Queens and Monsters

4.25stars-haunting, dramatic, tragic

4.25stars-QUEENS AND MONSTERS is the fourth instalment in Aleatha Romig’s contemporary, adult BRUTAL VOWS dark, erotic, Mafia romance story line. This is Mexican Cartel heir, twenty-five year old Reinaldo Roriguez, and twenty year old Jasmine Renner’s story line. QUEENS AND MONSTERS 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 (Jasmine and Reinaldo) QUEENS AND MONSTERS follows our story line couple in the aftermath of an attack at a local club on Christmas Eve. At age seven, after the ‘death’ of her mother, Jasmine becomes the ward of Dario Luciano, the next Capo dei capi of the Luciano crime family. For the next thirteen years, Jasmine has always been made to feel ‘less than’; never having been completely accepted into the Luciano family, and on many occasions left behind when the extended family members gather for important celebrations. Her fragile self-esteem, already at a low, discovers a few minutes of fun when Cartel heir Reinaldo Roriguez, and his best friend Emiliano Ruis take a liking to our story line heroine, inviting her for an evening out at a local club but all does not go according to plan when the club is attacked, and Jasmine’s ‘secret’ rendezvous is discovered by the man in charge. Believing she is no longer wanted, Jasmine is sent out of state for her education until a brokered deal between the Russian Bratva and the Luciano Crime Family finds Jasmine Renner a pawn, promised to the Bratva in exchange for power and control. Having already lost his heart to Jasmine Renner, Reinaldo Roriguez begins to uncover the truth, presenting Dario Luciano with the reality of Jasmine’s future.

The world building focuses on heart break for our story line heroine as she is, once again, made to feel unworthy of the Luciano name-a stray and unwanted. Jasmine is not a spoiled Mafia princess; she has lost her blood relatives to violence and crime but never found the happiness of acceptance or belonging with the Luciano family. Reinaldo Roriguez knows that death and danger is always a part of life in the Mexican Cartel but Jasmine is his future, and he is determined to claim our heroine in the name of love.

The relationship between Jasmine and Reinaldo is a forbidden relationship. Forced apart, unable to make contact, Jasmine is called home to discover she has been ‘bought and sold’; Reinaldo is determined to prove he is worthy of the woman with whom he has fallen in love, making a plea for her hand in marriage. The $ex scenes are limited but passionate and endearing.

Once again, there is another large ensemble cast of animated and strong secondary and supporting characters including several members of the Russian Bratva, Mexican Carte, and the Luciano Crime Family. We are reintroduced top Mia and Alejandro, Dario and his wife Catalina, Dante’s wife and Emiliano’s sister Camila; Reinaldo’s parents Josefina and Jorge Roriquez.

QUEENS AND MONSTERS is a story of power and control, betrayal and vengeance, family and friendships, heart break and acceptance, relationships and love. The character driven premise is haunting, dramatic and tragic; the romance is sensitive and tender; the characters are desperate, spirited and wounded.