Sophie Lark's writing makes me feel like Goldilocks. That author's writing is a little too this, that author's writing is a little too that, Sophie Lark's writing is juuuuuust right.

I hesitated to read the Kingmakers series because I didn't believe all the "Hogwarts but make it mafia" claims. Surely, those two worlds just don't make any sense. How can all these rival family members be in the same school and NOT destroy each other? Don't they all now know each other's secrets, their tells, their weaknesses? Well, I was wrong. Somehow, Sophie makes it believable. And not just believable, but addictive. I can't wait to get into the next book immediately. T

The trials found in this story were fantastic. I loved that there was a balance of conflict within the relationship but also outside of it. Sometimes yes, I do want to read a book that purely focuses on the relationship. But sometimes I want to read a book with competitions, alliances and rivals, secrets and lies, debauchery and shenanigans.

If you were dragging your feet on starting this series after the Brutal Birthright series, quit that. Learn from my mistakes.

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books for a digital advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Love the artwork 👌 An interesting book with children of the mafia attending college to learn how to rule. I haven't read the other books by the author, but there's several hints of many backstories of Anna, Leo, and Dean's parents. Anna and Leo are sweethearts. Their chemistry and each other’s understanding is great. Dean's story must be for another book. I enjoyed this friends to lovers theme. Recommended for the romance fans. One star for the art. Beautifully drawn. Thanks a lot to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.

This was the longest nothing happening romance book I have ever read. I am a bit upset because it gives harry potter but adults vibes.. that dark academia world.. which maybe actually isnt my vibe since I also didnt care for Zodiac Academy. This world is about the kids of mafia leaders finding their way into their own kingdoms. It was just slow and unneccarily long.

Year One is a dark contemporary romance that takes place in a college of sorts specifically for those in mafia families. It is told through three different POVs - Anna, Leo, and Dean. This was a smart, strategic choice on Lark’s part as all three POVs were necessary to understand all the aspects of the story. If Dean’s POV had been left out, there would’ve been too many missing plot holes for readers. I don’t particularly enjoy love triangles but this was fascinating to watch play out since there were aspects of both MMCs that I didn’t love. I really enjoyed Anna’s character and thought she was really well developed as well as an interesting juxtaposition between the dancer side and mafia heir side. Additionally, I liked the side characters Leo and Anna surrounded themselves with. They added a much needed balance to the intensity between Anna, Leo, and Dean. I also found the entire set up of the Kingmakers school to be interesting. It’s broken down into mafia roles and the classes are targeted based on their future role: Heirs, Accountants, Spies, and Enforcers. The other element I really enjoyed was the tournament held between the different classes. While the outcome was predictable, I found the challenges themselves to be interesting. Overall, I found the story interesting, and I’m excited to see how the next book plays out.

What in the world. This just was not for me. Such whiny and childish characters. I was not a fan of any character or of any plot point.
The thing that earned the 2.5 was the world and the school. A very interesting concept and I enjoyed the mafia/mob world. That’s it though y’all. No thank you :)

THE HEIR (Kingsmaker) by Sophie Lark
Sophie Lark has delivered a very solid, well written new series that is totally intriguing, this is the story of Kingsmaker where the kids of the mafia go to learn how to be ready to take over the family business. Wow! This is dark, gritty, captivating, angst filled, with plenty of danger, deception, twists, turns, suspense, mystery, and plenty of intensity. This story is told in three points of view, Leo Gallo, Anna Wilk and Dean (Dmitry) Yenin. I highly recommend this story to everyone. Sophie has such a vivid imagination and she comes up with very special books. I love that this is following the next generation. This is a definite 5 stars since I can’t give it 10.

I absolutely love Sophie Lark she is always a vibe. Every one of these mafia books I eat up. She does it to me every time


This one is no different *I did read this one when it was a different title* but a reread is always a plus with Sophie.
Kingmakers the school not for the bad kids but kids of the bad people. & it has the coolest feel. If only my parents weren’t such squares, right :P
Anna & Leo are end game goals and I love the bff to lovers trope. While part of me wanted to root for Dean I knew where we were going. But that’s okay because I can not wait to get to his story later in the years.

I had a great time reading this. It's the book 1 in the series and the characters were well drafted and penned to introduce to the readers. The plotline was well paced and written well. I finished it in two sittings, thus I can easily say I enjoyed reading it and excited to read the next part now.

Drama, drama, drama!

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5 (rounded up for Goodreads and Netgalley).

At a glance:
▪️Next gen! (I do recommend reading the Brutal Birthright series first).
▪️Mafia families
▪️Love triangle (three POV’s)
▪️Childhood friends to lovers
▪️Elite college setting
▪️Slow burn romance
▪️Explicit 🌶️

My thoughts:
📍I love a good next gen series and this did not disappoint! The little nods to and cameos from the Brutal Birthright characters were epic. By this book, the world has real depth.

📍Though this is a next gen series, the setting is totally different and I appreciated that. The isolated, elite college for the children of the world’s most powerful mafia families was original. I did find the concept a little bit outside of the realm of believability but it’s fiction, I can forgive that.

📍I loved the three main characters. I felt they were each fleshed out well. I clearly understood their motivations and individual natures.

📍I enjoyed the fast pacing of this book. Something dramatic, violent or sexual was always happening making for book worth binging!

📍I liked the romance. It was clear from the beginning that the childhood best friends, Anna and Leo, would be our end game pairing but the added obsessive interest Dean had for Anna definitely upped the stakes. While I did like having Dean’s POV I thought it took up a bit too much page time and detracted from Anna and Leo’s romance. I think I would have felt more invested in their relationship and titillated by their chemistry had Dean been less in the forefront of the story. That being said, it did make me keen on Dean’s future book.

📍As with all Sophie Lark books, I love love loved the music suggestions and character art incorporated in the story!

📍Will I carry on with series? Absolutely. Would I recommend Sophie Lark to new readers? Absolutely.

Other: Thank you to Sophie Lark, Sourcebooks Bloom
Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I absolutely loved this book by Sophie Lark. She is a favorite author of mine. This is the first book of the series. The bar was set high for the second generation/children of the previous mafia romance series!! It has not disappointed! I was completely invested and immersed in the storyline. I was holding my breath, and ready to throw my Kindle several times! My heart was pounding, my anxiety high. This was a slow burn, friends to lovers, triangle genre and had me tied up in knots. I typically hate triangles, but this one just grabbed at me! I cannot wait for the next book!

Thank you NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books for the ARC of this book. This is my voluntary and honest review.

One of the best friends to lovers I have read! A boarding school for the exclusive family members of the mafia and super elite, you definitely get quite a bit variety of characters. I am such a simp for school setting in romance books and this one was so much fun to read. Located on an island, you get to meet to Leo. Our main guy who is everyone’s golden boy. And his best friend Anna, the quiet dancer. Having grown up together they both struggle with their feelings and risking their friendship. That is until the “bad boy” gets Anna’s attention. Leo has to decide who he wants more… Anna or his family.

3.8 stars, rounded up to 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a great Mafia romance! Mafia romances often follow the same plot and vibe but I felt this was really unique. Kingmarkers is isolated away and only families from different mafia families attend. There are strict rules in place about contact with the outside and how the people in the uni interact with each other. I'm a sucker for a school/college setting so I absolutely loved the fact the uni was isolated away. I thought the plot along side the romance was fab! I would highly recommend!

Sophie Lark you can make me feel all the feels because when I say I absolutely hate Dean I hated him (I won't tell you why you'll need to read to find out) Very good writing though to make him so dislikable and make me so angry!.

I absolutely loved my baby boy Leo, I was absolutely obsessed with him from the start and I loved his relationship with Anna and the way they interacted with each other. I was so annoyed when Dean sabotaged them at the party and was screaming at them both to communicate.

The romance in this book was written really well and I really liked the friends to lovers of Anna and Leo..

I'm excited to read the rest of the series!

First of all, we know I love mafia so this book(series)is right up my alleyway and around the corner because I’m addicted. The childhood - friends - to - lovers trope was so a vibe with book. I love how Leo was so protective over Anna(even though he rubbed me wrong sometimes), this book was just the start to my obsession with this series.

2.5 rounded up to 3.

Leo Gallo (the son of Sebastian & Yelena from Sophie's Brutal Birthright series) is all grown up and off to college. Only the college isn't really a college, it's Kingmakers Academy where children from mafia families the world over come to hone their skills. And Leo isn't alone. He's attending with Anna (daughter of Mikolaj & Nessa) and Dean (his estranged cousin).

Read if you like:
-Childhood Friends to Lovers
-Love Triangles
-Forbidden Romance
-High Stakes
-Revenge

CW/TW:
-Dubious Consent/NonCon

This wasn't a bad book, but it was overly ambitious. It had to set up the series and provide a romance arc. Unfortunately, it only delivered on the former. The love triangle didn't really have a chance to develop any tension and it felt rushed. I plan to continue on with the series, but wasn't overly impresses with book one.

This was extremely cringe to me. Everything was dramatic to the point of annoyance and I didn't like the main characters. I don't want to get too negative so I'm not going to add anything else.

I was really excited about this book because of its intriguing concept and the "Hogwarts" vibes but for mafia children.

That part was so fun and incredibly enjoyable. However, the romance fell flat for me, which was surprising since I usually love friends-to-lovers stories. I just didn't feel any chemistry between the main characters, and the romance happened too late in the book in my opinion.

We spent so much time on Dean, and I didn't see the point of his POV when we’re getting his book later in the series. It felt like a missed opportunity to develop the main romance more.

Overall, I'm sad this book was kind of a letdown. I think my expectations were just too high. Still, I'm super excited for the rest of the series and can't wait to see what happens next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Dark academia, mafia, friends to lovers filled with angst. Brand new prologue scene with the whole family. Updated stunning art with almost each chapter and added family trees (which are super helpful). The new cover is beautiful and fits the vibe of the book better. Sophie’s stories win every time and break my reading slumps

Thank you to NetGalley and Sophie Lark for the e-arc. All reviews are my own, and are being left voluntarily.

This is a dark, mafia romance set in an academia setting. Loved the artwork included in this, and enjoyed rereading this!

I loved the setting of this book!

At Kingmakers, the kids of the world's scariest families learn how to rule the underworld.

Leo, who’s always had Anna’s back, as a family friend, follows her into this wild place.

Dean, a heir with an ice-cold vendetta, is out to destroy Leo and steal everything he loves.

I absolutely adored the characters and their tight-knit relationships—they really felt like a family.

The ending was so satisfying! She definitely ended up with who she needed to, I was here for it!

The illustrations were such a fun surprise—they were so pretty!

Overall, I’d recommend this to anyone who loves a good mix of drama, romance, and a danger.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Bloom Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dark academia: I don’t read many in this genre so I can’t speak to it as a whole, but well written and connected story on all the children of the mafia going away to college, and rather than taking your normal classes, they take classes focused on their strengths or if they’re an heir. Some good dark Harry Potter vibes.

Lark gives us a potential love triangle from the start. Will we get best friends to lovers or a bit of an enemies to lovers/forbidden romance?

We meet heirs and offspring of the mafia families from Lark’s series Brutal Birthright. The two heirs this book focuses on from these Chicago families are Leo and Anna. Joined at the hip, cousins by association and not by blood.
When they ship off to the mafia run college of Kingmakers, Leo and Anna continue to dance around their feelings. Leo feels like he owns Anna and there’s nothing he could do to lose her - except her finding him in a compromising position with another female student.
This primes family rival and fellow Heir Dean to finally have a shot with Anna.
The story of Anna/Dean/Leo weaves well into the plot of competition amongst the freshman/sophomores/juniors/seniors.

Lark delivers on the spice, and there is a surprising amount of character growth and friendships. Really enjoyed this one - and I’m not normally a fan of dark romance/mafia romance!

Thank you NetGalley and Bloom Books for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.