Stolen Heir is book two of the Brutal Birthright series of interconnected standalones. This book has my favorite tropes of enemies to lovers, age gap, forced proximity, mafia, grumpy sunshine, alpha hero, good girl heroine, and gave me all the Beauty and the Beast feelings! I love Nessa and Mikolaj so much! Nessa is the light to Milo’s darkness. They are perfect for one another and I can’t get enough of them!

Thank you to Sophie Lark, NetGalley, and Bloom Books for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I gave Stolen Heir 3.75/5 stars. Stolen Heir is an enemies-to-lovers mafia romance that is somewhat of a slowburn. I give the spice level a 3/ 5.

Sophia Lark did a wonderful job with storytelling and character development. Many mafia romances can come across as cheesy or reaching, however, this was not the case for Stolen Heir. I enjoyed following the development of Nessa and Mika’s relationship and I felt like the story also ended with a satisfying conclusion. Nothing was drawn out unnecessarily. This was a quick, enjoyable read and I look forward to reading the other books in the series.

I dont know why I got a copy of this when it’s been out for ages but anyway 😂 I liked this one, my first book by Sophie Lark and I think I would read more of her work!

This book gives us Mikolaj and Nessa's story and it was a good read, but the story moved a little slow for me. Miko feels that the Gallos and Griffin's owe him and debt and there's no better way to get revenge than to take something that they consider dear to them, family. Never in a million years did he think that Nessa would mean more to him and that he would rather protect her than harm her. The story had suspense, revenge, steamy scenes and more. I wish I had enjoyed it more, but the flow of the story really hurt it for me, and I wish things happened a little more quickly or there was something to fill up slow moments. However, I loved the drawings within the book and thought it matched the chapters perfectly. I'd recommend the story because it wasn't a bad read, it was just that everything moved to slow for me to love it.

Immersive, gritty and raw. This mafia romance loosely follows Beauty and The Beast and is steamy in the best way, where the spicy scenes truly shine.

Nessa, who happens to be the youngest of the Irish mafia in Chicago, winds up in a predicament where she is kidnapped. By none other than Mikolaj who leads the Polish mafia, to use for his own gain as he wishes, mainly as revenge.

Nessa is so sweet and gentle and it broke my heart a little to see her thrown into the maw of one who’s been named one of the most vicious gangsters in the city. Miko definitely bit off more than he could chew and I thoroughly loved how his little ballerina broke through his rough, abrasive exterior.

This grumpy-sunshine, enemies-to-lovers, with some serious spice action is sure to grab your attention as you fall in love with the main characters and how they completely rock each others world.

This was my first Mafia romance! And over all I liked it. I did feel like the instalove was harder for me to accept because of the darker nature of the Mafia membership and how the FMC was literally kidnapped as part of a Mafia scheme. And the FMC was a little over optimistic and ignorant of her family's Mafia dealings to really buy in all the way. But other than that I liked it!

Nessa is the youngest in the reigning Irish mafia family in Chicago. When Miko, the head of the Polish mafia family kidnaps her, he wants to use her for his own gains. Neither expect to fall in love.

I love mafia books! This is the second book in the Brutal Birthright series. I enjoyed book one and this one was about the same for me. I liked that this is a version of Beauty and the Beast. You can see the references all over it and it’s fine well. Nessa is a sunshine while Miko is a grump and they okay those parts to a T. Nessa is also a dancer and it’s great to see how she expresses herself through her dance.

The action moves the main series storyline along and adds to the romance in the book. The star though really are the spicy scenes. Once they get going, they are hit and well done.
The special edition comes out on 9/29 and the drawings alone are worth it! They add to the story and characters beautifully.

Overall, this was a good read. It fell short a couple of times for me and I would have liked to see them falling for each other more BUT it’s a good mafia book!

-mafia
-grumpy/sunshine
-kidnapped
-V FMC

-thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the gifted copy! My reviews are always honest.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC. Technically, the writing was so fluent, it gripped me right from the beginning. The story was a bit familiar, the main female character was a side character in Brutal Prince, and I knew I should be expecting a really good book to enjoy.
The story began with a drama that was unexpected and made me understand the base of all Miko went through. He was strong but all because of the traumas that he had suffered. The character building was really nice.
I enjoyed every page, thank you for the good time..

Mafia x beauty and the beast = this book! SO good. It gave the first book in the series a run for its money.

Read if you like: grumpy vs sunshine, mafia romance, extra spice, and the swooniest nicknames "my little ballerina"

This story makes me realize how susceptible I would be to Stockholm syndrome, I loved Niko lol

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

This was such a beautifully written book. I couldn't stop reading it and I read it in a day. It definitely gave off Beauty and the Beast Mafia vibes and I was loving it! I'm a huge fan of Sophie's books and this one was no exception! Seeing Miko and Ness's relationship form and grow was so sweet and lovely. The tension and banter was delicious and absolutely wonderful. Another great book by Sophie Lark!

Thank you Netgalley, Source Bloom Books and Sophie Lark for this ARC!

Whoa. This book was so good. I liked book one. But this beauty and the beast-ish romance of a kidnapped mafia princess and her kidnapper kept me up reading WAY past my bedtime. I loved watching their relationship turn to love. I liked how Nessa kept who she is but also grew into her strength and ability to stand on her own. But I loved watching Miko soften for her. He was constantly surprised by Nessa and his feelings for her and their connection was so rewarding to watch on page. It makes me itch to pester my friend to buddy read the next book.

Sure mafia Beauty and the Beast has been done before. However, in this one the characters are aware that life sometimes imitates art. So much so that our FMC creates a ballet around it, and I ate it up.

This is a gritty and raw modern day Beauty and the Beast inspired Mafia story. I read this book in one sitting. This story out me in a chokehold from the very beginning and didn't let up until the very end.

The first chapter literally guts you and breaks your heart but it was a necessary evil for the reader to really understand Mikolaj's darkness. He suffered such a traumatic loss at the age of 16 that most teens wouldn't recover from but it served as a catalyst necessary to make him one of the most vicious gangsters in Chicago.

Nessa was a kind and gentle soul. A beautiful Ballerina who loves to lose herself through dance. She is oblivious to the inner workings of her Mafia family but she is aware that they are dangerous. When her family is responsible for the death of Miko's adoptive father, Nessa finds herself abducted to be used as a pawn in Miko's plan for revenge. Unfortunately Miko didn't anticipate his beautiful Ballerina hostage to dance her way into his heart.

I love an enemies to lovers story when the enemy bites off more than they can chew and end up falling for their enemy/captive. Nessa was the calming balm Miko needed to gain some perspective. He wanted revenge against the family responsible for his loss but it wasn't until he grew closer to Nessa that he realized that his true enemy were those he called family.

As the passion and chemistry grows between Nessa and Miko so does his enemies. Uncertain about her future Nessa loses herself in a dark fairytale about the love she found in the face of a beast. With some many obstacles before them and Miko's change of heart will it be enough for them to reach their HEA?

Beauty and the beast, but make it spicy mafia. This story is my favorite amongst all mafia, but especially in Sophie’s Brutal birthright series. The character growth in this story is exactly what I hoped it would be. I feared Nessa would be childish or honestly annoying, but at the end I felt she stayed true to herself but grew where she needed to. Mikolaj Is hard, emotionally shut up until a dancing ballerina enters his dark fallen mansion and brings life back into it. This is one of the few books that the setting, the house, and the grounds were described in such a way I really felt like I there. 10/5 stars, will definitely be a book I reread!

4/5 stars! Like all of Sophie's books, the cover was absolutely stunning. I appreciated the complex relationship between Nessa and Mikolaj. The mafia romance vibes were maybe applied a little heavy for my liking, but I enjoyed the story. Will be picking up the sequel to read asap.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

Nessa grows up in her family's mafia empire but she's too gentle for the business. Mikolaj is out for revenge for his adoptive father. He abducts Nessa and plots to destroy her family. Can her love stop him?

It's a dark mafia novel and it's exactly what you would expect. It's suspenseful, dark and steamy. Nessa is great and Mikolaj took a bit of time to grow on me. It's fast moving... and a fun escapist read.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

Miko is the leader of the polish mob after the events of Brutal Prince, and is plotting his revenge against the Gallos and Griffins. Nessa Griffin is the sheltered youngest daughter, with whom he plans to enact his revenge. By taking Nessa captive, he sends the Griffin and Gallo families into chaos, but he wasn’t bargaining for falling for his prisoner.

A little predictable but still cute. I enjoyed seeing both Nessa and Miko grow emotionally, but I would’ve enjoyed seeing more of the other characters in the Gallo and Griffin families.

I had to DNF this book. The writing felt very juvenile. The words don’t have weight. The prose is stiff and unyielding and the emotions felt dry to me. There was also a big lack of imagery. I tried to skip forward to see what the book would feel like later and I was not terribly impressed by what I found. This plot of this book is merely a vehicle for the smut. I say this as a reader who enjoys smut: I feel like each tool an author uses in a story should be carefully placed, crafted, and utilized. Smut just isn’t interesting when there’s a lack of believability and a real sense of tension.

I received the digital version of this book as a ARC books from NetGalley, which is interesting because Goodreads says this book was published back in 2020. Not quite sure why this available for review now in 2023.

Sophie Lark is one of my favorite authors, and this is definitely in the top three I have read so far. I'm not much of a darker romance girly but these books always hit the spot. Seeing the character growth in Miko from wanting to hurt Nessa and her family to falling in love and doing anything for her was the best part of Stolen Heir. Yes, Nessa also changed from being her family's youngest and most sheltered to someone who can hold their own, but there is something so satisfying about watching a man soften for 'the one'. If you only ever read one Sophie Lark book, please let it be this one. I wish I could have seen more between them in this book after everything happened, but I know that the story continues in the next books. This would be a great read for any mafia or enemies-to-lovers fans.

Thank you NetGalley, Sourcebooks Bloom Books, and Sophie Lark for this arc!
Y’all… if you like a true morally gray man and a good beauty and the beast retelling this is the one! I’ve read a lot of Sophie’s books and this reread solidified that Mikolaj is my favorite! I love seeing how far he comes from his tragic backstory and Nessa’s growth into the beautiful woman she is! Highly highly highly recommend