Do you ever go into a new book by an author you love with a sense of… anxiety? I tend to do this with authors whose previous books I LOVED because I’m afraid the next one will be different in a way I don’t like. Why? No idea. It just happens.

That being said, I was right that this one was different. The characters were so different from LJ’s previous books but it was so so good. Normally the men are alpha-holes whose cruelty knows no bounds. That is where I feel this book differed so much. This might be the most wholesome male lead I’ve read by her… and it was perfection. I loved that at his core - despite all of the unfairness he’d experienced and the desire for revenge - he was still just a boy who shared this undeniable connection with a girl.

MY HEART.
It felt so much for him. Inside he was still the kid he’d been and I loved that he acknowledged it. I think we carry our trauma with us and it influences the choices we make so it was compelling to see that connection clearly laid out with this character.

Arya Roth have a childhood friendship with Nicholai, which that turns to young love. Yet when Arya’s father catches them kissing, the consequences are monumental, with Nicholai being banished from his mother’s home and all traces of him disappear. Two decades later, Arya’s life is in turmoil with her father being sued by a former employee for sexual harassment. When she confronts the attorney, Christian Miller, who is determined to destroy her father, she is intrigued by him, wondering whether they have ever met before. Little does Arya know, but Christian is really Nicholai. Despite her head telling her to stay away from Christian, she finds herself falling in love with him. Christian also realises that their attraction could mean the end of his career, but all he can think about the girl he once knew.
Christian and Arya’s story is intense, and I love the POV that played out, gradually unpacking the story to reveal, the traumatic events that unfolded after Nicholai and Arya were caught together. Whilst Christian appears confident, with plenty of wit and confidence, he just seems to be holding himself together. Likewise, Arya can’t stop thinking about both Christian and reliving her feelings for Nicholai, the boy who knew her before everything else. This passionate romance and great dialogue, had me captivated throughout.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and Montlake. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Childhood sweethearts + a boy who grew up “on the wrong side of the tracks” + a second chance enemies to lovers = all of my favourite tropes in one book!

There's a pattern for my enjoyment when it comes to reading LJS books. I can't stand her bully romances and stay as far away from those as I can. But every once in a while, she will write a story that is sweet, sometimes angsty, and wholly swoon-worthy that just gets me. This is one of those books.

I enjoyed both the past and present day chapters, I liked the connection between the two MCs, I enjoyed the plot and how the characters fit into it. It's a pretty complete package of a story.

So if you are also a fan of the tropes I mentioned in the beginning, then you will want to pick this up!

This was my first book by this author, whom I’ve longed to read for some time. Enemies to lovers is a favorite trope for me, as long as it’s done right and LJ does it right. The chemistry was there. The angst was there. And the slow burn was exactly what made me adore this the most!

As the housekeeper's son, Nicolai is warned not to touch anything in the Roth house, especially their only daughter Arya. He first met her when they were 12 and she was unlike anything he expected. They become friends and spend every day together that summer and the next. But then the summer they both turned 14, Arya's father catches them at their first kiss. The next thing Nicolai knows he in an all male boarding school, black and blue, and never sees his mother again.
Years later, he has opportunity at revenge when a court case comes up against Conrad Roth and his PR consultant is none other than daughter Arya. He's changed his name and his image and it HAS been 18 years, but Christian still can't believe she doesn't recognize him. Did he mean that little to her? As the case moves on, his feelings move from thoughts of revenge to how to keep her in his life.
I love how these two lost kids from terrible homes found each other and became best friends. And they're so IT for each other that neither one found any lasting relationship in all the years between. How Christian waited for her every day...<swoon>! But I did feel like shaking him when, after finding out what she really thought happened to him, he didn't tell the truth that he was Nicolai! I'm so excited that this is part of a series. Nicolai's friends, especially Riggs, are fascinating characters and I can't wait to read their stories!
I received an advance reader copy of this book. The views and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

Could Christian get his revenge?

Arya Roth was best friends with Nicholai Ivanov, son of the housekeeper that was slowly turning into something more when her father Conrad Roth sent him away telling her that he went to live with his father in Russia.

Twenty years later Christian Miller needs to win a big case to make partner at his law firm and a case against Conrad Roth was the perfect chance to get his revenge against him since he didn’t know that Christian was Nicholai Ivanov.

I wasn’t sure how to describe Ruthless Rival because it is a mix of second chance and enemies to lovers romance because Arya and Christian have so much baggage to work through and forgive but L.J. Shen made it happen.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.5 Stars
I had a hard time staying interested in this story. I started skipping hoping I’d become more interested and it never happened. Sadly, I barely finished this one.

*Thank you to Montlake, LJ Shen, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Christian Miller is the most eligible bachelor in NYC but who is he, really? Only three people in his life know who Christian was before he invented a new persona of himself. Now he is a well-known lawyer, successful and handsome, but what he really wants is to be a partner in his prestigious law firm. When a sexual harassment case lands on his desk, he has the one opportunity to seek justice for those who have wronged him from his childhood. This is essentially a romance, but it is a slow burn.

Arya, born into a wealthy manhattan family, is ambitious and doesn't rest on her family's money. She has been raised by her powerful father, with her mother being absent most of the time. When her father is sued for sexual harassment, Arya puts everything aside to support him. She doesn't know what makes the attorney on the other side so familiar but she knows she is attracted to him.

The story is told in dual POV; It is an interesting story. You can feel the tension build between Arya and Christian but you know he is holding a huge secret which will blow up in his face. The dialogue is witty and sometimes hilarious and Christian's two best friends are unique! Can't wait to read the next one!

Thank you to NetGalley, Ms. Shen and Montlake for the opportunity to read an ARC of Ruthless Rival. An honest review was requested but not required.

I’ve read some of Ms. Shen’s books before so I knew (more or less) what to expect: dark romance, with an a-hole hero who unbends and “nices up” for his chosen lady love. (And ONLY for her. Lots of angst, and a very unfortunate backstory for one or both of the MCs.

Ruthless Rival does not disappoint in that regard. Christian Miller, formerly Nicholai Ivanov, grew up basically alone, dirt-poor and hungry, with an unfeeling mother – and those were the GOOD years. After being caught kissing his mother’s employer’s daughter, he’s tossed out on his ear and shoved into a prep school for badly behaving upper crust kids. Then there’s Arya: the aforementioned daughter. Despite her wealthy upbringing she hasn’t had a smooth life either.

After the tumultuous separation at age 14, Arya is left thinking Nicky is dead; Nicky on the other hand thinks Arya abandoned him to his fate without a second thought and is primed for revenge. When as an adult the opportunity falls into Nicholai’s – now Christian’s – lap to get revenge on Arya’s father, he takes it. He fully intends to have his cake (revenge) and eat it too (rekindle something with Arya).

There’s plenty of angst here, and plenty of Nicholai/Christian acting like a total a-hole. However, I preferred Christian’s emotion to Arya’s relative lack thereof. I felt indecision from her, but none of the helpless irresistible pull and agony that Christian showed. I suppose she was so overwhelmed by the drama surrounding her father that her emotions were divided too. I did really like that Arya reconnected with her mom. If I could have changed something, it would have been to make all the backstories (of practically every character) less agonizing and traumatic. It feels like taking the easy way out of characterization: it’s okay to make someone an unrepentant asshole, because they had such a hard life, or something like that. But overall I liked the story arc for Christian and Arya.

Fans of Shen’s will like this. It wasn’t my favorite of her books but it was a fun ride. I would recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Montlake for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟🌟 4/5 stars

LJ Shen always delivers a dark, angsty slow burn romance and Ruthless Rival is no different. This story follows Christian and Arya. Christian was the housekeeper’s son and Arya the princess of the upper class. They became friends as children and then fell in love until forces tore them apart. Now, Christian has remade himself into a ruthless lawyer with a new name and life. When the two meet again, Arya has no idea he is her first love and Christian is determined to get his revenge on Arya and her family.

This was a fun slowburn enemies to lovers story with plenty of steam and drama. Shen’s books are easy to binge read because they are so entertaining. Christian and Arya are another steamy pairing you quickly become invested in.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

RIVETING, EMOTIONAL, PAGE-TURNER!

“I’m not a prize.” I turned around and walked away. “No, you’re not. You’re everything.”

L.J Shen has done it again! Ruthless Rival is a game changer, the storyline is just genius. Christian and Arya’s chemistry is pure magic, the pages just kept turning as I was devouring every word of their story! The emotional ups and downs had me feeling all the feels with this one. A true rollercoaster ride! This book will be living in my head for days.

With every series this author writes; they just keep getting better and better! I can’t brag about this book enough, and highly recommend it!

Classic LJ angst! Ruthless Rival brought me back to The Kiss Thief-LJ knows how to write an angsty book that evokes all the emotions. This is a slow burn but there’s so much tension!

Nicholai and Arya met when they were kids and Nicolai’s mother worked as a house keeper for Arya’s family. Nicholai was warned to stay away from Arya and never touch her, but every summer their friendship grew stronger, until finally when they were 14 Arya asked Nicholai to kiss her. When her father caught them he became furious and violent with Nicholai. Nicholai thought Arya set him up and was trying to get him in trouble. Arya’s dad Conrad sent Nicholai to a school far away do he wouldn’t be anywhere near his daughter.

When Nicholai turns 18 he reinvents himself as Christian Miller and vows to become successful and not live in poverty like he was raised. He becomes an extremely successful lawyer, but he can never get over the betrayal by Arya. Arya is now the successful owner of her own PR firm, but fate brings them back together when a women comes to Christian hoping she will represent him in a lawsuit against Conrad. There are so many reasons he shouldn’t take the case, but revenge is too sweet a temptation to resist. Christian thinks this will be an easy task-win the lawsuit against Conrad and bring down Arya in the process. But the pull between Christian and Arya is too much to resist, and Christian finds himself falling for her all over again. But Arya is bound to find out who Christian really is, and the fall out might be more than either of them can handle.

The tension between these two characters was explosive. The banter was amazing and sexual chemistry was leaping off the pages. The story kept me captivated from beginning to end and I loved the format of jumping from past to present. LJ has a way of writing that makes you feel like you are right in the story. 4.5 stars and another absolute hit from LJ Shen!

This is an enemy to lovers revenge story full so much resentment, heartbreak, abuse and ultimately love. I loved Christian and Arya so much, but my favorite was Christian...my heart broke for him and all the abuse and emotional abuse he went thru. Even from the one person who is suppose to care for him.

They met as young teenagers seeing each other only in the summer as Christian's mom worked for the Roth's. They became best friends and over all had that young love for each other. Due to an incident Christian gets sent away and believes Arya planned the who thing, so he grows up hating the Roth's.

Many years later the meet again and the attraction is still there along the with hate Christian has for them. This a great story of them over coming the resentment and eventually forgiveness with lots of tears and heat in between. I loved the way everything worked out at the end. Couldn't put it down unless I had to, anxious to find out what would happen next.

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

This is one of my favorite enemies-to-lovers book of 2022! I love Christian and Arya’s banter. This book had me hooked from chapter 1. The characters developed well through the story and made you feel their emotions, especially their hope and love. I couldn’t put it down.

More of a revenge trope than enemies to lovers in my opinion, the story line was addictive and kept me coming back for more.

As the son of the maid to the Roths, a very rich and powerful NYC family, Nicky's life can't even be compared to Arya's. The two strike an unlikely friendship when Nicky is dragged to work with his mother in the summers while school is out. All that changes in his 14th year when her dad catches them re-enacting a scene straight out of Atonement, Arya's favorite book.

Fast forward to the present day where Nicky has reinvented himself as Christian, a cocky, young, hotshot up and coming lawyer who has promised himself to never be poor again. When the perfect chance at revenge drops in his lap how can he resist taking from the Roth's what they took from him?

Pro's: Entertaining, I liked the plot and I especially liked how pertinent it is to the now with the #Metoo movement. I liked how cunning the two main characters were, and I liked the evolution of Arya and her mother's relationship (I actually wish that would have been explored more.)

Cons: Felt a little formulaic, but obviously it's working for the author. Was a little long and slightly repetitive...I would have preferred to see the characters soften a little more with each other and develop more of a romantic relationship. I have a feeling the book was inspired and written around that one library scene from Atonement and that book was mentioned over and over again. Obviously the book was pivotal to the story but I just didn't get Arya's obsession with it.

Overall I enjoyed it and have a feeling there will be two more books for Christian's friends that I would be interested in reading!

Intriguing, complex and emotional, Ruthless Rival is so much more than an enemies to lovers romance.

With multi faceted, real, deep and flawed characters and a movie worthy plotline, Leigh gives us a wonderful, passionate, complicated story of love, loss, revenge and redemption.
Through a phenomenal use of multiple timelines, the story that unravels throughout the pages of this book is both beautiful and painful, encapsulating so much of the human experience, and touching not only on love, but friendship, family, success, loss and status.
Ruthless Rival had me riveted from the very first page and I can't wait for more from the cruel castaways world.

5 stars and a book

this was one of my most anticipated reads for 2022!

childhood best friends to young love — as teenagers their love was forbidden, he’s poor and she’s rich. in adulthood their world’s collide again, unbeknownst to arya who christian really is. christian miller (born nicholai ivanov), grew up poor but turned his whole life around (his changed his name) to become a rich, high class man in his adulthood.

as adults christan and arya HATE each other, obviously.. they’re on opposite teams when it comes to arya’s dad — literally in this case. arya is defending her dad in a sexual harassment case and christian is defending the accuser (he jumped at this chance as revenge). this is an enemies to lovers romance, and we all know how much i LOVE enemies to lovers😮‍💨🔥

obviously leigh had to put a plot twist in there, and I literally GASPED😨 conrad is a sleaze🙄 but also why am i getting teary🥹🥲 this book had me experience a million and one emotions while reading it — but we all know how dramatic i am while i read🤣 i’ve related to something so much as ayra being protective about her book(s)🤣🤩.

the slow burn of this romance just built up all the tension between christian and arya😮‍💨🔥 i just LOVE an enemies to lovers the chemistry is unbeatable🥵🌶 you just KNOW it’s good when he can’t wait any longer, clothes are getting ripped and buttons are popping off🥵🔥 AND TELLS YOU TO SEND HIM THE BILL FOR IT😮‍💨😮‍💨 CHRISTIAN MILLER OMG🦋🦋🦋 every woman’s dream, smart, ambitious, charming, intelligent and unbelievably gorgeous (definition of tall, dark and handsome) — need i go on, because he’s so much more too🤤

this book defo gave me sinners of saint vibes — one of my fave series ever! it’s like all the hot holes had a baby and out popped christian miller🔥 those last few chapters of christan, omg what a man he just knows the right thing to say.. i simply just meltedd🫠🤤😍 any man who reads your favourite book to understand you🥲 marry him!!

the epilogue, omg my heart🥲 i didn’t want the book to end and when it did i literally shouted NOOOOO🥲 leigh we need more, when is the next in the series coming?!🤩🥲❤️ i’m so excited for this new world you’ve created!

I LOVE CHRISTIAN SO MUCH😭🫠

Ruthless Rival by LJ Shen. I always know when I grab one of LJ Shen’s book I am in for a delightful treat. With Ruthless Rival, it was exactly what I was expecting and so much more. The depth and emotion in this story will stay with me for a long time to come and definitely has been added to my TBR again shelf. Arya and Christian come from different worlds, but their lives collide beautifully and tragically. He is set on revenge and later redemption. She is about to have the rose-colored glasses ripped off, shedding new light on what she thought was her life and her people. Their reconnect is intense with heated chemistry, wicked banter, and tons of emotion. I’ve read almost all the books by LJ Shen and I definitely recommend this book and author to everyone. She is AMAZINGLY talented and creative in her storytelling. I was graciously given an ARC, and this is my honest and voluntary review.

Set in New York city where people from completely opposite socioeconomic groups manage to live among each other and somehow never quite mix, this book blends the lines and tells the story of what happens when the poor boy and the rich girl fall for each other.

The story is heartbreaking and tragic while also being dark and vengeful. I loved seeing the characters both as kids and as adults and how their past has impacted their present. I am extremely excited to read more in this world! Christian and Arya's love was palpable and beautiful their romance was totally unconventional and yet felt perfect. The author did a lovely job of giving life to their love and setting up a new series in the process. I loved the side characters and found the story to be a fast and fun read.

I really enjoyed the bones of this book. The premise was strong and I loved Christian. He was the right side of wrong, deceitful but in a justified sort of way. I felt that we really got to know his character and I felt his emotions within the situations he was caught up in, both past and present.
I didn't warm to Arya in the same way at all. I didn't feel that she was emotional at all. Her life crumbled within the book and yet her development felt flat. Likewise, I felt Christian's desire for Arya, his inability to keep away, but I did not get that connection or depth of feeling back.

Overall I quite liked it as a whole but I felt that Arya's character could have been more of a hotbed of emotion, more connectable or just more developed.