Ruthless

by Cassidy Vale

Genres: Romance

200 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 16, 2026

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t understand how this book has such good ratings. I could get past the typos, and even some major plot holes due to detail inconsistencies (many of them), but what I could not get past was the fact that this was NOT a romance book. Not once do you read any sort of romantic chemistry between the MCs. There is no physical interaction besides one moment of interwoven hands during a moment of comfort (not described as romantic). Then all of the sudden the book ends with declared love on the second to last page of the epilogue? That was not a romance book. If anything it was a trauma recovery story (for him and his daughter). I’m so confused by the high ratings.

[Becky · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to throw my kindle against a wall by the time I finished this. This book is just … not good. I don’t even know how to elaborate on that. It’s surely not a romance. There’s zero romance, not even something I’d consider a friendship between the MCs, and then all of a sudden, they’re confessing their love in the epilogue. Huh? Sarah gets licensed in London and immediately has her own office and career to where the MC and his daughter spend more time in London than NY. Huh? How? I skipped some parts here and there when in reality, that should’ve been my sign to put this book down entirely. There’s nothing appealing about any of the characters except maybe the daughter. It’s only 200 pages, but isn’t worth the read at all.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

What the heck was that?
Stumbling through all their various traumas for the entire story to get a couple paragraphs of random I love yous and a kiss.
Also, it seems totally legit that the crime group that had been threatening her for years gets taken out by a call to the cops.
I'm irritated.

[Michelle Guiraud · Rating 1 out of 5]

So, so bad

This one is terrible and I actually think the blurb was better written than the whole book. It seemed like a nice plot, but it was poorly executed. I get that romance is supposed to be an escape but there were so many things in this one that were simply not believable, period.
Do yourself a favor and skip this one.

[Rebecca Pickett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I normally don’t read books that have less than a 4⭐️ rating. But on this one I just wanted an easy fast read. This was a short book so I figured I’d give it a try. I’m glad I did because honestly the ratings on this book is incorrect. This wasn’t my normal “romance” book that I read but it was such a great story. It made me shed several tears throughout the book.

This story was a beautiful story. The loss, the grief, the love that was in this book was huge. The way that Sarah was able to breakthrough with Lily. How her and Hector finally came around to their feelings. The side characters were just enough. They weren’t overdone and didn’t take up any more of the book than was needed. Lily’s grief was heartbreaking. It was written in the book to where you could actually feel for the little girl.

The make up didn’t come when you expected it. Sarah had to move on with her life until Hector was ready to heal his. But once he did and he came to find her it was in the sweetest way.

[Corey Lovato · Rating 3 out of 5]

three stars because I finished it

I literally only giving this three stars because I finished it and to be honest I never had any intention of not finishing it, but it is not good. The writing is fine, but the story was kind of awful. I guess I was completely misled because the blurb and the title of the book has nothing to do with the actual book. I mean, I guess I thought it was gonna be some kind of romance, but it's not. It's about the tragedy of a little girl losing her mom and the adults in her life trying to get past their own tragedies. if the story was about that and I was expecting that the book would've been fine good even but I was just expecting a romance and it's absolutely not that.

[Zahraas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am considering giving this book four stars because I tend to gravitate to everything that is deep, especially psychology, and I was fascinated by the development that was discussed. But this book should not be shelved as a romance one. Few scenes of the supposed intimacy in the kitchen where he cooks for her, a surprise birthday, few fighting scenes about the progress of Lily and him protecting her from loan sharks. The events at the last portion of the book felt rushed, and I was happy to read the book until we reached perhaps the last half of it, and I was thinking, Where is the romance I have been promised to get? ...

And the twisting was not twisting because at that point any reader would have figured it out.

But all in all, the original rating is 3 stars

[Svjetlana Šekarić · Rating 2 out of 5]

no consistency in writing

Average story and confusing writing. Her best friend’ photography job is doing well, but then she own dancing studio (which is on first floor, but later in the book 2nd floor…. And if it’s on second floor, how paparazzi can see inside?)
He lives in the city / penthouse but his car is in driveway and then estate is mentioned.
She lost everything in her old apartment, even her mother’s ring, but then she is packing only precious things when leaving NY which was her mom’s jewelry box.
Not worth money I paid for this book.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book but…

This book was not bad, but the title is misleading, and the blurb, as well. I don’t believe that the main characters were falling in love, and I don’t buy the ending. Again, I think the writing is good overall but the character development just wasn’t there for a romance. I’d buy a friendship, definitely.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I actually thought maybe this was a first work for the author, but it turns out it just needs more work. There’s a core of a story here, but the author could do so much better with a good developmental editor to fix plot holes and give direction to the plot, and a proofreader to catch the spelling and grammar mistakes.

[Becca’s Library · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing read

The blurb to this book sounded interesting till you start to read. The story is all over the place. I didn’t find this book to be a romantic story. It was very disappointing. I would not recommend the read. Sadly. A lot did not make sense on how it was written.

[Gale Albright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I can’t say that this book is actually a great love story. It’s more about a story of healing with love thrown in at the end. The little girl and Sara were great characters, but Hector was kind of a grump and I was not impressed with him at all. However, it was a well written book.

[Isabella C · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome

I read this book and couldn’t get enough. You could feel their emotions all through the book. It was an Awesome read!!

[Sue Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but I couldn’t really relate to the main characters. I liked the relationship between Sarah & Lily. Really didn’t feel the connection between Sarah & Hector.

[Judy Vang · Rating 5 out of 5]

tear jerker

It was a great book! I couldn’t put it down. Will have to read more of her books soon. Major tears!

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a cute story, but it lacked serious romance for a romance novel. I can't say it's a slow burn. There was virtually no fire throughout the book and only a simmer in the epilogue.

[Janice Venturina · Rating 5 out of 5]

love it!

The story is heartwarming. Lily is a very resilient kid. I love the way the authour tell they story. I finished it in one sitting.

[tina m allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

soooooo gooooood

Loved this story. The plot was engaging and surprises await the reader. Twists are gasp worthy! Read it in only a few hours!! Time well spent.

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good novel

Loved it. I felt the emotions and heartbreak of grief and loss and the difficulty to move on, and to never loose hope.

[Katie Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

story = 3.5 stars.
there were a lot of issues with quality, typos & punctuation

[Pam H · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A solid story but the ending felt rushed and there were a few inconsistencies that kept it from being a 4 star book.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super short/fast read. Widowed dad whose little girl refuses to speak after losing her mom. Enter- hot mess express speech teacher who is studying for her masters. She somehow gets the little girl to speak and our MC hires her on the spot. Some ups and down. Both loved this

[Rachel Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but no steamy scenes

No love scenes! Cute story but wish it moved faster and had some heat. Had to wait for the epilogue for the first kiss.