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Society of Villains #2
Aquilles & Tierney
Aquilles puts Tierney under suffocating surveillance—bodyguards tracking her every step, preventing her from having lovers, and killing any man she manages to escape long enough to touch. For a woman who survived a Siberian gulag at fourteen, who endured years of sexual abuse, starvation, cold, and utter lovelessness, this is just another layer of tragedy on top of a life already carved by desolation.
Tierney inspired so much pity and compassion in me. When she and Tiernan escaped the gulag and reunited with their father and older brother, Tiernan immediately stepped into the Irish mafia world like he’d been born for it—accent, swagger, ruthlessness and all. Their father Tyrone was too depressed (and I think lazy!), and Fintan too addled in addictions (booze and gambling), so Tiernan became the de facto leader. Meanwhile, Tierney was dismissed as “too broken” and left alone with her wounds. No wonder she harbored resentment; the men got to reinvent themselves while she was expected to quietly survive.
She reinvented herself anyway—into a socialite with a glittering network of useful contacts. But beneath the sparkle, her life felt like a downward spiral, all motion and no meaning.
It takes a near-death moment for Aquilles to realize that without Tierney, his life is worthless. And that’s when the book shifts. If the first half is war and hate, the second is love and devotion. Aquilles does a complete 180, dedicating himself to helping her live rather than trapping her in fear. The angst doesn’t disappear—it just transforms. And now we get the subtle humor and razor-sharp sarcasm I adore in LJ Shen’s writing. The first half was angst on steroids; the second half is angst with heart.
There are plot twists that genuinely gave me whiplash. I kept getting hit with surprises, one after another, and I was so glued to my Kindle that I went shopping with my daughter and basically followed her around like a zombie, eyes locked on the screen.
What I loved (besides the sheer awesomeness of the story): Alex Rasputin’s appearance and his genuine remorse for what his father put them through. He may be the new Pakhan, but he’s not ruthless with Tiernan and Tierney. I loved seeing Tiernan and Lila so happy—Tiernan is a total sap with his wife, which gives me hope we’ll see Aquilles in full whipped-husband mode in future books. Enzo remains my favorite deadly Golden Retriever—capable of murder, yet adorable with the family. And Luca… that cold-blooded man intrigues me. I’m crossing my fingers he gets a book so we can watch him fall just as hard as the others.
Overall, I loved this book and the way LJ Shen crafts her characters. The men are savage, ruthless, and terrifying—until they fall in love. Then they become passionate, jealous, possessive fools for their women. I adore that dichotomy. And the women, even when carrying unimaginable trauma like Tierney, have an inner steel that makes them survivors—women the men must fight to deserve. It’s delightful. It’s delicious. It’s everything I want in a dark romance.
Purchase links
🖤 Deluxe edition: http://amzn.to/47IUAkN
♥️ Walmart exclusive: shor.by/bw13
🖤 eBook: http://amzn.to/3WQeANt
About the author
L.J. Shen is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post, and #1 Amazon bestselling author of contemporary, new adult, and young adult romance. Her books have been sold in twenty different countries, and she hopes to visit all of them.
She lives in Florida with her husband, three rowdy sons, and rowdier pets and enjoys good wine, bad reality TV shows, and reading to her heart’s content. Connect with her on her website at www.authorljshen.com or on Instagram (@authorljshen), or join her Facebook group at http://goo.gl/QZJ0NC. Sign up for her newsletter at https://bit.ly/3LhsIrb, and text SHEN to 313131 to get new release alerts (United States only).
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