Herr des Zorns (Soulless Empire 2)

Soulless Empire #2

by Sasha Leone, Jade Rowe

Er ist der Leibwächter meiner besten Freundin.
Der unbarmherzige Beschützer von Chicagos gefürchtetster Bratva.
Und mein Stalker.

Tiefblaue Augen mit silbernen Sprenkeln … die mich beobachten … immer …

Valentin Constanov akzeptiert kein Nein als Antwort. Als ich ihm also sage, dass er aufhören soll, mich zu verfolgen, denkt er natürlich gar nicht daran.

Schließlich ist es seine Aufgabe, über das Imperium zu wachen. Und ich bin mit der Frau seines Bosses befreundet – auch wenn ich eigentlich nichts mit der russischen Mafia oder ihrem dunklen und gefährlichen Lebensstil zu tun haben möchte.

Ich habe meine eigenen Probleme.

Aber der temperamentvolle, ungehobelte, tätowierte Romeo ist es nicht gewohnt, zurückgewiesen zu werden. Deshalb erwarte ich auch nicht, dass ich gerettet werde, als ich in ernsthaften Schwierigkeiten stecke.

Das hält ihn jedoch nicht davon ab, mir doch zu helfen …

Wie sich herausstellt, bin ich mehr als nur ein Job für ihn. Ich bin seine neuste Obsession. Und er wird dafür sorgen, dass ich das verstehe – auch wenn es ihn seine ganze Geduld kostet … und das letzte bisschen meiner Unschuld.


*Herr des Zorns ist der zweite eigenständige Band der Soulless-Empire-Reihe. Dies ist eine düstere Mafia-Romanze über Feinde, die zu Liebenden werden, aber keine Angst, es gibt ein Happy End und keinen Cliffhanger. Dieses Buch enthält pikante Szenen, die nur für erwachsene Leser und Leserinnen geeignet sind.

Genres: Dark Romance, Mafia Romance, Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Contemporary Romance, Dark, Crime

415 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 16, 2024

About the author

Sasha Leone writes dark, suspenseful romance novels about powerful mafia kings and the women who bring them to their knees. Join my mailing list at https://sasha_leone.ck.page/newslette...

Reviews

[maha · Rating 2 out of 5]

the sequence of events in this series are as follows: porn, u belong to me, I hate u, porn, I still hate u, porn, ok I love u now

[queen · Rating 2 out of 5]

tiktok really scams me into reading anything

[Z · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn’t like the fact that he ruined her dream career and when he went to talk to her he didn’t apologize and she just forgave him when he kissed her even though he didn’t apologize for it

[Viv “BookVixen” Gutierrez · Rating 2 out of 5]

How to ruin a book in one sentence…

This book was going Sooooo GREAT!! Obsessed hero chasing reticent heroine. ALLLLL the touch her and die vibes!! And the best part—

An innocent heroine only claimed by her soulmate! YASSSSSS!! More, please!! I was loving this book—the SWOON WAS POURING FROM THE PAGE!!!

And then the author just woke up and chose stupidity, spewing this vomit from the hero’s POV:

“I don’t see me losing interest. Ever. I’ve obsessed over women before, even thought myself to be in love once.”

WHAT. THE. FUCK?!

Immediate instant ICK, from swoon, right into ewwwww!

And even the following sentence just couldn’t rescue this from fuckery: “And yet I never shared my real life with them, showed them my work, became tender with them. I never even considered marrying any of them.“

Dont fucking care. And you know why? BECAUSE THE HERO WAS OBSESSED WITH OTHER WOMEN! You done killed the swoon, pendeja!

PSA to “romance” authors: ITS NEVER OK TO HAVE THE HERO OBSESSED OVER ANOTHER WOMAN!! EVER!! The hero should only ever be obsessed with the heroine!!!! Please for the love of all that is swoon, STOP SMOKING METH BEFORE YOU WRITE!!

When you have a psycho hero, its NEVER ok for him to have been smitten with other women. The ENTIRE FUCKING ALLURE of this trope is the heroine melts his cold dead heart. FFS, if this even needs to be explained, clowns shouldn’t be writing—and ruining—romance.

Seriously, the entire experience of the book was ruined for me from that point on. I was already at the 70% mark and I was hours in, so I forced myself to slog thru and finish it, but the swoon was gone, the skin was crawling and this was just a waste of time. If you’re looking for an obsessed hero who has ONLY EVER been obsessed and had his heart claimed by the heroine, skip this fuckery.

If it hadnt been for that one fucktarded sentence, this wouldve been a solid 4 star read.

NOT safe. Hero has “been obsessed” over other women. Unknown if hero was faithful to heroine after meeting her. It says he’s celibate when they’re separated for a month after having sex, but in the months leading up to them getting together, nothing is mentioned if he’s faithful. Heroine is a virgin and belongs only to her hero. No ow drama. TRIGGER WARNING: Heroine is sexually harassed (unwanted touching) and hero goes full pscyho (not on page). Heroine also has an ex that causes problems but she was never physically intimate with him. Heroine is physically assaulted (slapped) by villains. No sharing. No abuse between MCs. HEA out only a few months and no babies.

[caelyn chan · Rating 2 out of 5]

4/10 - um...tf? the tropes were WEIRD and theyre so FREAKING HORNY TF i dont see how the fall in love bro its js sex theres no real fluff or relationship. I HATED ALL THAT SMUT LIKE 60% OF IT WAS SMUT BRO THATS MORE THAN HALF I COULD DO WITH 0% SMUT TYVM

[Evie Ha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have no words...like what even was happening? I definitely expected more. Every other chapter was 🌶️ and I kid you not, I skipped so much.

[Luna ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

»I don't care for most people, Yelena. But the people I care for are the people I'd kill for. Die for. You're one of those people, angel, whether you like it or not.«

★ ★ ★ ★

❥ 𝒀𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒂 𝜗𝜚˚⋆
I adored her. She is likeable, brave and intelligent. Most of the time she stands her ground against Valentin.

❥ 𝑽𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏 ࣪⋆✮
I loved him! He is big, bad and dangerous - the perfect mafia man.

✥ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌
This was a good and quick bratva romance.
I had a lot of fun while reading it and the plot kept me entertained. The writing style is fluent and easy to understand (even as a non native english speaker).
Yelena and Valentin have great tension and I liked them together. They are like ice and fire. Both are passionate and fierce. Valentine is really possessive and Yelene brings out the best in him. It‘s the typical cliche mafia bad boy x good girl story. But I liked it and I had a good time with them.
There were things I didn’t like: First, why don‘t they talk more? They had sex every few pages but couldn‘t hold up a good conversation? Annoying. Second, I hate it when the authors don‘t represent healthy friendships between women. I thought Natalya and Yelena were best friends but Natalya didn’t appear in this book until the last 10%? At the same time Valentin’s friends were mentioned often. Don‘t like this.
Overall this was still a good book.

𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤?
Yes.

𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝟓 ׂㅤ𐙚 ࣪ ⭒
plot: 4/5
spice: 4/5
humor: 3/5
couple/tension: 5/5
world building: 5/5
happy end?: yes

𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬 ᡣ𐭩ྀི₊ ⊹
possessive and protective hero, instant attraction, bratva, opposites attract, touch her and die, from different worlds, stalker (kinda), good girl x bad boy, age gap, he falls first and harder, bratva boss x fashion designer, virgin fmc

𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬
#1 King of Ruin ★ ★ ★ ★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
#2 Lord of Wrath ★ ★ ★ ★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
#3 God of Lies ★ ★ ★ ★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
#4 Crown of Hate ★ ★ ★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Nic · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I saw an excerpt of this book on TikTok I figured I’d give it a shot. I needed a book that I could listen to while working. Honestly it really wasn’t good. The plot was boring and some of the writing was really cringy. I would have DNF’d it but I decided to keep listening. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Plot: 1/5
Spice: 2/5
🎧: Read in dual style. Narrators were eh.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s a Mob book that’s trying to hard to be a mob book.
Idc about the twists, lies and deceptions. I just want drama, money, love and power. Idc about the semantics. And there’s so many details and so many obsessions and so much back and forth I can’t.

[Emma Ross · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn’t even finish it…

Basically this book just consists of porn with fighting every now and then. It tried so hard to be a mob book but hardly had any drama and fighting. I love a good mafia romance but this…. Wouldn’t recommend.

[rachelle ♡]

Everything felt so robotic

[Matilda Speicher · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNFd after two days… that was just bad. Zero character development, like sooooo many contradictions in the character building and barely any storyline. Essentially it was just one s*x scene after another and it made no sense to why Yelena hesitated at first. Honestly I wanted to love this so much, because I really thought the tropes had so much potential, but this was just bland.
If you don’t care about the storyline much and are just here for the spice, then this book might be for you, but it definitely was not my cup of tea.

To the author: I really like your ideas for the storyline, in particular the setup of a second in command and the pakhan wife’s bsf, but please try to bring the storyline a bit more in the focus or label it as a spice focused book. You have a good starting point it’s just the execution that, I feel like, leaves a lot of people frustrated and unsatisfied. A bit of backstory or a cute flashback of their first time meeting would really enhance the storyline and make the book more accessible for readers, who read the book as a standalone.

[kina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

[Aimee Noelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

[Jessica Bounds · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF - just couldn’t get into it.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lord of Wrath is book two of Soulless Empire Series. A full-length standalone novel with no cheating or cliffhanger and guaranteed happily-ever-after. A brilliantly written story with complex individuals and twisty storyline that captures the reader attention from the first chapter and keeps them glued to the story and on the edge of your seat and turning the pages until the end. It's Dark. Complex. It's Dirty. It's Naughty and filthy and everything that I crave. A fast paced, dark, twisted, depraved, gravable and violent read.
A hate-to-love vibes story, Bratva romance, enemies-to-lovers romance, polar opposite attracts story, contemporary romance, organize crime romance, forced proximity romance, stalker romance, billionaire romance, paranormal romance, romantic suspense story, spicy romance, dark mafia romance, hurt, gothic romance, age gap trope romance, pain, fake relationship, protective romance, with lust-at-first-sight, danger, violence, revenge, drama, darkness, angst, anger, resentment, tension, emotions, lies, action packed, deception, secrets, obsession, threats, possessiveness, betrayal, enemies, burning hot passion, attack, touch-her-and-die, revelation, push and pull, virgin heroine, old/new enemies, steam, unexpected twists and turns, jealousy, friendship, loss, dominance, submission, rat, discipline, grief, stalking, retaliation, banter, humor, sabotage, hidden agenda, brotherhood, kidnapped, heartache, insecurities, bloodshed, chaos, mayhem, murder, and love.
Valentin Constanov is the second in command to Russian Bratva Mafia Pakhan Andrei Zherdev. He's ruthless, dangerous, cold-blooded, loyal, callous, calculated and the most feared man in Chicago. From the his first encounter with with Yelena when she was with her best friend Natalya at one one their club's it was lust-at-first-sight. He became interested in her and when he heard that she went out with a another man, he wasn't happy about the situation. She immediately became his obsession and he started to stalk her every move. Yelena Laskin has dark secrets that she kept hidden even from her best friend. Her parents and family was involved with the Bratva's and they have all loss their lives. They was lure into the Bratva by money and because of that they're all dead. She doesn't know want to make same mistake like her family. Even though Valentin is all sexy and dangerous and makes her feel safe like dad, and that's why she continually resist him.
As boss wife's best friend and his obsession he's going to make sure that no harm comes to her. Even though Yelena is also attracted to him she doesn't want to be in a relationship right now. She wants to focus on career, which is launch her own clothing brand and get investors in the fashion industry. There's fashion conference at the Sweetwater Resort outside of Chicago that she has signed up us with lots of potential investors that can get her on her feet. However, she can't shake the feeling that someone his watching her. When she got to the concierge to check in for her room. He told her that it had been canceled three days ago and that there was no other room available because of the conference. She decided to go and pee because she couldn't hold it any longer, and she was right. Because a man was following her at every turn until she made it to a dead end and saw blood by the restroom she had pass. Valentin told her that he had room where she can stay she gave him a fight for stalking, but eventually when to his condominion.
He told her that she was in danger because the that was following her a guy by the name of Alex Civati hired him. She told him that he was her ex-boyfriend, but he was powerful and dangerous in the fashion industry. He told that he would protect her, and they agreed to be in a fake relationship. While Valentin is with Yelena world in the organize crime is falling apart. There's a rat in attacking their organization and leaking classified information to the FBI and the Pakhan is losing his shit, and the more time Valentin spends with Yelena he gets more and more obsessed and possessive. He has been promoted to where he needs a wife and heir to carry on his legacy and has gotten richer, and Yelena fits the bill. He's richer than all of these investors at the conference and can invest in Yelena company. But she wants to do it by herself. Her ex-boyfriend has become a problem and she's obviously scared of him and his possessiveness of her. Yelena is a virgin and her ex is obsess with fact.
Valentin took care of the first threat to Yelena and helped smooth the way with investors even though Alex tried to destroyed her chances. But when he saw another man who was tattoo and was just stand watching out of place at the conference. He knew that he didn't belong so he followed him. But he lost him in the crowd which led him to believe that he was a pro. He wondered if his life bleed into the conference or it was another one Alex. Something he realized that Yelena was a distraction that he didn't need and can't afford. He was born in hell. Raised in flames. Damnation is all he's ever known. Salvation in the form of innocent blue-eyes and a pussy that has never felt another cock. Yelena was his salvation. His heaven. She was a fucking gift. A naughty perfect mysterious little gift. When he saw the man again he was ready and he was beating the hell out of him which disrupted the conference and made it bad for Yelena.
She also made him got away for the second time and this she didn't wanted anything to do with him. Because he ruined her chances of securing an investor because of his behavior. Although their chemistry was explosive and was a moth to a flame she had to be strong and walk away. But he's not just going to leave her unprotected because she was his and he still believe that she was in danger, so he have his guys watching over her. There's so much going on in this story moving parts suspense, intrigue and mystery, all leading up to climatic showdown between the Zakrevsky Bratva and the rat Sandro Barello and Alex Civati. Oh it's this story is gut-wrenching, deathly and pure naughtiness.

I received an advanced copy of this book via Booksprout and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Sissy's Romance Book Review · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lord of Wrath by Sasha Leone, Jade Rowe is book Two in the Soulless Empire Series. This is the story of Valentin and Yelena. Yelena is best friends with Natalya from the first book 'King of Ruin'. Yelena has dreams of being a designer but after a indecent in Milan she has had to regroup. Valentin Constanov is the second in command for the Mafia and his boss is Andrei who is married to Natalya. Valentin has been stalking Yelena because he wants her but she doesn't want to be a part of the Mafia. Enjoyed their story and I can't wait to get Ilya's story next (I hope!)

[W · Rating 2 out of 5]

This may be top 10 worst book I’ve ever read


She knows him for 3 days and decides he is worthy of taking her virginity?

He ruined her business and after a month she was like ,okay i miss him i want him back even though he never apologised to her?????

And the smut was even worse


Do not recommend this book

[Daymar Figueredo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly I don’t know what I read

[Alyssa · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[cecilia · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5⭐️ it’s literally every other mafia book. +.5 bc I finished

[Tina Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s better than the first but so many mistakes, and it went rapidly downhill after the beginning.

In the beginning of this I thought it was going to be enjoyable, as Valentin pursues Yelena and she’s determined to resist him. Sadly it went rapidly downhill from there. One massive problem for me in all of this authors books is; After the mmc’s have gone on a killing spree, shooting loads of men, NOT A SINGLE COP TURNS UP! NOT ONE! This book was the worst for this, as Valentin is a bit of a psycho and goes on a huge killing spree, yet the police are never called! 😡😡😡

Yelena has a really bad opinion of the Bratva after her father got involved with them when she was a child. Yelena after a few feeble attempts to refuse Valentin, they’re soon having endless mind numbingly boring s*x everywhere. It’s endless. They fight over everything- have s*x, have another fight-have s*x. It’s madness. The baddies are just ridiculous and what could have been an exciting plot is soon turned into yet another shoot out and yet again NO POLICE! 😡😡😡

So a few of the mistakes;
🔵 This one really really annoyed me. After having s*x in a clothes store changing room, Yelena and Valentin go out for a meal, and she doesn’t clean up or go to the bathroom! 🤮🤮🤮 He wipes her off but that’s it. Gross.
🔵 Yelena never ever uses the bathroom. It’s weird.
🔵 As I said above,; why are no police called when they have endless shootouts, in cafes, houses, and apartment’s?
🔵 Yelena and her so called ‘best friend’ Natalya never speak, even when Yelena’s career has been ruined by Valentin, and she’s seriously depressed!
🔵 After Valentin saves Yelena from a baddie and kills him, the crime scene is covered up and no one knows anything. Yet later in Yelena is talking to a reporter who is in the next book, and she has evidence of him doing it! HOW???
🔵 The three men Andrei,Valentin and Ilya make some really stupid decisions with their enemy. So stupid that you question how they run a Bratva!

I could go on but I won’t. It’s really not good.

[A79senlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this worthy follow-up to King of Ruin, Valentin, second in command to the Bratva king, pursues his obsession, fashion designer Yelena. They first met in the previous book, and sparks flew during their brief interaction. Valentin was drawn to her spunk and she was intrigued by his bad boy swagger.

Fast forward a few months and things have changed. Yelena’s confidence is gone. Her once-promising future is hanging by a thread and the fashion conference she’s attending is her last chance at her dream. She’s gotten some calls and texts from Valentin since they met, but she ignores him — the shine came off real quick when she learned he’s an actual “bad boy.” She refuses to have anything to do with the Bratva outside her best friend being married to Valentin’s boss.

Valentin was taken with Yelena’s fire and is stunned to see only embers when they “coincidentally” run into each other at the resort hosting the conference. He’s ready to burn the world down to bring her flame back, but he needs to keep a lid on his rage in order to help her.

They don’t know it yet, but they’ll soon be fighting battles from multiple directions — a rat is stirring up trouble in the Bratva, Yelena is facing near-destruction from a well-connected and vengeful ex, and both are struggling mightily with their own hearts.

I really enjoyed this book. There was great banter and sizzling chemistry between the two and their smexy scenes were steamy. They did waffle a bit on their feelings for each other, but that’s realistic. We don’t always know what we’re feeling or how deep that emotion is, and running can seem easier. I felt these two had a harder road than Andrei and Natalya in book 1, but the effort was rewarding. They’re perfect partners: Valentin was Yelena’s confidence and she was his calm. A devil and his angel.

I received a free copy of this book and am choosing to leave a review.

[Dawnmarie Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 2nd book in the Soulless Empire series featuring the deliciously dark age-gap, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, hate to love,mafia, stalker romance between Valentin and Yelena. We met Valentin and Yelena in the 1st book King of Ruin Yelena is Natalya's best-friend who Valentin 2nd in command to Aledrei Zherdev Pakhan of the Russian Mafia is obsessed with her. Valentin is going to be following her so that he can keep her safe. Yelena wanted to focus on her career so she didn't pursue any relationships but her fashion aspirations are destroyed. Yelena is at Sweetwater Resort outside of Chicago attending a fashion conference and she's feeling like someone is watching her. When she goes to check in the desk clerk tells her that her reservation was canceled and that there are no more rooms available. However Valentin has a place that she can stay after all he's wanted Yelena for quite some time and she fights him at every turn which he enjoys. I don't want to say anymore and ruin it for anyone else with spoilers. You really need to read this deliciously dark age-gap, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, hate to love, mafia, stalker romance full of action, betrayal, chemistry, danger, intrigue, obsession, steam,and suspense to see what happens. I would recommend reading this book.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lord of Wrath is Book 2 of the Soulless Empire and is Valentin and Yelena's story. Valentin Constanov is the second in command to Aledrei Zherdev the Pakhan of the Russian Mafia. We met Valentin and Yelena in the first book "King of Ruin." Yelena Laskin is Natalya's best friend and Valentin is going to follow her and keep her safe. Yelena is attending a fashion conference at Sweetwater Resort outside of Chicago. She feels as though someone is watching her. The man at the check-in desk tells Yelena that her reservation has been canceled and there are no other rooms. Guess who has a place where she can stay? Yelena has been telling Valentin she doesn't want to get involved with the Bratva. Valentin really likes the way Yelena is stubborn and fights back. This book is full of action, suspense, spice, obsession, chemistry and wonderful characters. These two authors have done such outstanding work with this series.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Patricia Charlton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Book

This is book 2 and you must read book 1 to understand who people are as the story follows on.
We meet Valentin and Yelena in book 1 but only briefly with Yelena, it’s Valentin who we see more of as Andrei’s number 2 in the Bratva.
Valentin is everything I expected a big burley alpha male who protects his chosen family and will die for them.
Yelena was a feisty BFF of Natalya but when she came back from Milan she had changed and we know something went down with her ex Alex a billionaire who won’t take no for an answer.
It’s funny how people expect the big bad Bratva villain to be the aggressor and make no mistake he is with his enemies but he is a pussycat with Yelena.
It’s the clean cut Alex who is the violent one and Valentin has made an oath to himself he will take care of Alex at some point.
I liked the story between these two and their back and forth but I have to admit I was unimpressed with how Alex and Solando’s outcome as I wanted Valentin to be telling his POV when they were taken care of and Alex was very anticlimactic, I wanted him to suffer.
We didn’t even seen what actually happened with Pierre and again I wanted to know what happened while it was happening.
It is a good book and I would recommend it and now I need to see what happens with the last book in this series which seems to be Ilya & Kira.

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, much like I enjoyed the first one. There were definite issues with it, much like the first one, as well. I do like the writing style of this author, though.

Editing issues, there are many. I came across this in the first book, and they are continuing into the next one. Either there isn't an editor, or the editor is slacking off.
There are so many instances of the wrong word being used : You're rather than your., Know rather than now, etc. There are missing words from sentences, so we have to extrapolate what is being said. At the end, there was even an instance where the wrong person was credited for speaking. When I start seeing issues like this, I usually let the first or second one go without mention, but when there are just so many like in these books, there are no excuses.

To be honest, I really do like this author and her style. I think it would improve her standing and reputation if she could just get over all these editing issues.
I will be continuing on to the next book. Hopefully, there are not so many glaring issues, but considering how many I found in the first two books, I'm not going to hold my breath.

[Emilia Ortolani · Rating 4 out of 5]

La verdad me re gustó. No es que tenga la trama más original del mundo, pero los personajes la rompen. Me maté de risa con ellos tres, tipo ese trío es todo. Aunque la historia no avance mucho entre libros, igual quiero seguir leyendo solo por lo divertidos que son.

Él me pareció un amor. Obviamente es cuestionable (como deben ser los protagonistas en este tipo de libros), pero te termina ganando. Y ella me cayó muy bien, lo que de por si ya es bastante. No es de esas que te sacan de quicio cada dos páginas. Le dicen “quedate quieta porque te podes morir” y se queda quieta. Después lo caga a pedos cuando corresponde. No se deja pasar por arriba, pero tampoco es tarada. Me pareció muy bien construida.

La trama es normal, un poco predecible pero no aburre. No fue de esos libros que no podés soltar o que te dejan manija por leer el siguiente ya, así que no le doy 5 estrellas, pero sí un sólido 4. Le falta algo thrilling o más innovador para subir al siguiente nivel. Pero igual lo re disfruté.

[Akku · Rating 4 out of 5]

rating - 3.8 ✨
This book had everything I usually love - love, betrayal, romance, possessiveness, enemies-to-lovers, and even an age gap. But honestly, the story was just okay. It felt like there was so much potential for more depth and twists, but it didn't fully deliver.
It's a hot and dark mafia romance, but honestly, I expected a bit more.
The main guy is supposed to be the second-in-command, but most of the time, he's just stalking her to keep her safe. Like, it's sweet that he's protective, but why does it have to happen in every single chapter?😭 And don't even get me started on the amount of spice, it felt like there was more steam than actual story sometimes.
Overall, it was an okay read for me. The vibes were good, and I did enjoy some parts, but I just wanted more depth to the characters and the plot. If you're into steamy mafia romances with a lot of possessiveness, you might still enjoy this one!

[Tc · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 2nd book in the Soulless Empire series by two incredibly talented authors, Sasha Leone and Jade Rowe and is Valentin Constanov (second in command to Aledrei Zherdev the Pakhan of the Russian Mafia) and Yelena Laskin (Natalya's best friend) story. We met these two in the first book "King of Ruin." Their chemistry is off the charts but she doesn’t want anything to do with the mafia, but that doesn’t deter Valentin as he has become obsessed with her and is going to follow her and keep her safe. She is his to protect and keep but when Yelena attends a fashion conference at Sweetwater Resort, she feels as though someone is watching her. Enter Valentin, this is where this story takes off, so prepare, strap yourself in and enjoy the roller coaster ride!! Can’t wait for the next instalment!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.