I really enjoyed this book! The twists and turns it took were fast paced enough that I never felt bored.
I do kind of feel like this wasn't the best ending to the series, but beggars can't be chooses.
The banter was good, the spice was on point and everything I'd expect from a Sophie Lark book.

I would be interested in a second generation story is they ever wrote one.

what a way to end the brutal birthright series!!! this book quite literally had me on the edge of my seat and i wouldn’t have it any other way! sets up her next gen series perfectly too!

📖 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙮 𝘾𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙗𝙮 𝙎𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙚 𝙇𝙖𝙧𝙠

“𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘪𝘳.“

Sebastian Gallo had a bright future ahead of him. He dreamed of going to the NBA, and he had the talent to get there. Unfortunately, his future was shattered when his knee is shattered during a fight with the Irish mafia. That was years ago, now there is peace between the two families but he is still lost. He becomes more involved in his families dark dealings because his siblings have all found their own happiness.

When he saves a woman from being kidnapped, he can’t help but feel drawn to her. Turns out she’s the only daughter of the Russian bratva, Yelena, and any relationship between them won’t come easy.

As the last book in the Brutal Birthright series I have anxiously awaited Sebastian’s story. We got glimpses of his fall into darkness throughout the series and it finally comes full circle.

This was a really good book, I just expected more appearances from all of the other characters we have come to love from previous books. When it came down to the climax of the story, I felt like Sebastian basically stood alone. That being said, I enjoyed the series as a whole. This story sets up the next related series called Kingmakers, a second generation spinoff.

🥵 There was an unhinged spicy scene in this book! Beware the triggers.

Tropes:
👑 Mafia Princess x Mafia Prince
🩶 Dark Mafia Romance
🥵 Spicy Romance

💞 The new cover redesign are great! Thank you NetGalley and Bloom Books for my free copy of this last book so I could share my honest review!

Heavy Crown is the final book in the Brutal Birthright series about Sebastian Gallo. Unfortunately the love story between Sebastian and Yelena felt kind of insta-lovey. While I didn't quite like Sebastian, I loved Yelena: She is such a strong and powerful character! It was a good story and a nice conclusion to the series but not my favorite book in the series. The epilogue gave a nice introduction to the spin-off series - Kingmakers. I am excited to start reading that as well.

NetGalley provided this arc and these are my own thoughts and opinions. I really enjoyed this book. However it was the last book in a series I haven’t read yet. I always love Sophia Larks writing. This book had a little mermaid ( but dad I love him!) and Romeo and Juliet ( feuding family) vibes. If you like Mafia romance then you will like this book.

Thank you, Netgalley, and the publishers for the advanced copy.

Ok, so I was totally the wrong person to read this. I haven't read any of the other novels, but I thought this was a stand alone so, why not 🤷‍♀️

I'll say, it is stand-alone enough that you can pick up what's happening, but I'm mad because I now have to go read 5 other books because I'm hooked.

I loved this. The characters had enough growth in just this book alone to make it interesting, and the storyline was wild. The ending did feel a bit rushed but was still satisfying.

If you're a fan of Katee Robert's "O'Malleys" series, you'll love this too!

What an ending to this series! Sebestian and Yelena's story started off feeling a little like Romeo and Juliet. I had a few predictions for where this book might go, but Ms. Lark completely blew me away with where she took everything. The tension had my heart in my throat. I was on the edge of my seat. I can't believe that she was able to keep the intensity at that level for so long.

The characters from the pervious books all had their moments without detracting from the Sebestian and Yelena, which I appreciated. Sebestian's journey was explosive (literally). And the little connection between Yelena and Adia was just perfect.

This book is good for fans of mafia romance with a little bit of spice. It is well written and has both romance and plot. Although I enjoyed this book, I felt that it was pretty average in comparison to other books in the genre; While it wasn't a bad book by any means, there also wasn't anything that made this book really stand out for me. Yelena and Sebastian communicated so poorly, but worked so well.

4.75 stars

Wow, this was somehow both hilarious and thrilling!

Sebastian is walking home at night and intervenes in an attempted abduction. He and Yelena (the girl he saved) hit it off, but it turns out her father hates Sebastian’s family because of an old grudge.

There’s a date auction, explosions, a wedding, and a showdown on a roof. Yelena is such a badass, strong leading character. I love how this series wrapped up.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for granting me a digital copy!

I’m not sure what to think of this book, truthfully. Sebastian had been the brother with the best characterization in everyone else’s books, but then he kind of went down in his own book.

The start was pretty enjoyable. I liked Yelena, too, I think there was way too much going on, it got a bit overwhelming. I think the whole scene with Sebastian locking Yelena up in a dungeon was way too much, and it’s the one I have most conflicting thoughts over. I like a good kidnapping trope—but I just don’t know about this one.

I do think it was good, but it wasn’t great.

The author promised twists and turns with this final series installment, and that's what she did. It was fast paced, and people should be prepared for that going in. It's not the best of the series but it does a pretty good job as the last book.

Heavy Crown" by Sophie Lark concludes the Brutal Birthright mafia series with a gripping tale of love and danger. Sebastian, a former basketball player, finds unexpected romance with Yelena, daughter of a ruthless bratva boss. The story weaves a captivating narrative, blending action and emotion seamlessly. Lark's skillful storytelling introduces twists, including a blood contract and a memorable wedding scene, keeping readers hooked until the final page. The book's beautiful artwork adds visual depth to the characters, making it a satisfying and intense finale for fans of Lark's engaging series.

I’m a big fan of the series and I can agree with other readers that I do not think this was my favorite installment and was not the best conclusion to the series ever, however, I still greatly enjoyed it and hope to read more work by this author in the future.

Heavy Crown is the 6th and final book in Sophie Lark’s Brutal Birthright mafia series. I had such a great time with this whole series!

I loved how the story starts and we see Sebastian with his siblings! I just love the Garro family and seeing him together with Aida, Dante, and Nero was so much fun. Sebastian played basketball in college and after an incident in book 1 left him with a crushed knee, he hasn’t felt the same since. While out one night he sees Yelena almost getting shoved into a car and steps in to help her, they end up spending the night together and hit it off. Yelena is 25 and the only daughter of the most vicious bratva boss in Chicago. Once we hop into Yelena’s POV, we learn that her father wants to use Yelena to get to the Italian mafia family that he hates and that’s why he pushed her towards Sebastian.

I enjoyed seeing Sebastian and Yelena together, seeing them date and start to genuinely fall for one another while adventuring around Chicago together. The whole time you are just waiting for the other shoe to drop because you know he’s going to find out her father is using her to get closer to the Gallo family. So much starts happening in the book that I wasn’t expecting. We see a blood contract, her relationship with her twin brother, revenge, the wedding scene omg! 😱 I loved the epilogue and huge time jump, what a great setup for the Kingmaker’s series!

Sebastian saves a woman from being shoved into the trunk of a car only to find out that she is the daughter of the new Bravta boss in Chicago. These two families absolutely hate each other but hate won’t keep these two apart. Sebastian wants Yelena to be his and he will do whatever it takes even making a deal with the devil himself. However, unlike every other marriage in his family between two different mafia families, this one won’t be as smooth as the others.

This book broke my heart and then put it back together. Daddy Gallo absolutely destroyed me. I loved him even though he was a don and I couldn’t stand what happened to him. This couple is so cute but her family is a bunch of dirt bags and I hate them so much. I loved getting to catch up with all the previous couples and I wasn’t ready for this series to end but it did make me want to start the Kingmakers series ASAP. My heart doesn’t feel ready to give up on this world and I’m glad there is another way for me to stay immersed in it. I would highly recommend this series. It was perfection.

A Masterpiece!
Sophie Lark has reached the stars! If there was ever a perfect novel, Heavy Crown: A Dark Mafia Romance, is it! Its edgy, seductive, emotional, frightening, gut-wrenching, sad, funny, joyous, poignant, smart, sophisticated yet down-to-earth, and on and on and on!!! Ms. Lark's writing has been honed to the point that she has crafted a DaVinci, a Degas, a Beethoven, a Mozart, a Debussy! Whatever formula she has devised to write her novels, has worked to perfection in Heavy Crown!
The story immediately captured my attention starting with the 6'7" Sebastian, kind of a cross between my boyfriend Dante (his brother) and gorgeous Nero (his other brother), as he reshapes his life in the aftermath of the event three years earlier that altered his world the shattering of his kneecap ended his chance to become an NBA pro). Sebastian is a hard-working, savvy, and intelligent man who harbors no bitterness.

He is uncertain of how or where exactly he fits into any area of his world (with his family, his former basketball teammates, or his place in the many Gallo enterprises). Sebastian's leadership and aptitude for strategizing and deal making, along with the lessons learned at his father's and brothers' side about handling enemies, managing underlings, and human nature, seamlessly evolve into him replacing his beloved father as head of the Gallo family. Then he meets Yelena, a strong-willed woman of character and fortitude, and she turns his head around! Yelena has violet eyes, white-blonde hair, is tall and strong as a Valkyrie warrior, and ever battle-ready to protect and care for those she loves! Then the reader is hit with one of my favorite elements in her novels, something | call: "the Sophie Lark TWIST" - it is the one factor that makes you do a double or triple take on what has been presented, causing you to have to rethink everything up to this point! In Heavy Crown, the TWIST turns out to be that Sebastian's meeting Yelena is a setup, orchestrated by one of his families' bitterest enemies! Sebastian is headed for a fall, a very big fall, since he has never experienced the way he feels for Yelena ever before in his life.

Of all the novels Ms. Lark has ever written, without a doubt she has taken Heavy Crown to a wonderfully exciting new place. By including elements like auctioning Yelena off to the highest bidder; juxtaposing Sebastian's size/strength and eruption of his closely held anger with his initial sexual tenderness, then physical restraints and ultimate brutality with Yelena; and Sebastian's demand for the absolute capitulation/submission of Yelena to his desires/needs, Ms. Lark brought this reader to her knees! This was beyond powerful to read, it was an actual experience!

This was a good story with characters you will root for. There are a lot of strong characters who are trying to change and be better than their previous generation but things never go as planned. You can’t help but get invested and keep reading until you finish.

Thank you Bloom and Netgalley for this free arc in return for an honest review.

For starters, this is such an easy read. I read this in 3 hours straight. This book was full of action, spice and grit. The only thing about this series i hate is the amount of babies there are. Like everyone has a baby. I feel like one characters death was unecessary really. Apart from that a solid ish ending to this average series

The perfect ending to this incredible series. I absolutely adored Sebastian and Yelena. The twists and turns this plot took had me on the edge of my seat. I love the ‘Brutal Birthright’ series and I’m really sad it’s over. I will definitely be rereading this series in the future. I highly recommend!

Thank you NetGalley and Bloom Books for the arc of this book.

Not badly written but Mafia romances just aren't for me!

Heavy Crown is the last book in an interconnected series by Sophie Lark. It follows Yelena and Sebastian and how their romance unfolds. I've liked a couple other Sophie Lark books but I found myself skimming parts and not really caring for the mafia aspect.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.