Ruthless Creatures by J. T. Geissinger Series: Queens and Monsters #1
on January 31, 2025
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Contemporary
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From BookTok sensation J.T. Geissinger comes Ruthless Creatures, a scorchingly hot mafia romance about two people bound together by a debt that must be collected. No matter the cost.
Five years ago, my fiancé disappeared. He left me with a wedding dress I’d never wear. Left me with the kind of scars that can’t be healed. The man I built my future on vanished like a ghost. All that remained were my broken heart and a million unanswered questions.
Until a mysterious stranger arrives in town.
Tall, dark and dangerous, Kage is as full of secrets as he is sex appeal. Though I know he’s hiding something, I’m drawn to him like a moth to flame. Heat crackles between us with every look, desire flares into passion, and I fall hard, helpless to resist.
But then I discover he’s been sent to collect on an unpaid debt from my missing fiancé . . .
And that debt is me.
Discover Carnal Urges, the second book in the addictive Queens and Monsters series by J. T. Geissinger.
Five years ago, Nat’s fiancé disappeared without a trace the day before their wedding. For five years, she waited. Avoided relationships in hopes that one day David would show back up on her doorstep. That is, until Kage, a mysterious, grumpy hottie, buys the house next door. What was supposed to be just another hit for Kage turns into a steamy love affair that puts them both in danger.
Ruthless Creatures is the first in J.T. Geissinger’s Queens and Monsters series, which is currently up to four books. When I bought this book, I had no clue what it was about. I picked it up because it had J.T. Geissinger’s name on it, and I knew she wrote Pen Pal, and it got a lot of great reviews. Which I still haven’t read, but it’s on my TBR. I didn’t even bother to read the synopsis on the back of the book. I just assumed it was a dark romance, but instead it turned out to be my first mafia romance, and I’m not mad about it.
At least, I assume it’s considered a mafia romance. It’s a romance, and the MMC is in the mafia. It’s very different from the dark romances I’ve been reading. Kage was a really nice guy for being a mafioso, even though he was kinda grumpy at the start. I liked the way Kage’s character was written. While I don’t think he was overly complex, he still experienced some growth over time. That could also be from the fact that we don’t get a lot of full chapters from his pov. Nat, on the other hand, was a great character, and I loved seeing her go from someone who was emotionally unavailable to someone who is open to falling in love again. With that said, I don’t think she just turned completely soft. Nat still had a sassy side, and she didn’t put up with BS.
I love the way Geissinger writes her characters and her writing style overall. She has a way of telling a story in such a way that kept me engaged. I didn’t feel like any of the story lulled too much or went too fast. The pacing was pretty spot on and very entertaining. Normally, I feel like I need more action or suspense in order for me to stick with a romance novel, but Ruthless Creatures proved me wrong. Sure, there are some elements of suspense, but this book is first and foremost a romance story. I’m also hard-pressed to put this in the dark romance category because, even though our MMC is morally light-grey, the story itself isn’t that dark.
Geissinger also does a great job and writing spice scenes in addition to story and characters. Sometimes you ask yourself, ‘How many different ways can you write a sex scene before it gets samey?’ She has a way of making scenes feel fresh and titillating. Not with just the words she uses, but the way she crafts them. So if you were wondering how good the spice is, it’s top tier.
Overall, I’d enjoyed the book; I plan on reading the rest of this series and more of J.T. Geissinger’s work as well. It’s available on Kindle Unlimited, so you can at least give it a shot, and if you don’t like it, you didn’t really lose anything.
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