Rounded up from 4.5
Bane is a pothead surfer, a con, a liar, a thief and a fraud. He's extorting the rich and screwing their wives as a gigolo. One day, a very lucrative deal falls on his lap: he has to befriend Jesse, who has become an ermit since she was raped and treatead like a social pariah in order to get the funding he needs. Jesse is not so easily approachable. But he loves he a good challenge.
This dark, new adult romance is book 4 in the Sinners of Saint series, but it can totally be read as a standalone. It's what I did, and now I ordered the three first books in the series... yes, it was that good! Check your triggers before going into this one. The banter between the two characters was perfect. I loved how blunt and confident Bane was. And I loved how Jesse's spirit was shining despite how broken she was. The ending was perfect.
I received an advance review copy of this book for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I really did not like this book. I would have DNF'd it after first 20% but I wanted to be able to give accurate review. Reading reviews on goodreads makes me feel like I'm taking crazy pills. I love some good smut but I found Bane's character so crude. Between saying pu**y every other word and some of his misogynistic comments, I was not a fan. I also thought the child rape scene was more graphic then necessary. I don't think I would ever read another book by this author again.

A decent darker romance series with a great escape from the reality of the world. I love this as a palate cleanser

I might be biased but I love all MEN LJ Shen writes😅
I love Bane’s book because of the emotional piece🥺
I truly enjoyed the character development Bane and J sse had and my heart truly hurt when I read everything Jesse had to go through. I loved how they had a connection even before they knew each other.

I found Bane to be a sensible yet protective man and I really enjoyed it! I loved how he gave Jesse space while not leaving her vulnerable. Overall great read. Thanks Netgalley for the ARC!

I am a huge LJ Shen fan so I may be biast. This has been on my list to read for a while so I was excited to be approved for an ARC. As always her characters are well developed and the storyline is emotional not just pure smut. I love the angst and the slow burn. Jesse and Bane easily slid into a top spot for my favorite book couple.

BANE, was the perfect conclusion to an already amazing series! The story had so many twists and turns that I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. There were so many secrets revealed that I was left breathless. There were deceit and heartbreak, and a slow burn. Although it was bittersweet to see the generation of Sinners come to an end, I was blown away by the crazy ride this book took me on.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloom Books for the arc of this book.

Bane is a heartbreaking, gut wrenching, crazy emotional ride. I love the way Shen writes her characters. You can’t help but fall inlove with them. I really need to read more from this author asap! This was so fantastic.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloom Books for the arc of this book.

Bane is an emotional roller coaster and Shen has perfected the mix of action, drama, and romance. This book made me laugh and cry. As a reader my heart went out to Jesse. I wanted to help her. I wanted to punish those who hurt her and I literally cried for her. And I admired her. Bane tries to unravel the secrets surrounding Jesse and finds himself falling in love with her against his better judgment. Jesse is a wonderfully strong heroine and I adored Bane. He was a strong yet caring man and his love for Jesse and his ability to look past the horrors that were committed on her was so uplifting and heartwarming that I couldn't stop the overwhelming emotions it caused in me. All in all, I found the book to be an entertaining and heartbreaking read. Jesse and Bane are adorable together with their romance being a nice combination of endearing and steamy.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, L.J. Shen, and Bloom books for the chance to read this in exchange for my honest opinion!

Jesse + Bane

-friends to lovers
-betrayal
-angsty
-traumatic past

this story was HEAVVYYY!! jesse was such a tough girl & had been through so much & i was so happy bane just was there to love her!!

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙨𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙.” 😭😭

3.5 ⭐️

I read Vicious back in 2017 and I did not realize the series continued so when I got the ARC to read Bane (due to the cover rerelease), I was interested to see how this story would pan out. I was going in blind because I do not really remember the first book. And in my opinion, you do not need to read the previous books to understand this one.

I only gave it 3.5 stars because I liked the book, and it kept me intrigued but nothing really stood out for me to rate it better. My favorite part was actually the first half. I liked when Bane was trying to get Jesse out of her shell, and it was the slow burn of will they or wont they. I preferred the scenes of them together doing different activities and seeing Jesse become stronger mentally every day! Although I feel like I needed a good breakdown scene to really pull on my emotions. Everything else was just kind of background noise and extra. Like I don't think we needed the storyline with her stepfather - although that was easily predictable. I personally I think the 3 boys in the other storyline should have worse punishments- especially since this was supposed to be a mafiaesque book. Overall, it was a decent book with interesting main characters who improved by the end of the book and a solid plot, but I probably would not read it again.

“My Whole Life Has Been Pledged to This Meeting with You.
A poet. An explorer. A romantic. A culture-loving, dragon-slaying Princess. “

Bane and Snowflake. My god. When I didn’t think LJ Shen could get me crying again, (she did with Broken Knight) ... she got me with Bane!!
Why?! Oh Why did I wait so long to read Bane?? I’m ashamed that I didn’t read this sooner!!

Our girl “Snow White” has had a rough life in her short 19 years of life. The brutal reality of everything she’s gone through was absolutely heartbreaking and it literally killed me in some parts to read everything that she went through. But she is a survivor.
This book was triggery in some parts for me personally.
But she slays her dragons and saves herself in this story.

“We are just a helium balloon waiting to pop, every breath bringing us a step closer.”

Bane is the mild version of The Hunter (Go read if you haven’t)
He’s the classic bad boy who’s known for sleeping around and not caring about the consequences. But deep down these boys are just broken and waiting for their queen to lift them up to be the kings that they deserve to be.
Bane totally has my heart right now. He was such an amazing and strong and hilarious character. Loyal to a fault over Jesse. Did I mention he’s Russian?!

Ugh. The relationship between the two main characters was a hard one but a beautiful one.

Well this book circled around about some dark topics but there was a lot of really hilarious banter between multiple characters that I absolutely loved. The sarcasm was classic LJ Shen.

Edie and Vicious make multiple appearances. That made me so happy!

Might I say, I literally jumped out of my chair so excited that there’s a book mentioning my hometown, San Clemente. It’s not as popular as other beach towns in Southern California like Huntington and Laguna Beach so I was overly ecstatic to see that my hometown that I was born and raised in was mentioned in an freaking book!
Oh.. and Banes’ mom.. at the end.. omg... I was cracking up! I won’t spoil anything but I did not see the ending coming at all with some of the side characters.

This book has retaliation in the best way. It does have a happily ever after.

Bane, the fourth title in the Sinners of Saint series, written by L.J. Shen.

Format: NetGalley ebook & KU ebook
Genre: Contemporary fiction, Romance
Spice level:🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Roman “Bane” (MMC)⭐️⭐️⭐️

Jesse (FMC)⭐️⭐️⭐️

When I started this book I did not realize that I had already read it years again and this was a re-release of the book. The book was originally released in 2020 and I guess it is being reprinted with a new cover.

Once I started reading I recognized the situations and characters. I almost sent the book back due to the extreme triggers included throughout the book. Be very cautious if you have not read this title before and want to give it a try.

Just a few of the triggers included: rape, torture, child abuse, prostitution, cheating

This book does end with a HEA, but the main couple goes through hell to get there. Both of them are used and abused to the extreme.

My favorite line in the book:
The princess’s sword was bloody.
But she refused to sheath it.
She wanted to leave a trail of their misery behind her so they could always find her.

Overall score:⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity read and review this title.

Bane is the 5th book in the Sinners of Saints series. This is my favorite book in the series so far! This book is about Bane and Jesse and is told from both of their points of view. This book is dark and does have triggers.

Jesse has been through some traumatic things in her past. Now she is a loner and doesn't want anyone around her. Bane needs money to open a shop and goes to Jesse's stepfather to help him. He tells her he will give him the money if he becomes friends with Jesse, but he can't have a relationship with her.

As Bane and Jesse get to know each other, Jesse realizes there is more that happened in her past than she remembered before. Bane is slowly helping her heal. However, feelings also start to develop between the two.

What happens when Jesse's stepfather realizes there is more between Bane and Jesse? There are a lot of secrets that come out in this book. Also, both characters have a bunch of growth and I loved it.

I'm sad this series is over, and I enjoyed these series.

This book caught my eye because of the reference to a surfer, and while the rest of the description seemed darker, I was NOT ready for a character being violently carved up in the first pages.

L.J. Shen is my guilty pleasure author and I just eat up these books and Bane was no different. It was so good! The romance was fire and messy in all the best ways and the female main character was such a badass. It’s the perfect blend of kinda suspenseful type elements and relationship development. I just love how complicated the male main characters are and they aren’t just standard “bad boys”. Will obviously be adding to my personal collection and our library!

I loved this book, As an added bonus I like how it can be read as a standalone so even for newcomers of the series, they don't have to feel overwhelmed by reading the others beforehand.
everything about this book was wonderful and written just right.

this romance is written like a chef’s kiss. a HOT mess where the woman saves the man. i enjoyed the depth of the characters and storyline. i know this trope has been done before but shen managed to create a lone vibe that i haven’t experienced. 4 stars for this spicy and twisted story of two lovers and their healing. our main female character "snowflake" is so strong i love her.

thank you l.j. shen & netgalley for the ARC

Reading Bane was bittersweet. Bitter because Bane is the last book in the Sinners of Saint Series by the incredibly talented and outstanding author L.J. Shen; published by Sourcebooks- and sweet because - yay - there´s another bad boy.
I never had dreamed of that Vicious could be dethroned. He´s the king of bad boys and he´ll always have a place in my heart. I never believed there would be serious competition for Baron Spencer, but Roman - Bane - Protsenko put him in his place. L.J. Shen did it, he´s number one with Vicious a close second.

Bane is a 25 year old business man with russian heritage. He doesn´t love often , but when he loves he does it deeply. His businesses are sometimes shady and he doesn´t give a fig what everybody thinks of him.

And then there´s Jesse Carter. She´s a 19 year old girl with a lot of issues and demons. Reading about Jesse´s past broke my heart. She had and has to deal with circumstances nobody should have to. Her story is a heartwrenchingly one.
These two so very different people were thrown together and somehow Bane manages to pull Jesse out of her shell. Bit by bit she gets better. But Bane wouldn´t be Bane if he hadn´t a ulterior motive and that´s a bout to come back and bite him.

Bane is a read that is not for the faint of heart, the previous books are like childs play in comparison. Bane deals with sensitive subjects and is not for the faint of heart, the book contends graphic scenes. Bane put me in a rollercoaster of emotions, gutted me to the core, whirled me around and then put me back together.

Favorite Quote: " My Whole Life Has Been Pledged To This Meeting: "

Bane is the heartwrenchenst book and my favorite read in the Sinners of Saint series. I recommend Bane and wish I could give more than 5 stars.

This author did not disappoint!!! Bane was such a great romance read with a little bit of suspense. When it comes to this story looks can be deceiving and not everything and everyone is as it seems. This story has its heartfelt moments, funny moments and moments full of anticipation. I enjoyed both Roman "Bane" character and Jesse. I absolutely hated Jesse's mom Pam and was glad that she got what she deserved along with the rest of them. If you've loved the Sinners of Saint's series this is a must-read book, and it can be read as a standalone but all of the books in this series are worth reading. The ending was a sweet one, but I do wish there was a little more to it, especially with the surprise at the end.