Vicious by L.J. Shen

Title: Vicious 

Series: Sinners of Saint #1

Author: L.J. Shen

Emilia

They 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 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.

Amazon

I'm absolutely in the minority here. Vicious didn't work for me. The male character was nothing but a bully and a jerk. The heroine was a doormat.

"This was so on. I was going to fuck Dean’s ex-girlfriend, use her for my personal needs, and toss her away when I was done."

What was the "jerk"'s nickname for the "doormat"? "help" as in hired help. He bullied her from the moment he met her. His first time laying eyes on her, he's not only rude to her but he also threatens to kill her. 

“Wrong fucking place and wrong fucking time. Next time I find you anywhere inside my house, bring a body bag because you won’t be leaving alive.” 

Barron ‘Vicious’ Spencer is the king of the high school. He and his three best friends are the popular rich boys everyone wants to hang out with and all the girls want to have sex with. Baron lives in a mansion. His father and stepmother are always absent, leaving Barron with all the free time to party and have sex. Then, his family hires Emilia LeBlanc's parents to do the housekeeping and the outside maintenance. Emilia's parents are in a dire financial situation because Emilia's sister has cystic fibrosis. 

Emilia joins the same high school as Vicious and the rest you can guess. Time after time, Vicious is nasty to her. He makes fun of her, he calls her "help", he's rude. What does Emilia do? Have a big crush on him of course. 

Fast forward a decade later, Emilia is living with her sister but has no money for rent or food. The medications are all expensive and constantly draining Emilia's bank account. Barron reappears in her life and dangles money in front of her eyes. Emilia can resist and a new cycle of bullying commences. 

I know this is supposed to be a hate to love and a second chance romance which usually they are one of my favorites but in this case, it fell completely flat for me.  

In my eyes, there were no redeeming qualities in Vicious. He was a narcissist jerk. 

2/5 Fangs