Ruthless Rival

Cruel Castaways

By: L.J. Shen

Narrated by: Stella Bloom, Joe Arden

From Wall Street Journal bestselling author L.J. Shen comes an enemies-to-lovers romance about the fine line between seeking revenge and finding love.

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?

©2022 L.J. Shen. (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"This addictive enemies-to-lovers romance…captures both characters’ intense emotions and undeniable chemistry. It’s sure to have readers hooked.”—Publishers Weekly

“L.J. Shen is the master of enemies-to-lovers. She had me in her angsty grip from the second I started until I’d devoured the last page, and I loved every second of it!”—A.L. Jackson, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author

“FIVE STARS: One of the BEST of 2022.”—Tia Louise, USA Today bestselling author

Love this Author!

This is the second series I’ve read from this author and I must say I am loving her writing. This book was indeed a slow burn but the payoff was so worth it! I love Christian and Arya they are so cute together. I will continue to read many more books by this author! The narrators were great and I felt very immersed in the story.

Couldn’t stop listening

Great story with wonderful twists! Performances were fabulous as well! I couldn’t wait to hear what would happen next and now that it’s over, I wish there was more!

LOVED it! Melodrama in book form

Julia Bloom and Joe Arden both narrate this book so well. This is the first time I have read anything written by L.J. Shen and the love lost, then found trope IS up my alley.

I am not sure if I would be able to narrate the sex scenes without being embarrassed, so this is fair warning for those who are sensitive about open door intimacy scenes.

I am glad for the Happy Ever After for Arie and Nikki/Christian, they deserved it. I also know Conrad killed Ruslana and I think he even killed his own infant son frankly. I kept waiting for some kink with Conrad toward his daughter. L.J. Shen did a very good job of portraying him as the douche bag he is. I kept rooting for jail time AND losing everything.

Entertaining

A fun ride with a twist or two. Had to listen to the last 2 hours in one sitting!

Kept my attention!

Great narrators and storyline!
I did t want to stop listening.
There wasn’t a lot of steamy stuff going on but there was a build up to it. I still enjoyed it a lot.