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Kingmakers #5
Graduation
Wild Hearts, Ruthless Games
In the adrenaline-fueled world of Kingmakers, Sabrina Gallo stands as a force of nature. Untamed and fiercely independent, she’s more storm than woman, captivating and terrifying all who cross her path.
Bratva bad boy Adrik Petrov has finally met his match. Sabrina won’t be easily claimed—but for Adrik, the thrill of the chase is as intoxicating as the prize. He’s set on capturing her heart, no matter the cost.
Enticing her away from school, Adrik lures Sabrina into Moscow’s underworld. In this deadly environment, the stakes are only higher and tensions flare between this passionate pair who never learned to control their tempers…or their destructive impulses.
Can Adrik tame Sabrina Gallo, or will he find himself consumed by the very fire he seeks to control?
The Lark Notes:
This is for all my rowdy Love Larks who requested one more Kingmakers adventure. Sabrina Gallo and Adrik Petrov are fire and fire. Their relationship is an inferno that could burn the world down. — Sophie
“Kingmakers: Graduation” is a standalone story in the Kingmakers universe. It’s a dark mafia romance, lovers to enemies to lovers again. Reader prepare yourself: the steam is off the charts, including FF and FFM scenes.
In the adrenaline-fueled world of Kingmakers, Sabrina Gallo stands as a force of nature. Untamed and fiercely independent, she’s more storm than woman, captivating and terrifying all who cross her path.
Bratva bad boy Adrik Petrov has finally met his match. Sabrina won’t be easily claimed—but for Adrik, the thrill of the chase is as intoxicating as the prize. He’s set on capturing her heart, no matter the cost.
Enticing her away from school, Adrik lures Sabrina into Moscow’s underworld. In this deadly environment, the stakes are only higher and tensions flare between this passionate pair who never learned to control their tempers…or their destructive impulses.
Can Adrik tame Sabrina Gallo, or will he find himself consumed by the very fire he seeks to control?
The Lark Notes:
This is for all my rowdy Love Larks who requested one more Kingmakers adventure. Sabrina Gallo and Adrik Petrov are fire and fire. Their relationship is an inferno that could burn the world down. — Sophie
“Kingmakers: Graduation” is a standalone story in the Kingmakers universe. It’s a dark mafia romance, lovers to enemies to lovers again. Reader prepare yourself: the steam is off the charts, including FF and FFM scenes.
562 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 16, 2022
1762 people are currently reading
24174 people want to read
About the author
Sophie Lark
45 books23.7k followersPowerful Romance
Special Editions & Exclusive Stories:
https://sophielark.com/
Sophie lives in Southern California with her husband and three children. Her favorite authors are Emily Henry and Freida McFadden. She’s an Aquarius who loves fitness and looks forward to Halloween every year.
Special Editions & Exclusive Stories:
https://sophielark.com/
Sophie lives in Southern California with her husband and three children. Her favorite authors are Emily Henry and Freida McFadden. She’s an Aquarius who loves fitness and looks forward to Halloween every year.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,523 reviews
March 21, 2022
This review will contain spoilers. HOWEVER, I have not clicked the "hide spoilers" button because I will be talking about micro aggressive, problematic issues this book has regarding Sabrina (which is why I gave it 1 star among other issues) and I would like WOC to know and allies in general. This review will only make sense if you read the book.
Also, please read the entirety of this review before you feel like you need to come at me. This is not me trying to attack Sophie Lark or The Savage but simply to point out some things that aren’t ok whilst giving a review of this book.
When I finished reading The Spy a while ago I was super excited for Adrik and Sabrina's story. They both seemed like super cool, badass and independent characters. Plus, Sabrina being bisexual and Latina made me excited because I'm also Bi and Latina. At this point I had only read the Kingmakers series. Before The Savage came out I decided to read the Brutal Birthright Series which I was super excited to read because I heard a black woman (Simone) and a Latina (Camille) were the heroines of books in that series. This is something rarely seen in books and mafia books which got me hyped.
Imagine my surprise when I get to "Bloody Heart" (Dante and Simone's book) and I'm reading a spicy scene in Dante and Simone's book where they are reunited and as Simone is giving him the best head of his life she thinks "He can be my master and I’ll be his slave, if that’s what it takes to get him back”… followed by him spanking her with a belt repeatedly. The spanking would not have been an issue if Simone had not referred to herself as a slave and her white lover as her master (ugh!). Now you might be wondering “but hey! This is a review for The Savage not Simone’s book, what does this have to do with Sabrina?”. Again, please bear with me, emphasis on the please. MY JAW DROPPED because I couldn’t believe a white woman wrote this, her editor read this, and whoever else did and let it get published because WTF? Why would you as a white woman feel ok writing this? This is basic common sense to not do this.
After this book I took a break because I still couldn’t believe it. I had forgotten about The Savage and then it came out. I read it because I was curious as to how Sophie Lark would write about Sabrina, another woc, plus I have kindle unlimited so I thought I’m not really spending my money on it in case this is a train wreck.
Sabrina is introduced as this woman who wants to feel free in life, live by her choices/mistakes. She is extremely capable in various regards and is aware of her intelligence and beauty but doesn’t want to be treated as a piece of meat or just as a sexual object. She also has a temper and can be extremely reckless but hey we all have faults. She meets Adrik for their first date and is convinced that he will treat her as other men have before. However, Adrik surpasses that and treats her as she has wished to be treated all along by a man. They go their separate ways for months but keep in contact then they meet again in Oregon and have lots of sex again. Their connection felt a lot like instant love/lust. Although we get told that they talk/text a lot throughout their time apart, which is what helps build their connection, we don’t really get to see that. However, their time together before leaving to Moscow was really the best part of the book and super cute in my opinion. I loved the arcade date and seeing Nix and Sabrina’s friendship a bit more.
At this point Sabrina has to decide whether she goes back to Kingmakers or goes to Moscow with Adrik. She’s afraid to go with him “I don’t want to be your soldier. I want freedom, not a new master”. She wants to be his equal, his partner, something she reiterates aloud to him time and time again and something he promises to her. She goes with him hoping to create an empire together as equals as he has promised her.
One of my biggest issue with this story is that Adrik does not see her as his equal. Sabrina was reduced to such a grotesque sad version of who she initially started out as by Sophie Lark and Adrik. That probably wasn’t intended but that’s how it came across. Why? you ask (hopefully) Keep reading please.
From the beginning Sophie and Adrik put a lot of emphasis on her body. Which of course women can be proud of their bodies but for woc whose bodies are often oversexualized there is a thin line where it goes from empowering to fetishizing. Something which was emphasized when Sabrina kept being referred to as exotic while her body was being compared to objects such as Maseratis. Calling woc “exotic” repeatedly is problematic and microaggresive to say the least. A simple google search on “why is calling woc exotic problematic?” will have a lot of aritcles pop up (around 22 million), including scholarly journals written by woc. We first see Sabrina being called exotic by Zoe in the Rebel. If you’re Latino you will understand why having a Spaniard woman calling a Latina exotic is problematic. Hint; colonization, creation of caste system, Spanish putting down Latinos and fetishizing us, dehumanizing us, etc. So, when white people call woc “exotic”, this is not a compliment as it dates back to white people othering woc, dehumanizing us, fetishizing us. It makes woc feel like we are being treated as objects and this is just the tip of the ice berg. Again, this is repeated with Adrik referring to her as exotic multiple times. Animals are exotic not woc. I will not go into further detail on this because it’s not my job as a woc to educate white people on why this is problematic.
My other issue with the way Sabrina is written is that we repeatedly get told that she is Puerto Rican and super close to both her parents, including her mother (Camille) who is her Puerto Rican parent. However, we don’t really see this (her culture) playing a part in any way on who she is. We get one tiny flashback scene of her mom making empanadillas. That’s all. This wasn’t surprising as in Camille’s book, we also get repeated reminding that she is Latina but besides being told this or emphasizing their brown skin repeatedly or in Sabrina’s case how exotic she is, we don’t get anything else showing us how their culture has shaped them. I’m not saying give me a Puerto Rican stereotype where Sabrina is dropping Spanish words at random, while daddy yankee’s gasolina plays in the background while eating mofongo every other chapter but put effort into who she is and the culture that is supposedly important to her because of her mom and Puerto Rican grandpa but we don’t get to see how it has shaped her. Which is more aggravating as I see that Sophie puts this great effort into researching Russian culture to the point that we get a history lesson on Russia, it’s leaders, drinking culture, wedding culture, etc. Yes, the majority of the book takes place in Moscow but again, the lead is a Latina and we don’t get anything else into her culture besides 1 sentence of her mom cooking empanadas, while being reminded how exotic her brown skin and body are.
The story progresses and Adrik goes on to degrade Sabrina verbally and physically. Sabrina once again points, screams out, that Adrik is not treating her like an equal and his partner in front of Jasper. Adrik’s big man ego can’t handle being talked to this way in front of his friend so he exposes Sabrina’s breasts in front of Jasper and goes on to shove his hand down her pants to basically put her in her place. Does he grovel? Nope, just bathes her and asks for forgiveness once. What does Sabrina say? “I’d forgive much worse than that”. The girl, who throughout this book and the other kingmakers books would drop anyone who would treat her like shit is being written as accepting being degraded, humiliated and apparently much worse if it came down to it. Why? Because she is in “love” and their “love” is different than “normal love”… that is not love, this entire relationship is so unhealthy to say the least. This is coming from someone with her degree in psychology and working on her M.S. in counseling psych. Yes, there are multiple times Adrik says in the book he respects Sabrina and her intelligence yet that’s not really shown in the way he continues to treat her.
Other things happen, Sabrina is still upset she isn’t being treated as he promised aka his partner and equal in the business. She’s tired of it and decides to confront Adrik. He basically admits that he never planned for that to happen and he just told her that (manipulated her) so she would follow him to Moscow. Once again proving that he sees her as nothing but for something for him to have. “You don’t care what I want! You don’t care what I feel!”. They break up, she leaves. Sabrina’s character goes even more downhill. Her recklessness comes out and she makes decisions that will hinder herself and Adrik’s business. However, in my opinion she really didn’t owe him shit since she came up with the product that is making Adrik rich.
Her self-destructive tendencies come out and the weird codependency from their relationship comes out as well. So much so that Sabrina turns to the drugs she’s making “I take the drug more often than I need for testing. I take it almost every day because it’s the only relief from the hurting”. She doesn’t eat, doesn’t sleep, doesn’t take care of herself and starts popping pills. Again, emphasizing how unhealthy their relationship is/was. Meanwhile throughout this breakup, Adrik is just sad and angry but nothing really happens to him. Sabrina’s recklessness, temper is something that has been pointed out by herself and other character’s in the book. I understand that characters sometimes need to hit rock bottom to grow up however, when the female lead is the only one suffering and to the extent that it’s almost suicidal due to the fall out of a toxic, codependent relationship just leaves a bitter taste.
Moving on, in what felt like a rushed ending and epilogue, Sabrina almost gets beat to death and a Bounty is put on her. She goes back to Adrik and she apologizes to him. I understand that she did mess with his business but did we also get an apology from Adrik for how he treated her throughout this time, how me lied to her, manipulated her? Nope, at least we don’t see it in the book. He does have one phone convo with Ivan on how he can become better but gain this felt so rushed and we didn’t really get to see how he changed for the better or in fact their relationship. At the end of the book Sabrina did not feel like she had any of the qualities that made her Sabrina. I understand people change, it’s normal but her character felt like an empty shell of what she once was. I know this is a dark romance, mafia story, I have read plenty but she was continuously treated in the worst way by someone she gave her heart to and I wanted so much better for her as a Latina and a woman.
To Sophie Lark and her passionate lark fans/followers:
First, I doubt you will read this review but in case you do, I want you to know this was not meant as an attack. Frankly, I hope you don’t take this rudely but I don’t care whether you get cancelled or not. I know that no matter what any author does there will always be people that support them (jk rowling and her billion dollar empire being an example). That’s just the truth. I will give the benefit of the doubt and hope that none of the problematic things I have pointed out regarding microaggressions were done with the intent to harm, it doesn’t seem like your character. However, it’s still not ok to have written those things out. You as a white woman should have never written a black woman referring to herself as a slave and her white man as her master. You as a white woman should have put more effort into Camille and Sabrina showing their Latinidad or how it plays a role in their life/how it shaped them because YOU decided to write Puerto Rican characters who deserve that effort. You as a white woman should not have written white characters (Adrik and Zoe) referring to a brown skin Latina as exotic repeatedly. You as a white woman should not have taken Shiva a sacred deity of Hinduism and compared Sabrina to her during a sexual act. This is not me trying to be offended it’s just pointing out things that are wrong and that you wrote because you (or your team) don’t have the knowledge or put in the effort to correct these things or inform yourself because you’re white. Although you’re a woman you will never experience what woc go through, each being a different experience on their race, ethnicity and the deeper their skin color goes. Frankly, please hire someone on your team that can catch these problematic/micro aggressive issues before they’re published. If you already have someone, hire someone better. Again, this is not an attack but a review written out in hopes that you do better by the woc in your books and the woc who read them because I have seen proper representation written about poc by authors who were not of the specific race/ethnicity they have written about.
To WOC who have read any of the Lark books I mentioned and enjoyed them or overlooked the issues I mentioned. This is not a dig at you, I just simply want better for us, that’s all. As a woc I should not have to look over such problematic issues/sentences written in books because the lack of representation is so low in the literary world, especially in romance. Crumbs don’t make a person feel full. I hope this opens the door to conversations and experiences by woc in the comments. Will I read more books by Sophie Lark? I honestly don’t know, I love her immersive writing style but I just honestly feel sad and disappointed.
And lastly to the inevitable poc pick me’s that will comment “I’m a Latina and I wasn’t offended by that, etc” (each poc community has them, iykyk). Don’t bring your self-hatred, self-internalized racism into the comment section. Please look inwardly and I hope you’re able to heal from that one day. You don’t agree and these issues don’t affect you or you don’t care? Ok, well move on but again I want better and I know better can be done.
Also, please read the entirety of this review before you feel like you need to come at me. This is not me trying to attack Sophie Lark or The Savage but simply to point out some things that aren’t ok whilst giving a review of this book.
When I finished reading The Spy a while ago I was super excited for Adrik and Sabrina's story. They both seemed like super cool, badass and independent characters. Plus, Sabrina being bisexual and Latina made me excited because I'm also Bi and Latina. At this point I had only read the Kingmakers series. Before The Savage came out I decided to read the Brutal Birthright Series which I was super excited to read because I heard a black woman (Simone) and a Latina (Camille) were the heroines of books in that series. This is something rarely seen in books and mafia books which got me hyped.
Imagine my surprise when I get to "Bloody Heart" (Dante and Simone's book) and I'm reading a spicy scene in Dante and Simone's book where they are reunited and as Simone is giving him the best head of his life she thinks "He can be my master and I’ll be his slave, if that’s what it takes to get him back”… followed by him spanking her with a belt repeatedly. The spanking would not have been an issue if Simone had not referred to herself as a slave and her white lover as her master (ugh!). Now you might be wondering “but hey! This is a review for The Savage not Simone’s book, what does this have to do with Sabrina?”. Again, please bear with me, emphasis on the please. MY JAW DROPPED because I couldn’t believe a white woman wrote this, her editor read this, and whoever else did and let it get published because WTF? Why would you as a white woman feel ok writing this? This is basic common sense to not do this.
After this book I took a break because I still couldn’t believe it. I had forgotten about The Savage and then it came out. I read it because I was curious as to how Sophie Lark would write about Sabrina, another woc, plus I have kindle unlimited so I thought I’m not really spending my money on it in case this is a train wreck.
Sabrina is introduced as this woman who wants to feel free in life, live by her choices/mistakes. She is extremely capable in various regards and is aware of her intelligence and beauty but doesn’t want to be treated as a piece of meat or just as a sexual object. She also has a temper and can be extremely reckless but hey we all have faults. She meets Adrik for their first date and is convinced that he will treat her as other men have before. However, Adrik surpasses that and treats her as she has wished to be treated all along by a man. They go their separate ways for months but keep in contact then they meet again in Oregon and have lots of sex again. Their connection felt a lot like instant love/lust. Although we get told that they talk/text a lot throughout their time apart, which is what helps build their connection, we don’t really get to see that. However, their time together before leaving to Moscow was really the best part of the book and super cute in my opinion. I loved the arcade date and seeing Nix and Sabrina’s friendship a bit more.
At this point Sabrina has to decide whether she goes back to Kingmakers or goes to Moscow with Adrik. She’s afraid to go with him “I don’t want to be your soldier. I want freedom, not a new master”. She wants to be his equal, his partner, something she reiterates aloud to him time and time again and something he promises to her. She goes with him hoping to create an empire together as equals as he has promised her.
One of my biggest issue with this story is that Adrik does not see her as his equal. Sabrina was reduced to such a grotesque sad version of who she initially started out as by Sophie Lark and Adrik. That probably wasn’t intended but that’s how it came across. Why? you ask (hopefully) Keep reading please.
From the beginning Sophie and Adrik put a lot of emphasis on her body. Which of course women can be proud of their bodies but for woc whose bodies are often oversexualized there is a thin line where it goes from empowering to fetishizing. Something which was emphasized when Sabrina kept being referred to as exotic while her body was being compared to objects such as Maseratis. Calling woc “exotic” repeatedly is problematic and microaggresive to say the least. A simple google search on “why is calling woc exotic problematic?” will have a lot of aritcles pop up (around 22 million), including scholarly journals written by woc. We first see Sabrina being called exotic by Zoe in the Rebel. If you’re Latino you will understand why having a Spaniard woman calling a Latina exotic is problematic. Hint; colonization, creation of caste system, Spanish putting down Latinos and fetishizing us, dehumanizing us, etc. So, when white people call woc “exotic”, this is not a compliment as it dates back to white people othering woc, dehumanizing us, fetishizing us. It makes woc feel like we are being treated as objects and this is just the tip of the ice berg. Again, this is repeated with Adrik referring to her as exotic multiple times. Animals are exotic not woc. I will not go into further detail on this because it’s not my job as a woc to educate white people on why this is problematic.
My other issue with the way Sabrina is written is that we repeatedly get told that she is Puerto Rican and super close to both her parents, including her mother (Camille) who is her Puerto Rican parent. However, we don’t really see this (her culture) playing a part in any way on who she is. We get one tiny flashback scene of her mom making empanadillas. That’s all. This wasn’t surprising as in Camille’s book, we also get repeated reminding that she is Latina but besides being told this or emphasizing their brown skin repeatedly or in Sabrina’s case how exotic she is, we don’t get anything else showing us how their culture has shaped them. I’m not saying give me a Puerto Rican stereotype where Sabrina is dropping Spanish words at random, while daddy yankee’s gasolina plays in the background while eating mofongo every other chapter but put effort into who she is and the culture that is supposedly important to her because of her mom and Puerto Rican grandpa but we don’t get to see how it has shaped her. Which is more aggravating as I see that Sophie puts this great effort into researching Russian culture to the point that we get a history lesson on Russia, it’s leaders, drinking culture, wedding culture, etc. Yes, the majority of the book takes place in Moscow but again, the lead is a Latina and we don’t get anything else into her culture besides 1 sentence of her mom cooking empanadas, while being reminded how exotic her brown skin and body are.
The story progresses and Adrik goes on to degrade Sabrina verbally and physically. Sabrina once again points, screams out, that Adrik is not treating her like an equal and his partner in front of Jasper. Adrik’s big man ego can’t handle being talked to this way in front of his friend so he exposes Sabrina’s breasts in front of Jasper and goes on to shove his hand down her pants to basically put her in her place. Does he grovel? Nope, just bathes her and asks for forgiveness once. What does Sabrina say? “I’d forgive much worse than that”. The girl, who throughout this book and the other kingmakers books would drop anyone who would treat her like shit is being written as accepting being degraded, humiliated and apparently much worse if it came down to it. Why? Because she is in “love” and their “love” is different than “normal love”… that is not love, this entire relationship is so unhealthy to say the least. This is coming from someone with her degree in psychology and working on her M.S. in counseling psych. Yes, there are multiple times Adrik says in the book he respects Sabrina and her intelligence yet that’s not really shown in the way he continues to treat her.
Other things happen, Sabrina is still upset she isn’t being treated as he promised aka his partner and equal in the business. She’s tired of it and decides to confront Adrik. He basically admits that he never planned for that to happen and he just told her that (manipulated her) so she would follow him to Moscow. Once again proving that he sees her as nothing but for something for him to have. “You don’t care what I want! You don’t care what I feel!”. They break up, she leaves. Sabrina’s character goes even more downhill. Her recklessness comes out and she makes decisions that will hinder herself and Adrik’s business. However, in my opinion she really didn’t owe him shit since she came up with the product that is making Adrik rich.
Her self-destructive tendencies come out and the weird codependency from their relationship comes out as well. So much so that Sabrina turns to the drugs she’s making “I take the drug more often than I need for testing. I take it almost every day because it’s the only relief from the hurting”. She doesn’t eat, doesn’t sleep, doesn’t take care of herself and starts popping pills. Again, emphasizing how unhealthy their relationship is/was. Meanwhile throughout this breakup, Adrik is just sad and angry but nothing really happens to him. Sabrina’s recklessness, temper is something that has been pointed out by herself and other character’s in the book. I understand that characters sometimes need to hit rock bottom to grow up however, when the female lead is the only one suffering and to the extent that it’s almost suicidal due to the fall out of a toxic, codependent relationship just leaves a bitter taste.
Moving on, in what felt like a rushed ending and epilogue, Sabrina almost gets beat to death and a Bounty is put on her. She goes back to Adrik and she apologizes to him. I understand that she did mess with his business but did we also get an apology from Adrik for how he treated her throughout this time, how me lied to her, manipulated her? Nope, at least we don’t see it in the book. He does have one phone convo with Ivan on how he can become better but gain this felt so rushed and we didn’t really get to see how he changed for the better or in fact their relationship. At the end of the book Sabrina did not feel like she had any of the qualities that made her Sabrina. I understand people change, it’s normal but her character felt like an empty shell of what she once was. I know this is a dark romance, mafia story, I have read plenty but she was continuously treated in the worst way by someone she gave her heart to and I wanted so much better for her as a Latina and a woman.
To Sophie Lark and her passionate lark fans/followers:
First, I doubt you will read this review but in case you do, I want you to know this was not meant as an attack. Frankly, I hope you don’t take this rudely but I don’t care whether you get cancelled or not. I know that no matter what any author does there will always be people that support them (jk rowling and her billion dollar empire being an example). That’s just the truth. I will give the benefit of the doubt and hope that none of the problematic things I have pointed out regarding microaggressions were done with the intent to harm, it doesn’t seem like your character. However, it’s still not ok to have written those things out. You as a white woman should have never written a black woman referring to herself as a slave and her white man as her master. You as a white woman should have put more effort into Camille and Sabrina showing their Latinidad or how it plays a role in their life/how it shaped them because YOU decided to write Puerto Rican characters who deserve that effort. You as a white woman should not have written white characters (Adrik and Zoe) referring to a brown skin Latina as exotic repeatedly. You as a white woman should not have taken Shiva a sacred deity of Hinduism and compared Sabrina to her during a sexual act. This is not me trying to be offended it’s just pointing out things that are wrong and that you wrote because you (or your team) don’t have the knowledge or put in the effort to correct these things or inform yourself because you’re white. Although you’re a woman you will never experience what woc go through, each being a different experience on their race, ethnicity and the deeper their skin color goes. Frankly, please hire someone on your team that can catch these problematic/micro aggressive issues before they’re published. If you already have someone, hire someone better. Again, this is not an attack but a review written out in hopes that you do better by the woc in your books and the woc who read them because I have seen proper representation written about poc by authors who were not of the specific race/ethnicity they have written about.
To WOC who have read any of the Lark books I mentioned and enjoyed them or overlooked the issues I mentioned. This is not a dig at you, I just simply want better for us, that’s all. As a woc I should not have to look over such problematic issues/sentences written in books because the lack of representation is so low in the literary world, especially in romance. Crumbs don’t make a person feel full. I hope this opens the door to conversations and experiences by woc in the comments. Will I read more books by Sophie Lark? I honestly don’t know, I love her immersive writing style but I just honestly feel sad and disappointed.
And lastly to the inevitable poc pick me’s that will comment “I’m a Latina and I wasn’t offended by that, etc” (each poc community has them, iykyk). Don’t bring your self-hatred, self-internalized racism into the comment section. Please look inwardly and I hope you’re able to heal from that one day. You don’t agree and these issues don’t affect you or you don’t care? Ok, well move on but again I want better and I know better can be done.
March 15, 2022
THIS BOOK. ADRIK & SABRINA. THE SPICE. IM AMAZED. 🥵🥵🥵😮💨😮💨😮💨
“You taste like a śłüt”
“And you fcking love it.”
“You taste like a śłüt”
“And you fcking love it.”
April 24, 2022
The Kingmakers series was one of my favorite series of 2021. It's masterfully written with incredible characters, a spectacular setting, action, intrigue, suspense, romance, and a whole lot of spice! If you haven't read it yet, what are you doing with your life?! It's a must read for new adult and mafia romance fans!
When I adore a series as much as I do this one, I never want it to end, so to say I was excited to hear that the author was releasing a new addition would be an understatement. The fact that it was Sabrina's book? I was fucking ecstatic!
Sabrina is a character that we see on and off throughout the previous books, and I think I speak for all fans of the series when I say, we NEEDED her story. There was no secondary character that interested me quite like her. When she met Adrik in The Spy, I was immediately invested! It would have been a travesty if Sophie never decided to bless us with this book.
Sabrina is wild, free spirited, headstrong, smart, and beautiful. She can't be tamed, and Adrik doesn't intend to try to. He appreciates her just the way she is. He's secure enough with himself that he doesn't feel threatened by Sabrina's alpha tendencies. In fact, he's more attracted to her because of them. On top of that, he's strong, sexy, intelligent, confident, loyal, and alpha but never possessive or jealous which makes her love him all the more.
Sabrina and Adrik are absolute fire together, and their intensity is unmatched! Their relationship is full of passion, mutual respect and adoration. Their chemistry is explosive, and the sex between them is scorching hot!
While their similarities are what make them perfect for each other 90 percent of the time, they can sometimes cause clashes between the two, and their differences even more so.
When there's two alphas in a relationship, and they don't agree on something, it can create somewhat of an issue. Someone has to come out on top, and when neither wants to back down, shit can goes sideways real quick!
As the story progressed, Sabrina and Adrik became kind of like a big ball of chaos rolling down a hill at high speed plowing down everything that got in it's way, and Sabrina was like (as one of my good friends put it) a top spinning out of control. I wanted to beat her with a broomstick until she calmed down, but damn if it wasn't entertaining! I fucking love drama and chaos in my romance!
All in all, The Savage is a great addition to the Kingmakers series. It's hot as hell, action packed, and full of crazy. If you're a fan of the series so far, don't hesitate to pick this one up!
Side note:
I would be beside myself if Anna's little sister got her own book!
I don't want to be greedy though.
Okay, yeah.... I'm lying.
Sophie, please give us just one more!
When I adore a series as much as I do this one, I never want it to end, so to say I was excited to hear that the author was releasing a new addition would be an understatement. The fact that it was Sabrina's book? I was fucking ecstatic!
Sabrina is a character that we see on and off throughout the previous books, and I think I speak for all fans of the series when I say, we NEEDED her story. There was no secondary character that interested me quite like her. When she met Adrik in The Spy, I was immediately invested! It would have been a travesty if Sophie never decided to bless us with this book.
Sabrina is wild, free spirited, headstrong, smart, and beautiful. She can't be tamed, and Adrik doesn't intend to try to. He appreciates her just the way she is. He's secure enough with himself that he doesn't feel threatened by Sabrina's alpha tendencies. In fact, he's more attracted to her because of them. On top of that, he's strong, sexy, intelligent, confident, loyal, and alpha but never possessive or jealous which makes her love him all the more.
Sabrina and Adrik are absolute fire together, and their intensity is unmatched! Their relationship is full of passion, mutual respect and adoration. Their chemistry is explosive, and the sex between them is scorching hot!
While their similarities are what make them perfect for each other 90 percent of the time, they can sometimes cause clashes between the two, and their differences even more so.
When there's two alphas in a relationship, and they don't agree on something, it can create somewhat of an issue. Someone has to come out on top, and when neither wants to back down, shit can goes sideways real quick!
As the story progressed, Sabrina and Adrik became kind of like a big ball of chaos rolling down a hill at high speed plowing down everything that got in it's way, and Sabrina was like (as one of my good friends put it) a top spinning out of control. I wanted to beat her with a broomstick until she calmed down, but damn if it wasn't entertaining! I fucking love drama and chaos in my romance!
All in all, The Savage is a great addition to the Kingmakers series. It's hot as hell, action packed, and full of crazy. If you're a fan of the series so far, don't hesitate to pick this one up!
Side note:
I would be beside myself if Anna's little sister got her own book!
I don't want to be greedy though.
Okay, yeah.... I'm lying.
Sophie, please give us just one more!
![Profile Image for Lori [semi-hiatus].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1652024485i%2F125758944._UX200_CR0%2C0%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
nopeeee
December 22, 2021Not for me
"Reader prepare yourself: the steam is off the charts, including FF and FFM scenes."
Thank you for the warning!
"Reader prepare yourself: the steam is off the charts, including FF and FFM scenes."
Thank you for the warning!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 20, 2022
2.75⭐️
ya don't look at the rating and decide not to read it because it was good. the problem was with me because i found this book 150 pages longer than it was supposed to be and i found the plot lacking.
i wanted it more to be like the other books in terms of it being in kingmakers but it was more mafia related and it kinda bored me because i wanted more romance.
oh ya i forgot to mention this but i fucking hated the daddy kink here :) i don't like when its random, i just didn't see how sab would do that since i find her so strong and whatnot.
the SMUT was fucking 5 of 5 stars. it was hot from beginning to end. kept me engaged and the FF and FFM scenes are to die for.
sophie lark please have a FF couple!!! i can only trust you to write sapphic books from now on.
“This is no angel fallen from heaven; the devil made Sabrina, and he knew what he was doing.”
ya don't look at the rating and decide not to read it because it was good. the problem was with me because i found this book 150 pages longer than it was supposed to be and i found the plot lacking.
i wanted it more to be like the other books in terms of it being in kingmakers but it was more mafia related and it kinda bored me because i wanted more romance.
oh ya i forgot to mention this but i fucking hated the daddy kink here :) i don't like when its random, i just didn't see how sab would do that since i find her so strong and whatnot.
the SMUT was fucking 5 of 5 stars. it was hot from beginning to end. kept me engaged and the FF and FFM scenes are to die for.
sophie lark please have a FF couple!!! i can only trust you to write sapphic books from now on.
March 13, 2022
*Thank you to the author for an eARC of this title.*
Well, here we are again! Back in Sophie Lark's Mafia world with the Kingmaker's series. A series that got a bonus book because the fan demand for more was so great and the author knows when to give her readers what they want. The author brought both barrels and a keg of dynamite to this pairing and it was just as explosive and full octane as we were promised!
Have I used enough weapons imagery yet? Yes? Okay, moving on.
The love story between Sabrina Gallo and Adrik Petrov was hinted at in the end of The Spy and we see their wedding in the epilogue of that book as well. Now we are rewinding back to shortly after the adventures of that story and Sabrina is coming home from the rest of the year at school and lands on the dock for her date with Adrik. He may have demanded this date with her and is ready to pull out all the stops to win her, but he has no clue what he is in for.
This book is a non-stop adventure from there on out. We see characters we love and hate from the past and meet some knew ones too. This is wild and sexy and lusty and fueled with that crazy brilliance that Sophie Lark is becoming known for. As I said, this book was everything we were promised it would be.
It's been just about a year now since I first read a book by this author, and I could never have guessed what I was in for, or the stories I was going to enjoy. The words put on the page are powerful and hit you in the gut time after time. I've never read a recycled plot or two characters that are copies of one another. Even when they may get compared to each other, they are their own unique beings and I LOVE that.
I think it is a great quality in a writer and shows real talent, to always be searching for something new and different and to never take the easy way through a story. That is something that I've never seen this author do.
All that being said, and I truly hope I can have this come across the way I want it to. This book was not what I personally enjoy reading. Not every story is going to be for me. That doesn't mean I won't still recommend it or still shout about how great this story is, but I had 2 main issues that lessened my enjoyment quite a bit.
The first one is… this relationship is toxic. It is build on passion and getting the next fix and seeing how wild they can be together. The characters are very similar in a lot of ways. They are two Alphas with an irresistible attraction to one another. That can be good for them and sometimes it can be horrible. That is all part of the journey. That is who this couple is and it isn't anything that I would change. It just isn't for me. I couldn't connect with them the way I have with previous couples that I love so much. I would DIE for a Dean & Cat, or Raylan & Riona… that's just who I connect with more.
But Sabrina and Adrik can't be anyone else. This is the characters being true to who they are. I just don't connect with them and it left me pretty detached during their big struggles and the conflict of the story. I didn't feel empathy for the situation they found themselves in and I honestly wish they had to talk through how they got there a bit more.
The second issue for me and this one is super specific and very triggering for my own mental state. There are a LOT of drugs in this story. Recreational and party drugs play a huge part of the plot. I won't say how because it's a big spoiler. But there were large scenes in this book that I had to skim or skip because my skin was crawling and I felt overwhelmed.
Now, I know Mafia stories have drugs in them. I have read plenty that do! But usually… it's more of an off-screen event. Like, the boss has a drug trade, but his underlings sell it and he just makes the money. He may even forbid his men from having any of it, so they don't get addicted. So it doesn't trigger me.
In this book… they are a huge part of it and in some seriously intimate ways.
I am not shaming anyone who does drugs but just like any trigger, we can't control what sets us off. And for me the scenes involving mind and body altering substances… they were NOT sexy for me. My stomach was sick and I was disturbed more often than not. So…. Yeah… that was a big damper on my fun times with these characters.
Most people will not take this as seriously as me and I am glad! This book is a wild ride and I could see it like a film in my mind. I actually tried using the playlist at the suggested times as well and that was a lot of fun. The writing is still so epic and just sweeps you right along and it is hard to ever put it down. I think Sophie is only going to grow in what she creates and I can't wait to see it.
4 Stars
4.5 on the spice scale.
CW: Drugs & Controlled Substances, Violence.
Well, here we are again! Back in Sophie Lark's Mafia world with the Kingmaker's series. A series that got a bonus book because the fan demand for more was so great and the author knows when to give her readers what they want. The author brought both barrels and a keg of dynamite to this pairing and it was just as explosive and full octane as we were promised!
Have I used enough weapons imagery yet? Yes? Okay, moving on.
The love story between Sabrina Gallo and Adrik Petrov was hinted at in the end of The Spy and we see their wedding in the epilogue of that book as well. Now we are rewinding back to shortly after the adventures of that story and Sabrina is coming home from the rest of the year at school and lands on the dock for her date with Adrik. He may have demanded this date with her and is ready to pull out all the stops to win her, but he has no clue what he is in for.
This book is a non-stop adventure from there on out. We see characters we love and hate from the past and meet some knew ones too. This is wild and sexy and lusty and fueled with that crazy brilliance that Sophie Lark is becoming known for. As I said, this book was everything we were promised it would be.
It's been just about a year now since I first read a book by this author, and I could never have guessed what I was in for, or the stories I was going to enjoy. The words put on the page are powerful and hit you in the gut time after time. I've never read a recycled plot or two characters that are copies of one another. Even when they may get compared to each other, they are their own unique beings and I LOVE that.
I think it is a great quality in a writer and shows real talent, to always be searching for something new and different and to never take the easy way through a story. That is something that I've never seen this author do.
All that being said, and I truly hope I can have this come across the way I want it to. This book was not what I personally enjoy reading. Not every story is going to be for me. That doesn't mean I won't still recommend it or still shout about how great this story is, but I had 2 main issues that lessened my enjoyment quite a bit.
The first one is… this relationship is toxic. It is build on passion and getting the next fix and seeing how wild they can be together. The characters are very similar in a lot of ways. They are two Alphas with an irresistible attraction to one another. That can be good for them and sometimes it can be horrible. That is all part of the journey. That is who this couple is and it isn't anything that I would change. It just isn't for me. I couldn't connect with them the way I have with previous couples that I love so much. I would DIE for a Dean & Cat, or Raylan & Riona… that's just who I connect with more.
But Sabrina and Adrik can't be anyone else. This is the characters being true to who they are. I just don't connect with them and it left me pretty detached during their big struggles and the conflict of the story. I didn't feel empathy for the situation they found themselves in and I honestly wish they had to talk through how they got there a bit more.
The second issue for me and this one is super specific and very triggering for my own mental state. There are a LOT of drugs in this story. Recreational and party drugs play a huge part of the plot. I won't say how because it's a big spoiler. But there were large scenes in this book that I had to skim or skip because my skin was crawling and I felt overwhelmed.
Now, I know Mafia stories have drugs in them. I have read plenty that do! But usually… it's more of an off-screen event. Like, the boss has a drug trade, but his underlings sell it and he just makes the money. He may even forbid his men from having any of it, so they don't get addicted. So it doesn't trigger me.
In this book… they are a huge part of it and in some seriously intimate ways.
I am not shaming anyone who does drugs but just like any trigger, we can't control what sets us off. And for me the scenes involving mind and body altering substances… they were NOT sexy for me. My stomach was sick and I was disturbed more often than not. So…. Yeah… that was a big damper on my fun times with these characters.
Most people will not take this as seriously as me and I am glad! This book is a wild ride and I could see it like a film in my mind. I actually tried using the playlist at the suggested times as well and that was a lot of fun. The writing is still so epic and just sweeps you right along and it is hard to ever put it down. I think Sophie is only going to grow in what she creates and I can't wait to see it.
4 Stars
4.5 on the spice scale.
CW: Drugs & Controlled Substances, Violence.
September 26, 2025
Sophie Lark sat down in front of her computer, and decided to do 3 things with this book when she was typing out this manuscript.
1: Ruin Sabrina as a character.
2: Erase the word "Grovel" from the dictionary.
3: Write a couple with decent sexual chemistry, but absolutely ZERO romantic chemistry.
She accomplished all 3! Yay!
Sabrina started great! Loved her in the beginning.
She was headstrong, confident, sexy.
As the book goes on, though, especially after the whole
"I would forgive much worse" thing she said to the hero after he humiliated her sexually in front of Jasper,
Sabrina became the opposite of what I just described,
insecure,
meek,
And NOT so sexy. . .
and she NEVER recovered.
Sophie Lark also decided that she was gonna make the hero fuck up and fuck Sabrina over and never apologize or grovel or even at the minimum, ask for Sabrina's forgiveness.
IN FACT, Sophie Lark said "fuck women's rights,"
and made SABRINA the one to apologize.
It was so absurd.
Also, the smut may have been decent in this and the story/plot may have been engaging, but the romance was COMPLETELY lacking. The hero was not up to par.
I did not believe for ONE SECOND that this man loves Sabrina.
Sabrina deserves better, but I don't think Sabrina knows she does...
Poor gal.
1: Ruin Sabrina as a character.
2: Erase the word "Grovel" from the dictionary.
3: Write a couple with decent sexual chemistry, but absolutely ZERO romantic chemistry.
She accomplished all 3! Yay!
Sabrina started great! Loved her in the beginning.
She was headstrong, confident, sexy.
As the book goes on, though, especially after the whole
"I would forgive much worse" thing she said to the hero after he humiliated her sexually in front of Jasper,
Sabrina became the opposite of what I just described,
insecure,
meek,
And NOT so sexy. . .
and she NEVER recovered.
Sophie Lark also decided that she was gonna make the hero fuck up and fuck Sabrina over and never apologize or grovel or even at the minimum, ask for Sabrina's forgiveness.
IN FACT, Sophie Lark said "fuck women's rights,"
and made SABRINA the one to apologize.
It was so absurd.
Also, the smut may have been decent in this and the story/plot may have been engaging, but the romance was COMPLETELY lacking. The hero was not up to par.
I did not believe for ONE SECOND that this man loves Sabrina.
Sabrina deserves better, but I don't think Sabrina knows she does...
Poor gal.
March 15, 2022
Every time I read a new Sophie Lark book I have this huge feeling of anticipation, wondering how she's going to surprise me next. And she always does, I'm never disappointed with a new Sophie book.
I have been anticipating Sabrina and Adrik's story since we saw them in The Spy, largely because of Sabrina. She is this no holds barred kind of woman who knows what she wants and with zero fear and no apologies goes after it. The Savage is all about her journey, finding love, and making choices that set her on a wild path of adventure.
And Adrik is her match in every way. I loved how much he adored and wanted Sabrina and I REALLY enjoyed watching him battle with his desire to dominate her in all ways while still wanting her to be the wild creature she is.
And the plot of this book was a RIDE. Almost like an action movie with a very cinematic feel, in a dark and gritty crime underbelly setting. Exactly like a Tarantino movie.
The Wolfpack was also a huge delight in this, each member of the crew was a fully fleshed out character and I ADORED Jasper by the end and really hope we see him again.
Can we also appreciate how funny some parts of this dark book were? Sophie leveled up her humor and I was here for it!
The Savage was brutal, sexy, heart pounding, clever, and overall a complete thrill ride. I loved every page.
This book gets really heavy and dark with the underworld of the Russian Mafia, drugs are a big part of the plot and the overall vibe of the book is dark, gritty, and has this menacing feeling like our characters are on the verge of catastrophe.
And I LOVED that Sophie took it to that level. The whole time I was reading this the feeling of impending doom is huge and it was a completely compelling reading experience. I couldn't put the book down and if I had to I was constantly thinking about it until I could pick it up again.
* I received an ARC from the author for review, thank you!*
I have been anticipating Sabrina and Adrik's story since we saw them in The Spy, largely because of Sabrina. She is this no holds barred kind of woman who knows what she wants and with zero fear and no apologies goes after it. The Savage is all about her journey, finding love, and making choices that set her on a wild path of adventure.
And Adrik is her match in every way. I loved how much he adored and wanted Sabrina and I REALLY enjoyed watching him battle with his desire to dominate her in all ways while still wanting her to be the wild creature she is.
And the plot of this book was a RIDE. Almost like an action movie with a very cinematic feel, in a dark and gritty crime underbelly setting. Exactly like a Tarantino movie.
The Wolfpack was also a huge delight in this, each member of the crew was a fully fleshed out character and I ADORED Jasper by the end and really hope we see him again.
Can we also appreciate how funny some parts of this dark book were? Sophie leveled up her humor and I was here for it!
The Savage was brutal, sexy, heart pounding, clever, and overall a complete thrill ride. I loved every page.
This book gets really heavy and dark with the underworld of the Russian Mafia, drugs are a big part of the plot and the overall vibe of the book is dark, gritty, and has this menacing feeling like our characters are on the verge of catastrophe.
And I LOVED that Sophie took it to that level. The whole time I was reading this the feeling of impending doom is huge and it was a completely compelling reading experience. I couldn't put the book down and if I had to I was constantly thinking about it until I could pick it up again.
* I received an ARC from the author for review, thank you!*
January 6, 2024
First, this book was way longer than it needed to be. It just dragged.
Second, what was this book even trying to be? The romance and 'connection'—if you could even call it that—between Adrik and Sabrina was way too convenient, along with their obsession with each other. The chemistry felt particularly forced at certain points. I didn't buy into their love at all. Honestly, this barely felt like a Sophie Lark book.
I found Sabrina Gallo unlikable, selfish, and arrogant. Ultimately, it seemed she had a hard time caring about others, and was mostly driven by lust and impulsiveness. Even when she did care, it didn't seem genuine enough, imo. What she puts her parents (Nero Gallo & Camille Rivera) through is so stupid and disrespectful. Nero and Camille are one of my favourite couples. Although their book wasn't perfect, I still think they were the definition of soulmates. I felt so damn bad that they had to deal with this immature girl. Towards the end, I had a feeling her dad would end up saving her dumbass self, and I was 100% right.
Adrik was... meh. I didn't mind him at first, but he quickly turned into a total disgrace. It's hard to believe he's the son of Dominik Petrov and Lara Erdeli/Kazarian. Given the choice, I'd pick Dom a hundred times over; he's a better man and a more compelling character. Adrik is exaggerated, and so is Sabrina, to the point that I was choking on it at times. Adrik treated Sabrina like shit so many times. He lied to her so much and didn't even apologize in the end. And when she apologized to him? I was like, 'What the hell are you doing!? He's a total dick!'"
Ugh why??? Stop asking for his and his wolfpack's forgiveness! He deceived you! Did he apologize to you??? I didn't like Sabrina originally but I dislike this pushover version even more. Adrik just had too much pride, and it wasn't attractive or badass. Get off your high horse, d*ckhead.
Also, there's a cheating factor, but authors do this weird thing where they make it seem like FF sex isn't inherently considered cheating. It's only cheating if you hop on another d*ck instead of another puss puss. The girl-on-girl encounters are overly fetishized here.
Also, this one particular moment is eye-roll worthy:
I seriously doubt he would ever say that he doesn't care if Sabrina wanted to bring another man home.
Now, let's talk about Jasper Webb for a hot minute. We're all aware he played the bystander and was also a willing participant to a lot of painful moments in Kingmakers. Lark attempted a redemption arc for him here, but, imo, he's just not redeemable. The big question is, why even bring him back on page in the first place? It was so unnecessary. And he was present until the end. Why? He served as Adrik's right-hand man. Why!? He was one of Adrik's groomsmen. WHY?!?!
Let's rewind to one of many moments in The Rebel that cemented my strong dislike for him:
Did Lark honestly believe people would just forget about this repulsive behaviour of his? Having a sad past doesn't, in any way, excuse his horrible actions.
Additionally, Zoe had said Jasper and Dax were Rocco's "favourite henchmen". The reasons were clear:
The fact that Zoe claims Jasper is almost as cruel as Rocco, her horrible ex-fiancé, says something. I honestly think Lark made a total misstep by featuring Jasper in The Savage. She should've shut the door on him and never let his character resurface again.
Remember what Ozzy said to Miles in The Rebel :
I will always be on Ozzy and Miles' side. ALWAYS.
Though Idk how this revenge would play out, given that Jasper is close to Adrik and also to Sabrina by the end. So how exactly is Miles going to help Ozzy without facing retaliation from Adrik and his dumbass crew? Miles is Sabrina's cousin. His loyalty is to Ozzy but also to her, I guess. In any case, I hope Ozzy succeeds in his revenge, and I hope Miles stands by him. F*ck Adrik and his b*tchass "wolfpack".
One weird thing from Sabrina's POV surprised me:
She's talking about Jasper. Now how in the fuck did Jasper manage to be even remotely classified as "something of a friend" to Leo? If Leo actually does regard him as a friend, even to a small extent, then my respect for Leo can't help but be greatly reduced.
This particular instance irked me as well:
Pfft. It's annoying she says this. It's even more annoying that Leo would say this. Did he even say that? Because in The Rebel , THIS is what Leo said:
?? Is this a continuity error or smth? Tf
In any case, even just suggesting that Jasper could beat Dean in boxing under any circumstances is a farce. Snow outright stated that Dean was the best in his class.
This is Jasper's reply to Sabrina:
Shut the f**k up and sit down, clown.
And seriously, wtf was that scene with Adrik, Sabrina, and Jasper? Adrik crossed the line. He straight-up belittled and mocked Sabrina by flaunting how "wet" she was to Jasper. I really wish she hadn't forgiven him so quickly. He had no right to grope her like that and expose her to Jasper. For a moment, I got genuinely concerned it was heading into Penelope Douglas territory with the uncomfortable and absurdly over-the-top threesomes or prolonged voyeurism. I know there was a threesome at the beginning with Kylie, but Sabrina actively pursued her along with Adrik, whereas with being exposed to Jasper, Sabrina did not give her consent.
I don't even like Sabrina but I hated Jasper's obvious contempt towards her. It goes on for way too long for my liking. He was jealous of her, and he didn't want her in the wolfpack:
Adrik didn't do enough to stop Jasper's disdain for Sabrina. Every time Sabrina was made to feel stupid or not good enough, Adrik should have reassured her and told his henchmen to fuck right off.
I don't like how he thought about her, and even more so, I don't like how he talked to her at times or how he talked about her:
Then in the following chapter, he goes and does something volatile and unpredictable himself lmao.
Anyways, Jasper is one of the main reasons this book didn't work for me. I could say more about him but I wanna stop thinking of his detestable character so let's move on!
Unlike the other books, the interactions with the parents in this one annoyed me and rubbed me wrong. Sabrina was annoying af. Adrik was annoying af. Both of them being the equivalent of pressure cookers. And no, this did not make them righteous or badass. They simply threw tantrums left and right.
Furthermore:
Dom wasn't even saying anything out of line. He had every right to question his son's very questionable choices. Adrik just loses his temper whenever someone has a different opinion than him and that's what drove him and Sabrina apart. He was always an egotistical d*ckhole.
Sabrina was childish and wouldn't listen when Sloane or Nero were just spitting facts. Sabrina got pissed when her dad tried to warn her about Adrik and his world. And Adrik got all bent out of shape when Sloane talked to him about Sabrina at one point. Almost every time Adrik or Sabrina dealt with their betters, they acted like immature brats. And let's be real, you can't even compare Sabrina to Sloane. Sloane's everything Sabrina falls short of; they're not even playing in the same league. I don't necessarily like the codependency crap Sloane kept implying to Sabrina, but overall, she's cool.
And I can't wrap my head around why Lark decided Nero was the type of father who would leave his daughter battered and bruised in a clinic, completely unprotected, simply because she's too proud and stubborn to accept his help. I get Sabrina wants to make her own choices and Nero would understand that to a certain degree, but even with all his understanding, he sure as fuck wouldn't leave her in such a state. That's just not who he is. I refuse to see him that way. I just can't picture it. It really sucks that the same author who wrote Savage Lover would depict him in this manner.
Adrik didn't really do shit in the end. He wasn't in control of a lot of things. Sabrina didn't do shit either. Remember the convo she had with her dad in chapter 23:
That is so embarrassing.
Because guess who the real hero was in the end? NERO. Yup. NERO saved Sabrina. NERO even saved the dumbass Wolfpack from more blowback. NERO had to spend a fortune to buy back the Winter Diamond for his daughter's mistakes. NERO had to charm the Bratva and broker a deal even though he absolutely and rightfully despises them. Give it up for NERO, the true hero of the story.
F**k Adrik and f**k Sabrina. Jasper can f**k off too.
I haven't been this disappointed in a book in a long time. I'll say it again: This did not feel like a Sophie Lark book. Lark has some other books featuring insta-love, and they handle it much more skillfully than whatever this was.
Lark should've ended the series with Nix's story. This book was so damn unnecessary. Who cares if a bunch of people requested it? For fuck's sake, it doesn't even take place in Kingmakers! You should've stuck to your initial plan.
And I'll ask again: Why is this book so needlessly long!?
I gave this book 0 stars but changed it to 1/5 stars for Nero.
---
Ratings:
The Heir: 2.7/5
The Rebel: 3.8/5
The Bully: 4.5/5
The Spy: 3/5
The Savage: 1/5
Couples:
Leo Gallo & Anna Wilk: bit weird but ultimately made sense
Miles Griffin & Zoe Romero: classic saviour love story
Dean Yenin & Cat Romero: bully romance that developed into something beautiful
The Spy & Nix Moroz: another classic trope though this one's not the best
Adrik Petrov & Sabrina Gallo: Hell nah
And,
Leo, Miles, Dean, & Rafe alone or combined >>>> Adrik.
Anna, Zoe, Cat, & Nix alone or combined >>>> Sabrina.
Also the Italian mafia, Irish mafia & Braterstwo alone or combined >>>> Russian mafia, especially after reading this load of crap. Just sayin.
Dean Yenin is still my fave 😚
Second, what was this book even trying to be? The romance and 'connection'—if you could even call it that—between Adrik and Sabrina was way too convenient, along with their obsession with each other. The chemistry felt particularly forced at certain points. I didn't buy into their love at all. Honestly, this barely felt like a Sophie Lark book.
I found Sabrina Gallo unlikable, selfish, and arrogant. Ultimately, it seemed she had a hard time caring about others, and was mostly driven by lust and impulsiveness. Even when she did care, it didn't seem genuine enough, imo. What she puts her parents (Nero Gallo & Camille Rivera) through is so stupid and disrespectful. Nero and Camille are one of my favourite couples. Although their book wasn't perfect, I still think they were the definition of soulmates. I felt so damn bad that they had to deal with this immature girl. Towards the end, I had a feeling her dad would end up saving her dumbass self, and I was 100% right.
Adrik was... meh. I didn't mind him at first, but he quickly turned into a total disgrace. It's hard to believe he's the son of Dominik Petrov and Lara Erdeli/Kazarian. Given the choice, I'd pick Dom a hundred times over; he's a better man and a more compelling character. Adrik is exaggerated, and so is Sabrina, to the point that I was choking on it at times. Adrik treated Sabrina like shit so many times. He lied to her so much and didn't even apologize in the end. And when she apologized to him? I was like, 'What the hell are you doing!? He's a total dick!'"
“Softly, so softly that I don’t know if he’ll hear me, I say, “Thank you for forgiving me.”
“I’ll always forgive you, baby girl. Just don’t leave me again.”
“I won’t. I can’t.”
Ugh why??? Stop asking for his and his wolfpack's forgiveness! He deceived you! Did he apologize to you??? I didn't like Sabrina originally but I dislike this pushover version even more. Adrik just had too much pride, and it wasn't attractive or badass. Get off your high horse, d*ckhead.
Also, there's a cheating factor, but authors do this weird thing where they make it seem like FF sex isn't inherently considered cheating. It's only cheating if you hop on another d*ck instead of another puss puss. The girl-on-girl encounters are overly fetishized here.
Also, this one particular moment is eye-roll worthy:
“I don’t know if I could be monogamous,” I say to Adrik. “I didn’t bring a girl home—but I might another night.”
“Bring one home every night,” Adrik says. “I don’t care.”
“It doesn’t make you jealous?”
“I don’t care who you fuck. I want your love and your loyalty, Sabrina—can you give that to me?”
I seriously doubt he would ever say that he doesn't care if Sabrina wanted to bring another man home.
Now, let's talk about Jasper Webb for a hot minute. We're all aware he played the bystander and was also a willing participant to a lot of painful moments in Kingmakers. Lark attempted a redemption arc for him here, but, imo, he's just not redeemable. The big question is, why even bring him back on page in the first place? It was so unnecessary. And he was present until the end. Why? He served as Adrik's right-hand man. Why!? He was one of Adrik's groomsmen. WHY?!?!
Let's rewind to one of many moments in The Rebel that cemented my strong dislike for him:
“Nice breakfast, biker bitch,” Jasper says to her. “I always knew you liked sausage.”
Chay picks up one of the brats in her fingers and takes a ferocious bite off the end, chewing loudly in Jasper’s face.
“I only like big, thick sausages,” she says coolly. “From what I hear, you’ve barely got an Oscar Meyer weenie.”
“Big enough to choke you when I shove it down your throat, you fucking whore,” Jasper hisses, his nose almost touching hers.
“Fucking try it and see what happens,” Anna says furiously from Chay’s other side.”
Did Lark honestly believe people would just forget about this repulsive behaviour of his? Having a sad past doesn't, in any way, excuse his horrible actions.
Additionally, Zoe had said Jasper and Dax were Rocco's "favourite henchmen". The reasons were clear:
“Dax because he’s a nasty brawler—thickly muscled, with a square, blocky head and a bulldog jaw, and Jasper because he’s almost as cruel as Rocco himself. ”
The fact that Zoe claims Jasper is almost as cruel as Rocco, her horrible ex-fiancé, says something. I honestly think Lark made a total misstep by featuring Jasper in The Savage. She should've shut the door on him and never let his character resurface again.
Remember what Ozzy said to Miles in The Rebel :
“In five years, ten . . . when it seems unrelated, when nobody remembers but me . . . I want to kill them. Rocco, Jasper, Dax.”
“If you want that, I’ll help you,” I promise him. “Whatever you feel is just . . . I’m there.”
“I hoped you’d say that,” Ozzy says, quietly.”
I will always be on Ozzy and Miles' side. ALWAYS.
Though Idk how this revenge would play out, given that Jasper is close to Adrik and also to Sabrina by the end. So how exactly is Miles going to help Ozzy without facing retaliation from Adrik and his dumbass crew? Miles is Sabrina's cousin. His loyalty is to Ozzy but also to her, I guess. In any case, I hope Ozzy succeeds in his revenge, and I hope Miles stands by him. F*ck Adrik and his b*tchass "wolfpack".
One weird thing from Sabrina's POV surprised me:
“He graduated before I ever came to Kingmakers, but my cousins described him in detail. He was an enemy to Miles and something of a friend to Leo.”
She's talking about Jasper. Now how in the fuck did Jasper manage to be even remotely classified as "something of a friend" to Leo? If Leo actually does regard him as a friend, even to a small extent, then my respect for Leo can't help but be greatly reduced.
This particular instance irked me as well:
“Leo told me about the boxing tournament at Kingmakers,” I say to Jasper. “He said you almost won the whole thing. That you might have taken down Dean if you didn’t have to fight Silas first.”
Pfft. It's annoying she says this. It's even more annoying that Leo would say this. Did he even say that? Because in The Rebel , THIS is what Leo said:
“Maybe Jasper could have made it if he didn’t fight Silas first,” Chay says.
“I doubt it,” Leo says, shaking his head. “Dean’s so fucking good.”
?? Is this a continuity error or smth? Tf
In any case, even just suggesting that Jasper could beat Dean in boxing under any circumstances is a farce. Snow outright stated that Dean was the best in his class.
This is Jasper's reply to Sabrina:
"I'd like to fight him again"
Shut the f**k up and sit down, clown.
And seriously, wtf was that scene with Adrik, Sabrina, and Jasper? Adrik crossed the line. He straight-up belittled and mocked Sabrina by flaunting how "wet" she was to Jasper. I really wish she hadn't forgiven him so quickly. He had no right to grope her like that and expose her to Jasper. For a moment, I got genuinely concerned it was heading into Penelope Douglas territory with the uncomfortable and absurdly over-the-top threesomes or prolonged voyeurism. I know there was a threesome at the beginning with Kylie, but Sabrina actively pursued her along with Adrik, whereas with being exposed to Jasper, Sabrina did not give her consent.
I don't even like Sabrina but I hated Jasper's obvious contempt towards her. It goes on for way too long for my liking. He was jealous of her, and he didn't want her in the wolfpack:
[...] “This will be a custom experience. Exclusive to us.”
Jasper’s jaw shifts as if he’s biting the inside of his mouth. He doesn’t like that I’m already saying “us.” He doesn’t want there to be an us.”
Adrik didn't do enough to stop Jasper's disdain for Sabrina. Every time Sabrina was made to feel stupid or not good enough, Adrik should have reassured her and told his henchmen to fuck right off.
“Jasper throws Adrik a look. It means, Get your bitch on a leash.”
I don't like how he thought about her, and even more so, I don't like how he talked to her at times or how he talked about her:
“Jasper already resents Sabrina’s presence the most of anyone in the house. He believes she’s warping my decisions. I had to show him that she’s no succubus bewitching my mind. I had to demonstrate that I’m the one in control.”
...
As soon as he sees me, he says, “I think Sabrina should stay in the lab.”
....
“She’s volatile,” Jasper says. “Unpredictable.”
“She’s also useful,” I remind him. “I’m not keeping her locked in the house.”
“You saw how she lost her temper over nothing. What if something really pisses her off? She could get us in serious shit.”
Then in the following chapter, he goes and does something volatile and unpredictable himself lmao.
Anyways, Jasper is one of the main reasons this book didn't work for me. I could say more about him but I wanna stop thinking of his detestable character so let's move on!
Unlike the other books, the interactions with the parents in this one annoyed me and rubbed me wrong. Sabrina was annoying af. Adrik was annoying af. Both of them being the equivalent of pressure cookers. And no, this did not make them righteous or badass. They simply threw tantrums left and right.
Furthermore:
“I look at Sabrina, my throat too tight to speak. She’s meeting my father boldly, her tone respectful, but her words impossible to mistake. She won’t stand anyone criticizing me.”
Dom wasn't even saying anything out of line. He had every right to question his son's very questionable choices. Adrik just loses his temper whenever someone has a different opinion than him and that's what drove him and Sabrina apart. He was always an egotistical d*ckhole.
Sabrina was childish and wouldn't listen when Sloane or Nero were just spitting facts. Sabrina got pissed when her dad tried to warn her about Adrik and his world. And Adrik got all bent out of shape when Sloane talked to him about Sabrina at one point. Almost every time Adrik or Sabrina dealt with their betters, they acted like immature brats. And let's be real, you can't even compare Sabrina to Sloane. Sloane's everything Sabrina falls short of; they're not even playing in the same league. I don't necessarily like the codependency crap Sloane kept implying to Sabrina, but overall, she's cool.
And I can't wrap my head around why Lark decided Nero was the type of father who would leave his daughter battered and bruised in a clinic, completely unprotected, simply because she's too proud and stubborn to accept his help. I get Sabrina wants to make her own choices and Nero would understand that to a certain degree, but even with all his understanding, he sure as fuck wouldn't leave her in such a state. That's just not who he is. I refuse to see him that way. I just can't picture it. It really sucks that the same author who wrote Savage Lover would depict him in this manner.
Adrik didn't really do shit in the end. He wasn't in control of a lot of things. Sabrina didn't do shit either. Remember the convo she had with her dad in chapter 23:
“Dad: “I’m not playing with you, Sabrina. You cannot fuck with the Bratva. You get yourself in trouble over there and I can’t save you.”
Me: “I don’t need you to save me. I can take care of myself.”
That is so embarrassing.
Because guess who the real hero was in the end? NERO. Yup. NERO saved Sabrina. NERO even saved the dumbass Wolfpack from more blowback. NERO had to spend a fortune to buy back the Winter Diamond for his daughter's mistakes. NERO had to charm the Bratva and broker a deal even though he absolutely and rightfully despises them. Give it up for NERO, the true hero of the story.
F**k Adrik and f**k Sabrina. Jasper can f**k off too.
I haven't been this disappointed in a book in a long time. I'll say it again: This did not feel like a Sophie Lark book. Lark has some other books featuring insta-love, and they handle it much more skillfully than whatever this was.
Lark should've ended the series with Nix's story. This book was so damn unnecessary. Who cares if a bunch of people requested it? For fuck's sake, it doesn't even take place in Kingmakers! You should've stuck to your initial plan.
And I'll ask again: Why is this book so needlessly long!?
I gave this book 0 stars but changed it to 1/5 stars for Nero.
---
Ratings:
The Heir: 2.7/5
The Rebel: 3.8/5
The Bully: 4.5/5
The Spy: 3/5
The Savage: 1/5
Couples:
Leo Gallo & Anna Wilk: bit weird but ultimately made sense
Miles Griffin & Zoe Romero: classic saviour love story
Dean Yenin & Cat Romero: bully romance that developed into something beautiful
The Spy & Nix Moroz: another classic trope though this one's not the best
Adrik Petrov & Sabrina Gallo: Hell nah
And,
Leo, Miles, Dean, & Rafe alone or combined >>>> Adrik.
Anna, Zoe, Cat, & Nix alone or combined >>>> Sabrina.
Also the Italian mafia, Irish mafia & Braterstwo alone or combined >>>> Russian mafia, especially after reading this load of crap. Just sayin.
Dean Yenin is still my fave 😚
March 16, 2022
“I like what I am. I’m not afraid to be more.”
Sabrina Gallo knows who she is and she knows exactly what she wants. It’s all a matter of saying screw expectation and reaching out and taking it, and now figuring out how to do that alongside someone else. Adrik sees Sabrina for the fierce woman that she is. He knows she’s more than anyone could dare to imagine and she is exactly who he wants.
I don’t want to spoil this story for anyone, so I’m going to keep my thoughts as base layer and vague as possible. I think what I love most about The Savage is that Sophie saw how drawn all of us were to Sabrina and truly gave us HER full throttle and without holding back. She’s falling in love in this story and while she knows herself, she’s also finding new parts of herself and creating a life in a new world. She makes mistakes. She gets mad. She speaks her mind. She is insanely human and I love how even though she lives a life they feels unbelievable she is still an extremely real character.
“It scares me. I feel desperate and crazy—way past normal. I feel like I was already on the edge, and then I met you and I jumped right off the cliff.”
Adrik is easy to love as well. He’s so much like Sabrina that it causes a lot of chaos in their relationship, but it’s as if they already know one another so well right off the bat. Sure I wanted to strangle him a few times, but that’s understandable because Sabrina comes first for me. The pull these two had toward one another, the chemistry, and the ease that these two have, even with all the chaos that ensues, usually because of one of them, is just mind blowing. It’s honestly like they each found their perfect pairing in the midst of a rescue mission. What are the odds? Sigh. Just thinking about their love makes me smile.
It’s wild. It’s intense. It’s hot. It’s volatile. And their romance is only a portion of what this story is about. There’s much much more going on than the romance, but yeah it’s obviously one of my favorite parts because not only do they find love they find so much more in one another. Their love and SabrinaAdrik’s journey from page one to the end was just everything I didn’t know that I needed from this story.
I know sophie did us a solid writing this, but with everything that happens in this book I don’t know HOW she could go without giving us more of this world and it’s characters. I mean… can we stay here forever? Please.
TW: violence, recreational drug use
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AVAILABLE NOW!
*ARC
Sabrina Gallo knows who she is and she knows exactly what she wants. It’s all a matter of saying screw expectation and reaching out and taking it, and now figuring out how to do that alongside someone else. Adrik sees Sabrina for the fierce woman that she is. He knows she’s more than anyone could dare to imagine and she is exactly who he wants.
I don’t want to spoil this story for anyone, so I’m going to keep my thoughts as base layer and vague as possible. I think what I love most about The Savage is that Sophie saw how drawn all of us were to Sabrina and truly gave us HER full throttle and without holding back. She’s falling in love in this story and while she knows herself, she’s also finding new parts of herself and creating a life in a new world. She makes mistakes. She gets mad. She speaks her mind. She is insanely human and I love how even though she lives a life they feels unbelievable she is still an extremely real character.
“It scares me. I feel desperate and crazy—way past normal. I feel like I was already on the edge, and then I met you and I jumped right off the cliff.”
Adrik is easy to love as well. He’s so much like Sabrina that it causes a lot of chaos in their relationship, but it’s as if they already know one another so well right off the bat. Sure I wanted to strangle him a few times, but that’s understandable because Sabrina comes first for me. The pull these two had toward one another, the chemistry, and the ease that these two have, even with all the chaos that ensues, usually because of one of them, is just mind blowing. It’s honestly like they each found their perfect pairing in the midst of a rescue mission. What are the odds? Sigh. Just thinking about their love makes me smile.
It’s wild. It’s intense. It’s hot. It’s volatile. And their romance is only a portion of what this story is about. There’s much much more going on than the romance, but yeah it’s obviously one of my favorite parts because not only do they find love they find so much more in one another. Their love and SabrinaAdrik’s journey from page one to the end was just everything I didn’t know that I needed from this story.
I know sophie did us a solid writing this, but with everything that happens in this book I don’t know HOW she could go without giving us more of this world and it’s characters. I mean… can we stay here forever? Please.
TW: violence, recreational drug use
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*ARC
March 15, 2022
****COMING THIS WEEK****
5 STARS
I just knew that Sabrina and Adrik would be one of my favorite couples, and I was right. They are combustible, explosive, and I loved every minute of their story.
What I loved:
1. Sabrina has that Aida energy but also a dash of Sloane, heroines I really love and respect. There was an unexpected layer to Sabrina, though. Hidden insecurities I never expected. It made her relatable, and the growth of her character from beginning to end was amazing. The woman she is at the end puts her at the top of my favorite Sophie heroines.
2. Adrik is one of my favorite heroes if Sophie’s. Although there was a time or two I wanted to maim him, he was balancing a lot while trying to maintain his new found place in the Bratva. Seeing him evolve to really understand Sabrina’s power and how to be a team with her made him that much more alluring.
3. I loved that this was a story or two people really trying to find their way in the world, separate from their parents, wanting to make their own mark together.
4. The conflict was really well done. The way she integrated the insecurities of the characters, the expectations of men in a mafia world, as well as the recklessness of each character was consuming. I couldn’t put this book down.
5. The steam was so good. FF, FFM, MF. The emotionally connection in the MF scenes and the discussions they had surrounding sexuality was key to who they were and how they loved. It just added an extra layer to them as a couple.
6. The Wolfpack. I love them. So much. All of them and who they become to Sabrina.
7. The overall conflict between the H/h had so many layers, but ultimately I love that message that a couple is stronger together. Real love has a foundation of respect, listening, recognizing strengths and being vulnerable with your heart.
What I would have loved more of:
1. I would have loved to see more of the Kingmaker characters. While I get this is an additional novel not part of the original series, I still really love them. I just cannot get enough of them.
I do want to be clear that this did NOT change my love of the book or this story, and actually really makes it more able to be read as standalone.
2. I enjoyed the FF and FFM scenes. They were very steamy, but they were not as emotional as I was expecting, although they do play a big part in who Sabrina is. So, again, this did not affect my overall love of the book.
Another must read novel from Sophie Lark. As with all her Kingmakers books, it’s action packed and steamy from beginning to end with relatable themes about family, love and life.
ARC review
5 STARS
I just knew that Sabrina and Adrik would be one of my favorite couples, and I was right. They are combustible, explosive, and I loved every minute of their story.
What I loved:
1. Sabrina has that Aida energy but also a dash of Sloane, heroines I really love and respect. There was an unexpected layer to Sabrina, though. Hidden insecurities I never expected. It made her relatable, and the growth of her character from beginning to end was amazing. The woman she is at the end puts her at the top of my favorite Sophie heroines.
2. Adrik is one of my favorite heroes if Sophie’s. Although there was a time or two I wanted to maim him, he was balancing a lot while trying to maintain his new found place in the Bratva. Seeing him evolve to really understand Sabrina’s power and how to be a team with her made him that much more alluring.
3. I loved that this was a story or two people really trying to find their way in the world, separate from their parents, wanting to make their own mark together.
4. The conflict was really well done. The way she integrated the insecurities of the characters, the expectations of men in a mafia world, as well as the recklessness of each character was consuming. I couldn’t put this book down.
5. The steam was so good. FF, FFM, MF. The emotionally connection in the MF scenes and the discussions they had surrounding sexuality was key to who they were and how they loved. It just added an extra layer to them as a couple.
6. The Wolfpack. I love them. So much. All of them and who they become to Sabrina.
7. The overall conflict between the H/h had so many layers, but ultimately I love that message that a couple is stronger together. Real love has a foundation of respect, listening, recognizing strengths and being vulnerable with your heart.
What I would have loved more of:
1. I would have loved to see more of the Kingmaker characters. While I get this is an additional novel not part of the original series, I still really love them. I just cannot get enough of them.
I do want to be clear that this did NOT change my love of the book or this story, and actually really makes it more able to be read as standalone.
2. I enjoyed the FF and FFM scenes. They were very steamy, but they were not as emotional as I was expecting, although they do play a big part in who Sabrina is. So, again, this did not affect my overall love of the book.
Another must read novel from Sophie Lark. As with all her Kingmakers books, it’s action packed and steamy from beginning to end with relatable themes about family, love and life.
ARC review
March 16, 2022
Mar 16 release
I wouldn’t particularly read this book because of the FF and FFM scenes that will be in it. I’m strictly about reading couples that monogamous. No sharing and stuff. But this book was announced AFTER I read the entire series and I already loved Sabrina and Adrik and I wanna read their story. So I guess I will read it but those scenes will take away from my enjoyment.
- tbh I don’t care too much for Sabrina. I got her. But she’s frustrating me
- I prefer my mmc possessive but meh it’s ok
- the actual plot is kinda boring to me since they’re now in a relationship
- he is being a dick
- Uuuhhhh. So the threesome stuff at the beginning didn’t bother me. What bothered me was that right after breaking up with him, the SAME DAY, she sleeps with Ilsa. That happened at 80% of the book. I do not like that. Also I didn’t see the point in that scene?
- for all the strength she is and prortrays, she’s very insecure. But I can admire that. Respect it
- he’s depressed and looking through photos of her and she slept with someone else. Just icky.
- I really do prefer monogamy.
- well. At least they realize they fucked up.
- you know it’s sad. I really didn’t care if she died…
- um idk I didn’t love the reunion either
- we didn’t really see any interaction with her mom
- oh good we do see interaction with the mom
- I felt just meh. I didn’t feel love between the characters. I just felt lust. That’s it.
- I liked them better as side characters in the Spy than main characters in this
Ok final verdict being this was less romance and more plot that I like. Also the sharing stuff I don’t like even though I could move past the beginning. it’s the stuff with Ilsa at 80% I don’t like. I just don’t think this was for me. But it was good overall
I wouldn’t particularly read this book because of the FF and FFM scenes that will be in it. I’m strictly about reading couples that monogamous. No sharing and stuff. But this book was announced AFTER I read the entire series and I already loved Sabrina and Adrik and I wanna read their story. So I guess I will read it but those scenes will take away from my enjoyment.
- tbh I don’t care too much for Sabrina. I got her. But she’s frustrating me
- I prefer my mmc possessive but meh it’s ok
- the actual plot is kinda boring to me since they’re now in a relationship
- he is being a dick
- Uuuhhhh. So the threesome stuff at the beginning didn’t bother me. What bothered me was that right after breaking up with him, the SAME DAY, she sleeps with Ilsa. That happened at 80% of the book. I do not like that. Also I didn’t see the point in that scene?
- for all the strength she is and prortrays, she’s very insecure. But I can admire that. Respect it
- he’s depressed and looking through photos of her and she slept with someone else. Just icky.
- I really do prefer monogamy.
- well. At least they realize they fucked up.
- you know it’s sad. I really didn’t care if she died…
- um idk I didn’t love the reunion either
- we didn’t really see any interaction with her mom
- oh good we do see interaction with the mom
- I felt just meh. I didn’t feel love between the characters. I just felt lust. That’s it.
- I liked them better as side characters in the Spy than main characters in this
Ok final verdict being this was less romance and more plot that I like. Also the sharing stuff I don’t like even though I could move past the beginning. it’s the stuff with Ilsa at 80% I don’t like. I just don’t think this was for me. But it was good overall
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 15, 2022
WOW — Adrik and Sabrina have my heart. This book was everything! ALSO THE SPICE 🥵🔥YES YES YES!
"I’ll always protect you, I'll always trust you. I'll always support you. I'll believe in you, and anything you want, I'll make it happen. You have my heart forever. You have all of me, all that I am.”
"I’ll always protect you, I'll always trust you. I'll always support you. I'll believe in you, and anything you want, I'll make it happen. You have my heart forever. You have all of me, all that I am.”
March 16, 2022
4.5 stars!
Thank you for the eARC Sophie!
This is a continuation of the kingmakers series but doesn’t actually occur in kingmakers itself, Sabrina and Adrik had sparks the second they laid eyes on each other in previous books and when Sabrina gets off the ship from kingmakers, Adrik is there on his bike ready to have the craziest first date of their life.
These two are driven by their wildness and passion, they love aggressively, they fuck aggressively, and they fight even harder. A lot of this takes place in Russia, Sabrina and Adrik fall for each other and decide to be partners in Moscow to take over the city. They are both unhinged and passionate alphas which makes their relationship one of extremes but it was so exciting to read and SEXY. These two are obsessed and in love and I loved watching them grow together and try to figure out how to become equal partners in their empire. There were also FFM and FF scenes in this which I was so excited to have from Sophie and she definitely fucking delivered.
I also adored the mentorship moments from all the parents and aunts/uncles that were included in this. It all makes me feel completely immersed in this world that Sophie has created, she hooks me in and never in 14 (?) books do i feel like anything is repetitive or boring. Everything she writes has purpose, and every story is about couples who empower one another and become the best version of themselves while in love. Sabrina and Adrik are volatile, but they learn from each other and can only truly be vulnerable with one another and no one else. Trigger warning, there is a lot of drugs and drug use in this book so if you have trouble with reading that then either be prepared or avoid this one.
Thank you for the eARC Sophie!
This is a continuation of the kingmakers series but doesn’t actually occur in kingmakers itself, Sabrina and Adrik had sparks the second they laid eyes on each other in previous books and when Sabrina gets off the ship from kingmakers, Adrik is there on his bike ready to have the craziest first date of their life.
These two are driven by their wildness and passion, they love aggressively, they fuck aggressively, and they fight even harder. A lot of this takes place in Russia, Sabrina and Adrik fall for each other and decide to be partners in Moscow to take over the city. They are both unhinged and passionate alphas which makes their relationship one of extremes but it was so exciting to read and SEXY. These two are obsessed and in love and I loved watching them grow together and try to figure out how to become equal partners in their empire. There were also FFM and FF scenes in this which I was so excited to have from Sophie and she definitely fucking delivered.
I also adored the mentorship moments from all the parents and aunts/uncles that were included in this. It all makes me feel completely immersed in this world that Sophie has created, she hooks me in and never in 14 (?) books do i feel like anything is repetitive or boring. Everything she writes has purpose, and every story is about couples who empower one another and become the best version of themselves while in love. Sabrina and Adrik are volatile, but they learn from each other and can only truly be vulnerable with one another and no one else. Trigger warning, there is a lot of drugs and drug use in this book so if you have trouble with reading that then either be prepared or avoid this one.
June 14, 2022
3.2 Stars
The last parts and the ending destroyed the book
The book was amazing till the part where Sabrina and Adrik are at crossroads.
I didn't like how the author made everything much more difficult and torturous for Sab when Adrik was the one who was at more fault. Well whatever,,...... but then the last two chapters happened and I am like WTF!!!! Sab did a 180 and her decision just makes me feel dissapointment towards her.
I wanted Ad to suffer more, wanted to see Sab flourish as an independent woman and build her own empire and rub it on Adrik's face.
The author stretched and elaborated the lovey dovey aspect but totally destroyed the enemies plotline with how fast it happened. I wanted more sufferings, angst , pain , loss, violence between these two but it just poofed.
The last parts and the ending destroyed the book
The book was amazing till the part where Sabrina and Adrik are at crossroads.
I didn't like how the author made everything much more difficult and torturous for Sab when Adrik was the one who was at more fault. Well whatever,,...... but then the last two chapters happened and I am like WTF!!!! Sab did a 180 and her decision just makes me feel dissapointment towards her.
I wanted Ad to suffer more, wanted to see Sab flourish as an independent woman and build her own empire and rub it on Adrik's face.
The author stretched and elaborated the lovey dovey aspect but totally destroyed the enemies plotline with how fast it happened. I wanted more sufferings, angst , pain , loss, violence between these two but it just poofed.
January 29, 2023
Sabrina and Adrik just proved that a negative and a negative does, in fact, not equal a positive
April 3, 2022
After a week and a half of binging all of Sophie’s books I can say she’s one of my favorite authors and I will read anything she puts out.
I trust her so much to take care of the characters and their relationship that I’m able to “let go” while reading and just enjoy it, instead of being nervous/anxious over what’s going to happen. (And there’s a lot of “WHATS GOING TO HAPPEN” in this book.)
I loved Sabrina. She’s definitely not a typical heroine - she’s not sweet and kind, she’s not brash and mean. She just… is. She’s beautiful and confident, friendly and loyal, but can be insensitive, emotional, complicated. People want a piece of her, but only what they’ve imagined in their head.
Everybody thinks they want Sabrina. The dose is the poison.
+
Men look at me and they see liquid sex poured into the body of their dreams. They want me so bad they can’t possibly imagine that what’s inside that package might not appeal to them quite as much as the exterior.
They say I’m everything they ever wanted — then they want to change everything about me.
How I dress, how I talk, what I like, how I behave …
And that’s before the jealousy kicks in.
The more they want you, the less they can stand for anyone else to look at you.
She was so, so compelling as a heroine. And Adrik quickly proves to be just as interesting, just as volatile. He sees her and challenges her in a way no one has before — and it makes them SO FUN TO READ.
Of course there’s action. Thoughts have some spoilers:
Another banger from Sophie Lark. I'm bummed we won't see the Kingmakers characters in another future full length novel but I totally get her reasoning (it's intimidating for new readers to see that all the books are intertwined and to hear, "read this before this and this before this..." I will read anything she puts out so I'm just stoked for the next series.
CW: (contains minor spoilers) threesome with them + a woman, violence/murder on page, physical assault on page, ptsd, making/taking drugs + dependency on drugs, after an argument/breakup she hooks up with a woman but it's more out of comfort/stress
I trust her so much to take care of the characters and their relationship that I’m able to “let go” while reading and just enjoy it, instead of being nervous/anxious over what’s going to happen. (And there’s a lot of “WHATS GOING TO HAPPEN” in this book.)
I loved Sabrina. She’s definitely not a typical heroine - she’s not sweet and kind, she’s not brash and mean. She just… is. She’s beautiful and confident, friendly and loyal, but can be insensitive, emotional, complicated. People want a piece of her, but only what they’ve imagined in their head.
Everybody thinks they want Sabrina. The dose is the poison.
+
Men look at me and they see liquid sex poured into the body of their dreams. They want me so bad they can’t possibly imagine that what’s inside that package might not appeal to them quite as much as the exterior.
They say I’m everything they ever wanted — then they want to change everything about me.
How I dress, how I talk, what I like, how I behave …
And that’s before the jealousy kicks in.
The more they want you, the less they can stand for anyone else to look at you.
She was so, so compelling as a heroine. And Adrik quickly proves to be just as interesting, just as volatile. He sees her and challenges her in a way no one has before — and it makes them SO FUN TO READ.
Of course there’s action. Thoughts have some spoilers:
Another banger from Sophie Lark. I'm bummed we won't see the Kingmakers characters in another future full length novel but I totally get her reasoning (it's intimidating for new readers to see that all the books are intertwined and to hear, "read this before this and this before this..." I will read anything she puts out so I'm just stoked for the next series.
CW: (contains minor spoilers) threesome with them + a woman, violence/murder on page, physical assault on page, ptsd, making/taking drugs + dependency on drugs, after an argument/breakup she hooks up with a woman but it's more out of comfort/stress
March 16, 2022
Speechless
________________________________________________
I quite literally experienced every single emotion while reading this book. When I say EVERY , I mean every.single.one.
This picks up with our baddie Sabrina coming home from Kingmakers after Adrik said he’d wait for her for 8 months & wait he did. Their first date was literally a goddamn movie if I’d ever seen one. Within the first 10 chapters I knew this was going to blow my mind. They’re like fire & fire which can only be explosive but also so beautiful to watch how they fit together.
While some people might find the relationship “toxic” I think that’s a difference of opinion. Their relationship is about two alphas merging their lives together while building an empire of course it’s going to be a hell of a ride. Sabrina is the definition of a Savage, she’s beautiful, smart, funny & strong. Her only real flaw is her temper and not knowing how to truly be vulnerable (me). Adrik is a hunter, he sees what he wants and he goes and gets it. He’s also very much the definition of an alpha male who doesn’t follow anyones rules but his own.
To watch these two fight through their differences & balance each out while screwing each other’s brains out?! BITCH ! I think this is the spiciest books Sophie has written and those FFM & FF scenes?!?! It’s like never knowing you needed water to survive and then once you get it you can’t live without it. Yeah I’m gonna need a FF or FFM scene or just a FF book Sophie please!
This was so action packed, fast paced, smutty, entertaining & everything I needed it to be. Also can the wolf pack get a spin off? 👀I’m trying to keep this as vague yet descriptive as possible because I’m not one for spoilers and this truly was an experience on its own that you need to go through for yourself.
The only thing I would change is a bit of the ending, I wanted a little more groveling from Adrik. I felt like we saw more of Sabrina’s growth than his in that moment & he was the one who fucked up other than that I’m very pleased & obsessed with this story & I can’t believe my kingmakers journey is over. Sophie you continue to amaze me and I’m so obsessed with you and your brain it’s not even funny. Thank you for creating Sabrina she’s my Aida<3
________________________________________________
I quite literally experienced every single emotion while reading this book. When I say EVERY , I mean every.single.one.
This picks up with our baddie Sabrina coming home from Kingmakers after Adrik said he’d wait for her for 8 months & wait he did. Their first date was literally a goddamn movie if I’d ever seen one. Within the first 10 chapters I knew this was going to blow my mind. They’re like fire & fire which can only be explosive but also so beautiful to watch how they fit together.
While some people might find the relationship “toxic” I think that’s a difference of opinion. Their relationship is about two alphas merging their lives together while building an empire of course it’s going to be a hell of a ride. Sabrina is the definition of a Savage, she’s beautiful, smart, funny & strong. Her only real flaw is her temper and not knowing how to truly be vulnerable (me). Adrik is a hunter, he sees what he wants and he goes and gets it. He’s also very much the definition of an alpha male who doesn’t follow anyones rules but his own.
To watch these two fight through their differences & balance each out while screwing each other’s brains out?! BITCH ! I think this is the spiciest books Sophie has written and those FFM & FF scenes?!?! It’s like never knowing you needed water to survive and then once you get it you can’t live without it. Yeah I’m gonna need a FF or FFM scene or just a FF book Sophie please!
This was so action packed, fast paced, smutty, entertaining & everything I needed it to be. Also can the wolf pack get a spin off? 👀I’m trying to keep this as vague yet descriptive as possible because I’m not one for spoilers and this truly was an experience on its own that you need to go through for yourself.
The only thing I would change is a bit of the ending, I wanted a little more groveling from Adrik. I felt like we saw more of Sabrina’s growth than his in that moment & he was the one who fucked up other than that I’m very pleased & obsessed with this story & I can’t believe my kingmakers journey is over. Sophie you continue to amaze me and I’m so obsessed with you and your brain it’s not even funny. Thank you for creating Sabrina she’s my Aida<3
March 17, 2022
Why isn’t anyone saying how fucked up was the fact that Adrik deceived her with that whole “ we will be equals” stuff and didn’t even APOLOGIZED in the end?? Like WTF? Am I living in a parallel reality? I totally got why Sabrina did what she did, if u ask me he deserved it.
March 16, 2022
In short this book is pure chaos, and I mean this in the best way possible. Their chaos balances perfectly in to the love they deserve. The love only they give each other.
When I finished The Spy, my mind immediately went to Sabrina... what was her story, how did someone lock her down, what I would have given to read it. And Sophie Lark DELIVERED.
This is a story of obsession - from the start Adrik becomes obsessed with Sabrina. He never wants to cage her, he doesn't want to change her, he wants her as his queen, his partner, his everything. So he gives her an offer that she can't refuse.
Sabrina is strong, fierce, hilarious, blunt, and everything I've ever wanted in a FMC. She loves who she loves, when she loves and does not apologize for it. She is drawn to Adrik, but is unwilling (as she should be) to be anything other than his partner. I absolutely loved her and felt like we finally got to see a FMC who is extremely flawed, searching for happiness, but strong in her own way. She is a lot like her dad (Nero from Savage Lover) mixed with Aida (Brutal Prince) and Sloan (Ivan), but she was still all her own.
Adrik is a strong MMC and doesn't take crap from anyone. He wants Sabrina, any way he can have her. Even if that's watching her be with someone else, as long as she comes home to him. There is no jealousy, no possessiveness just pure respect and love. But Adrik isn't used to having a partner and he struggles to not just keep Sabrina, but to treat her differently then one of his "brothers."
This book is non stop action, fast paced, and when sh*t hits the fan, it explodes. I laughed, I cried (damn you Nero scenes), and over all was extremely happy with this book. I am so sad Kingmakers is over (I literally cried when it finished). But I can say with all honesty that Sophie's books, writing, and story telling gets better each book. I am excited to see what comes next.
**do note that although this is Kingmakers, this book does NOT take place at the college - this is what happens when you leave school to become the boss**
5/5 stars
4/5 spice
TW: on page violence, death, mafia, drug use etc.
FF, FFM scenes - if you do not like people sharing with others (not cheating) this book may not be for you. They are open about allowing to explore with others.
**ARC given for honest review**
March 16, 2022
4.5/5 Stars - 3.75-4/5 Spice
Pacing for this book is legit from 0 to 60 and it doesn't slow down. Sabrina and Adrik were fucking electric from the moment they were introduced back in the previous Kingmakers books - you could feel their chemistry right from the beginning. The spice these 2 had from the moment the book started was incredible. Sabrina and Adrik both radiate BDE energy and of course when they come together it's going to be fireworks. Sabrina our brilliant, slightly unhinged, bisexual queen!! My favorite scene is when she's giving him a lap dance - AHHH!
Sabrina - An incredibly bad ass sexy bitch. Sabrina is in us all. She was a true mob boss in this one and it was phenomenal seeing her build her empire alongside Adrik. While the other FMC (aside form Sloane) that came before her were in the "life" somehow no one came close to being a TRUE BOSS. Sabrina used her beauty to her advantage. She WANTED people to underestimate her so she can prove them wrong that she is indeed a criminal mastermind.
Adrik - The love of my life. The confidence this man radiated was so attractive. We all love the jealous possessive type of men in romance books but it was so refreshing to see a man like Adrik. Adrik had the confidence in himself and the trust with Sabrina where she could legit do what she wanted. He struggled at times from letting her free vs caging her in cause of his fear of her getting hurt. I loved how he went to Ivan for advice on how to better basically for Sabrina.
I've said this before but it's worth mentioning again that when Sophie writes her books I feel like she is giving words of wisdom to us all whether that be from a relationship standpoint or building your own self confidence. Her books while they're fantastic stories with even better spice - there is so much MORE inside these books if you genuinely read between the lines.
💜ARC💜
Pacing for this book is legit from 0 to 60 and it doesn't slow down. Sabrina and Adrik were fucking electric from the moment they were introduced back in the previous Kingmakers books - you could feel their chemistry right from the beginning. The spice these 2 had from the moment the book started was incredible. Sabrina and Adrik both radiate BDE energy and of course when they come together it's going to be fireworks. Sabrina our brilliant, slightly unhinged, bisexual queen!! My favorite scene is when she's giving him a lap dance - AHHH!
Sabrina - An incredibly bad ass sexy bitch. Sabrina is in us all. She was a true mob boss in this one and it was phenomenal seeing her build her empire alongside Adrik. While the other FMC (aside form Sloane) that came before her were in the "life" somehow no one came close to being a TRUE BOSS. Sabrina used her beauty to her advantage. She WANTED people to underestimate her so she can prove them wrong that she is indeed a criminal mastermind.
Adrik - The love of my life. The confidence this man radiated was so attractive. We all love the jealous possessive type of men in romance books but it was so refreshing to see a man like Adrik. Adrik had the confidence in himself and the trust with Sabrina where she could legit do what she wanted. He struggled at times from letting her free vs caging her in cause of his fear of her getting hurt. I loved how he went to Ivan for advice on how to better basically for Sabrina.
I've said this before but it's worth mentioning again that when Sophie writes her books I feel like she is giving words of wisdom to us all whether that be from a relationship standpoint or building your own self confidence. Her books while they're fantastic stories with even better spice - there is so much MORE inside these books if you genuinely read between the lines.
💜ARC💜
avoid
October 1, 2022Self note
FF & FFM scenes.
Avoid
FF & FFM scenes.
Avoid
December 25, 2022
dnf @ chapter 6
this book gave me an ick from the beginning but it just kept getting worse. sophie I love you but this one, this isn’t it
this book gave me an ick from the beginning but it just kept getting worse. sophie I love you but this one, this isn’t it
May 4, 2023
fuck book boyfriends, sabrina is my book girlfriend
hard-pass
February 10, 2022Personal preference but FF and FFM is not for me. In fact, RH/polyamory/sharing is a hard pass for me. What a waste because I would have loved to read about Sabrina and Adrik.. :(
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 16, 2022
Ummmmm safe to say I’m obsessed!!!! I love Sophie’s Kingmakers series so much & The Savage was my favorite so far!!!!!! It was so HOT!!!!! Adrian and Sabrina had me questioning my sexuality on multiple occasion😅 I’m incredibly confused…Sabrina is my very first book girlfriend and I’m in love with her 🥵🤣
March 16, 2022
Chaos. Pure Chaos. This is how I would describe this book and this book couple. Sabrina and A are quite literally when a tornado meets a volcano and I fucking ATE IT UP. They could not keep their hands OFF each other and I loved them for it. These two are crazy and crazy for each other. There was softness within the chaos, little moments that made your heart swoon. But this is about the Bratava and Mafia so it is not a cute little contemporary. No this is a thrill ride, this is a book where you will question yourself, and the characters. I’m gonna be honest, I havnt read the rest of the Kingmakers minus the first one but I can tell you that Savage will probably be your favorite.
Not to mention: BI representation. The female main character is Bi and not once was she fetishized, she was accepted for who she was from the very beginning.
(And for extra added bonus the spice scenes were so insane that like @kashskindle I too got some tears in my eyes.
@sophie_lark_author was truly in her whole bag with this one. A stunning book in the Kingmakers series that made you feel the chaos and want to thrive in it.
Not to mention: BI representation. The female main character is Bi and not once was she fetishized, she was accepted for who she was from the very beginning.
(And for extra added bonus the spice scenes were so insane that like @kashskindle I too got some tears in my eyes.
@sophie_lark_author was truly in her whole bag with this one. A stunning book in the Kingmakers series that made you feel the chaos and want to thrive in it.
March 14, 2022
cant put into words how hot this was. just fkn wow.
March 15, 2022
Absolutely fucking speechless after finishing this book. Adrik and Sabrina have both met their match in one another and they are truly better together.
Adrik is hot as HELL!! This man knew what he wanted and went for it. He put so much thought into getting Sabrina with him that made me swoon. He needed a partner like her and they reminded me of Sloane and Ivan so much I loved it.
Sabrina is fierce and a bad fucking bitch. The way Sophie writes women makes me wanna strive to be my best self. Sabrina wasn’t afraid of anything and knew her full potential without anyone putting their two sense in.
Their chemistry is INSANE. I had to set the book down to read multiple times. I highly recommend listening to the songs Sophie put on the playlist because it heightens the experience so much. I loved every single second of reading.
Adrik is hot as HELL!! This man knew what he wanted and went for it. He put so much thought into getting Sabrina with him that made me swoon. He needed a partner like her and they reminded me of Sloane and Ivan so much I loved it.
Sabrina is fierce and a bad fucking bitch. The way Sophie writes women makes me wanna strive to be my best self. Sabrina wasn’t afraid of anything and knew her full potential without anyone putting their two sense in.
Their chemistry is INSANE. I had to set the book down to read multiple times. I highly recommend listening to the songs Sophie put on the playlist because it heightens the experience so much. I loved every single second of reading.
August 13, 2022
i am so sad to officially say goodbye to this series and these characters😢
the savage was everything i hoped for and more, sophie absolutely killed it!!
sabrina truly is a savage and a bad bitch who doesnt need no man and thats what i loved the most about her, shes independent and knows what she wants
adrik understands this and rather than being an obstacle for sabrina wants to give her everything he can
the plot was incredible i absl loved it
i fear i will never be able to let this series go
the savage was everything i hoped for and more, sophie absolutely killed it!!
sabrina truly is a savage and a bad bitch who doesnt need no man and thats what i loved the most about her, shes independent and knows what she wants
adrik understands this and rather than being an obstacle for sabrina wants to give her everything he can
the plot was incredible i absl loved it
i fear i will never be able to let this series go
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