pro-football quarterback, Cal Stark, Nellie has taken control of her life and her emotions. Then Cal shows up in town with supposed plans to move there as well. Nope. Not gonna happen. She’ll push him enough so Cal won’t want to stick around Calamity. But Nellie wasn’t counting on her former bully showing her his kind, tender side. Or that learning the truth about their past would put an entirely different spin on where their chemistry might now take them.
‘Behind each of my insecurities was a face. Cal’s teenaged face.’
Retiring from football feels like the right decision to Cal, no matter what his agent or his greedy father says. And making Calamity his new home, near his best friend Pierce, will hopefully be the step back from the spotlight he so desperately needs. But it likely won’t be a calming place to be for a while. Not until Cal and Nellie settle their differences. Because surely there’s enough room in the little town for both of them to start fresh, right? Well.. Maybe not. As Nellie makes her displeasure known in the most public and embarrassing of ways, Cal will have to prove to her that although it hasn’t seemed like it over the years, there was a reason for everything he did. And those reasons had her best interest at heart.
“Do you? Hate me?”
There was no mistaking the vulnerability in my voice. This was her chance to shove the dagger in deep. To shred me to ribbons. To go for the kill.
The corner of her mouth turned up. “Not today.”
Twenty year’s worth of animosity and hurt meant The Bully–a full on enemies-to-lovers romance to the Nth degree–was emotionally complex, heartfelt, and insanely addictive.
‘There was a constant hate simmering beneath the surface. Attraction was its constant companion.’
Talk about a couple who fought their attraction tooth and nail! It may have been obvious to everyone around them that there was something special between them, but for Cal and Nellie, every encounter brought up their tangled past. And I loved every angst-filled, complicated scene they had together. Willa Nash (aka Devney Perry) was very clever in how she parceled out the details of Nellie and Cal’s history, most of which was via diary entries from Nellie’s high school journals.
It was sad in some ways, the lack of *honest* communication Cal and Nellie had as well as the secrets they each kept–which created more of a rift between them as the years went on. But once they were both living in Calamity, constantly running into each other? There was really no other option but to deal with all the emotions and past hurts. There was a lot more to Nellie and Cal’s history than I expected. And it made their actions make more sense (particularly Cal’s choices) as well as adding a depth to their relationship that was very touching.
I’m not gonna lie, things started off rough with Cal. Outwardly, he was cold, abrupt, and had a penchant for losing his temper when he felt frustrated with a situation. But Cal was hiding a tender, damaged heart under that gruff exterior. And I adored him by the end of the book. Nellie made a terrific heroine. She didn’t let Cal get away with anything and gave him a taste of his own medicine a few times in Calamity (so funny!) which also became a place where she finally felt at home. Nellie was pretty in tune with people around her so she saw through Cal’s grumbly ways, and used her compassionate nature to help him find his own way.
QOTD: Do you think former bullies (not ones who are outright abusive or cruel) can redeem themselves later in life?
Book Info:
Publication: March 3rd 2022 | Devney Perry LLC | Calamity Montana #4
Nellie Rivera is trading traffic for tranquility. When the quiet streets of small-town Montana beckon, she leaves Denver behind and moves to Calamity. It would be the perfect adventure if not for Cal Stark.
When her archnemesis dares to show his face one Saturday morning, declaring he is moving there too, she vows to make his life a misery. The town isn’t big enough for the both of them and besides . . .
She was here first.
Cal has been a thorn in her side since high school. He might have bullied her back then, but she’s not a modest teenager anymore and has learned a few plays of her own. If all goes to plan, she’ll run the former pro quarterback out of town within a month.
There’s only one problem. Cal has the same plan. He wants Calamity bad enough to pull out all the stops. And after one kiss, she realizes that he doesn’t play fair.
