Damaged Goods

Trauma, addiction, love, and sexual exploration collide in this dark and over-the-top friends-to-lovers romance from Shen (Vicious). Aspiring ballerina Bailey Followhill has always been a “good girl” but she falls from the ivory tower of Julliard after a failed midterm in dance composition and a night in the emergency room after overdosing on fentanyl-laced pain meds. She’s sent home to California as the college launches an investigation into whether they’ll allow her back, and, in the anxiety of the waiting period, she becomes increasingly dependent on drugs to cope. It gets to the point that local golden boy Lev Cole, a talented football player and Bailey’s best friend and childhood admirer, can barely recognize the girl he has always dreamed of settling down with. Bailey’s mother, rightfully concerned, trusts Lev to watch over Bailey on nights when she cannot. Despite Bailey’s erratic behavior, the sexual tension between her and Lev is as strong as ever, leading to some steamy and intense love scenes. The plot feels jumpy, the heavy issues aren’t particularly well handled, and the sappy dialogue doesn’t feel true to either of the characters and may make some readers cringe. The sex is undeniably hot, but everything else falls flat. Agent: Kimberly Brower, Brower Literary. (Jan.)