The final book in the series! So sad to see it end, but excited for the next series that follows the children of the Brutal Birthright series!

Seb and Yelena’s story was heartbreaking- I absolutely hated her father. Overall though I loved how things turned out! This book has beautiful artwork throughout that gives you a visual of the characters and I love that!

Thank you to Bloom Books, NetGalley and Sophie Lark for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Yelena and Sebastian met instantly and it was a quick and fast attraction, but secrets may tear these two apart.

Sebastian fell hard and fast for Yelena. After losing so much he felt he finally found something that not only brought him to life but put it into perspective. He wouldn’t be deterred but when truths are revealed and things blow up in his face the quiet broody man turns into a man with a mission.

Yelena has always tried to do what her father needs, trying to make him happy but has never made a single choice for herself! When Sebastian comes into her life she finally finds a freedom she never had. But the truths she holds might tear it away and she has to fight to save the man she loved and hold onto the love she never knew existed!

Thanks to NetGalley, Sophie Lark, and Source Books Bloom Books for allowing me to review this ARC!

Sebastian Gallo is son of an Italian mafia boss in Chicago, Yelena is the daughter of a Russia boss. When Yelena's father orchestrates them to meet to seek revenge on the Gallo family, Yelena reluctantly goes along with it to appease her him but she will inevitably fall for Sabastian. Her father wants to control the relationship but Yelena resists since she truly cares for Sabastian regardless of his family ties. A blood pact is drawn up to allow them to marry; however, the wedding brings unexpected chaos and pain. Sebastian struggles with his grief and loyalty as Yelena deals with just wanting him to trust her. When Sabastian seeks revenge it is uncertain whether their marriage will survive it.

I do enjoy Sophie Lark stories, they always have a lot suspense and quite a bit of spice! The main characters had you rooting for them from the beginning, wanting so badly for them to live their happily ever after. If you like mafia stories with dominant male main characters fighting for love then this is for you! Would definitely recommend!

Yelena is the only daughter of the most vicious Bratva boss in Chicago. The Bradva hates Sebastian's family. They burned his uncle alive. But once he saved her, he had to make her his.
This forbidden, dark mafia, spicy romance is the sixth and last book in the Brutal Birthright series. And I think it was my least favorite. I did not like the fact that all of the characters from the previous books seem to have changed so much, they didn't even feel like they were the same characters. I did not like Yelena, not only because of the fact that she was super soft and gave mostly a "victim" vibe (I would've loved to see a badass bitch), but because of what she did. I hated the secrecy and the betrayal. And I am also not a fan of what Sebastian of her for him to give her his forgiveness. For me, that went a little too far. I would've liked to see a grown-up conversation, you know? All of the action and the mafia side of the book was great but the romance? I didn't care about it at all.
I received an advance review copy of this book for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This series is a ride. Each book is so individual to the characters and their part of the story that preferences are easy to find. I don't know that this is one of my favorites, but watching Sebastian find love and find his role in the family was rewarding at times. His story is HARD and challenging in ways that other books aren't. It's a battle from start to finish. But the wrap up and conclusion to each character's role in the overall story was nice to see come together...and the hints to what could come next....

4.5⭐, 3🌶️

Book 6, and the finale of the Brutal Birthright Series, we get SEB AND YELENA! 

Okay, so Seb and Yelena were one of my top two couples I think (Nero and Camille are their tie) - I loved getting a tall baddie, that has no filter, and is just as quality as Aida. I loved the added drama with the Russian ‘deployed spy’ plot that Yelena was originally on, that Set just charmed his way out of unknowingly. The wedding gave me major G.O.T. Red Wedding anxiety which made it so dramatic. And how the book ends and leads into the Kingmaker series was just chefs kiss. Amazing book, ugh I loved this series! (So ashamed of how long it took me to read it, but oh well).

Brief Plot: Yelena is on a mission to infiltrate the Gallo family by ‘seducing’ Sebastian. But through a couple dates, she is limping over him (like we all have for the past five books). But her revenge driven father has plans up his sleeve to keep the couple separated and the families at war. After an attack, Sebastian is mourning loss of Gallo members, as well as trying to figure out if he can ever actually trust his Valkyrie love match.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Bloom Books for an eARC of Heavy Crown by Sophie Lark! This is my unpaid and honest review!

Finally an ending to the brutal birthright series! Yet again, this series went out with a bang. I love that each book was different, yet all of them still have that interconnection. This last book is about Sebastian. I knew he would have a golf story, especially after seeing bits of pieces of him and how he started to get darker in the books leading up to his. Yelena Was sweet, but as a reader we could definitely see where this story was going to end up with her and her father. While they weren’t my favorite couple out of the 6, this book is true to Sophie writing, and it was an excellent story. I can’t wait to start the kingmakers next!

We get Sebastian and Yelenda's story a mafia story with everything you love from Sophie Lark characters and stories, full of passion and emotions. A bit rushed for my liking but it was entertaining, the audiobook was a great way to get this story, narrated by Michael Gallagher and Kat Auden, I think they worked well together, I really like how they both narrate and the pacing they did for this book.

I loved this book, the development of the book is okay, I loved the ending! Sebastian and Yelena’s love developed a little bit too quickly for my liking but loved their story nevertheless, a great ending to a series!

Heavy crown is a sad and heartbreaking ending to this series, but also does a great job at pushing the characters into the men and women they were meant to be during one last battle. It was fun seeing all the characters back again, and even though the circumstances weren’t the best, overall you could see the love between the families.

On the other hand, the relationship felt a little rushed for my tastes. I’ve been waiting for Sebastian’s story for a while and I wished it would have been flushed out a little more. Overall, though I’m happy I read this series!

This was my second Sophie lark book and I enjoyed it immensely. The writing was beautiful and I was hooked from the start.

Gorgeous conclusion to the Brutal Birthright series. Loved finally getting Seb’s story. This was heartbreaking, beautiful, and full of passion.

Heavy Crown was a spectacular finale to the Brutal Birthright series. Seeing characters from previous books come back, while others had their stories wrapped up. It was a fantastic culmination of all the storylines, while simultaneously opening new ones for the Kingmaker series. While you can read most of this series out of order, I highly recommend saving this one for last. Its impacts are most powerful when it is read as the finale.

I was always curious how the Kingmaker series would be set up, to make it a logical next phase of this world that was set up in Brutal Birthright. The end of Heavy Crown certainly starts to set up the next series, and in a way that it seems like a natural progression. The Heir is on my TBR for January 2024!

I find it extremely fitting that my 200th book of 2023 is also my 50th review on NetGalley and also the final book of the Brutal Birthright series. I first read Sophie Lark's work through NetGalley and will continue to read through her backlog, she is a new favorite author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for a free digital advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was a bit rough! This was my first Sophie Lark book and so it's to be said I haven't read any of the other books in this series so take my review with that in mind. I'm coming in blind!

I found the premise of Heavy Crown to be pretty interesting. I love a good mafia book every now and then if they don't get too too dark. I wouldn't say Heavy Crown was darker than any other mafia book I've read. Lots of killing and mentions of drug rings, prostitution, illegal gambling businesses, etc.

The characters were a bit dull. I liked Sebastian in the beginning. I thought he was very sweet if a bit naive. When things go down and he gets his revenge I thought he was not being super smart just flying by the seat of his pants. Yelena is described as being a fierce fighter but this couldn't be further from the truth. I felt bad for her but she was continuously under her father's thumb, and always obeyed him and when things went south with Sebastian it was like she traded her submissiveness to him. That basement scene was basically emotional manipulation, it was so toxic. Their other sex scenes felt stilted and not much chemistry was flowing.

I did like the relationship between Sebastian and Miko, they seem like they could really cause some ruckus together and their wives becoming friends too was cute. Like I said this is the only book of the series I've read but from my standpoint this family isn't that strong. It felt like all the siblings were separating and not really rallying around one another. It makes it seem like this so called powerful mafia family was kind of weak. Just kind of off putting for what's to be the end of this series.

Overall I liked the promise of what this book was supposed to be but it just didn't meet my expectations. I would give the author another chance and maybe start at the beginning of one of her other series and see how that goes. Thanks so much to Bloom Books for providing me with an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Bloom Books and Netgalley.

I love this book and hate it. To start off I love how this is a conclusion to this world. A conclusion to these characters that we have been following. However, I feel like the reason I hate it. Is mainly because Sebastian has gone on this whole journey and in the end he became what he tried to avoid. Which just broke me.

(3.25★)

 “𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐘𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐚.”

Dark romance Heavy Crown by Sophie Lark centers on mafioso Sebastian Gallo and pianist Yelena Yenina.

I was hooked from the start of this book, especially after finishing chapter two. I had to search up spoilers because, of course, I could not take Sophie’s teasing and was bracing myself for the worst. Honestly, Sophie's writing style and overall plot was such a mndfuck.

So much happened in this book. In one chapter, Sebastian was so hot and protective that I couldn't help but fall even more in love with him. But I would despise Yelena's family by the next chapter.

However, given everything that transpired, I had anticipated Yelena to do more groveling. I simply felt that she didn't do enough for Sebastian's forgiveness, and that Sebastian was being stupid by forgiving her immediately.

Despite not being as fond of this book as I was of the previous two, I still found it to be far more enjoyable to read about Sebastian and Yelena because they were such compelling characters.

*Thank you to NetGalley, Bloom Books, and to the author, Sophie Lark, for providing me with this copy in exchange for an honest review.*

5/5 ⭐
2/5 🌶️
5/5 🎧

This was such a fantastic finale to great series. I loved Sebastian and Yelena so much, they're story was dark and heartbreaking, but the way they came together and rose above it all was so good. I loved how strong Yelena was despite her father treating her like little more than dirt on his shoe with a hymen to trade away... Sebastian went through so much and was still always so optimistic and happy, I adored him and the way he loved Yelena so much.

The audio was great. I absolutely loved Michael Gallagher and Kat Auden was fantastic. Kat's accent was great, I didn't have to slow it down to process her narration, but her accent was still thick and believable.

The epilogue sets up the next series, The Kingmakers, and I'm so excited to reread that series as well. The second gen is one of my favorites.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a great book and Sophia Lark is becoming a favorite author of mine! She writes such wonderful characters.

“I wish life were always easy,” I say. Sebastian kisses me again. “If it were, then it wouldn’t be our life.”

Okay so, this was a fast paced and interesting read. The writing as usual was very engaging and the side characters were solid. But I did not really feel the connection between Sebastian & Yelena until after the 50% mark. The insta-love was what ruined the first half for me, ngl. One second, Sebastian is rescuing Yelena and the next, there's talks about their marriage after they've confessed their love, which was pretty unrealistic. But the second half, where the betrayal was discovered, was good and served some angst. Other than that, the plot was pretty predictable and basic. Overall, it was an enjoyable read but nothing extraordinary tbh.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me this ARC in exchange of an honest review

Heavy Crown is the sixth and final book of the Brutal Birthright series and is Sebastian’s story. What a great ending to an epic series! Sophie has knocked it out of the ballpark again! I have loved Sebastian since the first book and my heart was broken for him in that book. I couldn’t wait for his story and it did not disappoint! I freaking love Sebastian and Yelena! Their love for me another was absolutely beautiful. Sebastian might be the youngest but he is the strongest and in my opinion had the most character growth out of any of the characters in this series. This book hit me in all my feeling and even had me crying! I love when a book is so emotional that I feel such a connection with the characters. It’s the best feeling and the ending of this series could have been any better!