“Stay with me. Be with me always. Live here. Love me. Let me love you."
Such a dark but beautiful book. I loved how it was giving spooky, gothic vibes. This is my first book of hers.

Fantastic book and the only things I need to say are dark romance, spicy and a little gothic/spooky. Need I say more; 4 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

Sophie Lark is quickly becoming one of my new favorite authors. I decided to read this one before Grimstone, since I didn’t realize it was second in the series. I felt like I understood everything well, but once I read the first I’ll find out for sure. I’m assuming it’s just about other characters, but I’m not sure yet.

I found every character untrustworthy. Lorne pissed me off the most, followed by Atlas and closely behind Elena. My issue with Elena was her actions mostly but some of her thoughts made me want to shake her.

I enjoyed that this book was both character and plot driven. I had a great time reading it and will absolutely be reading everything in this author’s backlist!

This book really has some interesting twists and turns. When Elena gets chosen to be a mail order bride, she knows she has to leave her homeland behind due to trouble she is in. However, her future husband may seem great on the surface, but his red flags start waving almost immediately on the drive home from airport. She finally notices the way he treats his daughter and her alarm bells start ringing. Atlas is the grumpy-insta love mmc who knows he must protect Elena, while the newlyweds stay in his hotel he is watching all. Loved the spice and mystery to this book!

Thank you Bloom, Sophie, and NetGalley for this ARC of Monarch. After reading Grimstone I was looking forward to returning to this universe of dark romance.

First off, I loved the eerie, gothic vibes of Grimstone and the whole spooky seaside setting, it’s the perfect fall read. The atmosphere was probably my favorite part, and the illustrations scattered throughout the book were a really unique touch.

The romance itself was… complicated. Elena was an interesting heroine, but sometimes her choices frustrated me. I understand she was naive coming from Ukraine, but at times it felt like she lacked common sense.

As for Lorne, the controlling fiancé, he was definitely creepy, but parts of the plot felt predictable. I guessed some of the twists early, which took away from the suspense.

There were also moments the pacing dragged, especially in the middle, and I wish the character development had gone deeper.

If you like dark romance with thriller elements, this might work for you, but for me, it was just okay. Atmospheric? Yes. Spicy? A bit. Memorable? Not entirely.

Sophie Lark's Monarch is the second book in her Grimstone series and is a definite improvement from the first one. I liked it, but didn't love it. I will keep an eye out for her books in the future.

I requested this along with the first one. I absolutely loathed the first one and because of that almost didn’t read this one. This book pleasantly surprised me and didn’t repulse me like the first one did. However I still didn’t love the story and feel like I wasted my time.

This book had a strong concept and great aesthetic, but I didn’t fully connect with the characters or the romance. It wasn’t bad, just not as gripping as I’d hoped. Still worth checking out if you’re into dark, moody reads with power games.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting and intriguing book.

Dual POV, Spicy, Dark Romance, Forced Proximity, Age Gap, Virgin FMC, Gothic Vibes, Forbidden Romance, Slow Burn, Touch Her & Die, Instalove

Monarch is a dark romance with romantic suspense as Atlas and Elena navigate their instalove feelings in the setting of the gothic Monarch Hotel. While Atlas is grumpy and surly to everyone around him but he reveals his softer side to Elena. I feel like the relationship between Elena and Atlas would have been more heartfelt had it not been instalove/instalust.

As with all Lark novels, the vibes were vibing! She's got the gothic atmosphere and creepy factor NAILED in everything of hers I've read. I think the dual POV worked really well here (not as well as in Grimstone, though), but I think adding in Lorne's POV here and there would have made for a really twisted and dark novel while giving me the escalation I wanted. Overall this was a fast and interesting read and you'll definitely love it if you wanted more of Atlas after reading Grimstone! This was a quick and easy read for me, so I’m sure that says something. I do enjoy Sophie’s writing, and while I loved the premise of this book, I didn’t love the execution of it.

This book was a really fun time. I really liked the dark undertones through the wholebook. Atlas the man that you are 🤭

I genuinely thought book 1 and 2 would be about the same couple but it wasn't, so I feel very silly now. I was a bit unsettled at the start because of that but I quickly got back on my feet, and ended up really liking it as well.

I’m loving this series by Sophie Lark. She feeds us all the gothic, dark romance vibes. I’ll read anything she puts out.

I freaking love these books so far! I am so excited for more! I loved the characters and story. God I'm so excited for more. It drew me in instantly and I couldn't stop reading!

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to review.

This was a great continuation of the Grimstone series. I was on the edge of my seat for the entire book.

SOPHIE LARK THE WOMAN YOU ARE!!!!

I love sophie lark and everything she writes but this series is one of my favorites!! Everything about this, especially the theme and the scenarios were totally amazing. I reccommend it so much especially if you want to read it at halloween, such a spooky perfect read!

Sophie writes another steamy romance with some wonderfully morally grey characters.

Everyone has their own moral code; when i say grey i mean maybe more grey/black....

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

Thank you so much to Bloom for the earc, all opinions are my own.

Bookseller Elena meets author Lorne in a bit of a mail order bride match up. After a whirlwind romance Elena moves to Grimstone, a small sea town, to finish out her engagement. They’re forced to live in a hotel as building is finished on his home. As she spends more time with Lorne she discovers his twisted ways, and hotel owner Atlas becomes a lot more welcoming.

A perfect mix of thriller and romance with a dash of gothic.