Bloom Books Broken Vow: A Dark Mafia Romance

“But romantic love . . . I’ve never experienced it. Maybe I’m just too selfish. I can’t imagine loving somebody more than I love my own comfort and having my own way."I have said it once, and I'll say it again. No one writes powerful, strong, intelligent female main characters like Sophie Lark does. NO ONE. Riona never changed who she was at the core. She remained authentically herself. Riona and Raylan only shed light on each other's strengths and I loved that so much. If you know me, you know I am a sucker for some quality banter and this book hit the nail on the head. The action scenes in this series keep getting better and better. I don't think I breathed at all during the second half of the book. Also the barn scene...if you know, you know. Hot damn. 4.5 stars.Read time: 5h 49minsReading sessions: 8

This was a cute & cozy book! Not my favorite in this series, but it was still entertaining and a fun and quick read! I love this whole series because there’s good romance, but also some great suspense and has some sort of mystery in it. I’m starting the last book in this series next! Then I plan to read The Kingmakers series. I can’t wait for that one!

Little bit of damage to spine and back so little disappointed :(

As much as intense guys who are cold to the outside world but melt with their significant other (aka Nero in the Brutal Birthright series) are my absolute kryptonite, my secret obsession is charming men who always have a joke and a smile who become the scariest, most intense guy in Gotham when their loved ones are threatened. Raylan and Riona felt so freaking earned as a couple. Sophie Lark did a phenomenal job fleshing out Riona and developing her character in a way that made me (as an attorney who is a woman and very much subject to the gross misogyny still inherently baked into the legal field) feel incredibly seen. Raylan is such a sunshine alpha, beautiful in his sincerity, his good nature, and his loving, steel-wrapped spine, a necessity if one is going to make Riona their chosen spouse. I was absolutely obsessed with the on-the-run, mystery novel that this developed into as enforced proximity is one of my favorite tropes in the smut landscape. One of my favorite books of the series, bar none. Riona and Raylan's chemistry was off the charts and this really was grumpy-sunshine at its finest. Also...Raylan's family is absolutely precious and made me desperately want to be a part of it in its current form. This book is just sheer love in all its forms.

Broken Vow is the 5th book in Sophie Lark’s Brutal Birthright mafia series. I’ve been binging this series this weekend and have zero regrets about it….okay maybe 1 regret and it’s that I didn’t start this series sooner! 🤣 I’m obsessed okay!This one is a bodyguard romance with a grumpy, prickly heroine and a sunshiny cowboy/rancher, former soldier hero! Swoon already! Riona was so relatable! Her siblings have had books already (Callum in book 1, Nessa book 2) and we have seen Riona make appearances in the previous books. She’s a workaholic lawyer who is active in her Irish family’s mafia world, she’s always looked at her sibling’s falling in love and just didn’t feel the want for that in her life. Until of course she spends some time with Raylan!We saw Raylan in the previous book when he assists Dante and I was looking forward to him being the hero of this book. At the beginning of the book Riona is almost drowned while swimming and her family quickly goes into protection mode and they bring in Raylan to be her bodyguard. Riona’s reaction was so much fun, she was so not in the mood for him! “His country-boy schtick is the last thing I need right now.” But right away their banter and chemistry kicks in and even Riona can’t believe she’s feeling something for him. Their connection definitely scares her at first and she tries to push those feels away but like, it can’t be resisted.I loved this one! After another threat to her life, they take off together to Tennessee where his family’s ranch is. I loved seeing their time together there: during the visit Riona opens up with his family, Raylan teaches her how to ride a horse, she bonds with his mom, Riona’s conversation with Raylan about refusing to be “tamed” by him like she saw him with the horses, the riding crop and ropes and just all the other steamy times on the ranch! 🔥