Pretty Reckless, an all-new standalone high school, bully romance from USA Today bestselling author L.J. Shen, is available now!
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 was 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 my firsts for him.
Now he lives across the hall, and I want nothing 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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♥ ♥ ♥ 4.5 STARS ♥ ♥ ♥
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‘It was love at first sight
Hate at second
Lust at third
But four is my lucky number
So mine your ass shall be’● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Daria Followhill is Jamie and Melody’s daughter–from the book Defy (Sinners of Saint series). The book starts off when Daria is fourteen years old. Daria seems to be having trouble and isn’t really able to control her jealousy. She is having a rivalry with another girl named Via who seems to have her mother’s attention. While contemplating getting back at this girl she meets this mysterious guy named Penn Scully. He gives her her first kiss and helps her make a decision that will change their lives.
Years later, Daria is the queen bee mean girl of high school and the captain of the cheer team. Everyone thinks all is great in her life. How can it not be when she is rich and popular? But that is not the case. And things only get worse when her parents decide to bring in Penn Scully to help him get through high school since he is now alone. Daria hasn’t really spoken to him since she was fourteen. They no longer get along so the fact she has to share her house with him has her angry and upset. It doesn’t help that Penn’s favorite pastime seems to be to taunt her.
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‘The tormentor tormented by its prey.’
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I can’t stress enough the chemistry between these two characters. There was so much hate/lust tension going on that it was off the charts. I really liked that there was so much more to these characters than what they initially appear. There were so many layers to them and I really enjoyed getting to know them more as the book progressed. Penn is a bad boy from the bad side of town and not wealthy at all. He was a jerk for sure but again he had another side him he kept buried. I loved him and hated him. Just like I loved and hated Daria. These are young characters so they don’t always make the best choices, same with the secondary characters. Reckless…they all definitely were and I was hooked. I could not put this book down.
If you are really into love/hate…enemies to lovers storylines then you will definitely enjoy this one. There is a lot of drama, secrets, and angst in this book as well, which I loved. I was so happy with the epilogue and the L.J. kept it so true to the characters. I didn’t want it to end. I cannot wait for Vaughn’s and Knight’s story to come out. I am stoked.
~A.R.C. kindly gifted in exchange for an honest review.~
“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.”
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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