This was my first book that I read by this author. It was super angst and full of tension with the main characters I’ll definitely be checking out their backlist!

What a sublime five-star read. This is one that will curl your toes as you read, revenge is a dish best served cold, but this story is anything but cold. I have read two amazing books back-to-back with this story, and honestly, I am broken. You will be happy, and you will be sad, and broken in the best way possible, but it’s a great story that you need in your life.

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @read_bloom for an ARC of this book with this gorgeous new cover 😍

This book was so insane that I couldn't put it down. If when I went to high school, stuff happened like in this book, I would've lost my sanity. I had to give it to Daria because she fought until she broke, Penn fought until he was foced to open his eyes, stand back, and look at how everything changed, and Daria's dad is the best dad ever 🤣

Every single character in this book is handling some dark shit inside of them, and you're just trying to figure out who will explode first and how bad it will be. I have no words to describe this other than it was an absolutely insane rollercoaster ride, and I didn't want to get off even though I'm scared of heights.

This book has been out for a while, but this new cover will be available this month, so make sure to grab it if you like:

📚 Bully Romance
📚 Enemies to Lovers
📚 Forced Proximity
📚 High School Setting
📚 Forbidden Romance

I think that I first need to say that I’m probably not the target audience for this book. I didn’t realize it was a high school drama until I was already reading. That said, as a mom, a lot of this was just hard to stomach. 😬

If Riverdale is your jam, you’ll love this book! It reminded me so much of that.

I did finish the book, but I think I’d really like to know who the target audience is given the content? I had a really hard time getting past the parts involving Pritchard.

My struggles:
-Early on it was hard to keep characters straight. She introduces a lot all at once and I just feel like it might be too much.
-The mother/daughter relationship

I think an early 20 something crowd might really enjoy this book, I’m just closer to 40 with mom goggles.

You all remembered the time we got the information that this book will come!! God I had been deadly exited.
This excitement was more than earned.
Leigh wrote an really intense story about tow teenagers falling in love!!
A thing that’s always possible for me it’s getting a connection to the characters. The heroine was one if the heroines out of all books I read in a long time I could relate to most too.
This book had Scenes were I laughed with the characters than there had been parts where I cried with them.
Those story took my sleep because I couldn’t took it down. But on the same time I tried to slow down because it was hard to leave those teens.
There had been a lot plotwists that I didn’t see coming.
Also I was to feel the love and chemistry between the tow main characters.
What I loved the most was that we saw all four Sinners as dads of teenagers. I really loved how their relationship was a part of this book also.
Sometimes loving an other person is against all those good intentions. And standards.
We saw that pride comes always before we fall.
Penn wasn’t only the poor guy who wants become rich. He also had been a safer. He clearly tries to fight for all those who are important to him. He is a smart guy who knows who to pull strings. He makes deals. He makes people show other sides of them.
Daria is character you can’t describe in a few words. She definitely is more vulnerable than it looks from the first view and we see that all her snarky comments are a kind of mask. She can be a girl you can laugh with and a great friend.
This girl is very smart and also really jealous.
All in this book was catching and I couldn’t take it down. Such a great style of writing. This was the best book I got my hands on in 2019 !!! It’s completely worth all this exitement. One of my favorite new adult romances.
Arc provided for an honest review

This was a DNF for me at about the 15% mark, I’m just not here for a mother who puts someone else’s child over her own.

Leigh has done it again. She has created this beautifully written story full of all the angst, revenge, jealousy and love you can handle. This story pulls you in from page one, drags you down into a rip tide of emotion. And doesn't let you go until the very last page. This is the first book in her spin off series. This story revolves around Daria Followhill and Penn Scully.

I truly wanted to hate Daria. Ever since Scandalous when she was mean to Luna, I didn't like her. This story changed that for me. Leigh wrote Daria so authentically broken. The way she's jealous, angry, vengeful, self-deprecating it's so perfectly her. She's beautifully flawed in the most real ways. The way Leigh writes her you feel what she's feeling. You get to watch her grow and mature and turn into the women she should have always been. You understand why she is the way she is and that makes you fall in love with her, and you want her to be happy.

Penn is perfection. He too is broken but together they are complete. He becomes everything Daria needs. He's her anchor he's, her protector. He shields her when others failed to. Even when they hated each other they needed each other. They found what they were missing in each other, it's utterly bewitching. You fall in love with him because of how perfect he is for her. How he on some level always puts her first, even when the ways he went about it were wrong.

I loved seeing the Hotholes as parents. Jaime is EVERYTHING. He is impeccable. The relationship between him and Daria is heartwarming. He loves her unconditionally. He's there for her always. She's one of the loves of his life. It gives you all the feels. And when he goes all Alpha to protect her, it doesn't get much hotter.

On the flip side Melody is flawed. And I think this brings even more realness to the story. I think she tried so hard not to be like her mom, she turned into her in a way. She loves Daria she just doesn't know how to give her what she needs in the way she needs it. This brings so much genuineness to this story. Watching them interact with all the miscommunication and anger connects in a very real level between parents and children. Being able to see their relationship evolve and grow really cemented this as one of the best reads of 2019.

Leigh brings to life an all-encompassing story of Revenge, Anger and Love. Her words have created a story that will stay with you long after you're done. She is a master at her craft and will always be a One-Click author for me. You will not regret reading this story, you will fall in love with the characters as I have. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Ljshen did it again, she creates such an immersive world that sucks me in right away and makes feel every emotion possible! Simply her and her every work!

such a fun read! I really enjoyed the story line and the character development. I was kept engaged and wanting to know more about the characters and their journey. definitely will be recommending.

I loved this book. It is the first novel in the second generation of the series Sinner of Saint. Daria Followhill is the daughter of Jamie and Melody from Defy. Penn Scully is the boy that fell for Daria.. until he felt she was the reason his favorite person is done. Daria's parents take in Penn their senior year since he is homeless. His mission is to make Daria pay for what he think she has done, however this doesn't bother Daria as she is use to it. She is raised in a big house, a dad who loves her and a mother who holds her to a higher standard.

Penn is such a complex character. you can tell he is still completely in love with Daria but is fighting with what he feels like he needs to do. He also has to deal with all of the rumors and bullies since he comes from the schools biggest football rival.

Daria is equally complex. To the blind eyes, she is this rich and shiny girl who is handed everything. But behind all of that is a broke girl who misunderstood and doesn't feel like she is heard. She has tons of insecurities that eat her up and she doesn't know how to properly handle them.

The one thing I love the most about this book is how authentic and raw it is. The author did a fantasitc job with showing the ugly truth of high school. She shows that it is like to hide and what it takes to over come.. but you also get a fantastic romance about two people helping each other to heal.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Absolutely loved the book!
The characters, the plot, the feelings…. I absolutely loved it. I am a huge L.J. Shen fan and highly recommend her books for everyone who likes it a little darker than „classic“ NA but not dark romance.

This book was absolutely amazing and I loved the story line. A reverse bully, its everything I needed and more. Lj shen is a genius.

I knew pretty early on that Pretty Reckless wasn't going to be the book for me. If I'm being honest, it felt like a chore to read the book because I was so thoroughly not enjoying it. I read it on my iPad and let me tell you... I don't think I have EVER utilized the annotating highlighter so much in my life. It seemed like every page there were some of the cringiest lines to ever befall the pages of a romance book. Maybe you won't mind that, and that's totally okay; but it was something that really minimized my enjoyment and took me away from the story. Don't believe me? The proof is in the book-pudding.

- "I'm Daria Followhill. Cheer Captain. Rich Bitch. Little Miss Popular. See something you like? Too bad. I don't do boys. Men, on the other hand..."
- "The thing about living on the wrong side of the tracks is..." (this was such a Riverdale Jughead Jones line)
- "Bumpin'" and "Amazeballs" (used un-ironically, mind you)
- "Dafuq?"
- "Yo. Loser alert at three o-clock."
- "Confide in me, my hideous little monster."

Okay, maybe I'm going a bit overboard, but the secondhand embarrassment I got from reading these lines and more was next level. Not to mention, Daria and Penn are singlehandedly the least likeable characters & couple in any romance novel I've ever read. All around, Pretty Reckless wasn't my cup of tea. I've seen plenty of great reviews for it, so I'm disappointed that the book didn't work for me.

Thank you to the publisher via NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of Pretty Reckless by L.J. Shen to review. All thoughts are my own and are not influenced by any third party. #PrettyReckless #NetGalley

Finally a book that I love after a few DNF and low star rating. Just when I thought I hate mean girl but Daria changed my thought.

Awesome read for me! I love Daria, Penn and those side characters even though some of them acting quite immature sometimes. I love the love-hate relationship between Daria and Penn. They were so intense and their chemistry was on another level.

I really love the pacing of this book. There was never a time that I was bored. This book was full on emotions and there's a few part that made me teary.

My first book from LJ Shen and it won't be my last.

Thank you to the author, Bloom Books and netgalley for this copy.

When I say LJ Shen can hardly do anything wrong, I mean it (with an exception of one book)

Pretty Reckless is one of my top reads and has been through all these years.
The angst. The drama, the longing between Penn and Daria is top notch.
Daria’s character is definitely not an easy one to swallow, but when you read it, you start realising her pain. Love her to bits. Love Scully and Daria to bits ♥︎

I am glad that All Saints High series is now being published by Bloom books, making it more accessible.

A good read and liked this story. It had it all. I was satisfied with the the story. I will read more from L.J. Shen. This was all that and then some.

In my opinion, this is the closest thing to the After series.

What in the Hardin did I just read?

This was absolutely wild. 30% in and I was hooked wondering what these characters would get up to next. It slowed down for me a bit towards the end, but was still entertaining.

My high school experience was so vanilla compared to this.

I absolutely recommend this to anyone who liked the After series.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book - I'm guessing it was a rerelease, but I don't know if there is anything different from when it was previously released.

Pretty reckless is the start of a new series, All Saints High follows the offspring of the characters from the Sinners of Saint series. Here we have the daughter of Jamie and Melody from Defy, you do not have to read the previous series but if you haven’t you’ve missed some great reads.
Daria has tried to be the ballerina her mother Melody was desperate for her to be but she’s just not talented enough so Melody puts all her efforts into mentoring another dancer Via thereby neglecting Daria. Via is the twin of Penn, not knowing this Daria with Penn’s involvement does a petty act that sets off a chain of events that starts drastically changing their lives. Penn becomes Daria’s enemy and this is their story. Full of emotion, heartbreak and no end of misunderstandings this is a book that at times is frustrating but very page turning.
As only 14 years old when the incident occurred I actually felt sorry for Daria and could understand how she felt with Melody’s lack of attention to her. Here we have pretty flawed characters who we see develop into hopefully better ones.
My thanks to net galley and publisher for the opportunity to review this book honestly.

Daria and Penn = Angst but MFEO

This story is filled to the brim with angst and trepidation. Daria and Penn share one sweet, innocent moment that plays a role in changing the trajectory of so many lives. Years later, mix together the death of a mother, popularity, a creepy principle and a little forced proximity… and you get the drama filled story of how Daria and Penn’s lives are meant to be entangled.

I enjoyed this book as a whole, and I enjoyed the characters within too. Just when you think you don’t like a character, something happens that gives you a different perspective & a different opinion. The author does a great job of pulling you into the drama and holding you there with your eyes open to watch it all unfold.

Add to your TBR if you like:
-Enemies to Lovers
-Forced Proximity
-High School Football
-Bully Romance

LJ Shen does it again. Angst, teenage drama, anger, romance, a roller coaster of emotions with dynamic characters. Each character is brought to life individually and in the relationship. Your heart breaks for each character as you learn their back story and understand the pain they live in. A bit of forbidden, leaning on the side of dark romance with bullying. Two teens who have no one, find something in one another. Check trigger warnings