Queens and Monsters by Aleatha Romig

Posted January 27, 2025 in review Tags: 3.5 Stars, he falls first, mafia, opposites attract

Queens and Monsters by Aleatha Romig
Pages: 312

Series: Brutal Vows
Genres: Dark Romance
Source: ARC

Goodreads

Reinaldo Roríguez
Emiliano Ruiz
Both are dangerous, deadly, and powerful. Both are second-generation soldiers proving themselves in the Roríguez cartel.
Both want me.
Of course, I wasn’t told until it was too late. That’s the way things work in the famiglia. My fate is up to Dario Luciano, my guardian.
He doesn’t care the way the men make me feel. How when I’m near them, the air crackles and my skin warms with stinging electricity, stirring something deep inside me that never before existed.
One fills me with desire, twisting my insides.
The other recognizes my need to be loved, filling me with a comfortable warmth.
By the time I learn that both have requested my hand, a deal has been brokered.
Neither man from the Roríguez cartel will have me.
I’ve been promised to another, the son of Dario’s sworn enemy.
Will I have any say in my future?
What will happen to the alliance between the Luciano famiglia and the Roríguez cartel when tragedy strikes?
Have you been Aleatha’d?

Queens and Monsters is a mafia, arranged marriage story that I was a little unsure about reading. See. the synopsis makes it seem like it might be a love triangle. I do not like love triangles. But, it isn’t that at all. Yes, there are 2 guys, but Rei and Jasmine are just meant to be. This is certainly an opposites attract vibe.

But, it’s more than just a romance story because it is the mafia. And then the bratva arrives. So there is the typical suspense of mafia troubles. The relationship between the couple isn’t without its own complications. 2 men do ask for her hand, and its her guardian’s decision. This is book 4 in the series and I haven’t read the previous ones. It says you can read these books as standalones and you can, but I will admit some confusion over some of the previous characters and running issues with the mafia. However, it wasn’t terrible and I could still appreciate Jasmine’s story. There is drama, angst, danger, suspense-all the feels.

I think I would have appreciated Queens and Monsters more if I had read the series. I enjoyed the story, but I feel disconnected in a way. It isn’t the fault of the story, but I just feel that I would have been more invested if I was fully entrenched in the world.