Pretty Reckless, an all-new standalone high school, bully romance from USA Today bestselling author L.J. Shen, is available now!
We were supposed to be best friends
But turned out to be worst enemies…
Penn
They say revenge is a dish best served cold.
I’d had four years to stew on what Daria Followhill did to me, and now my heart is completely iced.
I took her first kiss.
She took the only thing I loved.
I was poor.
She was rich.
The good thing about circumstances? They can change. Fast.
Now, I’m her parents’ latest shiny project.
Her housemate. Her tormentor. The captain of the rival football team she hates so much.
Yeah, baby girl, say it—I’m your foster brother.
There’s a price to pay for ruining the only good thing in my life, and she’s about to shell out some serious tears.
Daria Followhill thinks she is THE queen. I’m about to prove to her that she’s nothing but a spoiled princess.
Daria
Everyone loves a good-old, unapologetic punk.
But being a bitch? Oh, you get slammed for every snarky comment, cynical eye roll, and foot you put in your adversaries’ way.
The thing about stiletto heels is that they make a hell of a dent when you walk all over the people who try to hurt you.
In Penn Scully’s case, I pierced his heart until he bled out, then left it in a trash can on a bright summer day.
Four years ago, he asked me to save all of my firsts for him.
Now he lives across the hall, and there’s nothing I want more than to be his last everything.
His parting words when he gave me his heart were that nothing in this world is free.
Now? Now he is making me pay.
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What can I say? LJ Shen never disappoints in her mastery of writing assholes and heartbreak. This story was an intricately spun web of misconceptions, spite, heavy angst and regrets. Just when you think a character can’t possibly dig themselves any deeper it just gets worse lol.
The character chemistry was amazing in each relationship.
The push and pull of our hero and heroine were everything I love and more. Hate and avoidance on the surface, but so much more deep down, which left them at odds within themselves.
The mother-daughter relationship was so real and antagonistic that it was a tangible thing. Talk about a lash-out teen and a clueless mother!
It would seem our fearsome and untouchable heroine is hit from all directions but will it take to truly break her down? How much can she endure?
Highly recommend!
reviewed by Sweet Spot Sisterhood
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Reckless in life, love, and happiness
I don't know whether I'm pissed at L.J. Shen or in love with her mind. I know I'm angry. I'm irrationally pissed that my Hotholes and their magic spouses aren't the perfect people I've made them out to be. Their "human-ness" causes me to lash out at the author.
Daria is a hot f@cking mess. No way to hide that big bombshell. She is. She doesn't even know how to deal with it. I blame some one else and yet I want to shake the ever loving shit out of Daria. Anyone who has ever felt over looked by family can 100% empathize with the "spoiled princess" even if you are dirt poor. The intensity and emotional upheaval of this book still has me reeling.
I want to simultaneously slap and hug everyone in this mess. But most of all, I want my perfect little happy. I wasn't sure I was going to get what I wanted. I don't know if you will because this book is a book divided. There are a whole lot of sides and more problems than one person should have to face.
Pretty Reckless is an epic start to what promises to be a no holds barred series. If we thought the Hotholes were the stuff of dreams (and nightmares), think again. The Totholes are going to make us beg, plead, and bend to their will for their affection. One book at a time!
I have read the book twice already and it doesn't lessen the impact of the words in this story.
Like me you may have an impression of Daria in your head. Prepare yourselves because I can guarantee she is not what you are expecting at all. Penn is her perfect foil, the ying to her yang. In each other they see something the other needs and craves.
It was easy for me to relate to Daria. Her feelings and the way she expresses them could have been the soundtrack to my youth. The author wrote it perfectly. She portrayed those feelings of worthlessness, of never being enough, of not measuring up perfectly.
Jamie is the dad I knew he would be, protective and loving to the max. Melody conflicted me, I got it I understood her but for reasons all to do with me and not spoiling the story I can't tell you. I still love her Jamie and Melody though.
The whole book blew me away. Everything I've come to expect from this author was there. The sizzling sexual tension, the angst, the love and hate was amplified to another level.
As someone who had read all Shen's books I'm in awe of her talent. I hate to use the word growth but its true, you can see how with each book how her writing has evolved.
reviewed by Sweet Spot Sisterhood
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Download your copy today for the special release week price of ONLY $2.99 or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2LhNRqW
Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/PrettyRecklessLJ
Audio: https://amzn.to/2DCyEui
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Excerpt:
“I don’t want you transferring into my school,” I hiss out. Melody would gladly file a transfer request, and Principal Prichard would salivate over the chance to snatch him up for our football team.
“That won’t be a problem. You guys suck so much ass, you have shit-breath.”
“Still smells better than poverty. You’re poor, right? Your sister was just bullshitting about being rich.”
When someone hits me with a stick, I run over them with a tank. I’m so mean to him I want to throw up. I hate this part of being me. The striking harder at all costs part.
“Just to make things clear.” I put the brush down, batting my lashes. “You’re not my step-sibling, foster brother, or a part of the family. You’re a stray dog. Last of the litter, most unlikely to be adopted, and a charity case.”
Penn takes a step toward me, and my heart is fighting its way out of my ribcage. The closer he gets, the more I realize that my heart might succeed. Penn’s eyes remind me of a snake’s. Mesmerizing, but inhuman altogether. They weren’t like that before.
His scent messes with my head. I want to reach out and caress his face. Kiss his wounds better. Beg for forgiveness. Curse him. Push him away. Cry on his shoulder for what we’ve done. For how it ended. For what we became afterwards, because I’m full of crap and he is totally empty.
We ruined ourselves the day of our first kiss.
Penn looks down at me. Time stops. It feels like the world is losing gravity, falling into a bottomless depth in space when he clasps my chin with his thumb and finger, lifting my head up. I can’t breathe. I’m not sure I want to, either. My towel drops to the floor with a thud, even though I secured it over my chest. I realize that he tugged at it intentionally. I’m naked. My body, my soul, my heart. All my walls are down. Somewhere in my head, a red alarm blasts and my inhibitions are getting armed, ready to fight back. I’m trying to decode his expression. He is amused, irritated, and…playful? The mixture of emotions doesn’t make any sense.
“Mess with me, Followhill, and I will ruin you.”
“Not if I ruin you first.”
About LJ Shen:
L.J. Shen is an International #1 best-selling author of Contemporary Romance and New Adult novels. She lives in Northern California with her husband, young son and chubby cat.
Before she’d settled down, L.J. (who thinks referring to herself in the third person is really silly, by the way) traveled the world, and collected friends from all across the globe. Friends who’d be happy to report that she is a rubbish companion, always forgets people's’ birthdays and never sends Christmas cards.
She enjoys the simple things in life, like spending time with her family and friends, reading, HBO, Netflix and internet-stalking Stephen James. She reads between three to five books a week and firmly believes Crocs shoes and mullets should be outlawed.
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