Ruthless Rival

Cruel Castaways

By: L.J. Shen

Narrated by: Stella Bloom, Joe Arden

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

When she was young, Arya Roth became best friends with her housekeeper’s son. Soon, friendship turned to young love, and when Arya dared him to kiss her, a chain reaction of disastrous events led to the boy being sent away and out of Arya’s life.

Now, two decades later, Arya is an on-the-rise publicist with her beloved father as one of her biggest clients. So when her father is sued by a former employee, Arya sets out to prove that her father is not the monster he is accused of being. The only problem is the attorney who is determined to destroy her father’s good name. Christian Miller is charming, ambitious, and devilishly good looking, and Arya has no idea he is that same boy who kissed her all those years ago.

Past and present collide as Arya falls hard for Christian. But when she finds out who he really is and about his obsession with getting revenge on her father, can she choose love over family?

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

Critic reviews

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

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

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

Loved it!!!

LJ Shen at her best per usual. You can never go wrong with any of her books, series of standalone. I enjoyed this story and all it’s awesome characters. You won’t regret it!!!

WONDERFUL FRIENDS TO ENEMIES TO LOVERS STORY!

Arya Roth and Nicholai Ivanov come from two different worlds but teenagers see the world with innocent eyes. Unlikely friends, they forge a bond that tragically is broken by their parents and severed even deeper by their lies and deception. Neither knows the real truth.

When they are reunited years later during a ruthless court trial involving Arya's father, Nicholai has become Christian Miller, dashing, rich as Midas, and hell bent on revenge against the Roths. Finding out all that Nicky had gone thru in the years since that tragic day broke my heart. Especially his mother!

As all truths are revealed and passion has exploded between them, they have to figure out how to handle their relationship and the family that has shown their true colors and fallen from grace. Arya finding out that her childhood was full of lies and how wrong she was about her parents. The ending was everything even though I think her father got away too easy.

I listened to the Audible version of this book in kindle unlimited and it was very good! The narration was performed by Joe Arden and Stella Bloom. It was lovely to listen to and I appreciate that I can listen while I work. I really enjoy the Read and Listen books available on KU!

loved it!

I really enjoyed this book. narration, excellent! story, excellent!! character's, excellent! semi slow burn but worth it.

Worth the Ride

There is just something about LJ Shen that draws you into her stories. This is a fantastic enemies to lovers romance that takes you on a journey with the characters. The narrators, Joe and Stella, do a phenomenal job bringing this story to life.

Amazing, and very well told!

Loved it! I had a couple of favorites with this book! Yeah, this one was good and I'd never thought I'd be a sucker for a long lost love.....

Surprised in a very good way

This is not the type of book to be read. The audible version is alluring and a perfect pick me up audiobook. I'm writing this now because it suits my mood and these series are perfect for how I feel lately.

great storyline

this might just be a bias review- the book mentioned so often in this book was one that had a great impact on me; I love how it is referenced. I feel like the author has great dialog among characters.

Love this Author!

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

Couldn’t stop listening

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

LOVED it! Melodrama in book form

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

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

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