When I first saw this dark Mafia romance I thought it sounded good.. but now, after just finishing this the last book in this series, good is such a weak insignificant word to describe such an epic awesome listen. Great doesn’t cover it either.. because this dark, often violent, rollercoaster romance between two characters whose moral compasses had been broken long ago, was far better than great too. Their fast-paced journey together was nothing short of spectacular inspired storytelling, their rise to the top was bloody and brutal.. and I loved every cringe-worthy and sighworthy minute of it. Their highs, lows and everything in-between was twisted, breathtaking and beautiful, the pulse-pounding hold your breath action was riveting and the shocking twists, the gut-wrenching turns and the heart-stopping tragedies throughout this whole series left me in stunned awe of this author’s abilities. And Melody and Liam’s devotion and undying love for each other was writing at its very best.. because you can FEEL the passion between them, you can almost touch their chemistry and their sexy times nearly melted my headphones.
And they couldn’t of picked a more skilful narrator to bring it all to life because young and old, male and female, nationality and state.. this actor had it covered and delivered a faultless performance. Each and every scene effortlessly played out in my mind thanks to Joel Froomkin’s talented vocal abilities which brought me into each scene where I mentally clapped, jeered, swooned, swayed, stumbled and staggered. I drooled, booed, screamed, squirmed, boiled, bled and fumed. I fanned myself, bit my nails, laughed, cried and hung on to each chapter as it told of an Italian-Irish alliance that started out as an arranged marriage which lust and like-minds turned into soul-to-soul love that went through Hell, that took its blows and casualties.. and dished them out too.. and finally endedured it all because of love. The witty smooth dialogue, light-hearted humor, the edge-of-your-seat action, the nail-biting drama, the sweet and the savory, the dark and the light, the knocks and the hits and the pain and the pleasure may have been J. J. McAvoy’s words but Joel was the magician who gave them a heartbeat.
Worth a credit? This journey is the best I’ve ever listened to, it’s told mainly from the Melody and Liam’s POV’s who were strong alpha characters but there were multiple POV from family members too which brought everyone’s feelings to the forefront making it an all inclusive under one roof Callahan/Giovanni dynasty and the action-packed drama never stopped.. so oh boy YES it’s very creditworthy. Four books in the Ruthless People series.. four very different chapters in their lives.. four credits used.. and four times I mentally stood clapping this author’s brilliance, the narrator’s endless abilities and shouted “more.. more.. more..!”. And now I’m off to hear how their legacy continues in the spin-off series about their, now adult, children.