EmiliaThey say love and hate are the same feelings experienced under different circumstances, and it’s true.The man who comes to me in my dreams also haunts me in my nightmares.He is a brilliant lawyer.A skilled criminal.A beautiful liar.A bully and a savior, a monster and a lover.Ten years ago, he made me run away from the small town where we lived. Now, he came for me in New York, and he isn’t … lived. Now, he came for me in New York, and he isn’t leaving until he takes me with him.
Vicious
She is a starving artist.
Pretty and evasive like cherry blossom.
Ten years ago, she barged into my life unannounced and turned everything upside down.
She paid the price.
Emilia LeBlanc is completely off-limits, my best friend’s ex-girlfriend. The woman who knows my darkest secret, and the daughter of the cheap Help we hired to take care of our estate.
That should deter me from chasing her, but it doesn’t.
So she hates me. Big fucking deal.
She better get used to me.
Vicious a complete standalone and a part of the Sinners of Saint series
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A physically and emotionally abusive upbringing leaves Vicious unable to forgive himself or her, the help’s daughter. He yearns for her, but the only emotions he knows how to express are hate and disdain and his twisted affection becomes a curse to them both.
Fast forward ten years later, and he’s determined to hold Emilia close while continuing to punish her. But bringing her back into his life puts him on the path to atonement and the kind of love he didn’t realize was within his grasp.
Vicious is one of the most borderline unredeemable heroes I’ve encountered in a while. LJ Shen walks that fine line between bad boy and way too twisted like a tightrope walker. If you’re a fan of dark romance ( where bad boys do bad things before true love motivates them to stop) this is one for you.
Oh my f*** Vicious! I love you, I hate you, and I want you! I thought Defy was pretty damn good, and I enjoyed Jaime. However, I’ll admit I’ve got a weakness for bad boys, and assholes. Especially when that asshole turns into only a semi-prickly asshat when he admits he’s in love and gives in. The feels! Plus, I love tortured souls, they’re my people! So, Vicious? Yeah, he’s my new favorite. He is hardcore and real and painful with a twist. I loved reading the past and present bits in relation to Emilia and seeing him slowly soften around the edges enough to love. To mend. Pain is love, love is pain at times. This book captures regret, pain, passion, hate, and love in every way and Vicious and Emilia made my heart sing! Gah I can’t even! The feels! You need to read this. Now.
Everything good said about this book is so true!
Interestingly, I assumed it was an upper YA high school bully romance and not an adult romance. Vicious was written in a way that it worked though. By incorporating flashbacks of the bully romance into their adult life, it sets the stage for the present and why things are occurring as they are. Saying that, those high school flashbacks are some of my favorite chapters.
Vic and Millie are the ideal bully couple. She doesn’t back down and stands against him, but he, with all his power, fights her at every turn. In the present, they work well together, with a mix of sweet and heat. I quite enjoyed Vic in the future, since we do get more of the romantic side of him, as he realizes that ever since high school, he’s loved her and not hated her.
The saying that love and hate are so close to one another is really played up in this book. Consider it a main theme.
I’m a somewhat new fan to LJ’s books, so I don’t think there’s much I can say here that hasn’t already been said. I’m almost 100% certain if this was written by anyone else I don’t think I would have liked it. But LJ has such a way with words, that make you continue to read them even if the matter is dark, or out of your comfort zone. You will hate that you love Vicious, but I promise you by the end of the book you will love him for Emilia. This book has a lot of webs it weaves, so pay attention, these storylines continue through the rest of the Sinners of Saint books.
I can’t stop reading L.J. Shen even when I want to! I’ve been motoring through this series, gobbling the stories of the bad boys of Todos Santos, but this one hurt my heart and I almost stopped reading because of the bullying of “Vicious” against the target of his affection was so extreme. If you find sexual and other harassment triggering, watch out for this one! She balanced that angsty intensity better in the other stories, INMO.
This is my favorit book! I love it. Vicious is my favorite men or all yours books. He is amazing and whit Emilia is soo Perfect
Great story! I don’t normally like second chances stories, but this one is amazing.
I read Sparrow in October of last year and fell in love with it. Consequently, going into Vicious my expectations were extremely high, and I could have easily been setting myself up for disappointment because of that. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. Vicious far exceeded my expectations in every way!
They say there is a thin line between love and hate, and Vicious and Emilia walked that line like a tightrope. Vicious’ touch made Emilia shiver with both repulsion and delight. When she challenged him, it pissed him off and turned him on with equal measure. Their heated glances contained both longing and disgust, and their verbal exchanges were laced with frustration, anger, and lust. All of these conflicting emotions made for some amazing sexual tension. Not only that, it kept me interested to see why Vicious felt the way he did, what was going to happen now that they had to confront what was going on between them then and now, and how it all would end.
L. J. Shen firmly planted herself on my list of favorite authors with this book. The woman can write a complicated hero like no other. Vicious Spencer is broken, tortured, and cruel, and somehow she was able to endear him to me. Maybe it was the way he behaved as if nothing mattered to him, but deep down everything did. Maybe it was that he never allowed himself to be truly vulnerable except when he was with Emilia. I don’t know. All I know is that she did it with absolute perfection. His redemption was flawless. He changed and groveled just enough for you to fully love him without changing who he was completely and unrealistically.
Emilia was a heroine that was easy to love. She was kind, caring, selfless, quirky, creative, hardworking, playful, and beautiful. Watching her put her dreams on hold to care for her sister was truly touching. The way she endured so much hardship, but never let that keep her down was inspiring. Her complete acceptance and enduring love for Vicious despite his many flaws was moving.
Vicious frustrated me, thrilled me, captivated me, and entertained me from beginning to end. It was a little bit of a slow burn, but I didn’t mind in the least. When Emilia and Vicious were together, it was hot no matter what they were doing. The plot was perfectly paced and brilliantly executed, the writing was impeccable, and the characters were expertly crafted. If asshole heroes are your thing, take my word for it, this is not be missed!
This book and the entire series that follows are wonderful reads. I can’t say enough about them!
I FLIPPING LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH AND I AM SO EXCITED TO CONTINUE ON WITH THE SERIES!!!!!!
I heard a lot of hype and buzz about L.J. Shen’s books (especially the Sinners of Saints/All Saints High book series) so I decided to try it out by reading Vicious. I particularly picked this one first because of the cover and the synopsis.
I really liked the main character Emilia. I was kind of afraid that she will be the typical weak girl having to deal with the jerk vicious (who kept bullying her) and her doing nothing about the situation BUT I WAS SO WRONG!!!!!! She did not cower away from him but instead stood her ground with her chin high and retorts back to him which was really refreshing!!!!! And this might be the first book where I follow a main character who loves art so that it was nice to see that.
As for the love interest Vicious, or Baron Spencer, he is literally as every review says: AN ASSWHOLE!!!!!!! And at first, I was not sure how his relationship would go with Emilia because he was just so mean to her, but the author did it!!!!!!! He is such a redeemable character that you will grow to love as the story progresses on. Not to mention that my heart ached for what he has been through!!!!! My poor baby did not deserve that!!!!!
The romance is a combination of hate/lust/love and I loved how slow burn and natural it came through the story!!!!! Throughout the whole book, I did not know if I wanted them to be together or not but the more I got into it, the more I shipped them so much!!!!! Honestly, this is one of the best bully romance I’ve read and I need more of them!!!!!
I also love the sister dynamics between Emilia and Rosie!!! Both characters are feisty in a different way and I am here for it!!!!! My heart aches for what illness Rosie is going through and I hope she gets better as the story progresses. Not to mention, there seems to be something going on with her and another guy, so I’m excited to know how it all plays out.
I loved Vicious’s best friends, aka the HotHoles, Jaime, Dean, and Trent!!!! They are just so funny to read especially when they banter and tease each other because that’s what brothers do, no? I’m so excited to read their books as well and delve deeper into their character!!!!!
Overall, Vicious had blew away my expectations and I will definitely be continuing on with the series!!!! There were some scenes which grossed me out so that’s why I’m rating it a 4.75 stars but that is just me being too picky and by no means the book was bad. It was amazing and I highly recommend you check it out if you haven’t already!!!!!
This book is awesome
Vicious is right
What a beautiful, cruel, broken man. And the girl who loved him, eventually accepting his flaws, without giving herself completely over in the process.
Every book. I swear each guy is my favorite, but I’ve come to accept that I can’t pick just one. The HotHoles have burrowed into me, and now there’s no turning back.
Literally no one writes an angsty, twisted man the way Shen does.
This book gutted me! The love/hate relationship between Emilia and Vicious drove me insane. I wanted to kill Vicious one minute and fall in love with him the next. I felt every misunderstood emotion and dark secret in this story.
Emilia strength throughout this book was admirable. She is everything good, thoughtful, and kind while Vicious is cool, collected, tortured, and always seeking vengeance. The twists and turns of this story will catch you unaware and keep you wanting more.
I must admit that I was unsure for a long time whether to read this book or not.
There was a huge hype and I was just like – ok but why? So in the end I caved and read it. And OH MY GOD! it was amazing
I just love a good enemies to lovers book and this is exactly what vicious is
I really fell in love with the characters! Vicious is so cynical and angry but he loves so damn hard at the same time. This is one of many things why I fell in love with this book. Love is not always unicorns and happy dancing – love hurts sometimes and is ugly but love either way!
Thanks to Leigh Shen for writing this book!
Definitely worth a read or twenty in my case
I’m completely obsessed with the way LJ Shen wrote the character Vicious. I love how cold he is to everyone but the girl he cares for. I reread it at least twice a year.
Vicious has it all but is a broody bad boy bully. Emilia’s parents work for Vicious parents. Vicious and Emilia hate each other. He makes her leave the town after graduation. Years later he sees her and needs her help so he makes an offer she can’t refuse. The sexual tension is off the charts. Great characters and storyline. Highly recommended. Totally enjoyed this book
Four stars since I didn’t like Vic that much.I mean his character is just okay for me but I think there’s some lacking on his character but the story is good.
If you like angst and alpha males, no one does it quite like LJ Shen. And Vicious is the place to start. I couldn’t put it down.
Vicious ( Sinners of Saints Book 1)
By L.J. Shen
Baron Spencer Jr aka Vicious
Emilia LaBlanc aka Millie
Four HotHoles of All Saints High
Woah talk about intense, emotional, raw, dark,dirty,heartbreaking yet passionate and loving journey. Baron Spencer Jr aka Vicious had a rich privileged upbringing getting whatever he wanted whenever he wanted but you know the saying money doesn’t buy you happiness,kindness or love.He ruled the school and town with his three bestfriends who were known as the “Four HotHoles” and they always had big parties at his house.
Emilia LaBlanc aka Millie family worked for “The Spencer” family and were known as the “help” and were treated as second class citizens especially Emilia. She is smart ,kind, caring ,generous and loving and didn’t understand why he hated her so much.Vicious and his rich friends found joy in bullying and taunting her but mostly it was Vicious who went out of his way to make her life a living nightmare. He treats her like trash especially when he finds out one of his bestfriends begins to date her. The end of her senior year he forced her out of the state and away from her family.
Ten years later he discovers her in New York City and finds her on one of her lowest days ever. This sets things in motion that neither of them saw coming. Vicious is someone that you love to hate and hate to love but in the end your rooting for him and cheering him on.
Five riveting
Hooked…. Love Vic and Millie!! This was my first book of the Sinners of Saint series and I was held captive to finish the story. I’m currently almost finished with Dean and Rosie’s story! Love, Love, Love this series!!!