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For so long I said "mafia romances just aren't for me" - I tried fan favorites like Bounde by Honor (OMFG NO) and The Darkest Temptation (meh) and nothing worked for me. Then I started reading Sophie Lark... and I read all her books in a week and a half.

My favorite series from her is also the first series I read: Kingmakers. It's like mafia college Hogwarts meets a dark and dramatic TV show. I loved it. It's one of the rare series where every book was a 5/5!

I loved the concept of a boarding school for mafia kids, where drama would seep in from family rivalries and betrayals of the past. But I also thought the way they were written was so unique - each book is told from 3 POVs: the hero, heroine, and someone else. 

In book 1 the third POV is a villainous character who later becomes the hero of his own book; in book 2 it's the heroine's sister, who is a heroine in the next book; in book 3 it's the mysterious spy, who's the hero of book 4. I feel like you'll either love or hate this, and I LOVED it. It provided so much instant intrigue to me and added angst and points of view. 

Lets deep dive into the series - reading order, tropes, the school - so I can try to convince you to read it.

Sophie's Backlist

She has three mafia series: Brutal Birthright (6 books), Underworld (8 books), and Kingmakers (5 books).

Brutal Birthright and Underworld feature couples who are the parents of some of the characters in Kingmakers, but all take place in the modern world because Sophie didn't think up Kingmakers until after she'd written the previous books. 

You have a few options for reading order:

1. If you want to read the books in chronological order, you would read Brutal Birthright 1-6, Underworld 1-8, Kingmakers 1-5
2. If you want to read in chronological order but focus on the characters who will make cameos in the Kingmakers series, read Brutal Birthright 1-6, Underworld 1-2 + 4, Kingmaker 1-5
3. The way Sophie recommends to read is like this: Brutal Birthright 1-6, Kingmakers 1-2, Underworld 1-2, Kingmakers 3-5
4. Here's how I read it: Kingmakers 1-3, Underworld 1, Kingmakers 4-5 - then I went back to the other books

It sounds complicated and intimidating but I promise it's not! The great thing about Sophie's books is each series truly stands alone. I read Kingmakers first and didn't feel like I was missing out at all on "meeting the parents first". Their cameos in these books are so small and their stories are so separate that to me, it's really not necessary to read Brutal Birthright / Underworld first unless you want to. 

The only "must" is to please read Ivan before The Spy. Trust me. 

Welcome to Kingmakers

Kingmakers is a college boarding school for the children of the most powerful people around the world - many who work in mafia or less than legal businesses. Kingmakers has many rules for students to follow, first and foremost that it's a neutral zone: no violence is permitted, and anything doled out will be returned in kind: blow for blow, injury for injury, death for death.

The school is on a remote island and students cannot leave it for any reason, except for summer break. If they leave at any point, they will not be allowed back. Students cannot bring any technology, and can only pack one suitcase. They can only call home on Sunday's, but can write via the local post office.

Divisions

I love when books take place over the course of a school year, and each book represents a new school year. It's a definite bonus when we also get something like the Quarter Bellum, which caps off each school year and provides plot/action check-ins throughout each book.

The Quarter Bellum translates to "the War of Four" and is a competition between the classes each year. It's a source of pride and proves who has the capability to lead in the real world. 

Prior to the start of book 1, where we follow the main characters as freshman, the record number of wins (3) was set by former student Adrik Petrov, his sophomore to senior year. Leo (the hero of The Heir) will do anything to lead his class and win. Challenges can result in injury... or death.

Introducing the Characters and Tropes

• The Heir: childhood friends • family friends • friends to lovers • love triangle • grumpy / sunshine
• The Rebel: antagonists to lovers • forbidden relationship • romeo and juliet
• The Bully: bully romance • enemies to lovers • forced proximity • friends with benefits • sex lessons • blackmail • antihero
• The Spy: revenge plot • romeo and juliet • hate to love you • romantic suspense • forbidden romance • badass heroine
• The Savage: age gap • workplace romance • forced proximity • threesome • LGBTQ rep • badass heroine

Family Connections

Like I said, it is not necessary to read the parent's books first - but if you want to know who is related to who, here's a quick list of family connections from the Kingmakers series. 

The full web of how everyone is related is much, much larger but not really needed - for example, one of the daughters of the couple from the Underworld book Nikolai is Isla Markov, a female enforcer who's a freshman with Leo and Anna. She's mentioned in passing a few times throughout the series, and has a larger cameo in book 5 because she used to date Sabrina. But she / her parents aren't really "main players" in the Kingmakers series.

In conclusion...

I loved this series SO MUCH. It is so bingeable and had me on my edge of my seat the whole time. If you haven't read it yet, and you like dark romance, mafia, or soapy drama - definitely add it to your TBR.

Have questions I didn't answer, or something you think should be added? Leave a comment or drop me an email at virgoreadersteph@gmail.com

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