Reckless

Book two of the 'Powerless' series of fantasy novels. First was 'Powerless'. This is not a jumping on point. So new readers start with Powerless. Regular ones read on. This runs for three hundred and eighty eight pages. There's a prologue. Epilogue. Forty nine chapters in between. Which vary in viewpoint character between the two main ones. Plus occasional ones for Kitt. There's also a map at the start. Picking up from the end of book one, Paedyn is on the run. Kai is doing his job by hunting her down. Kitt is now King. The latter is not having an easy times of things... This really grabbed me reading wise from the off. Because the prose does really hold you. Added to which, characters don't feel invincible and the fight scenes are really good. You do feel the pain and the punches and the bruises. Which is a refreshing change from characters being perfect at such and nigh on invulnerable. The Kitt chapters are very well done. Spoilers. Of course the two leads have a lot to think about re each other. This works well also. It doesn't quite go as I expected. There's a lot that happens in terms of character in the second half. You do need to keep up with this. So i recommend making an effort to read slowly. This does feel very good as being a solid continuation from the first book. Some middle books in trilogies just move stuff along to set up the end. But this develops in a believable manner. Plus it ends on a cliffhanger that I really didn't see coming. It blew me away. Which makes me eager for the next book. As it should. A fair bit of violence and some mild adult moments in this, so not really for anyone under fifteen. But all in all a very strong second entry in the series. I can't wait to see what comes next.

Absolutely beautiful product, very well made and looks stunning, would highly recommend ⭐️

Bought for a friend as an additional gift. This was appreciated and feedback from my friend is that it was a good read.

Bought all 3 in the series, enjoyed the story and the characters as well. I feel as though it’s more a teenage read not adult. The reviews I’d read led me to believe otherwise

WHAT THE HELL WAS THIS BOOK?! and how was it possible to be better than the first?! Nah this series is gonna kill me. I can tell. Don’t even know where to begin in reviewing this apart from it was EVERYTHING!! Kia & Paedyn dancing around each other the entire book “pretending”.. yup we all know how that ends. Honestly love that this book was just mostly them! Although I really enjoyed kitts chapters and how he was dealing with everything! Yet again.. Hope lenny is okay 🥺 he’s like a father to her.. AND HER FATHERS JOURAL!! Oh my days 🤯 do we think she’s an ordinary? Who are her parents.. are they someone of importance. That fricken ending. I honestly never seen it coming, I knew Calum have Kitt a ring but never would have thought it was for Paedyn! My poor Kia 😭 So glad I’m finished early tomorrow and off Saturday to knock the next two books out!! This series is 10/10.

5⭐️ This was everything I’ve been waiting for since Powerless. I was so scared of being disappointed because I’d just built this up so much in my mind. But I absolutely wasn’t. One of the best books I’ve read so far this year. I feel like Lauren slowly sewed my heart back together over 384 pages and then ripped it back open in the final one. I BAWLED a few times, and honestly that’s quite a feat for a YA book. If anyone needs me, I’ll be under my duvet sobbing until April 2025 💔

The kingdom of Ilya is in turmoil… After surviving the Purging Trials, Ordinary-born Paedyn Gray killed the king and sparked a Resistance across the land. Now she’s running from the one person she had once sought comfort in. Kai Azer, now Ilya’s Enforcer, is loyal to his brother Kitt, the new king. He has vowed to capture Paedyn and bring her to justice. Across the deadly Scorches and deep into the hostile city of Dor, Kai pursues the one person he wishes he didn’t have to. But in a city without Elites, the balance between hunter and hunted shifts, and the battle between duty and desire becomes deadly. Paedyn is known as the Silver Savior with a bounty on her head, and Kai must do everything in his power to bring her back to Ilya. Despite their unexpected feelings for each other, fate seems determined to keep them apart with yet another plot twist at the end. Which in my opinion was unnecessarily hurtful. Thank you, Lauren. I hope Kitt gets what is coming to him for hurting Kai like that. In the beginning, Kai is determined to hunt down Paedyn per the king’s orders. Although he still cares for her, he’s bound to his duty as the Enforcer. Each time he finally has her, she finds a way to escape. As Kai realizes the depth of his feelings for Paedyn, he also recognizes how much he’s willing to risk to keep her alive. He can accept a life without her as long as it’s one where she’s safe. Kai does all he can to pretend not to feel anything for Pae and their next-level “pretending” fools other characters, but not us. They keep resisting each other and making the same mistakes which are not mistakes but pure emotion, we all know the truth. Lauren outdid herself with Reckless, springing hope in my chest about Kai and Pae's fate but this was inevitably squashed in the last chapters and I am still reeling. Truly worth the 5 stars and more but now I have to wait months for the next book, which only comes out in April 2025...what am I supposed to do until then?

love it

but come a bit damaged..please deliver properly

I’m in love they came in perfect condition

I love ittttt

The second book in the Powerless Trilogy did not disappoint, if the amount I tabbed and the amount I highlighted the book is anything to go by 🥹 I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: this book is for romance readers not for fantasy lovers. This is two people finding their way back to each other, finding out what they will sacrifice, finding out what they need from the world. Being reckless with their beliefs and finding love where may be there shouldn’t be. It’s minimal on plot, some even say nothing happens, and I can understand why people dislike it or find it problematic. Do I understand these things and did I still rate it 5 stars? Yes. Am I an almost 30 year old obsessed with teenagers falling in love? Also, yes. Have I developed a somewhat unhealthy crush on Kai? Again, in case you misunderstood, YES. Lauren Roberts’ writing again, is like poetry. And that ending? Excuse me, ma’am 😳😤 I needed 4 business days to recover. Highly recommend this trilogy. I need that third book like, yesterday. Roll on April 🫡

I could not be more impressed with the writing of Lauren Roberts. The imagery, the pacing, the plot, the resolution, everything about her books in the Powerless series blows me away. And she's so young! The depth of her characters and their stories and the insights into life are beautiful. Reckless is the second book in the Powerless series and it brought tears to my eyes a few times. Paedyn, our FMC, is a fugitive following the events at the end of Powerless. Now she is on the run, trying to evade the enemy she fell for during the Purging trials. This is an enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers again story. You'll have whiplash in the BEST way. Side note: regarding the romance, the Powerless Trilogy is definitely young adult with only 1 chili pepper for the first two books. Mostly slow burn with endearing and sweet intimacy that builds through forced proximity and companionship versus a physically s3xual relationship on the page. I personally LOVE some spice in my books, so the fact that I DEVOURED these and could not put them down WITHOUT there being open page spice speaks volumes to the beauty of her writing. I'm not a writer myself, obviously, so I am struggling to express the quality of Lauren Roberts writing. But the story is just beautiful. Anyways, back to the plot. Lots of action and suspense throughout the book with Paedyn nearly dying MANY times. Kai... even though he's enemy number 1 in this book, I still LOVE him. I just want to give him all the hugs for the turmoil he has experienced in his life. Tropes: Enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, dual POV Now to the good stuff, my favorite quotes (these will be better reading than my writing above, lol): What is she without her fire fueling her? A shell of the Silver Savior she once was? The ghost of a girl I was willing to ruin myself for? If she fights for nothing she lives for death. But if she burns for something, she lives for hope. I want her to fight me. I want her to burn for me, even if it means with hatred. Funniest Forced Proximity, one-bed scene I've read. So the scene picks up after Paedyn has Kai turn around and not look while she changes. "Can I turn around now?" I ask with a sigh when the bed creaks behind me. "Shh, I'm trying to sleep." I spin to see her sprawled ato the quilt, the stolen gray shirt swallowing her whole. With arms and legs stretched wide, she attempts to take up as much of the bed as possible. The sight is so unexpected that I nearly choke on a laugh. "What is --" "Sorry," she says, her eyes closed and lips crooked. "There's no more room on the bed." "I can see that, " I respond dryly. Home. The word stings my eyes, burns in my throat, just as the smoke had when I escaped the fiery fragments of my childhood. Each one of my homes is gone - my father, my Adena, my house on the corner of Merchant and Elm. She looks at me, shocked. And then she smiles, bright and big like the night sky hanging above us. I fear she could rival the stars. Lenny shakes his head. "You are a little cockroach, you know that?" "Plagues," I snort. "You really know what a girl wants to hear, don't you?" "No, I mean, I'm convinced you can survive anything." "Yeah, well, I'm convinced that becoming a curse," I say quietly." UGH. ALL of page 189. But here's a little... "I don't regret it." His words are a rush, a confession he's clung to. "I don't regret you, or what was between us. And I don't regret kissing you on that roof. But I know I'll regret what I have to do to you for the rest of my life." ... "Do you regret it?" he asks, voice urgent. ..."I..." My hands find his arms, cupping his wrists. "I regret not doing it right. And I regret not being what I'm supposed to be." .... several sentences later Death emboldens. The end initiates. ..."Pretend," I whisper against his lips. I am recklessness incarnet. Until the very end. His next words mirror the ones whispered after placing me atop his feet to dance beside the firelight. "Let me swim for the both of us." -#swoon Out here I am Kai and nothing more." His throat bobs. "Out here I am powerless. A monster without an ability to hide behind. An Enforcer free from his masks.