"Dirty Headlines is a fantastic enemies to lovers office romance with a perfect filthy asshole hero that I wish I'd written myself." - Laurelin Paige, New York Times bestselling author
Dirty Headlines, an all-new sexy, enemies-to-lovers romance from bestselling author L.J. Shen is available NOW!
Book Description:
Célian Laurent.
Manhattan royalty.
Notorious playboy.
Heir to a media empire.
…And my new boss.
I could have impressed him, if not for last month’s unforgettable one-night stand.
I left it with more than orgasms and a pleasant memory—namely, his wallet.
Now he’s staring me down like I’m the dirt under his Italian loafers, and I’m supposed to take it.
But the thing about being Judith “Jude” Humphry is I have nothing to lose.
Brooklyn girl.
Infamously quirky.
Heir to a stack of medical bills and a tattered couch.
When he looks at me from across the room, I see the glint in his eyes, and that makes us rivals.
He knows it.
So do I.
Every day in the newsroom is a battle.
Every night in his bed, war.
But it’s my heart at stake, and I fear I’ll be raising the white flag.
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Our Review:
Reviewed by Donna ~ 4.5 stars
**ARC received for an honest review***
“How had this guy not been assassinated yet? He was a walking, talking personal offense.”
No-one writes an alpha arsehole like LJ Shen, and Celian was the epitome of one, albeit not as harsh as a usual LJ Shen hero, but commanding all the same. This book was addictive from the first to the last page and was a total page-turner, and I couldn’t eat this story up quick enough. I loved the setting, I loved the dialogue, the sex was insanely hot, and that love/hate chemistry was seriously off the charts. This ticked a lot of boxes for me, and I loved every morsel.
“I think I just talked to the real God around here, and Jesus got pissed.”
Jude was a fantastic heroine, struggling to make ends meet with an ailing father whose medical bills were piling up. Jude did whatever she needed to, to keep a roof over their heads and the love that she had for her dad was one that brought many a tear to my eye. Jude was incredibly strong, sassy and showed her mood by the colour chucks she wore on that day. Jude was incredibly motivated, knew her strengths and changed her work ethic accordingly; she just needed that chance.
“The girl was a lioness at work and a lamb in bed, the perfect combination for a predator like me. I wanted to fight her when we were in the office and fuck her when we were anywhere else.”
Celian was the heir to a media empire, he was insanely rich and incredibly good-looking, and he knew it. He played on his French, his acting skills are legendary, but underneath that cocky, arsehole persona was a man who was incredibly giving, it just took a lot of trust to uncover that side of him. Like Jude, his work ethic was incredible, he adored his job and did everything he could to excel. I loved everything about him.
“He wore his indifference like chipped armor, a white knight with a very dark soul.”
When these two first meet, Jude is not at her best, desperate times and all that. But, that one night stand was not her usual modus operandi. When Jude finally lands the job of her dreams and finds out said one-night stand is her boss, she just wants the ground to open up and eat her alive. Jude keeps her head up and proves herself through sheer hard work and determination, and despite preconceived notions, she proves herself to Celian. However, the chemistry from that one night is ever present, and although he ‘hates’ her, the lust follows closely behind.
“Part of me wanted to screw her, the other half to spank her. Those two didn’t necessarily contradict one another.”
The chemistry between these was intoxicating, that love/hate was perfection, the dialogue and banter were on point, the humour and wit had me in stitches and the plot totally addicting. While I thought the twists and turns were brilliant, there was one that I thought could have been left out and just caused a bit too much unnecessary drama. For me, it became a little overkill towards the end but didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book. As I said above, I couldn’t put this one down and was an entertaining read from first to the last word. Great book and well worth a read.
Excerpt:
He had an American accent. Not French. American. Smooth. Familiar. Ordinary. He fired out sentences at the speed of light. I heard him, but I couldn’t listen. Shock gripped my body as the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. My dirty one-night stand was my boss. My lying, American boss. And now I had to deal with that—hopefully for a very long time, because I desperately needed this job.
Someone snapped their fingers, and my gaze shot from Célian’s face to Grayson.
His forehead had crumpled into a frown. “You look like you’re trying hard not to cry or having a really intense orgasm. I’m hoping for you that it’s the latter and some kind of a weird-slash-awesome condition. You okay?”
I nodded, scraping up a smile. “Sorry. Zero orgasms happening under this dress. I just zoned out for a second.”Lies. I was about to orgasm just remembering how good Célianhad felt parting my thighs with his big, callused hands and dipping his tongue into my slit.
Then words stopped streaming down on everyone’s heads like a scalding shower, and I realized that indeed there was something worse than hearing Célianspeak in his perfect American English. And that was not hearing him speak at all. Because now the icicles were pointed at me like a cocked gun.
I glanced up to meet his gaze. He stared at me for exactly one second before his focus snapped to Grayson. “Am I understood, Gregory?” he asked.
Gregory?
“Crystal clear, sir,” Grayson bowed, his voice trembling at the edges.
Célian jerked his chin toward me. “Your cover girl material is going downhill.”
God. Damn. Bastard.
He recognized me, and I knew it. His eyes had kindled, melting the ice and growing darker the minute our gazes mingled. He remembered, and maybe it killed him that I was here in the same way it buried me.
I want my iPod back, my gaze told him. I had over three thousand songs on that thing, and they were all too good to be wasted on that jerk.
“Jude Humphry. Junior reporter. It’s her first day,” Grayson highlighted, almost pleadingly. He shifted in my direction, as if he might need to physically protect me from the sharp-tongued, suited monster.
I suppressed a smile when I realized I’d told Célianmy last name was Spears. Well, he certainly wasn’t a Timberlake. He was a Laurent. An American monarch through and through. A billionaire, a powerful force, and judging by our one and only encounter—a raging playboy.
This man was inside you, I internally shrieked. And not just once. His cock was buried so deep in you, you screamed. You can still taste the salty, earthy flavor of his cum.You know he has a freckle on his lower back. You know what sound he makes when he empties inside a woman.
I internally thanked my mind for ruining my panties in public, and nodded. “Pleasure to meet you, sir.” I offered him my hand, my face flushing with embarrassment at my choice of words.
Everyone was looking at us, and there were at least fifty people in the room. Célian—if that was even his name—ignored my outreached hand. Instead, he turned his face to the man beside him. “Mathias, any other words of wisdom?”
Mathias? Wasn’t that his father? Just how cold was the man with the icy blue eyes?
“I think you touched everything,” said the big boss—and he did have a heavy French accent, so at least the lie had a seed. Mathias stared at me placidly, like he could read the secret his son and I shared on my face.
Célian spun toward me, uncuffing his cufflinks and rolling his sleeves up his veiny forearms. “Accounting can go back to their unfortunate line of work. Couture is excused from this meeting—though not forgiven for their horrid blog. Miss Humphry?” He snapped his fingers impatiently.
He was already waltzing down the narrow hallway, knowing I’d chase him like a puppy, and no doubt taking pleasure in that fact.
“I have a bone to pick with you.”
Bone, boner—same difference, right?
I shot Grayson a please-save-my-butt look. His eyes said, I would but I still have a life to live.
I followed Célian down the hall, my Chucks slapping the floor in a hurry. He sliced through the throng of accountants, then stopped at a corner office, opened the door, barked “Out!” to the man inside, and tilted his head for me to go in. I did. He closed the door, and it was just the two of us.
Two feet of empty space between us.
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 people's’ 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.
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