“Everyone needs to read this book. I’m certain you won’t feel a single regret. ” – Harloe Rae, USA Today Bestselling author.From USA Today and Washington Post bestselling author L.J. Shen comes a new, standalone romance about first loves, betrayal and loss.Not all love stories are written the same way. Ours had torn chapters, missing paragraphs, and a bittersweet ending.Luna Rexroth is everyone’s … bittersweet ending.
Luna Rexroth is everyone’s favorite wallflower.
Sweet.
Caring.
Charitable.
Quiet.
Fake.
Underneath the meek, tomboy exterior everyone loves (yet pities) is a girl who knows exactly what, and who, she wants—namely, the boy from the treehouse who taught her how to curse in sign language.
Who taught her how to laugh.
To live.
To love.
Knight Cole is everyone’s favorite football hero.
Gorgeous.
Athletic.
Rugged.
Popular.
Liar.
This daredevil hell-raiser could knock you up with his gaze alone, but he only has eyes for the girl across the street: Luna.
But Luna is not who she used to be. She doesn’t need his protection anymore.
When life throws a curveball at All Saints’ golden boy, he’s forced to realize not all knights are heroes.
Sometimes, the greatest love stories flourish in tragedy.
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Addicting writing!
Broken Knight by L.J. Shen is one of those books that you won’t stop thinking about minutes, hours, or even days after reading!
BROKEN.
DESTRUCTIVE.
CHAOTIC.
ANGSTY AF!
This book was just what my soul needed and wanted ahhhh! Leigh brings us back to the characters, the family that are the Hotholes of Todos Santos .
“It started with an abandoned toddler in a soiled diaper, but the plot twist was a boy with busted knuckles and a heart of gold…”
Luna’s unfortunate past left her voiceless. Knight gives her back her voice. There was a lot of moments of jealousy, hurt, pain, and just utter heartbreak. It was an emotional rollercoaster ride for sure, but watching these two beloved characters evolve together and grow together was beautiful and completely spellbinding.
Broken Knight was everything and my favorite book from Leigh to date! Now, I cannot wait for Vaughn’s moody ass lol.
Emotional, second chance, enemies-to-lovers coming at ya!!!
From USA Today and Washington Post bestselling author L.J. Shen comes a new, standalone romance about first loves, betrayal and loss.
Not all love stories are written the same way. Ours had torn chapters, missing paragraphs, and a bittersweet ending.
Luna Rexroth is everyone’s favorite wallflower.
Sweet.
Caring.
Charitable.
Quiet.
Fake.
Underneath the meek, tomboy exterior everyone loves (yet pities) is a girl who knows exactly what, and who, she wants—namely, the boy from the treehouse who taught her how to curse in sign language.
Who taught her how to laugh.
To live.
To love.
Knight Cole is everyone’s favorite football hero.
Gorgeous.
Athletic.
Rugged.
Popular.
Liar.
This daredevil hell-raiser could knock you up with his gaze alone, but he only has eyes for the girl across the street: Luna.
But Luna is not who she used to be. She doesn’t need his protection anymore.
When life throws a curveball at All Saints’ golden boy, he’s forced to realize not all knights are heroes.
Sometimes, the greatest love stories flourish in tragedy.
Emotional, heartrending, poetic. Brava, Leigh Shen!
Amazing heartbreaking breathtaking 5 stars
Wow! I am left speechless after reading this book and have come to the conclusion that this book is LJ Shen at her best . This book was so heartbreaking and beautiful I found myself having to take breaks to catch my breath and slow my heart down because I could not stop crying. This book is a story about how true love can flourish and survive through tragedy its a story about friendship, family, loss and redemption and love not just love but true love in its truest purest form . What a beautiful well written romance story about young love and family . Well done LJ Shen ! Definitely 5 stars worthy and definitely my favorite read of 2019!
Enemies to friends to lovers. What is better? God, I love when my heart goes in blind and comes out bruised but bigger and so, so grateful for the journey. Broken Knight is everything I love about romance.
“Every day of my life, since the moment I’d laid eyes on this broken, beautiful boy, I had dreamed of him being mine.”
Whew! I’m wrecked after reading Broken Knight. I’m a ‘broken Rosa’ in the best of ways. L.J. Shen broke my heart, more than once. But I still love her…
Reading this story in multiple POV I feel like I grew up with Knight and Luna. Just like everyone around them, I just knew they were it for each other. ‘Ride or Die’. But, as is true for everyone, fairytales are fiction and life is hard. If you don’t believe me, ask Knight’s mother, Rosie. That’s another story that wrecked me…in the best of ways.
I was totally invested in these characters from the get-go, all in. Their special connection as kids was beautiful. His protectiveness, so sweet. Their future seemed to be predetermined, everyone thought so. Until it wasn’t. When Luna decides to stand on her own two feet and stop depending on her Knight it knocks him off of his pedestal.
“My heart would always miss a beat the first time he entered the room—no matter how many times I’d seen him.”
Can their unspoken love for each other survive the pain they inflict on each other? Can their flaws and mistakes be forgiven? “Always. Whenever. Forever.” was a childhood promise, but what about now? Can their broken pieces be put back together again? Can mine? Prepare yourselves. This is a beautiful, painful journey that you won’t soon forget. It will stay with you for a long time to come…
‘Broken Knight’ is the second book in the ‘All Saint High’ series by L J Shen, and there are honestly not enough words to describe how good his book is, and I would not know where to begin!
I literally have been on a rollercoaster of a journey, a one where my heart broke and healed and now I’m bereft and ready to re-read it all again.
It’s very rare to find an author who writes a book so impactful you feel it changes you in some element. I was completely immersed in this book, determined to read it all in one sitting, and I just feel at a loss for real words over how good it truly is. I mean, wow!
I knew from reading ‘The Kiss Thief’, ‘Viscious’ and ‘Pretty Reckless’ that this was going to be a good book, but it just exceeded all of my expectations. I adore Luna and Knight!
I love how L J Shen has tackled a girl who has selective muteness, and a guy who is broken, and managed to create a magical combination. It’s brutal, heartbreaking, but also liberating and I just couldn’t get enough.
The story is about Luna, a girl who through a traumatic experience has lost her voice, and Knight a boy who connects with her from not only being her neighbour, but also her first friend. He has an automatic instinct to want to protect her, teaching her swear words in sign language and standing up to bullies who dare pick fault with her. He idolises her.
Their relationship blooms from a sweet friendship, to a love bigger than what Knight knows what to do with. So when a series of misunderstandings lead to heartbreak, it almost sends him over the edge.
Knight’s world as he knows it comes crumbling down. His adoptive mother who is his everything is battling her long term illness and failing, his heart is shattering and the girl who he has wanted more than anything, is the one that causes him the most pain. He is mean, angry, belittling and seeks solace in self medicating.
Despite the insults and the bravado, you can’t help but adore him, feeling sorry for the fact that ironically he is the one that seems to not have a voice, unable to share how he is feeling and be honest not only to himself but everyone around him.
My heart broke and healed with this book and it is definitely a book that I feel has altered me in some way. I just couldn’t stop thinking ‘wow’, because it hit hard on so many levels.
If you have never read any of L J Shen’s work, you are missing out! She is the queen of angst and creating characters you want to hate, but can’t help but love. Amazing story, amazingly written and a book that gave me all the feels! A must read for any reader.
KJC is a rockstar. A broken moody one but no less a fucking rockstar! I have cried. I have laughed. I have died a little on the inside…okay, a lot! I lived. I loved. I’m happy.
Broken Knight is beyond frustrating. I dont have the vocabulary needed or the emotional range to tell you exactly what this book is. Broken Knight has crippled the Hotholes line. I had a distinct line of awesomeness and was sure young Knight would fall in line but NO. Knight had to go and tear up the order. He threw his weight, his fists, and his words around. He tackled, stampeded, and demolished those standing before him. In the end, I’m not sure who is in the front anymore…Vicious or Knight. I don’t think even Vicious has it in him to fight Knight after everything that happened. (Okay, so Vicious gave him a pass. It was bound to happen.)
Knight and Luna truly are a toxic tale. LJ Shen held nothing back in this twisted fairytale. She held nothing back but gave us everything she took tenfold!
I cannot tell you enough how heartbreakingly beautiful this imperfect pair truly are. I cannot express how much you will feel this book in your center, your heart, and your bones. Knight and Luna threw out the mold and good luck finding another book after this one! Book hangovers are real!
LJ Shen kicked butt and said “I don’t need to take names” with this book. I honestly don’t know whether yo fear the next installment or cling to it like a baby. Fear and longing had me waiting to read Broken Knight. I was afraid to finish it but linging to start it! I’m so agonized between having finished and getting my happily ever after. Don’t fight it.
The sun will rise tomorrow.
Reviewed for Sweet Spot Sisterhood
I tried reading Vicious’ story from the Sinners of Saint series last year but ended up putting it down as the first few chapters of the story seemed too cruel and angsty for me. But after reading and enjoying the rest of LJ Shen’s other standalone stories, I decided to give this story a try, which is in the same world as the Sinners of Saint but instead we get to read their children’s stories, and I have to say that I’m glad I gave this world a second chance. LJS did a great job of developing the poignant relationship between Knight and Luna from the get-go, which kept me rooting for them even when the angst got turned on high. The story at times took me on an emotional rollercoaster, but even though I hadn’t read their parents’ stories, both Luna’s and Knight’s individual family histories were so intriguing, especially seeing how it was affecting their lives now, that I just couldn’t put the book down. So, no need to have read the Sinners of Saint series before these stories, but now that I’ve read Knight/Luna and Daria/Penn’s two stories, I’ll have to rethink going back and reading the Sinners of Saint series now.
Rating:
#TeamLunight
Such an awesome book! They have known each other all of their lives. Best friends and neighbors. Everyone expected them to be together. Though something always keeps them apart. The story is heartwarming, tragic, and also hilarious. It has both characters breaking each other’s hearts, and mine broke too every time they hurt each other. Knight Cole and Luna Rexroth are definitely meant to be together.
Both of them have major abandonment issues and insecurities. Luna hasn’t spoken since her birth mother left her when she was less than two years old. She speaks in sign language when she speaks at all. Knight and Vaughn are her only friends. Vaughn, Knight and Hunter are the kings of All Saints High and are major players. While Luna is often off on her own because she doesn’t fit in with the rest of the student body since she is silent. Though if anyone picks on her, Knight is her protector, and has been since they were young children.
“Since that day, I’d become what they call a selective mute. Meaning I could speak, but I chose not to. Which, of course, was real stupid, since I didn’t want to be different. I simply was. My not speaking wasn’t a choice as much as it was a phobia. I’d been diagnosed with severe social anxiety and attended therapy twice a week since babyhood. Usually, selective mutism means a person can speak in certain situations where they feel comfortable. Not me.”
It is apparent that Knight and Luna have loved each other since they were young, and that their families and friends expect them to end up with each other. However they each have insecurities that won’t allow them to just come out and say how they feel. Luna is afraid she will never measure up to the girls Knight hooks up with and Knight has tried to kiss Luna a few times, only to have things go wrong or to be rebuffed and he is afraid to put himself out there again.
“Kiss Numero Dos occurred when I was fourteen and had a pretty good grasp of the fact that my cock liked Luna just as much as the rest of me. By then I’d learned a bunch of tricks to avoid attacking her with it, especially since we slept together every night.”
I’m not going to go too deeply into the story other than to say that it is awesome! I love the obstacles in the way of the relationship, the jealousy, the fact that they are each other’s “Ride or Die”. There are several side storylines that fit together nicely with the main story. The side storylines mainly have to do with their parents but they all tie in to Knight and Luna’s insecurities and abandonment issues.
The supporting characters include the Luna and Knights families as well as the other families in their neighborhood. The parents are the same couples that featured in the Sinners of Saints series. Luna Rexroth is the daughter of Trent Rexroth and a fling her had. Her name was Valencia and she took off when Luna was a baby. Trent met Edie, a 19 year old when Trent was 33, they married and raised Luna together and had a second child named Racer. Trent and Edie’s romance was in the book “Scandalous”.
Knights parents are Dean and Rosie Cole from the book “Ruckus”. Knight is adopted, then his parents had biological child, Levy. Vaughn is a moody character who acts like doesn’t care about anything except his Art, he is the only child of Baron “Vicious” Spencer and Emilia, who is the sister of Rosie Cole. Daria And Penn from the book “Pretty Reckless”, also make a few appearances in this book. Daria’s Parents Melody and Jamie had a forbidden (student/teacher) romance in the book, “Defy”.
The supporting characters are all completely fleshed out and well developed and L.J. Shen has alludes to or shows the beginnings of some romances that will occur in the upcoming books. The next book features Vaughn Spencer and he is quite the mysterious character so that book should be great. The best thing about this book is despite the rocky and sometimes heartbreaking road to romance between Knight and Luna as well as the deep and tormenting issues that they both face, there is still so much humor in this book that I was laughing and highlighting things the entire time. Knights inner commentary is especially hilarious. Both he and Luna are lovable.
This book deserves all the stars.
I’ll admit when I first started reading, I wondered if I’d like Knight and Luna as much as I loved Penn and Daria. Everything seemed so cut and dried with their relationship.
I should have known better.
I should have trusted LJ Shen knew what she was doing.
Did I say trusted? Trust me on this, don’t trust her. She is evil. … what the hell, LJ? I don’t do emotional trauma, and I think you just smashed my stone cold black little heart to pieces.
This book. I truly have no words to describe what it will do to you. It will lull you into a false sense of security – you’ll go into it with the innocent idea that Knight’s an ass, Luna is sweet. He’ll get his just desserts and then they’ll get their HEA.
No, instead LJ rips out your soul, jumps up and down on it, throws it to the dogs to battle over and chew on for a while, rescues it and gently nurses it back to health and then stabs you repeatedly until you’re a gibbering mess.
To put it simply:-
This book will wreck you. And you will love every moment.
“Not all love stories are written the same way. Ours had torn chapters, missing paragraphs, and a bittersweet ending.”
Its no secret that Leigh is one of my favorite authors, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Broken Knight. I knew it would break my heart, crushing my #VUNA dreams forever….what I didn’t realize it had the power to do was take my cold black heart and obliterate it for so many different reasons.
“And I remembered that Juliet told Romeo not to swear by the moon. Do you know why she did that, Luna? Do you know? Because I do. She told him not to swear by the moon because the moon changes, Luna! You changed on me, even though we were in this together. You never, ever let me have a say. I stayed the same, and you just… you just changed!”
I truly cannot put into words exactly what I am feeling right now and still do justice to the incredible journey Leigh took us on with Broken Knight. Screw being the best book of 2019, this book is MY best read of all time.
“I died a thousand deaths before I inflicted the slightest of pain on your beautiful, tarnished heart.”
Told in dual POV (with a few chapters by special guests), its a story that will have you on an emotional roller coaster from the very beginning.
I laughed…….
(I didn’t want to scare her away. I wasn’t being funny— my dick was so big, at this point I called it Knight Senior and myself Knight Junior.)
I cried……
“But I do, Knight. I have a favorite. I love you so brutally, sometimes I’d lay awake at night wondering if you were the thing that kept me going when I couldn’t do it anymore. When the pain was too much. I don’t want you to ever feel you were less.”
Raged out…..
“Because forgiving you comes with a price I’m not willing to pay,” I admitted.
Cried even harder, laughed some more, and cheered when we were rewarded with a HEA. They say that a really exceptional book makes you feel on a real life level…..well I was truly impacted by Knight and Luna’s story, I will carry them with me forever.
“I recognized the sound of her running away from me like it was my first language. And I vowed, that night, to stop doing the chasing.”
Broken Knight is the love story of Knight and Luna, two lifelong best friends who were destined to be from the start. A friends turned frenemies turned lovers tale that spans over a decade and overcomes both tragedy and betrayal to get to a beautiful HEA. Not everything is how it seems and even those closest to you can change into someone you no longer recognize. But within the lies, addiction, bad decisions, and jealousy is a true timeless love thats strong enough to carry these two through the darkest of times. Some love stories arent all sunshine and roses….Knight and Luna’s is beautiful chaos within a bittersweet tragedy. Knight will devastatingly and irrecoverably break your heart with his struggles and Luna will give you hope as she does whatever it takes to fix him (and you through him).
“But I also can’t contain all this pain, Moonshine.” He let out a desperate breath. I stared at him boldly, perhaps more courageously than I ever had before. I could feel the strength oozing from me. “Then let me carry some of it, too.”
If you are looking for an emotionally light and easy read, this is not that kind of book. It will strip you completely raw and leave you in a miserable puddle on the floor before picking you back up with promises of better tomorrows. This is one of those that just sticks with you, and I promise the pain you find within this cover is worth the beauty of the story being told.
“There was never any doubt you were a Cole, Knight. You weren’t a choice; you were destiny.”
Every author has their “masterpiece” and this is Leigh’s. A book of this magnitude feels too precious to share with us mere mortals, but I’m thankful she allowed us to take this journey anyways!
“Indeed, the price of Knight’s love was expensive, but I had no trouble paying my dues.”
***Broken Knight is an interconnected stand alone and the second installment in the All Saints High series. It can be read alone, but for the best reading experience I would read Ruckus (Knight’s parents story), Scandalous (Sinners of Saint Book 4) (Luna’s parents), and Pretty Reckless (All Saints High Book 1) first.
Broken Knight is so much more than a book, more than words on a page, it’s like a movie playing vividly in your mind. This story was EVERYTHING, everything I’ve come to love about Lj Shen’s characters, writing, plain and simple…… her storytelling!
“Always. Whenever. Forever,”
I didn’t just read this story, I inhaled it, agonized over it and drowned myself in it. Broken Knight is a book that CONSUMES you, BREAKS you and slowly PIECES you back together page after page.
“Life is like a book, a long chain of scenes threaded together by circumstances and fate. You never know how thick or thin your book is, so you better make the most out of every scene, enjoy each chapter.”
This is one story you won’t leave behind, it will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page! This is unequivocally Shen’s masterpiece of 2019 and one story that will ruin you for all other books!
Luna and Knight, wow. Their love was destined from the beginning and Knight would never let her go. To let someone grow you have to free them to grow into their true self. Knight has protect Luna since they were little and that was never his plan. Fate jumps in and makes for a hell of a ride for Luna and Knight to find the place they were destined to be. The cast of secondary characters from past books are all over this story and make it just that extra.
The depth of the emotions that Shen brings out of the characters and makes the reader feel make this book that extra that stays with you forever.
Over and Over by Nelly/Tim McGraw started playing in my head while reading this book. Find out why!
This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased, honest opinion.
Always. Whenever. Forever. This is the type of story that my soul craves. I believe in soul mates. I believe that everyone has a person out there. This book encompassed that notion. Knight Cole and Luna Rexroth were soulmates. They belonged together. Does that mean that everything will be smooth sailing for the two of them? Absolutely not. Does it mean that it will be worth it in the end? Oh heck yes!!!
I don’t want to get to into the story with my review because this is a book and a series that you should experience for yourself. I will tell you that watching Luna grow and seeing her come into her own was the most beautiful thing I’ve read in a long time. My heart just poured out for her. I wanted to reach into the story and give her the biggest bear hug. I also had plenty of moments where I wanted to do the same for Knight. The title of this story truly fits him. My poor Knight was broken but trying to hold it all together in the worst possible ways. But he had this heart of gold that was so pure. Gah, I love those two.
This group of friends and now their children are such a special unit. I find myself hoping that they truly exist in this world somewhere. Their stories are so deep and emotional. When they hurt, you hurt. When they’re happy, you’re happy. I think that says a lot for this author. To make her readers feel so deeply towards fictional characters. Well done L.J. Shen, well done.
Knight and Luna’s story was everything I had been anxiously awaiting for. I loved how well the author described their history from the beginning which completely captured me from the beginning. LJ Shen did such an incredible developing this story between Knight and Luna and establishing their relationship. The two characters just seem to exist for the other. This book packed in so much but was not overwhelming in how much was packed in and left me an emotional wreck that had me sobbing and then placed me right back together.
Truly one of this author’s best stories to date and just everything
KNIGHT & LUNA…RIDE OR DIE
I wish I could give this book more than 5 stars….it’s not just a good book…it’s a great book….Easily one of 2019’s best!!! It was intense and unpredictable, and the kind of book we have now come to expect from LJ Shen…but we could never have expected BROKEN KNIGHT…NEVER…EVER….
Even with all of the intensity, this book had this line that made me go from crying to laughing……”If you love someone, don’t set them free. Smother the f**k out of them until they realize they have no chance of escaping.” I love this book, I love this series, I love this author…
This book hit #1 in Amazon’s Kindle store for a reason: LJ Shen writes a phenomenal story that gets you in all your feels.
You met Knight Cole and Luna Rexroth in Shen’s previous All Saints High book, Pretty Reckless. Luna is a selective mute, meaning she can talk but chooses not to do so. Knight is the stud quarterback facing a family illness certain to devastate him.
On the surface, other than wealth, it doesn’t seem like these two have much in common. Knight is THE GUY at All Saints High, whereas Luna is a freak. Yet each has a sense of unworthiness, of being unwanted, because both of them were abandoned by their birth mothers. Luna deals by not speaking; Knight deals by drinking and drugging.
LJ Shen establishes from the start that Knight and Luna are best friends all the way to their cores. They understand each other fundamentally, and they are, as they remind one another, their ride or dies. They make mistakes, though. Sometimes they demand support or response or reactions that the other can’t provide. When Luna moves across the country to attend college, you know that their friendship will be tested.
There are times when LJ Shen will make you weep and weep deeply. There are times when you will be so frustrated with Luna or Knight–or both at the same time–that you will want to shout at them until you go hoarse. There are times when you will swoon like a besotted teen. And there are times when your heart will race and your lady parts will tingle with need.
I inhaled this book. I actually liked how LJ Shen tortured me. I liked how she hurt my heart and then found a way to heal me. I do not engage in hyperbole when I tell you that some scenes are gut-wrenchingly sad. Shen shows her skill, though, when she tempers those scenes with others that give you hope.
Run, don’t walk, and read this book. While it’s part of a series, you can read it as a stand-alone.
I don’t even know where to start with Broken Knight. I finished it days ago and L.J. Shen’s words haven’t left me. This book wrecked me. My chest still hurts. My eyes are still puffy. And I still just want to hug a pillow.
There was so much back and forth between Luna and Knight that I almost couldn’t take it. The angst was so high I just wanted to yell from frustration a time or eighteen. So many things left unsaid, so many half truths, so many missed opportunities to get it right. It made my heart bleed just as much as theirs. With Luna finding her footing on her own for the first time and Knight spiraling out it was only a matter of time before something gave. And did it ever.
I LOVED seeing Luna’s growth. Her courage sprout even as things were falling apart and her own heart was in tatters. How she stepped up and in for Knight, and the entire Cole family, showed just how resilient and kind and brave she really is. And how much the hard choices she had made, truly benefited her.
I can’t stress enough how much this book is going to slay you. It is emotional overload. It destroyed me. These characters, the world that L.J. Shen has created is so realistic that I couldn’t help but be invested. Broken Knight was powerful and moving, poignant and passionate. Knight and Luna’s was so much more than a friends-to-lovers romance. Theirs is a love story for the ages. Yes, it was gut wrenching and soul shattering but I didn’t want to put it down and I know it will be impossible to forget.