Brutal Vows (Queens and Monsters 4) by JT Geissinger-Review & Excerpt Tour
Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /
Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc
ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 28, 2022
An Irish mobster with a brutal grudge.
An Italian mafia princess with a dark secret.
Two enemy empires joined in sacred marriage vows.
Let the hating games begin.
Reyna
If this arrogant Irish mobster my brother sold my niece to thinks I’m going to play nice over this arranged marriage BS, he should think again.
I don’t care if this match with the Mob will make my brother capo of the Five Families.
I don’t care how much money, territory, or power it will gain us.
I especially don’t care that the Irishman is the sexiest man I’ve ever seen.
I won’t allow my innocent niece to suffer the same way I did.
Even if I have to kill him.
Spider
I’m supposed to marry sweet, beautiful Lili. So why can’t I stop thinking about her swamp witch of an aunt?
Reyna who hates me. Reyna who challenges me. Reyna with the guts of a Viking, the body of a fertility goddess, and the attitude of a feral cat.
Nothing good can come of what I’m feeling for a woman who’s not the one in the wedding contract I signed.
A woman I want so much, I’ll have to burn the whole world down to get.
If she doesn’t kill me first.
•••••
REVIEW:BRUTAL VOWS is the fourth and final instalment in JT Geissinger’s contemporary, adult QUEENS AND MONSTERS erotic, Mafia romance series. This is Irish Mobster Homer ‘Spider’ Quinn, and thirty three year old Italian Mafia princess Reyna Caruso’s story line. BRUTAL VOWS can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.
Told from dual first person perspectives (Reyna and Spider) BRUTAL VOWS follows in the wake of an arranged marriage between Irish Mobster Homer ‘Spider’ Quinn and Reyna Caruso’s eighteen year old niece Lili. Reyna’s brother is the head of the Caruso family, and has signed a contract with the Irish Mob that will see the marriage of his eighteen year old daughter Lili to Spider Quinn, a contract that is to unite two powerful families but Lili is about to tear the family apart, and Reyna, who has already survived a marriage to the mob, refuses to let her niece become another statistic. Offering herself up in place of her niece, Reyna finds herself falling for a man who could destroy her life. What ensues is the building relationship between Reyna and Spider, and the potential fall-out as betrayal from within forces Reyna to reconsider her future with Spider Quinn.
Spider Quinn doesn’t want to marry an eighteen year old child but a contract has been signed to unite two powerful families. Meeting Lili’s aunt Reyna stirs something deep within our story line her, something Spider hasn’t felt for a very long time. Reyna Caruso knows that to defy the family means to place herself in the direct line of fire but in order to protect Lili, Reyna offers up herself to a man that is currently starring in her fantasies and dreams.
The relationship between Reyna and Spider begins acrimoniously as Reyna struggles to accept Spider into her niece’s life. Spider’s attraction to Reyna is immediate, and his need for Reyna grows with every encounter. The barely veiled sexual attraction between Reyna and Spider is palpable; the $ex scenes are intimate, passionate and intense but I dislike the use of a certain four-letter word.
The colorful and charismatic secondary and supporting characters include Kage and Nat (Ruthless Creatures 1), Declan and Sloane (Carnal Urges 2), Malek and Riley (Savage Hearts 3), as well as Reyna’s brother Gianni, her niece Lili, and her over the top, Italian Nonna, and Spider’s right hand man Kieran Byrne.
BRUTAL VOWS is a story of family and relationships, betrayal and vengeance, power and control, acceptance and love. The fast paced premise is captivating, entertaining and inviting; the romance is seductive and hot; the characters are broken, energetic, powerful but healing. BRUTAL VOWS is the final instalment in the Queens and Monster series but the final story is open ended, leaving room for something more
Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Ruthless Creatures
Carnal Urges
Savage Hearts
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sandy
NOTE: Due to the strong language and content, excerpt is intended for mature readers.
Spider
I get only a glimpse of the woman in the window before the curtains fall back into place and she disappears, but the image of her is seared onto my retinas.
Dark hair, red lips, olive skin.
A black, low-cut dress.
Acres of cleavage.
And eyes that glittered silver in the afternoon sun like the flash of coins at the bottom of a wishing well.
She can’t be Liliana, the lass I’m here to meet. I’ve seen pictures of her. She has a sweet, innocent face. A shy, lovely smile.
The woman in the window looks like she’d only smile if she were slitting your throat.
Mindful of the armed guards, I say in Gaelic to Kieran, “I thought the lass’s mother died?”
Standing beside me, he follows my gaze and looks up at the blank window.
“Aye. Why?”
“Who else lives here?”
He shrugs. “Dunno. From the size of the bloody place, probably a thousand people.”
She’s not a servant, that much I know. There wasn’t a hint of servitude in those flashing eyes.
She looked more like a warlord about to lead an army of soldiers into battle.
“This way,” says the guard nearest to me. He nods toward an arched opening in the brick wall that leads from the circular driveway into an interior courtyard.
Dismissing the thought of the mystery woman, I button my suit jacket and follow behind the guard as he leads Kieran and me away from the car. The other guard walks behind us. We’re led through the lushly landscaped courtyard to a set of enormous carved oak doors, flanked on either side by towering marble columns.
The main house looms over us, three sprawling stories of beige limestone with elaborate balustrades and scrolled iron balconies, topped by a line of Roman centurion statues gazing down at us from a ledge on the red-tiled roof.
Inside the main foyer, the décor becomes even more ostentatious.
Naked cherubs frolic with hairy satyrs and woodland nymphs in colorful frescoes on the walls. Instead of one drop-crystal chandelier overhead, there are three. The floor is black marble, the carved mahogany furniture is edged in gilt, and my eyes are starting to water from the kaleidoscope glare of stained-glass windows.
Under his breath, Kieran says, “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Looks like Liberace hurled his lunch all over the bloody place.”
He’s right. It’s fucking awful.
I have to force myself not to turn around and walk out.
“Ah, Mr. Quinn!”
I turn to my right. A man approaches with his hands spread open in greeting.
He’s fit, of average height, and somewhere around forty. His dark hair is slicked back with pomade. Wearing a navy blue pinstripe suit I can tell is custom made, a powder blue tie with a diamond tie pin, a chunky diamond watch, and a gold pinky ring on each hand, he oozes wealth, privilege, and power.
His cologne reaches me before he does.
His smile is blinding.
I hate him on sight.
“Mr. Caruso, I presume.”
He grabs one of my hands in both of his and pumps it up and down like he’s a political candidate campaigning for my vote.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Welcome to my home.”
“Thank you. It’s a pleasure to meet you as well.”
He hasn’t stopped grinning or shaking my hand.
Ten more seconds of this shite, and I’ll break those Chiclet teeth of his.
“This is my associate, Mr. Byrne.” I extract my hand from Caruso’s death grip and gesture to Kieran, who inclines his head respectfully.
“Sir.”
“Mr. Byrne, welcome. And please, both of you, call me Gianni. I prefer if we’re all on a first name basis, don’t you?”
I’d rather blind myself with acid, you wanker.
Kieran politely offers his name. I offer nothing. There’s an awkward pause while Caruso waits, but he gets the hint and suggests we retire to his study to speak in private.
After what feels like a death march through miles of echoing corridors, we arrive at the study. It’s probably larger than the law library at Notre Dame. We sit across from Caruso in a pair of leather chairs so uncomfortable, they had to be designed by sadists.
I haven’t been here ten minutes, and I’m already regretting the fuck out of this.
Until she walks in the door.
Dark hair, red lips, olive skin.
A black, low-cut dress.
Acres of cleavage.
Not only cleavage, but long legs and an hourglass figure that would make any man stupid with lust.
If he wasn’t too busy being turned to stone by the ice in her eyes, that is. I’ve never seen an attractive serial killer, but I bet this is exactly what she’d look like.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads /Pinterest / Instagram /
A former headhunter, J.T. Geissinger is the author of more than a dozen novels in contemporary romance, paranormal romance, and romantic suspense.
She is the recipient of the Prism Award for Best First Book, the Golden Quill Award for Best Paranormal/Urban Fantasy, and is a two-time finalist for the RITA® Award from the Romance Writers of America®. Her work has also finaled in the Booksellers’ Best, National Readers’ Choice, and Daphne du Maurier Awards.
Join her Facebook reader’s group, Geissinger’s Gang, to take part in weekly Wine Wednesday live chats and giveaways, find out more information about works in progress, have access to exclusive excerpts and contests, and get advance reader copies of her upcoming releases.
