This is the best mafia retelling of beauty and the beast I"ve ever read. Sophie Lark can spin a tale as old as time with guns, blades and dancing all to make this sentence ryhme. Nessa is so innocent almost to much so for the book she's in. I want the HEA with Nessa and Mikokaj and I got it.

Thanks Netgalley and Sophie lark, and Publisers for allowing me to leave my review.

Stolen Heir is the 2nd book in Sophie Lark’s Brutal Birthright mafia series and this one is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, captor/captive situation!

Nessa is the baby of the Griffin family and has grown up spoiled (not at all in a bratty way), protected, sheltered, and cherished by her family. While her family is involved with all of the mafia action on the daily, Nessa has definitely been kept out of everything. She’s a ballerina and even choreographs her own ballets. One night while our a club she ends up getting recognized by the wrong man and finds herself waking up kidnapped!

Miko grew up in Poland with his twin sister Anna. But now he’s in Chicago and ready to seek revenge after the death of his father. When Nessa enters his club one night, he notices her right away and can’t believe his luck. Since her family killed his father he’s ready to use Nessa to get back at her family and kidnaps their princess.

I always enjoy a beauty and the beast retelling and this one gives all of those classic fairy tale vibes! The captor/captive situation played out so well. I liked seeing Miko realize that Nessa wasn’t just the spoiled princess with her head in the clouds like he assumed she was. She’s smart and uses whatever she can find to get an upper hand, like teaching herself Polish by using the books in his library. I liked how Miko protects Nessa and even hurts people on her behalf for wronging her. I wasn’t as into the mafia action happening in this book as much as I was engrossed in book 1 and I did have a harder time with Nessa. I get that she was sheltered but that type of heroine is one I have a hard time connecting with/enjoying: the more fragile, sweet, innocent/naive types. Aida from book 1 is definitely more my vibe. Of course those are personal preferences and this was still a super solid read!

Stolen Heir by Sophie Lark is a captivating contemporary adaptation of the classic tale of "Beauty and the Beast." From start to finish, I found myself completely engrossed in the story, unable to tear my eyes away until I reached the final page.

I originally read Brutal Prince (book one in this series) in 2022 and gave it two stars. However, it was entertaining so I quickly picked up the second. While neither were necessarily good this one was comparatively worse relationship wise. In my original review my only comment was “Someone needs to check Miko’s hard drive” which in the books defense is a little petty. The entire book revolves around Miko kidnapping the daughter of the family who murdered his father. Nessa is a sweet “innocent” girl who was basically sheltered her entire life despite being in the mafia. Her entire character is built around being the baby of the family and her general innocence. This builds a dynamic between her and Miko that i found kinda just uncomfortable? It was a kidnapper romance to begin with but having the main character sweet naive and innocent just really didn’t sit well with me. It felt gross however I understand that they are both legal and consenting adults.
Overall, I didn’t enjoy this book. The dynamics are just not ones I enjoy. This book does appeal to a certain audience and it is not me.

I absolutely enjoy this series, and every single book so far has been an incredible 5-star read. And, like the first one, I'm obsessed! This was a beautiful novel with an exceptional blend of mafia romance and Beauty and the Beast retelling. The retelling was so seamlessly blended into the narrative that the little references and details (for example, the west wing) appeared to be just another part of the story. This narrative was superbly delivered, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I really enjoyed reentering Sophie's world as well as discovering more about the two families. And Mikolaj... where do I even begin? Can I have him? Pretty please! I thoroughly enjoyed Mikolaj and Nesta's relationship, and I'm so glad they got to the finish together. I can't wait to get started on book three in this series, Savage Lover.

“Nessa, I’ll love you every second of my life. I’ll love you for exactly what you are, and whatever you become. Anything you want, I’ll make it happen for you. I’ll never hold you back. I’ll always tell you the truth. I’ll keep you safe and happy, at any cost.”

I’m a sucker for any Beauty and the Beast inspired romances and wow was Stolen Heir an intriguing Mafia version!! I could not put this book down when I read it, I enjoyed Brutal Prince but I read this one much quicker. I was so sucked into Nessa and Mikolaj’s story. The author says you can read these as a standalone but so far I’ve found it helps me to read them in order. Stolen Heir picks up right after Brutal Prince and the events are referenced. There were parts of this book that made their romance feel a little too Stockholm Syndrome (Nessa is captive for a lot of the book), and that made me give Stolen Heir 3.75 stars even through I really enjoyed reading it. Looking forward to the next book in the series!

I did not love this book as much as I thought I would. I loved the first book, but this book feels like a romanced version of Stockholm Syndrome.
I did really enjoy Nessa as a character, I liked to see how, despite everything, she continued to grow and be a better person. Her learning Polish to just F*ck with Miko was fun to see.

This truly was a beauty and the beast retelling, which I liked.
Will continue with the series, just because I like Sophies writing and im curious to see what she does with the other books.

Nessa Griffin is the sheltered, ballerina, princess who fills no role in her family’s mafia empire. After her family has committed a wrong against the Polish mafia, Mikolaj is out for revenge. The first step in his plan to destroy his enemies is to kidnap Nessa and hold her as his prisoner but Nessa is deeper than Mikolaj could have ever predicted.

This book gave beauty and the beast vibes turned mafia and with Belle being my favorite Disney princess I loved it. I was intrigued by Nessa in the first book and so glad to get to know her even better. The smut in this book is so good and these two have the best chemistry. I loved the bond that formed between Klara and Nessa even though they had a language barrier at first and I wish I could pick up other languages as fast as Nessa did. So far, this series is still holding up as my favorite mafia series and I can’t wait to finish it.

I loved Brutal Prince, so I was naturally looking forward to Stolen Heir! Sadly, this one didn’t do it for me. A little too much focus on the violence and not on the romance. The relationship felt half-baked and instalovey (maybe not instalovey as much as underdeveloped and too fast). If you know me, instalove almost automatically breaks a book for me.

However, I like this series enough to continue, and I’m excited to see what happens to the rest of the gang! Thank you for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.