First off, I loved this book. If I'd known that the first 30% centers on the relationship between the hero and a woman who is not the heroine, I probably wouldn't have read it. And I would have missed out. Though it's definitely an odd choice, it worked to build the story to come and to really flesh out Arsène as a character. However, I do wish we had spent slightly less time in the past and more in the grumpy/sunshine dynamic between the main characters. I wanted more of them.
Arsène and Winnie are brought together by secrets and loss, but they find something wonderful together. I don't want to give any of the details away because, for me, the blind journey through this story was part of what made it so great. It's sad and romantic and mysterious all at once. It reminded me of the contemporary romances that were so popular a decade or so ago, before the recent trend for more of a romcom vibe. Winnie is strong and hopeful even through tragedy, an excellent heroine. And Arsène is the kind of dark, tortured hero I adore.
I'd never read LJ Shen before, but if this book is any indication of what her backlist is like, I obviously should have.
I absolutely recommend this one if you like grumpy/sunshine, billionaire heroes, widowed heroines, the theater, damaged heroes, even bully romances. I loved it enough to buy a physical copy even though I have the eARC.

I need to stop trying to read this author. I used to love her, but I just can’t with her books anymore.

This isn’t even a particularly terrible book. It was okay, but nothing about it really spoke to me. I didn’t connect with the characters and I was not wowed by the storyline, even though I was initially drawn to the synopsis.

This romance was just lacking and left me feeling nothing. Also, the nickname Bumpkin? Gag…

arsène corbin😮‍💨😮‍💨 i loved his sarcastic and quite dry witty banter!! he is FINEEEE, i have a weak spot for a—hole men with a sprinkle of nerd of i LOVED him. confused about him and grace and felt a bit icky about it because of how they introduced each other to other people🤣 hooked on all the secrets and plot twists, lj shen’s writing never fails to keep me interested! absolutely loved the bromance between arsène and his friends. wish we got introduced to winnie sooner so i would have more time to connect and fall in love with her, felt like we didn’t get much time to warm to her. the ending was cute but a little rushed. the verbal sparring between winnie and arsène was GREAT, loveddddd it🥰

tropes: enemies to lovers, angsty, shared tragedy / pain, forbidden love.

Thanks so much to Lj Shen and NetGalley for the eARC, all opinions expressed are my own.

Fallen for follows the lives of Arsene and Winnie. Whilst Arsene is obsessed with his fiancé/stepsister, her sudden death reveals a large number of secrets. One of which is her affair. Arsene then teams up with the partner of the other man in his relationship - Winnie who also is an aspiring actress and both work together to uncover the moments leading to the death of their respective partners. But their close proximity starts to lead to something more.

There were quite a few elements that I truly enjoyed about this book. Winnifred was the standout characters by far and really came into her own as the story progresses. I love the way she stood her ground despite Arsene’s attempts at intimidating her. Similarly the portrayal of the complexities of grief was an interesting facet to the story with both characters dealing with their sorrows in different ways. Similarly, Lj Shen does a great job in portraying the problematic nature of toxic relationships which is and element that I struggled with but couldn’t keep myself away.

But for me, it’s the style of writing, I’ve always enjoyed Shen’s work and find myself quickly devouring due to how easy it is to read. This particular book read like an old classic Hollywood movie delicate it being set in the present. A very unique way in which this story unraveled in my head.

Whilst these elements kept me captivated, Arsene’s relationship with Grace was EXTREMELY toxic. The step sibling relationship wasn’t the main issue but the constant reference of heir sibling connection between the two main characters made me extremely uncomfortable. Arsene also didn’t sit right with me, his treatment of Winnie was so contradicting and the transition from strangers to something more just seemed and bit too fast and quite random.

Whilst I have mixed feelings about this book, I would recommend due to the writing style and slow unravelling of secrets, but do feel that the relationship between Arsene and Grace could have been dialled down.

This book broke my heart and mended it back together. This story was honest and messy and real in its emotions and these characters were beautifully flawed. I didn't know how it would end but I loved it. Arsène is cocky, arrogant, and has an attitude. And Winnie aka Bumpkin is everything he's not but the sass, I love it. Definitely recommend 👌

In the beginning I did not expect to love this book as much as I loved Ruthless Rival but man this book tops it, no questions asked. Arsene and Winnie are literally the perfect example of a grumpy sunshine trope and are easily one of my favorites of that trope. This book had so much of what I love in a book, a character with a random obsession, misplaced hatred, and a girl that gives as much as she gets.

Winnie kept Arsene on his toes the entire book and I loved it, she knew what to say to either make him speechless or question everything. I loved seeing Arsene’s thoughts on his trio with his best friends and can’t wait for Riggs’ book either.

I’m loving this series!

Having just read and enjoyed Ruthless Rival last month, I figured I would enjoy this story, too. Not so much. I know this author writes a lot of a-hole men and Arséne is one of them. I am usually okay reading about men like that, because I can find some redeeming quality about him. With Arséne , I didn't. I also didn't like his stepbrother/stepsister relationship with Grace. Did he really love her? No. He even admitted it to himself, but he could control her with his money.

Is Grace the main female character? No. Winnie is. She meets Arséne and Grace in part one of the story, but then there is a long period where she isn't even around. Not until part two. That's when Arséne and Winnie learn that her husband Paul and his fiancée Grace died in a plane crash and were possibly having an affair. It just took too long in part one and there were flashback chapters (that I am not always a fan of) and overall, it was a pretty slow burn of a story. I didn't think their feelings were explored enough and the ending felt kinda rushed.

Thank you to Montlake Romance and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Winnie and Arsene share a tragedy. They also hate each other. But sometimes hate masks what is really underneath.

This was a hard book to even summarize! I would definitely go into this one blind if you can.
There were aspects that I really liked in here and some that I really didn't. The fist 30% of this book I couldn't figure out why I needed to care. The real action between the MCs doesn't start until after that. I understood as I continued on why it was all there, but I still wasn't sure it was all needed.

Now, what I loved: Arsene. He is a complete a$$ and I LOVED him. He has the tragic uncaring past that makes him this way. But the thing that I loved is that he isn't brooding. He owns his attitude and doesn't understand why others don't act that way. His lines were absolutely hilarious at times and I found myself falling for him just as much as Winnie was. Both of them will stay with me for a long time.
I also love to hate some characters and the villains in this book are right there for me. They are absolutely horrible, irredeemable (And I'm here for it).

This book is perfect for fans of Hoover's Regretting You, especially if you wanted more teeth to that story.

-Grumpy sunshine
-enemies to lovers
-New York setting

check TW: cheating

thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the ARC !

I couldn’t put it down!

Arsène Corbin is only getting married because the Corbin billions need an heir but his plans were destroyed when his fiancé/step-sister dies in an accident with Winnie Ashcroft’s husband. Winnifred Ashcroft was devastated when her husband died in the plane crash but his death left so many devastating answers for questions nobody wants to ask.

Fallen Foe is going to be book that you either like or you don’t type of romance because Arsène Corbin is the result of when you have all the money in the world and the power to go with it.

Fallen Foe is a dark almost twisted romance because Arsène never really knew what love was.

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

Well… that was interesting. This was my first book by L.J. Shen and she definitely knows how to write bad boys that are alphaholes and you shouldn’t like. The obsession over the stepsister was a bit much. They were both toxic AF and never should have been left alone together. I did like the plot twist that was thrown in. Arsene and Winnie (who isn’t the stepsister) shouldn’t work together but oddly enough they do. The story doesn’t skip on betrayal, secrets or heat between Arsene and Winnie.

Arsene is jaded and closed off from his feelings. The one thing he wants is to marry Grace. It's not love that drives him but the need to win. Winnie loves her husband, Paul. She loves her life in New York. She is driven by the need to be a good wife and to find success on Broadway. When Arsene meets Winnie for the first time, he is cruel. Fate continues to throw them together, but they are in relationships with other people. Will fate keep them apart?

This book hurt to read. Arsene's backstory is truly horrible. I strongly urge you to read Christian's book before reading this one because it includes some details that are glosses over here. The author does a great job developing the why's and how's of Arsene's personality. She also manages to show who he is underneath. I totally understood why Winnie would be impossible for him to ignore. She represents everything he never had but desperately wants. Winnie is perfect in every way except in the ways she's not. It turns out that Winnie is complicated and very human. My heart broke for her as she struggled to straighten out her life and her emotions. There are some events that happen in the story that I won't cover in this review because they are MEGA SPOILERS!! I will say that the author went in a direction I didn't expect. Watching each of the characters deal with the events and their aftermath was well done.

This story takes place mostly in New York City. It is a contemporary romance. Honest admission, I'm a huge fan of LJ Shen's writing so I might have been a bit biased in my thoughts about the book however this story made me tense and sad almost from the get go. Take that as you will. I can't wait for Riggs to get his story! I will definitely read more from this author in the future.

First of all, awesome names for hero and heroine (Winnifred and Arsene). The premise is also different – a struggling actress lands a role in a play at the hero’s theater. Love the heroine – she is strong, hardworking, kind, and all sunshine and rainbow. The hero, as you are expected from Shen – a villain, jaded, alpha male, pretty much impossible to love. You really have to be in the mood to enjoy this type of hero  Winnie and Arsene have something in common – their significant others were cheating with their partners. My confusion is that I am not sure what relationship Arsene had with his step-sister. Sometimes, it is definitely toxic - he hates her and was using her, but other times I feel like he is totally obsessed with her. Any rate, a lot of the book is rehashing of Winnie and Arsene’ relationships with their perspective partners. After Arsene’s fiancé passed - they come together trying to solved the mystery of when / where / how their significant others got together and fell in love. There were some really good banters, hotness, and slow burn. Interesting plot opposite attracted / enemies-to-lovers. As usual, in the end the hero redeemed himself once you get to know him a lot better. They both had to overcome betrayals, secrets, learn to trust and find second chance at love again. If you like the “rich bad boy” as hero who find HEA with a sweet girl, Shen is a queen of this genre. Quick read and I enjoyed it over all.

Uh... I'm sorry but for me it's a no.

ꜰᴀʟʟᴇɴ ꜰᴏᴇ is the second book of the ᴄᴜʀʟᴇ ᴄᴀꜱᴛᴀᴡᴀʏꜱ ꜱᴇʀɪᴇꜱ series by L. J. Shen to be released on May 9.

ᴀʀꜱÈɴᴇ ᴄᴏʀʙɪɴ ᴅᴏᴇꜱ ɴᴏᴛ ɪɴᴛᴇɴᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴀʀʀʏ ꜰᴏʀ ʟᴏᴠᴇ. ʜɪꜱ ꜰɪᴀɴᴄÉᴇ ʜᴀꜱ ᴀʟᴡᴀʏꜱ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴀ ᴍᴇᴀɴꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴀɴ ᴇɴᴅ, ᴀ ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ ʜᴇ ᴡᴀɴᴛꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴄᴏɴQᴜᴇʀ. ʙᴜᴛ ᴡʜᴇɴ ꜱʜᴇ ᴅɪᴇꜱ ꜱᴜᴅᴅᴇɴʟʏ ɪɴ ᴀɴ ᴀᴄᴄɪᴅᴇɴᴛ, ᴀʀꜱÈɴᴇ’ꜱ ɢʀᴀɴᴅ ᴘʟᴀɴ ᴜɴʀᴀᴠᴇʟꜱ.
ꜱᴛɪʟʟ ʀᴇᴇʟɪɴɢ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ʜɪꜱ ꜰɪᴀɴᴄÉᴇ’ꜱ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ, ʜᴇ ᴍᴇᴇᴛꜱ ᴡɪɴɴɪꜰʀᴇᴅ ᴀꜱʜᴄʀᴏꜰᴛ, ᴀ ꜱᴛʀᴜɢɢʟɪɴɢ ᴀᴄᴛʀᴇꜱꜱ ᴡʜᴏ ʟᴀɴᴅꜱ ᴀ ᴄᴏᴠᴇᴛᴇᴅ ʀᴏʟᴇ ɪɴ ᴀ ᴘʟᴀʏ ᴀᴛ ʜɪꜱ ᴛʜᴇᴀᴛᴇʀ…ᴀɴᴅ ᴋɴᴏᴡꜱ ᴛʜɪɴɢꜱ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ʜɪꜱ ʟᴀᴛᴇ ꜰɪᴀɴᴄÉᴇ ɴᴏ ᴏɴᴇ ᴇʟꜱᴇ ᴅᴏᴇꜱ. ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴʟʏ ᴘʀᴏʙʟᴇᴍ? ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴄᴀɴ’ᴛ ꜱᴛᴀɴᴅ ᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ.
ʙᴀᴄᴋꜱᴛᴀɢᴇ ᴀᴛ ᴀʀꜱÈɴᴇ’ꜱ ᴛʜᴇᴀᴛᴇʀ, ᴡɪɴɴɪᴇ ʙᴇɢɪɴꜱ ᴛᴏ ʟᴇᴛ ᴅᴏᴡɴ ʜᴇʀ ɢᴜᴀʀᴅ ᴀʀᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴇᴍᴘᴇꜱᴛᴜᴏᴜꜱ ʙɪʟʟɪᴏɴᴀɪʀᴇ. ꜱʜᴇ ᴀᴘᴘʀᴇᴄɪᴀᴛᴇꜱ ʜɪꜱ ᴡɪᴛ ᴀɴᴅ Qᴜɪʀᴋʏ ᴀꜰꜰᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ꜰᴏʀ ᴀꜱᴛʀᴏɴᴏᴍʏ. ᴀɴᴅ ᴀʀꜱÈɴᴇ, ᴊᴀᴅᴇᴅ ᴀꜱ ʜᴇ ɪꜱ, ʀᴇꜱᴘᴇᴄᴛꜱ ᴡɪɴɴɪᴇ’ꜱ ʜᴇᴀᴅꜱᴛʀᴏɴɢ ᴘᴇʀꜱᴏɴᴀʟɪᴛʏ.
ᴛʀᴀɢᴇᴅʏ ᴀɴᴅ ʙᴇᴛʀᴀʏᴀʟ ʙʀɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ᴛᴏɢᴇᴛʜᴇʀ, ʙᴜᴛ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ᴘᴀɪɴꜰᴜʟ ᴘᴀꜱᴛꜱ ʜᴏʟᴅ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ʙᴀᴄᴋ―ᴏʀ ꜰᴜᴇʟ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ᴅᴇꜱɪʀᴇ?

ꜰᴀʟʟᴇɴ ꜰᴏᴇ was my first Shen book. I have heard so much about this author and her books (only positive opinions), so you can well understand my happiness when I was approved the request for the ARC copy.

Well, at times I regret having sent it. Not for the author's writing because, damn, it's fantastic. Very fluid, engaging, detailed in the right places and well-studied dialogues.

My problem is the characters.

Àrsene...

Never. Never in my life as a reader have I read about such a male character. He's such a toxic, arrogant and... Unbearable!

Is it we want to talk about his strange obsession with Winnie? Or rather, do we want to talk about Winnie? My darling you are a real badass, but was it really necessary? No, really. Was it necessary?

I really appreciated the author's writing is the general plot of the story (this is the main reason why I gave the 3 stars) but I hated, hated madly, the characters. I don't know...
Often they appeared to me... Er, really little characterized?

In my opinion it is personal taste, they should have been reviewed better. A real shame because the overall plot has great potential.

I'm really sorry to criticize this book heavily, believe me. But I trust that the author can treasure my constructive criticism to improve and excel more than she has already done with other books.

I thank Netgalley, Montlake, and L. J. Shen for sending me the ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion. All opinions are my own.

I went into this book blind, not really knowing what to expect. And I wasn’t disappointed. Arsene is in a toxic relationship with his ex step sister Grace, who is a horrible human. And Winnie is newly married to Paul. She first meets Arsene when he attends a work function with Grace. And Winnie attends with Paul. Right of the bat Arseson is a condescending jerk. But Winnie doesn’t back down from him. Eight months later Winnie and Arsene meet again. At the morgue where they learn that Paul and Grace died in a plane crash, together. Now they have to get along to piece together what was really going on with Paul and Grace. I enjoyed this read and the few twist.

Fallen Foe, book 2 in the Cruel Castaways series, centers around Arsene, a wealthy but rude and jaded man, who doesn’t care what anyone thinks or what they want. Arsene thinks his step-sister is his future, but the toxic relationship with Grace hardens him even more than he already is. He loathes happiness and his version of happy means his heart aches with obsession.

Winnie, the country “bumpkin” can’t stand Arsene, who she met at an event with her husband. Nothing about him appeals to her and she’d rather not interact with him again. That is, until tragedy strikes and they have no option other to engage with each other.

Overall, this book was good, but I did struggle a bit with the romantic relationship with step-siblings. I also wish that there was a bit more to Arsene and Winnie’s story, a little more depth to the relationship that was thrust upon them. Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake Publishing for providing an ARC of this story.

This story focuses a lot of time on the main characters relationships with other people and that's not really my jam. I loved Winnie and her character development, but the hero didn't do it for me. He was unlikeable and didn't really redeem himself enough. It had a strong plot, but for a romance it fell short for me because I don't care about their past relationships and that took up a lot of the story.

LJ Shen does it again! This was fantastic and such a fun read. I loved it so much and kept turning the pages. Can’t wait to be able to share this with friends.

This was an unexpected book about calculating Arsene and his sweet bumpkin, Winnie. Arlene has a complicated relationship with former stepsister turned fiance, Gracelynn. She is his obsession and the only person to elicit any emotion for him. Then he meets Winnie at a work function for Grace who is married to Grace's boss. Though their encounter is short and fiery, their lives are irrevocably tied together when both partners are in an accident. This leaves more questions than answers and an unlikely partnership that turns into more.

Arsene gets a lot of backstory in this book, given how complicated his relationship with Grace is. He reiterates he doesn't love her but is driven by a vengeful obsession. Arsene has some endearing moments about learning emotions and comforting along with classic snark. Winnie is on a deeply emotional journey through grief that resonates with many. There's physical grief of a person and grieving dreams. She's every bit full of love and compassion, though Arsene winds her up. Together, these two wade through loss and secrets together to find each other. I liked that they brought out parts in each other that needed to be amplified and listened to each other towards the end of the book. Arsene needed someone to truly love him beyond all his titles and possessions, which Winnie wholeheartedly did. I loved the family that Arsene unknowingly has created and seeing them support this ambivalent man and the grief journeys both characters took. I really related to Winnie and her feelings of inadequacy and the potential loss of a major dream. I thought those feelings were showcased beautifully along with the fear of answers. Overall, I enjoyed this one and am curious to see what happens with Riggs!

🪐enemies to lovers
🪐slow burn
🪐opposites attract
🪐found family.

I didn't even read the Blurb before picking the book and I'm so glad that I went blindly trusting the author. She didn't fail my expectations at all. Loved it so damn much.

Winnie/Bumpkin - I don't know why but I was easily able to connect with her. She just saw the world like how it was and that's all she believed but I'm glad the right sense was knocked in her.

Arsène - As ruthless as he can be I'll appreciate him for being realistic. He didn't sugar coat things and spoke what he felt. His obsession with astronomy is real but he wasn't obsessing with Winnie... She was his love. When the realisation it him... That moment was something I was dying to read.

Argh... Won't be bad if I don't speak about their chemistry. It was like Mars and Sun coming together and giving more heat.

But honestly I'm stuck in that one scene where he kisses her and she rates it a 4 on 10 but him noticing her toe curl gave me the LJ Shen touch.

He's her comfort and she's all he needs.... I would suggest you to go blindly with the book and enjoy the suspense. Don't spoil some fun by reading the Blurb 😊

A true enemies to lovers romance with a lots of secrets, few surprises and a lot of drama. I love Shen’s writing, she can weave some fantastic stories, I’m loving this series, I can’t wait for Riggs’s story.



Thank You NetGalley and Montlake for allowing me to read this ARC in advance for my honest opinion.