I don't think I've ever read a cowboy romance that was more on the dark side. Everything I've read has been more on the lighter side. The author said this was a Yellowstone meets 50 Shades but I'd say it was Yellowstone meet dark romance because 50 Shades had nothing on this. I saw nothing 50 Shades related in this apart from their contract but even nothing.

Gerard Sovereign becomes completely obsessed with his enemies' wife, Keira Garrison. She, herself, has found herself with an attraction to him from the moment their eyes met. Gerard makes it his life's mission to have her at any means possible. I'm not even joking the very next day, her husband Clint becomes a stampede kill (haha get it? road kill, stampede kill? lol, anyway...).

With the death of her husband, Keira meets her own challenges -- her late husband's brothers who are trying to steal what her husband left her. Everything. Gerard steps in to help her when things go awry on her land in order to keep her safe and to keep her.

✨️𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬+𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔✨️
- abusive/toxic ex, age gap, bdsm, cowboy romance, dark and broody mmc, dark romance, impact play, small town, widowed fmc
- he gets a reversal for her

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this audio
ARC. This book was fantastic if you love dark romance and books with trigger warning! It is extremely spicy and I couldn't stop reading it. The characters in the book are well developed and the story line was entertaining!! This book had all my favorite tropes such as age gap, possessive/obsessive, touch her and die... to name a few. I love the I loved the main character Sovereign ... he wasn't afraid to show his feeling and didn't let anything get in his way to have the love of his life. I will definitely read the next book in this series!!!
Rate this book

This book was recommended to me by a friend so I was excited to get this ALC.

Honestly, I think this just wasn’t my cup of tea. I wasn’t expecting it to be as dark as it was. Sovereign was not my favorite MMC and it all felt a little ick to me.

I thought the narrators as a whole were spot on and did a great job. For those readers who like dark BDSM cowboy romance, I’m sure they’ll enjoy it.

Sovereign in itself is more BDSM focused than I predicted, which is not my jam. It had it's moments and I loved the Yellowstone vibes. The nicknames, Gerards names for animals- it worked. The narrators did a wonderful job. I imagined Gerard's voice to be more gravely, but I warmed up to it.

The premise was sexy - love a dom/sub romantic relationship, but some of the dynamics were a bit extreme and made me feel uncomfy. Also, I love when there are two narrators but hate when they don’t jump in on their lines instead of mimicking a male and female voice. Each of their voices for the other person turned me off. It would be much better of they added the other narrator jumping in for their lines instead of how it was done.

I got this book from netgalley since it was listed as a romance. A romance it is not!! Or at least that is not the focus, nor is it believable.

We have an old, lonely ranch dude (approaching 40) Sovereign who is rich, sexy and dominating. We have a 21ish heroine, Kiera, who goes from one man to another (father to husband to sovereign), so no independence whatsoever, very naive, and a sub. She is caught in a vendetta that Sovereign has against the Garrisons, her dead husbands family. Her husband leaves her with a 12M debt, Sovereign uses that as leverage to get her to be his sex buddy for a year. What ensues is lots of bdsm, some revenge and intrigue and a while bunch of nothing.

Dnf. The only nice thing about this book, the narration by Stefanie Kay & Oliver Clarke who capture the essence of the 2 characters quite well.

#netgalley #Sovereign

⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

🐎Dark Cowboy Romance
📑Dual POV
🐎Rival Families
📑BDSm
🐎Age Gap
📑High Spice
🐎Check TWs
📑Possessive MMC

Thank you Dreamscape Media for the ALC.

Sovereign has the spice of 50 Shades of Grey meets the drama and aesthetic of Yellowstone.

MMC Sovereign is wealthy and owns a ranch that’s well known. He has a dom side that comes with the contract. FMC Keira was married not treated right and has to pay back a debt that she was left with after her husband passed away.
What do you think the payment ends up being?….the contact, ofcourse . She becomes a sub for the MMC with an agreement that after a year she will be debt free. Romance brews and “she can fix him ensues.”

I think I would have liked this book more if I was still in my 50 shades phase. I knew this was a dark cowboy romance, I was just not expecting it to be a BDSM romance. This book is heavy on the spice. The spice was really good and a lot.

The writing was good. I would love to read something else by this author. I was most interested in the history between the rival families. Both narrators did an amazing job, however I loved the female narrators performance so much.

Narrators: ☆☆☆
Story:☆☆

I got to hear this in audiobook form. The narrators; Stephanie Kay and Oliver Clarke; sound pretty much how I imagined the characters would. Stephanie Kay did an amazing job. She sounded as anxious as the character seemed. Oliver's narration fell a bit flat for me.

On to the story, this book was not for me. They were definitely right to consider it the country 50 shades of grey. This book was cringeworthy at best. There were also so many holes and confusing statements. If I heard one more time that he doesn't smoke but looks for a cigarette again I was going to go crazy. This book was so repetitive too! Like the bull head and the painted mare. And I swear this book was part paranormal romance because there is no way that dude could smell everything he could...like her ovulation?!

The storyline wasn't much better either and it felt like the author just took a bunch of random shit and put it together. Like let's mix some country, a lot of bdsm 50 shades, James bond type hit man, small town love, billionaire romance and just mixed it together.

Thank you Netgalley for ALC.

If you are in your spicy cowboy era- you’ll love this one!! If you love Yellowstone the tv show you will love this one!!

It has drama, love, angst, passion, a feud of ownership of land, cowboys, hitmen, some mystery and of course spice. It is a roller coaster of emotions with some events that occur in the book. It made the book really fast paced. I loved the audiobook narration done by Stefanie Kay and Oliver Clarke. They made the story so entertaining and easy to listen too.

This book was a bit of a surprise for me. I was entirely enticed by the cover… I should have read all the warnings carefully but I did not and of course I would have listened anyway. Still for whatever reason I thought I was getting some sort of man on the ranch in the prairie kind of sweet romance. What I got, however, was a sizzling hot dark romance with characters whose souls are so dark no light can penetrate, and so passionate that my toes actually curled while listening to the audio. Stefanie Kay and Oliver Clarke knocked this out of the park. I loved it and literally all of my reading pals have downloaded it since.
The storyline itself is fairly simple and the writing is easy to follow, the plot felt like a back drop to the spicy spice, which was fine by me- I knew I wasn’t requesting a work of deep philosophy when I requested it.
So - perfect for lovers of dark romance with extra smut, Cannot wait for Westin to drop!
5 stars for a work that masters the dark romance cowboy genre, this author provides what these readers crave.

I liked this! It was exactly what I expected it to be, an erotic M/F romance. There are some pretty rigid gender roles and heteronormativity that might not work for everyone, but I still had fun. It had great character development for the FMC, and allllmost had a the dreaded miscommunication trope but thankfully it was a fake out! The narrators both did a great job! Thank you Netgalley & Dreamscape Media for the ARC

3.5 stars

I'm not sure that this book is particularly for me. I've been in my cowboy era right now and reading a lot of cowboy romances of varying degrees of spice. This one has spice off the charts. Dom/Sub to the fullest. However, the relationship didn't seemed fleshed out to me.

Sovereign and Kiera seemed to be thrown together by happenstance, but come to find out it's not. Sovereign has been after her husband's family FOREVER and all the pieces were finally falling into place, but he didn't expect her. It seemed like instalove/Stockholm syndrome to me almost. I'm not a fan of instalove and that part of it really kinda took me out of the story.

We got a little bit about their equally yet very different tragic pasts and small glimpses into their present, which served well for the healing and character arc, but didn't help their love story in my opinion. I needed more of them together. He knew from the very first moment he saw her he needed to have her. He basically made it so she had little to no other choice but to take him up on his "offer" and they basically fall in love in less than the one month "training period." I guess I need a little more foundation personally.

However, the writing was wonderful and the story was easy to follow. The narrators (Stefanie Kay and Oliver Clarke) did wonderful jobs. They brought the characters to life and allowed me to enjoy what I could even if the storyline wasn't exactly for me.

I encourage people who enjoy Dom/Sub relationships and dark, mysterious cowboys to read this as they'll really enjoy it.

Thank you, NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC.

Sovereign has been one of my favorite steamy romance reads in 2024, so I was excited for the audio.

Raya Morris Edwards' dark cowboy romance hit all the right notes for me...morally grey handsome cowboy meets married woman whose current husband neither recognizes nor cares for the treasure he has in Keira. In fact, Keira Garrison is trapped in a marriage with a small, abusive man.

Enter cowboy/ranch owner Gerard Garrison. Cowboy wants married woman, cowboy gets married woman, cowboy marries his woman, cowboy enjoys his woman, his Redbird. If you enjoy morally grey men, dark romance, cowboys, and over the top steam in your read, you will love this book!

That said, as much as I loved reading Sovereign, I simply struggled with certain aspects of the audiobook.

Stefanie Kay's performance was inspired, dynamic, and passionate, filled with emotion and inflection. She did a wonderful job portraying Gerard Sovereign's Redbird, Keira Garrison.

I wish I could say the same about my listening experience with the masc narrator. While Oliver Clarke's narrator voice was the deep, masculine voice I had envisioned for Sovereign, I felt like Clarke was more measured and less dynamic during the parts where he narrated Sovereign's POV and dialogue, especially during the more plentiful steamier scenes.

During Gerardvs POV chapters, my listening experience was more like I was being read a book instead of listening to a dramatic performance. (Interestingly, his narration of Keira's dialogue in a higher register was filled with inflection and emotion.)

Perhaps my viewpoint is colored by my preference for voice acting rather than straight narration, especially for romance. Perhaps this particular masc narrator just wasn't for me.

Sovereign *is* a must read, and was a enjoyable listen in many respects. I am hopeful for future installments in the Sovereign Mountain series.

This was an interesting read. I haven’t read a lot of dom/sub romances but this one has been on my TBR list for a while so I was excited to check out the audio.

I really enjoyed the narrators. Oliver Clarke’s voice was deep and dreamy. Stefanie Kay; did an amazing job of bringing Keira’s hopeful innocence to life.

I also enjoyed the relationship between Sovereign and Kiera. I loved watching her gain confidence as their relationship developed and she became comfortable with the power dynamic.

I recommend this to any fans of dark romance with a side of tall, dominant cowboy and I can’t wait to read more from Raya Morris Edwards.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media and Rays Morris Edwards for an early listening copy. These are my honest thoughts.

Cowboy
Age gap
BDSM
Dark

Audio review: Narrated by Stefanie Kay; Oliver Clarke

Great story with plenty of spicy moments. Between the spicy is a story of heartbreak, danger, revenge and ultimately love. Keira is our MFC. Bowed and meek from an emotionally abusive husband, she suddenly becomes a young widow. She is very naive and sheltered. Trouble soon follows. Gerard Sovereign is waiting with a deal she can’t refuse. Sovereign is dark and dangerous. An anti- hero who is instantly possessive and protective of our MFC.

The story was entertaining with plenty twists and turns. Great characters and plenty of action. A good way to start a series. Anxiously waiting for the next book.

The narrators were really engaging. The personality of each character came through perfectly. It made it easy to picture the dark, big cowboy with a dirty mouth and dominant tendencies. We can picture a petite Keira trying gaining her backbone.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It is very hot but should come with a lot of trigger warnings. I would categorize this book as erotic genre with a little romance. I did have a few "ick" moments regarding some real-life situations/everyday life things that take the fantasy/romance down a peg. However the descriptive spicy scenes make up for it.

I love a good cowboy romance, but make it dark and spicier? sign me the hell up! Yellowstone meets Fifty Shades! I loved the book and I've been looking forward for this audiobook and let me tell you, it was a wild ride!!

It was very steamy and intense with dark passion and simmering chemistry! I really loved it! The audiobook had me totally hooked with its amazing narrators who are new to me: one narrator did so good capturing the fmc's personality and vulnerability flawlessly, while the other brought the brooding alpha male to life with a voice that could melt butter!

If you're into cowboy romances with a spicy twist and love the dynamic of dual narrators, this audiobook is a must-listen. It's like riding off into the sunset with a swoon-worthy love story that you won't forget anytime soon!

Sovereign is a fifty shades meets Yellowstone mash up set in Montana where Keira finds herself in the middle of the Garrison/Sovereign feud. This was a challenging book to review because there were elements I truly loved and those that could use improvement. I really loved the rivalry plot and seeing the darker side of the large ranches where anything can happen and bodies can easily disappear. Seeing the lengths each family would go to in order to achieve their ends had me hooked. The problem I had was that part of the story got lost in the spice. The scenes were well written for the most part, I just wanted a better balance between the overall story and Sovereign introducing Keira to the BDSM world. I read Sovereign via audiobook which was another high point for the book. The narration was phenomenal. Narrators, Stefanie Kay and Oliver Clarke, are a big part of why I enjoyed the book. Kay did well bringing out Keira’s innocence and naivety with the will to fight, while Clarke was perfect for broody and will do anything to get what he wants Gerard. They both sold their performances so well. If Sovereign sounds like a book you would enjoy, I highly recommend picking up the audiobook.

Like a cowboy version of 50 shades of grey but way better, It was a little darker with BDSM Dom/sub mainly and a little murder. Gerard comes on strong at the beginning along the way both MCs find their rhythm together. Keira was a strong FMC, she really took up her space and was on the same level as Gerard at the end.

Keira Garrison is the wife of Clint Garrison, an unaffectionate jerk who treats her like an unpaid employee rather than his equal. After meeting Gerard Sovereign, a neighboring rancher, during a business meeting with Clint at their home, a yearning was set aflame with Gerard. He wanted her and he saw how she reacted to him; he knew she wanted more too. A tragic accident occurs, and Keira finds herself widowed and unprotected on Garrison Ranch. With no one to reach out to, Keira finds herself at the mercy of Gerard for assistance, but his assistance comes with a cost. He’s handsome, mysterious, dangerous, and hiding secrets that will turn her world upside down. But he’s also her last hope.
This audiobook was narrated by Stefanie Kay and Oliver Clarke. This story is told in dual POV with the narrator’s voices and inflections matching Gerard and Keira’s personalities/characters. Gerard’s being deep, dark, and rough and Keira’s being reserved, unexperienced, and young. My only negative was the male narration of Keira's voice, I think the male's voice was just too husky that sometimes it made Keira sound whiney rather than seductive or timid. The narration was clear with the inflections matched the occurring events throughout the book perfectly. The pacing of the narration was great, it wasn't too slow that I felt I needed to speed it up. The chapter breakdowns with this audiobook were very clear. It helped that there were only two narrators, one being male and the other female, so it was clear that there was a new chapter starting when there was a change in voice but even when the same character had back-to-back chapters, it was very clear that a new chapter was beginning.
I really enjoyed this audiobook. There is a BDSM, age-gap, sub/dom, MMC anti-hero trope with LOTS of HOT spice. It reminded me of the first 50 Shades of Grey book which I also thoroughly enjoyed! While the plot may not be 100% realistic, it was enticing, HOT, and the chemistry between Gerard and Keira was perfect. I could NOT put this audiobook down! There were moments in the book that had me laughing because the comments were so over the top but there were also things that made me swoon. This was my first read from this author and I am hooked! I am looking forward to other audiobooks in the Sovereign Mountain series!
Thank you, NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and Raya Morris Edwards, for allowing me to listen to this advance reader audiobook and provide my honest opinion!