Simone Solomon adeta altın bir kafeste yaşamaktadır. Zenginlik ve ayrıcalık içinde büyürken itaatkar biri olmayı da öğrenmiştir. Sıkıcı bir galaya katılmak için yoldayken aynı zamanda derin bir kederle boğuşan Simone, hayatının tepetaklak olacağından habersizdir. Chicago'nun en tehlikeli adamlarından biri tarafından arabasına el konulunca genç kadın, istemese de bu tehlikeli oyunun bir parçası olur.
Bu adam Dante Gallo'dan başkası değildir ve bir insan yerine vahşi bir hayvan gibi davranmaktadır. En azından Simone ile göz göze gelene dek... Tamamen farklı dünyalardan olsalar da aralarındaki çekim karşı konulmazdır. Simone, Dante için her şeyi riske atmaya hazırdır. Ancak onları ayıran o felaket gece, her şeyi değiştirir.
Kader, ona unutamadığı bu adamla yeniden birlikte olabilmesi için bir şans daha verir. Fakat Simone'un bir sırrı vardır. Dante'nin öğrenmesi halinde onu asla affetmeyeceğinden korktuğu bir sır...
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.
4.5 🌟 AHHHH THE MOMENT I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR… DANTE MF GALLO 🥵 I love me a second chance romance so I already knew I would like this one, but damn did I love it! Simone was so eloquent and beautiful & Dante? no fcking WORDS!!! my man was HOT & whipped as hell.. we love to see it. I adore that this series keeps showing us the previous characters as the books go, it makes me feel like I know them all so well. also, I loved the WANTING and LONGING this gave! Bring on Riona’s book ‼️
ps: my heart SKIPPED A FCKING BEAT seeing my baby Aida in this one 😍
“wherever you go, whatever you do, you have my heart in your hands.” 🖤
I couldn’t wait for Dante’s book but now I’m kinda disappointed. I liked the first 100/200 pages more, mostly the ones where we are told the before (9 years ago) part.
The present part was meh. The action part of the plot was boring in my opinion and the reunion between those two wasn’t as angsty as I would have wished. If it was that easy for them to reunite why didn’t one of them do it earlier - particularly Simone, since she’s also been hiding a pretty important secret which he had a right to know about. I get that at 18 she was clueless and made bad decisions but time has gone by, she’s become independent and successful but it took outside forces to finally get her to Chicago. Dante was amazing. I mean, not that his personality shined through very much , but he was steady, and true to his feelings.
“He can be my master and I’ll be his slave, if that’s what it takes to get him back again.” ???? SHES BLACK???? HES WHITE??????? DID NOBODY PROOFREAD THIS BOOK????
This pains me to write, b/c I LOVE this series and I think Lark is a great writer. But I had too many issues with this book to think it was more than "ok". I don't feel like I know either MC well at all. There was no true character development, no relationship buildup, it was pure insta love, physical attraction and then we're just told Simone and Dante are soul mates, but never shown what exactly they loved so much about eachother. Their relationship was super brief and even then they were kept apart so much that how well could they have known eachother? They were constantly sneaking around to get physical and not really talking that much. Then there is a LONG separation and Simone did something pretty unforgivable. (It's a trope I adore if it's done right). It wasn't well done here.
Simone is WEAK. She's such a weak, unrelatable heroine. I don't know any 18 year old who is that scared of her parents that she lets them control every single aspect of her life including who she can speak to and ripping her child away from her and forcing her to sign away her rights. And then Simone still allowed them in her son's life. And for NINE years she hid him from a man she allegedly loved. She dated others, she became rich and famous. 9 years is a lifetime, she could have looked him up, hired a PI, etc. She had no excuse to keep Dante from his own child that long.
Then when Dante and Simone finally reunite, they fall into bed, again with NO real conversation. Then Simone decides to tell Dante the truth, this is where things really fell off for me. Dante was mad (as he should have been) for approx. 1 minute. Simone RAN AWAY crying b/c she's WEAK AF and at this point I really hated her. She's a 28 year old woman who is successful, world famous and she has done this man a horrific wrong, she should have stayed and faced him. She OWED him that at least. But no, she runs and becomes a victim AGAIN. And Dante has to rescue her and he's no longer mad at all that she kept his son from him for 9 years. Smh. I can't deal at this point. There is very little actual, meaningful interaction b/t the MCs in this book. There is a lot of action that I skimmed through, it felt like too much filler b/c there wasn't a lot of substance with the romantic storyline. So unfortunately this didn't work for me. At all. I'm giving it 2 stars b/c I do still love the series overall and I will continue to read it and b/c of the Aida mentions in this book. As usual she is a scene stealer.
I know writing is a difficult job and a series must be even more challenging, so I think one weaker book in the bunch is understandable. I hope the next ones will be as good as the first 2 books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I was so excited for this book but it was sort of a disappointment. I had a lot of issues with this book
But daddy i love him
This book revolves around the eldest brother and is sort of a second chance romance. AnYwAY it was so cringe in the first few pages wdym he stole her car and they fell in love nah nuh uh not my cup of tea
I want to make her my good girl
Um sir your good girl left you for nine years nine fucking years she hid her baby YOUR BABY from you and lived a fake life!!!!! just to be back one day to fuck you because she missed your d!ck
Those nine years were the most miserable years of my life.
As it should be but nah you forgave her because you were horny. The main story line was so craggy too i had to close the book several times i think it has 300 something pages and they banged after every ten
GOD FORBID A NINE YEAR OLD CHILD SAW HIS DAD FOR THE FIRST TIME. IMAGINE HOW UNCOMFORTABLE HE WOULD BE HELL EVEN I WAS UNCOMFORTABLE BECAUSE EVERYONE IN THE BOOK WAS LIKE A CHAT BOT CHARACTER PLEASE
Promise me you won’t leave me again
Fuck you to everyone in this book (except the child)
Simone is a generic poor little beautiful rich girl who is disgustingly spineless and pathetic. She actively keeps an unforgivable secret from Dante, knowing how terrible it is to do so. She was so judgemental of Dante but then uses him for protection and sex, without disclosing the secret. This book nearly ruined the entire series for me. I don't remember the last time a hated a character so much. She had zero personality or redeeming qualities and spends the story feeling sorry for herself. If I could give it zero stars I would. I genuinely don't understand why Dante is supposed to love her or why he forgives her so easily.
Is it me or does the romance genre have a lot of douchecanoe female leads?
A new favorite of the series!!! I love a good second chance romance and this one was so angsty and had an all-consuming romance. Dante and Simone fell so hard and fast for each other and I loved how obsessed they were. There was almost a desperation to their romance, especially since Simone's parents didn't approve. Then, we have a time jump and things turn angstier and I was obsessed. This had so much action and gave me the mafia content I was missing from the previous book. Some people said they didn't like the plot of the second half, but I really loved it! I loved how they found their way back to each other while someone was trying to kill them. Seriously, I couldn't put this book down and now I'm even more excited for the next book!
4 ★s Okay, see.. I am glad I didn't completely give up on this series. This book has a lot of things I normally don't love. Second chance romance, insta-love, and a bunch of other smaller flaws... but Sophie somehow made it work.
The Insta love felt like a soulmate connection written in the stars. Their break up actually made sense... It was young, immature love, progressing into real, adult love. It had a plot that kept me intrigued and made this book almost unputdownable.
The ending with the confessions, suspense and overall storyline definitely felt a bit rushed and I wish all parts would've come together a bit smoother, but I finished this in one day so I won't complain. I had a good time. Dante and Simone just makes sense, and they might be some of my faves in this series so far(nothing is beating Aida though. She's my girl) _______________ °. *࿐pre-read: giving this series another chance, every book but the first one has been doing me kinda dirty... 👀
I am confuse to be honest. There are so much elements in this book. Forbidden romance, different family background, an assassin. At the beginning of the book, Miss Lark invested heavily on forbidden romance. Then, when the story progressed, she disolved everything in hurry.
Hence there were a lot of loopholes in the plot. What happened to Simone's parents? How come her parents acted indifferent toward Dante after all this years? And Dante reaction to Henry? Unbelievable.
Like I said, I am confuse. The assassin plot suddenly throwned into the plot. With no appearant reason.
I managed to finish the audiobook. The beginning of the story was interesting.
I PAINS me to have HATED this book this much !!!!!
I am so used to very hard and horrible situations and very dark subjects in books that when I see a WEAK plot with THE WEAKST FMC ever it enrages me. I was so excited for Dante’s book since he was my favorite of the Gallo’s for no reason because he doesn’t appear that much in other books. But this story was infuriating. The first part it was ok, super extremely insta love but I am used to it and it’s whatever, if it’s well done it can be amazing. But it wasn’t. They literally met one night and the second time he sees her he is already with his fingers in her. Again I am fine with that when it’s well done. Dante wasn’t shown in any impressive way, the writer here shows him as a glorified thug but with the personality of a peanut. But at least he shows her he wants to fight for her. Now let’s get to the real issue in this book and it is Simone. She is WEAK, IRRELEVANT and also her personality is of a chair. In this series even NESSA is stronger than her. What the actual fuck was that? She was 18, I get it. But she allowed her parents to dictate even who she would talk to. The worst for me is her hiding her pregnancy/son from Dante ! HE HAD THE RIGHT TO KNOW ! HE LOST 9 YEARS OF HIS SON’S LIFE ! This is a lifetime. Not only she hid from him but she also allowed her parents to MAKE her give the baby away to her sister. ALSO she allows her parents into the boys life and hers after what they did. WHAT THE FUCK ! I would NEVER EVER forgive her. And after that there’s is the 9 years gap that Dante is barely living his life cause he never forgot her but he was gave an ultimatum by her that they were done and she moved to London so he couldn’t do much. BUT SHE HAD ALL THE OPPORTUNITIES IN THE PLANET to contact him, she became a super freaking model and STILL never contacted him, she dated other man, lived a life and took other situations to bring her back to Chicago. She always knew where he was. Then they meet again and it was disappointing, they fall in bed IMMEDIATELY and she decides to tell him the secret she kept, which he was with in all his right mad, but for approximately 1 minute…… 🙄🙄🙄 She runs and becomes a victim again and he needs to rescue her and by then all is forgiven. He forgives the fact that she is a fucking weak bitch that have not a single strong bone in her body and he forgives the fact that he LOST 9 fucking years of his son life and all is well. What a WASTE of my time. I hated this book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This is my favorite. Thankfully, Dante’s story didn’t disappoint. And I’m actually surprised because I rarely enjoy second chance romances, but this one was kinda cute I think. Still insta-lovey tho.
I liked the past parts, that childhood infatuation, the uncertainty and all of that. Their romance were kinda sweet. Their reunion however wasn’t what I hoped for. Also, everything with them is kinda abrupt and quick, but this seems like an ongoing issue with every book in the series. I would’ve really loved to see more of the three of them as a family tho.
Some questions that needed to be asked; Why did she wait all that time? I know she was young, but she got older and wiser so why didn’t she make that decision? What gave her the right to hide sth like that? Why didn’t he go after her? Where’s the part where she step up to her parents? Why did she wait and hide it for more than half of the book? even when getting asked about it, she lied. How come her parents seem to have a partial amnesia and kinda welcomed him with open arms? Why did he forgive her that easily after nine freakin wasted years??
I found my new favorite book boyfriend… DANTE GALLO! THIS MAN…I would let him do anything to me…
This book is close to perfection. THE ONLY WAY i’m not giving it 5 stars is because I WAS LEFT with one question that I think it’s kinda important. It’s clearly bothering me and the fact that I would never get the answer. Also, the ending felt a little bit rushed like two more chapters with my question answered and I would have been perfect.
Nonetheless, the characters, the plot line and the romance is captivating and beautiful. A true second chance romance with all the mafia vibes but giving a great character growth. It gave me all the feels, I even cried once or twice.
I think this one is my favorite for sure. Can’t wait for Raylan and Riona, the little teaser is giving me the butterflies.
According to Warda (thank you for encouraging me to finish this series!!) I’m just warming up for Broken Vow, but this one was a second chance romance and I’ll give it three stars anyway.
This one was about cute grunting Dante being scary and big and… did I say scary? With a heroine who despite it all, (barely) survived through it all and came up not stronger but alive.
Let me tell you what didn’t annoy me at all:
Some minor SPOILERS your grace.
She comes back and makes peace with what scared her away in like 0,5 secs, we don’t even get to see her thinking process. She just has to.
He doesn’t have to even think about forgiving her because, well, you know: Soulmates don’t have a choice in the matter apparently.
A kid goes without his father for nine years but they just go back to normal in fifteen minutes. Because, of course, fucking soulmates and all that makes for no trauma for the rest of the world.
Now it’s just me with the trauma for that poor child. I’d go back and change the rating, but I got to see Raylan from the next book and love him already, so no, three stars for my poor child and Aida and Cal who were cutie pies ❤️
This book is hands-down the best book in the series, there is absolutely nothing I can pursue it. Dante and Simone? I don’t have words to express my love for them, they are everything to me their connection is so raw and so genuine and everything that I needed to read and more. I can’t believe I haven’t read anything like this because I loved every second of it. This book kept me on my toes, kept me intrigued I don’t think I have ever read this fast in my entire life especially a book this big. The dynamics everybody we saw, seeing Nero, Aida, Callum and Sebastian. I just everything I saw I loved. The relationship with Simone and Henry stunning amazing so well done. The connection that Henry and Dante had almost instantaneously, and their commonalities within themselves I just I loved. Honestly this is the best book that I’ve read in a while and I’m not gonna shut up about it I loved it, and I’m going to keep loving it. I’m gonna keep coming back to this book because it deserves to be re-read over and over again. This was such a phenomenal read, I know I’m rambling but I really can’t get over it like I can’t believe that I just finished this masterpiece like. This is the most emotional book in the series so far, and with the chaos and even the villain storyline everything was done beautifully. I am genuinely in shock this is such a good book 😭
At long last, Dante's story! I know you guys were the most excited for this one. It's my longest book yet -- epic in story, timescale, heartbreak, and angst. And epically spicy too -- be warned!!! There's a scene with a belt that had me dragging Mr. Lark into my writing room. As an added bonus, you'll meet Raylan, who will return as the hero of Broken Vow.
The first half of this book was great, I loved the unique "accidental" kidnapping, I loved the chemistry between Dante and Simone, and I thought it was set up to have sone interesting family dynamics with a hot forbidden romance.
But the second half of the book was a huge let down. The plot took center stage and was all over the place. Nearly nonsensical at times. The assassin plot in the end was overly dramatic and unnecessary, also what happened to her parents, did they just...stop interfering?
And there was no build up in the romance, all of it happened in their youth (which was the best part)
Dante was a GREAT possessive, alpha hero, but Simone is by far the weakest of Sophie's heroines I've read.
I'm bummed because the first half had such great potential but the rest just did not deliver at all.
4.75⭐️ OH MY DANTE GALLO!!! This book was hands down the best book in the series thus far. The connection that Dante and Simone had was so vulnerable, raw, and genuine. I loved everything about them. Their journey into falling in love, losing each other, and finding each other again was so beautiful. What an emotional journey they went on.
What I love about this series is that all the siblings and their significant others are in each other’s books so you don’t have to miss them too much. I love the whole dynamic and getting to see everyone interact with one another. I am very excited for Rioana and Raylan’s book next. I have heard nothing but great things about that book.
“Wherever you go, whatever you do, you have my heart in your hands.”
ETA: Here to talk about whether or not the MCs were celibate during their 9 year seperation. The FMC def wasn't since she mentioned having multiple bfs and dating a lot. As for the MMC...I'm just gonna assume that he was celibate for my peace of mind. Dante enlisted in the army right after their breakup and according to my research, you have to serve in the US Army for at least 8 years - I'm gonna say that Dante served for 6 years (he was discharged after being deployed in Iraq) because he was there during the first book, which takes place 2-ish years before this one. Even in the previous books in this series, it's mentioned that he never dated, was never seen around with a woman because he was still hung up on someone else ( the heroine, Simone). Honestly? There are actually more things hinting at the fact that he was probably celibate. There's this one scene where a woman he's working with is flirting with him and he pretty much scares her off because he's not interested and says something that made me kinda doubt whether he was celibate or not but yk what? I'm just gonna say that he was celibate because I do love me a devoted man😊
"The problem is, I have a narrow and specific definition of what I find attractive. It was formed a long time ago, and it hasn’t changed since. Abigail doesn’t fit it. Almost no one does."
"I could give it to her—I’ve done it before, plenty of times, with other women. I could turn her around, yank up her skirt, rip open her nylons, bend her over and fuck her until I blow. It would be over in five minutes, and it would end this little game."
------> In this case, I'm gonna assume that the "before" means that he's referring to a time before he got tg with the FMC the first time since he was 21 when they met - he mentions that before her, he always used to pick someone up at the bar and fuck them hard and fast so it makes sense that casual sex was his style previously, before he met Simone.
***
My god. This was epic😭If I had to describe this book with two words, I'd call it deliciously painful. I'd held off on reading the initial few chapters because I wasn't ready to go through that pain all over again. But once I plowed through the first 30% or so, the story got better and better. Dante was...just perfect. There's no other word to describe him. And Simone. Jesus. Girl's been through enough shit to last her a lifetime. And for those of y'all yapping about she should have stood up and fought for herself, told Dante about the baby and grovelled more...y'all clearly don't know about emotional blackmail, manipulation and trauma. Because that's what it was. Fuck her parents for doing what they did. She was young and pretty much a child. And yes, she did make mistakes but honestly who doesn't? She was naive and trusted her family way too much when all they wanted was to control her. It's very sad. Speaking of them, I wish we would have gotten some closure. They're mentioned towards the end and it's said that Simone's okay with them having a relationship with Henry but still holds a grudge towards them - I feel like that could have been explore more. But other than that, the story was perfect. Second chance romances are usually a hit or a miss for me - and this one falls in the latter category. Their breakup was realistic and not unlike how two young adults trying to navigate a difficult situation/relationship would act. 9 years is a long time y'all so I never expected either Dante nor Simone to be celibate. The problem with second chance romances is that the hero is always the one who whores around while the heroine stays celibate. That wasn't the case in this book. Dante's sexual history in those 9 years hasn't been mentioned but Simone has had boyfriends thought neither MCs ever forgot about the other - they were always each other's one true loves. Also, seeing a kid in the mix always makes me happy so this book was pretty much perfect haha. 10/10 would recommend and is my fave in this series (along with Broken Vow - tho it depends on how my re-read for it goes). RAYLANRIONA HERE I COMEEEEE🫡
safety squad: - no OW/OM drama - no cheating/sharing - second chance romance - h hasn't been celibate, no info on H but I'm gonna assume he was celibate - no manwhores/players - obsessed hero - betrayal/hurt - secret baby - no condoms - BDSM themes - a bit of the breeding kink - mentions of death of a loved one, illness, manipulation, blackmail, abuse, post partum depression, etc so don't forget to check the TWs - HEA (with another baby on the way!)
This would have been 3-stars if Sophie Lark hadn't for some reason, write scenes in which Dante was laughing/smiling AFTER he'd learned Simone was taken/possibly hurt. . . . ?
Granted he wasn't amused at the situation, but instead laughing at a joke Raylan said and then was even giving Henry a tour of some sort at his house, then only after that did he finally drop Henry off to go save Simone.
Um, what kind of romance book hero doesn't go insane and develop tunnel vision to go save the "love of his life" after he learned she's been taken...? I don't understand how Dante even had time to give Henry a chill tour, introduce him to his father, and joke around with his old pal Raylan from the military all the while Simone was taken...
That was soooo strange.
Especially given that Simone and Dante had the best chemistry in this series so far...
What in the world, Sophie Lark?
Don't tell me I'm the only one who noticed how calm/chill Dante was after he learned his old military rival took Simone...
I'm writing this after finishing the entire Brutal Birthright series. I think that this is the weakest book in the series. It's still entertaining, but it's so rushed with so much insta-feelings. Everything felt like it was crammed into this book between the romance and the action. Nothing felt like it was fleshed out. It's still worth a read, but it's definitely the least engaging book in the series. I had to push through this one a bit, but I still wanted to finish it because I wanted to read the other books.
3.25 ⭐️ This book was an average read. Honestly, i felt that at the start of this book there was no sense of emotional connection between two characters. It was all JUST PHYSICAL. Like I get it you both LOVE having sex but just slow it down a little ok????!!!???. But I enjoyed the book since I am WELL connected to all the characters in this world.
જ⁀➴ fav quotes - It’s the first promise I’ve ever made to him. I’ll keep it, or I’ll die trying. - I don’t say it out loud, but if she does . . . I’m just going to put a gun to my head and fucking kill myself. Because I won’t survive it again. - I wanted to break his fucking legs for dancing with her. - What do you call it when you can’t tear your eyes away from a face? When you think you’re looking at the loveliest angle, and then the raise of an eyebrow or an exhale through the lips rearranges the features, and you’re freshly stunned all over again? What do you call it when your heart is thudding faster than it did when there was a gun pointed at your face? And you’re sweating, yet your mouth is dry. And all you can think is, What the fuck is happening to me? Did I hit my head harder than I thought?
No matter how hard author tried to write the heroine’s character as a strong woman, I still found her weak and pathetic. She talked a big game but never took an action. I really hated her. She was irredeemable. But who cares, sex fixes everything. All you need to prove your love is hard and regular Fck. 9 years and heroine’s love/sex life is laughable. It’s not like she knew she’d get a second chance with the hero who she dumped. Maybe he was married with kids and she was in a limbo here like a loser. Hero definitely had sex whenever he wanted. Maybe it was meaningless but at least he had it regularly. He wasn’t a monk but our super strong, independent heroine had none. What’s surprising here. Women are never supposed to move on and have good sex and relationships in second chance romance. Don’t blame it on her guilt. 9years is a very long time to carry guilt. Regret yes, guilt I don’t think so. She was just a coward. Enough with her excuses already. Theirs was not a love story but a lust story.
Few reasons why I hate her
“She was embarrassed of me. I could tell. I dressed so carefully. But it wasn’t enough. I can’t change what I look like, who I am.” Poor Dante.
“I stole his son from him. My worst fear is that he might someday steal him back.” You deserve it, you bish.
“He’s allowed to have a girlfriend, or even a wife. I have no right to be jealous. And yet, if auras were visible, mine would be poison green. As bright green as the other girl’s eyes.” Just shut up you spineless coward.
“Hiding my pregnancy was awful. Hiding my son was unforgivable.” You’ve got that right.
“Do you know what that nine years did to me?” he says. “Do you know what I did to try to forget you? I abandoned my family. I joined the military. I flew halfway across the world and fought in a hellscape. I killed a hundred and sixty-two men, just to numb the pain of missing you. And none of it worked, not for a second. I never stopped hurting. I never stopped wondering how you could leave me, when I couldn’t let go of you even for a second.” Poor Dante deserve so much better.