The final book in the series. Sebastian was always one of my favorite characters but this story didn't go the way I'd hoped for him. In the first couple books he waa so fun and good natured but by this sixth book he's become dark and on the verge of taking his father's position. There were still early moments when it seemed like things might look up but it was not to be.

Yelena also started out seeming like she might be a strong interesting woman but ended up seeming pretty bland and weak.

There are only brief cameos of the characters from the previous books, and only the relationship with Mikolaj really comes into play.

Overall, the first two books in the series were the best and I kind of wish I'd stopped there. At least there was lots of shoot-em-up action and explosions to keep things moving. And the next series was definitely set up.

Another wild ride from Sophie Lark! This is book 6 in an interconnected stand-alone series and could be read on its own (I have read 4 of them and did not feel like the 2 I skipped caused too much confusion).

I liked the first half, but it lost me as all the conflicts accumulated. Things are relatively resolved by the end, and the epilogue sets up the following series with the next generation of mafia/mob/bratva kids. If you've read others in the series and enjoyed them, then you'll like this. If you've read others in the series and not enjoyed them, this will probably not change your opinion.

This is the final book in the Brutal Birthright series, a Dark Mafia Romance. My favorite part of every Sophie Lark book is she links a Spotify playlist for every book. For this book the last song is Willow by Taylor Swift. Based off that alone, I knew this was going to be the perfect ending to such a great series. Plus there is such beautiful artwork throughout this book.
I’ve loved every book this series, the Gallos and the Griffins, and their family dynamics change over the years. Everyone has come so far since book one. Sebastian has always been my favorite character since book one and I’m so happy it’s his turn to put himself first. The twists in this book, specifically at 50% of the way through, had me in tears. This book is a roller coaster of emotions, never boring, and might or might not get you excited for the next series, Kingmakers.
This series walked so Kingmakers could run.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books for this new version!

What a wonderful way to end the series! Sophie Lark has a big circle of fans, and this series has cemented why so many people ask for this book in my local library. It a fun series that is easy to read and enjoy. Sebastian’s struggles were pulling at reader’s heartstrings. Dante is still a fan favorite (for various reasons). Action and twists, you won’t regret this series!

I haven’t read any a) any dark mafia books, or b) Sophie lark books before, and they have both made me realize I love a (not just morally grey) but grey villian. You best believe, despite the hea spoilers here, I’ll be going back and reading the rest of this series.

Heavy Crown is an intense dark mafia romance and the cumulation of the Brutal Birthright series.
Sebastian is the last Gallo sibling. We didn’t see much of him previously and were led to believe he was a dreamer. He’s not, in fact he spent half the book slightly unhinged in the best morally grey way.
Yelena is incredibly naive for a mob boss’ daughter. While we get snipets about her past not much is learned. Where some heroines become strong and independent, Yelena just seems timid and frightened. She has her heroic moments but isn’t suited to the mob life.
I have fully enjoyed the last half of the Brutal Birthright series (I started at Bloody Heart) and this was a satisfying ending. While not my favorite you can definitely guarantee it will be included when I binge read the series again.
I received an arc and am leaving this review of my volition.

I have reached the end of the Brutal Birthright series! And what a rollercoaster it has been! Heavy Crown focuses on the final Gallo sibling, Sebastian. Although he’s in the other books, he’s not as prevalent as a side character which made him quite mysterious going into Heavy Crown. This was purely a forbidden romance as Seb ‘accidentally’ meets Yelena, daughter of a Bratva boss. It appears as a meet cute where Yelena is being ‘attacked’ and Seb manages to intervene, and sparks instantly fly. Yelena is a pawn in her father’s schemes. She’s the perfect and obedient daughter. She is pretty sheltered and is surrounded by Bratva men, including her twin brother.
I found this to be very quick and rushed. There were time jumps and the plot points moved rapidly.
I enjoyed this book. It had steam, betrayal, forbidden romance and this book was especially full of mafia/mob/crime plot points that drew in all the previous characters.
I look forward to reading the second-generation series! Thank you for giving me the chance to read these novels.

Heavy Crown is a book I have enjoyed for the past couple years. I am very excited for Sophie to have had this series picked up by a traditional publisher and getting a re-release. Heavy Crown had a lot to live up to while rounding out the end of a fantastic mafia-light series. I had high expectations and was strongly anticipating Sebastian's story.

I really enjoyed witnessing Sebastian's character arc. Having his dreams ripped away from him, the happy-go-lucky Gallo brother finds his darker side and wades into it. Yelena's character is a little lack-lustre compared to some of the other heroines in the series, but she's likeable.

The end of this book/series, perfectly sets up the next generation series and immediately entices you to want to read what comes next for these families.

These new trad-pub versions have some truly stunning character artwork in them that makes it worth buying the newest editions of these books! I'm a character art junkie, so I loved seeing it!

Oh this was everything! I’m obsessed with this series and I absolutely adore Sophie Lark’s books! I love that she keeps building up this world but this was a really great ending to a great series! I know she’s got the next-gen series but it hasn’t been picked up by Bloom yet so in terms of what I’ve read so far, this was a fantastic conclusion! I love that Sophie can make dark feel so fun and even if there are points where I feel like the characters or conflict is too messy, Sophie wraps it up neatly by the end! Sad to say goodbye to these beloved characters but so excited for all the other goodness coming next from Sophie later this year!

This series has had my heart from the beginning. I love Sophie Lark. This was a bit of a slow burn at the beginning, but it was a good slow burn.
Oh, Sebastian. I thought I couldn't love you as much as Dante but I managed to love you just as much. The twists and turns in this book. Sebastian's struggle pulled at my heartstrings. 🫣 What a way to end the Brutal Birthright series. We see appearances from Aida and callum too.

Heavy Crown is Sebastian's story in the Brutal Birthright series. In the prior installments, Sebastian's life has slowly changed from college boy pursuing a career in baseball to the final Gallo sibling that isn't happily married. He is a little lost but with each change in his family he finds himself heading in an unexpected direction. He's pretty sure he's two people in one body. When he meets Yelena, he can't stop thinking about her. He has one more major lesson to learn, and this one just might kill him. Yelena is the daughter of the head of the Chicago Bratva. When she meets Sebastian, her life takes an unexpected turn. She has always lived with pain and fear but now she might just not survive what's coming. Can they somehow find love as their worlds close in on them?

I do not want to give away what happens in this story. The author tells the reader up front that Sebastian and Yelena have HUGE hurdles to overcome. Both characters are strong, resilient, smart, tough, determined, and loving. I loved how the author worked in updates about Sebastian's siblings and even included Mikolaj. This book should NOT be read as a stand-alone even though I think you could. Where Sebastian ends up will not have the emotional impact without the background of how he got there over a period of years. I actually cried a little for everything that changed for Sebastian. The author sets up a new series at the end of the book. I am looking forward to reading about the new characters.

This story is a contemporary mafia romance set in Chicago. There is a lot of violence in this story. I will read more from this author in the future.

This was extremely not for me, and I think that might be my own fault. This is the final book in a series, which can technically be read as a standalone, but I think the previous books had a lot of backstory for Sebastian, and it felt like we needed to kind of catch up on all of it right at the beginning of the book. I've honestly never experienced this level of info dumping outside of a fantasy novel.

I think if you've read/enjoyed previous books in this series, this will probably fare similarly for you. But unfortunately, I was not the audience for this.

First of all, thank you for the opportunity to read this book in exchange of a honest review.

“You can talk about basketball. It’s not Voldemort.”

I always love Sophie Lark’s books and this one wasn’t different.
This series is amazing and I love so much to read about this mafia families.

In this one, we have Seb and Yelena. Seb is the younger son of Gallo’s brothers - Italian mafia - and Yelena is a Bratva princess - Russian mafia.

So yeah, their families aren’t besties and a lottttttt of things happened between them.
And because of that it is really entertaining to read.

But about the characters… I really liked them, they are so strong and charismatic! I wanted to know so much more about them.
The other characters we already knew from the other books of this series but I love to see them interact with each other.

“That’s what I want to do anyway. But not because my father commands it. Not under his observation, as part of his plan.”

About the plot, I liked it but it felt like it’s missing something.
But either way, it was a great and addictive reading.

For those who want to read it, don’t forget that it’s a dark romance and can contain some triggers as death, guns, mafia, betrayal, etc.

I’ve read the fourth and fifth books now in this series and there’s a lot to like about them.

Sebastian is the youngest mafia son of the Gallo family, finding himself a bit adrift after the family business dealings put an end to his professional basketball career. Yelena is the daughter of Gallo’s sworn enemy (head of the Russian Bratva in Chicago). Yelena is used by her family to win the heart of Sebastian so they can take advantage.

It’s the usual story of business dealings, power struggles, and familial loyalties which make good reading, with the additional layer of romance and a fair bit of violence.

I have to say I loved the Yelena and Sebastian when they met, as it was such a feel-good meeting of kind souls. It lost that pretty quickly once a major plot point happened and there was a change in Sebastian (granted it was probably needed) for the story) but he kind of lost his dimension as a character for me as well (as opposed to seeming a fuller character). I felt the same way about Yelena (who of course was beautifully blond and Amazonian, repeated multiple times throughout). I did want more from this book and got a little ick during a certain dungeon scene (consent issue).

Themes of psychological control, sexual control (questionable consent as mentioned), killing, death of a parent (multiple) are present throughout.

And the epilogue skips 18 years - which translated suggests to get ready for the next Gen!

Can’t wait.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to the digital copy of this book.

★ ★ .5 | 🌶🌶.5

18+ check TWs

Note: I try my hardest to not include spoilers in my reviews. However, spoilers and how you define a spoiler is subjective. Proceed with caution.

*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.*

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Oh goodness, where to start?

I’ve definitely had mixed opinions on this series as a whole. Overall, they’re quick reads but I feel like as the series progressed, the books quality varied.

I was so excited for Sebastian’s story. There was some build up considering the way his life was altered in the first book, and I expected some great character development. But man, I was kind of disappointed.

This was definitely my least favorite of the entire series (though I will probably buy the physically copy to finish my collection—I can’t help myself).

The characters just seemed so different from previous books, and not in a character development way-- in an inconsistent way. This is specifically directed at Dante and Nero, the former more so than the latter. They went from strong and take no shit, to completely different. The only ones that had a positive character arc were Aida and Callum.

Also, the characters just felt so separate from each other. I was hoping for an ending with a bunch of found family/combined family elements. But, after the events of each characters book, it was like they were done with the family.;

This book was trying to be too much for its length. There was not enough chemistry between Sebastian and Yelena because of their insta love. The plot then completely took over but also wasn’t developed enough to feel well done. It was like the beginning and the end were two different books.

I had so much hope for this and I’m so sad I didn’t love this one. I’m still debating whether or not Sophie Lark’s writing is for me. I will most likely read the first book in the spin off series, though, to at least give it a try.

Previous Ratings:

Brutal Prince— 4 Stars
Stolen Heir— 4 Stars
Savage Lover— 3.5 Stars
Bloody Heart— 3 Stars
Broken Vow— 4 Stars

Heavy Crown by Sofie Lark is the last book in the series of mafia romances. It has some dark themes heavy on the violence with romance in between.

Yelena and Sebastian both have their issues growing up is gangster families. Yelena has it worse as her father is the villain in this story. Yelena under her father's orders pretends to be kidnapped in order to get Sebastian attention. She doesn't know the reason and falls in love with him anyway.
The story is face paced and the characters are enjoyable. I also enjoyed the illustrations through out the book.
If you like Mafia Romance novels the you will enjoy this. I was not a huge fan but enjoy shaking up what genres I read occasionally..
Thank you to net galley for this arc.

Wow...

Ive only read one book by Sophie Lark. There are no saints. And I really enjoyed that one. So when I saw this ARC on Netgalley I screamed and immediately applied. Even if I wouldn't have gotten it I would purchase this book. And I probably still will because damn I already want to reread the book. I really enjoyed it.

I just love the way it's written because I'm sure Sophie put some kind of drug in it. This was somewhere around 400 pages but it definetly didn't feel like it was over 200 pages. I enjoyed every word of it. This is such a good balance between action and romance. I awed at the two main characters because I love them so much together.

Normally I would've hated the 'third act breakup' but because this made so much sense and it worked so well I didn't care at all.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in (dark) romance or action or something of that sort. Even if you are not a fan it sure is worth the try because it is that good. (check trigger warnings tho)

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Heavy Crown, by Sophie Lark, is the sixth, and final book in the Brutal Birthright Series and does not disappoint! This title centers around Sebastian and Yelena, both dealing with their own version of family drama. Even with the family drama in this book, it was nice to see the siblings come together one last time.

My favorite part of Sophie Lark books is that the FMC's are not stick-thin women, they come in all shapes and sizes, and that there was no OM/OW drama! I am looking forward to adding the next gen Kingmaker's series to my TBR.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title!

I absolutely adore the series and I love that this gives a great ending. I really enjoy the fact. This is getting more traditionally published, which means we’re getting more access to these types of stories. Not to mention that the books look really great on the shelf. Sophie is the queen of spice.

It had been some time since I had read the other books in the series so I was not as familiar with what was going on in the other storylines.

I devoted this book so quickly, just like all the other books. I typically am not that into the politics of the mafia in books, but in this book I didn't mind it at all. There was wonderful chemistry between Sebastian and Yelena and just the right amount of spice.