Ruthless Rival (Cruel Castaways 1) by LJ Shen- a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 3, 2022

When she was young, Arya Roth became best friends with her housekeeper’s son. Soon, friendship turned to young love, and when Arya dared him to kiss her, a chain reaction of disastrous events led to the boy being sent away and out of Arya’s life.

Now, two decades later, Arya is an on-the-rise publicist with her beloved father as one of her biggest clients. So when her father is sued by a former employee, Arya sets out to prove that her father is not the monster he is accused of being. The only problem is the attorney who is determined to destroy her father’s good name. Christian Miller is charming, ambitious, and devilishly good looking, and Arya has no idea he is that same boy who kissed her all those years ago.

Past and present collide as Arya falls hard for Christian. But when she finds out who he really is and about his obsession with getting revenge on her father, can she choose love over family?

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REVIEW: RUTHLESS RIVAL is the first instalment in LJ Shen’s contemporary, adult CRUEL CASTAWAYS erotic, romance series focusing on three friends: Christian Miller, Arsène Corbin, and Riggs Bates. This is thirty –two year olds, attorney Christian Miller, and publicist Arya Roth’s story line.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Arya and Christian) RUTHLESS RIVAL focuses on the second chance relationship between thirty –two year olds, attorney Christian Miller, and publicist Arya Roth. Approximately twenty years earlier Arya Roth fell in love with the forbidden, the housekeeper’s son but a stolen kiss destroyed both of their lives. Fast forward to present day wherein Arya Roth’s father has been accused of sexual harassment, and the opposing council looks familiar yet not. Enter attorney Christian Miller aka Nicholai Ivanov,the boy turned man with whom Arya shared a painful past. What ensues is the building but tempestuous relationship between Arya and Christian, and the potential fall-out when the truth is revealed.

Before entering Harvard, Nicholai Ivanov changed his name to Christian Miller, and his former life all but died in the wake of the new start. Having endured years of abuse and rejection. Christian refused to revisit the past until a sexual harassment case brought up a chance for revenge but more so a chance to seduce the woman he believed all but destroyed his life. Arya Roth never knew what happened, after that fateful night, to the boy with whom she had fallen in love. Believing Nicholai Ivanov was dead, Arya kept her love and her emotions close to her heart, having watched from afar as her parent’s relationship continued to implode. Desperate to defend her father’s reputation, secrets reveal a dark and dangerous past, and a betrayal that broke her heart.

The relationship between Arya and Christian is one of second chances, of a sorts: former best friends who were betrayed by the adults in their lives, adults whose own lives are lost or out of control. Christian’s slow seduction of our story line heroine borders on the unethical but Nicholai has not stopped loving the girl that broke his heart. The $ex scenes are intimate,seductive and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are introduced to Christian’s best friends: Arsène Corbin, and Riggs Bates, as well as their former guardian and mentor Alice Gudinski and Nicholai’s mother Ruslana Ivanova; Christian’s assistant Claire, and Arya’s parents Conrad and Beatrice Roth, and Arya’s business partner Jillian. Arsène’s storyline is next.

RUTHLESS RIVAL is a story of betrayal and vengeance, abuse and harassment, power and control, acceptance and love. The premise is dramatic, emotional and heart breaking; the romance is seductive and provocative; the characters are broken, charismatic,determined and intense.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy