REVIEW: Pretty Reckless by L.J. Shen

Pretty Reckless by L.J. Shen: From the very first moment that Penn Scully laid his eyes on Daria Followhill he knew that she would change his life forever, he just had no idea that one stolen kiss between complete strangers would change the course of both their lives so dramatically.

Fast forward four years and so much has changed in Penn’s life since that kiss, but one thing that has not changed is his burning desire to get his revenge against Daria Followhill, and it would seem that his time has finally come, when circumstances lead to Penn living with the Followhills. While the Followhills see Penn as their newest shinny fix me project, Penn sees it as his chance to make Daria suffer for ruining the only good thing in his life… however little does Penn realize that Daria is already living in her very own personal hell… so what happens when two misunderstood people finally find someone that truly understands them, can these two see past their wounded hearts, messy pasts and cutting words or is their past destined to come back to haunt them?

LOVED!! This book was freaking incredible! I have not been so consumed by a dark romance the way that this book has done in a very long time. I loved that this was so far from pretty cute and sweet, Pretty Reckless was raw, passionate and heartbreakingly beautiful. This book took you to the edge of happiness and then sent you crashing into heartbreak and I just loved that about this book. There were so many layers of pain and heartache that needed to be dealt with from multiple characters that made reading this book pretty emotional but damn did Shen do a brilliant job in doing so.

“Daria made everything fade into the background the first time I saw her, and while I was busy admiring, everything around us burned”

I love a strong female character and that was our leading lady Daria, she was so strong on the outside but our girl was recked on the inside. My heart broke for her on so many occasions through this read, all I wanted to do was give her a big hug. She was a largely misunderstood character and this made her lash out and do some less than kind things but I think it all just steamed from insecurities. I loved that she finally stood up for herself and decided to do things on her own terms even if that meant breaking her own heart in the process. Now when it comes to hot heroes I think it would be fair to say that Penn Scully is up there on the list, this guy was something else entirely. I loved that he rocked the whole dark misunderstood hero vibe. For all his dislike for Daria and her world he never once stopped caring about her, I just loved that even when he was supposed to be hating her, he still cared about her and wanted to make sure that she was okay. Penn truly was a great honourable guy with a heart of gold.

“You were never a drizzle, Penn Scully. When I fell for you, you came beating down, and I felt you everywhere. You were hail.”

The connection between Penn and Daria was perfection, these two were made for each other. Their chemistry was off the charts hot with all that pent up hate love aggression between them. They are both so completely bound to each other not only by their insane attraction but also by the one action that changed so many lives. The line between hate and love with these two blurred more than a few times but their love for each other never once changed. I loved that even when they were supposed to be enemies they still gravitated to each other and felt safe to talk and share their true feelings. The connection between Penn and Daria was just painful perfection.

“You are the fucking equation. The riddle and the answer and the numbers within it. You’re math. You make sense”

The secondary characters in this book were brilliant! There were so many to get invested in, firstly I loved Vaughn and Knight. These two really were ride or die for Daria, I loved that they were always in her corner, they even took Penn in once they realised that he was important to her. Now for the less than amazing secondary characters; as much as things resolved itself with Via, Daria and Penn, I can not help but still dislike Via. She was just horrible, there was not a single redeeming quality about her, frankly I could have done with her not making a return. Now for Daria’s mother Val, well for the large majority of the book I hated her but in those last few chapters I couldn’t help but begin to defrost. She really did try make amends with Daria and rebuild their damaged relationship. Even though we got to see where things went wrong with their mother daughter relationship, I just could not get over the number of time that she failed Daria and really caused the majority of her pain. Nevertheless things do work out in the end and I liked that they were working on forming a more healthy bond, though I will say these two had me tearing up for a good portion of the book.

There is a very good reason that this book is one of the best romance novels of 2019, Pretty Reckless is the perfect embodiment of a heartbreakingly beautiful, slightly taboo second chance romance. Once you pick up this book it will be impossible to put it down!

Book Info:

Publication: April 21, 2019 | Bloom Books | All Saints High #1

They say revenge is a dish best served cold…

Penn Scully has had four years to stew on what Daria Followhill did to him, and now his heart is completely iced over.

He took her first kiss, and she took away the only person he ever loved.

He asked her to save the rest of her firsts for him, and she walked all over his heart in stiletto heels and left it bleeding out on a bright summer day.

Now, everything has changed.

When circumstances leave Penn homeless in his senior year, the Followhills take him in as their latest shiny project. That means, for the time being, he’s Daria’s housemate, living right across the hall.

And once he sees her again, he’s determined to make this spoiled princess pay for ruining the only good thing in his life.

But Daria is used to being misunderstood. Being slammed for every snarky comment, cynical eye roll, and foot she puts in the way of the people who hurt her.

Being the girl everyone wants to see cry, and keeping her tears hidden. Penn wanted her firsts, but she wants to be his last everything.

The problem is, once they see past each other’s cutting barbs and wounded hearts, the truths they uncover might just start something new altogether.