Reckless (The Powerless Trilogy)

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.

Reckless raises the emotional temperature and deepens the world, with higher stakes, messier loyalties, and a romance that moves from spark to wildfire. Paedyn continues to be both clever and compassionate—a heroine who fights smart, bleeds easily, and loves hard. The political shifts in this book are more layered, and the consequences of truth and betrayal hit harder than in Book 1. The romantic angst is turned up to eleven—full of miscommunication, sacrifice, and the kind of slow devastation that makes you want to both yell and swoon. Roberts knows how to wield longing like a weapon, and Reckless proves that this series has heart and bite. A strong sequel with more emotional weight and a killer cliffhanger.

This book is my favorite of the series. The tensions between Pae and Kai is strong enough to withstand the sword that is through the kings chest. The kissing scenes and starlit confessions are perfectly clean and are written beautifully. The only part of this book that could be considered too spicy or too much for teenagers is really the scene with the gentlemen’s club that doesn’t allude to anything other than shared passions. This book is amazing and I hope everyone will enjoy it

Very good second book. I devoured it and loved the interactions between Kai and Paedyn. Their adventure together while Kai is taking her back to his brother, the new King, was heart wrenching as they both "pretend". Will they? Won't they? And that ending... totally out of left field. Not expecting it. At. All. But it had me immediately reaching for the next book to see how it plays out.

So I hated this book because there is no plot line and the writing is so so repetitive. Like we get it, theyre so down bad for each other but its wrong for them to be together so they pretend. I hope to never read that word again haha. the first book was really good. I loved the writing and the tension and the plot. I see a lot of people hating on having kai's perspective included, but that made it so much better. he was written super well. the second book was kinda disappointing, and then they randomly kissed each other (it seems out of place in that sentence but thats how it was in the book too). plus kitt is so unhinged which is fine but if I were a brother I would not be out here stealing my brother's girl whether or not I was literally insane from grief and betrayal. I haven't really read any fanfics but this was kinda like one, just missing jackson wang lol. The addition of ava was super unnecessary and it felt super awkard. I hated how the same words kept on being repeated. I think everyone should know by now that paedyn thinks kai is insufferable. ANYWAYS besides all that I enjoyed kitt's character development, I honestly feel so bad for him because he doesnt deserve what he has coming to him. I don’t want him to be the villain but I think it will make the third book worth reading just for the plotline. Paedyn's dad's journal was literally the key the non existent plotline. it was such a good detail to add. there were some cute scenes, i just got tired of seeing them repeated. I loved how paedyn just kept on trying to escape, I found it really funny. it was great how both characters were able to overcome challenges and grow together. ive heard people say this series is basically a copy of other ones, but I havent read them so I don’t really care about that. the first book was just so good and reckless was kind of a let down after all that, but I will still read the third book. powerful was also really good. I actually cried because you start reading it knowing it wont end happily, but it was written really well. I wanted makoto to appear in reckless, I think that would have been better than randomly throwing ava and abigail in. overall, many mixed feelings about this book. something just doesnt sit right with me about it. of course, its not like the author can change the book now, but I needed to rant after what ive been through. still don’t know if I hate it or like it.

Although the second book was mostly about Kai and Paedyn, I cannot with the whole dragged enemies and pretend and the whole fake it till you make it. One of my pet peeves is a story that has the longest enemies to lovers trope. I would’ve loved to find out how they got caught in their journey, that part was left open for questioning. It didn’t end how I was expecting so that was a good shock.

I thought this was a wonderful book, though not as great as the first book. I found that I could not put the book down, it was so captivating. Paedyn is the definition of badass and Kai is poetic and sweet hidden under masks. I can’t wait to read the next book. I loved the forbidden love mixed with enemies to lovers. Though the enemies part was the just pretending. I think that this book definitely deserves a read, you will not be disappointed!

I. Am. Unwell. That ending has destroyed me 😭 because wtf Kitt! I knew he'd pull some something and was still shocked by it 😭 Damn I see the hype over Kai now because 🫠🫠🫠🫠 this man was falling hard each and every day. He was charming, arrogant, and freaking poetic with his love ❤️ every time he spoke I was melting ~~~ “Oh, darling, I already am.” His lips inch closer to mine, teasing me. “And I’m begging you to let me breathe you in.” ~~~ To be loved by this man 🥹☺️ And watching how Kai and Pae slowly started to build on their feelings was so heart warming. I would read this book again and again But now I can't wait to read book 3!!

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 🫡

Arrived in perfect condition Has the silver detailed cover :)