Ruthless Devotion
Author: Rebecca Kenney
Standalone Book 3
Gilded Monsters Series
4⭐️/🌶🌶🌶

Ruthless Devotion is a unique paranormal romantic fantasy that takes place in modern rural southeast where old Irish pagan gods are buried, supernatural beings live in hiding, and religious cults are dedicated not only to keeping the old pagan gods and magic from remanifesting, but to eradicate all supernatural beings.

Cathy and Heathcliff are supernaturals from different sides of the tracks. They have instant connection, literally, and Heathcliff finds that he can't stay away. Cathy is leery, but finds herself feeling acceptance, comfort, and protection for the first time in her life.

Heathcliff is devoted to using his supernatural abilities to get Cathy and himself out of their dangerous circumstances and start over far from those who wish them dead.
The problem is, Cathy is surrounded by cult members who are determined to use her as the ultimate sacrifice when they fear they can no longer suppress the pagan god.

Ruthless Devotion is the third standalone book in the Gilded Monsters series, in which supernaturals from the first two books make an appearance meeting Cathy and offering her connection if she needs it. When Heathcliff is desperate to save Cathy from a fate worse than death, he calls them and without hesitation they come to help Heathcliff save Cathy and contain the pagan god that is unleashed.

-unique plot
-easy to read
-great pace
-delicious spice
-devoted MMC
-strong FMC
-Irish folklore
-necromancers, banshees, vampires
-religious cult
-crappy family
-buried gods
-instant sexy hookup
-he gets her a matching tattoo
-he is determined to protect her
-strangers become friends

The following review was posted to Goodreads on July 25, 2025:

“3 ⭐️

I had some very mixed feelings about this book — I actually bought books 1 and 2 in the Gilded Monsters series before reading this ARC because I had seen the author share that characters from the previous books play a significant role in this one. I am glad that I did read the first two, for sure, but unfortunately this was my least favorite of the three. To be entirely fair, most of this comes down to personal experiences and preference, which is why I have still given it a full 3 stars.

I will say that I do enjoy the author’s writing style - throughout the series, she has created these characters that are not-quite human but living in our world and in the present day. Each book focuses on a different creature and couple and I’ve really enjoyed the series overall. Each book is loosely inspired by an iconic work of fiction (Great Gatsby, Wuthering Heights, etc), which I also loved. I found each pretty creative and, while some aspects were predictable (especially if you’re familiar with the fictional works the books are inspired by), there were still some jaw dropping twists that I didn’t see coming and I love the fantastical touches woven in. I also absolutely loved how the characters from the previous two books played their role in this story - it made my heart so happy. They’re creating their very own “found family” in a way and it's fantastic.

In Ruthless Devotion specifically, however, I feel like the series took a super dark turn and not in a way I appreciated. I can enjoy gothic style literature, the occasional dark romance or dark romantasy but the FMC in the book is a member of a cultish church and, while I understand the cult is fictional, I feel like this went farther and darker than I was comfortable with. The portrayal of the church itself and its congregation felt deeply sacrilegious and twisted - and not in a way that was so fictional that I could separate it from reality. I understand that this is a very personal opinion, but I did want to be honest that this was the number one thing that turned me off from this book. There were several moments that I wanted to just DNF and move on to something else, but I wanted to give the book a fair shot and get through to the end before giving a full and honest review.

This book leans romance forward, but there was still excellent plot and an interesting cast of characters. It was definitely heavier on spice, with frequent (though not excessively long) intimate scenes, so I would rate this a 3 🌶️ on my spicy scale. I will also say that, as a fan of slow burn, of which there was very little in this book, the romance itself felt a little rushed but I do love the FMC and MMC as characters themselves. They were some of the more unique characters in the series in my opinion and I really liked them.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Rebecca F. Kenney for the opportunity to read this ARC of Ruthless Devotion!”

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7515692204

I’m so sorry but this book was not my favorite. That being said, there were things I still liked about it, as detailed above. I do love that this ARC caused me to purchase the other two books in the series also, because overall the series is great and I look forward to reading the fourth book in the future. Thank you again to both Netgalley and Rebecca F. Kenney for allowing me to read and review this ARC of Ruthless Devotion!

✨✨Onto the review✨✨
I cannot express how much I FAWKING LOVED THIS BOOK! Just the way that Rebecca crafts these paranormal retellings of classic books is so insanely well done! This book is a paranormal retelling of Wuthering Heights, Cathy is a banshee and Heathcliff is a necromancer which is such a fun dynamic!
The tension in this book was INSANE! Even though they got down and dirrrrrty in chapter 2, after realizing who she slept with, Cathy takes every precaution she can to make sure it doesn’t happen again, but we all know that isn’t gonna happen. And honestly who could resist Heathcliff?! He’s panty dropping, temperature rising, fawking GORGEOUS, with his tattoos and long hair and just a swagger about him that would make me want to sink my claws into him! I am a sucker for a forbidden romance so witnessing these two try to resist each other was incredible!
This is the third book in the Gilded Monster’s series and they are interconnected stand-alone so you do not have to read them all to understand them but there is crossover, especially in this book. I do highly recommend this series as it has altered my brain chemistry and made me fall in love with these classic tales in a new way. And the next book in the series is going to be fricken Phantom of the Opera I’m so excited I could scream and I honestly might email Casablanca books and beg for an early copy because I don’t know how I could possibly wait for that book. Anyways if you have read this review please go read this series and fall in love with it!

I wanted to love this book so much, because I'm a huge Wuthering Heights fan, but this was not it for me. I think part of this comes down to the marketing, some down to my own expectations, and some down to faults in the book itself. I'll just break this into 3 parts to make it easier:

Marketing issues:
-I, like many readers, was not aware when I requested the ARC that this is the third book in a series. Although this book can be read alone, there are cameos from characters in Book 1 and 2 (a Gatsby retelling and a Dorian Gray retelling) who are randomly dropped in early on, disappear for a while, and then come back for the finale. The way they are introduced is rather awkward, but I ignored the first introduction because I thought they wouldn't reappear. When they DID, it made the finale just feel super messy and I was overall not a fan of that
-When they said "small Southern community with cult-ish vibes" I felt that it would be gothic; Wuthering Heights itself is quite gothic - the haunting moors and abandoned castles, the rather insular cast, the splendid prose, the doomed romance...but this Wuthering Heights retelling felt much more contemporary dark romance than the blurb suggested. This is not my genre at all; knowing this, I would not have gone for this book. So I don't think this is a fault with the book--hell, dark romance has a MASSIVE audience--but rather with the blurb itself

My expectations
-As stated, just based on my experience with other retellings, I expected many of the elements of the OG story to be present here -- specifically the gothic elements. While we do have a banshee and a necromancer falling in love (I ADORE this concept), as well as a creepy cult that worships Celtic gods (adore this too!) that is about as gothic as we get.
-I think my main disappointment was with the prose. It's serviceable, but having read romantasies with sweeping, gorgeous prose, I kind of expected more. The dialogue was very contemporary, as was the language used in the spicy scenes. And that's fine, there's nothing wrong with that, but I know Rebecca Kenney can write and I'm upset that wasn't on display here, especially because some well-crafted prose could've captured the vibes of Wuthering Heights so well.
-Hear me out: the OG Wuthering Heights is low-key insta-love. But it WORKS because really, who else was Cathy ever going to fall for? She lives in the literal middle of nowhere. But THIS Cathy just bangs some random guy in a truck who HAPPENS to be Heathcliff, and suddenly he's following her when she's having banshee episodes? I don't buy it.

The Book Itself:
-I did not buy this romance, mainly because I didn't like Heathcliff. Actually, I can't REMEMBER Heathcliff, and I don't like that, because the OG Heathcliff is like...the guy that all other romantasy men are trying to be. Why is this Heathcliff so bland? For me, he wasn't sexy, he was just kind of there.
-I think the weird love quadrangle between Heathcliff-Cathy-Edgar-Isabella could've been juxtaposed into a modern setting better, or at least have Isabella be in it more. I felt like overall there were attempts at tension, but because 1/2 of this quadrangle wasn't fully fleshed out (Heathcliff and Isabella), I just wasn't feeling it.
-For such a short book, I had issues with the pacing.

All that being said, there were quite a few things I enjoyed here. Cathy's relationship with the church and her navigation of religious trauma felt very realistically done, and I enjoyed the tattoo magic that Heathcliff's family dealt with. The magic system in general was really fascinating and I wish we'd seen more of it. When Cathy and Heathcliff are separated in the latter half of the book, I enjoyed the way that part unfolded (except for the finale which was, as previously stated, messy). Despite my grievances with the language of the spicy scenes, they were creative and well-done. I would try another one of Kenney's books, but now I have different expectations going in.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Rebecca Kenney, and Sourcebooks Casablanca for gifting me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I really enjoyed this. I will say I went in blind and have not read anything else in the series.

I didn't feel as if I was missing anything having jumped into this without reading the previous 2 stories in the series.

Things I enjoyed:
*The dual POV
*Witty banter
*Modern retelling
*Supernatural elements
*THE SPICE

Thank you for the opportunity to review and provide my feedback.

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC. 2.5 ⭐️ This book had a very interesting premise. I usually love retelling of classics but this one missed the mark for me. It is the third book in a series that seems more like companion novels. I hadn’t read either of the first two and, while it may have helped with a bit of the back story, understood most of it fine since it seems to follow different characters in each book. This book was a lot spicier than I was expecting it to be. I did like the cultish, mythology aspect of the book. It wasn’t a bad book by any means despite my rating. Someone else will probably enjoy this book, but it just wasn’t for me.

Cathy has spent her life on the edge of her community, her father not fully loving her, and her aunt turning a blind eye to the medical issues Cathy tells her about to cover up her real secret. Heath life lives with his adoptive Lockwood family, although like Cathy, he doesn’t feel like he’s really welcome.

Cathy and Heathcliffe first meet at Cathy’s work. The connection is instant, and the sex is insane. This propels them into a journey of life, death, and supernatural interference that they hadn’t ever expected.

I really enjoyed this story. I loved the Irish lore that it drew on as it felt so different to anything else I’ve read before. I did feel that the relationship between Cathy and Heathcliffe was a bit insta-lovey. I’ve realised I read this before the others in the series, so while at points I felt there could be a bit more explanation, that hasn’t affected my rating because that is most likely explained in previous books. All in all, this was a fun, quick read with very likeable characters

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for an eARC in exchange for an honest review

This was so bingeable! Finished it in about two days and was fully immersed in this (kind of guilty pleasure?) Wuthering Heights retelling. I would say Wuthering Heights has got to be one of my all time favourite classics, and I would say that Kenney definitely did the drama of the original justice in her version.
I had some expectations going into this that it would be an OTT wattpad-esque romance (no hate, would've loved it) but actually it dug pretty deep into themes of religious trauma and some of the darker aspects of folklore and mythology.
One thing that took me completely by surprise was the way our protagonists got together right at the start, I was sort of taken aback that it was so insta-love... only for us to then have an enemies-to-lovers (although that's a little strong, more of a mistrustful/forbidden relationship dynamic) arc throughout the rest of the book. I think perhaps I'm just more of a slow-burn kind of reader!
Am thinking of picking up some of Kenney's other retellings since I had so much fun with this one

As a lover of the original Wuthering Heights this was one of my most anticipated books of this year and again Rebecca did not disappoint. I love that she kept the love/hate passion between Heathcliff and Cathy while making the retelling of the story completely her own. All of the supernatural aspects of the book, and the gothic setting just really set the tone for the spooky vibes of the book. I’m so happy that Heathcliff and Cathy finally get their Happily Ever After.

I was happy to get this ARC from Rebecca Kearny. I tried really hard to read it, but at 25% in I decided to pause and DNF. It’s nothing to do with the author at all or the writing. I just found the supernatural aspect a bit boring and that’s completely on me! Thanks for this opportunity!

A paranormal retelling of one of my favorite books? Say less! I don't know who put this book on my radar, but damn I'm glad to have read it! This book captures to darkness of Wuthering Heights while also telling a fresh, reimagined story.

Cathy lives in a small town, in a highly religious family, and she's hiding a demon that lives inside her. Her family, and everyone in her community believes in the paranormal, and they feel it's their duty to eradicate everything deemed unholy. Cathy has hid her secret her entire life, but something is making it harder to hide. When she meets Heathcliff, it's instantly a raw, passionate connection. Carnal lust and sin combine, and soon enough these two can't stop running into one another. The catch? Heathcliff also has a secret hiding within, and their two souls are more perfectly matched than they could imagine.

I loved this one. This was the first book in the series I read, and instantly I knew I had to go back and read the two preceding books because those side characters play a big part in the big ending of this book. If you're a fan of romance, unconventional love, and a bit of paranormal, I think you'll like this one.

A thoroughly engaging reimagining of Wuthering Heights in a whole new context unlike you have ever seen before. I was completely hooked from the very first sentence as continued to be unable to look away as I feel in love with these characters and was cheering them along every step of the way. Absolutely incredible book

Review: Ruthless Devotion
Author: Rebecca Kenney
Format: eARC
**Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Casablanca, and Rebecca Kenney for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ruthless Devotion delivers a fast-paced urban fantasy that blends dark romance, fated mates, and a supernatural twist involving banshees, necromancers, and divine retribution. Rebecca Kenney introduces an imaginative world with intriguing lore, unique character inspiration, and some compelling fantasy-religious undercurrents. There’s no doubt that the author continues to showcase her creativity, especially in the way she integrates underused paranormal elements into the story.

While the premise was original and the vibes strong, I struggled to fully connect with the romance between the main characters, Heathcliff and Cathy. Their relationship leans heavily on instant attraction and physical chemistry, which made it harder to feel emotionally invested in their bond. The intensity is there from the start, but it might have been more impactful if their connection had been given more space to grow and deepen.

The book is positioned as a loose retelling, and while it draws light inspiration from Wuthering Heights, the reimagining is subtle. Readers expecting a more faithful or recognizable adaptation may not find the parallels immediately clear. Additionally, although marketed as an interconnected standalone, Ruthless Devotion does include a number of references to earlier books in the series. Without that background, some of the plot and character connections may feel a bit underdeveloped or confusing at times. That said, fans of the previous novels will likely enjoy the familiar faces and continuing threads.

If you’re in the mood for a quick, spicy urban fantasy read with a dark edge and an inventive supernatural world, Ruthless Devotion is worth diving into. I’m curious to revisit this story after reading the first two books in the series, as I suspect the worldbuilding and connections may resonate more deeply with that context in place.

This was a solid read and I had a good time the entire way through! I see this marketed as a spicy retelling of Wuthering Heights which I haven’t read, but looking at the book in its own right, it stands on its own. I think Rebecca Kenney did a great job incorporating all of the religious and fantasy elements in the story. The relationship and quality of the spicy scenes were also quite good. For me, I tend to connect better to characters and be more invested in their relationship when there isn’t insta-lust but it’s just my personal preference. The ending was also really well done and satisfying and I’m so happy for our main characters! I actually have not read the first two books in this series of interconnected standalones but would recommend others to do so as main characters from the other books do make an appearance and I feel the impact of their parts would have been greater had I done so. Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the eARC!

This is a **Wuthering Heights** retelling with a dark, supernatural twist. Cathy and Heathcliff come from rival families, but there’s more than just bad blood between them. Cathy is a banshee, forced to hide her true nature, which leaves her craving physical release—and Heathcliff is the perfect outlet. Brooding, intense, and morally grey, he’s the ultimate book boyfriend. A necromancer from a forbidden bloodline, Heathcliff is as dangerous as he is irresistible.

Cathy, misunderstood and suffocated by her fanatically religious father, finds a volatile kind of freedom in their connection. Their chemistry crackles, and the banter is sharp, dark, and addictive—it *sizzles* on the page.

I absolutely loved the gothic, urban-fantasy world Rebecca created. The atmosphere is moody and immersive, and the spice level? Off the charts. Bonus points for the cameos from other characters in the series. While this can definitely be read as a standalone, reading the full series adds depth and richness to the experience.

Rebecca’s retellings always bring something fresh—fun twists layered over the bones of the classics we love.

4.25 stars

When I saw that this was a magical retelling of Wuthering Heights, I was so excited to read it. Set in a cult-like southern town where magic is an abomination, Cathy and Heathcliff find each other as they struggle to keep their supernatural abilities hidden. Our two main characters bond over their traumatic pasts as they try to escape their life of destruction.
This book is dark and messy and full of supernatural, cult-ish vibes... all of which I enjoyed. I loved the small-town-with-secrets type of setting. In this story, we got a mix of tragic and exciting scenes as well as some that were over-the-top and a little bit corny. The plot was unpredictable, fun, and it kept my attention throughout the entire book. However, during some scenes, there was so much going on, it felt like the story got a little lost in all the chaos. Also, this dark fantasy is SPICY. If you are okay with insta-love and with spicy scenes starting in chapter two (yes, two), then this one might be one for you.
Ruthless Devotion is book three in the Gilded Monsters Series and I did not read the first two books. Each book can be read as a standalone even though characters cross over into other stories.
Ruthless Devotion is available now! It's Publication Day was yesterday!

Thank you @netgalley for this e-ARC!
Thank you sourcebookscasablanca

3.5

My favorite of this series so far!

A paranormal retelling of Wuthering Heights (of which you dont have to remember the details before diving in) bringing Irish and Pagan folklore right to the Carolinas. Set in a small-town in South Carolina, Cathy Earnshaw-banshee and daughter of a local deacon-starts to realize that things may not be exactly what they seem.

At a medium-fast pace, we follow the story of Heathcliff and Cathy as they both learn more about themselves, their ancestries, and the Gods that lay at rest (but for how long?) nearby.

I enjoy interconnected standalone novels so much, and I feel like this one tied in the characters from the first two well! This one definitely was a faster pace than the first two, but i think it worked so well with Cathy and Heathcliff. Really enjoyed this one!

ARC review—NetGalley

4.5 stars! My favorite so far of Rebecca Kenney's Gilded Monsters series of interconnected standalones is this fabulous paranormal romantic suspense retelling of Wuthering Heights. The only reason I didn't rate this a 5 is because I felt like the climax and ending was too rushed and somewhat confusing.

Cathy Earnshaw as a banshee and sacrificial lamb in her Christian fundamentalist radical family makes her sympathetic and actually likeable! The tortured hero Heathcliff also gets a makeover as a necromancer with self-preservation instincts. Unlike the source material, all of the characters here exercise autonomy and are enslaved only as far as the limitations of their supernatural powers are concerned. Wuthering Heights is probably the book that I most love to hate, and this retelling has me feeling all of the love without any of the cringe and frustration.

I loved that Jay and Daisy, and Baz and Dorian, as well as Nick and Cody, played such pivotal roles in bringing the story to a resolution.

And the ending? I actually got tearful that Heathcliff and Cathy are finally free.

Bravo!

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the opportunity to read this novel prior to publication. I was not compensated in any way for this review and all opinions are my own.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC,

I will start this by saying this was not a bad book, it was just not the book for me. Im unsure whether because its a wuthering heights retelling and im unfamiliar with the story that perhaps I didn't see the connections with the story. However there was of course parts I very much enjoyed.

This story features Cathy and Heathcliffe who both come from rival families, Cathy is a banshee, however she has to keep this a secret from everyone in her small town.
Heathcliffe is a Necromancer, who instantly finds a bond with Cathy when they meet and that only grows.

Although I found the first half of this book slow the second half kicked off incredibly. I adored all the supernatural, and mythology elements, plus the cameos from other characters in the previous books. Although they are interconnected Standalone I do recommend reading the previous two books first.

Ruthless Devotion is a captivating reimagining of Wuthering Heights with a modern setting and a supernatural twist. It also has influences from Irish and Greek mythology. It's the third novel in the Gilded Monster series, but can be read and enjoyed as a standalone. Characters from previous books make appearances, and there is a revealing tie-in at the end that readers of the earlier books will catch. However, it doesn't require you to read them to enjoy this book. In this story, religion plays a significant role in Cathy's life; her father serves as a deacon in their local church. Despite being raised with a religious background, Cathy feels like an outsider due to her unique gifts. Heathcliff, adopted into a rival family, faces his own challenges, including bullying from his adopted brother. Cathy and Heathcliff find solace in each other. Overall, it was a fun read, and I look forward to seeing what happens next in this world.