July 24, 2014

Review: Ruthless People by J.J. McAvoy



"Mr. & Mrs. Smith meets the Sopranos..." To the outside world, they look like American Royalty, giving to charities, feeding the homeless, rebuilding the city. But behind closed doors is a constant battle for dominance between two Bosses, cultures, and hearts.

Ruthless People is a romantic crime fiction set in modern day Chicago, and follows the life and marriage of Melody Giovanni and Liam Callahan—rivals by blood and leaders through fear. Their marriage, arranged by their fathers in hopes to end years of bloodshed between the Irish and the Italians.

Liam believes he’s getting a simple-minded wife, one he can control, one who bends to his every need . . . the complete opposite of Melody. She knows exactly what type of man he is, and would rather die than give up the power she has spent her life building.

The Mafia of the past has evolved, and with rival bosses gunning for them, Melody and Liam will have to learn to work as one to take down those who stand in their way.

1 Marriage x 2 Bosses = 3x the Chaos




Amazon US | Amazon UK






MY REVIEW



Ruthless People by J.J. McAvoy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5 slightly psychotic STARS




First and foremost, send your morals on a vacation and you will have the time of your life reading this book. I feel like I have to mention it beforehand because honestly I've never read anything like this. Pretty much every character in this book is a cold blooded killer, has no morals, no guilt and most of them even enjoy it. This needs to be said, but if you can get over it I swear Ruthless People will blow your fucking mind...no pun intended.

”Rule One: You kill for family. You die for family. Because you can’t trust anyone else.”


It all begins with an arranged, but still on both parties consensual marriage between 27-year old Liam Alec Callahan and 24-year old Meldody Nicci Giovanni, to bring together two major crime families.

On the one hand you have the Italian Mafia and on the other the Irish Mob. Fun times all around.

To say that this would be a battle of wills is pretty much an understatement. When you put the head of the Italian Mafia and the soon to be Ceann na Conairte (that’s Irish for Boss, I guess) of the Irish Mob together and expect them to rule the combined kingdom it is bloody likely that heads will roll.

And they do and oh man is it fun to watch.

“I want you to be willing to kill for me. I want you to be the same killer I am and not flinch away from the blood. I want you to revel in the blood alongside me. I want you to help me take down every fucker who stands in the way of a Callahan.”



Meldody Nicci Giovanni




I love Melody! Just so we are clear. She is a kick-ass heroin. She takes no shit from anyone and she usually solves conflict with a gun to a head or the occasional leg...as Liam can attest to.

“She is. . . she is Bloody Melody and perfect. God created her and then shattered the mold afterward, for the world could not handle two of her.”


She is the daughter of Orlando Giovanni, who is very sick and had given the reigns of the family business to Mel years ago. Also, no one outside her organisation knows that she is the actual Boss of the Italian Mafia. Came as a bit of a shock when Liam found out. *muahahahaha*
She is a ruthless, cold blooded business woman and a killer on top. What’s not to like about that? I told you to abandon all human decency. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Despite her young age she has the experience and assertiveness to lead one of the most dangerous crime operations in the world. Yeah, I was shocked too.

She doesn't need Liam. There is no real reason why she should marry him. She has the money and the power already, but her father insists on it. I wonder why? ;P


Liam Alec Callahan



Liam is in line to become the new head of the ‘family businesses’. There is just one little thing his father wants him to do...marry Melody. Easy enough, right? Well, at least he thought it would be. What he expected to get in his new wife and what he actually got are two very different things.

The whole marriage thing is also complicated since they never met before and let me tell you that first meeting three days before the wedding was ...WOW! A hot clusterfuck and budding heads gets a whole new meaning.

“Interesting does not even begin to cover what happened today.” I said. “My fiancé shot me with my own gun.”



Liam is just the way I love my book boyfriends. He is a domineering son of a bitch, he is sexy as hell, has great hair and then he gets put in his place by a strong female character, without becoming a pussy in the process. I was in actual book heaven.

“She had found the monster inside me and fed it. Sadly, I didn’t think it would ever have enough of her.”


I love this book so much, I can’t even put it into words but I’m going to try.

I was hooked from the first page. I actually read it in one sitting, with one or two coffee breaks in the middle. I just had to see what happens next. The writing is witty, with multiple POVs and the storyline is very well thought out. Of course, next to the beautiful and yet slightly psychotic romance story there are some actual antagonists, *coughs* bad guys *coughs* who want to do harm to our lovely crime couple. And not to forget the family, they always create the biggest drama, don’t they?

I was in a constant state of laughter and jaw dropping. Liam and Mel are combustible together, they are made of the same stuff, they understand each other and they are a match made in heaven or in this case probably hell.

“Melody and Liam were born on the dark side of the moon. They enjoy this life. They watch people burn in their beds”


Oh, and they not only watch people burn in bed, they also set their own bed on fire. There are some scorching sex scenes in there. *fans self*




And as a little takeaway gift...a few words to live by:

“Everything we don’t agree on, we fuck out.”




**Special thanks to the Canaries for making this BR a fabulous experience. :D

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