Saucy Reviews on Kinky Korner: “I thoroughly enjoyed this modern day version of Beauty and the Beast however this one was the adult version and in my opinion, much better!”
Britney’s Romance Library: “This was a beautiful Beauty and the Beast tale with a splash of dark 50 Shades of Gray.”
QueenofBooks88: “Wow what a powerful story of such heartache and torment! I was so hooked on this book, it had me feel a range of different emotions throughout, which means you know its a genuinely good read.”
Author S.A. Ichigo: “RUTHLESS by @s.srichardsbooks is so dark and emotional read, I’m left speechless.”
My Review of Ruthless
Ruthless by S.S. Richards
My rating: 4 of 5 stars.
Short and steamy Beauty and the Beast retelling!
I liked the premise of this book very much. Of course it is a standard trope. The Heroine’s abusive parents sell her for the cash after the father loses his job. Though there were a few differences in this story. Most notably that the heroine, Anastasia has four sisters. Anna is the second oldest and also the second daughter to be sold.
*Trigger warning for rape/non-consent after Anastasia arrives at the Castle owned by the Hero, Dean. He has been overcome with sorrow after his family was killed when he was young. He saw his sister murdered right in front of him and has been wracked with guilt ever since, because he did nothing to save her. This is a contemporary romance, so he is a billionaire that just happens to live in a castle, it isn’t a historical romance.
Despite both parties living through the worst life has to offer, Anna tries not to dwell on what she went through. She is a strong heroine and sees the damage in the damage in Dean and the sadness and wants to help him deal with it. She knows he bought her to take his frustrations out on her because he doesn’t know how to get rid of the pain without causing harm to others.
There were a few things I didn’t like about the book. The beginning seemed very stilted to me. It shows Dean as a young boy when his family is killed and then Anna at her parents home with her sisters and what she went through there before they sold her to human traffickers. It is told in first person POV and it didn’t seem to flow like someone’s thoughts should. It seemed almost like list of everything that person did. I open…I blink…I look…I go…I wake…I wait…I know. The writing either got better later in the book or I was into the story enough where it didn’t bother me as much. Plus there was more dialogue instead of just thoughts so it didn’t seem stilted like the beginning.
I also think the background information could have been shortened so the time that the hero and heroine are together is longer. They fell in love a bit too fast. Though overall the main storylines and conflicts were good and I enjoyed the story quite a bit. It was dark and pretty steamy. I would say four flames out of five 🔥🔥🔥🔥. As for my star rating, I give this a 3.5 but without half stars that rounds up to a four.
I voluntarily read & reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts & opinions are my own.
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