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If Vicious’ story was dark and stormy, Dean’s was tragic and turbulent. The playboy with a shiny personality, the one they called Ruckus because he was the life of a party, had a very dark interior that was slowly increasing until it erupted like a volcano.
“When you needed drugs—you came to me. When you needed a good party—you came to me. When you needed an amazing f__k, you came to me—and on me. And this was what my smirk—the one I’d been practicing since I was f-ing five—said to the world.”
Reading this book felt like there was a huge boulder rock on the border of a cliff, waiting to fall and destroy everything below. This was the type of tension felt in this book as we see the deterioration of Dean’s serenity. There’s a woman called Nina who is constantly calling Dean, asking for money and harassing him to no end. As the book progresses we see how her calls drive Dean to drink.
We already know Rosie from Vicious’ book. She is Emilia’s younger sister, the one who has Cystic Fibrosis and who fled to New York to live with Emilia, yearning for independence and not be babied by her parents.
Dean’s and Rosie’s story is so bittersweet. They fell in love from the first moment they met, when he arrived at her home to visit his girlfriend, Emilia. He would have torn everything apart to be with Rosie but she didn’t let him. She sacrificed her love so he would protect Emilia from Vicious’s bullying. And he accepted the responsibility.
“She wanted her sister to be saved. I took Millie for an ice cream, this time not looking back. I took Millie when I should have taken Rosie. I took Millie, and I was going to kill Vicious.”
Eventually, Dean and Emilia became a good couple, and eventually they broke up. It was not tragic and not bitter, just necessary. Ten years forward, after having lost all connection, Dean learns that Rosie is living not just in New York but in one of FHH’s apartments in the same building as his. And he went on the hunt, decided not to lose his prey this time…
From this point forward the story is tumultuous and riveting. Dean is insistent, Rosie is hesitant because she loves Dean but doesn’t want to load him with a sick woman. The family and friends dynamics are interesting and Rosie’s parents got incredibly annoying. Meanwhile, we’re enjoying the preparations toward Vicious’s and Emilia’s wedding and the continuation of Nina’s torture and Dean’s deterioration.
Both Rosie and Dean go through turmoil and literally go through hell in order to have their HEA. Many scenes will make you tear up because the pain is so real and so deep. It was incredible for me to see a man who appeared so strong and cocky and find that he had such deep pain inside and that it drew him to booze and drugs. Like they say about addictions, it gets worse and you touch bottom before it gets better. And that is what happened in this book until Dean gets cheesy at the end.
I loved seeing Millie being so supportive of her sister, loved seeing the HotHoles in form as always, supporting each other and harassing each other, and giggled at Vicious being kind. And I loved, loved, seeing Dean’s devotion to Rosie! Entertaining and emotional as only LJ Shen can make it, I loved this book and love how LJ Shen can take a cocky man and turn him inside out. Her female characters, as always, are strong and full of sass.
“When you needed drugs—you came to me. When you needed a good party—you came to me. When you needed an amazing f__k, you came to me—and on me. And this was what my smirk—the one I’d been practicing since I was f-ing five—said to the world.”
Reading this book felt like there was a huge boulder rock on the border of a cliff, waiting to fall and destroy everything below. This was the type of tension felt in this book as we see the deterioration of Dean’s serenity. There’s a woman called Nina who is constantly calling Dean, asking for money and harassing him to no end. As the book progresses we see how her calls drive Dean to drink.
We already know Rosie from Vicious’ book. She is Emilia’s younger sister, the one who has Cystic Fibrosis and who fled to New York to live with Emilia, yearning for independence and not be babied by her parents.
Dean’s and Rosie’s story is so bittersweet. They fell in love from the first moment they met, when he arrived at her home to visit his girlfriend, Emilia. He would have torn everything apart to be with Rosie but she didn’t let him. She sacrificed her love so he would protect Emilia from Vicious’s bullying. And he accepted the responsibility.
“She wanted her sister to be saved. I took Millie for an ice cream, this time not looking back. I took Millie when I should have taken Rosie. I took Millie, and I was going to kill Vicious.”
Eventually, Dean and Emilia became a good couple, and eventually they broke up. It was not tragic and not bitter, just necessary. Ten years forward, after having lost all connection, Dean learns that Rosie is living not just in New York but in one of FHH’s apartments in the same building as his. And he went on the hunt, decided not to lose his prey this time…
From this point forward the story is tumultuous and riveting. Dean is insistent, Rosie is hesitant because she loves Dean but doesn’t want to load him with a sick woman. The family and friends dynamics are interesting and Rosie’s parents got incredibly annoying. Meanwhile, we’re enjoying the preparations toward Vicious’s and Emilia’s wedding and the continuation of Nina’s torture and Dean’s deterioration.
Both Rosie and Dean go through turmoil and literally go through hell in order to have their HEA. Many scenes will make you tear up because the pain is so real and so deep. It was incredible for me to see a man who appeared so strong and cocky and find that he had such deep pain inside and that it drew him to booze and drugs. Like they say about addictions, it gets worse and you touch bottom before it gets better. And that is what happened in this book until Dean gets cheesy at the end.
I loved seeing Millie being so supportive of her sister, loved seeing the HotHoles in form as always, supporting each other and harassing each other, and giggled at Vicious being kind. And I loved, loved, seeing Dean’s devotion to Rosie! Entertaining and emotional as only LJ Shen can make it, I loved this book and love how LJ Shen can take a cocky man and turn him inside out. Her female characters, as always, are strong and full of sass.