Bane, the highly-anticipated next standalone in the Sinners of Saint Series by L.J. Shen is LIVE
Bane
Naked surfer. Habitual pothead. A con, a liar, a thief and a fraud.
Last I heard, he was extorting the rich and screwing their wives for a living.
Which is why I’m more than a little surprised to find him at my threshold, looking for my friendship, my services, and most puzzling of all—looking humbled.
Thing is, I’m on a boycott. Literally—I cut boys from my life. Permanently.
Problem is, Bane is not a boy, he is all man, and I’m falling, crashing, drowning in his sweet, perfect lies.
Jesse Carter
Hot as hell, cold as ice.
I wasn’t aware of her existence until a fat, juicy deal landed in my lap.
She’s a part of it, a little plaything to kill some time.
She is collateral, a means to an end, and a side-bonus for striking a deal with her oil tycoon stepdad.
More than anything, Jesse Carter is a tough nut to crack.
Little does she know, I have the f****** teeth for it.
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Wow just wow.
What a book I don't even now where to start with this review. My emotions are just a mess. I 've been happy sad crying laughing I think everyone in my house think I m crazy. I actually think I mite be. This authors just keeps getting better and better with every book. There isn't a book that's I haven't luvd. I 've been really looking forward to this book since we got to know Bane from Scandalous. Bane is a hot surf, a con, a liar, a thief and fraud. How could you not like him. He is so confident and very sexy it's not hard to get caught up in him. He is always a step ahead of everyone. He know what he want and get its. Plus the women luv him and he luvs them it's all part of the job. I luv his character so much. The way he was with Jesse it's was hard not to luv him.
Jesse is such a strong girl. It hard not to luv her and want to protect her. This girl has gone through so many horrible thing it's heart breaking. Life has been very up and down for her. But the last 2 year have been the worst dealing with what happened as been hard on her and having really no really support just made things worst. Until Bane came crashing into her life like a wave he was surfing.
There relationship was never going to be smooth sailing. But seeing Jesse get strong and dealing with what happened was so great to see. Bane was her strength she even wore him down. Seeing him turn into this guy that knew he could luv and want to be with one woman was so cute. It's actually hard to put Bane and cute into the same sentence but he was. They were just so perfect together.
I really really really enjoyed this book. Like I said there isn't a book I have luvd from this author. This story did break me in parts. I was so sad for Jesse I need something good to happen to her. I found I was just like Bane in this book and got protective of her very quickly. There wasn't a part of this book that I didn't luv the story flowed so well. I got hooked to the story from the beginning to the end. It just kept getting better and better. I can't recommend this book enough or any of her other book. But this book was amazing.
When we were first introduced to Bane in the previous book it was very easy to try and paint him the villain. He was crass and unapologetic and too used to getting what he wanted. And in his own story he is no different. He shows no shame for his ways and proved to me that I have very bad taste in men because damn was it attractive. His confidence didn't waver and I loved it along with his rough around the edges character.
Jesse, she broke my heart. She went through so much pain in her life and was still dealing with that when this book opened up. She could have given up on life and I would have completely understood. But then Bane was there to give her the kick in the ass that she needed to get out and live her life again. I loved that he wasn't easy on her, he understood her worries and helped her as much as he could but he wouldn't let her hide. Seeing him bring out that tough side Jesse kept hidden was the best part of this story and why I loved it.
Once Jesse started to open up more we got to see a completely different side to her. That new side also brought amazing banter between her and Bane that I loved. I felt like it really showed that their connection was more than him wanting to fix her. Because in the end he gave her the tools but she was the one that fixed herself.
Bottom line, this is now one of my favorite LJ Shen books and a book I highly recommend reading. I would say it could be read as a standalone since there are only a few small cameo's from previous characters but nothing that would confuse you or spoil anything.
EXCERPT
Bane
Then.
A liar.
A con.
A godless thief.
My reputation was a big wave that I rode, one that swallowed everyone around me, drowning every attempt to fuck with what’s mine.
I’d been known as a stoner, but power was my real drug of choice. Money meant nothing. It was tangible, and therefore easy to lose. See, to me, people were a game. One I’d always known how to win.
Move the rooks around.
Change the queen when necessary.
Guard the king at all fucking times.
I was never distracted, never deterred, and never jealous.
So, imagine my surprise when I found myself being all three at once.
It was a siren with coal black hair who robbed me of riding the biggest wave I’d seen that summer. Of my precious attention. Of my goddamn breath.
She glided from the ocean to the beach like nightfall.
I crouched down, straddling my surfboard, gawking.
Edie and Beck stopped beside me, floating on their boards in my periphery.
“This one’s taken by Emery Wallace,” Edie had warned. Thief.
“This one’s the hottest masterpiece in town.” Beck had chuckled. Con.
“More importantly, she only dates rich bastards.” Liar.
I had all the ingredients to pull her in.
Her body was a patch of fresh snow. White, fair, like the sun shone through her, never quite soaking in. Her skin defied nature, her ass defied my sanity, but it was the words on her back that made my logic rebel.
It wasn’t her curves or the way she swayed her hips like a dangling, poisonous apple that warranted my reaction to her.
It was that tattoo I had noticed when she swam close to me earlier, the words trickling down the nape of her neck and back in a straight arrow.
My Whole Life Has Been Pledged to This Meeting with You
Pushkin.
I only knew one person who went gaga over the Russian poet, and, like the famous Alexander, he was currently six feet under.
My friends began to paddle back to shore. I couldn’t move. It felt like my balls were ten tons heavy. I didn’t believe in love at first sight. Lust, maybe, but even that wasn’t the word I was looking for. No. This girl fucking intrigued me.
“What’s her name?” I snatched Beck’s ankle, yanking him back to me. Edie stopped pedaling and looked back, her gaze ping-ponging between us.
“Doesn’t matter, bro.”
“What’s. Her. Name?” I repeated through a locked jaw.
“Dude, she’s, like, way young.”
“I will not repeat myself a third time.”
Beck’s throat bobbed with a swallow. He knew damn well that I didn’t mess around. If she was legal—it was on.
“Jesse Carter.”
Jesse Carter was going to be mine before she even knew me.
Before I even knew her.
Before her life turned upside down and her fate rewrote itself with her blood.
So here was the truth that even my lying ass wouldn’t admit later on in our story—I wanted her before.
Before she became business.
Before the truth caged her in.
Before the secrets gushed out.
I never did get to surf that day.
My surfboard broke.
Should have known it was an omen.
My heart was going to be next in line.
And for a small chick, she did one hell of a fucking job obliterating it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
L.J. Shen is an International #1 best-selling author of Contemporary Romance and New Adult novels. She lives in Northern California with her husband, young son and chubby cat. Before she’d settled down, L.J. (who thinks referring to herself in the third person is really silly, by the way) traveled the world, and collected friends from all across the globe. Friends who’d be happy to report that she is a rubbish companion, always forgets peoples’ birthdays and never sends Christmas cards. She enjoys the simple things in life, like spending time with her family and friends, reading, HBO, Netflix and internet-stalking Stephen James. She reads between three to five books a week and firmly believes Crocs shoes and mullets should be outlawed.
