Twisted Pawn by L.J. Shen Review: Five Stars for Achilles, Tierney, and My Emotional Breakdown

Rating: ★★★★★

First off, the audio of Twisted Pawn?

Chef’s kiss.

No notes. No crumbs. Just full cinematic dark romance perfection injected straight into my ears while I tried to function like a normal person.

Spoiler alert: I did not function like a normal person.

I already knew Achilles Ferrante and Tierney Callaghan were going to be a problem after the banter we got from them in Bad Bishop. Their energy was sharp, vicious, loaded, and so obviously full of history that I knew their book was going to hurt.

And it did.

But in the best way.

Twisted Pawn is exactly the kind of dark romance I love from L.J. Shen. It is messy, dangerous, emotional, action-packed, full of betrayal, obsession, tension, and two people who are so clearly still in love with each other that watching them try to destroy each other almost made me lose my mind.

About Twisted Pawn

Twisted Pawn follows Achilles Ferrante, an assassin Mafia heir and Camorra prince, and Tierney Callaghan, the woman who betrayed him twice.

Once, she broke his heart.

Then, she sold him out to the Feds.

Now Achilles wants revenge, and Tierney knows there is a bullet with her name on it. She has spent years running, and he has spent years promising himself that when he finds her, mercy will not be on the table.

But their history is not that simple.

Because before the betrayal, before the hunt, before all the blood and rage and vengeance, Achilles and Tierney were something else.

They were young.

They were in love.

And they broke each other.

The First Half Had Me Yelling

The first half of this book had me saying, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” so many times it became ridiculous.

Achilles and Tierney are the definition of two people making the worst possible choices while clearly being completely gone for each other. They hurt each other. They provoke each other. They lash out. They lie. They threaten. They weaponize every bit of history between them.

And somehow, underneath all of that, the love is still there.

That is what made it so addictive.

This was not a clean second-chance romance where two people sit down, calmly discuss their past, and make emotionally mature decisions. Absolutely not. This is Achilles and Tierney. Their love language is emotional warfare, loaded banter, and making each other bleed metaphorically, and sometimes not so metaphorically.

They are both so stubborn. So wounded. So angry.

And so painfully in love.

There were moments where I wanted to shake them both, then immediately hug them, then immediately shake them again.

Achilles and Tierney Were So Far Gone for Each Other

One of the best parts of this book is how obvious it is that Achilles and Tierney never stopped loving each other.

Even when they are furious.

Even when they are cruel.

Even when they are actively trying to hurt each other.

That connection never disappears.

Achilles is ruthless, terrifying, and fully capable of being the monster everyone believes him to be. But Tierney saw his humanity once, and that matters. She knew him before he became the version of himself everyone fears. She knew the boy underneath the weapon.

And Tierney? She is not some helpless heroine waiting around to be saved. She is sharp, slippery, dangerous, and determined to survive. She knows Achilles better than almost anyone, and she knows exactly how much danger she is in.

But she also knows the man he used to be.

That is the tragedy of them.

They are not just enemies.

They are not just hunter and hunter.

They are two people who loved each other before the world turned them into weapons.

The Flashbacks Broke Me

The flashbacks to when Achilles and Tierney were teenagers absolutely broke me.

There is something so painful about seeing who they were before everything went wrong. Before the betrayal. Before the revenge. Before Achilles became the man hunting her and Tierney became the woman running from him.

Those flashbacks added so much emotional weight to the present-day chaos.

Because once you see them young and in love, everything they do as adults hurts more. Every cruel word hits harder. Every act of revenge feels more tragic. Every moment where they almost soften toward each other feels like a wound reopening.

And the flashback where Tierney had to end things with Achilles in the worst possible way?

Forget about it.

I was a bawling mess in the breakroom.

There are some scenes you read and think, “Oh, this is going to stay with me.” That was one of them. It explained so much without making the pain any easier to swallow.

The Healing Was Perfection

As much as I loved the action, the twists, and the danger, what really made this a five-star read for me was the healing.

Achilles and Tierney’s journey back to each other is not easy. It should not be easy. There is too much betrayal, too much pain, too much blood between them.

But watching them slowly find their way back?

UGH.

Perfection.

It felt earned. It felt messy. It felt like two damaged people finally being forced to confront the truth of what happened, what they lost, and what they still wanted from each other.

They had to stop hiding behind rage.

They had to stop letting the past make every decision for them.

And when they finally started choosing each other again, it hit so hard because the book makes you sit with everything that almost destroyed them first.

That is the kind of second-chance romance I love. Not easy forgiveness. Not instant softness. But a brutal, emotional, sometimes painful climb back to each other.

The Action and Twists Had Me Holding My Breath

This book was not just emotionally intense. It was also packed with suspense, twists, turns, and action that genuinely had me holding my breath multiple times.

L.J. Shen kept the pacing sharp, especially once the larger danger surrounding Achilles and Tierney started tightening around them. There were so many moments where I thought I had a handle on what was happening, only for the story to twist again.

The mafia world, the betrayals, the danger, the constant feeling that someone was always one move away from disaster—it all worked so well.

And honestly, the chess-piece energy of this series is so fitting. Everyone has secrets. Everyone is moving pieces around the board. Everyone thinks they are the one in control until the next reveal proves they absolutely are not.

I ate it up.

The Audiobook Was Everything

I cannot talk about this book without talking about the audio.

Because again: chef’s kiss.

The narration brought so much life to Achilles and Tierney’s story. The anger, the longing, the grief, the chemistry, the danger, the softness buried underneath all the violence—it all came through beautifully.

There were moments where the audio made the emotional scenes hit even harder than I expected. The banter was sharper. The tension was heavier. The heartbreak felt more immediate.

And when the story reached those painful flashback moments?

Destroyed.

Absolutely destroyed.

I love when an audiobook enhances the entire reading experience, and this one absolutely did that for me.

Achilles and Tierney’s Banter Was Worth the Wait

I loved their banter in Bad Bishop, and Twisted Pawn delivered on every bit of that promise.

Their dialogue is vicious, funny, tense, and full of history. They know exactly where to press to hurt each other, but they also know each other so deeply that even their insults feel intimate.

That is such a specific dynamic, and when it works, it works.

And here?

It worked.

Every scene between them had this live-wire quality. Like they were either going to fight, kiss, kill each other, or somehow all three. They are not calm people in a calm romance. They are chaos wrapped in grief wrapped in obsession.

My favorite flavor, apparently.

And Now I Need Fallen Rook

As much as I loved Achilles and Tierney, I also need to talk about that little glimpse into Enzo and Tom Rothwell.

Because excuse me?

I am not ready.

Actually, that is a lie. I am very ready. I am aggressively ready. I am already mentally clearing space for the emotional damage.

The setup for Fallen Rook has me so excited. If Bad Bishop made me curious and Twisted Pawn made me fully invested, then the glimpse of what is coming next has me ready to dive straight into book three.

Bring on Enzo and Tom.

Bring on the chaos.

Bring on the pain.

I know better than to trust L.J. Shen with my emotions, and yet here I am, handing them over anyway like a fool with Wi-Fi.

Final Thoughts

I loved Twisted Pawn.

It gave me everything I wanted from Achilles and Tierney’s story and then some. The banter was sharp, the chemistry was explosive, the flashbacks were heartbreaking, the action was intense, and the emotional payoff was so satisfying.

The first half had me yelling at both of them like they could hear me. The second half had me holding my breath. The flashbacks had me crying in the breakroom. And the ending left me completely satisfied while still desperate for the next book.

Achilles and Tierney were messy, vicious, wounded, and completely obsessed with each other.

They hurt.

They healed.

They found their way back.

And I loved every second of it.

Five stars.

Now bring on Fallen Rook.