Stolen Heir by Sophie Lark – sensual and enjoyable captive/captor trope

Stolen Heir is dark, twisted, sensual, and enjoyable mafia beauty and beast retelling with captive/captor trope.

Disclaimer : This is KU book.
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Previous Books in Series

1. Brutal Prince

Synopsis

They Murdered My Father, So I Stole Their Daughter…

She’s my captive, my little ballerina who dances only for me.

Nessa is sweet and innocent. She doesn’t deserve any of this. But that’s how our world works – the wolves eat the lambs, no matter how gentle they may be.

I’ll use her to get my revenge. Unless I give in to my hunger first…

“Stolen Heir” is the dark and gothic second act of the “Brutal Birthright” series. It’s a stand-alone Enemies to Lovers Romance, complete with HEA and no cliffhangers. It contains blazing hot bedroom scenes for mature readers only!!!

Review

Stolen Heir is dark and enjoyable mafia version of Beauty and Beast that follows the story of Nessa & Mikolaj. This takes place few weeks after the end of the first book.

The beginning is heartbreaking. Mikolaj lost his sister ten years ago that killed whatever good in him remained and turned him into a cold and heartless gangster. Now, he lost another relative by work and respect.

The Butcher trained him like his own son to be the heir of the Polish mafia but Italian and Irish mafia family, Gallos and Griffins killed The Butcher. Mikolaj wants revenge making both biggest mafia of Chicago suffer in a way they never imagined- he is going to kidnap Griffins’ baby daughter, Nessa Griffin. His plan was perfect but falling for Nessa wasn’t part of the plan. It was interesting to see how Nessa will thaw his cold heart and what he would do in the end.

When I started reading this I wasn’t expecting this to be a Mafia retelling of Beauty and Beast. It resembles the fairytale in many ways – Mikolaj takes her to his mansion that is dark and gothic, there is a library, a friendly housemaid, a dance, he falls for her, she sees past his darkness, and he is also stabbed in the climax… I loved how the author still gave the story her own touch, making it dark and sexy retelling with lots of action and tension.

Writing is even better than first book- fast and touching with dual narrative. I liked the plot even more as I couldn’t say where this would go. I could guess some parts, I knew this would be HEA but not how as Makolaj was facing Gallos and Griffins and he hit their sensitive spot. The setting of Miko’s gothic mansion added more tension in the first half.

The characters are amazing. I loved both old and new characters. Nessa is lovely and sweet. I have come to love her and both Gallo and Griffin families and that’s why even though I felt for Miko for what happened it felt so wrong to use Nessa. She is genuinely kind and compassionate, like Miko, I wondered how she was born in a mafia family and never got influenced by their work or stayed away from their action and consequences so far.

She has no confrontation bone in her and everyone loves her wherever she goes so her reaction to Miko’s hate and revenge shooke her badly. During the time of captivity not only did she grow from a girl to a woman but also became strong, confident, defiant, and more creative. I loved her passion for ballet and it was amazing to see her recreate the beauty and beast and its resemblance to her own story in ballet act.

Mikolaj is not instantly likable. He is cold, broody and grumpy. It was heartbreaking to read what happened to his sister in the beginning but I also didn’t like how he treated Nessa in the first half, how he enjoyed scaring her and got pleasure from Grissins and Gallos’ suffering. But at the same time I enjoyed his perspective.

As the story progressed, I liked seeing him slowly falling for Nessa. It was amazing how he could understand her more than her family could, for never lying to her or forcing her when it came to their physical attraction. It was lovely how he protected her and let her go when he realized he loved her.

Romance is slow and the chemistry between Miko and Nessa is sizzling and sensual. The captive/captor romance trope isn’t everyone; it’s the first time I read this trope and I have to say I enjoyed it. There were some very lovely moments. My favorite was Nessa and Miko’s dancing, him taking her to a ballet show, and also last chapter.

The climax was tense and action-packed. I was expecting the fight but not this deadly. I was scared for Miko. He getting back up after that and taking back his position seemed a bit unreal but it was adrenalin-filled. End is lovely and a perfect happily ever after.

Why 4 stars-

I don’t mind Nessa being naive in first half but I didn’t like how complacent she was for most of the story. I get it Miko was threatening to harm her family but she also should know her family isn’t easy to take down. I also feel she often forgets about her family or they might be suffering at the hands of the man she is fantasizing about.

I just expected more resistance from her part but she didn’t and so romance felt too easy. I also didn’t like Miko never telling Nessa about Anna (not exactly what happened to her) or opening up to her.

Overall, Stolen Heir is dark, twisted, and sensual mafia beauty and beast retelling with captive/captor trope

You might enjoy Stolen Heir if you like,

Hate-to-love romance
Mafia romance
Age gap
Captive/Captor
Touch her and you die
Gothic mansion setting
Mafia Beauty and Beast retelling

Book Links of Stolen Heir

Goodreads | Amazon.in | Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk
(free on UK Audible)

Thank you for reading! Let’s chat..,

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#StolenHeir is dark, twisted, sensual, and enjoyable #mafiaromance and amazing #beautyandbeastretelling with captive/captor trope.⭐⭐⭐⭐

Check out full Review ⬇️https://t.co/G6YbO8MJip

— Books Teacup and Reviews (@BooksTnReview) October 27, 2023

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