Review Scandalous by LJ Shen

They call him The Mute for a reason.
Hard, cold and calculated, he rarely speaks.
When he does, it’s with disdain.
When he does, his words aren’t meant for me.
When he does, my stomach flips and my world tilts on its axis.
He is thirty-three.
I am eighteen.
He’s a single dad and my father’s business partner.
I’m just a kid to him and his enemy’s daughter.
He’s emotionally unavailable.
And I am…feeling. Feeling things I shouldn’t feel for him.
Trent Rexroth is going to break my heart. The writing isn’t just on the wall, it’s inked on my soul.
And yet, I can’t stay away.
A scandal is the last thing my family needs. But a scandal is what we’re going to give them.
And oh, what beautiful chaos it will be.

4,5 scandalous stars

Bring the popcorn Ladies and Gents as it’s better than watching Suits. You get the sharks in suits, the twists and turns, the backstabs AND the steam!

This read was sooooo frustrating because life kept going in the way and all I wanted was to read this story I’ve been waiting for a long time!
Why don’t I live under a rock??? Oh yes that’s right because I would not know about these kind of delicious and sinful books.
So I had to take drastic measures and go in the reading cave. My reading cave is kinda my closet…

Now two things you should know about this book aside that you’ll want to read it in one sitting and morph in an angry beast if someone interrupts your read that is:

-Trent Renxroth is imposing, frightening, takes no prisoners and loves his rides rough. Very rough and extra steamy….

-Edie Van Der Zee is very young, barely more than a teenager but she can hold her grounds like none other. She has one of the biggest hearts I know and surfing is her outlet.

Now back to the story.

Edie is forced by her father who is fed up with her antics and surfer way of life to go work at his firm Fiscal Heights Holdings. Edie and Trent will collide hard. Trent knows something about her and intends to use it against her if need be. On the other hand Edie is used by her father. Jordan Van Der Zee is a true villain trust me on that! He blackmails Edie in spying upon Trent playing on Edie’s love for someone.
It will soon give very intense scenes between Edie and Trent. They were either trading veiled threats either flirting with scandal when acting on their attraction.

“I wanted what was forbidden, and wrong, and fucking crazy. I wanted my partner’s daughter, who was nearly half my age.”

Edie was the proverbial forbidden fruit, the Dalilah to Trent’s Samson. She would be his demise.

Edie made plenty of mistakes.
My first impression was not great at all. She came across as a spoiled brat. I saw her as a rebel teenager having bad friends and loving to slum at the beach.
But that’s the beauty of Leigh’s writing: changing your perception.
It happened in Sparrow, it happened in Vicous and in Ruckus and it happened here again.
From despising Edie I ended loving and admiring her.

I can now say that she is a close second to Prescott from Blood to Dust in the female character’s badassery.

Edie is the glue. Edie cares. Edie protects. She may be young but she has an old soul and a huge burden on her frail shoulders. She will fight like a lioness to protect those she loves. Even going nose to nose with the formidable Trent Rexroth! Her defiance, her rebellion, her sass all are meant to mask her pain and fear.

And what about Trent?
Of all the HotHoles Trent is the one born in poverty but graced with loving parents. Trent is a commanding and impressive hero. He is cold, he is quiet and empty. He likes to have dirty sex and does not do relationships.
But Trent Rexroth is so much more than The Mute. So much more than that remote and intimidating shark in suit. Trent is broken. He is alone and suffering. His daughter Luna has not uttered a word since her mom left her when she was one year old. Trent is devastated by his daughter’s silence. He would die for his daughter even if single parenthood is never easy. Even if he was ill equipped to raise a kid.

“If someone would ask me quietly, on their last breath, if I wanted to be a father, and I knew my admission would never leave their mouth, I’d say the truth. I’d say, no. Because it was too hard, too heartbreaking, and too fucking all-consuming to be Luna Rexroth’s dad. And still. And still. I loved my daughter hopelessly, desperately, urgently. Which only made my inability to help her all the more soul-crushing. The idea that she’d given up on people, or maybe even worse—on her life, before it even started infuriated me. “

I really was hurting for him as Luna never spoke to him, barely smiled. He wanted to make his daughter happy and would have sacrificed his wealth in a heartbeat if it could help.

Luna’s favorite animal was seahorses. And Trent was the seahorse in this story.

“Seahorses are Luna’s favorite animal because the male seahorse is the only animal in nature to carry the baby and not the mother. The male seahorse is the one to incubate the offspring. To fall pregnant. To nest. Isn’t that beautiful?”

What makes for a very good read in my eyes are the characters. I need to inhale them, feel and walk with them. Believe they are real that their problems are my problems and their battles are mine too.
Following Trent and Edie’s story was like watching a 3D movie. You had substance, you had the sounds and I nearly could spot the mess their love making left at the copy room. Or in the lift. Or… Gross? Well sorry but if you are shocked don’t read the book because it will be very explicit as Trent is a helluva dirty talker especially for a Mute.
Witnessing their attraction come to live and following the mess both were living in was fascinating and heart breaking.

You can choose to see this story as a battle of will.
Edie used Trent and Trent used Edie. They both knew it. It was a game of cat and mouse. Who would win the prize and most importantly would we have a winner or would both lose everything?

“Oh, I’m not your boyfriend, sweetheart.” “Then what are you?” I gulped. He leaned closer to me, whispering to the crook of my neck, “Your undoing.”

Or you can see it as an improbable love story.
I won’t lie. If my daughter dated someone like Trent I would be very worried. Not because he is bi-racial because he could be the darkest shade of black or any other color as long as he would love and care for her I would be good. No because of the age difference. Trent is a MAN with the experience, the needs, the urges of a man whereas Edie is barely adult.
So how would YOU react?
And yet they were perfect for each other. Because they both were broken. Because behind the hard front and cold façade both had big hearts and tried to do the right thing.

“My girl, my obsession, my Tide.”

So recommend it? Oh yes!

Thanks for reading!

Buy it at -> http://amzn.to/2fo1lCI