Rebecca F Kenney is the queen of retellings! I love this series of interconnected standalones and will read anything she writes!

CUTE!

Honestly I couldn’t put this down and read over 75% of it in a single sitting. Now I just wish OG Cathy had been a banshee - it would explain so much lol.

Rebecca’s retellings always seem to be fun modern spicy version of an old story. Ruthless Devotion did not disappoint. My biggest issue, and it is 100% a me issue, is that I missed the second book and thought this was it. So I was a tad confused. It doesn’t take away from the story too much but when they’re talked about I was like uhhh who what??

I had forgotten how much I love Rebecca Kenney, and this book just reminded me why she’s one of my favorite authors.

She has this incredible ability to make any story feel good while you're reading it. She consistently delivers stories that feel immersive, emotional, and real.

This is technically a Wuthering Heights retelling or at least inspired by it. The main things I feel were taken from the original were the names and the family dynamics.

Cathy Earnshaw works at a boutique farmer’s market and coffee shop, where she helps with tourist displays and other day-to-day tasks. But she has a secret... she’s a banshee. Anyone she’s near who is going to die causes her to mourn their coming death uncontrollably. One of the ways she copes or burns off the feeling of the oncoming death is through hard sex. One day, she hooks up with a delivery guy dropping off cider and they end up having a deliciously spicy round of warehouse sex. That man, however, turns out to be Heathcliff Lockwood. The man she most definitely should stay far away from because he is part of the Lockwood Family, the enemies of her church and everything she’s been raised to fear. And... Heathcliff has a secret of his own... He is a necromancer, and his family would kill to get their hands on someone with Cathy's powers...

Heathcliff is the kind of man who gets under Katy's skin. He is salacious and temptation in human form. Every time they interact, it’s this fiery. They’re instantly sexually addicted to each other and can’t help themselves. The spice in this book comes quick and is not a slow burn, however I give this one a 2 out of 5 in the spicy rating system.

There are a lot of elements that tie into Cathy’s family, her church’s beliefs, and the way Heathcliff’s family connects to all of it. It made me feel bad for both of the MMC's. Cathy and Heathcliff are stuck in systems they can’t escape; they don’t have money, status, or power. They are victims of the world they were born into, constantly knocked down and never given a real chance to win. They are both just trying to survive and find something better than the lives they were given.

I loved the subtle worldbuilding and the mix of supernatural elements, religion, and mythology. Now some of it I didn’t fully understand, but I just went with the flow. Rebecca Kenney has a way of just making you love a story without fully understanding it. It makes the book feel very layered and developed. Overall, I love how the elements of necromancy and the banshee magic came together. I loved how it just seemed that these two characters were the yin to each other's yang and how they seemed to complement each other both in personality and in powers.

Rebecca gives the readers a great balance of character development, plot, and spice.

The books in the series are advertised as an interconnected standalone but the characters from the other stories do come up so in my opinion, the books should be read in order. Yes, you can read them out of order, but I feel it does give more to the story when they are read in order.

4⭐️ - oh, I’ve had a lot of fun with this one! It’s dark, and magical, and oh so deliciously twisted. Think of Wuthering Heights as a modern Southern gothic romance, then add necromancy, ghosts, banshees, and a love both fated and so raw it hurts.

Cathy can sense death and Heathcliff’s been raised by necromancers - slight deviation from Brontë, but when these two collide, their chemistry is immaculate. It’s messy and intense, and you won’t wait for spicy scenes, but there’s also a lot of emotional damage (we love!!!), as well as exploration of religious cult and Southern folklore.

If you like your love stories dark, full of obsession, filled with supernatural, and madness, and most importantly love a bit (a lot!) of spice, this is a wild ride - one I didn’t want to get off off. It was hard to put down. The romance felt a little rushed at times, falling into lust more than the angst that would come from a slow burn, but it worked.

Title: Ruthless Devotion
Author: Rebecca F. Kenney
Genre: Dark Romance
Format: eARC
Series: Gilded Monster (#3)
Star Rating: 5 stars

tw: drugs, animal injury, blood, assault, kidnapping, drugging, descriptions of verbally and emotionally abusive families, rituals, murder, human sacrifice, religious rhetoric, trauma, and cultish undertones.
These tw can be found at the beginning of the book.

A special thank you goes to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for providing me with a copy of this book. Please know that this does not influence my rating or thoughts on the book itself.

I wasn’t entirely sure if I would like this book, to be honest. I didn’t realize it was a Wuthering Heights interpretation, and I truly didn’t love that book. I thought the book just sucked, and there wasn’t a single likable character in that whole book. If only the original Wuthering Heights had been like this. This book was phenomenal in every way. I was hooked from the absolute start.

One of my favorite things about this book was the lore and the world itself. We had necromancers, banshees, old Irish gods, and more. Despite my Irish heritage, I am unfamiliar with Irish gods. However, after reading this book, I am ready to delve into everything about Irish Gods. I also liked the fact that there were other famous literary characters. I didn’t know too much about them, but I thought it was cool that they were in there.

I adored Heathcliff and Cathy. Their banter was some of the best banter I’ve read. They were so snarky to each other. While I just adored both of them, it was Cathy who stole my heart. I knew within two minutes of reading the book that she would be my absolute favorite main character, and I was right. Everything about her was just so perfect.

Overall, I’m so completely obsessed with this book. Everything about it was just perfect. Heathcliff and Cathy were amazing. The love was out of this world. The lore was exceptionally well done. I am so ready to check out the other books in this series. I know I’m going to love them like I loved this one.

I could not finish this book as I just couldn’t get into the story. It felt very insta-lust, which I don’t mind, but the characters didn’t seem to have any chemistry. And some of the writing just seemed cringey.

I really enjoyed Ruthless Devotion. It was full of suspense, drama, and spicy romance. I was drawn in immediately, I honestly couldn't put it down.

I loved Cathy and Heathcliff. They were both charismatic, smart, determined, loyal, and strong. Their chemistry was off the charts.

The storyline was compelling, intriguing, unique, and action-packed.
This is the first book I've read from Rebecca Kenney, but it definitely won't be the last. I look forward to reading more from this talented author.

I highly recommend.

4 stars from me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Especially for fans of K.A. Linde, Holly Black, Jennifer Estep, and Corina Douglas.

Thanks to Netgalley, SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca, and Rebecca F. Kenney, for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I opted not to finish the book. I don't believe this is for me, which was a bummer because it sounded like it would be.

I am fine with insta-lust--sometimes that's what even what I want. With this book, the sex aspect was part of the plot and was the only thing to dull the magic that plagues her when someone is dying. I get that. But something about it just did not work for me. I am okay with sex for the sake of it, though I generally prefer it to be part of the story building, character building, plot, etc., and this was, but in a way that felt contrived. It felt like that was either for shock value or to make sex a big part of the story/book.

I'm not really sure how to explain it beyond that. While it was for the plot, which I think is great, it felt like it was just because the author wanted there to be a lot of sex? Which is fine. Great even. But it didn't work for me this time.

Rebecca Kenney does not disappoint with this book and the gilded monsters books. The writing style is perfection and I loved the pacing of the story.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

Wickedly enthralling and darkly steamy, Rebecca Kennedy’s Gilded Monsters novels are vibrant literary retellings which invite readers to envision timeless tales and their iconic characters in a new light. For its third volume, Kenney interprets Wuthering Heights as a dark southern gothic laced with supernatural elements where the eerie and disturbing are dialed up to pulse-pounding degrees.

Chronicling the tumultuous story of the enigmatic & paranormally-gifted Catherine Earnshaw and her unsettling existence in a small town hypnotized by the rotten practices of a sinister church, Ruthless Devotion feels rich in both its setting and plots.

Boldly showcasing the complexities of human nature while tangling with unsavory truths that challenge one’s learned beliefs over a lifetime, Kenney thoughtfully weaves complex matters within a mythology-charged magical plot. Infusing it’s many mysteries with Celtic folklore and paranormal figures, each intriguing magical detail adds such unique depth across the overarching lore of this narrative.

While Cathy was the the focal point of the tale, her seemingly dangerous counterpart, Heathcliff, manages to steal the scene every time he appears on the page. The electrifying attraction between these two burns brightly which lends so wonderfully to their building bond. I just couldn’t get enough of their tantalizing connection and inevitable emotional magnetism that feel so honest to their characters.

CLOSING NOTES // An unexpected and compelling revival of a timeless tale, Ruthless Devotion is sensual atmospheric wonder brimming with forbidden attractions and intriguing wild magic — I simply can not wait to see where this series goes next.

This is a dark, Southern Gothic retelling of Wuthering Heights. Cathy, cursed with banshee blood, is wild, fierce, and tragically isolated, while Heathcliff, raised by necromancers, is both dangerous and tender; together they burn with passion and defiance. Their connection is raw and soul-deep, even as their cult-ridden community seems determined to tear them apart. I loved how Kenney balanced supernatural folklore, religious trauma, and dark romance without ever losing sight of her characters’ humanity. The atmosphere is chilling, the spice is intense, and the emotional stakes are sky-high. I devoured this book and can’t wait to see what comes next.

I thought I would enjoy this book a lot more than I did, I love that it was dual POV but didn’t feel 50/50 in storytelling. I like more of a slow burn, I assumed it would be a lot of angst/tension due to the beginning of the story and it just didn’t feel that way.

Someone who loves less tension and more insta love would enjoy this more, also if historical retellings are your thing, but it fell flat and odd for me, missing the lackluster of a true love story classic feel.

I did not realize that this was a series kind of. But these rendition have been fun. I went back and read the first two before reading this one. This was my least favorite but still enjoyed it.

ok. I wrapped up this book a while ago but just now having the time to post my review. I was not surprised at how much I loved this book since Wuthering Heights is one of my all time favorite books! It was a first for me from this author and I enjoyed the writing style and the fantasy aspect of it. However I think I needed to read books prior because other characters were mentioned in a way as if I should know them and their story already but I did not. But that didn't take away from the book for me. Heathcliff and Cathy's story is top tier for me. The way Healthcliff talks about Cathy is so endearing. I enjoyed the dark gothic retelling of story that was already considered dark for its time but with magic. Excited to read more!

Ruthless Devotion is a thoroughly enjoyable continuation of the Gilded Monsters series (which is perhaps more interconnected than I ever thought it would be when I picked the first book up on a whim).

This book continues the retellings in the series with Wuthering Heights, with of course, a few more supernatural elements intertwined. We follow Cathy, a town outcast who is trying to escape the small southern town where she grew up and the cult that calls it home, and Heathcliff, a necromancer who lives in the next town over and is trying to do much of the same. When their paths cross, the meeting is a bit electric, and after some light stalking, they once again reconnect. As their relationship grows, so does the threat of the town, their families, their church, and the eldritch god entombed beneath.

This book was fun and enjoyable throughout with moments that made me want to shake the characters and cheer for them in equal measure. I am excited for the continuation of this series and can't wait to go back and read the second one (somehow I completely missed it but now I need to know Dorian and Baz's story). Another aspect I enjoy about this series is that they do not require you to read the original story before reading; however, it could provide some context and assistance in guessing possible plot points. Overall, it is not crucial to the understanding of the book, more serving to enjoy easter eggs throughout.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publishing house for providing me with a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately I did not enjoy this book, Wuthering Heights is a timeless classic so I was apprehensive to read a modern retelling, and it wasn’t for me.

Aside from that, there were some interesting plot ideas but they weren’t really focused on and the story seems to focus more on this insta love and jumping to the next spice scene - personally I prefer more depth to a story line and characters!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

A bit of a slow start for me, but the premise of the novel kept me reading! The spicy scenes were delicious, and if there are more coming out in this series, I will definitely be picking them up!

I love Rebeccca F. Kenney's ability to take classics and put a unique and interesting spin on them. I was honestly captivated by tis unique take on Wuthering Heights and can not wait to see what she does next.