enemies to lovers, forced proximity, arranged marriage, Mafia!!!!!
I absolutely loved this book and Sophie Lark can do no wrong with her books!!!
10/10 recommend everyone who is just starting out with mafia trope !!!

After giving this book another chance because Bloom is traditionally publishing it, I actually started to like it. I don’t know if it was the time that I was reading it but everything changed for me. I somehow enjoyed the story a lot more. So this book is about two mafia families who have been rivals and an arranged marriage is formed where now the couple hates each other with all of their lives. I have to say that this book still doesn’t give a mafia vibe but more of a billionaire though the plot is great. I forgot how many memorable scenes there were that I still think about after finishing the book. I like the world but I do hope the next books have more mafia theme to it than it does in this one. This book is told from dual perspectives of both Alba and Cullum.

Alba is a brave woman who doesn’t care what someone thinks about her. I enjoyed her character and how powerful she was on her own. She was funny when it came to her ways of “torturing” her husband. Then there is Cullum who is the politician and wants his life in order. He was a pretty great character who loved/hates Alba. I still don’t see much of character development but relationship development. They bantering is the best part of this book and I really enjoyed it. There are many side characters and I can’t wait to see how Alba’s brothers play into this book. The tropes in this book are age-gap, enemies to lovers, and arranged marriage which was a good romance with many spicy scenes.

The ending was well done and I’m excited to check out the next book. I don’t know if I will love it the first time but I hope so as I see the potential and hype for this series now. This book is perfect for those interested in billionaire romances but I really hope to see the mafia world expand.

*this e-arc was sent to me by the publisher to give an honest review in return*

Was the perfect? No but I DEVOURED THIS BOOK so it deserves 5 stars ✨️
It has all the best tropes - enemies to lovers, forced proximity, arranged marriage, Mafia 😍
I absolutely loved Aida and Callums story!!

The Griffin family is part of the Irish Mafia. Needless to say, they don't get along well with the Gallos, who are part of the Italian mafia. Things really go wrong when Aida Gallo sneaks into a party the Griffins are having and lights their library on fire. A deal is made and Callum and Aida will be married.

This is my first Sophie Lark book and first Mafia romance book. I didn't mind either. I watched The Sopranos and liked it. Sometimes this story could come off as a bit cheesy, bit honestly I didn't mind that. I really enjoyed it and it won't be my last book by Sophie Lark. It was a good time.

Thank you NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books for an ARC, all views are my own.

This is the first book in the Brutal Birthright series. I really like this series/world Sophie Lark has created. I think this is a great opening book into this world. Enemies to lovers trope. The only thing I was underwhelmed by is everything seemed to happen too fast in this story. Besides that, I enjoyed this. Aida, even in a seemingly horrible circumstance, you can see she has strength and fire. I love her and Callum’s back and forth. The humor of this book was unexpected and it was delightful.

I seem to have a new obsession, which is mafia-romance. And this one… wow, it really was amazing.

Aida is strong minded and so funny. She doesn’t care what about consequences and once she set her mind on doing something, often to help someone she loves, nearly nothing can stop her. And you just have to love Aida and Callum together, their chemistry is great and once they start growing on each other I couldn’t stop falling in love with their story as well. I also enjoyed reading about Aida’s family and how they all stood up for and protected each other.

The plot is super-fast paced and so much is happening. There’s so much happening, and they have to handle so many problems, I couldn’t put the book down. I read it in one sitting and even read the bonus scene, it was a treat.

Thank you to the publisher, the author, and Net Galley for an ARC of this story in return for my honest review.

Let me start off by saying that my sister who has a completely different taste in reading than I do recommended this book to me and I was like Mafia Romance? ehhhh. Woah, I was wrong to be hesitant. Did I read this book in one sitting? Yes! Did I proceed to buy the other five books in the series? Yes! Sophie's writing was so compelling that I felt I was in Chicago hanging with the Mafia. Overall, the story line was extremely entertaining and kept me hooked throughout. At times, it was cheesy or unrealistic at some points in the plot but the character attachment I had to Aida and Callum kept me interested. BRB well I go refresh my tracking number on the other 5 books.

Callum is the oldest son from the Irish Family Mafia in Chicago aka new money. Aida is the only daughter from the Italian Family Mafia in Chicago aka old money. These families have been not only battling each other but other Mafias to ensure that they get the most control possible. Until, Callum and Aida are arranged by their parents to be married in order to form an alliance, even though these two hate each other.

This book was SO much fun. I loved the enemies to lovers (real enemies to lovers), and marriage of inconvenience. The romance was super sweet, and I really enjoyed all the side characters as well. This made me so excited to continue the series.

I liked the premise of a modern day mafia story. And to have two battling familes connect in marriage was a neat twist. Fun pot. It was ok writing-wise as I found it a little slow,repetitive and pretty spicy. I do have many customers recenty that are looking for a little less spice, but I will definately reccomend this to my customers who like that type of thing. Great cover!

A good book. I liked Cal and Aida, along with their siblings. I do felt like there could have been more of Cal and Aida bonding. Some on the moments felt rushed or not enough of. I do want to continue this series because I'm really interested in the other character stories.

I received this e-arc in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Sophie Lark and Sourcebooks publishing for the honor.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC, the opinions that follow are my own.
The vibes: Dark Romance Taming of the Shrew

This is a great series starter — it has everything I’ve come to expect from Lark’s books: top tier smut, boiling chemistry, and my favorite ingredient, a bad ass FMC.
I loved Aida so much. Girl is an ADHD queen! Though it’s not implicitly stated, there were a number of ADHD indicators that endeared Aida to me even more. Cal was yummy and bad in all the right ways.
I think my favorite part was how gloriously they messed with each other during the beginning of the book.
If you enjoy dark romance, I cannot recommend Sophie’s books more! I also loved her Sinners Duet.

“Opposites have a kind of symmetry. Fire and ice. Stern and playful. Impulsive and restrained. In a way, they belong together.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Book: Brutal Prince
Author: Sophie Lark

OH MY GOD I LOVED THIS BOOK. This was my first Sophie Lark and I am now on a mission to put everyone I know onto her books. This was such an easy read but the story still packed a punch and the characters will stick with me. I usually have this thing where I can’t go into the next book in a series without having a months break in between (don’t ask), but I had to go into the next one pretty much straight away. I just adore Sophie’s writing, and the way that her characters fall for each other? *dreamy sigh*

I also love the fact that this was an enemies to lovers romance where the characters were ACTUALLY enemies. I no longer want an enemies to lovers romance unless they’re trying to kill each other, thank you. 🍓

Read if you love:
💙Arranged marriage
💙Enemies to lovers
💙Opposites attract
💙Mafia romance
💙Badass FMCs
💙Dual POV

(Thank you so much to @bloombooks and netgalley for the EArc in exchange for an honest review! 🫶🏻)

💙

I really enjoyed this book. Not only did it dive into the story right away but it checked a lot of boxes for me
✨️enemies to lovers
✨️mafia romance
✨️forced proximity
✨️touch her and die

The story never got boring. I was invested the entire time and couldn't wait to see how the relationship between them progressed. Would highly recommend.

I Just finished reading Brutal Prince and I can not wait to start the next book in this series. I loved this story. I always like a good mafia romance. It was full of action, drama, romance, some humor and just overall a great book. I loved Aida and Callum's characters and they both had their own unique personality. Aida was hilarious and a total bada$$ and Callum, he just had his own ways of making him a great sexy stubborn and yet protective character. The chapters in this one too were short which I enjoyed and kept my interest. It was very well written and I did not want to put this book down. Definitely looking forward to reading the rest of the books in this series. Also there was some steam in this one which I enjoyed! 4.5 Stars

This book has everything!

Enemies to lovers ✅
Arranged marriage ✅
Mafia (lite) ✅
And top notch connection between the Main characters

This book was sooooo good. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

Really enjoyed this book. Loved all the I hate you love. Aida and Cal were just perfect for each other. Of course the book could have been a little longer but that’s just me being selfish and loving those two together.

Brutal Prince by Sophie Lark is my first a) mafia romance b) Sophie Lark book. I thoroughly enjoyed this story (and the illustrations that this edition offers) but I couldn't connect to the characters. I'm not sure why that is, to be quite honest. Furthermore, I did wish they had more tension, and it wasn't as instalovey, but I still enjoyed what they got up to.

I do want to read more from Sophie Lark as I liked the writing and how the story was set up overall.

Thank you Netgalley and Bloom Books for the eARC of this book!

I liked this book! I liked how strong and interesting Aida was without being a "not like the other girls" FMC. I thought the pacing was good, it kept really kept me reading and I finished the book quick (for me), but the plot seemed kind of shallow?

The main issue I had was that it felt very instalove (???) even though they were "enemies". The switch happened so fast and I didn't really feel any real tension or angst. The connection they ended up having didn't seem genuine/organic to me. I thought both the MCs could've had a little more nuance, especially the MMC because he was like 30 years old but still acting like a teenager.

Overall, this was a quick and easy read that's entertaining but not super memorable.

This be the first book I read by Sophie Lark and I see now what all of the talk was about when people say she can write a romance mafia book that is great and that it was. I liked it and I liked how it was written.