3.8 stars, rounded up to 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a great Mafia romance! Mafia romances often follow the same plot and vibe but I felt this was really unique. Kingmarkers is isolated away and only families from different mafia families attend. There are strict rules in place about contact with the outside and how the people in the uni interact with each other. I'm a sucker for a school/college setting so I absolutely loved the fact the uni was isolated away. I thought the plot along side the romance was fab! I would highly recommend!

Sophie Lark you can make me feel all the feels because when I say I absolutely hate Dean I hated him (I won't tell you why you'll need to read to find out) Very good writing though to make him so dislikable and make me so angry!.

I absolutely loved my baby boy Leo, I was absolutely obsessed with him from the start and I loved his relationship with Anna and the way they interacted with each other. I was so annoyed when Dean sabotaged them at the party and was screaming at them both to communicate.

The romance in this book was written really well and I really liked the friends to lovers of Anna and Leo..

I'm excited to read the rest of the series!

First of all, we know I love mafia so this book(series)is right up my alleyway and around the corner because I’m addicted. The childhood - friends - to - lovers trope was so a vibe with book. I love how Leo was so protective over Anna(even though he rubbed me wrong sometimes), this book was just the start to my obsession with this series.

oh sophie lark you cheeky rascal. i do believe i have finally found the book that will give me a run for my money! i thoroughly enjoyed this and read it in one solid sitting, the writing is that addicting i fear and the story was very captivating compared to her other series, highly recommend!

2.5 rounded up to 3.

Leo Gallo (the son of Sebastian & Yelena from Sophie's Brutal Birthright series) is all grown up and off to college. Only the college isn't really a college, it's Kingmakers Academy where children from mafia families the world over come to hone their skills. And Leo isn't alone. He's attending with Anna (daughter of Mikolaj & Nessa) and Dean (his estranged cousin).

Read if you like:
-Childhood Friends to Lovers
-Love Triangles
-Forbidden Romance
-High Stakes
-Revenge

CW/TW:
-Dubious Consent/NonCon

This wasn't a bad book, but it was overly ambitious. It had to set up the series and provide a romance arc. Unfortunately, it only delivered on the former. The love triangle didn't really have a chance to develop any tension and it felt rushed. I plan to continue on with the series, but wasn't overly impresses with book one.

This was extremely cringe to me. Everything was dramatic to the point of annoyance and I didn't like the main characters. I don't want to get too negative so I'm not going to add anything else.

I was really excited about this book because of its intriguing concept and the "Hogwarts" vibes but for mafia children.

That part was so fun and incredibly enjoyable. However, the romance fell flat for me, which was surprising since I usually love friends-to-lovers stories. I just didn't feel any chemistry between the main characters, and the romance happened too late in the book in my opinion.

We spent so much time on Dean, and I didn't see the point of his POV when we’re getting his book later in the series. It felt like a missed opportunity to develop the main romance more.

Overall, I'm sad this book was kind of a letdown. I think my expectations were just too high. Still, I'm super excited for the rest of the series and can't wait to see what happens next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Dark academia, mafia, friends to lovers filled with angst. Brand new prologue scene with the whole family. Updated stunning art with almost each chapter and added family trees (which are super helpful). The new cover is beautiful and fits the vibe of the book better. Sophie’s stories win every time and break my reading slumps

Thank you to NetGalley and Sophie Lark for the e-arc. All reviews are my own, and are being left voluntarily.

This is a dark, mafia romance set in an academia setting. Loved the artwork included in this, and enjoyed rereading this!

I loved the setting of this book!

At Kingmakers, the kids of the world's scariest families learn how to rule the underworld.

Leo, who’s always had Anna’s back, as a family friend, follows her into this wild place.

Dean, a heir with an ice-cold vendetta, is out to destroy Leo and steal everything he loves.

I absolutely adored the characters and their tight-knit relationships—they really felt like a family.

The ending was so satisfying! She definitely ended up with who she needed to, I was here for it!

The illustrations were such a fun surprise—they were so pretty!

Overall, I’d recommend this to anyone who loves a good mix of drama, romance, and a danger.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Bloom Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dark academia: I don’t read many in this genre so I can’t speak to it as a whole, but well written and connected story on all the children of the mafia going away to college, and rather than taking your normal classes, they take classes focused on their strengths or if they’re an heir. Some good dark Harry Potter vibes.

Lark gives us a potential love triangle from the start. Will we get best friends to lovers or a bit of an enemies to lovers/forbidden romance?

We meet heirs and offspring of the mafia families from Lark’s series Brutal Birthright. The two heirs this book focuses on from these Chicago families are Leo and Anna. Joined at the hip, cousins by association and not by blood.
When they ship off to the mafia run college of Kingmakers, Leo and Anna continue to dance around their feelings. Leo feels like he owns Anna and there’s nothing he could do to lose her - except her finding him in a compromising position with another female student.
This primes family rival and fellow Heir Dean to finally have a shot with Anna.
The story of Anna/Dean/Leo weaves well into the plot of competition amongst the freshman/sophomores/juniors/seniors.

Lark delivers on the spice, and there is a surprising amount of character growth and friendships. Really enjoyed this one - and I’m not normally a fan of dark romance/mafia romance!

Thank you NetGalley and Bloom Books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

Great mafia dark romance that I would describe as new adult. I wasn't a fan of the illustrations of this version, but I have liked the ones in some of her other books. This is a rerelease of The Heir and is highly praised. Quick read!

I love the Brutal Birthright series and this is now starting to be another favorite series by Lark! It was like Mafia meets Hogwarts!!!! I am already hooked and completely obsessed. I need the upcoming books asap!

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

I usually don't like love triangles, but this book had a really compelling one - I was rooting for both pairs at the beginning (with a slight preference for Leo and Anna ofc), but it became so clear over the course of the book that Leo and Anna are the perfect pair and Dean and Anna don't work together, especially given all the dubious consent between them and the way Dean was ultra aggressive. I'm not really sure how Dean is going to be redeemed for his book (he has one right? Or is he a villain?) or if I would even forgive him for the shit he pulled in this book.

Leo and Anna are everything I ever wanted in a slow-burn, childhood bffs to lovers book 😭 the part of the book where they get together was >>>>>

Also also, the scuba diving scenes? Friendship + love at its finest 😭

The book has many triggering scenes though, and I was able to get through them only because Sophie Lark provided the TWs at the start - I'm super grateful for that.

TWs - violence, other man/woman drama, nonconsensual drug use, dubious consent, attempted murder

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

I am absolutely in love with this book! The story is very unique and I could not put it down. The writing was very well done!

3.5 Fainting Goat Stars ⭐️
Spicy Level: 🌶️.5/5

This is the type of book I would recommend to somebody who is slowly putting their toes into the stormy ocean of what "dark romance" is. It will give you slight elements of dark, with the whole "organised crime and powerful men" thing, but you're still dealing with basically very new adults and so they're not taking it as far as it could go. I think only 1 person gets murdered... in like the first chapter

Basically with very little finagling, this could lean either way to not being dark at all or completely dark. SOOOOO if you are looking for something that is going to give you darkish vibes and be a litmus test to see if you would like to read more dark romance... this would be perfect.

IF.... you are somebody who is a hardcore dark romance reader and you fall for that EXTREME villain that is darker the better, this is going to be disappointing. It's not going to hit that mark or scratch that itch. So for me (cause I love them dark), I felt that it was lacking, but then I also don't think this was meant to scratch my DARK ROMANCE itch...

This is a triple POV following Anna, Leo and Dean. All three are about to start at a prestigious university called Kingmakers as Heirs. Kingmakers is Hogwarts without the magic and a neutral ground where all the criminal families - Mafia/Brava/**Insert ANY OTHER ORG here** send their kids to learn how to be criminal masterminds. Anna and Leo are practically family (even though they are not technically related in their weird family tree) - they have been raised as "cousins". But something between them has changed and the two start to develop feelings for each other. Dean, who is Leo's ACTUAL cousin wants to kill him because Leo's dad messed with his dad and maimed him... So he tries to do the only thing that will truly hurt Leo... making Anna his.

Anna, Leo and Dean are very disconnected and disjointed and almost fall into stereotypes of what you would think their characters should be. The benefit of this was that you could very quickly tell apart the different POVs based on the style, tone and internal monologue (which is a plus because books annoy me when this is a problem).

Anna just felt like a prissy princess who acted and spoke almost like a 16-year-old child. She's pretty much had everything handed to her on a silver platter and so comes across as spoiled, even though she is trying so hard not to be preserved as spoilt. Her tone just read very naive and innocent with no true idea of what being the Heir to a Criminal Organisation is going to be. She jumps to conclusions very much to the point that it's annoying and irritating and her "Not like the other girls" mentality is frustrating. I know she's a goth princess who likes to wear grunge clothing and be all badass but it felt fake and I don't see what the guys found so amazing in her all the time. Kudos to her as she DOES grow and learn a lot about her personality and mature so I didn't hate her too much - it just only happened very late towards the end, so for a long while we had to deal with her being....

Leo read like an arrogant arsehole, from the very first chapter of him I was rolling my eyes at how arrogant his mind was and how much he thought of himself. His ego was GINORMOUS and very much the typical "Jock" where his whole personality is he's cocky, big, and good at sport. It made him almost pathetic and since I don't like Jock's didn't vibe with him AT ALL. Though again - Kudos to this man too cause he too realised what an ass and arrogant dickwad he was and changed - being far more humble and able to play nice with others at the end.

The BEST character was DEAN - and he is meant to be the worst! (Blame my dark romance little heart) - He was broody, he was alpha, and he was very very skilled with his fists and his knife. He wasn't afraid of blood and staring danger in the eye. I loved his cockiness and arrogance because his arrogance didn't feel like it stemmed from a childish reason, but rather that he's lived through something dark and if he wasn't arrogant and a dick - he would not have survived.

The vibes of Kingmakers was EPIC. Giving perfect dark academia vibes (which was not something that I was expecting going into this book). I know I would kill to have gone to a university like this, living in a tower and taking fighting lessons, learning how to murder and poison someone and excel at tax evasion. It sounds like a dream college and while it was a little bit far-fetched obviously and bordering on fantasy it painted a compelling world. It was super evident that Sophie Lark conducted a lot of research into the different types of Mafia families and their hierarchy and history. It made this world seem plausible and believable.

Some more aspects that niggled me...
1. As much as the vibes of the College were there, I actually wanted to see a little more of the content that they were studying - this was kept vague and almost diluted - implying they had learnt it, but besides showing a few practical classes wasn't touched on much.

2. The miscommunication and assumptions were a little annoying, making the relationship between Anna and Leo draw out, becoming unnecessarily angsty and drama-laden. - This ISNT too bad cause there is a reason people love drama shows on the CW...

3. I wanted her to choose Dean - Friends to lovers is not one of my favourite tropes and I just like a bad boy - which Dean gave me ALLL the tingles...

The Tropes:
▶ College/University Romance
▶ Love Triangle
▶ Childhood Best Friends to Lovers
▶ Mafia/Organised Crime Romance
▶ Alphamale

BUT OVERALL I stayed for the other drama - I stayed to see what Dean would do next and I stayed for the vibes. It was an enjoyable time that I didn't mind - and if I separate the wanting more dark from it- it was kinda cute how Leo and Anna were together and their little romance... AND I WILL CONTINUE... Just because I wanna see who Dean ends up with eventually!

Thank you to Sophie Lark, Source Bloom Books and Netgalley for my gifted copy!
All thoughts and opinions are my own.

“Power is not only in what we do, but in what we don’t do,” Anna says calmly.

I recently discovered I am a fan of dark academia, and this book delivered the perfect brooding, tense energy I was hoping for. The story line was laid out well and the dynamics between our characters was electric. The setting felt like a Hogwarts full of mafia children who had rivalries with each other. I really appreciated the character perspectives (I usually read books with one perspective, so this was pleasantly surprising for me), and the contrast between each character. They each had their own strengths, flaws, and quirks, which made it so much easier to personify each of them. I didn't feel like any of them were 2D or fell flat. Sophie really created these palpable traits that most of us can relate to in one way or another.

I have only recently started getting into romance and "spicy" books, and this book didn't overdo it, I feel. Hey! If you love the smutty stuff, all the power to ya, it just isn't my thing. The spicy scenes weren't over the top (shed scene at the end was a bit weird?? but maybe that's just me??) and they didn't drag on for 5 pages, potentially taking away from the storyline. I felt like Kingmakers had the right amount of spice, tension, romance, action, slight comedic relief, as well as wrapped everything up in a neat bow at the end.

I will definitely be reading more of Sophie's books! Thank you to NetGalley for this one, I can't wait to read more.

Anna and Leo….swoon central but also OMG! This world is darker and more depraved than their parents. Oh goodness a school where the children of the most ruthless attend has got to be a bad idea but also we wouldn’t have this gem of a book and the ones to follow so I AM HERE FOR IT ALL!!!

This book was addicting and very hot! It’s hard to start a new series and lay the ground work but I think this book does it in a fantastic way and I can’t wait to see what shenanigans lie ahead!!

I loved Anna’s gentle soul but the fact she could be ruthless if needed. Her and Leo compliment each other perfectly and together I feel will be a powerhouse!

This one didn't quite hit the mark for me. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Sophie Lark books and I think that maybe it's time I just gave up with them because I feel like I'm really struggling to connect with her characters and storylines.

It is a shame that I waited so long to read this series because it is totally engrossing and well done. I find, as an older reader, that I often don't do well with college-age characters, but there is an exception to every rule, and this is one of them. Great prose, wonderful pacing, and the art included in this version is stunning. 💖

🔥ARC Review 🔥

Kingmakers: Year One by Sophie Lark
Release Date: August 20, 2024

Pages: 432
Format: 📱

Kingmakers
💙 Kingmakers: Year One

⚠️Content Warning⚠️
Please check content warnings BEFORE reading.

What to Expect:
🖤Academia
🖤Attempted Mûrder
🖤Boarding School
🖤Bully Romance
🖤Childhood Friends
🖤College Romance
🖤Contemporary Romance
🖤Crime
🖤Dark Romance
🖤Dub Con
🖤Enemies to Lovers
🖤Forbidden Romance
🖤Friends to Lovers
🖤Love Triangle
🖤Mafia Romance
🖤Multi POV
🖤New Adult Romance
🖤Noncônsensual Drûg Use
🖤Other Man Drama
🖤Secret Tattoo
🖤Slow Burn
🖤Suspense
🖤Virgin FMC
🖤Virgin MMC

🎵Playlist 🎵: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7uMlYlVMrueTL5xxApDIcb

Book Description:
Leo Gallo (son of Sebastian & Yelena)

Mafia families from around the world send their children to Kingmakers Academy to learn the skills of criminal enterprise.

Under the rules of Sanctuary, students are forbidden to fight or kill. But rivalries are high, tensions inflamed, and forbidden love arises in the most unlikely places…

Welcome to Kingmakers

Quote:
“You will have everything you want in this world, Anna,” he says. “I knew it from when I first held you in my arms. I knew you would take it all, and hold it tight.”

Ratings:
FMC: ⭐⭐⭐.5
MMCs: ⭐⭐⭐.25
Plot: ⭐⭐⭐.5
Spice: 🌶️
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐.5

BWBH Review:
The Kingmakers takes us “back” to the Brutal Birthright series. We meet Leo, the son of Sebastian and Yelena, and his close friend Anna - both attending Kingmakers for college this year.

Anna and Leo are inseparable - they have been for as long as they remember. But as they get older, they start to realize feelings for one another that weren’t initially there. Do they act on it before they go to Kingmakers? Of course not.

From the beginning, you can tell Leo and Anna are end game, but we get gratuitous love triangle throws in which feels forced. I actually wanted to see Anna show some interest in Dean, another student at Kingmakers, but instead, she always kept him at arm's length citing Leo as the reason. Dean is by no means a “good guy”, but he is treated as an afterthought and a way to make Leo jealous.

I saw several reviews that refer to the story as “Mafia Hogwarts”, but the similarities begin and end with it being a boarding school.

Kingmakers: Year One is perfect for readers who enjoy fierce competition, a slow burn love story, and other man drama.

Thank you to Sophie Lark and NetGalley for the ARC.