Brutal Prince is a mafia romance with plenty of action and a sprinkling of spice.
I enjoyed watching the relationship develop between Aida and Cal and the spicy scenes were *chefs kiss*!
I felt like a couple of plot points either got glossed over and never revisited (Ollie kissing Aida) or were done with too quickly (the Butcher) but overall I enjoyed the story and would definitely carry on with the series.

4.5★

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Learning the history between these two families and the backstories behind our main characters was a blast. Aida was fierce and strong, with a sharp tongue. Callum was broody and grumpy, with a secret soft side. I felt the writing flowed nicely, which made reading it a breeze and kept me wanting to turn page after page. I needed to know more. I needed something good to happen. This book definitely had some delicious spice and steam. There's also plenty of over-protective, jealous, and "my wife" moments that are to die for. The chemistry and love built between these two was off the charts. I was also surprised by the twists and turns, and I had to cross my fingers that they would get out of their sticky situations relatively unharmed. This was my first Sophie Lark book, and I can't wait to read the next one!

𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆:
♡ Enemies to lovers
♡ Forced proximity
♡ Arranged marriage
♡ Age gap
♡ "My wife"
♡ Mafia

A big thank you to Sophie Lark, Bloom Books, and Net Galley for my copy of this arc.

En bref, j'ai aimé l'ambiance, les personnages, leur intensité, les révélations et la façon dont leur romance évolue. Ils n'ont pas totalement réussi à me toucher mais j'ai admiré leur abnégation, leur envie de bien faire et de protéger ce qui leur appartient... ils sont tous les deux intenses en ce sens et j'ai apprécié leurs combats. Les joutes verbales du début sont elles aussi intenses et on ne peut que dévorer les pages pour savoir ce par quoi ils passent. Le final est vraiment chouette et ne nous laisse pas souffler une seule seconde. Une romance mafieuse intense et qui nous fait vibrer avec les personnages !

The Brutal Prince is my first Sophie Lark book, and I devoured it!

The Brutal Prince is the first book of the Brutal Birthright series. I was intrigued by the mix of a mafia romance, a marriage of convenience topped up by the enemies-to-lovers element. The author delivered on every single aspect, and as the pages turned, I was rooting for the key leads, Callum and Aida. The protagonists couldn't be more opposite, and their exchanges are fiery, sassy and snarkiness when it comes to steamy scenes....oh my! Sophie doesn't hold back, and the visual art complements the passion and intensity. The evolution of hate to love and the undercurrent of stakes had me engaged throughout, and the ending, while slightly rushed, was heartwarming. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.

Thank you, NetGalley & SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books, for this e-ARC. This honest review is left voluntarily.

Thanks to the author and the publisher for the ARC.

Brutal Prince by Sophie Lark is a captivating Enemies-to-Lovers Mafia Romance, combined with Marriage of Convenience. It has once again landed on my top favorite reads of the year.

Meet Aida Gallo, a strong and sassy character, and Callum Griffin, a no-nonsense alpha male. When a chain of events sparks tension between the Gallos and the Griffins, Aida finds herself engaged to Callum, the man she hates.

Aida is brash, impulsive, whereas Callum is emotionally inept and too focused on his career and family. Their initial interactions are marked by mutual dislike and animosity. However, they're forced to marry one another to maintain the peace and make Gallo and Griffin a family.

Of course, nothing is easy between the two. From pranks to intense antagonism, their relationship brims with passion and intensity. Aida's the complete opposite of Callum. Her sassy nature and Callum's focused and emotionless demeanor clash, but somehow the puzzle pieces seem to fit in nicely.

As they navigate the ups and downs of their union, learning the personalities of one another, they can't help but be drawn to each other, and eventually succumbing to their slow-burning chemistry.

Sophie's writing style is fantastic, and I loved the addition of the illustrations.

I highly recommend this book if you love all the tropes I mentioned.

I received this eARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is my first time ever reading Sophie Lark. She’s been on my TBR for such a long time, I just haven’t had the chance to read her yet but I’m so glad I started with a series. I really enjoyed Aida and Callum. They have such great banter between one another. Aida really gave Callum a run for his money, which I absolutely loved. The humor is top notch. There were so many parts that had me chuckling. I think this was a pretty mild mafia romance. Definitely not the level I was quite expecting but overall, I thought it was really good. I will end with this. I’m not quite sure why this is marketed as a dark mafia romance. Because in my opinion it’s so unbelievably far from that. By no means is this dark AT ALL. Does this have mafia romance? Sure. But this is not dark. Not. One. Bit.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5)

Brutal Prince is the 1st mafia romance I've read and I'm so happy I tried it.
The Griffin's and the Gallo's are opposing families battling for control in Chicago. After Aida Gallo "accidently" sets fire to the Griffins library, her father arranges a marriage between Aida & Callum, the eldest son of the Griffin family.
This is enemies to lovers at it's finest with a marriage of convenience & forced proximity added for good measure, brutal prince was a spicy romance I couldn't put down. Highly recommend!!

Brutal Prince is the first book in Sophie Lark’s Brutal Birthright series. This was my first time reading a mafia romance so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, but I was not at all disappointed.

The story follows Aida Gallo and Callum Griffin. They are sworn enemies from rival mafia families, but when a mishap involving Aida sneaking into the Griffin home leads to an accidental fire and destruction of priceless property, the two families decide that the best way Aida can make amends for her mistakes is to enter into a fake marriage with Callum and thus build an alliance between the two families. Everyone seems thrilled with the idea, that is except for Aida and Callum, who would much rather kill each other.

It took me a while to warm up to Callum. He’s stiff, arrogant, and ruthless, and he’s downright abusive to Aida in their early scenes. I liked Aida right away though. She’s fierce, scrappy, and much smarter than her own family gives her credit for being. She also doesn’t put up with any of Callum’s abuse, dishing it back at him as fast as he can dole it out. Even though it’s a bit darker than what I’m used to reading when I read romance, it was a wild ride and I did love to watch the sparks fly between then and I loved it even more once their relationship started to change.

I was expecting violence since this is a mafia romance, and while there is some, it was milder than what I had braced myself for, which was good for me. What I wasn’t expecting though was for the story to be so fun, like I actually found myself laughing out loud at some of the hilarious pranks these two pulled on each other in the beginning of this forced relationship.

I’m not entirely convinced that mafia romance is for me since I’m a rom com girl at heart, but I cannot deny that Brutal Prince entertained me from start to finish and that I’m most definitely interested in continuing the series.

I haven't read a mafia romance or a true enemies to lovers in a minute, but this one takes the cake! Callum and Aida truly hate each other and even try to kill each other at some points. Of course, this lead to hot, steamy hate sex, and eventually love where they cannot live without each other. Sophie Lark creates a book filled with drama, love/hate romance, and some amazing spicy scenes.

WOW.
DAMN.

This book I was nervous yet excited to read this because there has been so much hype regarding this book and usually when there's a lot of hype on a novel and the moment I get to read it, it like sucks. but this like exceeded expectations and was hook from start to finish and there is nothing like a good mafia romance to break through the reading slump that I was in.

Arranged marriage, forced proximity & enemies to lovers are my three favourite tropes! So I knew this would be right up my street, and whilst I did enjoy it, I found it all a little rushed.

I really enjoyed the banter between the two characters however as soon as they fell in love that completely stopped.

I definitely want to continue on with the series at some point.

3.5 stars

TW: Stalking, murder, guns, violence, sex, blood & mafia

I loved those art pages in the book, and I fully believe romance & spicy books should have them. It added quality and extra level to them as they aren't all sex scenes. We had some sweet art scenes too.
The sexy scenes were done very well; I appreciated the blush got!

As someone born and raised in Ireland, I didn't hate the Irish rep. I don't have experience or knowledge regarding mafia things because I know of the IRA, and they are not mafia. So I cannot compare. It did throw me, but that's a personal error.

As my first step into mafia romance, this was fun and a great read. I will be reading more of Sophie Lark.

Brutal Prince by Sophie Lark is the first book in the Brutal Birthright Series. This is Aida and Callum’s story.
 
Aida‘s family is part of the mafia and she isn’t dulled by this life. Instead, she is a fiery, bold and wild person and I loved her energy. The Gallos have this long standing rivalry with the Griffins, and both are very powerful in Chicago. This dynamic creates the perfect enemies-to-lovers scenario. Aida crashes a party of the Griffins and that ends up with an arranged marriage to none other than Callum.
 
Callum is the Griffin heir, and he is very much involved in politics, and he wants to successfully continue his family’s empire. He is very determined and ambitious and the only one who can tame Aida and I loved that.
 
Even though Aida and Callum seem like a match made in hell, they quickly become an absolute power couple. I love how possessive Callum gets and it’s definitely touch her, and you die vibes and that makes the steamy scenes even hotter. I thoroughly enjoyed this story,
 
Overall, Brutal Prince is a fabulous book, and everyone needs some Aida energy in their life. 4,5 stars.
 
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)

Thank you Source Books/Bloom Books and Netgalley for the ARC!

Sophie Lark had been on my radar for a good while now because she’s all over bookstagram. I hadn’t gotten into mafia/gang/dark romances until recently so I was stoked to get this ARC to continue my deep dive into the dark side.

Lark surprised me with her writing in such a good way! I loved the tension, the sass and snark, the connection. She did such a great job writing characters you want to root for, even in this dark world. I am so excited for Stolen Heir now!

4.5

This book had me smiling, giggling, and cackling all throughout it. From the sass of the main character to the brooding of the love intrest these two constantly clashed in n more than that me way.

I also have to credit this story for the illustrations, they were beautiful and enhanced the reading experience to the max.

4.5 ⭐️
Sophie Lark’s books have been on my list for a while to read so seeing her Brutal Birthright series being traditionally published was fantastic and gave me the opportunity to start Brutal Prince.
Her books have a cult following on social media and deservedly so. The tension, romance and plot are executed fantastically.
Brutal Prince follows Aida Gallo, the youngest and only daughter in the infamous Gallo family that are ruthless in their business practices aka the Italian Mafia. She is wild, carefree and enjoys her freedom in any way she can and this is shown at the beginning of the book where she and her three brothers Dante, Nero and Sebastian decide to crash Nessa Griffin’s 19th birthday party. The Griffin’s are the Irish mafia family that also hold great power and the two families remain amicably separate to keep the peace. Well not tonight. After sneaking off to find a bathroom, Aida decides to explore the Griffin household and stumbles into a beautiful library where she’s almost caught by Callum Griffin, the eldest son who is just mean. As a way of escaping her hiding spot she decides to put the curtains in the fireplace almost burning down the home on her escape. Callum is not prepared to let this go and find Sebastian and Aida while they eat ice cream by the sea where a physical fight takes place between Callum, Jack (his henchman basically) and Sebastian with Aida trying to intervene and defend her brother who is badly hurt. After stealing a pocket watch from the library she uses this to cease the fighting but out of petty anger throws it into the water and running with her brother.
Things don’t exactly go to plan from here. As a way of keeping the peace and preventing all out violence Aida is told she will marry Callum. The two do not get on. At. All. I haven’t rated it 5 stars as Aida was slightly whiny at points which showed her age but her character development made up for it eventually.
Lark writes the most delicious enemies to lovers with intense romantic tension and a delectable plot that keeps you wanting more. I’m very excited to read Stolen Heir and I loved Brutal Prince!

★ ★ ★ ★ | 🌶🌶 check tw 18+

*A special thank you to Netgalley and Bloom Books for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.*

!! POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD PROCEED WITH CAUTION !!
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I absolutely ate this book up, man. I literally read most of it in one day. It was definitely an enjoyable first time reading Sophie Lark.

I liked the pacing of this book for the most part. It got to the point and still kept the action and drama. What I would critique, however, would be the progression of Callum and Aida’s relationship. I would’ve liked a little more tension between them before they got together. I felt like they progressed from enemies to lovers a little quick.

I loved the characters so much, though. Specifically: Nessa, Nero, and Sebastian. I literally cannot wait to read their stories. I learned to love Aida as the story progressed and as she went from mildly annoying and childish to headstrong and badass. It truly was a great character arc.

This book was full of spicy moments and my favorite trope: “grumpy husband says ‘my wife’ a million times”. I can’t wait to read the rest of them and get into Sophie Lark’s other works.

I wanted to like this book so much based off of the snippets I’d seen of it on social media, but I have to say that they are misleading. I know that this story is an enemies to lovers, but by 60% through I was not convinced that the main characters liked each other at all, but that they tolerated each other for sex. There is also a scene around the 50% mark that was written like it was supposed to be hot, but made my stomach turn in the context of their relationship. The intrigue of the mafia was honestly my favorite part and I wish this was a thriller with political intrigue rather than a dark romance. This book wasn’t my cup of tea, but I can see it being someone else’s.

I’ve read a lot of books, but with each year and new authors, I’m learning how many tropes I like and I’m learning I might like too many tropes cause I’m always reading tropes I love, but rarely come across.

I love when two characters who hate each other are forced into a marriage, the forced proximity, the battle of wills, and everything that falls in between gets me hooked every time. Callum and Aida despise each other from their first meeting , which is honestly warranted, and it just keeps growing in the beginning. Their tactics were original and had me hooked to keep finding out when they would break and fall for each other.

The suspense and the drama was great as well! Overall this book just worked for me!

3⭐️s/5

This was a super easy quick read however there was not much angst or romance. I felt like it was all quite surface level. I quite liked the quick remarks from Aida.