Dirty Headlines by LJ Shen

Narrated by Jacob Morgan and Grace Grant

Contemporary Romance. Standalone.

After seeing basically everyone and their mother recommend Dirty Headlines by LJ Shen as a favorite of the year, I had to grab it when it came out on audible. I’ve only read one other book by her, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but from all the hype, my expectations were super high. While this may not have reached the #1 favorite level for me, I was not disappointed by any means.

Jude, the Chuck wearing 23-year-old is really having a rough day. Broke, jobless, a sick father she needs to care for, and now newly single, Jude heads to a bar to drown her sorrows. When a very sexy french dirty talker propositions her, she takes him up on her first ever one-night-stand. After all, he is heading back to France in the morning. After a night of orgasms in a posh hotel, Jude let the desperation take over and she stole from him before leaving the hotel.

“I stole his wallet, he stole my heart”.

When she gets a new job at a news company….guess what? Yup, you guessed it.

“My dirty one night stand was my boss. My lying, American boss.”

These two were at each other’s throats from day one. Celian Laurent was an egotistical, bossy, self-centered alphahole. But he was more.

“He was a level of gorgeous most people will not program to process. I am talking Chris Pine perfect, Chris Hemsworth Mammoth and Chris Pratt charming. He was a Triple-C threat and I was S.C.R.E.W.E.D”

Jude was damn good at her job. She was also snarky and tough, and she never let him get away with the bullshit he pulled. But she also had a hard time fighting her attraction.

“This man was a walking, talking orgasm. I was pretty sure I would come if he sneezed in my direction.”

While I usually love a good alphahole, I found Celian to be a little too much, or maybe I just loved Jude so much that she stole the show, and I wanted someone to be nicer to her.

But let me tell you, these two were HOT together. Not only was there heat and banter, there were also some major emotions. This book had it all, and I can see why it was so well received.

“I can’t fall in love, Célian. I’m broken.”
“Good. Let’s be broken together then.”

Likes:

Fun and sexy banter.
Lovers – Enemies – Lovers.
Such a dirty talker!
So much angst!
I love how he gauged her mood by her shoes.
She thought she couldn’t love, he thought he didn’t deserve love.
I love how even though he went soft for Jude, he retained his arrogant alphahole tendencies for everyone else, while most books has the asshole becoming sweet and lovable in the end.
Great side characters.
More emotion than I expected.

Dislikes:

I feel like I have read this book 20 times. In fact, I feel like I am reading almost the same story now. A workplace romance where your one-night-stand is your boss is so common, as is a hate to love office romance. A week after finishing, I had to skim the book to refresh my memory and make sure I wasn’t confusing it with so many other books.

The Narration:

Oh, how I loved these two together! They were each absolutely perfect for their parts, and it was nice to have some voices that aren’t used quite as much.

The Down & Dirty:

Dirty Headlines was hyped so much that I’m honestly not sure any book could have lived up to that hype. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the book from start to finish. A dirty-talking alphahole is my favorite kind, and a smart and sassy heroine that takes no shit was his perfect match. There was humor, lots of dirty heat, banter galore, and some highly emotional scenes. It was a fun and sexy read, but to me it didn’t stand out as unique. It already blends with several other alphahole boss books in my head and it’s only been a week since I finished. That being said, it’s still an absolute recommendation from me.