Arc Review | Pretty Reckless by L.J. Shen

Pretty Reckless
(All Saints High #1)
By: L.J. Shen

Release Date: April 29th, 2019
Publisher: Self Published
Genre: New Adult
My Rating: 5 Stars
Format: Kindle (eArc)

Blurb:

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 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.

 

Last year was the first time I picked up a novel written by L.J. Shen. After hearing her name all over the book-a-sphere I decided to give her a chance and read my first book. Once I finished Vicious there was absolutely no hesitation when it came to adding this author to my auto buy list! Holy Hell does she have a way with words. There is something so addicting and all consuming about the way she tells a story. The Sinners of Saint series by L.J. Shen is one of my top ten favorite series of all time. I honestly didn’t think anything could top this series in my eyes. Well I’m here to tell the original hotholes to step aside! There’s a new hothole in my life and he goes by the name Penn Scully!

Penn Scully is the boy from the wrong side of the tracks. He grew up in a household with a drug addicted mother and a stepfather who liked to toss him and his twin sister around. At fourteen Penn finally found a moment of clarity when he sets his sights on Daria Followhill.

To the world Daria Followhill is nothing short of perfect. But Penn sees her for who she truly is, envious, alone, and completely flawed in every way imaginable. To the world Daria has everything, but deep inside, Daria is just as lost and alone as we all are.

Pretty Reckless was an addiction! My body begged me to put the book down once 2am rolled around and exhaustion set in, but my head and my heart wanted one more chapter! My mama always told me to follow my heart, well this time it led to me being sleep deprived and cranky as hell when the sun rose, but it was all SO WORTH IT!

Penn Scully and Daria Followhill’s story is not only hot as hell, it’s also angsty, devastating, and bad to the freakin bone! This man will have you caving in all the best and worst ways possible! You all may recognize the name Followhill…. As in…JAIME FOLLOWHILL….Yep, Daria is none other than Jaime and Melody’s daughter (read Defy if you have no clue what I’m talking about).

When I say I loved everything about this novel, that is an understatement. Everything about Pretty Reckless was beautiful in the most fucked up of ways. From the first time Penn and Daria communicated to the ending paragraph, I was all in and invested.

When these two first meet, you can feel the immediate chemistry. I loved Penn’s bad boy ways and the rich priss facade Daria has going for her. But what I truly loved about this novel was the deep amount of emotion that runs through it all. We’ve all had those teenage angsty moments where we can easily relate to Daria… Or at least I have. I can’t even begin to explain how much sorrow I felt for Daria and her situation. I wanted to cry with her at times. I wanted to be on her side and punch all the bitches in the face. But this is only fiction and I officially feel like a crazy person for saying so.

Penn Scully is exactly the type of influence Daria needed in her life. No matter how much this man shows his ass and acts like a total dickwad, he still always shows her that when she needs someone he’s there. I loved the instant connection between them.

Overall, Pretty Reckless was the perfect book to start off what I’m sure is going to be one epic series full of angst and surprises. I cannot wait to read more and get to know these characters!

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amazon: https://amzn.to/2GNFi3d
amazon worldwide: http://getbook.at/PrettyRecklessLJS

Peace Love and Happy Reading,

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