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Pretty and Reckless
The first time I met Weston, he was my psychologist.
I never planned to see him again.
We lived in two different worlds.
He was responsible. I was reckless.
He was the good guy. They'd labeled me as out-of-control.
He was harmony on a warm beach day. I was the hurricane that erupted through.
But one night, I called him to rescue me.
And he did more than that.
I never planned to see him again.
We lived in two different worlds.
He was responsible. I was reckless.
He was the good guy. They'd labeled me as out-of-control.
He was harmony on a warm beach day. I was the hurricane that erupted through.
But one night, I called him to rescue me.
And he did more than that.
260 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 2014
1185 people are currently reading
11671 people want to read
About the author
Charity Ferrell
46 books3,135 followersCharity Ferrell is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, #1 Amazon, and #1 Apple bestselling author.
She resides in Indianapolis, Indiana. When she’s not writing, she’s hanging out with her dog, on a Starbucks run, shopping online, or spending time with her family.
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INSTAGRAM: @charityferrell
She resides in Indianapolis, Indiana. When she’s not writing, she’s hanging out with her dog, on a Starbucks run, shopping online, or spending time with her family.
JOIN MY NL: https://bit.ly/2YHF7im
JOIN MY READER GROUP: https://bit.ly/31ugXIY
WEBSITE: http://charityferrell.com
FOLLOW ME ON:
TIK TOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@charityferrell
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/authorcharityferrell
INSTAGRAM: @charityferrell
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 463 reviews
September 13, 2022
I have the gift of sight and I have abused it reading this.
September 13, 2022
This Story is like one big trauma dump, but they just FLY right past it and is like “but look, there’s also LOVE”. I need to stop getting my recommendations from tik toks lol
September 11, 2022
it’s giving male manipulation. it’s giving acotar if feyre ended up with tamlin. like literally wow the manipulation and how he was literally taking advantage of her and using her secrets against her. he legit sounded like i villian trying to control her at the end. why did i like vincent more than weston and he literally was in 2% of the book
September 17, 2022
Oh, how I wish I was Jared, 19, and never learned how to read
September 13, 2022
i really should stop reading books bc of TikTok
September 15, 2022
tw: sexual assault, pedophilia, domestic abuse, parental abuse, death of a parent, death of a sibling, suicide, drug use, alcoholism, verbal abuse
I'm so livid right now and I have no one to blame but myself. This is what I get for falling for a booktok trap. It lured me in thinking it was going to be this tense, sexy little forbidden romance between a therapist and their patient. WRONG. Completely bookfished, mud all over my face right now. This book is about a young woman with a severe amount of trauma due to multiple rapes who drowns out all the noise by drinking and trying to regain her power by sleeping around. No one gets punished, money = king, and there is a rushed HEA when this book is full of heavy issues that you don't just get to sweep under the rug because you want to turn trauma into a love story. I'm not sure how I feel because I am tempted to read another book by the author as I didn't completely hate the writing style, but it's also hard to want to support an author who is baiting people to read their book by disguising such a triggering read like it's a spicy meatball just waiting to be devoured. If you are tempted to read this based on the saucy snippet from tiktok- check the trigger warnings.
1.5/5 ⭐ for the book
5/5 ⭐ for good advertising that makes me hate myself afterward
I've got to stop falling for the smut traps.
I'm so livid right now and I have no one to blame but myself. This is what I get for falling for a booktok trap. It lured me in thinking it was going to be this tense, sexy little forbidden romance between a therapist and their patient. WRONG. Completely bookfished, mud all over my face right now. This book is about a young woman with a severe amount of trauma due to multiple rapes who drowns out all the noise by drinking and trying to regain her power by sleeping around. No one gets punished, money = king, and there is a rushed HEA when this book is full of heavy issues that you don't just get to sweep under the rug because you want to turn trauma into a love story. I'm not sure how I feel because I am tempted to read another book by the author as I didn't completely hate the writing style, but it's also hard to want to support an author who is baiting people to read their book by disguising such a triggering read like it's a spicy meatball just waiting to be devoured. If you are tempted to read this based on the saucy snippet from tiktok- check the trigger warnings.
1.5/5 ⭐ for the book
5/5 ⭐ for good advertising that makes me hate myself afterward
I've got to stop falling for the smut traps.
January 2, 2023
Didn’t love it , but didn’t hate it.. 3 stars
September 9, 2022
unexpected
That was unexpectedly triggering. I went into this book after seeing a tiktok promo of a spicy scene and had no idea what I was getting into.
The middle of this book is heartbreaking and at one point I Dnf’d it. The next day I picked it back up because I just needed the closure.
There are a lot of things that went unanswered and it bothers me a bit. But I loved Elise’s character growth and I would love to see a book of them being happy and fluffy the whole time.
Please check trigger warnings
That was unexpectedly triggering. I went into this book after seeing a tiktok promo of a spicy scene and had no idea what I was getting into.
The middle of this book is heartbreaking and at one point I Dnf’d it. The next day I picked it back up because I just needed the closure.
There are a lot of things that went unanswered and it bothers me a bit. But I loved Elise’s character growth and I would love to see a book of them being happy and fluffy the whole time.
Please check trigger warnings
May 11, 2023
Two books in a day woooooo. This one was therapist x ex-patient, I liked it but not too much
September 10, 2022
Terrible book, the plot was awful, the writing style was so bad it felt like a child wrote it. I couldn’t finish the book because it was so hard to get through. The characters were so basic with really cringey predictable basic dialogue. Really really just a bad book. Do not recommend at all.
November 5, 2015
Wow, this book was difficult read. All the shit that went on was just awful. My biggest issue with this book is that no one was punished for what they have done. Elisa was abused and nothing was done...NOT RIGHT!!
September 10, 2022
bleh that was so bad and toxic i basically skipped the last 25%
September 11, 2022
Quite simply no
September 13, 2022
This was better than I anticipated! This is kind of a taboo read given the relationship between them, but overall a good story.
September 14, 2022
Such an emotional, sexy, forbidden love story & I loved every second of it!
August 13, 2015
FIVE FUCKING STARS
No words. Amazing book.
Elise has been hurt all her life.
Drowning in alcohol and sex is the only way Elise finds strength.
But when she meets Weston, she realizes he is not like the others.
Will she open herself or will she let him think what the others think?
I gave this book five stars because ELISE IS SO FUCKING BRAVE.
I admire through the entire book. She was not like "oh everyone pity me, I'm incapable of move forward by myself".
She knew what she was capable of and when she saw the opportunity she took it.
Weston is a fucking sweetheart. He didn't run away from Elise or judge her, sure something happened between them (like any other book) but he never gave up and he fought for her and Elise let him help her, even though she didn't trust him completely at the beginning.
What I liked of the book:
. Also I liked that it was on their both POVs. Not too much of Weston, but if you guys read the book, you will be satisfied and you will be like "I fucking adored Weston, even though the book is mostly on Elise's POV."
What I didn't like of the book:
.
Other than that, I really loved this book. It's amazing.
No words. Amazing book.
Elise has been hurt all her life.
Drowning in alcohol and sex is the only way Elise finds strength.
But when she meets Weston, she realizes he is not like the others.
Will she open herself or will she let him think what the others think?
I gave this book five stars because ELISE IS SO FUCKING BRAVE.
I admire through the entire book. She was not like "oh everyone pity me, I'm incapable of move forward by myself".
She knew what she was capable of and when she saw the opportunity she took it.
Weston is a fucking sweetheart. He didn't run away from Elise or judge her, sure something happened between them (like any other book) but he never gave up and he fought for her and Elise let him help her, even though she didn't trust him completely at the beginning.
What I liked of the book:
. Also I liked that it was on their both POVs. Not too much of Weston, but if you guys read the book, you will be satisfied and you will be like "I fucking adored Weston, even though the book is mostly on Elise's POV."
What I didn't like of the book:
.
Other than that, I really loved this book. It's amazing.
April 21, 2023
this book was difficult to read and traumatizing.
May 10, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶🌶🌶🌶/5
•Age gap
•Psychologist x (ex)-patient
•Forbidden love
•Very dark romance
•Important rich abusive father
•MMC would die for her
Pros: This was an easy fast paced read. I couldn’t put it down. The writing flowed nicely and their story made sense. There wasn’t too much forbidden push back. Of course it was like “this is wrong” but they couldn’t resist and didn’t say that 50 times like most forbidden stories. It’s the best feeling when you get to the part where they finally give in, and they never stopped. He was gentle, kind, and overall, really set the bar high😂. He treated her like she was human and the mental health and abuse representation was so hard to read, but his character made it easier. I knew he would come in and saw what needed to be said.
cons: I was waiting for more plot. I was expecting something a little bit more dramatic but it kind of felt like The plot was rushed. There were certain things that made me go “eh a tad unrealistic” when it came to certain character development or certain situations.
There was so much more I wish I could’ve learned and I’m sad that the epilogue wasn’t too far in advance. I needed to know more of their story, but I’m still content with the read. I would probably read it again
‼️TW‼️
***Please do check the trigger warnings, but because is the main underlying problem, the biggest TW is rape. It can get explicit, but it’s not with the MMC love interest. It also mainly focuses on no one believing her***
🌶🌶🌶🌶/5
•Age gap
•Psychologist x (ex)-patient
•Forbidden love
•Very dark romance
•Important rich abusive father
•MMC would die for her
Pros: This was an easy fast paced read. I couldn’t put it down. The writing flowed nicely and their story made sense. There wasn’t too much forbidden push back. Of course it was like “this is wrong” but they couldn’t resist and didn’t say that 50 times like most forbidden stories. It’s the best feeling when you get to the part where they finally give in, and they never stopped. He was gentle, kind, and overall, really set the bar high😂. He treated her like she was human and the mental health and abuse representation was so hard to read, but his character made it easier. I knew he would come in and saw what needed to be said.
cons: I was waiting for more plot. I was expecting something a little bit more dramatic but it kind of felt like The plot was rushed. There were certain things that made me go “eh a tad unrealistic” when it came to certain character development or certain situations.
There was so much more I wish I could’ve learned and I’m sad that the epilogue wasn’t too far in advance. I needed to know more of their story, but I’m still content with the read. I would probably read it again
‼️TW‼️
***Please do check the trigger warnings, but because is the main underlying problem, the biggest TW is rape. It can get explicit, but it’s not with the MMC love interest. It also mainly focuses on no one believing her***
September 12, 2022
im sobbing and not in a good way
I typically read dark stuff but this book was just too much, honestly it was well written and i understand the concept of the book but i feel like it could have been executed better. I found this book from a tiktok ad and honestly i cannot recommend this to anyone. It was extremely triggering and if u have any issues with substance abuse or s/a please i urge u to not read this because this is going to haunt me. That said i have not hate for the author and it was honestly just so triggering because so many aspects of it are realistic (like how no one was held accountable) but i wish i never read this, it was just way too much for me. All of this being said please look into all the tws before u read this book.
I typically read dark stuff but this book was just too much, honestly it was well written and i understand the concept of the book but i feel like it could have been executed better. I found this book from a tiktok ad and honestly i cannot recommend this to anyone. It was extremely triggering and if u have any issues with substance abuse or s/a please i urge u to not read this because this is going to haunt me. That said i have not hate for the author and it was honestly just so triggering because so many aspects of it are realistic (like how no one was held accountable) but i wish i never read this, it was just way too much for me. All of this being said please look into all the tws before u read this book.
November 27, 2022
‼️THIS BOOK HAS VERY SERIOUS TRIGGERS INCLUDING MENTIONS OF CHILD SA & ON-PAGE SA NOT BETWEEN MCS‼️
I first want to clarify that I read this book FOR ME. I knew what the dynamic was going into it being a therapist/patient trope & I ENJOYED getting to live out this relationship in a FICTIONAL setting.
Now that we have that settled I guess it’s a little more clear why it feels like I read a completely different book than 80% of the goodreads reviewers. Literally the first 20 reviews absolutely rip this book to shreds & I’m over here giving it 5 stars like 👁️👄👁️
I thought this story was extremely emotionally provocative & truly had some of the most twisted plot twists I’ve ever encountered. There was one reveal that had me shouting, “NO. THERE’S NO POSSIBLE WAY.”
I thought the writing quality was fantastic & the tension & touch of tab00 was chef’s kiss🤌🏼
Our rockstar FMC Elise seemed like such a hot mess express from the outside & yet as we grew to know her past we discovered life had dealt her one of the sh!ttiest hands imaginable.
I loved that the MMC Weston was such a soft boi. He was a born fixer & the combination of his & Elise’s personalities had the potential to be super toxic but it never was. I thought Elise’s journey through learning to trust Weston was beautiful.
The ending was rushed but honestly that was my only critique🤷🏻♀️
If this book still interests you after reading all of that I encourage you to go into this book without reading its official reviews💀
I first want to clarify that I read this book FOR ME. I knew what the dynamic was going into it being a therapist/patient trope & I ENJOYED getting to live out this relationship in a FICTIONAL setting.
Now that we have that settled I guess it’s a little more clear why it feels like I read a completely different book than 80% of the goodreads reviewers. Literally the first 20 reviews absolutely rip this book to shreds & I’m over here giving it 5 stars like 👁️👄👁️
I thought this story was extremely emotionally provocative & truly had some of the most twisted plot twists I’ve ever encountered. There was one reveal that had me shouting, “NO. THERE’S NO POSSIBLE WAY.”
I thought the writing quality was fantastic & the tension & touch of tab00 was chef’s kiss🤌🏼
Our rockstar FMC Elise seemed like such a hot mess express from the outside & yet as we grew to know her past we discovered life had dealt her one of the sh!ttiest hands imaginable.
I loved that the MMC Weston was such a soft boi. He was a born fixer & the combination of his & Elise’s personalities had the potential to be super toxic but it never was. I thought Elise’s journey through learning to trust Weston was beautiful.
The ending was rushed but honestly that was my only critique🤷🏻♀️
If this book still interests you after reading all of that I encourage you to go into this book without reading its official reviews💀
October 2, 2022
I saw this book on TikTok and thought it was worth a shot, but it was awful. The whole book was like a trauma dump. The characters were also so one-dimensional and predictable. Read this if you want to cringe, because not even the spicy scenes are that good.
December 1, 2022
We got some fucked up triggers that we see and triggers that are mentioned, in detail. Triggers include rape of a minor, attempted rape of an adult and physical, verbal and mental abuse of an adult. Mentions of suicide, and I'm going to add gaslighting and manipulation cuz they are the glue that made this shit book.
Ok, so, I saw this on an IG reel where they show a clip of a text exchange between the FMC and the MMC, who is her therapist. Well, I read it, all of it, didn't DNF and here's what the fuck I think about it.
The abuse mentioned starts from go and comes off as giving me hints this is gonna be a dark fucking book, it's not. The premise wasn't bad but I'd put a bag over the execution. Like, I'm not a writer, but na. This was going 100 miles per hour off an unfinished bridge. Shit was chaotic and the instalove was not appreciated. She's portrayed as a human cocksleeve and he's nothing but a cranberry fucknut without the juice. No character development was provided, just people putting aside shit that was done and going on their merry way. The background characters (her friend and dudes) were useless fillers. The drama was excessive with sex thrown in the mix.
The MMC was off for me. Like, he wasn't the "villain" of the story but, if you read this shit, he done fucked up. The dude was manipulative as hell. Secretive as hell and obsessive as fuck all. He was not the hero, don't fucking fool yourself.
The FMC was too fucked for me to like her. Like, yea, tough luck, girl, but you didn't show me anything to like.
Ok, so, I saw this on an IG reel where they show a clip of a text exchange between the FMC and the MMC, who is her therapist. Well, I read it, all of it, didn't DNF and here's what the fuck I think about it.
The abuse mentioned starts from go and comes off as giving me hints this is gonna be a dark fucking book, it's not. The premise wasn't bad but I'd put a bag over the execution. Like, I'm not a writer, but na. This was going 100 miles per hour off an unfinished bridge. Shit was chaotic and the instalove was not appreciated. She's portrayed as a human cocksleeve and he's nothing but a cranberry fucknut without the juice. No character development was provided, just people putting aside shit that was done and going on their merry way. The background characters (her friend and dudes) were useless fillers. The drama was excessive with sex thrown in the mix.
The MMC was off for me. Like, he wasn't the "villain" of the story but, if you read this shit, he done fucked up. The dude was manipulative as hell. Secretive as hell and obsessive as fuck all. He was not the hero, don't fucking fool yourself.
The FMC was too fucked for me to like her. Like, yea, tough luck, girl, but you didn't show me anything to like.
September 14, 2022
no because this book was so awful and weston was weird as shit from the beginning wanted to be elise’s savior like what the fuck is that about. you’re either going to be her savior or her boyfriend, pick one. i feel like she clung to the one person who finally got her to open up and just never looked back and he took advantage of that. and when she finally started to set boundaries after what had happened to her, he disregards them all. exhibit A: she mentions something very bac and recent that happened between them and he says “don’t ruin the moment,” or whatever the hell he said. or saying weird things like “i own you” and she reminds him that they are not together, yet he proceeds to repeat that and adds that he owns her heart and that he knows she’s in love with him. just because she’s in love with you doesn’t give you a reason to step all over her boundaries, especially when you’re not together and she doesn’t want to speak to you. like it just kept getting worse and worse. their entire relationship was based on weston’s savior complex and elise was so vulnerable she overlooked it all. not only that but that was the first time a man saw her as a person and not just a body and she just stuck with him. elise baby there are other men out there who will also see you, give yourself some time to heal. last thing… i cannot believe he became interested in her when she was 17. actually that’s not the shocking part. the shocking part is that he shared that with her. i mean it was clear from the beginning of the book but the fact that he openly told her that and she said it was romantic…. you know what, they deserve each other.
1 star because i finished it.
1 star because i finished it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 10, 2022
I found out about this book on tik tok and let me tell ya'll this book did not disappoint at all. I love the book from beginning to end. It's spicy 🌶🌶🌶🌶in a lot of detail for those who love spicy books. I would say to be careful when reading this book it does involve some TW:Rape other than that I loved the relationship of the characters. It was just a good book to get me out of a reading slump.
September 28, 2023
This is my second Charity Ferrell book and I didn’t mind it at all! I added it to my TBR when I saw a scene on a tik tok and from liking Bad For You by her previously I knew it would be good.
It was not the book I was expecting. The trigger warning indicated about sexual assault, rape and suicide but I wasn’t prepared for the pain and suffering Elise endured throughout the book and starting so young at the age of 13. It was sad, sickening and heartbreaking. And it pained me that being so young everyone was out to get her and not believe her for speaking up about being a victim; due to her father being in high places and paying people to be silent.
Then comes Weston, Dr Weston the first psychologist that actually believes her, and his fixation of healing and fixing her. His urges to put her back together because she is so so strong and unbeatable. He finds her in a dark and hard place and sticks by her side, not at all thinking he’d fall any deeper for her than what he sees on the surface. But of course she opens up and he becomes the first and only person she’s ever felt safe and comfortable enough with to unravel.
I thought Weston was warm and gentle and he had a good reason to want to help people and do what he does… there were a lot of hard moments in this book and heart breaking times. The plot twists just kept coming. But it was all in all a good book.
It was not the book I was expecting. The trigger warning indicated about sexual assault, rape and suicide but I wasn’t prepared for the pain and suffering Elise endured throughout the book and starting so young at the age of 13. It was sad, sickening and heartbreaking. And it pained me that being so young everyone was out to get her and not believe her for speaking up about being a victim; due to her father being in high places and paying people to be silent.
Then comes Weston, Dr Weston the first psychologist that actually believes her, and his fixation of healing and fixing her. His urges to put her back together because she is so so strong and unbeatable. He finds her in a dark and hard place and sticks by her side, not at all thinking he’d fall any deeper for her than what he sees on the surface. But of course she opens up and he becomes the first and only person she’s ever felt safe and comfortable enough with to unravel.
I thought Weston was warm and gentle and he had a good reason to want to help people and do what he does… there were a lot of hard moments in this book and heart breaking times. The plot twists just kept coming. But it was all in all a good book.
September 13, 2022
I really was hoping to like this book. In general I find books where the main characters have trauma compelling if done right. But I don’t think the story line was handled well here. Just when I thought Elise’s backstory couldn’t get any worse, it did. And then the author barely gave her any interests or motivations beyond the fact that she was abused and liked the one guy in her life that didn’t assault her. Their relationship didn’t get a chance to grow in what I felt was a healthy way. She does get a job and the chance to be independent for a few chapters, but it still didn’t give her the ending I felt she deserved. Overall slightly disappointed that this was such a trauma heavy book but the issues were not handled delicately, nor was the relationship.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 13, 2022
errmmmmmmm picked this up as a buddy read !! which was the only fun thing about it.
This book really sucks actually !
I loved Elise, I'm not gonna lie. I hated every single other character, however, including Weston.
Spoilers!! and warning for nsfw topics and speak
I wanted a less realistic ending for all the abusers and a much more ideal version-- where they are ALL in prison and ruined,, not just a few of them. I want them to die, actually. Especially her father, actually. Glad he got a little bit of what he deserved at the end, but it was not nearly enough. This isn't a legitimate gripe, I guess, but the rest of the book was just as nonsensical sooo.
I cannot stand Weston. he's just as controlling as her father, actually, and is absolutely a man child. There were a few scenes that gagged me (like in a good way) but as a whole he entirely fell flat. I liked the scene where he painted her, before the actual nsfw stuff began.
Overall. This book just really wasn't for me. I appreciated some of the writing on control and power dynamics as a victim of sa, but also thought at some points Weston's reactions were shitty (ie chalking it up to Elise not trusting him when she is LITERALLY traumatized... ugh). I also appreciated that for most of the book her father is a villain, plain and simple, with no nuance. I really really like that the author didn't give him cop outs, and that Elise did end up cutting him off... which is about the only thing in this book I like.
Overall, this book just sucks, and I'm glad I read it because I get to talk about it with my friend, but honestly wished I'd just waited till the next book they picked up.
This book really sucks actually !
I loved Elise, I'm not gonna lie. I hated every single other character, however, including Weston.
Spoilers!! and warning for nsfw topics and speak
I wanted a less realistic ending for all the abusers and a much more ideal version-- where they are ALL in prison and ruined,, not just a few of them. I want them to die, actually. Especially her father, actually. Glad he got a little bit of what he deserved at the end, but it was not nearly enough. This isn't a legitimate gripe, I guess, but the rest of the book was just as nonsensical sooo.
I cannot stand Weston. he's just as controlling as her father, actually, and is absolutely a man child. There were a few scenes that gagged me (like in a good way) but as a whole he entirely fell flat. I liked the scene where he painted her, before the actual nsfw stuff began.
Overall. This book just really wasn't for me. I appreciated some of the writing on control and power dynamics as a victim of sa, but also thought at some points Weston's reactions were shitty (ie chalking it up to Elise not trusting him when she is LITERALLY traumatized... ugh). I also appreciated that for most of the book her father is a villain, plain and simple, with no nuance. I really really like that the author didn't give him cop outs, and that Elise did end up cutting him off... which is about the only thing in this book I like.
Overall, this book just sucks, and I'm glad I read it because I get to talk about it with my friend, but honestly wished I'd just waited till the next book they picked up.
September 25, 2022
this was alright. i liked the relationship and all but the plot in the middle of the book was just so so dramatic and the girl made such a big deal out of something that happened 3 years ago. and the male love interest was supposed to be a therapist but he did not act like one… at all. he didn’t handle bad news very well.
September 14, 2022
Y’all this book is a lot. But in the end I finished it!
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