Well L.J. Shen has done it again! Another couple that I quickly became wrapped up in and didn't want it to end! Our main characters were once childhood best friends who were torn away from each other at 14. Now in his mid 30s and using the legal name of Christian Miller since age 18, Christian has reinvented himself, becoming one of the top lawyers in New York City. By pure coincidence, when her father is sued by a former employee, Arya and Christian find themselves thrown together on opposing sides of the case. Only Arya doesn't know who he really is and Christian remembers everything that happened to him thanks to her family.

Throughout their present day rivalry you get flashbacks of them as kids. A boy with nothing to offer but himself and a girl in an ivory tower who just wants to feel seen. One early summer day they meet and develop a friendship that has them spending the entire break together, and every summer break there after. As they get older this friendship slowly grows into something deeper. They have an understanding of each other, a bond that nothing else can compare to. Then a first kiss changes everything and rips them apart.

Upon reaching adulthood and letting his childhood identity disappear, Christian sets a goal to become someone more than who he was before. Someone people don't look down on. Someone still so full of hate and anger towards the Roth family that he cannot pass up the opportunity for revenge when it falls into his lap twenty years later. Even better - he knows they do not recognize him so they will never see him coming.

The build up between this couple is exceptional. There is so much push and pull with them, on top of this secret Christian is hiding, and it will keep you on the edge of your seat. The way they both fight this connection they have with each other yet also allow it to draw them together is so electrifying, it just makes all that tension intoxicating! Any time I had to put it down for a few minutes to take care of things in real life it's all I could think about. I was just itching to pick it back up and dive back in to the drama. Underneath all of the angst though, is this romantic all consuming love that both characters are missing out on and assume they will never have. But it is a beautiful thing to see it clawing its way through years of hatred and grief attempting to blossom between two characters who couldn't deserve it more.

I'm so excited that this is the start of a new series and I cannot wait to see what will come next. The bar has been set real high with this book because Christian is going to be hard to beat. I mean the epilogue... The Books... well you'll see when you get there and then you'll know exactly what I mean.

LJ Shen? Check.
Childhood friends? Check.
Well written rivalry? CHECK.

This was SO good. From the first page LJ sucks you in with the story of Arya and Nicky. I am absolutely obsessed. The pacing was absolute perfection. I loved that the rivalry was actually a rivalry, and not a 2 page "competition." It lasted a majority of the book.

I cannot wait to read the next book in this series. Arsene or Riggs...who is it going to be?!

I received a ARC copy of this book. Once again LJ shen has given us a 5 star romance novel fillerd with angst, grumpy sunshine, male alpha energy along with female alpha energy, revenge plots, etc. It’s a slow burn story of childhood friends ripped apart by their station in life. Who only meet again under one not knowing who the other is. It’s best describes as friends turned enemies-enemies to lovers is this second chance romance. I loved that even the side characters had character development. I give it 5 out of 5!

“We’d been born into different circumstances, but our essence was the same.”

I have been so looking forward to Ruthless Rivals and it did not disappoint. Christian and Arya’s true feelings were hidden beneath their snarky, quick witted banter and longing glances. Deliciously angsty, this slow burn, second chance, enemies to lover romance was so much fun.

As children, Christian and Arya were inseparable until the day that their friendship crossed a line and Christian was sent away. Now their paths cross again, but Arya doesn’t recognize her old friend and Christian is determined to exercise his need for revenge against her family.

“My soul…it feels calm when it’s next to yours.”

Arya was a strong, independent woman who knew how to stand up for herself. Even though her family has money, she was determined to make her own way in the world. She has never forgotten her childhood best friend and no one has ever made her feel like he did.

“You always knew me.”

Christian did not have an easy childhood and when he was sent away, his life did not get any easier. He’s changed his entire identity so he can’t be associated with his past, but he is given the chance for revenge against the family and the woman he has never forgotten, he can’t resist.

“There hadn’t been a minute in my life when I hadn’t thought about you.”

This was an emotional and angsty read with a touch of humor and a slow simmering chemistry that was explosive. Christian and Arya were a source of calm to each other even when they were declaring their dislike. You could feel that they truly saw each other and they could only be vulnerable with each other. They were two sides of the same coin and belonged together. I’m intrigued by this new world and I cannot wait to read about Christian’s friends.

As per usual this author does it again!! Her ability to create these funny characters, with the back and forth banter is incredible and very funny!! Arya and Christian have history. Christian knows exactly what he is doing and Arya is left in the dark. They have some serious chemistry and from there the storyline takes off. The back andforth, push and pull had me reading this cover to cover in one day. Great read!!!

Thank you, Montlake and Author for allowing a advanced copy of this amazing book!

Yet another amazing read by L.J. Shen <3.

This book follows Christian and Arya.. Two young kids from completely different backgrounds.. Christians mom worked for Arya's family.. Christian had 1 rule.. DO NOT TOUCH anything in the Roth family.. especially young Arya..

What started as childhood friends, turned young love.. till a tragedy forces them apart..
FF lots of years.. Christian and Arya are brought back together.. but not in a good way.. Christian is going after Arya's father because of a harassment case from one of his employees.

I absolutely love Shen's writing style.. She has that ability to pull me in and make me feel like I am able to live out the story right in front of me..

Arya and Christina’s story was by far my favorite read of 2022. These characters tore at my heart and had me on the edge of my seat. Such an amazing read.

What an incredibly beautiful sensual tale of love and devotion!   This novel touched all the right heartstrings without even trying to! Leigh Shen is just absolutely brilliant! I had a feeling she was going to give this specific book a little extra magic, but I didn’t realize just how much!  I was just NOT ready for this!  She made me tear with elation oh too many times while reading this book!  

Every time Christian spoke to Arya I just felt giddy. Shen made my soul feel like a hot chocolate lava cake with a side of ice cream( definitely not vanilla ice cream though)They have quickly become one of my all-time favorite couples!

Arya and Christian’s dialogue is inviting, so intimate, seductive even and it is skillfully laced with humor.  Shen’s conversational humor always has that special charm even in the most serious, heartbreaking conversations.

OH The LONGING, ANGST and inevitability in this book! She just killed me with it! Dead!! Dead in love with this couple!  The chemistry is purely ELECTRIFYING: excitement of mixing dreamy with forbidden in an exhilarating cocktail of feelings! I love her ability of making small innocent gestures feel so grand and life-altering!  Leigh Shen makes everything around you just turn magical!  Arya and Christian come alive from her pages and you just can’t help, but feel that you are in same room with them, eating their food, breathing their air, feeling your heart pounding as loud as theirs’.  

Arya and Christian were probably one of my all-time favorite love couples! I adore how L.J.Shen gives a glimpse of most tender, most covered up emotions in understated sentences. Those ARE usually the most EARNEST, HEARTFELT  and UNFORGETTABLE!   And this book was an incredible roller coaster of emotions - all of them so delicious, with intimacy and humanity making your insides turn into goo. Leigh Shen always makes me laugh and cry at the same time, makes my heart squeeze a little harder with every story she writes! She is the true raw talent who just makes it happen every time!

Now that her brilliant Boston Belles series has come to an end, here’s some new reading material from L.J. Shen. I couldn’t wait to dive into her new book. I just love Enemies to Lovers so much. The book begins with a flashback into the past and as the story progresses we have more chapters from the past. This way you can better understand the development between the two main characters.

Arya and Christian meet again years later, but only Christian recognizes her directly. Arya doesn’t know that her childhood sweetheart is in front of her. From the very first page, there is a connection between these two. A very explosive mixture. Christian swears revenge at the beginning and that he wants to destroy her father. But the more he sees Arya, the more he realizes that he still has genuine feelings for her. Arya is also attracted to Christian. But she struggles with herself whether she should allow these feelings, because she is still mourning the loss of her childhood love and he is the lawyer who wants to put her father behind bars. This inner conflict and her inner turmoil is presented very well and, above all, in a comprehensible manner. I love the evolution between these two and how their priorities change as well.

At the end a few more secrets come to light, which I already guessed a bit, but they also shocked me a bit. „Ruthless Rival“ was a great start and I’m looking forward to the next Books in this series.

Fans of L.J. Shen definitely shouldn’t miss her new book. I highly recommend this book.

Shen gives us another movie worthy story in this enemies to lovers novel.
Arya and Christian go head to head then head over heels to battle through their complicated pasts.
This duo, rivals on opposing teams, are drawn together despite all the reasons they should stay apart.
Their steamy tangle makes for an entertaining adventure that my romance loving heart adored!
Hoping there will be more books in this world!

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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Steamy and just any LJ Shen's book.

🌸The Ruthless Rival 🌸

I went in knowing it was going to be my favorite trope, the synopsis alone had be twirling my fingers from impatience. LJ Shen is the queen on enemies to lover and and steamy romances. This love story had barriers that stemmed from deception, and lies but we get to see how they’re able to go through these barriers. The fact that both characters are bad asses in the corporate world has me loving every second of it. We often don’t see two characters who share the same goals and ambitions. Yearning was a major theme throughout the story and for some reason it reminded me of Great Gatsby and the same parallel. One thing that these characters had was smoking hot tension that sizzled. The attraction is there from the very beginning that when they finally get together, I was able to breathe in. The characters were well developed and both had growth throughout the book and I was able to sympathize with them. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, it incorporated all my favorite elements and gave a masterpiece that I can’t wait to hold in my hands. The queen has done it again and I can’t wait to get my hands on her next release :) 💕💕💕

This is an enemies to lovers book. Arya is a rich princess. Christian is the poor boy she befriends. They spend lots of childhood summers together. They lose touch only to come face to face as adults.
It took me a while to get into the book. It switches from past to present giving the reader a glimpse into the past childhood of both. The present sequences show they are both ruthless rivals. Each trying to prove they are the best at what they do, but for different reasons.

LJ is a favorite all-time author for me so when she announced a new series I was so excited! I have devoured every book she's written. The characters starting off this series are Christian & Arya. This couple! Wow! I was captivated from the first page. What begins as sweet childhood friends-to-crush turns into some life-altering consequences. This is a SLOW BURN read & I loved every minute! The angst was so good! There was a great push & pull between Christian & Arya. The banter...hilarious. There were so many times that I was laughing out loud. I was rooting for them the whole time. I was also waiting for the other shoe to drop and man that red bottom heel dropped from a New York City skyscraper!

I love Arya & was so glad to see female entrepreneurship in this book. Usually, as a whole in the millionaire/billionaire romance genre, it's always the female assistant or whatnot working for the man so I was so happy to see that Arya owned her own business and didn't take any crap from anyone because she knew her worth. This was refreshing to see since I haven't read any books like this.

"I was a badass boss bitch with a high-flying career. And then some."

Christian came from a very rough childhood & I loved seeing his growth as a person. He always had a soft spot for Arya & loved to see her embrace herself unabashedly. He loved her independent, snarky, take no prisoners attitude along with her caring heart.

"You really are something, you know that Arya Roth?"
"How so?"
"You're just the most self-reliant, independent, driven-"
"Better stop before you catch feelings."

"Fighters. Bloodthirsty. We'd been born into different circumstances, but our essence was the same. We were both in the business of getting down and dirty for the things we cared about. Claws out, at a second's notice."

I'm excited about this new Cruel Castaways world LJ is taking us to. This group of friends is going to pull at my heartstrings in the best possible way. It's amazing how there will be just a few words about a character & I'm already wanting their story.

I really don’t know why I bothered reading this. I haven’t been impressed with a Shen novel in about four years. She just recycles Vicious over and over. Where is the originality?

Thank you so much social butterfly pr and amazon publishing for the arc.
Every time LJ Shen writes a book, I always end up falling for the characters and I had no doubt I would be falling for the characters in this book as well. Childhood friends to enemies to lovers + slow burn?? sign me up!
Christian and Arya were EVERYTHING i could ask for. I loved reading the book in both past and present perspective and I was absolutely hooked to the storyline. This is different from other books LJ has written in the past and is so much better. The tension, the storyline, the angst, the banter....EVERYTHING IS SO PERFECT. I loved Arya's character so much! She was instantly likable and was loyal. I felt so bad for her and I wanted to hug her so bad. Christian..... this man is so insanely attractive! He is a typical alpha who is arrogant in the beginning, but once you get to know him, you will fall in love with him.
OH did i mention that Arya is a big book nerd?? It's another reason I loved this woman.
This has to be one of my favorite book written by the author and I cannot wait for everyone to read the book and enjoyed as much as i did.

Thank you so much social butterfly pr and amazon publishing for the arc.
Every time LJ Shen writes a book, I always end up falling for the characters and I had no doubt I would be falling for the characters in this book as well. Childhood friends to enemies to lovers + slow burn?? sign me up!
Christian and Arya were EVERYTHING i could ask for. I loved reading the book in both past and present perspective and I was absolutely hooked to the storyline. This is different from other books LJ has written in the past and is so much better. The tension, the storyline, the angst, the banter....EVERYTHING IS SO PERFECT. I loved Arya's character so much! She was instantly likable and was loyal. I felt so bad for her and I wanted to hug her so bad. Christian..... this man is so insanely attractive! He is a typical alpha who is arrogant in the beginning, but once you get to know him, you will fall in love with him.
OH did i mention that Arya is a big book nerd?? It's another reason I loved this woman.
This has to be one of my favorite book written by the author and I cannot wait for everyone to read the book and enjoyed as much as i did.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘖𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

Christian Miller is a ruthless litigator who’s after partner at his firm and lands himself with a case to ensure it, and a blast from the past.
Christian is so full of hate and anger and wants nothing more than a bit of revenge! The one thing he didn’t fully calculate was his heart - and it was beautiful watching his hardness slowly break away.
Arya Roth is Daddy’s little girl – the silver spooned Princess and Christian’s only friend as a kid. She’s a feisty one! I so enjoyed her whit and comebacks!

𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭
𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘦
𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸? 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘔𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭... 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴.

The flip flop between past and present, the longing, and the banter between these two was top tier.
Ruthless Rival is everything you know and love from an LJ Shen book – but, 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚.
This was friends to enemies to lovers at its best! LJ Shen has created yet another masterpiece to devour, and hero to swoon for - I am OBSESSED with these two and I highly recommend!

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴? 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳?

Read if you’re a fan of:
• Unrequited love
• Friends – Enemies – Lovers
• Second chance romance
• Slow Burn

A Fabulous five-star read. This is number one in the Cruel Castaways series and I am excited to read more. I have had my eye on this author for a while, and wanted to read something by them, but the timing was never right, I am so glad I took a chance on this one, it really is sublime. Arya certainly has some growing to do, and she really does it in this story. Christian was the one who won me over though, his strength and perseverance. This was a great story and one filled with drama, passion and twists galore. Now all we need is to find out who will we hear from next.

When I first saw LJ's announcement of a new series, I was thrilled (hello, three books in one calendar year? HELL YES) and couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Getting to read it early thanks to Butterfly PR? YEAR MADE! Unsurprisingly, the moment this bad boy was loaded to my kindle, I dove in and finished in one. Sitting.

Like every other LJ Shen book that has come before Ruthless Rival , there was no doubt in my mind that I would fall in love with its story and the beautifully complex characters that reside within it.

Christian Miller was a surprisingly lovable character, and though he gave off the classic LJ alpha hole vibes, I felt that he was one of her more relatable/understandable male MC's and I absolutely loved the constant torn feeling of juggling between wanting to kiss and slap the man. Arya was equally as fun and infuriating at times, and between these two characters, I most enjoyed the delicious banter and pining.

Where Ruthless Rival stands apart from all the LJ Shen stories that came before it, is the heavyset angst and the anchor that Atonement serves for the tale. In a lot of ways, Ruthless Rival feels like a twisted reimagining of the Ian McEwan classic, but in the best way possible. I loved the mirror between Cecilia and Robbie and Arya and Christian, and how beloved the story was to Arya as a character and a person.

For those who are fans of the book of Keira Knightley movie version, Ruthless Rival in a way almost feels like the type of story (and inevitably, ending) that Cecilia and Robbie deserved. This alone brought me such joy that I immediately threw on the film afterwards, only to send myself into a depressive spiral.

Anyone who considers themselves a diehard fan of LJ Shen's classic witty banter, angsty romance, and maddeningly lovable alphaholes will find Ruthless Rival to be another achingly blissful read to add to their LJ shrine.