Ruthless Empire (Royal Elite Book 6)

4.5 stars

One of the best things about this series was that the stories were told in the same timeline as the other characters told their stories. Yet, it wasn’t a total copy of the books, instead, it was certain scenes told from different perspectives while also adding 3/4 of the book with new content. It made everything fresh and current again when I would encounter a scene from Aiden or Teal’s story and would give me that moment, of “OH, I remember that.”

Cole and Silver were fire together. I loved the push and pull between these characters. I loved that they each offered something to the other and that they both were the only ones that saw the true person behind the mask. Where people thought Silver was unfeeling and cold, Cole truly saw her and pushed her to recognize that she didn’t need to be this perfect replica of the conservative party. The same could be said of Silver in regard to Cole. She saw through his aloofness. I thought this would have more of the club darker kink type fantasies in it than it did but that was okay because the scenes that these two had were hotter than hell.

Huge surprise on the twist in this story. I thought I had it figured out until out of nowhere I found out how wrong I was. I love it when an author can do that. I did wish for more of a conclusion for these two, especially, seeing how these two were so crushed by something that they thought was happening only to discover it wasn’t. I wanted to see that in the future. Still an amazing book and a great conclusion to this epic series. Off-topic, if this is the end, did I miss Knox’s book? Does he not get a story?

Rina killed it with Cole and Silver’s story!!! I thought Ronan and Teal were my favorite but Cole and Silver may have just beat them!

Cole is famine, the silent but deadly one. He’s silent but always watching. There is so much more to him than you realized. So much more pain and darkness that he doesn’t let anyone see.
Silver appears to be the spoiled mean girl but is that truly her? She acts as though she doesn’t care when in reality she cares too deeply. After reading the rest of RES, I honestly did not expect to love Silver as much as I did. But seeing things from her prospective completely changed my view on her.

These two are explosive together, but in such an amazing way. Yes, they can be volatile when they are hurt or trying to protect themselves. But when they come together it’s the best kind of insane! They help each other feel in a way no one else has and they calm each other’s souls. Despite the obstacles in their way and trying to control their feelings, they just can’t help but be pulled towards each other.

There were also some surprises that I DID NOT SEE COMING!!! But that made the book all that much better. This whole series is definitely one that I will reread over and over again.

Finally we get Cole and Silver’s story! Ruthless Empire is one emotional, angsty, steamy read. We find out so much about Cole and Silver and there’s so much more to these two than you’d expect. Silver is not the Ice Queen she portrays herself to be to the world. These two are perfect for each other. Throw in a mystery and a total jaw dropping twist you just don’t see coming and you’ve got a great read!

Chaos. Nietzche once said you need chaos within you to birth a star. Cole said there was freedom in it. And Cole’s story is about chaos, the chaos of loving someone- the disorder that births something freeing, something beautiful. Ruthless Empire gives us a powerful story of a chaotic connection, a story that explores the magestic peace that comes from disruption, and the strength that comes from vulnerability.

My hesitancy to dive into this story was real-and not only because I’m so bereft at this being the last full book in the Royal Elite series. I knew this couple would be as challenging as they are rewarding- Cole is threateningly mysterious, while Silver is a cold mean girl. Both were hard to imagine with any sort of vulnerability, though I knew their dispassionate restraint would be fascinating to unpack and rattle. But these two struck me emotionally, and they struck me hard.

If you’ve read the other books, we know some of what we see on the surface, that these two have been circling each other like sharks in the water for a while. Cole and Silver have a story that spans back to childhood- two former childhood friends who now are constantly at each other’s throats, a love- hate sizzling energy that took over pretty much any scene. Personal tragedies and expectations have scarred them- the infamous kidnapping of the boys, the sins and tragedies of their parents bleeding out on them, the weight of being children of the rich and powerful. And, as they’ve aged and internalized that baggage, they’ve changed, both brilliantly and subtly creating a protective facade that has ensured aspects of their true selves are vaulted away. Their worlds were always connected, but when their parents decide to marry, any glimmer of distance and separation between them is vaporized- no aspect of their lives are now free from the other.

What Rina explores here that we don’t know, however, is just why both of these characters feel the need to mask themselves behind disinterest and thinly veiled hostility, especially towards each other. Rina gives us a rivetingly intimate window into the foundation and evolution of their connection. Through carefully placed flashbacks and alternating POV we get a powerful and unfiltered understanding of both of these characters’ beautiful minds and conflicted hearts- and it is so raw, so authentic, and so very captivating.

Cole has always seemed the most ominous of the elites to me-a palpable darkness always seems to be looming around him. Unlike Aiden, it doesn’t seem to stem from anger or emotion- Cole always seemed so calculated and clinical in his darkness. And those things are true- and we discover why. Just why is Cole so compelled by chaos mongering? And oh my heart, Cole is a revelation of a character. He’s by far the most interesting, most complex of the leading men to date. We get the possessive, dark alpha with a damaged heart we know to expect in a Rina story- but Cole is different. He’s by far the most lethal of the leading men, but he’s also the most self-aware and most self-actualized. To me, he felt the most vulnerable. His journey is less about figuring himself out (because he already knows) and more about finding a way to let someone into what he is- someone that compliments his chaos, but also settles it. Cole’s journey is about discovering that chaos isn’t always destructive and camouflaging- chaos can be healing, and it can be exposing. And his catalyst? Silver Queens.

Of course, like everyone else, I didn’t love Silver going into this book, but I trusted Rina wouldn’t give us someone shallow and cruel. Rina did more than redeem her- second to Kim she may be the most empathetic and emotionally vulnerable character Rina has written. I related to her so strongly that I was a bit unsettled. The Silver we’ve seen nothing like the Silver Rina give us in the book, because the Silver we’ve seen is a cocoon- a protective shield for the vulnerable and evolving creature inside.

And their chemistry- WOW. Both of them have scars they’re shielding, but really, what connects them most, is the fact that they are both so incredibly lonely, self-isolated out of design. Surrounded by people who “know” them, they are actually well and truly alone. Until they find each other- until they SEE each other, flaws and all, and that is scary to them. These are two characters who loathe vulnerability, see it as weakness, and who’ve spent years perfecting their impenetrable shields. But they pierce each other, easily and repeatedly. The intensity of this connection, the frenetic tension, the emotional depth of their relationship- I felt it so keenly down in the depths of my soul. Because these two characters have been written in the stars….and in the Rina Kent pages…..they’ve been orbiting around each other like two frenetic planets just waiting to collide to create a brilliant supernova. But their collision is more of a metamorphosis, their love a protective and healing chrysalis that surfaces a reborn butterfly, one vulnerable and exposed but so raw and majestic in its beauty.

The prose, as usual, is really powerful- Rina has a way putting words to feelings and emotions that creates such a visceral experience. What I loved most about her narrative approach in this story was the contrast- contrasting moments of chaos with moments of tranquility, the harsh and painful with the adorably sweet, the dark with the light. Like all stories, there is mystery both in the past and present that are influencing our characters- and TONS of secrets, but that action real takes a back seat for much of this book (and then hits us in the face hard later)- which made this story feel markedly more intimate, more focused and meta than some of the others. All of which fits these characters- they are contrasting, they struggle with intimacy, they are enchantingly meta.

Cole and Silver’s story is as profound as it is entertaining- it’s depth stemming from its unflinchingly intimate narrative, the focus on the connection between these two riveting characters Ruthless Empire has such nuanced emotional depth, such a moving resonance, because in this story, with true chaos comes vulnerability, and when you have connection and love, that vulnerability is anything but weak.

“If he wants a war, then war is what he’ll get.”

Haunting. Twisted. Dark. Gripping.

Rina Kent delivers ANOTHER captivating story. Ruthless Empire brought so many feelings to the surface for me, I’m still trying to organize my thoughts and feelings.

This might just be Rina’s best work yet. It’s dark and depraved, steamy and erotic, twisted and intense.

Cole and Silver are EXPLOSIVE. Their chemistry and their ‘war’ with each other denies you the ability to put the book down.

I did not expect this story two consume me the way it did. Rina always captivated me with her reading, but I was completely immersed into this story.

Whatever you are expecting to happen in this book, forget it. Rina is about to blow your minds and your expectations.

“Silver is the beauty and the ugliness. The calm and the chaos.”

My initial thoughts: Intriguing. Forbidden. Beautiful Chaos.

After an all-out binge to get to this book it really shouldn’t surprise me that the series has gotten better and better… Cole Nash may just dethrone the Aiden King who took a piece of my soul, and Xander who took my heart… and Silver… well, she is a girl I DID NOT WANT TO LIKE but after just one paragraph ℎ- the real her- recognising pieces of myself in her.

Rina Kent so cleverly twisted the way we might have perceived other characters and this added so much more depth to this story (that binge-a-thon paid off!!)

Ruthless Empire is full of intrigue, suspense, and plot twists. Cole and Silver story is beautiful, messy, broken and forbidden. It is PERFECT CHAOS!!

. ’ , , ’ . ’ … ’ ’ … . .

I was hooked, held captive, from the start until the end, I couldn’t get enough. This book had a completely different feel to the rest of the series and been the most freakin perfect ending to this series… my heart is so full and there’s a calm in the utter chaos that this series created in me… I’d recommend this book and series a thousand times over.

Ruthless Empire is Book 6 Royal Elite Series by Rina Kent. A Dark Bully Romance with dark themes. Reader beware: embrace the chaos and free your mind… this story is one you do not want to miss.

5+ RUTHLESS CROWNS

This has got to be the darkest, most complex couple of the series. Rina Kent has blown me away with this tormented, angsty, and heartbreakingly beautiful couple. This story had me so captivated and all up in my feels. I felt like I was in a fun house as the extent of my feelings ranged from thrill, to heartbreak, angst and sexiness. In true Rina fashion, she had me suspecting everyone and dropped the unexpected bomb just like that, I was mind-blown! Cole’s story is not to be missed!! All the stars for Ruthless Empire.

After eight long months of waiting, I’m writing the review for the last book of the Roayl Elite series. I’m filled with sadness because I’ve followed these characters ever since the first trilogy came out and I got attached to them.

I couldn’t wait to read Cole’s story and I thought that the author put it as the last installment because it would be the most of explosive of them all. Without going into the specifics because you’ll have to read the book, it was the perfect ending to a very nice series.

Cole was the one who intrigued me the most at the beginning. He is Aiden’s closest friend and you realize why in his book, since we see layers of his personality that were not evident in the other books. Cole was an enigma, a person with logical thinking who always did things for a reason. But you can’t control everything in your life, and he will realize it soon.

You can’t choose the person you like, and when Cole felt drawn to Silver, who he had known for years, he knew that he had to have her but at the same time, he couldn’t.

We’ve met Silver in the previous books as well. Many of us hated her because of how she acted to Elsa and Kim, but you see, in this book all the masks come off and we’ll also get to know who Silver really is. What are her hardships, what makes her tick, etc.

It was an awesome conclusion to this series! Now I’m waiting on the novellas 🙂

I want your firsts, Butterfly

Chaos in its truest form. This is the book was everything I had anticipated, and in typical Rina Kent style she delivered. Such a sultry, steamy, tabooish love story between two strong personalities, ever calm, ever silent and scholarly Cole and queen B, socially adept Silver. Once again, appearances are not all that they seem.

Cole and Silver found each other as children. Drawn to each other through traumatic events, they decide to share all their firsts. As they grew up, Cole exhibited bad-boy, antagonizing oneupmanship toward Silver, and Silver, catty in her interactions, wore a façade. They were both secretly smitten with each other until it became something more.

I loved this book because once again the author crafted a unique, rich storyline with authentic characters, who were more than they appeared, delivered in an element of mystery. The interactions among the characters, now having arrived to book 6, were engaging, distinctive, even caustic as to come across so realistically. There were also bouts of hilarity, especially among the four horsemen, including Cole’s typical silent but lethal nature. Additionally, the plots of the previous books were well-intermingled accounting for the cross action with favorites such as Aiden and Elsa, Ronan, Xander and Kim. The book is a standalone, but the experience so much better if previous books are read.

I loved Cole and Silver’s love story. I originally was the biggest fan of Aiden, but I think Cole stole the spotlight. I felt the author “went there” with this storyline, a much more mature read than previous books even with previous books’ dark themes; added to that, the element of taboo, some kink, the level of steam. What I also loved about this book was the excellent pace — sufficiently descriptive — the characters, the cute scholarly book themes. Regarding scholarly themes, there was a scene between Cole and Silver that had me doubled over laughing. This storyline also reveled in palatable chemistry, vibrant attraction, and just off-the-charts erotica. My e-reader was on fire.

This book, just overall, was a full-bodied, captivating storyline, and with that element of mystery, you can expect the unexpected. I did not want it to end. This author is very talented, and I can’t wait to read more of her work.

This book was the ultimate meaning of the phrase “saving the best for last”.

From the previous books there were little hints about Cole and Silver but there was nothing that could have prepared me for this book. Cole and Silver’s chemistry started with sparks then with every angry word and stolen touch they shared intensified their chemistry until it was an inferno.

Getting inside Cole’s head was a little like what I expected but mostly I was shocked by the fact that he was nothing like I imagined. Silver wasn’t like I expected either she very quickly stole my heart. Not only were they nothing like I expected but nothing about this book was what I expected in the absolute best ways.

Ruthless Empire is a top read of 2020 and has me feeling a book hangover. The remarkable connection between Cole and Silver, the head games, steamy scenes that were blazing hot, an EPIC storyline that played with my emotions and continuously had me on the edge of my seat holding my breath.