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The Reckoning: A Steamy Lesbian Thriller
She spent thirty years as Moscow's weapon. Now she's pointed at them.
Suzette Conner-Wakeman knows how to disappear people. She did it for the Russian government for three decades. Then she disappeared herself. Traded intelligence work for a vineyard. A wife whose touch still sets her on fire. The dangerous illusion of peace.
Then twelve refugee women vanish into illegal drug trials. No one's looking for them. No one cares.
Suzette cares.
What begins as a rescue becomes a war. Against traffickers. Against a pharmaceutical empire. Against the Kremlin itself. Old lovers resurface with guns drawn and unfinished business. Trusted allies reveal themselves as enemies. And the lines between seduction and strategy blur in ways that could get them all killed.
How much of the monster she used to be is Suzette willing to resurrect? And how much of her heart can she risk when every stolen moment might be the last?
The tension runs high. The nights run hot. The reckoning has come.
- Book 2 in the Reckoning series. Reads as a standalone, or as a stunning sequel.
This book is for you if you
- A former Russian spy who traded killing for wine-making but kept the skills
- A wife who's ex-Spetsnaz and looks at her like she's the only woman in every room
- Found family that includes hackers, operatives, and women who'd die for each other
- Old flames who show up with weapons and unfinished business between the sheets
- A plot that makes you miss your bedtime, your stop, your sanity
- Steam that earns its heat through tension, danger, and emotional stakes
Content Explicit FF and FFF romance, a little light violence, references to human trafficking (off-page), and women who solve problems (when communication fails) with guns and wine.
What readers are saying about Ruby
"Ruby Scott writes women I want to be and women I want to be with."
"I started at 2pm and finished at 4am. Not one regret!"
Tropes High HeatHigh Stakes SuspenseDangerous WomenFound FamilyEx-lovers with GunsForced proximityProtector RomanceMorally Grey HeroinesFF and FFF
Suzette Conner-Wakeman knows how to disappear people. She did it for the Russian government for three decades. Then she disappeared herself. Traded intelligence work for a vineyard. A wife whose touch still sets her on fire. The dangerous illusion of peace.
Then twelve refugee women vanish into illegal drug trials. No one's looking for them. No one cares.
Suzette cares.
What begins as a rescue becomes a war. Against traffickers. Against a pharmaceutical empire. Against the Kremlin itself. Old lovers resurface with guns drawn and unfinished business. Trusted allies reveal themselves as enemies. And the lines between seduction and strategy blur in ways that could get them all killed.
How much of the monster she used to be is Suzette willing to resurrect? And how much of her heart can she risk when every stolen moment might be the last?
The tension runs high. The nights run hot. The reckoning has come.
- Book 2 in the Reckoning series. Reads as a standalone, or as a stunning sequel.
This book is for you if you
- A former Russian spy who traded killing for wine-making but kept the skills
- A wife who's ex-Spetsnaz and looks at her like she's the only woman in every room
- Found family that includes hackers, operatives, and women who'd die for each other
- Old flames who show up with weapons and unfinished business between the sheets
- A plot that makes you miss your bedtime, your stop, your sanity
- Steam that earns its heat through tension, danger, and emotional stakes
Content Explicit FF and FFF romance, a little light violence, references to human trafficking (off-page), and women who solve problems (when communication fails) with guns and wine.
What readers are saying about Ruby
"Ruby Scott writes women I want to be and women I want to be with."
"I started at 2pm and finished at 4am. Not one regret!"
Tropes High HeatHigh Stakes SuspenseDangerous WomenFound FamilyEx-lovers with GunsForced proximityProtector RomanceMorally Grey HeroinesFF and FFF
510 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 30, 2026
7 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
About the author
Ruby Scott
83 books24 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
For the religious writer please check Reverend Ruby^^Scott
For the lesfic writer please check GoodReads' author Ruby^^^^Scott
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
For the religious writer please check Reverend Ruby^^Scott
For the lesfic writer please check GoodReads' author Ruby^^^^Scott
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 21, 2026
Alright, I’m officially in the depths of book hangover hell!! 😭 I absolutely adored The Turning, but this follow-up is just INSANE!
This book is an absolute masterclass in suspense! It flung me across every point on Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotion—fear, joy, shock, grief, anticipation—before landing on a happiness so hard-won I’m still clutching it with both hands! 😍
A perfect follow-up to The Turning, The Reckoning doesn’t just meet expectations, it raises the bar and then sets it on fire! This is Ruby Scott at her ABSOLUTE BEST, delivering more of everything that made me fall in love with this world: more tension, more intrigue, more jaw-dropping twists, more character development, and yes… more spice! (Chapter 16 alone nearly took me out—my hot flushes can personally vouch for that!) 🥵😂
In short, I fucking adore this book! I love this world, the layered, interwoven storylines, the emotional depth of the characters, and the wild, unforgettable journey it took me on.
Ruby Scott, consider me emotionally wrecked and begging for more! 👏🏼
This book is an absolute masterclass in suspense! It flung me across every point on Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotion—fear, joy, shock, grief, anticipation—before landing on a happiness so hard-won I’m still clutching it with both hands! 😍
A perfect follow-up to The Turning, The Reckoning doesn’t just meet expectations, it raises the bar and then sets it on fire! This is Ruby Scott at her ABSOLUTE BEST, delivering more of everything that made me fall in love with this world: more tension, more intrigue, more jaw-dropping twists, more character development, and yes… more spice! (Chapter 16 alone nearly took me out—my hot flushes can personally vouch for that!) 🥵😂
In short, I fucking adore this book! I love this world, the layered, interwoven storylines, the emotional depth of the characters, and the wild, unforgettable journey it took me on.
Ruby Scott, consider me emotionally wrecked and begging for more! 👏🏼
February 2, 2026
From page one this book moves. Like foot-on-the-gas don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-something moves. I was not bored for a single second and between the relentless plot momentum and the generously sprinkled spicy scenes there was absolutely no chance of that happening anyway.
I’m usually a full romance girly but this action suspense thriller had me completely hooked from start to finish. It’s sharp tense and wildly addictive in a way that makes you promise yourself just one more chapter and then suddenly it’s 2AM
I loved getting more time with Suzette and co. We already learned a lot about Suzette’s past in the previous book but this one digs even deeper and I really enjoyed how Ruby explored that history. She has a real talent for taking characters who have been through the kind of trauma that should leave them broken beyond repair and instead letting them become powerful unstoppable incredible women. That always hits for me.
Seeing “the family” in full crisis mode was another highlight. The dynamics really shine under pressure and it made everything feel more real and grounded. Victoria and Abby especially added so much and helped balance out the high stakes spy energy with very human moments.
Honestly the only downside is that I am happily married and monogamous because after finishing this book I also kind of want to join the family
I’m usually a full romance girly but this action suspense thriller had me completely hooked from start to finish. It’s sharp tense and wildly addictive in a way that makes you promise yourself just one more chapter and then suddenly it’s 2AM
I loved getting more time with Suzette and co. We already learned a lot about Suzette’s past in the previous book but this one digs even deeper and I really enjoyed how Ruby explored that history. She has a real talent for taking characters who have been through the kind of trauma that should leave them broken beyond repair and instead letting them become powerful unstoppable incredible women. That always hits for me.
Seeing “the family” in full crisis mode was another highlight. The dynamics really shine under pressure and it made everything feel more real and grounded. Victoria and Abby especially added so much and helped balance out the high stakes spy energy with very human moments.
Honestly the only downside is that I am happily married and monogamous because after finishing this book I also kind of want to join the family
January 25, 2026
OMG this book!!
After reading The Reckoning I am quietly confident that Ruby Scott is most certainly a cover and she does in fact work for some intelligence agency! That is the power of this book.
Seeing conspiracies at every page turn, looking at every character with laser focus. Including the woman behind these beautifully complex ladies. It’s just THAT GOOD! You believe every word, every twist, every turn, drawn in so deep you question… Can this really be fiction? 😂
The Reckoning will have you on the edge of your seat from page one and jumping up out of it on the last page! If you loved The Turning then you are in for quite the ride with this follow up. Can’t recommend this book enough! 😍
After reading The Reckoning I am quietly confident that Ruby Scott is most certainly a cover and she does in fact work for some intelligence agency! That is the power of this book.
Seeing conspiracies at every page turn, looking at every character with laser focus. Including the woman behind these beautifully complex ladies. It’s just THAT GOOD! You believe every word, every twist, every turn, drawn in so deep you question… Can this really be fiction? 😂
The Reckoning will have you on the edge of your seat from page one and jumping up out of it on the last page! If you loved The Turning then you are in for quite the ride with this follow up. Can’t recommend this book enough! 😍
January 30, 2026
Ruby Scott has created a wonderful world of badassery women that do wonderful, marginally lawful things at the same time they hold together trusting and intricate intimate relationships. I would recommend you read the first book in the series before this one.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Some books entertain. This one claims you and doesn’t let go easily.
Although The Reckoning stands on its own, it continues the story begun in The Turning. Suzette and her chosen family, including Victoria Fraser and Abby are up against human traffickers with powerful, far-reaching connections. Along the way, the story reveals more of Suzette’s past as a Russian intelligence operative, including her deeply treacherous relationship with her father.
The real strength of this book lies in its characters. Barely 12% in, I knew it could never be long enough to satisfy my appetite for spending time with these women. These are strong, fierce, edgy women, morally grey, shaped by what they’ve survived. Powerful yet vulnerable, hardened but capable of intense love.
The intimacy is never gratuitous; it is charged, purposeful, and deeply connected to who these women are and what they risk. Moments of passion land harder because they are grounded in trust, loyalty, and emotional truth.
At its heart, The Reckoning is also about chosen family, the kind you want to belong to, fully aware that loyalty brings both danger and deeply satisfying reward.
Ruby Scott trusts the reader, never rushes emotional payoff, and rewards patience with depth, intensity, and resonance. If I could give this book six stars, I would.
Although The Reckoning stands on its own, it continues the story begun in The Turning. Suzette and her chosen family, including Victoria Fraser and Abby are up against human traffickers with powerful, far-reaching connections. Along the way, the story reveals more of Suzette’s past as a Russian intelligence operative, including her deeply treacherous relationship with her father.
The real strength of this book lies in its characters. Barely 12% in, I knew it could never be long enough to satisfy my appetite for spending time with these women. These are strong, fierce, edgy women, morally grey, shaped by what they’ve survived. Powerful yet vulnerable, hardened but capable of intense love.
The intimacy is never gratuitous; it is charged, purposeful, and deeply connected to who these women are and what they risk. Moments of passion land harder because they are grounded in trust, loyalty, and emotional truth.
At its heart, The Reckoning is also about chosen family, the kind you want to belong to, fully aware that loyalty brings both danger and deeply satisfying reward.
Ruby Scott trusts the reader, never rushes emotional payoff, and rewards patience with depth, intensity, and resonance. If I could give this book six stars, I would.
Review of advance copy received from Author
The Reckoning is book 2 of the Art of Deception series. Suzette, Amber, Victoria, Abby and all the ladies from An Awakening of Desire series and The Turning are back. Suzette Connor-Wakeman left 30 years as a Russian operative behind, just disappeared. Then someone from her past comes to tell her about refugee women gone missing, being trafficked and subjected to illegal drug trials by a pharmaceutical company that doesn’t want to go through the proper channels and wait for the results. Suzette recruits Victoria and Abby as civilian consultants, has her wife Amber and all the badass women in her "family" working to find the missing refugees. They all become targets of Moscow, the pharmaceutical company and the traffickers. All hell breaks loose. Who survives the reckoning?
This is a fantastic book and an even more fantastic series! Ruby brings excitement, thrills, fear and hot sensual encounters together like nobody’s business! She had me reading faster than I’ve ever read a book before! I couldn’t get enough but I also didn’t want it to end! I never thought I would be addicted to a spy thriller series like I am with this one!
I received an ARC of this book in return for an honest review. I can honestly say that I recommend this book and series wholeheartedly!
This is a fantastic book and an even more fantastic series! Ruby brings excitement, thrills, fear and hot sensual encounters together like nobody’s business! She had me reading faster than I’ve ever read a book before! I couldn’t get enough but I also didn’t want it to end! I never thought I would be addicted to a spy thriller series like I am with this one!
I received an ARC of this book in return for an honest review. I can honestly say that I recommend this book and series wholeheartedly!
Review of advance copy
This book is a true masterpiece. It's the second in the Art of Deception series that ties in a little bit with the Awakening of Desire series and I just love to see familiar characters come back.
It has everything one could want, suspense, spice, love. The best part are how these characters are all complex. Nobody feels like a plot device but you can just tell that there is a story behind every single person in the book.
In terms of intelligence work, it's not flawless but it's clearly very well researched. All of the concessions to realism are obviously made for good reasons, like making the storytelling better. And that's what I'm ultimately here for: a story. Not a documentary about spy craft.
This book took me on an emotional roller coaster ride. What I loved most was that it made me not just feel for the character on the page but with them. The story itself is excellent. Very often in spy related books, the characters, supposedly professionals, walk into an obvious trap and then fight their way out with all the skill they didn't have for noticing the trap in the first place.
In this book the characters are smart, capable. They notice things just like the reader would and then have to rely on their skills, wit and each other to get out of the situation. That makes it all less predictable and I can't tell you how much I enjoyed not being able to tell what was going to happen.
Plus, none of the superhuman spy stuff anywhere. These are multifaceted people with feelings and flaws. And that makes everything so much better.
I think I could go on gushing about it forever, but in very short words:
It's fantastic, read it.
It has everything one could want, suspense, spice, love. The best part are how these characters are all complex. Nobody feels like a plot device but you can just tell that there is a story behind every single person in the book.
In terms of intelligence work, it's not flawless but it's clearly very well researched. All of the concessions to realism are obviously made for good reasons, like making the storytelling better. And that's what I'm ultimately here for: a story. Not a documentary about spy craft.
This book took me on an emotional roller coaster ride. What I loved most was that it made me not just feel for the character on the page but with them. The story itself is excellent. Very often in spy related books, the characters, supposedly professionals, walk into an obvious trap and then fight their way out with all the skill they didn't have for noticing the trap in the first place.
In this book the characters are smart, capable. They notice things just like the reader would and then have to rely on their skills, wit and each other to get out of the situation. That makes it all less predictable and I can't tell you how much I enjoyed not being able to tell what was going to happen.
Plus, none of the superhuman spy stuff anywhere. These are multifaceted people with feelings and flaws. And that makes everything so much better.
I think I could go on gushing about it forever, but in very short words:
It's fantastic, read it.
January 30, 2026
An incredible sequel that kept me glued to the screen for 24 hours straight. Even at work (nobody needs to know ;)… morning, noon, and night.
These women have a way of completely captivating you. It was so much more than I expected.
Hot, yes, but even more thrilling!
Unexpected twists and breathtaking locations.
The time jumps and the experiences of Suzette, Yelena, and the others were really well integrated into the story.
Victoria and Abby discover what they're truly capable of and, above all, what it means to be Suzette Conner-Wakeman.
They're all put to the test.
I mean every single member of this chosen family, and they need each other more than ever.
I don't think this will be the last time we meet these women!
Many thanks to Ruby Scott for the review copy!
These women have a way of completely captivating you. It was so much more than I expected.
Hot, yes, but even more thrilling!
Unexpected twists and breathtaking locations.
The time jumps and the experiences of Suzette, Yelena, and the others were really well integrated into the story.
Victoria and Abby discover what they're truly capable of and, above all, what it means to be Suzette Conner-Wakeman.
They're all put to the test.
I mean every single member of this chosen family, and they need each other more than ever.
I don't think this will be the last time we meet these women!
Many thanks to Ruby Scott for the review copy!
Review of advance copy received from Author
Insane, full on and deliciously addictive! The Reckoning, the second book in The Art of Deception series, took me straight back into the action with Suzette and team, this time accompanied by Victoria and Abby.
With fast-paced, non-stop action, numerous suspects, and unpredictable plot twists that consistently caught me off guard, Ruby's novels never fail to keep me completely engrossed. Each character's involvement adds considerable depth to the narrative. Expect a book hangover after this one, its brilliant, a keeper on my shelf, and now eagerly hoping and awaiting a third instalment. 100% recommend not only this book, but the series.
With fast-paced, non-stop action, numerous suspects, and unpredictable plot twists that consistently caught me off guard, Ruby's novels never fail to keep me completely engrossed. Each character's involvement adds considerable depth to the narrative. Expect a book hangover after this one, its brilliant, a keeper on my shelf, and now eagerly hoping and awaiting a third instalment. 100% recommend not only this book, but the series.
Review of advance copy
Sapphic Suspense Masterpiece
Laughter, tears, heartbreak, suspense, thrills, and heat...SO much heat! This story has it all and so much more. Once again Ruby delivers a sapphic suspense masterpiece that had me riveted from page one. The masterful attention to detail, deep character development, and purposeful story structure all work seamlessly to take you on an emotional roller-coaster ride that you won't ever want to end.
Brilliant, amazing, addicting...words that barely come close to describing how fantastic this story actually is. An absolute Must Read!
Laughter, tears, heartbreak, suspense, thrills, and heat...SO much heat! This story has it all and so much more. Once again Ruby delivers a sapphic suspense masterpiece that had me riveted from page one. The masterful attention to detail, deep character development, and purposeful story structure all work seamlessly to take you on an emotional roller-coaster ride that you won't ever want to end.
Brilliant, amazing, addicting...words that barely come close to describing how fantastic this story actually is. An absolute Must Read!
Review of advance copy received from Author
O.M.G
This book is amazing. The reader is swept up into a story that you can’t put down. I love all these characters, all their flaws, their skills and their love for each other.
You need to read The Turning first and that is an equaling enthralling story.
High octane, high heat and brilliantly written!
Do yourself a favour and run your get this novel anyway you can.
For me this is the best read so far this year!
This book is amazing. The reader is swept up into a story that you can’t put down. I love all these characters, all their flaws, their skills and their love for each other.
You need to read The Turning first and that is an equaling enthralling story.
High octane, high heat and brilliantly written!
Do yourself a favour and run your get this novel anyway you can.
For me this is the best read so far this year!
Review of advance copy received from Author
Such an exciting and thrilling adventure! Love all the main characters, especially Suzette and Victoria. Two very different middle aged women, both extremely intelligent and brave, strong willed and have hearts of gold! Love this fast paced, nail biting thriller, with a group of strong women fighting for justice! It is a long book but I can't get enough of these admirable tough and tender hearted true heroines! Such an uplifting, inspiring story that gives us hope for humanity!
February 4, 2026
WOW!
What a book. This book will keep you entranced, and captivated from beginning to the end. Exciting and thrilling with love stories and lives intricately woven together, in a way that me you entertained, waiting and wanting to know what is next.
This is a classic by Ruby Scott!
What a book. This book will keep you entranced, and captivated from beginning to the end. Exciting and thrilling with love stories and lives intricately woven together, in a way that me you entertained, waiting and wanting to know what is next.
This is a classic by Ruby Scott!
Review of advance copy
Wow what an phenomenal story I just love this book it has everything fast paced action and the intimacy was exquisite a phenomenal story keeping you hooked wanting more a must-read congratulations
Review of advance copy received from Author
A fantastic suspense/thriller. Page Turning. Great Plot.
Review of advance copy
Thrilling, emotionally charged and sexy as always. I’m already on my second read through and can’t wait to see what book three has in store for us.
February 9, 2026
LOVED this one too. The action, the way I can't stop reading and turning the pages. the relationships, the mind and body pieces.... just sign me up for this world, please.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews