I read this book some time ago, but it took me a while to get back to Netgalley. I still fondly remember how much I enjoyed it, the action and romance, and the strong female protagonist. I also remember that there has never been a follow-up to this great series.

This has become one of my wife's favorite series. The mix of fantasy and love story is what really shines for her. She is eagerly awaiting for more.

I have always loved reading Mrs. Jay's work and wanted to read a new type of book that she wrote.
It was fantastic and will be definitely recommending her and all of her books to others.

Not a typical princess romance story, but one with some mystery and intrigue, and the appropriate amount of sexiness between Sophia and Viktor. A good start to this series, I can't wait to read the rest of the books.

I am typically a paranormal / fantasy reader and tend to stay away from anything contemporary or even remotely realistic. But I absolutely loved this author's Guardians of the Realms series and just had to check out her newest work here. Unfortunately, it just didn't work for me. She still had the heat which I have come to expect from her, but I was just so completely bored by the actual story. And don't let the title fool you. The princess is NOT a mercenary. At best she does spy work and literally all she did here was plant a bug on somebody.

I wasn't the biggest fan of Sophia. She simply didn't do anything that endeared her to me. She's crown princess of some tiny country ruled by her brother. Her brother holds tightly on to antiquated ways and she's always forced to play the part of the demure, innocent princess. When in reality she is anything but, and she secretly takes down bad men in positions of power with a small group of socialite friends. She has lusted after Viktor, a Russian billionaire, for the past eight years but they are from vastly different worlds.

My favorite parts of this story were definitely when Viktor was around. He was such a deliciously bad good guy. When he was just a teenager he meticulously took apart the human trafficing business that his father then uncle built up. He lives in that grey area of not being a good guy, but not being a bad guy either. He is vicious and brutal, but he protects what he loves no matter what it takes.

Sophia has caught Viktor's gaze many times over the years, but with the image she presents he doesn't give much thought to wanting her in his bed. That all changes the night he watches her climb from the window of her hotel room in the middle of the night. This princess has secrets and he's determined to find out what they are. Her actions have also aroused his desire for her and it's not long at all until he acts on it. No matter how angry Viktor makes her, Sophia always melts when she's with him and she has decided to enjoy every minute she can get with him. And that's what most of this story is. We get the overwhelmingly tedious and boring life she lives as the princess, and then the time she spends in Viktor's arms. Which are typically quite hot. The whole "mercenary" thing is in focus but at the same time seems to be in the background. And nothing really comes of it because it's not even Sophia's little vigilante group that technically gets it.

There are obviously bad guys we hear about but this time they focus on one in particular. And it just so happens this one is more than interested in owning Sophia. Let's just say he gets what he deserves in the end. I loved how the story didn't shy away from the hero getting his hands dirty and how he refuses to change for his women. He'll bend, but he won't change.

The last 15% or so was definitely the most interesting of the story when Sophia finally took her life into her own hands. I absolutely loved Forde and his actions at the end as well. While I like all of the connections being made between characters, and the world created here is relatively interesting, I just don't think I'll continue on with this series.

I was intrigued from the very start. Viktor and Sophia are both very strong characters. The premise of a crowned princess who lives this double life is mysterious and bad ass. Sophia was definitely bad ass. While I did enjoy the book, my only problem was that I wanted the connection between Viktor and Sophia to be stronger. They were explosive in the bed but outside of it, I wasn't convinced by the author that there was an emotional connection. There are some minor hiccups in the story but overall I was pleased. I plan to read any upcoming books in the series.

ARC provided to me in exchange for review.

This was an interesting read, a different story that will catch your interest from the beginning.It just wasn't what I was expected, still a great book but I expected more.

This was a great, complex romantic action piece. I found Sophia to be intriguing and a good alternative to the traditional ideas of what a princess is. I also liked how her family was used within the story and how that relationship fueled her own personas. Viktor was a great leading man, but I would have preferred to have had more backstory for him.

3.75stars
A start to new series when the former classmates from rich boarding school take matters in their own hand make a secret group and start making justice. One of them is princes Sophia whos secret is almost discovered by Viktor, Russian billionaire and the man Sophia is secretly lusting since the day she first saw him. Sophia is not prepared to share her secrets but she is willingly ready to shear her body, late night hours and later her heart. For Viktor, a few stolen hours is not enough and he wants Sophia permanently by his side and will do everything to keep her safe. The book is ok written I just didn't like the repetitive sentence all over again and again. The half of the book is a great written bed action. It doesn't happen much not with the investigation. And what it didn't seem real to me was all the evidence of Sophia and the gang that was filmed on tape that was too much for me. I liked the continuation of the book and revealing mysteries, her fight against her family. I hope that the next book in the series will exceed this book.
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for Netgelly

3 stars. ARC generously provided by Netgalley for my unbiased opinion.

I have to admit, I struggled to get through this one. It jumps into the story and that's usually my preferred way to start a book, but this wasn't particularly well done. It was confusing and wasn't a smooth start to catching my attention. Honestly, I put it down and debated not even finishing it. Eventually I did pick it back up and found the middle was much better than the beginning or ending.

I liked the chemistry between the two, but I definitely liked Viktor better than Sophia. She had moments of being too passive and delicate when I wanted her to be more of a boss, especially considering what she was doing on the side. I found Sophia flat and uninteresting unless Viktor was around to give her some life, and I shouldn't ever find a heroine that dependent on the hero to make her an engaging character. Heroines need to be captivating and show some kind of emotion. Sophia lacked that for me.

As a new series of from Ms. Setta Jay, it is one good start. I mean, it took me a while to finally realize the other side of Sophia’s personality, and I really like it!

I know, this will be another short review, but, there time that words are not enough,

I look forward to reading the next book of this series.

Setta Jay has written a good romantic story. Overall the writing was solid. Nicely drawn plot. I really enjoyed it.

First time reading this author and I really liked this book. I’m a fan of royalty or mafia books and mixing the two together makes this a great choice. The characters Sophia and Viktor are unusual compared to similar mafia or royal books. Sophia is very independent and wants to right the wrongs and do good for her country. Viktor also wants to make his country better and not be a typical mafia style Russian. This book is unpredictable which I really enjoyed and the supporting characters are great. I can’t wait to read the next books in this series. It had me laughing and kept me on the edge of my seat due to excitement.

I really liked this book! Couldn't put it down. And the story was more than I expected. It's actually cool to read about Sofia, the princess who is secretly a batman (woman?) fighting the injustice in the world in the shadows. Along with her friends of course. And Viktor, who lives in the gray world as well, is the perfect prince for her.

Sofia is so interesting: strong, smart and more than meets the eye. Viktor is also strong and hot and is more than his roots which were rather bloody and violent. You can feel their chemistry. Happy sigh. It's great how they both discover things about the other and they've barely scratched the surface.

And they're surrounded by such an amazing supporting cast that I hope get their own stories too!! Titian and Irina seem to be next though. Looking forward to the next book!!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for a copy of this book.

Sophia is the pristine princess of a small country, completely under the thumb of her brother and her mother. What they don’t know is she lives a double life as a mercenary, part of a team determined to take down the elite in her circles that get away with murder. When the object of her fantasies since she was a teenager suddenly shows interest in her, her life suddenly becomes much more complicated.
I’m glad I found this author a little over a year ago. I’ve loved everything she’s put out and this book is no exception. Sophia is strong and determined and willing to step away from everything to continue to do the right thing. Viktor is the perfect person to match her determination. I read through the story as quickly as possible and now I’m disappointed because I have to wait for her next book! I absolutely loved it and I highly recommend.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

This was my first book by the author and somewhat unexpected. I thoroughly enjoyed the fast paced story of a robin hood princess.

Viktor and Sophia are both great charismatic characters with a rich dark history which makes them so suited to each other but I also enjoyed the strength and depth of all the supporting characters and can't wait to see some of them find their own HEA.

A fast paced story full of heart and action and eminently readable.

I am a lover of Setta Jay's books. I zoomed through her Guardians of the Realm series, so I was excited she was starting a new series. I will be honest and say it was not one of my favorites from her. I just did not feel a connection with Sophia. I understood what she was trying to do but I think I needed a little more background on her family. her brother was mention as well as her father and we met her mother but I just did not connect with her. I was waiting on a stronger connection with the sister-in-law but it never came. Viktor was also a mystery. He was very sexy and Setta Jay always creates sexy scenes but I really did not feel connected. I understand it was an introductory book, I just wanted a little bit more. I enjoyed the book but it did take longer than it normally does for me to read a Setta book because of what I just mentioned. It almost felt like a novella. But I will continue this series because I am interested in the other characters and what to find out more.

This book was such an original and refreshing story about a princess! This princess likes doing more than just dressing up and it was interesting to see what else a royal would surprise us with.

The whole book was riviting, with strong female leads to bash heads with the strong male leads. The main character was a steadfast heroine who bent too quickly for her love interest in my opinion. It got hot and heavy fast, but it was still a very interesting love match throughout the story.

I like this new direction for Setta Jay. The gods and myth stuff was great but after 10 books, I was ready to read something new. I would recommend this book to fans of Lora Leigh. They are similar with all the cloak and dagger but Jay's writing is not nearly as confusing. I always feel like I'm missing something when I ready one of Leigh's books.

So plot, very interesting. I'm pretty sure if I hadn't been at work when I started the book, I would have read it all in one sitting. I felt the interactions with Sophia's family were missing some details, maybe they could have been a little more fleshed out but otherwise the plot was great. The introduction to Sophia & Co.'s organization was neat and I love that there are so many places that Jay can take this since they literally have a book of bad guy's to go after.

The character development seemed to be more on Viktor's side since I felt Sophia had a pretty good grasp on what she wanted out of life and when presented with something new, she took it. Viktor was the one that needed to shift his priorities.

All in all, a good book and I am looking forward to more.

I have read all of Ms. Jay's paranormal books, and I was a bit wary of reading a "normal" story by her but I must say that it did not disappoint. It was a great story with engaging characters and a storyline that just caught my interest from the first paragraph and didn't let me go until the very end. I very much look forward to this authors next book in either series.