Ruthless People (Ruthless People #1)

I love Mafia stories but not this one. The female was so disturbing in her actions I could find nothing to like about her. She made the male seem not alpha but weak. There were so many pronoun errors and lack of editing. I will not be purchasing the rest of the series.

Liam Callahan is heir apparent to being the Boss of the Irish Mob. Only thing needed to guarantee his ascension is fulfilling his arranged marriage contract. His intended Melody Nicci Giovanni on paper presents as any other Italian mafia princess, both beautiful, and well versed in the lifestyle’s requirements. Liam gets the shock of his life when the docile wife he expected might turn out to be one of the deadliest opponents ever faced. An old joke asks “How do two cobras mate?” The answer is “very carefully”.

The Good:
1. There are no heroes in this tale. Instead we get a mafia tale featuring extremely unapologetic villains. No prettying up of the world and the elements that goes into it. I actually appreciated this unique take, even when the leads went over lines that shocked, and sickened.

2. Melody is a beast! She is a boss in her own right. God help anyone who believes in the myth of the weaker sex.

3. I’m a sucker for a hot redhead, and Liam definitely fits that bill. After the bumpy start, I also liked his adaptability in regards to Melody’s prickly personality.

4. Despite them being evil incarnate their romance burned bright.

5. Despite being so dark, it retained a sense of fun adventure throughout.

6. The side characters were interesting, and actually can’t wait to read other books featuring them without feeling like series bait.

The Bad:
1. I loved her, but definitely could see those who prefer soft, or sweet heroines running away screaming from “Bloody Melody”.

2. Sometimes the scenarios went over the edges of belief suspension.

3. Might be a hard sell also for readers requiring morality plays even in darker themed reads.

Final Thoughts:
Though not perfect, was great soapy fun. I would totally watch this as a cable television show. This is a great introduction to a new-to-me mafia romance series.

Messy is the only word that describes this book. The scenes are chaotic and repetitive. The dialogue is also repetitive. We get points of view that aren’t the MCs ‘ for no apparent reason. The scenes themselves are messing strung together. I left this book feeling like the plot barely moved, and the romance was ridiculous. The insta lust and insta love (on Liam’s part) made no sense. Both of the MCs spent half their time running around like crazy people screaming at each other and the people around them while waving guns. The other half was them having sex. The character development is light and where ur dies happen, it isn’t believable. The general childishness of the MCs and others was irritating.

I also felt the violence was too over the top. I don’t mind violent movies, shows, books…but you have to move the plot along. This book doesn’t. You jump from sex scene to blood and gore to sex scene blah blah blah. The level of violence was disturbing. It was also boring after so much of the same stuff. Again, actual plot movement might have helped.

Oh and the endless “I’m so special and hard core, and thus should rule” stuff made the characters seem even more childish. I mean, if the screaming and bull in a china shop recklessness that was hitting the reader over the head on every page somehow didn’t already convey that. If you have to state you’re the boss that often, you’re not the boss.

One thing this series has going for it is that Mel is very independent. And thank god we didn’t have a virgin storyline in this or I’d have given it a one star. Nothing shouts grooming louder than a virgin, barely legal teen being forced to marry an older man. The creep factor on that is sky high. This book doesn’t suffer from that sexist trope, at least.

I would not recommend this, even to most mafia romance book lovers. Its a shame, given this is one of the few with a strong female lead who is sexually aware and has agency.

Maybe if you like mafia romances, you will still like this book

My first reading of this author and certainly not my last, I have already purchased book two of this series. I really enjoy a good crime family novel and the name of this book was well chosen. This is the story of the combining of two of the top crime families which are the Giovanni family (Italians) and the Irish family of the Callahans, the decision made by their fathers over a decade ago. Melody Giovanni has been set up to marry Liam Callahan and their initial meeting was definitely explosive the first time they are together. Melody is anything but the typical stepford wife that is the norm for the Irish men. The secret that she and her father have been hiding about her role in the family business and her abilities astounds Liam and his men upon first meeting her. As well Melody definitely makes quite the grand entrance into their lives. Liam is to set to step up into his father’s position as head of the family upon their marriage even though he is second in line because he is the most capable for the role. Melody and Liam definitely are made for each other as they are both the most blood thirsty individuals of both their organizations and totally enjoy murder mayhem and blood lust, additionally their lust for each other is off the charts. So much happens in this book that you will have a really hard time putting it down, murder, bombing, rape, drugs, betrayal, torture is done at a new gruesome level and things from the past come back to bite everyone. Totally recommend this book and I cannot wait to read book two in this series to find out what happens next as it leaves off in a huge cliffhanger that is a total shock. Great job Ms. McAvoy!!!

Ok so id held off reading this book as when i first started reading this author id wanted a stand alone read… then i binge read all of those so then it was time for this series and all i can say literally i was blown away!!!
JJ McAvoy can write one hell of a book that draws you in whole heartedly wraps your head around the story then spits you out at the end after going through every emotion you can think of!!
So here we have Liam who is part of the Irish Mafia looking to show that its time for him to be promoted to boss over his dad with an arranged marriage….
Then we have Melody who is part of the Italian Mafia mostly wanting the same so what happens when these 2 spitfires meet and get together??
Fireworks …every…single …time!!!
This story was such a read i could honestly read about these pair and their families all day every day!
We had fun laughter sadness heart break friendship loneliness love happiness all thrown into one big huge jumble of amazing words that i would 100 million percent recommend everyone to read… and i could only dream you had one of these guys on your team through life!
I think ive found a new best friend in Melody Callahan!!!

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