TRULY MADLY DEEPLY (Forbidden Love 1) by LJ Shen-review tour

TRULY MADLY DEEPLY (Forbidden Love 1) by LJ Shen-review & excerpt tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 10, 2024

This old flame just might set them on fire.

Conceited, unattainable, and downright delicious, renowned Michelin-starred chef Ambrose Casablancas has one passion in life—food.

Women are a distraction, and he doesn’t do those. Especially Cal Litvin, his baby sister’s best friend. Her entire existence is a complication; she’s awkward, eccentric, infuriating…

And, much to his chagrin, hotter than his kitchen.

Ambrose has a lot on his plate: a new restaurant to open, a multimillion-dollar property deal to execute, and a violent stalker to tame.

Then Cal shows up at his doorstep, looking for both a job and salvation after their messy goodbye. His resolve, like his patience, is ebbing each day she works at his restaurant.

Because Cal is no longer a doe-eyed girl.

Now? She’s the woman he’ll do anything to conquer.

***

Quirky, compassionate ball of sunshine Calla Litvin can’t catch a break, and not just because she swore off running.

Back in her hometown to nurse her mother’s broken heart after losing her father, she finds herself jobless, hopeless, and penniless. She hopes to rekindle her friendship with her former BFF, but Dylan is attached at the hip to her cruel brother—the one Cal’s been secretly crushing on since middle school.

Falling for the bad boy the second time around would be a mistake of gargantuan proportions.

Too bad she’s always been clumsy.

••••

REVIEW: TRULY MADLY DEEPLY is the first instalment in LJ Shen’s contemporary, adult FORBIDDEN LOVE erotic, romance series. This is twenty-seven year old chef Ambrose ‘Row’ Casablancas, and twenty-three year old Calla ‘Cal” Litvin’s story line.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Row and Cal) and text messaging, TRULY MADLY DEEPLY focuses on the enemies to friends to lovers relationship between twenty-seven year old Ambrose ‘Row’ Casablancas, and twenty-three year old Calla ‘Cal” Litvin. Calla Litvin had been in love with her best friend’s brother for as long as she can remember. At seventeen, before leaving for college, Calla Litvin begged Row Casablancas to take her virginity but she lost more than her innocence in the aftermath. Fast forward to present day, Ambrose ‘Row’ Casablancas has returned to his hometown of Staindrop, to open a new upscale restaurant, and complete a multi-million dollar property deal that should have aided the stagnant town where he was born but Row is now considered the town pariah, and his only ally is the woman he has loved all of his live. Enter Calla Litvin. Calla is the odd girl, having lived on the outside most of her life but Calla has secrets, dark and lonely secrets, and with the death of her father, Calla has returned home, never expecting to see the man who destroyed her heart. As his restaurant business explodes, Row’s reputation as an arrogant, abusive hard-a$$ pushes people out of his life and his restaurant. Desperate for help, Row hires Cal as a temporary server, a position that places Cal in the direct line of fire. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Row and Cal, and the potential fall-out as Row is targeted by the people of his hometown, and his time in Staindrop has come to an end.

The world building follows several pathways including the heart breaking and dark past for both Calla and Row. The town’s history of bullying their own continues into present , as Row and his restaurant are targeted. Reconnecting with Row and his sister Dylan was difficult upon her return to Straindrop. Old memories and heart break are at the forefront of Cal’s mind whenever our heroine looked beyond the present.

The relationship between Cal and Row is an enemies to friends to lovers. Calla Litvin has been in love with Row for as long as she can remember but one fateful night ended a lifelong friendship, destroyed a young heart, and pushed Calla from the town and the people she loved. Calla is a bit of an oddball, a little left of center, eccentric in her ways, likely on the spectrum of behavior and oddities. Ambrose Casablancas had his own secrets, a past mired in darkness, yet the only light in his life is the woman he pushed away years before. Falling for Calla was easy, letting her go would be hard. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate but I dislike the use of a certain four-letter word in my romance story lines.

There is a large ensemble cast of both likable and unlikable secondary and supporting characters. We are introduced Row’s best friend and business manager Rhyland Coltridge, his sister Dylan Casablancas, professional soccer player Kieran Carmichael; town mayor Allison Murray; both Cal and Row’s widowed mothers; property developer and investor Tate Blackthorn; and a town filled with angry, annoying and destructive residents.

TRULY MADLY DEEPLY is a story of secrets and lies, power and control, betrayal and vengeance, family and friendships, relationships and love. The premise is edgy, dramatic, tragic with some light moments sprinkled in between; the romance is impassioned, spicy and erotic; the characters are sassy, quirky and determined.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

 

 

Age EighteenIf someone told me an hour ago that I would be pinned beneath Row Casablancas, partially naked and writhing against the hood of his black Mustang, I would have guessed he’d gotten himself into some kind of trouble and had resorted to drugging me and harvesting my organs to make a quick buck.

Row didn’t hate me. He didn’t love me either. I would guesstimate his feelings toward me were somewhere on the spectrum between look at this adorable little moron and shit, I forgot she existed.

I was his baby sister’s best friend. The awkward klutz who suffered from bouts of verbal diarrhea and extremely questionable fashion sense.

Fine. I didn’t suffer from the questionable fashion sense. I owned it. Sue me for celebrating my individuality.

I always figured he liked me in the same way people liked puppies—because they were cute, dumb, and adored the ground you walked on, even if you were a terrible human who peeled clementines in public places. But I digress.

Harboring a small, totally manageable crush on your best friend’s brother was a cliché. However, I was obsessed with the nineties, an era that celebrated true and tested formulas. Ergo, pining after him fit me like a tattoo choker.

In my defense, Row made it impossible for my adolescent self not to lust after him on account of him: 1) being six foot four inches of lithe, corded muscles, having floppy onyx hair, and a jawline stronger than my lifetime of New Year’s resolutions combined, and 2) having the entire bad-boy vibe down to a T—including a sports car, athletic genes, witty one-liners, a dimpled smirk, and unlaced combat boots with tight-fitting jeans stacked upon them.

To sum it up, he was a morally gray hunk who was a total red flag—my age group’s favorite color scheme. So, yes. Of course I, too, wanted to be ruined by Dylan Casablancas’s older brother. Who didn’t? Our entire high school worshipped at his altar. Fenna McGee once even made a sticker that said, I’m not saying that Row Casablancas and God are the same person—but have you ever seen them in the same room?

Point was, Row’s tongue was currently shoved so far down my throat, we were playing tonsil hockey. His ballistic missile–sized erection pressed against the buttons of my yellow plaid skirt, threatening to snap them and send them past the Milky Way. And all I could think about was how I was doing Dylan dirty.

Bile coated the back of my throat. Dylan hated it when her friends fell at her brother’s feet. She’d make gagging sounds every time someone we knew flirted with him, which made what was happening right now completely inexcusable. But I was semi-drunk, exceptionally raw, and uncharacteristically reckless. Plus…Dylan was so used to seeing Row ruining her friends like it was an Olympic sport, what was adding one more into the mix?

I was also a people pleaser, and I really wanted to please Row. So I made complimentary moaning sounds I’d learned from the Pornhub University of Fake Orgasms. This included head lolling, enthusiastic panting, and girly gasps.

Row took this as an invitation to move to second base, coiling his calloused fingers around the front of my throat and flattening me against the hood of his car. The hood still exuded heat from the engine, and I wondered if I’d sport second-degree burns tomorrow morning. My butt cheeks were squeezed together to accommodate his lean waist between my thighs, my heartbeat thrashing against my eyelids like an angry woodpecker.

We were parked on a rocky cliff overlooking the glacial-tipped Maine mountains. The ocean stretched like a tight, black sheet across the horizon. The briny scent floated into my nostrils, and goose bumps coated my arms.

It felt so good and yet so wrong, I didn’t know whether to burst into giggles, tears, or flames.

Stop this right now, Cal. Dylan is going to strangle you.

Actually, my BFF was more the type to steal my clothes and go on a killing spree. Dylan Casablancas was creative, innovative, and delightfully hilarious. I loved her so much. She deserved better than this.

Row’s hand snuck under my beige turtleneck and my yellow plaid vest, cupping my left boob as his mouth trailed along my jaw, leaving wet, hot kisses in its wake, making my spine tingle. His lips were sinful, his tousled hair as soft as silk between my greedy fingers.

Dammit, I’m only human.

We were grinding against each other, and I was in awe of how different his body was from mine. Hard to my soft. Tall to my short. Tan to my pale. He was doing everything right. The way he swirled his tongue over my sensitive spots, drawing happy whimpers from me. The way his thumb rubbed the tip of my hard nipple, making it tingly and sensitive and desperate for more, felt like some kind of dark magic.

“Fuck, you’re beautiful.”

What a terribly un-asshole-y thing to say. Then again, Row never directed his infinite wrath at me. Probably because I was like a sister to Dylan.

There was a bonfire happening in the moorlands below the cliff where we were parked. A farewell bash for us seniors before we all scattered away to our respective colleges. Row had dropped by to pick Dylan up—he was in town for a couple weeks, visiting from his fancy culinary school in Paris—but Dylan had wanted to stick around a little longer. Meanwhile, I’d wanted to go home, eat pickled eggs, and binge-watch Riverdale.

Yet we’d ended up on the notorious Make-out Mountain, where couples went to lose their virginity, and sometimes lacy thongs, without being interrupted.

Row and I were friendly. He was always protective of me. I’d asked him to drive up to the cliff so I could take one last look at the ocean before I moved to New York. I definitely hadn’t planned on attacking his mouth with mine like a rabid raccoon when we’d both stared at the yolky sun crawling up the sky.

Yet…it had happened. It had happened, and now I was in his arms, the cold recipient of his kisses and licks and roaming hands. I froze, yet again feeling guilty about Dylan. She’d forgive me, surely. It wasn’t like he was her boyfriend.

Row ripped his mouth from my skin, staring me down through a disapproving scowl. “Are you still alive?”

“Hmm-mm.”

“Should I stop?” His fingers immediately loosened around my waist and back, and I suddenly remembered what had made me want to have sex with him in the first place.

“No!” I wrenched him closer and pressed my lips to his, doubling down on that rabid-wildlife conduct. “You…you can’t stop.” But maybe he should? My mind and my body were definitely not in sync.

“Sure I can.” His mouth moved over mine again, his voice velvet and smoke. “Consent is a real thing. Google it.” I was blushing so furiously, it was a medical miracle my head didn’t explode. His mouth grinned against mine, teeth grazing my bottom lip. “Fuck. You’re so sweet. So innocent. I want to eat you out.”

“I want to eat you out too.” Wait, what? That didn’t sound right. Having social anxiety and literally zero filters when I was nervous sucked.

“Do you, now?” I could hear the smirk in his smartass tone.

Dammit, Cal. “Not, in, like, a cannibalistic way—”

“Show me, then. Use plenty of examples. I’m a slow learner.” He growled, deepening our kiss. Our teeth brushed together, and a wave of pleasure rolled along my spine. My skin was cold, but my insides were ablaze. I pushed my palm against his groin over his black jeans. I couldn’t believe I was touching him, really touching the guy who literally made women melt into a pool of hormones just by glancing at him.

He ripped his mouth from mine, eyeballing me hard. We stared at each other, panting. I had no idea what I was doing.

 


 

L.J. Shen is USA Today, WSJ, Washington Post and #1 Amazon Kindle Store bestselling author of contemporary romance books.

She writes angsty books, unredeemable anti-heroes who are in Elon Musk’s tax bracket, and sassy heroines who bring them to their knees (for more reasons than one).

HEAs and groveing are guaranteed.

She lives in Florida with her husband, three sons, and a disturbingly active imagination.

Keep up with L.J. on all platforms:
Newsletter Sign up ➜ https://bit.ly/3LhsIrb
Instagram➜ shorturl.at/cDJRZ
TikTok ➜ shorturl.at/frw59
Facebook➜ https://goo.gl/fKCSo4
Website ➜ www.authorljshen.com

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Cold Hearted Casanova (Cruel Castaways 3) by LJ Shen-review tour

Cold Hearted Casanova (Cruel Castaways 3) by LJ Shen-review tour

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 9,2024

Riggs Bates may be a billionaire, but he knows money can’t buy happiness. He keeps his financial status a secret and takes his women the same way he takes his meals—a different one three times a day. That’s until he’s caught sleeping with a married newswoman by none other than her ambitious assistant.

Daphne “Duffy” Markham wants two things in life: marry well and stay in the States. So when her almost-fiancé takes off to “find himself” and her work visa approaches expiration, Duffy resorts to the only thing she has left—blackmail. Luckily, Riggs needs an excuse to stay in New York as badly as she does, so their first meeting quickly leads to a begrudging engagement.

Armed with strict house rules and their mutual distaste for one another, Riggs and Duffy soon find there’s no denying the spark between them…or the fact that this fake marriage is starting to feel a little too real.

••••••••

REVIEW:COLD HEARTED CASANOVA is the third instalment in LJ Shen’s contemporary, adult CRUEL CASTAWAYS erotic, romance series. This is thirty-seven year old billionaire and photographer Riggs Bates, and thirty -year old PA Daphne ‘Duffy’ Markham’s story line. COLD HEARTED CASANOVA can get read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary .

Told from dual first person perspectives (Riggs And Duffy) COLD HEARTED CASANOVA follows the fake relationship and marriage between our story line couple. British born citizen Daphne ‘Duffy’ Markham is on temporary assignment working in America for a woman who has been relocated to Washington DC but walking in on her married boss in a compromising position with a beautiful man pushes Duffy to do something she never thought she would: blackmail her boss, and the handsome stranger in exchange for her silence and an American visa and green card. Enter Riggs Bates, the man with whom Duffy will fall in love but Riggs has a secret-he is a billionaire who doesn’t advertise his wealth, a secret he was never going to reveal. While Duffy struggles between head and heart in the wake of the break up from her former love, Riggs sets into motion a plan to ensure his ‘fake marriage’ feels real for the woman he loves. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Riggs and Duffy, and the potential fall-out as their time together comes with an expiry date.

The world building focuses on Duffy’s struggle to remain in America: her battle to let go of the past; and her fight to accept that her marriage is only temporary to a man who is unable to give her his heart. Riggs Bates early years were mired in rejection and loss, and in this, Riggs has vowed never to settle down or fall in love but meeting Duffy Markham gave Riggs pause for a future but a future that may be shorter than they could ever have imagined.

The relationship between Duffy and Riggs begins as a fake relationship predicated upon a blackmail scheme for our story line heroine. Duffy wants to remain in the US, and Riggs has no permanent address due to his world travels for work. Riggs is determined to not to fall in love; while Duffy struggles to keep her feelings buried where no one can see. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top sexually graphic language and text.

The colorful secondary and supporting characters include the return of of Arya and Christian (Ruthless Rival #1), Arlene and Winnifred (Fallen Foe 2), as well as Duffy’s neighbor Charlie; her twin brother Kieran, their parents, and Duffy’s assortment of former co-workers and employees.

COLD HEARTED CASANOVA is an emotional story of secrets and lies, betrayal and heart break; acceptance and forgiveness, family and love. The premise is captivating and emotional; the romance is fated and seductive; the characters are determined, desperate, broken but struggling to heal.

Reading Order and Previous reviews
Ruthless Rival
Fallen Foe

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

L.J. Shen is USA Today, WSJ, Washington Post and #1 Amazon Kindle Store bestselling author of contemporary romance books.

She writes angsty books, unredeemable anti-heroes who are in Elon Musk’s tax bracket, and sassy heroines who bring them to their knees (for more reasons than one).

HEAs and groveing are guaranteed.

She lives in Florida with her husband, three sons, and a disturbingly active imagination.

Keep up with L.J. on all platforms:
Newsletter Sign up ➜ https://bit.ly/3LhsIrb
Instagram➜ shorturl.at/cDJRZ
TikTok ➜ shorturl.at/frw59
Facebook➜ https://goo.gl/fKCSo4
Website ➜ www.authorljshen.com

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DAMAGED GOODS (All Saints High 4) by LJ Shen -review tour

DAMAGED GOODS (All Saints High 4) by LJ Shen -review tour

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

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GOODREADS LINK: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/171498175-damaged-goods

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 24, 2024

Underneath the goody two-shoes persona is damaged goods…but can the bad boy across the street save her?

Bailey Followhill is the perfect daughter. Sweet. Charitable. Pretty. Control freak. Not a hair out of place, not an inch out of line, she is everything her troublemaking sister Daria isn’t. But when her A game turns out to be a lukewarm C- at Juilliard, Bailey’s picture-ready life starts fraying faster than the worn satin ribbons of her pointe shoes. She’s becoming a piece of gossip. The Troubled Child. A drug abuser. No longer the girl her best friend once knew.

Lev Cole is so golden, he’s got the Midas Touch. Prized quarterback. Football captain. Hottest guy in SoCal. A textbook cliché. But with a girlfriend he doesn’t love and a career path he doesn’t value, Lev is coasting. The only two things he cares about, Bailey and becoming a pilot, are out of reach.

But Lev is done being satisfied with the life others have chosen for him. He wants to pick his own cards. To demolish the seamless kingdom of lies his family stitched together on the ruins his mother left behind.

The question is, can he save his best friend and his dream before too much damage is done?

••••••

REVIEW: DAMAGED GOODS is the fourth instalment in LJ Shen’s contemporary, young -new adult ALL SAINTS HIGH romance series-a second generation spin off from the author’s SINNERS OF SAINTS series. This is football player Lev Cole, and ballet dancer Bailey Followhill’s story line. DAMAGED GOODS can be read as a stand alone but I recommend reading the series in order or at the very least book one PRETTY RECKLESS for backstory. Bailey is Daria’s sister (Pretty Reckless), and the daughter of Jamie and Melody (Defy/Sinners of Saints): Lev is the son of Dean and Rosie Cole (Ruckus/Sinners of Saints).

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise including drug addiction, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from three first person perspectives (Bailey, Lev, Dixie) using present day and memories from the past, DAMAGED GOODS follows the turbulent relationship between our story line couple. Bailey and Lev are best friends: grew up together, neighbors, and each was a product of parents who pushed a little bit too hard. Lev wanted to become an Air Force pilot but found himself playing a game he no longer loved. Bailey was her mother’s last hope of living vicariously through her daughter’s success but Bailey’s life spiralled out of control, wherein she would lose the only boy she would ever love. What ensues is the struggling relationship and friendship between Bailey and Lev, and the fall-out when Bailey hits rock bottom, and Lev can no longer hold her hand, saving her from the demons that control her life.

The world building focuses on drug addiction and a loss of control; on the untenable expectations of a parent, and the perceived failure of the child; on self-loathing, issues of low self-esteem, and the ultimate betrayal by the those claiming to be friends. As this is a story line focusing on high school aged characters, the young adult story line includes the requisite mean girls, a love triangle, and all the angst of trying to fit in with family and friends.

The relationship between Bailey and Lev is a lifelong friendship in which Lev has been in love with his best friend as long as he can remember but Bailey is scared; unsure of her future, a future that is now controlled by addiction and drugs. As Bailey continues to spiral, her relationship with Lev suffers, and believing himself Bailey’s only chance at survival, Lev is willing to give up everything for the woman he loves. The $ex scenes are passionate but mostly implied.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful, dynamic and often questionable secondary and supporting characters including all of the previous story line couples, as well as several (now parents) from the original Sinners of Saints series. We are reintroduced to Bailey’s parents Jamie and Mel (Defy/ Sinner of Saints) , her sister Daria and husband Penn (Pretty Reckless 1), Dean ‘Ruckus’ Cole (Ruckus), Vicious (Vicious); Lev’s football teammates; real estate agent Dixie; and the requisite mean girl(s).

DAMAGED GOODS is a story of addiction and spiral; pain and injury; dreams and failure; of perception and reality; of acceptance and love. The premise is gritty and heart breaking; the romance struggles in the face of secrets and lies, addiction and betrayal; the characters are struggling, broken, but fighting to survive.

I want to address the copious number of 1-star reviews, and in this, the rating appears to be based on high expectations and disappointment about a couple of secondary characters. Every reader has hopes for, or confidence in the outcome for certain situations but for these two secondary characters in particular, the results were not what readers expected, and was ultimately difficult to accept.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

L.J. Shen is USA Today, WSJ, Washington Post and #1 Amazon Kindle Store bestselling author of contemporary romance books.

She writes angsty books, unredeemable anti-heroes who are in Elon Musk’s tax bracket, and sassy heroines who bring them to their knees (for more reasons than one).

HEAs and grovelling are guaranteed.

She lives in Florida with her husband, three sons, and a disturbingly active imagination.

Keep up with L.J. on all platforms:
Newsletter Sign up ➜ https://bit.ly/3LhsIrb
Instagram➜ shorturl.at/cDJRZ
TikTok ➜ shorturl.at/frw59
Facebook➜ https://goo.gl/fKCSo4
Website ➜ www.authorljshen.com

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Fallen Foe (Cruel Castaways 2) by LJ Shen- a review

Fallen Foe (Cruel Castaways 2) by LJ Shen- review 

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 9, 2023

Arsène Corbin does not intend to marry for love. His fiancée has always been a means to an end, a woman he wants to conquer. But when she dies suddenly in an accident, Arsène’s grand plan unravels.

Still reeling from his fiancée’s death, he meets Winnifred Ashcroft, a struggling actress who lands a coveted role in a play at his theater…and knows things about his late fiancée no one else does. The only problem? They can’t stand each other.

Backstage at Arsène’s theater, Winnie begins to let down her guard around the tempestuous billionaire. She appreciates his wit and quirky affection for astronomy. And Arsène, jaded as he is, respects Winnie’s headstrong personality.

Tragedy and betrayal bring them together, but will their painful pasts hold them back—or fuel their desire?

••••••

REVIEW:FALLEN FOE is the second 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-five year old, multi-millionaire businessman Arsene Corbin, and twenty-eight year old, stage actress Winnifred Ashcroft’s story line.FALLEN FOE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.

Told from present day and memories from the past, using dual first person perspectives (Arsene and Winnifred) FALLEN FOE follows the enemies to frenemies to lovers relationship between thirty-five year old, multi-millionaire businessman Arsene Corbin, and twenty-eight year old, stage actress Winnifred Ashcroft. Months earlier, while in the Italian Riviera with his soon to be fiancée Grace, Arsene Corbin will meet American actress Winnifred, and her husband, Grace’s boss Paul Ashcroft but from the outset their meeting is tempestuous at best, fueled by Grace’s barbs and condemnation of the woman in question. Fast forward several weeks and months wherein Arsene will lose his father, his fiancée, and discover that not everything is at it appears to be. Winnifred will have lost her husband as well, and the mutual commiseration between Winnifred and Arsene begins to reveal the secrets and lies neither one knew anything about. What ensues is the search for the truth, as Winnifred’s star begins to rise, and Arsene’s heart is destroyed in the process.

Arsene Corbin doesn’t do relationships but his relationship with his ‘fiancee’ is a convenience at best but all is not well, as secrets will reveal a life and past Arsene knew nothing about, a life that will directly affect the woman with whom Arsene will fall in love. Arsene Corbin considers Winnifred Ashcroft a country bumpkin; an unskilled actress with no sense of taste or style, all predicated upon first impressions and other people’s comments. Winnifred Ashcroft is a woman who wants to thrive but a woman whose personal and private life are spiralling out of control.

The relationship between Arsene and Winnifred is turbulent, emotional and stormy. Winnifred doesn’t know Arsene yet his actions constantly place Winnifred below his station, actions that are continue to break Winnifred’s heart. As their relationship grows from enemies to frenemies, a series of discoveries pull Winnifred away from New York, and back into the arms of her family in Tennessee. The $ex scenes are passionate and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The secondary and supporting characters include the return of Arya and Christian (Ruthless Rival #1), professional photographer Riggs Bates; Alice Gudinski; Arsene’s fiancée Gracelynn Langston, and her mother Miranda: Winnifred’s husband Paul, and her agent Chrissy.

FALLEN FOE is a story of secrets and lies, power and control, money and obsession, forgiveness and love. The premise is tragic, emotional and intriguing; the romance is heart breaking and raw; the characters are animated, broken and flawed.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one RUTHLESS RIVAL

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

L.J. Shen is USA Today, WSJ, Washington Post and #1 Amazon Kindle Store bestselling author of contemporary romance books.

She writes angsty books, unredeemable anti-heroes who are in Elon Musk’s tax bracket, and sassy heroines who bring them to their knees (for more reasons than one).

HEAs and groveing are guaranteed.

She lives in Florida with her husband, three sons, and a disturbingly active imagination.

Keep up with L.J. on all platforms:
Newsletter Sign up ➜ https://bit.ly/3LhsIrb
Instagram➜ shorturl.at/cDJRZ
TikTok ➜ shorturl.at/frw59
Facebook➜ https://goo.gl/fKCSo4
Website ➜ www.authorljshen.com

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

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

 

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N paper /Chapters Indigo Paper /

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?

•••••

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

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