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Boston Belles #2
The Villain
Cruel. Coldblooded. Hades in a Brioni suit.
Cillian Fitzpatrick has been dubbed every wicked thing on planet earth.
To the media, he is The Villain.
To me, he is the man who (reluctantly) saved my life.
Now I need him to do me another, small solid.
Bail me out of the mess my husband got me into.
What’s a hundred grand to one of the wealthiest men in America, anyway?
Only Cillian doesn’t hand out free favors.
The price for the money, it turns out, is my freedom.
Now I’m the eldest Fitzpatrick brother’s little toy.
To play, to mold, to break.
Too bad Cillian forgot one, tiny detail.
Persephone wasn’t only the goddess of spring; she was also the queen of death.
He thinks I’ll buckle under the weight of his mind games.
He is about to find out the most lethal poison is also the sweetest.
Cillian Fitzpatrick has been dubbed every wicked thing on planet earth.
To the media, he is The Villain.
To me, he is the man who (reluctantly) saved my life.
Now I need him to do me another, small solid.
Bail me out of the mess my husband got me into.
What’s a hundred grand to one of the wealthiest men in America, anyway?
Only Cillian doesn’t hand out free favors.
The price for the money, it turns out, is my freedom.
Now I’m the eldest Fitzpatrick brother’s little toy.
To play, to mold, to break.
Too bad Cillian forgot one, tiny detail.
Persephone wasn’t only the goddess of spring; she was also the queen of death.
He thinks I’ll buckle under the weight of his mind games.
He is about to find out the most lethal poison is also the sweetest.
420 pages, Paperback
First published December 17, 2020
About the author
L.J. Shen
55 books48.9k followersL.J. Shen is USA Today, WSJ, Washington Post and #1 Amazon Kindle Store bestselling author of contemporary romance books.
She writes angsty books, unredeemable anti-heroes who are in Elon Musk's tax bracket, and sassy heroines who bring them to their knees (for more reasons than one).
HEAs and groveling are guaranteed.
She lives in Florida with her husband, three sons, and a disturbingly active imagination.
Keep up with L.J. on all platforms:
Newsletter Sign up ➜ https://bit.ly/3LhsIrb
Instagram➜ shorturl.at/cDJRZ
TikTok ➜ shorturl.at/frw59
Facebook➜ https://goo.gl/fKCSo4
Website ➜ www.authorljshen.com
She writes angsty books, unredeemable anti-heroes who are in Elon Musk's tax bracket, and sassy heroines who bring them to their knees (for more reasons than one).
HEAs and groveling are guaranteed.
She lives in Florida with her husband, three sons, and a disturbingly active imagination.
Keep up with L.J. on all platforms:
Newsletter Sign up ➜ https://bit.ly/3LhsIrb
Instagram➜ shorturl.at/cDJRZ
TikTok ➜ shorturl.at/frw59
Facebook➜ https://goo.gl/fKCSo4
Website ➜ www.authorljshen.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 4,536 reviews
December 22, 2020
2.5 Stars
I’ll admit I underestimated Persy on the day of the blurb/cover reveal. From what we saw in The Hunter, I really thought she wasn’t going to be anything more than a naïve, timid girl. But the girl we got actually had the kind of backbone I never anticipated. She never caved where it mattered most, and I loved every scene where she stood up to Cillian. And ugh, I am so soft for heroines who are good with children/animals (it’s because I believe they have good intuition when it comes to people). She’s a sweetheart.
There were actually some funny things I laughed out loud at too. Like Cillian saying, ”What I need is siring heirs. At least one male. A couple of others for appearance and backup.” This is the kind of nonchalance/dry humor I crack up at, and Cillian delivered it in spades (most of the time). Also, the fact that he’s been secretly obsessed with Persy for eight years was such a pleasant surprise (unrequited love is one of my least favorite tropes). And I enjoyed the scenes where everyone was together, the group banter was great.
Now, let’s get on to my major dislikes—and there’s a lot. Just remember that this is subjective, and I personally couldn’t vibe with this book for these reasons:
MIND GAMES & BAITING
I won’t go in depth for this one. If you want details, they’re all in my comments below. Just know that the author and her team are less transparent than a brick wall and have a cult mentality.
WE GET IT, YOU LIVE IN THE 21ST CENTURY.
Cillian, a thirty-eight-year-old man, really just compared himself to a Belieber. On the brink of an orgasm. I’ve seen multiple heroes say something along the lines, “she makes me feel like a teenage boy” when the heroine makes the hero flustered. But a Belieber? During sex?
L.J. Shen is the only writer that I know who drops pop culture references this frequently and in the weirdest places. And it’s becoming more and more apparent with her releases. And it’s even worse now because all the characters are at least in their late twenties/thirties, and the lingo... it’s so cringey and it was done constantly. Shakespeare was right about doing things in moderation, sorry.
WE GET IT, YOU’RE AN ASSHOLE.
If there’s one thing the betas/arc readers were right about, it was that Cillian is worse than Vicious, Troy, Célian, and Wolfe combined—but not in a good way.
If you’ve read The Hunter, we all know that Sailor struggled accepting her looks. But in the end, everyone—most importantly her—recognized her unconventional beauty. Cillian even called her a “redheaded beauty.” But now eight years later, Cillian is back to calling her “average-looking” and a “six-year-old scrawny boy who had an extra serving of Brussels sprouts.” Yup, let’s reverse the progress from the first book just to remind everyone what an asshole he is!
And there was so much push and pull between Cillian and Persy—to the point where I asked myself, “When were they ever really together? When did they ever sit down and really talk?” And now knowing that Cillian always had feelings for Persy, why did this mf roll Persy over with the tip of his foot and take his time when she was poisoned?
And I thought the grovel was no where near enough. It was just one note, one text, and he made a cloud for her (which was cute—but again, not enough). It doesn’t compare to L.J.’s other heroes like Vicious who groveled for months and walked Emilia home everyday, Célian who left Post-it notes in Jude's desk frequently and was always in her presence, etc. And that’s the main problem, I needed Cillian to be in Persy’s presence physically during that separation. Persy had already spent enough time by herself during their marriage, why spend even more time apart where it mattered most?
Another reason why Cillian is the worst kind of asshole:
WE GET IT, YOU THINK SHE’S A WHORE.
The amount of times Persy was compared to Belle—her sister, who’s also getting her own book and was dragged in the process...
Cillian CONSTANTLY went out of his way to describe how crass and obnoxious he thought Belle was—just to validate his relationship with Persy. Continuously putting down one sister in favor of the other is bad taste and unnecessary. Saying humiliating things about her? Like how she’s easy because she enjoys sex and has “seen more dick than a train station urinal”? It’s not fucking cute. Plus, it really bothered me that Persy never defended her sister, who clearly played the protective, older sister during her entire life.
On top of that, L.J. kinda made Belle into a caricature and a cliché bad bitch. Some authors can’t write sexually experienced heroines without them sounding over-the-top and forced, and I’m afraid L.J. might be one of them.
Belle is her first confident, sexually experienced, soon-to-be heroine. And she destroyed some of her potential by making her a little too tacky, slut-shaming the hell out of her in the Cillian’s POV, etc. BUT, I’m still holding out for her, and I really hope L.J. does her justice because Belle was a great character in a lot of her scenes. Take this for example:
And:
If L.J. focuses on THIS Belle in the next two books—the one who’s caring, independent, and cunning without the overexaggerated millennial/Gen-Z speak—then maybe there's a win for me somewhere in this series.
WE GET IT, YOU’RE TRYING TO SELL A HADES/PERSEPHONE RETELLING (it’s not).
Yeah, they got married—but she agreed to it. Yeah, he’s misunderstood, hates almost everyone else except his girl—but that applies to nearly all the assholes L.J. has ever written. If these are the reasons why The Villain qualifies as a Hades/Persephone retelling, then The Kiss Thief and Sparrow are technically Hades/Persephone retellings too—but they’re not.
And then there were the random references sprinkled throughout the book. Here are a couple examples:
And:
Please stop, the Hades/Persephone references are so out of place and forced. The best thing about reading retellings is recognizing the parallels for yourself. And the fact that the “similarities” were told throughout the story, and not shown, made the retelling even less convincing.
I will admit though, this Icarus analogy was top tier and made a lot more sense than the retelling ever did. I wish L.J. had advertised this setup instead. I think I would’ve liked this book so much more if she had. Then again, I don’t think many people know the story of Icarus compared to Hades and Persephone, so it’s a good marketing strategy on her part, but it’s false advertisement imo.
[Edit: the Icarus analogy was actually taken—verbatim, without any reference—from David Jones's Love and Space Dust (2014). Also, this passage: "Sam always says, a child who is not loved by his village will burn it down to feel its warmth" is another example of plagiarism. Why write, "Sam always says," as if he was the one who came up with it? L.J. could have easily said, "There is an African proverb that says..."]
FINAL VERDICT :
I was originally team KillBelle. But after reading this, I thought that Cillian and Persy actually paired really well together. There were a lot of excellent moments: her standing up to him, all the while being the softness and light he never knew he craved; him having a garden inspired by her, making a cloud for her, etc. But a lot of things fell short for me, and other things I just couldn’t overlook.
Overall, this was an okay read. There were some really great scenes/lines, but I was never really moved by the romance. It was better than The Hunter, I’ll give it that. I thought a three star rating was a little high and a two stars was a little low. But after reading about the less than desirable experiences readers and small authors had with the street team (and still no official statement from said street team), I went with the latter rating.
Anywho, I’m not very confident in the next book. Sam is giving me the psychopathic killer vibes that I love, but Aisling pining for him for 8+ years while he blatantly ignores her at every turn? Haha, um…
__________________
12/4/20: Excuse me while I buckle under the weight of seven months' worth of disappointment, baiting, and mind games. 😔
__________________
5/11/20: I swear to god, if this book is not about Cillian and Emmabelle, I’ll be furious. I already want Belle to go femme fatale on Cillian’s ass and bring him to his KNEES.
In the end, I wasted the Cloud Wish in one, reckless moment.
On a doomed desire, a stupid crush, an unrequited lover.
On the man every media outlet in America referred to as The Villain.
On Cillian Fitzpatrick.
I’ll admit I underestimated Persy on the day of the blurb/cover reveal. From what we saw in The Hunter, I really thought she wasn’t going to be anything more than a naïve, timid girl. But the girl we got actually had the kind of backbone I never anticipated. She never caved where it mattered most, and I loved every scene where she stood up to Cillian. And ugh, I am so soft for heroines who are good with children/animals (it’s because I believe they have good intuition when it comes to people). She’s a sweetheart.
There were actually some funny things I laughed out loud at too. Like Cillian saying, ”What I need is siring heirs. At least one male. A couple of others for appearance and backup.” This is the kind of nonchalance/dry humor I crack up at, and Cillian delivered it in spades (most of the time). Also, the fact that he’s been secretly obsessed with Persy for eight years was such a pleasant surprise (unrequited love is one of my least favorite tropes). And I enjoyed the scenes where everyone was together, the group banter was great.
Now, let’s get on to my major dislikes—and there’s a lot. Just remember that this is subjective, and I personally couldn’t vibe with this book for these reasons:
MIND GAMES & BAITING
I won’t go in depth for this one. If you want details, they’re all in my comments below. Just know that the author and her team are less transparent than a brick wall and have a cult mentality.
WE GET IT, YOU LIVE IN THE 21ST CENTURY.
I’d lost the self-possession I’d clung to like a desperate Belieber meeting her tattooed, acne-ridden hero and came apart.
Cillian, a thirty-eight-year-old man, really just compared himself to a Belieber. On the brink of an orgasm. I’ve seen multiple heroes say something along the lines, “she makes me feel like a teenage boy” when the heroine makes the hero flustered. But a Belieber? During sex?
L.J. Shen is the only writer that I know who drops pop culture references this frequently and in the weirdest places. And it’s becoming more and more apparent with her releases. And it’s even worse now because all the characters are at least in their late twenties/thirties, and the lingo... it’s so cringey and it was done constantly. Shakespeare was right about doing things in moderation, sorry.
WE GET IT, YOU’RE AN ASSHOLE.
If there’s one thing the betas/arc readers were right about, it was that Cillian is worse than Vicious, Troy, Célian, and Wolfe combined—but not in a good way.
If you’ve read The Hunter, we all know that Sailor struggled accepting her looks. But in the end, everyone—most importantly her—recognized her unconventional beauty. Cillian even called her a “redheaded beauty.” But now eight years later, Cillian is back to calling her “average-looking” and a “six-year-old scrawny boy who had an extra serving of Brussels sprouts.” Yup, let’s reverse the progress from the first book just to remind everyone what an asshole he is!
And there was so much push and pull between Cillian and Persy—to the point where I asked myself, “When were they ever really together? When did they ever sit down and really talk?” And now knowing that Cillian always had feelings for Persy, why did this mf roll Persy over with the tip of his foot and take his time when she was poisoned?
And I thought the grovel was no where near enough. It was just one note, one text, and he made a cloud for her (which was cute—but again, not enough). It doesn’t compare to L.J.’s other heroes like Vicious who groveled for months and walked Emilia home everyday, Célian who left Post-it notes in Jude's desk frequently and was always in her presence, etc. And that’s the main problem, I needed Cillian to be in Persy’s presence physically during that separation. Persy had already spent enough time by herself during their marriage, why spend even more time apart where it mattered most?
Another reason why Cillian is the worst kind of asshole:
WE GET IT, YOU THINK SHE’S A WHORE.
The amount of times Persy was compared to Belle—her sister, who’s also getting her own book and was dragged in the process...
Cillian CONSTANTLY went out of his way to describe how crass and obnoxious he thought Belle was—just to validate his relationship with Persy. Continuously putting down one sister in favor of the other is bad taste and unnecessary. Saying humiliating things about her? Like how she’s easy because she enjoys sex and has “seen more dick than a train station urinal”? It’s not fucking cute. Plus, it really bothered me that Persy never defended her sister, who clearly played the protective, older sister during her entire life.
On top of that, L.J. kinda made Belle into a caricature and a cliché bad bitch. Some authors can’t write sexually experienced heroines without them sounding over-the-top and forced, and I’m afraid L.J. might be one of them.
Belle is her first confident, sexually experienced, soon-to-be heroine. And she destroyed some of her potential by making her a little too tacky, slut-shaming the hell out of her in the Cillian’s POV, etc. BUT, I’m still holding out for her, and I really hope L.J. does her justice because Belle was a great character in a lot of her scenes. Take this for example:
“I’m always brazen,” Belle corrected. “But when it comes to putting assholes in their place, I’m also gleeful about it.”
And:
“Well, maybe it’s time to tell her how you feel.” Belle stood, scooping her bag and hurling it over her shoulder. “You’ve been apologizing for the wrong thing the entire time. Persephone didn’t leave you because you’re an asshole. Heck, I’m sure it’s half of your charm. She left you because she thinks you’re incapable of feeling. Prove her wrong.”
If L.J. focuses on THIS Belle in the next two books—the one who’s caring, independent, and cunning without the overexaggerated millennial/Gen-Z speak—then maybe there's a win for me somewhere in this series.
WE GET IT, YOU’RE TRYING TO SELL A HADES/PERSEPHONE RETELLING (it’s not).
Yeah, they got married—but she agreed to it. Yeah, he’s misunderstood, hates almost everyone else except his girl—but that applies to nearly all the assholes L.J. has ever written. If these are the reasons why The Villain qualifies as a Hades/Persephone retelling, then The Kiss Thief and Sparrow are technically Hades/Persephone retellings too—but they’re not.
And then there were the random references sprinkled throughout the book. Here are a couple examples:
I will unleash my three-headed hounds on you—a Hades reference, in case it escaped your bird-sized brain—no matter where you are.
And:
“Persephone!” [Hunter] clasped harder.
“Loved!” [Hunter] shook me by the neck.
“Hades!”
Please stop, the Hades/Persephone references are so out of place and forced. The best thing about reading retellings is recognizing the parallels for yourself. And the fact that the “similarities” were told throughout the story, and not shown, made the retelling even less convincing.
“I didn’t drag you down a dark path. You pulled me into the light. Helpless, I followed. Blindly, I got burned. I am Icarus.” The clock hit five. Our sixty minutes were up. The alarm on my phone beeped to tell me so, but I smacked the side button to silence it. “I love you as he loved the sun. Too close. Too hard. Too fast.”
I will admit though, this Icarus analogy was top tier and made a lot more sense than the retelling ever did. I wish L.J. had advertised this setup instead. I think I would’ve liked this book so much more if she had. Then again, I don’t think many people know the story of Icarus compared to Hades and Persephone, so it’s a good marketing strategy on her part, but it’s false advertisement imo.
[Edit: the Icarus analogy was actually taken—verbatim, without any reference—from David Jones's Love and Space Dust (2014). Also, this passage: "Sam always says, a child who is not loved by his village will burn it down to feel its warmth" is another example of plagiarism. Why write, "Sam always says," as if he was the one who came up with it? L.J. could have easily said, "There is an African proverb that says..."]
FINAL VERDICT :
I was originally team KillBelle. But after reading this, I thought that Cillian and Persy actually paired really well together. There were a lot of excellent moments: her standing up to him, all the while being the softness and light he never knew he craved; him having a garden inspired by her, making a cloud for her, etc. But a lot of things fell short for me, and other things I just couldn’t overlook.
Overall, this was an okay read. There were some really great scenes/lines, but I was never really moved by the romance. It was better than The Hunter, I’ll give it that. I thought a three star rating was a little high and a two stars was a little low. But after reading about the less than desirable experiences readers and small authors had with the street team (and still no official statement from said street team), I went with the latter rating.
Anywho, I’m not very confident in the next book. Sam is giving me the psychopathic killer vibes that I love, but Aisling pining for him for 8+ years while he blatantly ignores her at every turn? Haha, um…
__________________
12/4/20: Excuse me while I buckle under the weight of seven months' worth of disappointment, baiting, and mind games. 😔
__________________
5/11/20: I swear to god, if this book is not about Cillian and Emmabelle, I’ll be furious. I already want Belle to go femme fatale on Cillian’s ass and bring him to his KNEES.
December 16, 2020
***AVAILABLE NOW - FULL REVIEW***
5 Scarred Heart CROWNS
GAH! The Villain has taken over The Hunter, and I’m not even sorry about it. This hero, while apathetic and depraved, stole my heart. The heroine is absolutely PERFECT for him, and, once again, L.J. Shen has a delivered a novel that exemplifies that love is a transformative and beautiful part of life, even if the process to get there is fraught with turmoil.
Cillian is flawed perfection. He is as cold and calculating as we hoped he would be, but what I really loved is the why behind it. I never expected it from Shen, and I live for the unexpected. The motivation behind his actions, the reason for his callousness is original, and the way she wove it seamlessly into the plot only serves to make me love the overall story even more.
Persephone couldn’t have been more perfect for this hero. She is tough when she needs to be and soft when it is required. Her compassion and heart is her biggest strength. No one could have done for our hero what she did for him. I loved her, every single part of her. She has a backbone of steal with a heart so pure.
Their chemistry is superb - the push and pull and the all the angst. Their physical chemistry is some of the hottest we have seen from LJ Shen. The evolution of their relationship is so much more than just physical, it is a tiny component of who these two come to be because of the way they love each other. They both transform because they want to be better for each other.
I truly love this story. The secondary plot line woven through the romance is complimentary and added another layer, making this so much more than a standard romance (I can’t say more for spoiler reasons). The Villain still has all the signature attributes of a Shen novel, though - the humor, the swoon worthy moments, the steam, and the symbolic elements. And that HEA? It was worth every moment of angst this story puts you through.
The Villain is another consuming read, and, if I’m being honest, the Boston Belles world is rivaling the SOS world for me. I love the decadence of the society, the angst of each story, the romance, the symbolism, the cast of flawed characters who deny love or are on the search for it, and this couple gave us all of the above. It was an unexpected journey that tore my heart apart in the best possible away.
Early ARC review
I cannot wait to see what LJ has in story for us for The Monster and The Rake.
5 Scarred Heart CROWNS
GAH! The Villain has taken over The Hunter, and I’m not even sorry about it. This hero, while apathetic and depraved, stole my heart. The heroine is absolutely PERFECT for him, and, once again, L.J. Shen has a delivered a novel that exemplifies that love is a transformative and beautiful part of life, even if the process to get there is fraught with turmoil.
Cillian is flawed perfection. He is as cold and calculating as we hoped he would be, but what I really loved is the why behind it. I never expected it from Shen, and I live for the unexpected. The motivation behind his actions, the reason for his callousness is original, and the way she wove it seamlessly into the plot only serves to make me love the overall story even more.
Persephone couldn’t have been more perfect for this hero. She is tough when she needs to be and soft when it is required. Her compassion and heart is her biggest strength. No one could have done for our hero what she did for him. I loved her, every single part of her. She has a backbone of steal with a heart so pure.
Their chemistry is superb - the push and pull and the all the angst. Their physical chemistry is some of the hottest we have seen from LJ Shen. The evolution of their relationship is so much more than just physical, it is a tiny component of who these two come to be because of the way they love each other. They both transform because they want to be better for each other.
I truly love this story. The secondary plot line woven through the romance is complimentary and added another layer, making this so much more than a standard romance (I can’t say more for spoiler reasons). The Villain still has all the signature attributes of a Shen novel, though - the humor, the swoon worthy moments, the steam, and the symbolic elements. And that HEA? It was worth every moment of angst this story puts you through.
The Villain is another consuming read, and, if I’m being honest, the Boston Belles world is rivaling the SOS world for me. I love the decadence of the society, the angst of each story, the romance, the symbolism, the cast of flawed characters who deny love or are on the search for it, and this couple gave us all of the above. It was an unexpected journey that tore my heart apart in the best possible away.
Early ARC review
I cannot wait to see what LJ has in story for us for The Monster and The Rake.
December 16, 2020
Just when you think Leigh Shen can't top The Hunter in the Boston Belles series, she turns around and drops The Villain as the EPIC MIC DROP on a truly phenomenal year of writing. Cillian Fitzpatrick is powerful and captivating! THERE IS NO ONE BETTER THAN HIM!! This is L.J. Shen at her BEST!! Pure Brilliant and Ingenious Perfection!!! Bravo!!
Cillian and Persephone are nothing short of magnificent together! Their banter and connection are combustible and jump right off the pages. The fiery heat and attraction between them is only rivaled by the unparalleled emotional depth of these characters. Persephone is the Queen that Cillian never knew that he needed but always wanted. She is the air he needs to live and breathe and has always been the only thing to make him feel the beating of his own heart. I love everything about them both and applaud Shen once again for drafting characters that seep into our hearts and souls and never find their way out. This is THE 2020 Book of The Year! BRAVO! 6 stars! ~Ratula
Cillian and Persephone are nothing short of magnificent together! Their banter and connection are combustible and jump right off the pages. The fiery heat and attraction between them is only rivaled by the unparalleled emotional depth of these characters. Persephone is the Queen that Cillian never knew that he needed but always wanted. She is the air he needs to live and breathe and has always been the only thing to make him feel the beating of his own heart. I love everything about them both and applaud Shen once again for drafting characters that seep into our hearts and souls and never find their way out. This is THE 2020 Book of The Year! BRAVO! 6 stars! ~Ratula
December 3, 2020
Hands down the best book of this year!
I can’t even begin to describe how brilliant The Villain is. This is a flawless cut above the elite bundle of precious novels I hold dear. The grit and passion bleed from the pages. Our hero is a battle of his own—intense and riveting. He’s the definition of love to hate. This author’s addictive prose is unmatchable. Effortless yet extremely complex. Consider my mind effectively blown.
The queen of angst has slayed me once again—no surprise. No one writes romance like LJ Shen. This is a book I’ll never get tired of reading.
An explosion of unrequited love, clashing personalities, destructive secrets, and raw power meant to destroy for all others. FAVORITE READ OF 2020!
I can’t even begin to describe how brilliant The Villain is. This is a flawless cut above the elite bundle of precious novels I hold dear. The grit and passion bleed from the pages. Our hero is a battle of his own—intense and riveting. He’s the definition of love to hate. This author’s addictive prose is unmatchable. Effortless yet extremely complex. Consider my mind effectively blown.
The queen of angst has slayed me once again—no surprise. No one writes romance like LJ Shen. This is a book I’ll never get tired of reading.
An explosion of unrequited love, clashing personalities, destructive secrets, and raw power meant to destroy for all others. FAVORITE READ OF 2020!
December 17, 2020
5 STARS
No one, and I mean NO ONE writes a true alphahole quite like LJ Shen. And she seriously outdid herself with The Villain. Because this alphahole? GOD. I loved to hate him and hated to love him and just plain wanted to have his babies. What? I like my fictional men mean, ok? Like MEAN. Gah. Makes my ovaries go all aflutter.
Nothing will prepare you for the delicious angst ride of this romance. It was heart wrenchingly good and tear your hair our frustrating. An unputdownable and mesmerizing story from beginning to finish. It hurt so good that I never wanted it to end. It was everything I adore about Shen's books and so much more.
Now if you know me or follow my reviews, you know that I love my heroes mean. Like so mean it makes me want to punch them while also wanting to have their babies mean. And Cillian? The man is cold, calculating, unfeeling, and blunt to the point of rudeness.
Now allow me to address the elephant in the room.
*cough*
Persephone
*cough*
When I tell you that she couldn't have been a better heroine for Cillian, I mean she couldn't have been more perfect for him. She was perfection. Seeing her growth throughout the book from infatuated belle to a woman that really stands up for herself and what she deserves was deliciously satisfying. And seeing Cillian unwittingly fall for her, even more so.
The tension was absolute perfection. What I simply adore in Shen's books is her ability to really stay true to her characters while giving them so much heart. This was the epitome of Kill for me. The man is calculated and unfeeling, yet you see him slowly thaw for the woman he never saw coming. His fall is realistic and it makes it that much more satisfying. I thought I loved Hunter, but that was nothing in comparison to my feelings for Cillian and Persephone. This book was everything I hoped for and nothing I expected. A flawed hero, a blooming wallflower that comes into her own heroine, and a love that is absolutely EPIC. I loved this HARD.
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It's never too late to change the name of the prince in your story. Just as long as you don't end up with the villain."
No one, and I mean NO ONE writes a true alphahole quite like LJ Shen. And she seriously outdid herself with The Villain. Because this alphahole? GOD. I loved to hate him and hated to love him and just plain wanted to have his babies. What? I like my fictional men mean, ok? Like MEAN. Gah. Makes my ovaries go all aflutter.
Nothing will prepare you for the delicious angst ride of this romance. It was heart wrenchingly good and tear your hair our frustrating. An unputdownable and mesmerizing story from beginning to finish. It hurt so good that I never wanted it to end. It was everything I adore about Shen's books and so much more.
Now if you know me or follow my reviews, you know that I love my heroes mean. Like so mean it makes me want to punch them while also wanting to have their babies mean. And Cillian? The man is cold, calculating, unfeeling, and blunt to the point of rudeness.
Now allow me to address the elephant in the room.
*cough*
Persephone
*cough*
When I tell you that she couldn't have been a better heroine for Cillian, I mean she couldn't have been more perfect for him. She was perfection. Seeing her growth throughout the book from infatuated belle to a woman that really stands up for herself and what she deserves was deliciously satisfying. And seeing Cillian unwittingly fall for her, even more so.
The tension was absolute perfection. What I simply adore in Shen's books is her ability to really stay true to her characters while giving them so much heart. This was the epitome of Kill for me. The man is calculated and unfeeling, yet you see him slowly thaw for the woman he never saw coming. His fall is realistic and it makes it that much more satisfying. I thought I loved Hunter, but that was nothing in comparison to my feelings for Cillian and Persephone. This book was everything I hoped for and nothing I expected. A flawed hero, a blooming wallflower that comes into her own heroine, and a love that is absolutely EPIC. I loved this HARD.
beta read
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December 11, 2020
"Cillain was a dirty lullaby, inviting me to sink into his claws and nestle in his darkness..."
Yes, my friends, this is the kind of emotions we are dealing with. I am still chasing the high from finishing the book an hour ago. An hour that I needed to reign my emotions and to tell you that this book is special.
I am a fan of Greek mythology, and the fact this book is peppered with bits of it, makes my Hades loving heart bleed with passion.
I am tearing up just remembering the important bits and pieces of this story and the power it has. It has so many wonderful messages that I can't imagine anyone being able to convey more eloquently that Leigh herself. I am in awe and in love at the same time.
If you need one reason to pick this story up and surrender to its lush pages, let that reason be Persephone Penrose, a queen that made me adore her from the first page. This heroine is one of the bests Leigh has ever created. She is a force, steady and true, that flame that lights up and warm you from inside out. She is brave and soft, a true goddess of spring and wraith to match her tortured Hades in their underground kingdom. Everything this queen did made me prouder and prouder of her. She is a goddess!!
And if you need even stronger reason to read this gem, read it for CILLAIN FITZPATRICK, my Hades, my poisonous king who stole my heart, shattered it and mend it all together, leaving me breathless. EMOTIONS, FEELS FEELS FEELS.
To Persy and Kill, to Persy and Kill and to the lone cloud that grants our wishes....
Yes, my friends, this is the kind of emotions we are dealing with. I am still chasing the high from finishing the book an hour ago. An hour that I needed to reign my emotions and to tell you that this book is special.
I am a fan of Greek mythology, and the fact this book is peppered with bits of it, makes my Hades loving heart bleed with passion.
I am tearing up just remembering the important bits and pieces of this story and the power it has. It has so many wonderful messages that I can't imagine anyone being able to convey more eloquently that Leigh herself. I am in awe and in love at the same time.
If you need one reason to pick this story up and surrender to its lush pages, let that reason be Persephone Penrose, a queen that made me adore her from the first page. This heroine is one of the bests Leigh has ever created. She is a force, steady and true, that flame that lights up and warm you from inside out. She is brave and soft, a true goddess of spring and wraith to match her tortured Hades in their underground kingdom. Everything this queen did made me prouder and prouder of her. She is a goddess!!
And if you need even stronger reason to read this gem, read it for CILLAIN FITZPATRICK, my Hades, my poisonous king who stole my heart, shattered it and mend it all together, leaving me breathless. EMOTIONS, FEELS FEELS FEELS.
To Persy and Kill, to Persy and Kill and to the lone cloud that grants our wishes....
December 13, 2020
❂ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐍 • 𝐋.𝐉. 𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐍 (𝐁𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐒 #𝟐) ❂
“𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐬.” — 𝐓𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭, 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 - 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞
Cillain Fitzpatrick and Persephone Penrose give this greek myth a twist that is unique, powerful and deeply moving.
A woman who knows what she wants and a man who doesn’t ever allow himself to want anyone or anything.
“𝐌𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞. 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.”
I fell for Kill in The Hunter and dedicated the next 7-8 months of my life to him. I knew I was going to love him even more and more as I read about him but...I never expected to feel his pain my soul. He’s become THE hero for me from this point forward and I don’t think anyone can ever take his place in my heart. Never.
Persy was unexpected. Regal grace, hopeless naïveté and a spine of steel that steers this love story on the track that she desperately wanted and craved. Her character was totally new to me, I was blindsided for a second there. She absorbed Kill’s cruelty and all the hurt he gave her and returned it full force in her style — which ended up bringing the Emperor to his senses. (Kill doesn’t do knees. Sorry.)
I don’t have a lot of words to share because imprinted on my heart are emotions I cant name and feelings I can’t describe but one thing is certain: L.J. Shen served. So fucking well.
I can’t end this review without talking about Sailor Brennan, Hunter Fitzpatrick, Sam Brennan, Aisling Fitzpatrick, Belle Penrose and a certain man...*wink*
The friendships...the bonds...the sense of unity and belonging. Staggering. Wholesome. Emotional. Poignant. Pure. I can’t put into words how I felt when all the boys and the girls were in ONE room.
Sam Brennan, oh Holy God?! If The Monster is his book...then I need it right now and the wait might just be worse than the one I had to endure for Cillian. Sailor and Hunter were the best, seeing them happy and thriving made me SMILE till it hurt. Crumbs of Aisling’s character had me totally rooting for her in her quest to...well, read to find out.
A separate little thank you for Ms Emmabelle Penrose, my forever favourite girl. My spirit animal. A strong, defiant, no-bullshit, rebellious, independent and absolutely fucking amazing woman who is not just inspirational and admirable but is the true embodiment of a 21st Century woman who writes her own fate. I fell in love with her all over again and I can’t wait for her book.
The Boston Belles Series is indeed decadent, dripping with luxury and is filled with all the tropes that make up a perfect read. The next book The Monster comes out in 2021 and rumour has it that it’s already written — can I wait for it? Simply no. Gimme it, NOW!
“𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐬.” — 𝐓𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭, 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 - 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞
Cillain Fitzpatrick and Persephone Penrose give this greek myth a twist that is unique, powerful and deeply moving.
A woman who knows what she wants and a man who doesn’t ever allow himself to want anyone or anything.
“𝐌𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞. 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.”
I fell for Kill in The Hunter and dedicated the next 7-8 months of my life to him. I knew I was going to love him even more and more as I read about him but...I never expected to feel his pain my soul. He’s become THE hero for me from this point forward and I don’t think anyone can ever take his place in my heart. Never.
Persy was unexpected. Regal grace, hopeless naïveté and a spine of steel that steers this love story on the track that she desperately wanted and craved. Her character was totally new to me, I was blindsided for a second there. She absorbed Kill’s cruelty and all the hurt he gave her and returned it full force in her style — which ended up bringing the Emperor to his senses. (Kill doesn’t do knees. Sorry.)
I don’t have a lot of words to share because imprinted on my heart are emotions I cant name and feelings I can’t describe but one thing is certain: L.J. Shen served. So fucking well.
I can’t end this review without talking about Sailor Brennan, Hunter Fitzpatrick, Sam Brennan, Aisling Fitzpatrick, Belle Penrose and a certain man...*wink*
The friendships...the bonds...the sense of unity and belonging. Staggering. Wholesome. Emotional. Poignant. Pure. I can’t put into words how I felt when all the boys and the girls were in ONE room.
Sam Brennan, oh Holy God?! If The Monster is his book...then I need it right now and the wait might just be worse than the one I had to endure for Cillian. Sailor and Hunter were the best, seeing them happy and thriving made me SMILE till it hurt. Crumbs of Aisling’s character had me totally rooting for her in her quest to...well, read to find out.
A separate little thank you for Ms Emmabelle Penrose, my forever favourite girl. My spirit animal. A strong, defiant, no-bullshit, rebellious, independent and absolutely fucking amazing woman who is not just inspirational and admirable but is the true embodiment of a 21st Century woman who writes her own fate. I fell in love with her all over again and I can’t wait for her book.
The Boston Belles Series is indeed decadent, dripping with luxury and is filled with all the tropes that make up a perfect read. The next book The Monster comes out in 2021 and rumour has it that it’s already written — can I wait for it? Simply no. Gimme it, NOW!
November 30, 2020
This is exactly what 2020 needed to end on an up note. A beautifully written romance with amazing characters and a story that will stay with me forever! L.J. Shen once again left me speechless! Every inch of my heart belongs to this hero and this couple is one of my forever favorites.
Here's what I loved:
The characters! More to come...
The story is, as always with an LJ Shen novel, expressive, evocative, and well structured. The story flows well as the reader is scooped up into the action unfolding on the page. Adulting while reading was definitely a problem for me. I did not want to put it down!!
This book is stunningly perfect! I hope your hearts and minds are ready for this epicness!! I highly recommend you one click and read this baby as soon as you can!
Full review to come....
For more of my reviews:
My Blog: Book Twins Reviews
Facebook Blog Page
Twitter
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Here's what I loved:
The characters! More to come...
The story is, as always with an LJ Shen novel, expressive, evocative, and well structured. The story flows well as the reader is scooped up into the action unfolding on the page. Adulting while reading was definitely a problem for me. I did not want to put it down!!
This book is stunningly perfect! I hope your hearts and minds are ready for this epicness!! I highly recommend you one click and read this baby as soon as you can!
Full review to come....
For more of my reviews:
My Blog: Book Twins Reviews
Facebook Blog Page
Subscribe to Blog
December 16, 2020
ENGLISH/SPANISH VERSION
The Villain is absolutely brilliant, heartbreakingly beautiful, it consumed me from the first lines and I couldn't put it down a single second, is a magnificent story, and a TOP READ 2020!
Persy needs Cillian's help to get out of the mess her husband left her in, and Cillian offers to help her in exchange for her freedom, I loved the push and pull between them, the way Persy stands up to Cillian, and Cillian and his sarcasm, hahahahaha, was incomparable.
Cillian, *sigh*, I went from hate to love with him through the whole story, he's worse than Vicious, Troy and Celian combined, he dethroned to all them, so cold, so cruel, so ruthless, but as the story progresses, we see layers and layers in his personality, and as the chapters go by, my feelings changed, and I fell in love with him. Persy, omg, she is my favorite heroine to date, so loyal, so brave, fierce AF, sassy, and so passionate, even though she is sweet and has a pure heart, her inner strength is everything, she fights so hard for those she loves, I die of love for her!!!
Their connection is so intense, sparks fly between them every time they are together, my Tablet almost makes spontaneous combustion, and their banter is off the charts, still give me goosebumps from just remembering, pure magic, fire and feeling. THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE COUPLES EVER!
With this story LJ reaches new heights, is epic and captivating, so intense and perfect, a masterpiece that gave me all the feelings, I have the biggest smile on my face! My heart exploded in my chest a thousand times, I went from laughing to crying to sighing from one paragraph to another. I’m unhealthy obsessed with this series and characters! Get ready for an unforgettable story that will captivate you like no other !
Versión en español
The Villain es absolutamente brillante, desgarradoramente hermoso, me consumió desde las primeras líneas y no pude dejarlo ni un solo segundo, es una magnífica historia, ¡y un TOP READ 2020!
Persy necesita la ayuda de Cillian para salir del lío en el que su esposo la dejó, y Cillian se ofrece a ayudarla a cambio de su libertad, me encantó el tira y afloja entre ellos, la forma en que Persy se enfrenta a Cillian y Cillian y su sarcasmo, jajajajaja, fue incomparable.
Cillian, *suspira*, pasé del odio al amor con él a lo largo de toda la historia, es peor que Vicious, Troy y Celian juntos, los destronó a todos, tan frío, tan cruel, tan despiadado, pero conforme avanza la historia avanza, vemos capas y capas en su personalidad y, a medida que pasan los capítulos, mis sentimientos cambiaron y me enamoré de él.
Persy, Dios mío, es mi heroína favorita hasta la fecha, tan leal, tan valiente, tan fiera y apasionada, aunque es dulce y tiene un corazón puro, su fuerza interior lo es todo, ella lucha tanto por los que ama, muero de amor por ella !!!
Su conexión es tan intensa, las chispas vuelan entre ellos cada vez que están juntos, mi Tableta casi hace una combustión espontánea, todavía me ponen la piel de gallina con solo recordar, pura magia, fuego y sentimiento. Esta es una de mis personajes favoritos de todos los tiempos
Con esta historia LJ alcanza nuevas alturas, es épica y cautivadora, tan intensa y perfecta, una obra maestra que me dio todas las sensaciones, ¡tengo la sonrisa más grande en mi rostro! Mi corazón estalló en mi pecho mil veces, pasé de reír a llorar a suspirar de un párrafo a otro. ¡Estoy obsesionada con esta serie y sus personajes! ¡Prepárate para una historia inolvidable que te cautivará como ninguna otra!
The Villain is absolutely brilliant, heartbreakingly beautiful, it consumed me from the first lines and I couldn't put it down a single second, is a magnificent story, and a TOP READ 2020!
Persy needs Cillian's help to get out of the mess her husband left her in, and Cillian offers to help her in exchange for her freedom, I loved the push and pull between them, the way Persy stands up to Cillian, and Cillian and his sarcasm, hahahahaha, was incomparable.
Cillian, *sigh*, I went from hate to love with him through the whole story, he's worse than Vicious, Troy and Celian combined, he dethroned to all them, so cold, so cruel, so ruthless, but as the story progresses, we see layers and layers in his personality, and as the chapters go by, my feelings changed, and I fell in love with him. Persy, omg, she is my favorite heroine to date, so loyal, so brave, fierce AF, sassy, and so passionate, even though she is sweet and has a pure heart, her inner strength is everything, she fights so hard for those she loves, I die of love for her!!!
Their connection is so intense, sparks fly between them every time they are together, my Tablet almost makes spontaneous combustion, and their banter is off the charts, still give me goosebumps from just remembering, pure magic, fire and feeling. THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE COUPLES EVER!
With this story LJ reaches new heights, is epic and captivating, so intense and perfect, a masterpiece that gave me all the feelings, I have the biggest smile on my face! My heart exploded in my chest a thousand times, I went from laughing to crying to sighing from one paragraph to another. I’m unhealthy obsessed with this series and characters! Get ready for an unforgettable story that will captivate you like no other !
Versión en español
The Villain es absolutamente brillante, desgarradoramente hermoso, me consumió desde las primeras líneas y no pude dejarlo ni un solo segundo, es una magnífica historia, ¡y un TOP READ 2020!
Persy necesita la ayuda de Cillian para salir del lío en el que su esposo la dejó, y Cillian se ofrece a ayudarla a cambio de su libertad, me encantó el tira y afloja entre ellos, la forma en que Persy se enfrenta a Cillian y Cillian y su sarcasmo, jajajajaja, fue incomparable.
Cillian, *suspira*, pasé del odio al amor con él a lo largo de toda la historia, es peor que Vicious, Troy y Celian juntos, los destronó a todos, tan frío, tan cruel, tan despiadado, pero conforme avanza la historia avanza, vemos capas y capas en su personalidad y, a medida que pasan los capítulos, mis sentimientos cambiaron y me enamoré de él.
Persy, Dios mío, es mi heroína favorita hasta la fecha, tan leal, tan valiente, tan fiera y apasionada, aunque es dulce y tiene un corazón puro, su fuerza interior lo es todo, ella lucha tanto por los que ama, muero de amor por ella !!!
Su conexión es tan intensa, las chispas vuelan entre ellos cada vez que están juntos, mi Tableta casi hace una combustión espontánea, todavía me ponen la piel de gallina con solo recordar, pura magia, fuego y sentimiento. Esta es una de mis personajes favoritos de todos los tiempos
Con esta historia LJ alcanza nuevas alturas, es épica y cautivadora, tan intensa y perfecta, una obra maestra que me dio todas las sensaciones, ¡tengo la sonrisa más grande en mi rostro! Mi corazón estalló en mi pecho mil veces, pasé de reír a llorar a suspirar de un párrafo a otro. ¡Estoy obsesionada con esta serie y sus personajes! ¡Prepárate para una historia inolvidable que te cautivará como ninguna otra!
November 3, 2020
This book was everything I love, need, want, and more. It's perfect! There were some moments where my heart was hurting so bad. It hit me right in the feels. Got teary eyes a few times. There were moments where I laughed so much also. The love story was epic!!
The hero and the heroine...I LOVE!!!! This new couple just became my favorite LJ couple. You guys are not ready for this book. I thought I was, but I was not. It totally blew me away. Ugh. I read it twice already and now I want to reread it again. Definitely top read of 2020! The GOOD THING OF 2020!!!
The hero and the heroine...I LOVE!!!! This new couple just became my favorite LJ couple. You guys are not ready for this book. I thought I was, but I was not. It totally blew me away. Ugh. I read it twice already and now I want to reread it again. Definitely top read of 2020! The GOOD THING OF 2020!!!
December 18, 2020
** FULL 5 STAR REVIEW **
I know I sound redundant because I keep saying “this is Ms. Shen’s best book yet” with every new release, but she keeps upping her game y’all!
These characters were as EPIC as the storyline! Get ready for the second book in the Boston Belles series.
Cillian Fitzpatrick is cold and calculated in business and in life. He is every bit The Villain he is said to be, except when it comes to Persephone. There is a hefty price to pay for his help, but little does he know, he will get more than he bargained for. I am a sucker for heroes that are beautifully flawed and fall for the seemingly weak heroine when she turns out to be this bada** B that can take on the world with little effort. Kill and Persy are exactly that!
There is a lot of push and pull which I love, but the best, BEST, part was when Persy finally says enough and walks away and it’s up to Kill to do the chasing for once. Know your worth girl, YES!
I really liked their story and I am excitedly looking forward to the next book in this series!
I know I sound redundant because I keep saying “this is Ms. Shen’s best book yet” with every new release, but she keeps upping her game y’all!
These characters were as EPIC as the storyline! Get ready for the second book in the Boston Belles series.
Cillian Fitzpatrick is cold and calculated in business and in life. He is every bit The Villain he is said to be, except when it comes to Persephone. There is a hefty price to pay for his help, but little does he know, he will get more than he bargained for. I am a sucker for heroes that are beautifully flawed and fall for the seemingly weak heroine when she turns out to be this bada** B that can take on the world with little effort. Kill and Persy are exactly that!
There is a lot of push and pull which I love, but the best, BEST, part was when Persy finally says enough and walks away and it’s up to Kill to do the chasing for once. Know your worth girl, YES!
I really liked their story and I am excitedly looking forward to the next book in this series!
December 14, 2020
Once upon a cloud wish...
Each time you’re about to start a book you’ve anticipated for a long time, especially featuring a character that has you in thrall from the moment he was introduced on page, there’s some apprehension. Because try as you might, you have expectations and speculations and all the baggage that comes with those. But some authors have a direct line to your soul through their stories and characters. Because Ms. Shen just gave us the Hades-Persephone retelling of my dreams with this book, that I didn’t even know I wanted until recently when the blurb was revealed. It was addictive and I could not put it down until I’d turned the last page in the wee hours of the morning. Not a strict retelling by any means, it draws inspiration from some favorite elements from the myths, and that combined with the author’s flair for quippy one liners and pop culture references makes for her own unique take.
My love for Cillian was never in any doubt, even with his extraordinary alpha-holeness as seen in The Hunter; magnify it a few hundred times and you have his own book, with his POV. So I definitely wasn’t expecting any swoonage. But then we got just that. Swoon City. And it was all in the little things. That sociopathic asshole will make you want to smack him and give him a smacking kiss in equal measure. I came for his dominant king-of-the-world persona, and stayed for his unexpected vulnerability. The key to redeeming a massive asshole is always in the layers of the character; what’s his damage, what made him the way that he is. The author does incredible justice to robot-with-a-hollow-tin chest Kill’s evolution to broken and misunderstood hero who deserves to be loved, without letting him off easy. And to watch him catch a major case of the feels for Ms. Penrose (rather reluctantly) filled my heart with pure glee. Maybe I need help, but I love him with all my heart, body, and soul.
You’d think Persephone is a docile foil to Cillian’s Hades, but you’d be wrong. This is exactly why Shen brings outstanding heroines each time. One does not have to be one thing or the other; shy do-gooder or fearless warrior mama bear, woke feminist or hopeless romantic, Goddess of Spring or Queen of the Underworld; a woman can be all of it and live her best life. And Persy does this all with panache, a sunny disposition, and Killer wit (see what I did there).
Their love is a sprawling, epic tale of missed opportunities and heartache and buried secrets and fucked up familial ties. It is at once sexy and kinky and heartbreaking and mischievous and enduring. The banter of course, is 24 karat gold. If Hunter was a shot of sparkling champagne, The Villain is a dram of cognac, aged, heady, decadent, and sneakily intoxicating. We finally meet and get to know further, all the Belles and their future Beaus. Yes, even the debauched, dissolute, delicious Rake, who I already adore. Along with Belle and Sam and Aisling. Every single interaction within the group is zingy and full of crackling good times.
As promised, this series takes us into the glittering, gritty world of Boston royalty and staggering wealth. Of ball gowns and corsets and skeletons in the closets. As current as it is, this book also gives off a decadent historical fairy tale vibe, while also reminding me of the books that first got me reading romance, with fast friendships both male and female, and found families. The characters are older, wiser(?), more jaded, and therefore, all the more fun to witness in their luxurious habitats. The wait for the last two books in the series might just kill me, oh but what sweet agony it will be.
Each time you’re about to start a book you’ve anticipated for a long time, especially featuring a character that has you in thrall from the moment he was introduced on page, there’s some apprehension. Because try as you might, you have expectations and speculations and all the baggage that comes with those. But some authors have a direct line to your soul through their stories and characters. Because Ms. Shen just gave us the Hades-Persephone retelling of my dreams with this book, that I didn’t even know I wanted until recently when the blurb was revealed. It was addictive and I could not put it down until I’d turned the last page in the wee hours of the morning. Not a strict retelling by any means, it draws inspiration from some favorite elements from the myths, and that combined with the author’s flair for quippy one liners and pop culture references makes for her own unique take.
My love for Cillian was never in any doubt, even with his extraordinary alpha-holeness as seen in The Hunter; magnify it a few hundred times and you have his own book, with his POV. So I definitely wasn’t expecting any swoonage. But then we got just that. Swoon City. And it was all in the little things. That sociopathic asshole will make you want to smack him and give him a smacking kiss in equal measure. I came for his dominant king-of-the-world persona, and stayed for his unexpected vulnerability. The key to redeeming a massive asshole is always in the layers of the character; what’s his damage, what made him the way that he is. The author does incredible justice to robot-with-a-hollow-tin chest Kill’s evolution to broken and misunderstood hero who deserves to be loved, without letting him off easy. And to watch him catch a major case of the feels for Ms. Penrose (rather reluctantly) filled my heart with pure glee. Maybe I need help, but I love him with all my heart, body, and soul.
You’d think Persephone is a docile foil to Cillian’s Hades, but you’d be wrong. This is exactly why Shen brings outstanding heroines each time. One does not have to be one thing or the other; shy do-gooder or fearless warrior mama bear, woke feminist or hopeless romantic, Goddess of Spring or Queen of the Underworld; a woman can be all of it and live her best life. And Persy does this all with panache, a sunny disposition, and Killer wit (see what I did there).
Their love is a sprawling, epic tale of missed opportunities and heartache and buried secrets and fucked up familial ties. It is at once sexy and kinky and heartbreaking and mischievous and enduring. The banter of course, is 24 karat gold. If Hunter was a shot of sparkling champagne, The Villain is a dram of cognac, aged, heady, decadent, and sneakily intoxicating. We finally meet and get to know further, all the Belles and their future Beaus. Yes, even the debauched, dissolute, delicious Rake, who I already adore. Along with Belle and Sam and Aisling. Every single interaction within the group is zingy and full of crackling good times.
As promised, this series takes us into the glittering, gritty world of Boston royalty and staggering wealth. Of ball gowns and corsets and skeletons in the closets. As current as it is, this book also gives off a decadent historical fairy tale vibe, while also reminding me of the books that first got me reading romance, with fast friendships both male and female, and found families. The characters are older, wiser(?), more jaded, and therefore, all the more fun to witness in their luxurious habitats. The wait for the last two books in the series might just kill me, oh but what sweet agony it will be.
December 20, 2020
wow vicious and emilia look different here
Read
December 17, 2020i really enjoyed this! it was a bit predictable, but if you enjoyed Vicious or Angry God i don't see any reason why you wouldn't enjoy this.
i would really love to see an own voices review of the rep in this story tho! i had some complicated feelings re: rep.
---------------
nothing is doing it for me anymore, i need cillian to come and emotionally pulverize me
i would really love to see an own voices review of the rep in this story tho! i had some complicated feelings re: rep.
---------------
nothing is doing it for me anymore, i need cillian to come and emotionally pulverize me
December 6, 2020
"In the end, I wasted The Cloud Wish in one reckless moment. On a doomed desire, a stupid crush, an unrequited lover. On the man every media outlet in America referred to as The Villain. On Cillian Fitzpatrick."
Friends, it is no secret that I adore a good age gap, enemies-to-lovers romance, but Ms. Shen has truly outdone herself with The Villain. I became immediately enraptured by Cillian's character when I first met him in his brother's stand-alone, The Hunter, and when I was lucky enough to get my hands on an early copy, I devoured it as quickly as humanly possible. Where Hunter was a bit more on the humorous side, Kill's book is a much more serious, mature novel, full of dark themes and deep wells of emotion.
"Welcome to the dark side, Persephone. Leave your heart at the door."
If you've been waiting for the author to switch up her regular formula, welcome, because here is a new Leigh. In fact, I was so nervous during the first 25% due to this factor that it made the story all the more satisfying watching it play out. My heart is always with the tragic, misunderstood anti-heroes, and Cillian brings so many of the same vibes I received with Vicious that I truly believe this book will hold a special trance of nostalgia for long time readers of LJ's series and returning characters.
If you've read any books from Leigh before, then you know to expect a twist or two outside of the romance at hand, and this one has them in spades. No spoilers here, but there are a few side plots that contained subject matter near and dear to my heart, and Leigh wrote those scenes with such respect and care that I found myself tearing up. The romance between Kill and Persy isn't easy or instant, but what great love story is? This book gave me the sense of an epic, sweeping saga, one that shows a relationship building from the ground up. If you're in the market for a timely story that is as emotional as it is entertaining, don't sleep on this second installment in the Boston Belles series. Leigh has completely upped her game, and her writing here is so mature and approachable that she's finally caused Trent to make room in his number 1 spot for another leading character to reign alongside him.
P.S. The Rake is mine and I will fight any of you hussies who try to come for Mr. D**** W********.
*Many thanks to the author for providing my review copy.
Friends, it is no secret that I adore a good age gap, enemies-to-lovers romance, but Ms. Shen has truly outdone herself with The Villain. I became immediately enraptured by Cillian's character when I first met him in his brother's stand-alone, The Hunter, and when I was lucky enough to get my hands on an early copy, I devoured it as quickly as humanly possible. Where Hunter was a bit more on the humorous side, Kill's book is a much more serious, mature novel, full of dark themes and deep wells of emotion.
"Welcome to the dark side, Persephone. Leave your heart at the door."
If you've been waiting for the author to switch up her regular formula, welcome, because here is a new Leigh. In fact, I was so nervous during the first 25% due to this factor that it made the story all the more satisfying watching it play out. My heart is always with the tragic, misunderstood anti-heroes, and Cillian brings so many of the same vibes I received with Vicious that I truly believe this book will hold a special trance of nostalgia for long time readers of LJ's series and returning characters.
If you've read any books from Leigh before, then you know to expect a twist or two outside of the romance at hand, and this one has them in spades. No spoilers here, but there are a few side plots that contained subject matter near and dear to my heart, and Leigh wrote those scenes with such respect and care that I found myself tearing up. The romance between Kill and Persy isn't easy or instant, but what great love story is? This book gave me the sense of an epic, sweeping saga, one that shows a relationship building from the ground up. If you're in the market for a timely story that is as emotional as it is entertaining, don't sleep on this second installment in the Boston Belles series. Leigh has completely upped her game, and her writing here is so mature and approachable that she's finally caused Trent to make room in his number 1 spot for another leading character to reign alongside him.
P.S. The Rake is mine and I will fight any of you hussies who try to come for Mr. D**** W********.
*Many thanks to the author for providing my review copy.
April 20, 2021
today, i was in a bakery and i didn’t look at my favorite eclair bc, like Cillian, i don’t look at the things i want. so instead, i looked at an average cake, and you know what happened? the server asked me if i wanted that average cake, and bc i have excruciating social anxiety, i said YES.
now i’m crying while eating a depressingly average cake. fuck you, Cillian.
December 29, 2020
MY REVIEW AND OTHERS: can also be found on my blog:
➽ KITTY KATS CRAZY ABOUT BOOKS
THE VILLAIN: is the second full length romance book in the series 'Boston Belles', by L.J. Shen. Spoken in 'Dual Perspectives.'
❝ As you know clouds are more reliable than shooting stars. When the time comes, ask for something you really want-when you see a lone cloud in the sky. You only get one miracle Persephone, so be careful what you wish for.❞
As soon as this landed on my kindle, it was game over!! Life on hold, I even went to bed at an ungodly early hour just to stay in the zone, inhaling everything this author threw at me. Then it quickly became official that I am bypassing heaven and going straight to hell. This book, this 'villain' this author, brought her A-game, he was a true A-hole, one I didn't want to love but before I knew it he had me heart and soul. GAH!! This was exactly what I asked the book gods to give me!! And it was delivered in spades!! L.J. Shen did it again!!
❝ I'd kept my cloud wish for eleven years, harbouring it like a precious heirloom.
I wasted the cloud wish in one reckless moment.
On a doomed desire, a stupid crush, an unrequited lover.
On the man every media outlet in America referred to as the Villain. On Cillian Fitzpatrick. ❞ .
My emotions were similar to a washing machine on full cycle, topsy turvy, and inside out.
Cillian Fitzpatrick the most eligible bachelor in America was a cold and calculating business man which stemmed over into his life. But as we delve deeper chapter by chapter we see another side of him and it's a side that left me utterly breathless.
Persephone has been pining over Cillian for as long as she can remember, never to be reciprocated. She'd been obsessed with him, going so far as to comparing every guy she'd dated to the unattainable tycoon.
Her husband had accumulated a huge gambling debt of 'one hundred thousand dollars' whilst running off leaving her to somehow come up with the money, her measly pre-school teachers wage won't even make a dent in the money he'd ticked up.
Now she needs Cillian Fitzpatrick's help more than anything. But how far is she willing to go for her freedom?
She gave me an age gap romance, she gave me the angst, she gave me an A-hole to fall in love with, she gave me all the feels. This author has upped the anty and there is no holding her back!! This ticked all my boxes!!
Highly recommend!! 👍👍👍����👍
* Teaser used is off the authors facebook page *
December 22, 2020
Please check out these two reviews surrounding the drama about LJ Shen:
➛ Court's updates on author that have spoken up
➛ Ria's experiences with LJ & her team
SONG:
#1 The Hunter – 1.5 stars
#2 The Villain – 2.5 stars
After L.J. Shen's latest releases, I went into The Villain with the lowest of expecatations and maybe that's why this turned out better than I expected. For every new LJ book I need to read it for myself, because the ARC reviews? I have never seen so UNRELIABLE reviews. The way all they give are 5 stars and grasping for straws to say something good. This author could let a 7 year old write her books by drawing a dog and her Beta and ARC readers would be "BEST BOOK SHE HAS EVER WRITTEN" "LJ SHEN AT HER BEST" "SHE HAS OUTDONE HERSELF ONCE AGAIN".
Then I finish the book and i'm like
I feel blindsinded but what's new.
PLOT
Persephone married some fraud who has a gambling problem and has hundred thousand dollars of debts. After her husband ran away, she has to pick up the pieces. That means she either pays back the debt, whore herself out or she gets killed. Not wanting to burden her friends, Persy goes to Cillian to ask for a loan, but he denies and is not interested in a deal, cause she doen't have anything in return that would interest him. After some drama with Cillian family where his father demand him to get his own spawn or he would give away the company and everything the Fitzpatrick own to Hunter's baby, Cillian decides to take a wife and impregnant her. He makes a deal with Persy, but their marriage of convenience doesn't really start until 30% of the book, because there is a lot of back and forth with both sides refusing at first. While Persy and Cillian have this arranged marriage, there is a subplot of Cillian and his ex- best friend turn enemy Andrew going head to head trying to destroy each other.
WHAT I LIKED, DARE I SAY EVEN LOVED:
Vicious is one of LJ best books and that's the hill I will die on! Y'all can fight me as much as you want, but I stand by that statement. Ever since Vicious and let's be real it's the book that kickstarted LJ career, she tried to recreate another Vicious with every of her asshole alpha heroes, but most of the time she failed until Cillian Fitzpatrick came along.
Honestly, the reason and the ONLY reason why I somehow enjoyed this book (hence the 3 star rating) was because of Cillian. Cillian is basically a copy cat of Vicious and everyone was saying how he is so much worse than Vicious and to a degree I agree, because the things he said to Persephone are way worse. But to my defense, I found the way Cillian thinks so amusing. 😭🤚
Cruel, cold and ruthless heroes who are the meanest assholes, but secretly deep down have a soft spot for their love interest are just my kryptonite. Here are some examples to see how much of an asshole he is to Persy:
Awwwww, isn't that soOOoo cute?? I don't know what I love more being compared to a pizza someone has sneezed on or slow airport Wi-Fi. This is so romantic. 💖
Cilian to his secretary. At least he is an asshole to everyone right? 🤩
LMAOOOOOOO ALDJFSKFLSD I can't with Cillian 😂😂😂 He was so awful and mean but it's so funny and I don't hate it. 😂
Cillian roasting both Sailor and Hunter
Cillian keeps thinking what we all do about Hunter
As you can see he was awful to everyone and it was peak entertainment. LJ could have given us the cat fight of the century by writing a Vicious and Cillian meeting scene but no of course she wouldn't do that. I'M FEELING ROBBED! Instead of giving him the cameo he deserved, she gave Hunter so much page screen and my brain cells self destructed every time he opened his mouth to make some dumb fart joke. 🥴
MY DISLIKES/MEH/JUST DIDN'T WORK
➙ 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗬
I don't like nor dislike her. She was fine. Maybe too bland and boring, but I really have nothing to say about her. Persy described herself the best
What I didn't get was the infuriation she had with Cillian. Since she laid eyes on Cillian for the first time, she was head over heels in love with him without ever speaking to him? WHY? He didn't even know she existed and she was already in love with him. When it's unrequired love from the Hero I find it cute, when it's the other way around I find it sad.
There was this scene at the beginning when they are at Sailor and Hunter's wedding and Persy poisoned herself with bleeding hearts and Cillian has to save her. After Cillian saved her she just blurts out how much she wants him, how she always wanted him and how she wants him so much it hurts to breathe, while he just standing there ignoring her and I was getting so embarassed for her and just wanted her to stop speaking, but then she goes on and put a curse on him. Bye I didn't sign up for this voodoo shit 😭
What I could appreciate about her character was that she had her principled and didn't veer from them no matter what Cillian told her. She didn't take everything Cillian with a nod and amen. Persy had enough backbone to fight back for things that really mattered to her and that's something I can respect.
➙ 𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘
Persephone and Cillian's romance was really the bare minimum. They hardly spent ANY time together prior to their arrangment. I think, I read more scenes with Cillian plaiyng poker with his friends and Persy with her female friend group and scenes of them together. Even after their arrangment all Cillian does is ignore her. They both even live in separate houses at the beginning. When they are together it's to fuck and try to get Persy pregnant. Their first sex scene together, hell, I've never read such a clinicial sex scene. It was purposfully like that cause Cillian was dead set on not showing any emotions, but failed. It went like this sex, sex sex, more sex, drama , separation, a little grovel, back together. So the romance was pretty underwhelming.
At around 84% Cillian pushes Persy away and says:
I know he didn't mean it, but urg at that point in the story I didn't want him to say shit like that to her.
You know how I say it has a little grovel? Well it wasn't enough. I've been comparing The Villain and Vicious all the time, because the books are so freaking similar!!! Vicious was the biggest asshole to Emilia too, but at the end he did grovel a lot and apologized to her for MONTHS and it was shown. In comparison all Cillian did was write a little note and there is a time jump of SIX WEEKs where he sends her text message of cloud pictures that reminded him of her Auntie Tilda. He brought her a cloud and his grand gesture was kinda cute, but it wasn't enough, IMO.
Sometimes we complain about romance book not having enough plot, but when the plot overshadows the romance it's even worse.
His enemy and ex best friend Andrew who by the way is a wannabe save-the-earth kinda guy who abuses his children. There were so many scenes where Cillian had meetings with his British lawyer, I forgot the guy's name, but he's the Hero in The Rake, and they were talking about strategies of destroying Andrews and dragging his name through the mud. Even Persy went to babysit Andrew's children to get a scoop inside his house to find ammo to help Cillian. The whole subplot was how to take Andrew down and I couldn't care less about the family feud.
➙ 𝗖𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗔𝗡'𝗦 𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗧
It was hinted throughout the book that Cillian has some medical condition and ticks. Now his secret is that he has TOURETTE'S SYNDROME. I mean it's great that LJ wants to include things like that into her books, but if you do it, at least do it right. And I don't think she did. The way she includes those topic is that she's teasing it a little and then make this "big reveal" how Cillian is the way he is because of that syndrome and that is not cool. Because she implies that Cillian's personality is because has Tourette and that's just plain disrespectful to people who actually have this. A medical condition doesn't 👏 make 👏 up 👏 your 👏 personality 👏
Cillian said the only way to get his ticks under control was by repressing all of his emotions so he wouldn't feel anymore. He trained himself to not feel anything by getting into fights and let Andrew beat and abuse him for years. Who in their right mind does that? Also WTF? That's not how this works. You just can't say heyyy let's others beat myself up until I piss myself so my Tourette syndrome is getting less. What. Also how it was said that Tourette is also called the "curse-syndrome" so Cillian promised himself to never curse and lose control. I just didn't like it how this condition was dealt with in The Villain. I didn't feel right and IMO it was use as a cheap shock value.
➙ 𝗢𝗠 𝗗𝗥𝗔𝗠𝗔
In the second half of the book Persy's ex-husband comes back to take her back and this creates a little OM drama which just annoyed me to death. Those couple of scenes when Persy and Cillian dealt with him was so unnceccary to the story and didn't needed to be added.
➙ 𝗙𝗔𝗟𝗦𝗘 𝗔𝗗𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗦𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧
The Villain was marketed as a "Hades and Persephone" retelling and it was just not one. Vicious was more of a Hades and Persephone retelling than The Villain ever was. Just because one of the character is named Persephone and throwing Hades and Persephone randomly into some sentences, doesn't make it a retelling, just saying.
What is this? This is so random and came out of nowhere!
Don't tell me this is not beyond random?
Wasn't this also advertised as The Kiss Thief x Sparrow???? WHERE?? I mean I'm thanking the heaven it was not, cause I didn't like both books. LJ should just say she has rewritten Vicious and then call it a day.
The Sam x Aisling crumbs: I was never really interested in Sam, but after this book my interest is picked a little more. I love psychopaths with a peculiar taste for violence. When Sam was waterboarding the piece of shit that beat Persy up *clutch my heart* yes he can get it. But then his dislike for the female population is not great. The Monster seems like another book where the girl is obsessed with the guy for years. Aisling pinning for Sam for years and him not giving her the time of the day…ehh 🥴
The Rake x Emmabelle crumbs: Well the Rake lusting after Belle is something.. I'm convinced she has bigger balls than him, but we will see.
In conclusion: I love you Cillian Frances Fitzpatrick, you're a dick, but I love you anyway. But I'm already praying for your son Astor Damian Archibald Fitzpatrick because what kind of name is that.
➛ Court's updates on author that have spoken up
➛ Ria's experiences with LJ & her team
SONG:
Gods & Monsters – Lana Del Rey
#1 The Hunter – 1.5 stars
#2 The Villain – 2.5 stars
“But what are villains, my dear wife, if not misunderstood heroes?”
After L.J. Shen's latest releases, I went into The Villain with the lowest of expecatations and maybe that's why this turned out better than I expected. For every new LJ book I need to read it for myself, because the ARC reviews? I have never seen so UNRELIABLE reviews. The way all they give are 5 stars and grasping for straws to say something good. This author could let a 7 year old write her books by drawing a dog and her Beta and ARC readers would be "BEST BOOK SHE HAS EVER WRITTEN" "LJ SHEN AT HER BEST" "SHE HAS OUTDONE HERSELF ONCE AGAIN".
Then I finish the book and i'm like
I feel blindsinded but what's new.
PLOT
Persephone married some fraud who has a gambling problem and has hundred thousand dollars of debts. After her husband ran away, she has to pick up the pieces. That means she either pays back the debt, whore herself out or she gets killed. Not wanting to burden her friends, Persy goes to Cillian to ask for a loan, but he denies and is not interested in a deal, cause she doen't have anything in return that would interest him. After some drama with Cillian family where his father demand him to get his own spawn or he would give away the company and everything the Fitzpatrick own to Hunter's baby, Cillian decides to take a wife and impregnant her. He makes a deal with Persy, but their marriage of convenience doesn't really start until 30% of the book, because there is a lot of back and forth with both sides refusing at first. While Persy and Cillian have this arranged marriage, there is a subplot of Cillian and his ex- best friend turn enemy Andrew going head to head trying to destroy each other.
WHAT I LIKED, DARE I SAY EVEN LOVED:
Vicious is one of LJ best books and that's the hill I will die on! Y'all can fight me as much as you want, but I stand by that statement. Ever since Vicious and let's be real it's the book that kickstarted LJ career, she tried to recreate another Vicious with every of her asshole alpha heroes, but most of the time she failed until Cillian Fitzpatrick came along.
Honestly, the reason and the ONLY reason why I somehow enjoyed this book (hence the 3 star rating) was because of Cillian. Cillian is basically a copy cat of Vicious and everyone was saying how he is so much worse than Vicious and to a degree I agree, because the things he said to Persephone are way worse. But to my defense, I found the way Cillian thinks so amusing. 😭🤚
Cruel, cold and ruthless heroes who are the meanest assholes, but secretly deep down have a soft spot for their love interest are just my kryptonite. Here are some examples to see how much of an asshole he is to Persy:
“I love my name.”
“It’s tacky.”
“It means something.”
“Nothing means anything.”
“You’re offering me a hundred grand to become your live-in escort and bear your children. Plural. If I were a surrogate, I’d get that same amount of money for one baby,” I burst out. “Go be a surrogate.” He shrugged. “It’s a long procedure. I don’t have enough time.” “You don’t seem to have enough brain, either.” He tapped my temple, frowning as if wondering how much was inside that head of mine.
“You won’t need to work a day in your life.”
The girl was slower than an airport Wi-Fi.
Awwwww, isn't that soOOoo cute?? I don't know what I love more being compared to a pizza someone has sneezed on or slow airport Wi-Fi. This is so romantic. 💖
Cilian to his secretary. At least he is an asshole to everyone right? 🤩
“The only thing I know is you failed at your job and will be assessed accordingly. You’re leaving in the next three seconds, either through the door or the window. Friendly advice: choose the door.”
“Persy’s hotter than a Carolina Reaper.” Hunter tapped his lips, monitoring my reaction to the divine creature I was about to marry. “You’ve done well.”
“She’s done better.” I handed Devon the iPad back. “Her beauty will fade. My Forbes status will not.”
LMAOOOOOOO ALDJFSKFLSD I can't with Cillian 😂😂😂 He was so awful and mean but it's so funny and I don't hate it. 😂
Cillian roasting both Sailor and Hunter
His wife, Sailor, rubbed her flat stomach. Generally speaking, she was about as maternal as a chewable thong, so I wasn’t quite sure any of these idiots were capable of taking care of anything more complex than a goldfish.
Cillian keeps thinking what we all do about Hunter
But if the media ever found out, my career would be as good as dead, and death was a specialty I’d left for Hunter’s brain cells.
As you can see he was awful to everyone and it was peak entertainment. LJ could have given us the cat fight of the century by writing a Vicious and Cillian meeting scene but no of course she wouldn't do that. I'M FEELING ROBBED! Instead of giving him the cameo he deserved, she gave Hunter so much page screen and my brain cells self destructed every time he opened his mouth to make some dumb fart joke. 🥴
MY DISLIKES/MEH/JUST DIDN'T WORK
➙ 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗬
I don't like nor dislike her. She was fine. Maybe too bland and boring, but I really have nothing to say about her. Persy described herself the best
Timid, nice, Goody Two-shoes Persy.
Missionary-sex-with-the-lights-off Pers.
The awkward romantic.
The people-pleaser.
The boring one.
What I didn't get was the infuriation she had with Cillian. Since she laid eyes on Cillian for the first time, she was head over heels in love with him without ever speaking to him? WHY? He didn't even know she existed and she was already in love with him. When it's unrequired love from the Hero I find it cute, when it's the other way around I find it sad.
There was this scene at the beginning when they are at Sailor and Hunter's wedding and Persy poisoned herself with bleeding hearts and Cillian has to save her. After Cillian saved her she just blurts out how much she wants him, how she always wanted him and how she wants him so much it hurts to breathe, while he just standing there ignoring her and I was getting so embarassed for her and just wanted her to stop speaking, but then she goes on and put a curse on him. Bye I didn't sign up for this voodoo shit 😭
What I could appreciate about her character was that she had her principled and didn't veer from them no matter what Cillian told her. She didn't take everything Cillian with a nod and amen. Persy had enough backbone to fight back for things that really mattered to her and that's something I can respect.
➙ 𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘
Persephone and Cillian's romance was really the bare minimum. They hardly spent ANY time together prior to their arrangment. I think, I read more scenes with Cillian plaiyng poker with his friends and Persy with her female friend group and scenes of them together. Even after their arrangment all Cillian does is ignore her. They both even live in separate houses at the beginning. When they are together it's to fuck and try to get Persy pregnant. Their first sex scene together, hell, I've never read such a clinicial sex scene. It was purposfully like that cause Cillian was dead set on not showing any emotions, but failed. It went like this sex, sex sex, more sex, drama , separation, a little grovel, back together. So the romance was pretty underwhelming.
At around 84% Cillian pushes Persy away and says:
“And I wish he’d finished the job, Flower Girl, so I could finally go ahead and marry someone in my own league. You were a mistake. A foolish, horny mistake. Divorce couldn’t come fast enough.”
I know he didn't mean it, but urg at that point in the story I didn't want him to say shit like that to her.
You know how I say it has a little grovel? Well it wasn't enough. I've been comparing The Villain and Vicious all the time, because the books are so freaking similar!!! Vicious was the biggest asshole to Emilia too, but at the end he did grovel a lot and apologized to her for MONTHS and it was shown. In comparison all Cillian did was write a little note and there is a time jump of SIX WEEKs where he sends her text message of cloud pictures that reminded him of her Auntie Tilda. He brought her a cloud and his grand gesture was kinda cute, but it wasn't enough, IMO.
Sometimes we complain about romance book not having enough plot, but when the plot overshadows the romance it's even worse.
His enemy and ex best friend Andrew who by the way is a wannabe save-the-earth kinda guy who abuses his children. There were so many scenes where Cillian had meetings with his British lawyer, I forgot the guy's name, but he's the Hero in The Rake, and they were talking about strategies of destroying Andrews and dragging his name through the mud. Even Persy went to babysit Andrew's children to get a scoop inside his house to find ammo to help Cillian. The whole subplot was how to take Andrew down and I couldn't care less about the family feud.
➙ 𝗖𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗔𝗡'𝗦 𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗧
It was hinted throughout the book that Cillian has some medical condition and ticks. Now his secret is that he has TOURETTE'S SYNDROME. I mean it's great that LJ wants to include things like that into her books, but if you do it, at least do it right. And I don't think she did. The way she includes those topic is that she's teasing it a little and then make this "big reveal" how Cillian is the way he is because of that syndrome and that is not cool. Because she implies that Cillian's personality is because has Tourette and that's just plain disrespectful to people who actually have this. A medical condition doesn't 👏 make 👏 up 👏 your 👏 personality 👏
Cillian said the only way to get his ticks under control was by repressing all of his emotions so he wouldn't feel anymore. He trained himself to not feel anything by getting into fights and let Andrew beat and abuse him for years. Who in their right mind does that? Also WTF? That's not how this works. You just can't say heyyy let's others beat myself up until I piss myself so my Tourette syndrome is getting less. What. Also how it was said that Tourette is also called the "curse-syndrome" so Cillian promised himself to never curse and lose control. I just didn't like it how this condition was dealt with in The Villain. I didn't feel right and IMO it was use as a cheap shock value.
➙ 𝗢𝗠 𝗗𝗥𝗔𝗠𝗔
In the second half of the book Persy's ex-husband comes back to take her back and this creates a little OM drama which just annoyed me to death. Those couple of scenes when Persy and Cillian dealt with him was so unnceccary to the story and didn't needed to be added.
➙ 𝗙𝗔𝗟𝗦𝗘 𝗔𝗗𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗦𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧
The Villain was marketed as a "Hades and Persephone" retelling and it was just not one. Vicious was more of a Hades and Persephone retelling than The Villain ever was. Just because one of the character is named Persephone and throwing Hades and Persephone randomly into some sentences, doesn't make it a retelling, just saying.
You let her go because of your stupid insecurities. Because you are so convinced you’re Hades, doomed, dark, and unredeemable, you haven’t even bothered to read the myth all the way.”
“Persephone!” He clasped harder.
“Loved!” He shook me by the neck.
“Hades!”
What is this? This is so random and came out of nowhere!
Sure enough, not five seconds later, Cillian was standing at my bedroom door, dark and surly as Hades holding uneaten pomegranates.
Don't tell me this is not beyond random?
Wasn't this also advertised as The Kiss Thief x Sparrow???? WHERE?? I mean I'm thanking the heaven it was not, cause I didn't like both books. LJ should just say she has rewritten Vicious and then call it a day.
The Sam x Aisling crumbs: I was never really interested in Sam, but after this book my interest is picked a little more. I love psychopaths with a peculiar taste for violence. When Sam was waterboarding the piece of shit that beat Persy up *clutch my heart* yes he can get it. But then his dislike for the female population is not great. The Monster seems like another book where the girl is obsessed with the guy for years. Aisling pinning for Sam for years and him not giving her the time of the day…ehh 🥴
The Rake x Emmabelle crumbs: Well the Rake lusting after Belle is something.. I'm convinced she has bigger balls than him, but we will see.
In conclusion: I love you Cillian Frances Fitzpatrick, you're a dick, but I love you anyway. But I'm already praying for your son Astor Damian Archibald Fitzpatrick because what kind of name is that.
December 16, 2020
EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS BOOK WAS OUTSTANDING.
𝐋𝐉 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧!
A heart- pounding, page-turning, stay up till 4am, CANT PUT IT DOWN story 🅼🅰🅶🅽🅸🅵🅸🅲🅴🅽🆃
Cillian and Persy’s story was nothing but EPIC.
We are presented with a truly remarkable story and some situations that give us enough insight into the understanding that love really is the most dangerous of emotions, something that we have no control over and something that without warning can render even the strongest individual powerless to change its path.
I don't even know how to talk about these characters or the situation that they are in, without giving away a million and one spoilers. Cillian and Persy have both easily become two of my favourite LJ Shen characters.
I just don't think you can ask for much more in a book than what you get in The Villain- I literally went through every emotion and felt them all so fully.
𝐋𝐉 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧!
A heart- pounding, page-turning, stay up till 4am, CANT PUT IT DOWN story 🅼🅰🅶🅽🅸🅵🅸🅲🅴🅽🆃
Cillian and Persy’s story was nothing but EPIC.
We are presented with a truly remarkable story and some situations that give us enough insight into the understanding that love really is the most dangerous of emotions, something that we have no control over and something that without warning can render even the strongest individual powerless to change its path.
I don't even know how to talk about these characters or the situation that they are in, without giving away a million and one spoilers. Cillian and Persy have both easily become two of my favourite LJ Shen characters.
I just don't think you can ask for much more in a book than what you get in The Villain- I literally went through every emotion and felt them all so fully.
February 4, 2021
Buckle up, my darlings. I'm taking you for a ride!
I'm feeling some Christmas spirit, so I'm generously giving this book 1.5 stars 💝. And it's also because it's slightly better than The Hunter (seriously, it can't get worse than that, can it? That's one of LJ's worst books with the worst MC I've EVER read about). And Hunter doesn't redeem himself in this book, either. If anything, it only confirms that he has two brain cells.
ANYWHO
Let's get this party started.
Below, you'll find all the reasons why you should save your money and go buy something nice for yourself instead of this.
↪Romance book, but where's the romance? Most of the book, Persy and Cillian spend apart. When they're together, we only get stupid, childish bickering (from Persy mostly, because Cillian doesn't even bother with talking). Which brings me to my next point,
↪boring characters. Cillian is the most dry and plain person L.J. created. He has no personality whatsoever and I could compare him to a wall. He's there, but not really. Persy isn't any better, either.
↪BORING. The story was just ... boring. We didn't get much of Cillian and Persy moments, but we got a lot of Cillian and his enemy moments. I'm talking a lot. Most of the book was circling around him and his rivalry. Who the hell cares, really? And the big secret Cillian was hiding the whole book is laughable. I'm sorry, but what? Seriously?
↪Cliché. A damsel in distress meets the villain who saves her for something in return. A woman with no money gets in trouble and (because she's sensible and it's obvious she won't ask her friends for help lol), she goes to the man she's been hopelessly in love with and begs him to take her problems away. And because he needs a wife and an heir (yes, it's still happening in the 21st Century apparently), he marries her and saves them both. What a gentleman!
↪Is it Persephone or is it Emmabelle?! While Persy and Cillian's conversations were dry and boring, I rather enjoyed the conversations between him and Persy's sister, Emmabelle. She had a character and they had more connection in one little scene than Cillian and Persy had in the whole book. Also, there was this bullshit how 'Cillian doesn't directly look at the object of his interest' and that's the excuse he had for looking at Emmabelle so much instead of Persephone. Excuse me while I go and laugh my ass off.
↪Character development who? I know. I know, okay. L.J. is known for her asshole characters who belittle the women, but they're super hot and rich, so they can totally do that and we'll easily forgive them amiright? Cillian is a major asshole for the major part of the book. And I'm talking about I'm on 85% of the book and he's STILL being an ass type of asshole. He's humiliating Persy and trying to embarrass her at every step she takes. He thinks of her as a naive child and just loves calling her slut in the intercourse. But at least he's hot and rich, right??? I should get used to the sexism this author involuntarily pushes on us with every book by creating a helpless character as a woman (no money, plain-looking, big heart) and a vile man who has it all - good looks, money and power and therefore, he can do whatever he pleases with the "love of his life".
↪Bad humour. It was obvious that the author was trying too hard to be funny. It didn't work. The jokes were bad, lame and ... surprisingly (or not) not funny. The humour was lame and Persy was just making me roll my eyes at her trying to be funny while she was bickering with Cillian. Awful and immature.
↪Quotes and proverbs thief. This comes as no surprise to most of you, I believe, because Miss Shen is known for taking quotes and proverbs from the internet and claim them as hers and her little fangirls praise her for that because they think she's, oh, so good with words. Yes, because she STOLE them. This is from this book: "Sam always says, a child who is not loved by his village will burn it down to feel its warmth," Sailor said quietly. If you take words other people said, I expect to give them credit. BTW, this is an African proverb. I Googled it because I knew there's no way she'd come up with that lmao
↪Variety has left the chat. By now, I already figured out L.J.'s master plan: keep the same story in every book, just change the names of the characters. With Shen, I feel like I'm always reading the same book with different names. She sticks to the same theme, same concept, same drama, same personalities.
↪Persephone and Hades retelling? No. Absolutely not. Not even close. If I see people going around and saying that, I'm suing. Please don't. No.
My friends, go read Vicious and just change the names of the main characters. It's the same story and I promise you won't miss anything new. You won't even notice the difference.
That pretty much sums it up. With that being said, I'm probably (hmmm) giving up on this author for good. I don't know if I'll pick the next book up in this series, because I just know I'll kick Sam woman-hating Brennan out of the window.
Also, I don't know if Shen pays her little fans to post all these 5-star reviews or what, because there's just NO way that so many people actually like her garbage books? Or is it just me again :/
I'm feeling some Christmas spirit, so I'm generously giving this book 1.5 stars 💝. And it's also because it's slightly better than The Hunter (seriously, it can't get worse than that, can it? That's one of LJ's worst books with the worst MC I've EVER read about). And Hunter doesn't redeem himself in this book, either. If anything, it only confirms that he has two brain cells.
ANYWHO
Let's get this party started.
Below, you'll find all the reasons why you should save your money and go buy something nice for yourself instead of this.
↪Romance book, but where's the romance? Most of the book, Persy and Cillian spend apart. When they're together, we only get stupid, childish bickering (from Persy mostly, because Cillian doesn't even bother with talking). Which brings me to my next point,
↪boring characters. Cillian is the most dry and plain person L.J. created. He has no personality whatsoever and I could compare him to a wall. He's there, but not really. Persy isn't any better, either.
↪BORING. The story was just ... boring. We didn't get much of Cillian and Persy moments, but we got a lot of Cillian and his enemy moments. I'm talking a lot. Most of the book was circling around him and his rivalry. Who the hell cares, really? And the big secret Cillian was hiding the whole book is laughable. I'm sorry, but what? Seriously?
↪Cliché. A damsel in distress meets the villain who saves her for something in return. A woman with no money gets in trouble and (because she's sensible and it's obvious she won't ask her friends for help lol), she goes to the man she's been hopelessly in love with and begs him to take her problems away. And because he needs a wife and an heir (yes, it's still happening in the 21st Century apparently), he marries her and saves them both. What a gentleman!
↪Is it Persephone or is it Emmabelle?! While Persy and Cillian's conversations were dry and boring, I rather enjoyed the conversations between him and Persy's sister, Emmabelle. She had a character and they had more connection in one little scene than Cillian and Persy had in the whole book. Also, there was this bullshit how 'Cillian doesn't directly look at the object of his interest' and that's the excuse he had for looking at Emmabelle so much instead of Persephone. Excuse me while I go and laugh my ass off.
↪Character development who? I know. I know, okay. L.J. is known for her asshole characters who belittle the women, but they're super hot and rich, so they can totally do that and we'll easily forgive them amiright? Cillian is a major asshole for the major part of the book. And I'm talking about I'm on 85% of the book and he's STILL being an ass type of asshole. He's humiliating Persy and trying to embarrass her at every step she takes. He thinks of her as a naive child and just loves calling her slut in the intercourse. But at least he's hot and rich, right??? I should get used to the sexism this author involuntarily pushes on us with every book by creating a helpless character as a woman (no money, plain-looking, big heart) and a vile man who has it all - good looks, money and power and therefore, he can do whatever he pleases with the "love of his life".
↪Bad humour. It was obvious that the author was trying too hard to be funny. It didn't work. The jokes were bad, lame and ... surprisingly (or not) not funny. The humour was lame and Persy was just making me roll my eyes at her trying to be funny while she was bickering with Cillian. Awful and immature.
↪Quotes and proverbs thief. This comes as no surprise to most of you, I believe, because Miss Shen is known for taking quotes and proverbs from the internet and claim them as hers and her little fangirls praise her for that because they think she's, oh, so good with words. Yes, because she STOLE them. This is from this book: "Sam always says, a child who is not loved by his village will burn it down to feel its warmth," Sailor said quietly. If you take words other people said, I expect to give them credit. BTW, this is an African proverb. I Googled it because I knew there's no way she'd come up with that lmao
↪Variety has left the chat. By now, I already figured out L.J.'s master plan: keep the same story in every book, just change the names of the characters. With Shen, I feel like I'm always reading the same book with different names. She sticks to the same theme, same concept, same drama, same personalities.
↪Persephone and Hades retelling? No. Absolutely not. Not even close. If I see people going around and saying that, I'm suing. Please don't. No.
My friends, go read Vicious and just change the names of the main characters. It's the same story and I promise you won't miss anything new. You won't even notice the difference.
That pretty much sums it up. With that being said, I'm probably (hmmm) giving up on this author for good. I don't know if I'll pick the next book up in this series, because I just know I'll kick Sam woman-hating Brennan out of the window.
Also, I don't know if Shen pays her little fans to post all these 5-star reviews or what, because there's just NO way that so many people actually like her garbage books? Or is it just me again :/
December 23, 2020
2.5 Stars
Spoilers ahead!
What I liked
Now for me the prologue should have never existed, it just left a bad taste in my mouth, which I will come back to later. However starting from chapter 1 (the present day) the book did hold my attention and I did enjoy Persephone and Cillian’s story at first, well majority of it.
A little summary of the book
Persephone’s husband left her to deal with his debt and since she was being threatened with her life she went and asked Cillian for help.
He refused at first since he wasn’t getting anything out of helping her. But later on when Hunter shared the news about Sailor being pregnant, the only thing Cillian could think of was how he needs a heir now and suddenly he has a reason to help Persephone out.
They form a marriage contract where Cillian promised to help her out with her debt and all she needs to do is play the role of a dutiful wife and have his babies. Win Win. But Persephone wasn’t completely happy with all the arrangements, so she tried to amend a few in her favor which quite frankly I was really happy about as she wasn’t acting as some damsel in distress, they both needed each other equally. So I was glad she was opinionated and wasn’t just a doormat. (At that time)
“No escorts until I conceive. You can’t hop in and out of my bed and still visit your European girlfriends.”
“No.”
“Yes,” she mimicked my dry, indifferent tone. “When you need satisfaction, you will come to me. We’ll service each other until I fall pregnant”
“Is there a point to having sex if you are not ovulating?” To his defense, he tried. Tried to cling to the remainder of his calm with everything he had. But I intended to snap it.
“There is,” I replied sunnily.
“Do share it.”
“I’ll orgasm.”
Now yes, I know she was mostly doing all this just to get a reaction out of Cillian, to prove that he really wasn’t a robot but is capable of feelings too. She tried to rile him up from time to time.
“You, my darling husband, kiss like a hungry Rottweiler.”
No response.
“You really need to work on your tongue-to-lips ratio. And you use way too much saliva.”
So I did enjoy what little conversations they had together. Yes I’m going to say little because I read MORE detailed sex scenes between them than actual conversations!!!!
And I was kind of okay with Persephone going to Cillian again and again even though after sex he would completely close off and leave. She was trying to break his cold exterior which I understood until a certain point of the book, where I had enough and wanted Cillian to finally do something. The reason I was okay with it at that time was because I was waiting for Cillian to come through and fight for his woman and say fuck it, have a conversation with her just because it would make HER happy. Do something FOR her happiness. Not to just get laid.
Also Cillian’s past scared me honestly and it DID give me a clear picture as to why he is the way he is. However, I feel like his condition wasn’t talked about much in the present, as in I KNOW the condition used to get triggered when he felt emotions and that’s why he stopped feeling all together. But with Persephone his emotions started stirring up again so I wanted a proper reason as to why THAT didn’t trigger him. You know? As their was this point where he did loose it when Persephone wasn’t letting him have sex with her and he went to his secret room..........
Now Cillian I liked his character individually, I liked him MORE than Persephone honestly. His humor was funny 😂😂 even though he was being dead serious when he was saying or thinking about some things.
“I officially found parents worse than my brother would be. I was ninety-one percent sure Sailor wouldn’t let Hunter name their child Pinecone or Daylight Savings. The missing nine percent was due to the fact they were nauseatingly blinded by love, so you could never know for sure.”
“I suspected my neutrality toward people would extend to my future children. But telling her that seemed counterproductive to putting a baby in her.”
“I know how babies are made, Persephone. That’s why I bought a stork,” I said gravely.”
“Knock her up and get rid of her. You’ll be the last one to laugh when she is changing diapers and raising your future heirs while you’re deep inside a French socialite.”
Now let’s move on to the other section of this review.
Things I did not like
The prologue.
So Persephone gets an allergic reaction. Cillian finds her having an attack and Persephone asks for his help.
Instead of calling 911, he made her a bath, tore off her dress, made her puke, put an injection in her ass which leads to Persephone almost having an orgasm from the relief.
Now maybe the injection was drugged or something because she suddenly starts confessing her feelings to Cillian, to a man she has known for 5 years but according to her doesn’t even know she exists and just a few minutes ago called her “Emmalynne”.
So you see why the whole confession’s timing felt wrong and to be very honest made no sense to be as to HOW she even fell in love with “The Villain”, in the first place? If THIS incident of him saving her would have triggered her into falling in love with him, I might have understood. But the incident only just made her confess the feelings she somehow already had for him and when she saw it wasn’t reciprocated she decided to make a wish
“I wish you’d fall in love with me so hard you won’t be able to think about anything else. To eat. To breathe. When my Aunt Tilda died, she granted me one miracle. This is the wish I choose. Your love. There’s a world beyond your ice walls, Cillian Fitzpatrick, and it is full of laughter and joy and warmth.” I took a step in his direction, my knees wobbling. “I’m going to pay back your favor. I’m going to save your life in my own way.”
And thus came the famous rejection line from The Villain
“Listen to me carefully, Persephone, because I will only say it once. You are going to walk out of this room and forget you know me, just as I’ve failed to notice your existence thus far. You will meet a nice, sane, boring guy. A perfect fit for your nice, sane, boring self. You’ll get married to him, have his babies, and thank your lucky stars I wasn’t horny enough to take you up on your less than subtle offer. I’m giving you the gift of turning you down. Take it and run for the hills.”
Prologue ends and I’m like what the fuck just happened.
I didn’t understand why Persephone fell in love with Cillian in the first place. And same with Collian, why he was apparently so fixated on Persephone that he went through extreme lengths of ignoring her, pretending to look at her sister Emmabelle instead and NOT even attending Persephone’s first wedding. It didn’t make sense to me, like what did they see in each other besides the other one being attractive?
They didn’t even have a proper conversation until the allergic reaction incident.... so why? Like i honestly assumed that something happened between them, a drunken night of sex or a secret heart to heart moment.... to explain this feelings they have for the other but it was non of that. They just saw each other and BAM... feelings emerged.. And then even in the present, they had chemistry but I just didn’t get to read much scenes about them.
Their conversations lasted for 3 seconds maybe and then they are fucking and bringing Cillian’s sex life with his escorts into the mix 🤦🏽♀️
“Well,” he said calmly, even as I was doing my best to drive him nuts with my tongue and mouth. “I was going to keep the line between respectful wife and my flings firmly drawn, but I suppose…”
I groaned, continuing to suck and bobbing my head back and forth eagerly.
I want to be your everything. Your sexy nymph and virginal bride.”
And now I’m going to talk about Cillian and his feelings for Persephone.
Now Persephone, we already know after the confession in the prologue that she is in love with him and still is in the present especially after he saved her not once but three times from different crises. But Cillian, I could tell he cared about her but that’s it. I wanted to read about him coming to loving her and not just think about fucking her and getting her pregnant so that he can move on
“Besides, knocking Flower Girl up meant I no longer had an excuse to keep her around, and having a steady lay turned out to be convenient. So much so, that I was toying with the idea of taking a local side piece after this was all done and dealt with.
Not too local, but local enough to be on the same continent as me. Someone I could stash close enough for comfort and too far away for dinner dates.”
Now Cillian fucked up twice and even then both the times PERSEPHONE was the one to approach him. He went completely radio silence on her and ignored her text messages even though HE knew he fucked up.
“My estranged husband did not contact me for two weeks.”
“Yes, I wanted to know if I was truly losing Persephone, but that was beyond Sam’s scope.”
“Your little stunt did nothing more than put another ten-foot dent in our marriage, which, by the way, was the worst mistake of my life.”
And when she DID give him an opportunity BOTH the times to take her back this is what he said
“Come home, Flower Girl.” His eyes fluttered shut, his mouth moving over mine. The sensation was like a roller coaster, when you tip over the edge and your stomach dips. The rush of warmth flaring in my chest made my body buzz. Kill’s words drifted through my clouded brain. “Let me fuck you. Be the wife I need. You just need a bit more training. A few more months and we can fuck each other out of our system.”
“And I wish he’d finished the job, Flower Girl, so I could finally go ahead and marry someone in my own league. You were a mistake. A foolish, horny mistake. Divorce couldn’t come fast enough.”
I was so happy when Persephone FINALLY decided to actually cut ties with Cillian and let him for once be the one fighting for the relationship!
And he completely failed.... Sorry. The only cute thing he did was when he made that cloud outside Persephone’s class but then that was the day she forgave him also. And finish. We are in the epilogue where Persephone’s water breaks.
And I’m over here like whaaaaaaaaat!? That’s it? I wanted to read about Cillian finally being open with his feelings for Persephone. Both of them being a COUPLE!!!! So I was disappointed with how quick the book ended.
Also omg one more thing. When Persephone left Cillian she said she will “divorce” him after the case with his enemy Andrew is over. But then the next day when she is over at Andrew’s house for his kids she goes and tells him that she and Cillian aren’t doing well.
“Andrew!” Joelle yapped, blushing.
I raised my hand up.
“It’s okay.” I turned to smile at her husband. “Actually, I moved out.”
To his lawyers, no doubt. He probably wondered if it was the right time to ask me to testify against my husband.
“Thank you for sharing this information, Persephone. It means a lot to us to have your trust. You’d tell us if Mr. Fitzpatrick mistreated you in any way, wouldn’t you?”
Like you didn’t want to affect his case with Andrew by giving him bad publicity because of the divorce but you are here willingly GIVING your husbands enemy ammunition to use it against him?
This was more of a Vicious retelling than a Hades and Persephone one
Okay now let’s talk about Emmabelle. I can NOT fucking wait for her book!!
“Emmabelle was loud, lewd, and opinionated. She could argue with a goddamn wall for days and still lose. Focusing on her was less dangerous than watching Persephone.”
“Holy shit.” Belle checked her phone. “Look at the time. It’s the twenty-first century. That means women can do whatever the hell they like without asking their husbands.”
Devon grinned, watching my sister with open admiration.
Also Devon and Emmabelle? Yes yes yesssssssssssss but I really really hope HE is the one chasing after her and not the other way around. And I really hope her personality doesn’t do a complete switch... 🤞🏼
Spoilers ahead!
What I liked
Now for me the prologue should have never existed, it just left a bad taste in my mouth, which I will come back to later. However starting from chapter 1 (the present day) the book did hold my attention and I did enjoy Persephone and Cillian’s story at first, well majority of it.
A little summary of the book
Persephone’s husband left her to deal with his debt and since she was being threatened with her life she went and asked Cillian for help.
He refused at first since he wasn’t getting anything out of helping her. But later on when Hunter shared the news about Sailor being pregnant, the only thing Cillian could think of was how he needs a heir now and suddenly he has a reason to help Persephone out.
They form a marriage contract where Cillian promised to help her out with her debt and all she needs to do is play the role of a dutiful wife and have his babies. Win Win. But Persephone wasn’t completely happy with all the arrangements, so she tried to amend a few in her favor which quite frankly I was really happy about as she wasn’t acting as some damsel in distress, they both needed each other equally. So I was glad she was opinionated and wasn’t just a doormat. (At that time)
“No escorts until I conceive. You can’t hop in and out of my bed and still visit your European girlfriends.”
“No.”
“Yes,” she mimicked my dry, indifferent tone. “When you need satisfaction, you will come to me. We’ll service each other until I fall pregnant”
“Is there a point to having sex if you are not ovulating?” To his defense, he tried. Tried to cling to the remainder of his calm with everything he had. But I intended to snap it.
“There is,” I replied sunnily.
“Do share it.”
“I’ll orgasm.”
Now yes, I know she was mostly doing all this just to get a reaction out of Cillian, to prove that he really wasn’t a robot but is capable of feelings too. She tried to rile him up from time to time.
“You, my darling husband, kiss like a hungry Rottweiler.”
No response.
“You really need to work on your tongue-to-lips ratio. And you use way too much saliva.”
So I did enjoy what little conversations they had together. Yes I’m going to say little because I read MORE detailed sex scenes between them than actual conversations!!!!
And I was kind of okay with Persephone going to Cillian again and again even though after sex he would completely close off and leave. She was trying to break his cold exterior which I understood until a certain point of the book, where I had enough and wanted Cillian to finally do something. The reason I was okay with it at that time was because I was waiting for Cillian to come through and fight for his woman and say fuck it, have a conversation with her just because it would make HER happy. Do something FOR her happiness. Not to just get laid.
Also Cillian’s past scared me honestly and it DID give me a clear picture as to why he is the way he is. However, I feel like his condition wasn’t talked about much in the present, as in I KNOW the condition used to get triggered when he felt emotions and that’s why he stopped feeling all together. But with Persephone his emotions started stirring up again so I wanted a proper reason as to why THAT didn’t trigger him. You know? As their was this point where he did loose it when Persephone wasn’t letting him have sex with her and he went to his secret room..........
Now Cillian I liked his character individually, I liked him MORE than Persephone honestly. His humor was funny 😂😂 even though he was being dead serious when he was saying or thinking about some things.
“I officially found parents worse than my brother would be. I was ninety-one percent sure Sailor wouldn’t let Hunter name their child Pinecone or Daylight Savings. The missing nine percent was due to the fact they were nauseatingly blinded by love, so you could never know for sure.”
“I suspected my neutrality toward people would extend to my future children. But telling her that seemed counterproductive to putting a baby in her.”
“I know how babies are made, Persephone. That’s why I bought a stork,” I said gravely.”
“Knock her up and get rid of her. You’ll be the last one to laugh when she is changing diapers and raising your future heirs while you’re deep inside a French socialite.”
Now let’s move on to the other section of this review.
Things I did not like
The prologue.
So Persephone gets an allergic reaction. Cillian finds her having an attack and Persephone asks for his help.
Instead of calling 911, he made her a bath, tore off her dress, made her puke, put an injection in her ass which leads to Persephone almost having an orgasm from the relief.
Now maybe the injection was drugged or something because she suddenly starts confessing her feelings to Cillian, to a man she has known for 5 years but according to her doesn’t even know she exists and just a few minutes ago called her “Emmalynne”.
So you see why the whole confession’s timing felt wrong and to be very honest made no sense to be as to HOW she even fell in love with “The Villain”, in the first place? If THIS incident of him saving her would have triggered her into falling in love with him, I might have understood. But the incident only just made her confess the feelings she somehow already had for him and when she saw it wasn’t reciprocated she decided to make a wish
“I wish you’d fall in love with me so hard you won’t be able to think about anything else. To eat. To breathe. When my Aunt Tilda died, she granted me one miracle. This is the wish I choose. Your love. There’s a world beyond your ice walls, Cillian Fitzpatrick, and it is full of laughter and joy and warmth.” I took a step in his direction, my knees wobbling. “I’m going to pay back your favor. I’m going to save your life in my own way.”
And thus came the famous rejection line from The Villain
“Listen to me carefully, Persephone, because I will only say it once. You are going to walk out of this room and forget you know me, just as I’ve failed to notice your existence thus far. You will meet a nice, sane, boring guy. A perfect fit for your nice, sane, boring self. You’ll get married to him, have his babies, and thank your lucky stars I wasn’t horny enough to take you up on your less than subtle offer. I’m giving you the gift of turning you down. Take it and run for the hills.”
Prologue ends and I’m like what the fuck just happened.
I didn’t understand why Persephone fell in love with Cillian in the first place. And same with Collian, why he was apparently so fixated on Persephone that he went through extreme lengths of ignoring her, pretending to look at her sister Emmabelle instead and NOT even attending Persephone’s first wedding. It didn’t make sense to me, like what did they see in each other besides the other one being attractive?
They didn’t even have a proper conversation until the allergic reaction incident.... so why? Like i honestly assumed that something happened between them, a drunken night of sex or a secret heart to heart moment.... to explain this feelings they have for the other but it was non of that. They just saw each other and BAM... feelings emerged.. And then even in the present, they had chemistry but I just didn’t get to read much scenes about them.
Their conversations lasted for 3 seconds maybe and then they are fucking and bringing Cillian’s sex life with his escorts into the mix 🤦🏽♀️
“Well,” he said calmly, even as I was doing my best to drive him nuts with my tongue and mouth. “I was going to keep the line between respectful wife and my flings firmly drawn, but I suppose…”
I groaned, continuing to suck and bobbing my head back and forth eagerly.
I want to be your everything. Your sexy nymph and virginal bride.”
And now I’m going to talk about Cillian and his feelings for Persephone.
Now Persephone, we already know after the confession in the prologue that she is in love with him and still is in the present especially after he saved her not once but three times from different crises. But Cillian, I could tell he cared about her but that’s it. I wanted to read about him coming to loving her and not just think about fucking her and getting her pregnant so that he can move on
“Besides, knocking Flower Girl up meant I no longer had an excuse to keep her around, and having a steady lay turned out to be convenient. So much so, that I was toying with the idea of taking a local side piece after this was all done and dealt with.
Not too local, but local enough to be on the same continent as me. Someone I could stash close enough for comfort and too far away for dinner dates.”
Now Cillian fucked up twice and even then both the times PERSEPHONE was the one to approach him. He went completely radio silence on her and ignored her text messages even though HE knew he fucked up.
“My estranged husband did not contact me for two weeks.”
“Yes, I wanted to know if I was truly losing Persephone, but that was beyond Sam’s scope.”
“Your little stunt did nothing more than put another ten-foot dent in our marriage, which, by the way, was the worst mistake of my life.”
And when she DID give him an opportunity BOTH the times to take her back this is what he said
“Come home, Flower Girl.” His eyes fluttered shut, his mouth moving over mine. The sensation was like a roller coaster, when you tip over the edge and your stomach dips. The rush of warmth flaring in my chest made my body buzz. Kill’s words drifted through my clouded brain. “Let me fuck you. Be the wife I need. You just need a bit more training. A few more months and we can fuck each other out of our system.”
“And I wish he’d finished the job, Flower Girl, so I could finally go ahead and marry someone in my own league. You were a mistake. A foolish, horny mistake. Divorce couldn’t come fast enough.”
I was so happy when Persephone FINALLY decided to actually cut ties with Cillian and let him for once be the one fighting for the relationship!
And he completely failed.... Sorry. The only cute thing he did was when he made that cloud outside Persephone’s class but then that was the day she forgave him also. And finish. We are in the epilogue where Persephone’s water breaks.
And I’m over here like whaaaaaaaaat!? That’s it? I wanted to read about Cillian finally being open with his feelings for Persephone. Both of them being a COUPLE!!!! So I was disappointed with how quick the book ended.
Also omg one more thing. When Persephone left Cillian she said she will “divorce” him after the case with his enemy Andrew is over. But then the next day when she is over at Andrew’s house for his kids she goes and tells him that she and Cillian aren’t doing well.
“Andrew!” Joelle yapped, blushing.
I raised my hand up.
“It’s okay.” I turned to smile at her husband. “Actually, I moved out.”
To his lawyers, no doubt. He probably wondered if it was the right time to ask me to testify against my husband.
“Thank you for sharing this information, Persephone. It means a lot to us to have your trust. You’d tell us if Mr. Fitzpatrick mistreated you in any way, wouldn’t you?”
Like you didn’t want to affect his case with Andrew by giving him bad publicity because of the divorce but you are here willingly GIVING your husbands enemy ammunition to use it against him?
This was more of a Vicious retelling than a Hades and Persephone one
Okay now let’s talk about Emmabelle. I can NOT fucking wait for her book!!
“Emmabelle was loud, lewd, and opinionated. She could argue with a goddamn wall for days and still lose. Focusing on her was less dangerous than watching Persephone.”
“Holy shit.” Belle checked her phone. “Look at the time. It’s the twenty-first century. That means women can do whatever the hell they like without asking their husbands.”
Devon grinned, watching my sister with open admiration.
Also Devon and Emmabelle? Yes yes yesssssssssssss but I really really hope HE is the one chasing after her and not the other way around. And I really hope her personality doesn’t do a complete switch... 🤞🏼
November 27, 2020
Wow. Just wow!!
I have loved every single L.J. Shen book, but I may have a new favorite! The Villain is absolutely brilliant and unique. With heart pounding, gut wrenching moments that left me breathless and unable to stop reading!
I loved every single second and I did not want it to end!
Don't miss this one! Do NOT read spoilers! Just go into this adventure and let Leigh take over!
I have loved every single L.J. Shen book, but I may have a new favorite! The Villain is absolutely brilliant and unique. With heart pounding, gut wrenching moments that left me breathless and unable to stop reading!
I loved every single second and I did not want it to end!
Don't miss this one! Do NOT read spoilers! Just go into this adventure and let Leigh take over!
March 17, 2022
**Re-reading this baby 3/14/2022**
Well, apparently, there's a lot of drama surrounding LJ Shen and her fans. Whatever it is, I hope y'all can sort it out because if there's anything this pandemic has shown us, it's that life is short and all this in-fighting is unnecessary. I mean, 300k+ people died needlessly. So, you know, priorities.
Anyhoos, I loved this story. Loved it! I've now realized that my top LJS stories are about antiheroes who may seem gruff at the outset but end up loving the heroine fiercely. Hence my love for Sparrow, The Kiss Thief, and now this. Conversely, I disliked Vicious and its spin-offs because of the douchebag heroes.
There you have it, 5* stars
December 13, 2020
Flawed is fabulous!
It really is when it comes to the alpha males we love to read. The more secrets and layers of ice that needs chipped away from a cold heart only makes the H more enticing.
The Villain was magnetic from the beginning! There was no doubt from the first encounter with our heroine that she had her work cut out for her. The pairing of this couple was nothing less than perfection!
What kept my eyes glued to this story was the patience and love the h had for the H. The continual chipping away of the ice around the Villain’s heart. This made for a story that you couldn’t wait to finish so you could find out how it ends. Yet, you were afraid to finish because you needed more!
The Villain had the perfect blend of darkness, steam, romance, and angst to keep this reader 100% enthralled!
It really is when it comes to the alpha males we love to read. The more secrets and layers of ice that needs chipped away from a cold heart only makes the H more enticing.
The Villain was magnetic from the beginning! There was no doubt from the first encounter with our heroine that she had her work cut out for her. The pairing of this couple was nothing less than perfection!
What kept my eyes glued to this story was the patience and love the h had for the H. The continual chipping away of the ice around the Villain’s heart. This made for a story that you couldn’t wait to finish so you could find out how it ends. Yet, you were afraid to finish because you needed more!
The Villain had the perfect blend of darkness, steam, romance, and angst to keep this reader 100% enthralled!
December 13, 2020
„Show me your true colors.”
Well, slap my ass and call me Persy from now on, because I want a piece of this sexy villain! Shen created an outstanding story that not only keeps you on the edge of your seat with tension, but it also melts your heart into a puddle. I dived into The Villain in total blind, not knowing what to expect, giving the author my complete trust. And L.J. delivered in spades! Cillian and Persephone are fabulous. Their story is a perfect mix of darkness and light, with a well measured doses of sarcasm, humor, tension and steam. This story consumed me completely and I didn't want it to end!
I adored the calm and kind Persephone, who also showed that she wouldn’t be pushed around. This girl is the epitome of goodness and compassion, strength and perseverance. But she also has a spunk that shows up when the situation calls for it, and this made her an exceptional character.
Cillian… gosh, there’s not enough words to describe this man. From the very beggining he's portrayed as a soulless and cruel bastard, who is so mean and disrespectful that you’ll cringe. But there’s a reason behind his cold and ruthless persona, and that, in turn, made my heart break and bleed. It wasn't a quick process to start loving his character. Every chunk in his armor that fell went straight to my heart. And Cillian proved that even bad guys can earn the love of the good woman if they try hard enough.
Their story is pure angst. It’s raw, it’s heartbreaking at times, but it’s also so touching that I couldn’t contain my emotions while reading it. The push and pull was intense as hell. The passion was fervent and powerful. These two complement each other perfectly and despite the huge differences they just... fit. L.J. truly slayed this opposites-attract trope with this couple.
The Villain made me completely hooked. From start to finish I was enthralled with both the characters and the impeccably delivered storyline. Shen has proven more than once that she has a true talent, but it takes a really exceptionally skilled author to evoke such an enormous amount of feelings that overwhelmed me while reading Cillian and Persy’s story. Sheer brilliance!
Well, slap my ass and call me Persy from now on, because I want a piece of this sexy villain! Shen created an outstanding story that not only keeps you on the edge of your seat with tension, but it also melts your heart into a puddle. I dived into The Villain in total blind, not knowing what to expect, giving the author my complete trust. And L.J. delivered in spades! Cillian and Persephone are fabulous. Their story is a perfect mix of darkness and light, with a well measured doses of sarcasm, humor, tension and steam. This story consumed me completely and I didn't want it to end!
I adored the calm and kind Persephone, who also showed that she wouldn’t be pushed around. This girl is the epitome of goodness and compassion, strength and perseverance. But she also has a spunk that shows up when the situation calls for it, and this made her an exceptional character.
Cillian… gosh, there’s not enough words to describe this man. From the very beggining he's portrayed as a soulless and cruel bastard, who is so mean and disrespectful that you’ll cringe. But there’s a reason behind his cold and ruthless persona, and that, in turn, made my heart break and bleed. It wasn't a quick process to start loving his character. Every chunk in his armor that fell went straight to my heart. And Cillian proved that even bad guys can earn the love of the good woman if they try hard enough.
Their story is pure angst. It’s raw, it’s heartbreaking at times, but it’s also so touching that I couldn’t contain my emotions while reading it. The push and pull was intense as hell. The passion was fervent and powerful. These two complement each other perfectly and despite the huge differences they just... fit. L.J. truly slayed this opposites-attract trope with this couple.
The Villain made me completely hooked. From start to finish I was enthralled with both the characters and the impeccably delivered storyline. Shen has proven more than once that she has a true talent, but it takes a really exceptionally skilled author to evoke such an enormous amount of feelings that overwhelmed me while reading Cillian and Persy’s story. Sheer brilliance!
December 16, 2020
The Villain....absolutely brilliant!! This book brings me back to old school Leigh, and the times of Vicious and Troy.
I was not able to put this book down, all along delayed the inevitable..... the ending. Our Villain and his Bride could not have been more perfect for one another. Each bringing their own baggage to the table, we see them resist, grow, mature and love in this beautifully written story. A true retelling of Hades and Persephone, this book will own you.
Cillian- I fell more and more in love with this broken man, and as the layers were peeled back the more my heart broke for him.
Persy- You can not help but just fall in love with the youngest Penrose sister. Her beautiful soul, her strong will, and bleeding heart.
I loved how we see a different perspective of the other characters through the eyes of Kill and Persy and how also we see them through each other.
You will undoubtedly have a multitude of emotions with this book, all of them warranted, all of them perfect! Hands down this book is on my Top 5 by LJ Shen, she undoubtedly creates what I crave! I can not wait to see what we have in store for the rest of our Boston Belles and the men to claim their hearts!
I was not able to put this book down, all along delayed the inevitable..... the ending. Our Villain and his Bride could not have been more perfect for one another. Each bringing their own baggage to the table, we see them resist, grow, mature and love in this beautifully written story. A true retelling of Hades and Persephone, this book will own you.
Cillian- I fell more and more in love with this broken man, and as the layers were peeled back the more my heart broke for him.
Persy- You can not help but just fall in love with the youngest Penrose sister. Her beautiful soul, her strong will, and bleeding heart.
I loved how we see a different perspective of the other characters through the eyes of Kill and Persy and how also we see them through each other.
You will undoubtedly have a multitude of emotions with this book, all of them warranted, all of them perfect! Hands down this book is on my Top 5 by LJ Shen, she undoubtedly creates what I crave! I can not wait to see what we have in store for the rest of our Boston Belles and the men to claim their hearts!
December 11, 2020
I don't know what are you doing here and reading my opinion.
Ah... I know. You are still waiting on „The Villain” written by L.J. Shen?
So... I can say that the waiting will be rewarded.
„The Villain” is the second book in new series „Boston Belles”. This is a story about Persephone Penrose and Cillian Fitzpatrick.
Yes, he is a Hunter's brother, but You know that, right?
Yes, he is a Satan in handsome package.
Yes, I am in love with him.
Persephone is a girl I loved from her episodes in „The Hunter”. Maybe she is shy and annoying, but she is also clever and sharp like a knife. In „The Villain” she had a problem and only Cillian can help her resolve this.
Older Fitzpatrick is a devil. Seriously, this guy is everything You will love and Your parents will hate. Simple
He is handsome, tough, intransigent and totally bad. But also...
„But what are villains […] if not misunderstood heroes?”
Their story is a pure perfection. When I sat down to this book I really didn't know what time it was when I finished it. And I didn't care about this. I lived with Pers and Kill. Sorry, real life is boring.
While reading I was dreaming about neverending story of these two.
Don't laugh at me!
You will see this by yourself.
„The Villain” is the quintessence of L.J. Shen. Perfect heroes, phenomenal story and attention to details – these three makes Shen books fantastic and loved by the readers.
Angsty, steamy, hot and sexy! For me „The Villain” is a must read in the end of this year!
October 25, 2020
The Villain is the epic mic drop on a truly phenomenal year of writing!!! It is powerful and captivating! THERE IS NO ONE BETTER THAN HIM!! This is L.J. shen at her BEST!! Pure Brilliant and Ingenious Perfection!!!
* Full Review To Come *
Blog Review link: https://bit.ly/3koExih
* Full Review To Come *
Blog Review link: https://bit.ly/3koExih
December 17, 2020
This review is my Little Tribute to
🌟George Alsford🌟
George If you are reading this I wanna tell you
Your Presence
Your Aurora
Made Villian Divine
You made The Villain MORE iconic MORE especial
You are such a kind soul and grounded.
I Don't think even if L.J Shen hand-stitched Cillian with blood and flesh he would be this Perfect
Again Thank u so much George for letting us feel our Villian so closely,
thank u for acknowledging him 🖤 it means the world to us
Thank you for making Villian real
I could almost see Cillian riding a horse, throwing orders around in his office in that Brioni Suit, taking steps towards world domination, sitting with his friends with that poker face, staring at Persephone from afar as if she is the brightest star, just to admire but not to touch.
I see Cillian in you.
Cillian, I see you
You said-
"I am Cillian Fitzpatrick... 'The Villain''
So here he is⬇️
My Cillian "Kill" Fitzpatrick
Alexaaaaaa
Play:
Strange Addiction
Persephone Penrose
My little wallflower
My heart never clenched and ached so bad for any heroine. My throat became tight, clogged, and heart heavy the minute I met this girl. Her unrequited love is so beautiful, pure, and at the same time so painful.
When you have a prettier, smarter elder sister than you, then the insecurity is real.
Imagine wanting a man one-sidedly for three years and live with this idea that he might want your elder sister because you are so "boring".
He is charming
Dominating the world
Whenever he goes to a place he owns it.
He is powerful. He is way way way out of your league. He never bothers to look at you for one single minute. How do you approach him?
They say "Simplicity is the Beauty"
For me, Persy gave this phrase meaning.
She was never dishonest about her feelings towards Kill. She made sure he knows. It takes a serious amount of courage to freely hand your heart to someone even if you know he is going to crush it under his oxfords but She took her chances I love that about her.
She fought from the back, from the front and from the side with and for Kill. She held her ground. She kept her head high like a queen. Her patients amazed me. Her "everyday" girl vibe pleased me. She is so relatable. I connect with her, with her story, with her definition of happiness, maybe deep down I cherish the same dream too. Her yearning about getting married, having kids with the person she loves proves what a soulful person she is inside out.
Stubbornness and hope is her vice, but she never let them weakened her.
Her never give up nature. Her mother nature is another soothing quality about her. I think she perfectly matches Kill. In fact, she fulfills Kill. There is no-one else, no better match for Kill if It's not Persephone 🖤
Queen of Spring
But
Also Queen of underworld.
Cillian “Kill” Fitzpatrick
"He exercises Control"
Yes yes We have heard this line like 20000 times.
But how about nerves?
What if he can control nerves!!
Holy Mother of Hell!!
Ingredients to make Cillian Fitzpatrick
1.Blood of Wolf
2.Hair of dog
3.Sacrifice 3 children
4.Hitler's Soul
5.Einstein's Brain
6.Game plan of Jeff Bezos
7.Looks of daddy's daughter stealer
8.Heart of uhhhh.... Never mind!
Mix them together, leave it to fermentation for 9 months and walaKillian Cillian Lucifer Satan Fitzpatrick 🖤
L.J Shen just so you know this the 2nd male lead you have created with whom I fell solely because of his intelligence and most importantly his cunningness.
His every movement was so calculative and razor-sharp.
I was sitting here reading this book watching his world domination like kids watch Christmas lights, with sheer awe and in my case also adding sick fascination.
Did say I sick?
Oh yeah Killian Fitzpatrick is Sick
No morals ✔️
No conscience✔️
No religion✔️
No compassion✔️
Kill disturbingly sheds power
The power play is the only game he plays.
Selfish is his middle name.
He is made of layer after layer after layer.
Thick skin, evil instincts and predatory moves all that makes him the most Evilhero Villain of L.J Shen.
Dealing with him is the same as dealing with a hungry Lion and in this case, when I tell you that you would rather be more agreeable to deal with a lion than dealing with Kill I mean it! more than anything.
This man doesn’t have plan B, he has plan C, D, E,F, G always ready.
But having said that he was
the GuardianAngel Devil for Persy.
He took care of her in his own manipulating way. He stood up for her, took her side, protected her. Broke everything and anything who came towards his Queen literally and figuratively 🤭✨
🎆Icarus meets Persephone🌌
From the outside, it might seem like Persy is the only one who loves Kill.
But if You see it another way around Kill loved Persy from the moment he laid his eyes on her.
You know we avoid drugs because it is highly addictive, flinch by even thinking about tasting it.
Why?
Because it is harmful, addictive, play with our head, might distract us, flip our world upside down so naturally, we avoid it at all cost.
To Cillian Persy is the sweetest form of drugs, she attracts him so much that he can't even look at her, what if she infatuates him. Bite him like a snake, grips him with her vicious claw. To Cillian, Persy is the very much definition of a poisonous apple
Ripe, sweet, and oh so tempting.
Only Cillian Fitzpatrick knows temptation does no good.
What they had was the most complicated relationship. Knots after Knots. Tangled. But every tangled messed up set of knots, fortunately, has a loop.
Persy found the loop
Got herself out. Made Cillian see what he was missing.
I loved the fact after their first bedding Cillian didn't fall for Persy.
I found that realistic.
Persy had to work for it and Cillian deserves every sweat and hardship. With him, mind game was the only way Persy could initiate. And Boi oh Boi did she used the mind game! She slayed it. She made him lose Cheese 🤭. I was so happy and proud of her. She made sure to take over power and brought the lucifer himself on his knees 💅🏻.
At last, I wanna say it was a mind-blowing story, not just particularly a romantic one, but all in all it is a mind-blowing book even in fiction genre-wise. It was dark and intense. It irritated me, angered me, made me cry, made me so happy. I loved the ending. L.J drops the most important bombs in the last 100 pages. I couldn’t stop reading. The previous night (the release day) I couldn’t sleep out of excitement to read this book and to meet Kill. I started reading it at 2 PM and stayed up until 4 in the morning, finished it at one sitting. It didn't even matter I didn’t get sleep the previous night too. After finishing it I felt content. That tells something right?
Yeah so I loved this book 🖤
And all this waiting and anticipation of a few months totally worth it 🌠🎇🎆🌌🌃🏙🌇
And for this ⬇️
I will happily give up countless nights of sleep 🖤
Happy Reading 🌸☁️🖤
🌟George Alsford🌟
George If you are reading this I wanna tell you
Your Presence
Your Aurora
Made Villian Divine
You made The Villain MORE iconic MORE especial
You are such a kind soul and grounded.
I Don't think even if L.J Shen hand-stitched Cillian with blood and flesh he would be this Perfect
Again Thank u so much George for letting us feel our Villian so closely,
thank u for acknowledging him 🖤 it means the world to us
Thank you for making Villian real
I could almost see Cillian riding a horse, throwing orders around in his office in that Brioni Suit, taking steps towards world domination, sitting with his friends with that poker face, staring at Persephone from afar as if she is the brightest star, just to admire but not to touch.
I see Cillian in you.
Cillian, I see you
You said-
"I am Cillian Fitzpatrick... 'The Villain''
So here he is⬇️
My Cillian "Kill" Fitzpatrick
☁️🖤☁️🖤The Review🖤☁️🖤☁️
Alexaaaaaa
Play:
Strange Addiction
Persephone Penrose
"A curse.
A spell.
A hope.
A dream."
My little wallflower
My heart never clenched and ached so bad for any heroine. My throat became tight, clogged, and heart heavy the minute I met this girl. Her unrequited love is so beautiful, pure, and at the same time so painful.
"Sometimes I want you so much it hurts to breathe. Sometimes the pain from breathing is a nice distraction from wanting you.”
When you have a prettier, smarter elder sister than you, then the insecurity is real.
Imagine wanting a man one-sidedly for three years and live with this idea that he might want your elder sister because you are so "boring".
He is charming
Dominating the world
Whenever he goes to a place he owns it.
He is powerful. He is way way way out of your league. He never bothers to look at you for one single minute. How do you approach him?
They say "Simplicity is the Beauty"
For me, Persy gave this phrase meaning.
She was never dishonest about her feelings towards Kill. She made sure he knows. It takes a serious amount of courage to freely hand your heart to someone even if you know he is going to crush it under his oxfords but She took her chances I love that about her.
She fought from the back, from the front and from the side with and for Kill. She held her ground. She kept her head high like a queen. Her patients amazed me. Her "everyday" girl vibe pleased me. She is so relatable. I connect with her, with her story, with her definition of happiness, maybe deep down I cherish the same dream too. Her yearning about getting married, having kids with the person she loves proves what a soulful person she is inside out.
Stubbornness and hope is her vice, but she never let them weakened her.
Her never give up nature. Her mother nature is another soothing quality about her. I think she perfectly matches Kill. In fact, she fulfills Kill. There is no-one else, no better match for Kill if It's not Persephone 🖤
Queen of Spring
But
Also Queen of underworld.
Cillian “Kill” Fitzpatrick
“My favorite wish,” she had rasped into my mouth when I came deep inside her. “My miracle.”
"He exercises Control"
Yes yes We have heard this line like 20000 times.
But how about nerves?
What if he can control nerves!!
Holy Mother of Hell!!
Ingredients to make Cillian Fitzpatrick
1.Blood of Wolf
2.Hair of dog
3.Sacrifice 3 children
4.Hitler's Soul
5.Einstein's Brain
6.Game plan of Jeff Bezos
7.Looks of daddy's daughter stealer
8.Heart of uhhhh.... Never mind!
Mix them together, leave it to fermentation for 9 months and wala
L.J Shen just so you know this the 2nd male lead you have created with whom I fell solely because of his intelligence and most importantly his cunningness.
His every movement was so calculative and razor-sharp.
I was sitting here reading this book watching his world domination like kids watch Christmas lights, with sheer awe and in my case also adding sick fascination.
Did say I sick?
Oh yeah Killian Fitzpatrick is Sick
No morals ✔️
No conscience✔️
No religion✔️
No compassion✔️
Kill disturbingly sheds power
The power play is the only game he plays.
Selfish is his middle name.
He is made of layer after layer after layer.
Thick skin, evil instincts and predatory moves all that makes him the most Evil
Dealing with him is the same as dealing with a hungry Lion and in this case, when I tell you that you would rather be more agreeable to deal with a lion than dealing with Kill I mean it! more than anything.
This man doesn’t have plan B, he has plan C, D, E,
But having said that he was
the Guardian
He took care of her in his own manipulating way. He stood up for her, took her side, protected her. Broke everything and anything who came towards his Queen literally and figuratively 🤭✨
🎆Icarus meets Persephone🌌
From the outside, it might seem like Persy is the only one who loves Kill.
But if You see it another way around Kill loved Persy from the moment he laid his eyes on her.
You know we avoid drugs because it is highly addictive, flinch by even thinking about tasting it.
Why?
Because it is harmful, addictive, play with our head, might distract us, flip our world upside down so naturally, we avoid it at all cost.
To Cillian Persy is the sweetest form of drugs, she attracts him so much that he can't even look at her, what if she infatuates him. Bite him like a snake, grips him with her vicious claw. To Cillian, Persy is the very much definition of a poisonous apple
Ripe, sweet, and oh so tempting.
Only Cillian Fitzpatrick knows temptation does no good.
“We are not Hades and Persephone, Flower Girl. Never were. I didn’t drag you down a dark path. You pulled me into the light. Helpless, I followed. Blindly, I got burned. I am Icarus. I love you as he loved the sun. Too close. Too hard. Too fast.”
What they had was the most complicated relationship. Knots after Knots. Tangled. But every tangled messed up set of knots, fortunately, has a loop.
Persy found the loop
Got herself out. Made Cillian see what he was missing.
I loved the fact after their first bedding Cillian didn't fall for Persy.
I found that realistic.
Persy had to work for it and Cillian deserves every sweat and hardship. With him, mind game was the only way Persy could initiate. And Boi oh Boi did she used the mind game! She slayed it. She made him lose Cheese 🤭. I was so happy and proud of her. She made sure to take over power and brought the lucifer himself on his knees 💅🏻.
At last, I wanna say it was a mind-blowing story, not just particularly a romantic one, but all in all it is a mind-blowing book even in fiction genre-wise. It was dark and intense. It irritated me, angered me, made me cry, made me so happy. I loved the ending. L.J drops the most important bombs in the last 100 pages. I couldn’t stop reading. The previous night (the release day) I couldn’t sleep out of excitement to read this book and to meet Kill. I started reading it at 2 PM and stayed up until 4 in the morning, finished it at one sitting. It didn't even matter I didn’t get sleep the previous night too. After finishing it I felt content. That tells something right?
Yeah so I loved this book 🖤
And all this waiting and anticipation of a few months totally worth it 🌠🎇🎆🌌🌃🏙🌇
And for this ⬇️
“Hello, little angel.” She smiled down at him.
He stared at her, mesmerized.
I know the feeling, son.
I stood back and watched them.
My own little family.
A perfect thing in this imperfect world.
I will happily give up countless nights of sleep 🖤
Happy Reading 🌸☁️🖤
December 13, 2020
Perfection! That's the first thing that comes to my mind after finishing this book. Perfection. This book grabbed me by my heart from the beginning and refused to let go up until the end. I swear it made me feel just about every emotion on the spectrum. It is a modern tale of finding and accepting love, about accepting feeling certain things. The Villain is one of the best reads of this year, hands down.
Cillian is one of the most complex character EVER. I knew from the beginning there was much more to him than he let the world see. I was in awe of his strength and resilient. Same went for Persephone. She definitely surprised me in the best way possible. There was a depth to both of these characters that I most certainly did not expect before diving into the book.
To say that this book is a masterpiece and that LJ Shen is a legend for writing this kind of a book would be an understatement. This book gave me literal chills. Five gigantic stars!
Cillian is one of the most complex character EVER. I knew from the beginning there was much more to him than he let the world see. I was in awe of his strength and resilient. Same went for Persephone. She definitely surprised me in the best way possible. There was a depth to both of these characters that I most certainly did not expect before diving into the book.
To say that this book is a masterpiece and that LJ Shen is a legend for writing this kind of a book would be an understatement. This book gave me literal chills. Five gigantic stars!
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