Okay, this was pretty bad.
Insta-love, insta-sex and zero connection between both main characters. I had the same issues with this author's previous book I read. I sense a pattern here.
The one upside is that this was very short and I breezed through it in a matter of hours!

I absolutely enjoyed reading this book. It’s really good from start to finish. I absolutely love Viktor and Alexandra. They are just perfect for each other. I need more of them please!!!

A big thank you to NetGalley and Relay Publishing for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. This is book 1 in the series. Reads well as a stand alone. This is a mafia romance. I usually dislike them, but this was interesting. Best friend Elena is not a nice person. Alexandra and Viktor have an interesting relationship. She was being married off to his dad but he was poisoned so he married her! Does this really happen?? Anyway, out of my realm of experience but I liked it. 4 stars

This is a strong and well written book. When you think of a Mob book this one fits that to a T.

Written in blood and betrayal it takes you on a twisted journey as you follow the couple from start to finish. It was an awesome intro into the series and I am looking forward to reading more from this author and about the brothers in the series.

Alexandra was promised to the head of the Sokolov family. As a young Russian bride she was ready to accept her place and marry a man she had never met. That moment changes when her groom tragically dies he day she is getting married and his son takes his place. New information comes to light and now instead of enjoying her first days of matrimony she becomes a target. Will she be able to prove her innocence in time? Great start to a new series.

On the day of her wedding Alexandra Volkin has found out the man she was going to marry has been killed. Now she has ten minutes to get over him to get ready to marry his eldest son. Yes she was going to marry his father because her father and his father had some kind of agreement. Growing up with mob ties she had no problem with the marriage, or even the second one. It became a problem after her husband Viktor thinks that her father is the one that killed his father. She believes it had to be someone else and as she proves her love for him in and out of the bedroom. He finds she right but now she has gone to the place of the killer. Can he save her? Read this good fast story to find out.

I enjoyed this mob story. It seemed a little far fetched how Alexandra wanted to always be a mob wife. But I liked Viktor.

Viktor Sokolov marries the woman who was destined to marry his father. Alexandra Volkin must prove she had nothing to do his father's death while falling in love with her husband. Good story to keep the pages turning. New series for the Sokolov brothers starts in this book.

Ebook from net galley and publishers with thanks. Opinions are entirely my own.

Give me a mob story any day of the week and I'm there. I liked the flow and balance of character. I liked how it progress and the love they found

Growing up with a father who held a high position in the Russian mob, Alexandra Volkin was thrilled when her parents signed a contract promising her to a Russian mob boss, even though she’d never met him. All she’d ever wanted was to be the powerful woman of a man everyone respected. Through a dark twist of fate, Viktor marries the woman intended for his murdered father—and his lovely bride’s own father is the likely murderer. As the saying goes, though, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. It’s not so big a sacrifice when your enemy is your sexy new wife.

Alexandra is a young women who has lived a sheltered life. Even though her father has Mob ties, she is kept away from that life. Her only dream is to marry someone in the Mob that has power so that she ca have power as well. Even though she has never met her fiance, she knows he is a mob boss so she cannot wait to marry him. Unfortunately tragedy strikes before she can say "I do". When Alexandra sees Viktor it is lust at first site. But there is something about him that makes her nervous. Yet, she will do what she needs in order to get the title she craves.

Viktor is the oldest son of a mob boss. He never liked the violence needed for his position, but he did what needed to be done. When his father is murdered he will do everything in his power to bring his killer to justice the mob way. When he suspects his new wife's family, Viktor has to walk a thin line. While part of him likes his new wife and is happy to have married her, Viktor must decide what he will do if her family betrayed his. Its even harder to imagine what he will do if she is involved.

This was a good read, but not great. The author writes well, but the story line wasn't that intriguing for me. There were many things I felt were predictable, especially who the real killer was. I really liked Viktor. He was strong, smart, and caring. He did not like the violence, but he stepped up whenever it was needed. Alexandra was a little to naive for me. If her dream was to become a mob wife, she should have learned to be a lot more observant and strong. There were so many clues to what was going on around her, but she missed them all. Even in her quest to try and prove her fathers innocence she went about things in the wrong way.

This was a fun quick read with a little steam. While it was not my favorite, I liked the writing style enough to read other books by the author.

Another blazing good read by Ms. North. An interesting and good story. Enjoyed it and can't wait until the next Leslie North book.

This was a quick read but I loved the storyline. Felt a little rushed in some areas where I felt could have been elaborated on a lot more to get a more in-depth story. Loved to rimNce between the two and felt very real

Another great book from Leslie North. She does know how to pull you into her stories and this book does that in spades. I read “Married to the Russian Kingpin” in one sitting, devouring the fast paced action and romance. Leslie sure knows how to right brilliant stories and this is one of them. Can’t wait for more books by her.

A hot a steamy alpa male book that made me hot and oh so sweaty couldn't put this one down a great read, just wish it was a bit longer.

I didn't like this story at all, too fast paced, no background to the characters. I didn't like the protagonists, the heroine whose whole purpose was to be a wife, went to college in the US but l armed to be a wife, no backbone or self will I found completely unbelievable and I know some women like this kind of stuff and still want to be stay at home mums and I won't attack that, but to go to college to be a wife, to be prepared to marry a man that you have never met to be a good strong mafia wife ! The plot wasn't there, the characters lacked and there was no real story.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free book to review for an honest opinion.

This just didn't do it for me. I always get caught up with the authors titles and description. Ms North books usually start off interesting but they usually dont stay that way. I finished cause I thought it would get better unfortunately
now I have to read his drivers story because its the h's best friend.

I read the second part to the this series first and since I enjoyed it grabbed this one and was happy that I did. So we meet Alexandria who has always wanted to marry a mob boss (yeah) she was supposed to marry viktor's dad but he was murdered and so Viktor steps in. Viktor will do what he needs to do even if he has to kill his new wife, he is a jerk and doesn't listen when he needs to..but as these two start on there marriage which as you just noticed is pretty much a business deal it does change..Enjoy!

I'm a huge fan of mafia romance, as soon as I read the blurb for this book I was instantly intrigued. I mean the first sentence in the blurb was...

"Viktor Sokolov doesn’t know if he should make love to his beautiful new wife… or kill her."

That right there had me hitting the Want to Read button right away. Plus it being an arranged mafia marriage was a bonus. I'm a total sucker for arranged marriages.

Unfortunately, this book just didn't do it for me.

Let's start with the heroine. For a woman whose only purpose in life is to become a wife to a powerful mafia leader, she was pretty weak. She just came across pretty naive and her personality didn't really seem believable for the "mafia".

The story too pretty fast-paced, maybe I would have liked it better if there was more details/background to the story - maybe even some angst thrown in.
Just not my cup of tea.

I stumbled upon this series and this author while browsing the Read Now shelf on Netgalley. It was a one sitting type of read filled with a female protagonist who owns an endless selection of lace panties and padded bras trying to manage a new marriage to a well hung Russian mob boss trying to find out who killed his father. Is it his father in law? A nice break from my usual reading.

My first Leslie North read. Book 1 in the Sokolov Brothers follows Vikto Sokolov as he marries his dead father’s bride to be Alexandra Volkin. Predictable, very cheesy, quick and enjoyable read. Overall not my idea of a fantastic read. I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is my honest review.