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
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! 👏🏼
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
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! 😍
The Reckoning by @rubyscott_author is such a sharp turn into spy thriller territory, but it still carries that emotional intensity and character depth that makes her work addictive! This isn’t just political intrigue in the background. The danger feels immediate. Every meeting, every quiet exchange, every secret held a second too long feels like it could detonate.
I’m struggling, The Reckoning has blown my mind! I don’t usually do spy thrillers but damn @rubyscott_author delivered so much in this book it’s hard to forget!
I’m so obsessed I’m writing the next book in my dreams! Wonder if there is space on the vineyard or at Obsidian Hall for me! I’ll cook, fuck I’ll even iron and clean, anything!
Can I give 10 ⭐️’s! It needs 10 ⭐️’s!!! 📸📚
🧡🤍🩷 Go meet Suzette, Amber, Victoria, Abby, Yelena and Phillipa
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.
Ruby Scott always delivers depth, tension, and that signature emotional pull, and The Reckoning is no exception. I love the way she builds her worlds, the twists, the turns, the way every main character feels genuinely likable. This second book in the series pulled me in straight away, and I enjoyed it a lot.
That said, I did have a few mixed feelings but not enough to dampen my overall star allocation. There were so many characters in play this time that I occasionally found myself struggling to keep track of who was who and what role they were serving in the wider plot. Suzette, Amber, Victoria, Abby, Ashley, Sam, Jo, Roz, Roxy, Alex, Princess… my head was spinning, not to mention Yelena and Phillipa.
The multiple points of view do work, but the switches felt more frequent in this instalment, which made the flow feel a little choppy in places.
I also felt Ashley ended up more on the periphery than I expected even though she had a thread running through the main saga. I mean on an intimate level with the ‘family’. There was hardly any interaction given how central she was to the relationship with Suzette at the end of The Turning, I was disappointed that we didn’t get even a small nod to their intimacy or how that connection was evolving. It felt like a missed emotional beat.
On the flip side, I really enjoyed the reintroduction of Victoria and Abby, and getting more time with Yelena was a highlight. Watching the world expand and the threads between characters deepen is one of the things Ruby does best, and that definitely shone through.
Overall, it’s a strong “plot within a plot” kind of book, and it’s clear there’s more to come. I’ll definitely be picking up book three when it arrives.
Best Spy Thriller I’ve read for some time….and I am a voracious reader.
This is an exceptionally well written spy thriller with such depth of story and character I couldn’t put it down. Many stories seem to fizzle out long before the story tells enough. This one takes you to a reasonable ending with hope for another story. Can’t wait for the next book and sincerely hope there is a collection of 10 or more down the road. Exceptional writing and weaving of intrigue and action supported with love across the family of characters.
I thought the first book in this series was great, but this one was even better. I laughed, I cried, I was on the edge of my seat for most of it. Some really great twists. And the spice was *chef's kiss*. No spoilers, but it ends on a threat picked up from book 1, so hopefully that means there will be another book in this series.
Great second installment to this new series. It just keeps getting better and better. Characters that fill the page with authenticity and passion. You want these women in your lives fighting for you.
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.
It is not like we need James Bond when we have Suzette and her chosen family of strong and fierce women. We started to get to know Suzette and some of the other women in The Turning and in this book the action and revelations on a new elevated level and I loved every page I read.
Victoria is recruited to be the leader of a group consisting of very special women, she is needed as the moral compass that will not allow them to go rogue. We have Ex-FSB in Suzette, Amber and Yelena, Ex-CSIS in Ashley, Philippa is MI6 and other members that want to make a difference against the villains they are fighting. Victoria and her wife meet the family and are trained for missions and getting close to them in a more intimate way.
Suzette/Aleksandra is still desperately trying find out where Irina is. Her father, the horrible Volonsky is involved in her disappearance. She has been looking for Irina for many years, Irina that she desperately has tried to protect but lost track of. As a reader you are so invested in this story even if not clear in the beginning who Irina really is, just that very important to Suzette.
They get a mission via Philippa. They are trying to help the refugee Zara to find her sister. Zara has donated her kidney to pay for the trip to UK and when there subjected to pharmaceutical testing together with other refugees. Clear that many powerful people involved in this operation, things get very dangerous fast and when Zara is taken, they realize they have been compromised. Who can really be trusted, and who is the mastermind behind all this.
It is such a ride to read about how all is revealed and I am so addicted to this family and I want many more books about them. Suzette and her past is beyond intriguing and even with this book we just scratched the surface
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.
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 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.
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!
A perfect follow-up to The Turning, The Reckoning doesn’t just meet expectations, it blows it out of the water. This action suspense thriller had me completely hooked from start to finish. Suzette/Aleksandra an her chosen family are all bad-ass strong women, who fight as hard as they love one another. We get a mix of ex KGB, MI6 and Canadian intelligence all working together, or are they? Thrown together again to solve not only a Human Trafficking ring, but searching for the connection to Aleksandra's deranged father. These two stories are so well written, edge of your seat suspense, I cannot wait for more stories with these brilliant women. And yes, I also kept on searching to who Irina actually was to Suzette (since it was her mother's name...)
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.
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!
I really didn't know where Suzettes story was going following the first book in the Art of Deception series. However, Ruby Scott has done it again, its a full length novel, full of twists and turns that leave you with whiplash at times. The stories are written in ways that leave the reader invested in the characters, wanting the bad/good to survive to challenge another day. Underneath it all is a bond between chosen family that is rock solid. No spoilers here, just a recommendation to read this series. If you liked Killing Eve you'll be glad you picked this up.
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!
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!
What a great follow-up of the 1st book !! Reconnect with familiar characters. The author offers us a sweet deal with these twists and turns. Though it could be a stand-alone, it's much better and more satisfying to read The Turning first. Again the author is very generous - 510 pages. Thank you Ms Scott !!
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!
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