Sophie Barnes steps out of her lane....

And into the fast lane of murder, mystery and compromised characters.
Samantha. Her mission? Take down the Croft family.
Adrian Croft. His goal? Revenge.

Samantha has spent her life in service, but for spying and clandestine information gathering. Love her. Love, love her. No shy maiden, she is clever and ruthless.

Adrian Croft thought he wanted a sedate, normal, legal life. Instead, when his sister is murdered, he's on a rampage to find her serial killer. That thirst for revenge blinds him to well, everything. And the one thing he never saw coming was Samantha.

Ends in a cliffhanger. This is a series...
Recommend.

Adrian Croft dreams of quitting the shady business he stands to inherit, of settling down, and of raising a family free from a life of crime. But when tragedy strikes, this fanciful dream is destroyed. All he wants now is revenge. Yet when he meets Samantha Carmichael, his perception changes. However, Samantha is not the person he believes her to be, as she has been trained for covert operations and her task is to find evidence to prosecute him. As they begin to work together to solve a crime, Samantha wonders if she can hold onto her goal, if she finds herself falling in love with him.
A definite swing away from Sophie Barnes traditional romance novels, as this one has a mysterious side to it. I must admit that as soon as I finished the last chapter, which has a cliffhanger, I looked for the second book in the series. I found both characters of Adrian and Samantha, thoroughly engaging, each hiding secrets from the other but obviously hoping that they have found the ONE. This book had it all, with plenty of action, mystery with a touch of romance.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A Vengeful King Rises by Sophie Barnes is an amazing historical mystery starring Samantha Carmichael and Adrian Croft. Samantha has been trained her entire life to spy for her country when the need arises but now that the wars are over, she has to take up lesser missions to prove her worth. In order to help the Bow Street police save face, she’s tasked with uncovering the illegal money-making schemes employed by the Croft family.

Seduce and destroy. That’s her mantra.

Adrian Croft has always longed to step out of his father’s shadow and live an honest, peaceful life devoid of any criminal activities. But when his sister, the happiness of his life, is one of the ladies who has been murdered by a serial killer, he must go back to his roots and catch him before he hurts any more people.

After all, 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙘𝙪𝙩𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙡.

My thoughts
I loved this book. It was amazing how Sophie spun a story with the strongest FL and the traumatised, morally grey ML with murder, suspense, romance and finally, betrayal.

This book ends on a cliffhanger and while I hate cliffhangers and was quite angry with Sophie for ending the book at the most vulnerable stage of their relationship, it just means there’s more to come and October can’t some soon enough.

The mystery aspect of the story was impressive and Sophie’s intriguing take on good and evil made this book a 5 🌟 for me.

Love is portrayed as a powerful thing that can even shift loyalties and make a person untrained to question, question. Two broken people who have long stopped dreaming find each other and vow to protect the other.

Question is, will they be able to do so? With all the secrets they’re hiding?

A compelling story with a dark side to it, not the normal for Sophie Barnes. Love the different direction the writer has taken. Adrian Croft has been brought up to takeover his family legacy, one he has tried to resist. His father was determined to have his only son takeover and if the meant he needed to teach him the hard way, so be it! Once his father passed away Adrian thought he could leave that life behind. Enjoy the Ton with his sister, but evil lurks on the streets of Mayfair. And Adrian beloved sister is murdered. All that he had hope to leave in the past he will now need to get the revenge he craves.
Samantha and her sisters of her heart are rescued from the orphanage. Their foster parents are raising them to be secret agents for the Crown. Finally after years of training Samantha has her first assignment, to find evidence to bring down the new heir to the Croft legacy. As she makes her way through the various Ton events she manages to cross paths with Adrian, but what her superiors told her about Adrian isn’t the man she is beginning to get to know.
The characters are very well developed and Samantha character reminds me of “Charlie’s Angels”. Very intriguing story that ends in a cliffhanger, which fits perfectly with the story. Can’t wait to read the continuation of Samantha and Adrian story.
Thank you for the ARC, all opinions expressed are my own. #AVengefulKingRises
#HouseofCroft #SophieBarnes

Great start for a new series! Multigeneration crime family. Murder. Betrayal. Spies. Vengeance. Passion. Heartbreak. Loyalty. Secrets. Love? All in Regency England.

Loved reading the captivating and engaging story. When Adrian's sister is murdered, he wants to find the person responsible; meanwhile, Samantha's assignment is gain Adrian's trust. Read the highly recommended, wonderfully written, and a must read riveting story by the phenomenal author, Sophie Barnes.

I enjoyed this new series starter. In it, we have Adrian Croft, the unwilling heir to an evil empire who wants to leave it all behind and live a good life, but a family tragedy puts him back on the dark path he is trying to escape. Samantha Carmichael is an orphan who a secret group trains to be a weapon in fighting for the Crown. She is assigned to bring down Adrian Croft, but as she spends more and more time working with him she begins to question if he is what she has been told he is.

The story is dark, but, also, fascinating. I look forward to seeing what will happen in the next book. 4-1/2 stars

I received an ARC for free and gave my honest opinion voluntarily.

This was an excellent start to a new historical fiction series. The characters were well developed, even if they weren't all perfect. The plot had mystery, action, deceit, romance, and of course some drama. I was completely engrossed in finding out what happened. Not loving the HUGE cliff hanger at the end though. Definitely looking forward to the next book.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A wonderful new series by Sophie Barnes that had me gobsmacked. This is the 3rd book in the last month that I have read where the hero is really a VERO (villian+hero), a hero with a dark and dangerous soul and I like it.

Adrien tries so hard to break the mold, to live with hope for a life that is very different from the one he's born into. A series of murders, which includes his sister, puts him back on the darker side. In the meantime, you have Samantha a spy sent to bring down Adrien, instead they combine efforts to bring down the killer and solve the murders.

Cannot wait to read more to see how the dynamics and relationship between Adrien and Samantha changes.

A great departure for Sophie Barnes from her usual writing of romance novels. Adrian is the unwitting heir to a crime family. He wants to cease operations until a tragedy occurs and he realizes that he is unable to. Samantha is tasked to bring Adrian down. During their time, they work together to bring down an enemy. Each holds onto their secrets tightly but are learning to relay on each other.

I enjoyed the intricacies of the story and the storyline. I can’t wait for it to continue.

I DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR THIS!! THE CLIFFHANGER????????????

HEAR ME OUT HEAR ME OUT! BECAUSE THIS HAS SURPASSED MY EXPECTATION!

I do not want to spoil anything.
If you love historical romance, slow burn, suspense, mystery-thriller, a little gore, secret identity, brave strong woman (with daggers *wink wink*), "I'm yours and you're mine" type of guy, I advise you to put anything on your TBR aside on July 30th and get to this book ASAP

As the cliffhanger, I thought it’s going to be the other way. Like the cliche, usual stuff. But I love how Sophie turned it around and so readers can expect a great continuation in the next book!

I can’t wait for the second book!!

Pub date: 30 July 2024

Thank you NetGalley, BookBuzznet, and Sophie Barnes for kindly giving me an ARC in exchange for honest review!

Step into the world of A Vengeful King Rises and hold onto your hats, folks! This ain't your average romance—it's a rollercoaster of secrets, danger, and a vengeful hero you can't help but root for. Adrian Croft is all fire and brimstone, hell-bent on revenge, and Samantha Carmichael? She's a secret agent caught between duty and desire, trying to take down a powerful man while falling for the very guy she's supposed to bring down. It's like James Bond meets steamy romance, with twists that'll leave you breathless.🌟