Pay For Your Lies review — Khai Hara (spice level, tropes & is it worth it)
with the world cup happening, i think it’s only fair that we all develop a completely normal and healthy interest in soccer players.
pay for your lies by khai hara is spicy, obsessive, soccer-filled fun and honestly?
exactly what we need right now.
because if i can’t have a hot professional soccer player this summer, the least i can do is read about one.
this is book two in the royal crown academy series, but it can be read as a standalone. if you like possessive athletes, lots of spice, obsessive pining, and an mmc who decides he wants the girl and never emotionally recovers from it, start here.
is pay for your lies worth it?
yes.
and honestly? after reading three books in this series, this is the only one i’d confidently recommend.
the entire series leans spicy, but this was the book that actually kept my attention. rhys and thayer had chemistry from the start, the soccer element felt fun instead of forgettable, and thayer never became the kind of character who folds the second the mmc looks at her.
skip it if high school settings are an automatic no for you.
read it if you want obsession, jealousy, soccer, spice, and a man who decides he wants her and never recovers from it.
the book
Pay For Your Lies
✓ on kindle unlimited
he’s team captain, rich, and arrogant. she’s on scholarship with a boyfriend. he sees her and decides she’s his anyway.
spice level breakdown
spice rating: 4/5
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
this book is spicy.
there’s a lot of wanting, a lot of jealousy, and a lot of rhys being entirely too aware of thayer at all times.
what worked for me wasn’t just the spice itself. it was the obsession. rhys wants her from the moment he sees her and spends the rest of the book proving that information was unfortunately very serious.
if possessive athlete energy is your thing, you’re probably going to have a good time.
tropes in pay for your lies
- dark academia
- soccer romance
- jealous/possessive mmc
- high school romance
- he falls first
- boyfriend’s rival
- rich/scholarship student dynamic
what to read after pay for your lies
trying to figure out what part of this book had you in a chokehold?
if it was the athlete romance, obsessive mmc energy, and the fact that rhys was down catastrophically bad, read the right move next.
if it was the academy setting, tension, and the feeling that everyone needs therapy, try limerence.
or skip the guessing entirely:
→ browse more sports romance books
→ browse more dark academia romance books
favorite quote
“I’m not possessive,” He says, his eyes boring into mine, “I’m covetous. I’m downright envious. I desperately want something that belongs to someone else, at least for now.”
fictional boyfriend material?
rhys mackley is exactly the kind of man that gets us into trouble.
soccer captain. obsessive. protective. completely convinced he’ll get the girl.
the problem for him is that thayer refuses to make it easy.
meet the fictional man
pay for your lies spicy chapters
keeping this one spoiler-light.
just know the spice is not hard to find.
a few to start with:
- Chapter Twenty-Four
- Chapter Twenty-Seven
- Chapter Thirty-Three
final thoughts
world cup season has me making questionable decisions and apparently those decisions include becoming emotionally invested in fictional soccer players.
i had fun with this one.
rhys was obsessive in all the ways i wanted him to be, thayer gave him a run for his money, and the soccer actually added something to the story instead of just being there for decoration.
if you’re only going to read one royal crown academy book, i’d make it this one.
want more like this? say less.
the full romance library is waiting.
peek inside the society library
take me to the library →morally gray men, slow burns, hockey romances, villains who should absolutely not be attractive… it’s all there.
frequently asked questions
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