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RECKLESS: A Young Adult Dystopian Romance
Loving her is reckless.
Loving her will be the death of me.
In Arcadia, the land of peace and harmony, everyone is equal, because everyone is the same. The unquestionable will of the United Council determines how people dress, how they believe, and who they can love. Being different is heresy; heresy is death.Val Haven, the orphaned daughter of heretics, cannot seem to hide how different she is, and she knows she'll eventually pay for her defiance. But when her sister is arrested instead, Val’s life crumbles around her. Val searches for answers about what led to her sister committing heresy, but doing so will require the help of the vivacious Stefani Andreou. But the only thing more dangerous than Stefani being an Arcadian leader's child - making her an enemy - is the way that Stefani makes Val feel.
Stefani knows that helping Val Haven uncover secrets is a mistake because no one has more secrets to hide than Stefani. But she can’t seem to stay away from the authentic, rebellious Val. What she feels for her is nothing short of reckless. What she feels might just cost herself—and her family—everything.
As long-buried secrets are uncovered, Val and Stefani must face the truth of how they feel for one another and decide-- once and for all-- if love is worth risking everything for.
RECKLESS is a novel of THE HERETICS SAGA, and events take place prior to the start of Book 1: HERESY. RECKLESS can be read in any order.
A portion of the author's royalties for these books will be donated to The Trevor Project, which strives to protect, support, and create a better world for LGBTQIA+ youth. Thank you for supporting this cause.
Loving her will be the death of me.
In Arcadia, the land of peace and harmony, everyone is equal, because everyone is the same. The unquestionable will of the United Council determines how people dress, how they believe, and who they can love. Being different is heresy; heresy is death.Val Haven, the orphaned daughter of heretics, cannot seem to hide how different she is, and she knows she'll eventually pay for her defiance. But when her sister is arrested instead, Val’s life crumbles around her. Val searches for answers about what led to her sister committing heresy, but doing so will require the help of the vivacious Stefani Andreou. But the only thing more dangerous than Stefani being an Arcadian leader's child - making her an enemy - is the way that Stefani makes Val feel.
Stefani knows that helping Val Haven uncover secrets is a mistake because no one has more secrets to hide than Stefani. But she can’t seem to stay away from the authentic, rebellious Val. What she feels for her is nothing short of reckless. What she feels might just cost herself—and her family—everything.
As long-buried secrets are uncovered, Val and Stefani must face the truth of how they feel for one another and decide-- once and for all-- if love is worth risking everything for.
RECKLESS is a novel of THE HERETICS SAGA, and events take place prior to the start of Book 1: HERESY. RECKLESS can be read in any order.
A portion of the author's royalties for these books will be donated to The Trevor Project, which strives to protect, support, and create a better world for LGBTQIA+ youth. Thank you for supporting this cause.
439 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 6, 2023
4 people are currently reading
3 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 7, 2023
Words can't begin to describe how excited I was to be able to ARC read this book. Val who was already one of my favorite characters from the other two books in the heretics saga takes center stage here... Well okay shares center stage with Stefani. This story is both heartwarming and devastatingly heart breaking at points. It's about loss and love and not feeling good enough and out of place in the world around you while also finding that you are enough and that having the right person or people in your life can set your world on fire in ways you didn't expect. Especially when it involves unexpected frosting fights. it covers the grumpy sunshine trope as well if you're into that. If you've already read C.A.'s other two books in the saga you're definitely gonna wanna check this one out to become even more immersed in the world and characters that the authors created. If you haven't read the other two books yet still read this book and then immediately go and read the other books. You wont be disappointed.
July 11, 2023
Loving you is reckless, but I’m in love with you, anyway.
This book is a very empowering read for women of all ages. The Heretics Saga is the perfect dystopian YA. It has the right amount of romance, and rebellion to keep you intrigued throughout. This installment in the Saga was everything I didn’t know I needed to know about Val and Stefani. Their beginning, their trials and even some stories on Stefani we didn’t expect. I got so much more out of this than just a romance. If you haven’t picked up a copy of “Heresy” or “Dissent” those should be your next reads after this one!
I received a copy of this as an ARC all opinions expressed in this review are my own.
This book is a very empowering read for women of all ages. The Heretics Saga is the perfect dystopian YA. It has the right amount of romance, and rebellion to keep you intrigued throughout. This installment in the Saga was everything I didn’t know I needed to know about Val and Stefani. Their beginning, their trials and even some stories on Stefani we didn’t expect. I got so much more out of this than just a romance. If you haven’t picked up a copy of “Heresy” or “Dissent” those should be your next reads after this one!
I received a copy of this as an ARC all opinions expressed in this review are my own.
July 14, 2023
When I tell you I absolutely RAN to sign up for an ARC read as soon as C.A. announced… man I am so happy I did. This is my first LGBTQ love story read and I can not be more happy that this was it. Val & Stefani have always been my favorite side couple since I began reading this series and this just aided that. Val and Stefani’s relationship is absolutely amazing. The banter between them is absolutely hysterical sometimes and they just perfectly match eachother. They certainly have a black cat-orange cat type relationship. Val being the black cat.
Side note: if you know the series, you know the “code worded” cuss words. I absolutely love the way Stefani cusses. Everytime she does, her analogies are absolutely hysterical. I love her. For example: “”Motherfroging icicles on my tatas!" she curses, pushing herself into a sitting position. "That water is froqing colder than a mole rat's balls in the Artic!"” Absolutely love her!
Moving on from specifically Val & Stefani(even though the book is pretty much about their relationship and how it came to be) the story by itself is absolutely wonderful to read. C.A. has a way of writing in all the books that draws you in. The drama, banter between any characters, the plot twists, you never want to stop reading. Which is why as soon as another chance arrives for an ARC read, I’ll be one of the first signing up. :D
Another thing I would like to add, go look at trigger warnings! There are a few for this book but that is not a bad thing. There are times where trigger warnings in books make the book seem very heavy and dark but the way C.A brings them about, they almost make the characters seem more real. That may sound odd but the way they are written into the story and the way things are played out. They are not just thrown in there for a “sudden plot twist”. They might do something to the plot but they are not used in a way to poke fun at certain triggers or just thrown around like they are no big deal.
!! Disclaimer: I may be an ARC reader but all of these opinions are my own personal ones. I am not being forced to write a positive review. The review is based on my own feelings ONLY! !!
Side note: if you know the series, you know the “code worded” cuss words. I absolutely love the way Stefani cusses. Everytime she does, her analogies are absolutely hysterical. I love her. For example: “”Motherfroging icicles on my tatas!" she curses, pushing herself into a sitting position. "That water is froqing colder than a mole rat's balls in the Artic!"” Absolutely love her!
Moving on from specifically Val & Stefani(even though the book is pretty much about their relationship and how it came to be) the story by itself is absolutely wonderful to read. C.A. has a way of writing in all the books that draws you in. The drama, banter between any characters, the plot twists, you never want to stop reading. Which is why as soon as another chance arrives for an ARC read, I’ll be one of the first signing up. :D
Another thing I would like to add, go look at trigger warnings! There are a few for this book but that is not a bad thing. There are times where trigger warnings in books make the book seem very heavy and dark but the way C.A brings them about, they almost make the characters seem more real. That may sound odd but the way they are written into the story and the way things are played out. They are not just thrown in there for a “sudden plot twist”. They might do something to the plot but they are not used in a way to poke fun at certain triggers or just thrown around like they are no big deal.
!! Disclaimer: I may be an ARC reader but all of these opinions are my own personal ones. I am not being forced to write a positive review. The review is based on my own feelings ONLY! !!
February 17, 2025
I know it is only January, but this is my favorite book for this whole year. (It is going to be very difficult to top this) I could not stop reading it and at the same time I took my time.
For a moment I thought this was going to be short and I am forever grateful it wasn’t!
Val and Stef have a very complicated relationship. For one, they live in a world where being gay is illegal, so that alone brings a whole can of worms. For second, Val’s friend was reported for Heresy and no one knows who reported her. All Stef wants to do is be there for Val, but because of all the rules, she can’t. Stef also has to keep up appearances since she is one of the tops of the political food chain.
This story broke my heart, raised with it back with hope, and suspected complete betrayal. What hurts the most is how realistic this supposed dystopian world is.
The only criticism I can give is that Val and Stef’s feelings for each other is borderline just horny and repetitive, to be fair they are teens.
For a moment I thought this was going to be short and I am forever grateful it wasn’t!
Val and Stef have a very complicated relationship. For one, they live in a world where being gay is illegal, so that alone brings a whole can of worms. For second, Val’s friend was reported for Heresy and no one knows who reported her. All Stef wants to do is be there for Val, but because of all the rules, she can’t. Stef also has to keep up appearances since she is one of the tops of the political food chain.
This story broke my heart, raised with it back with hope, and suspected complete betrayal. What hurts the most is how realistic this supposed dystopian world is.
The only criticism I can give is that Val and Stef’s feelings for each other is borderline just horny and repetitive, to be fair they are teens.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews