Kingmakers: Year One by Sophie Lark

Posted August 21, 2024 in review Tags: 4 stars, friends to lovers, mafia/mob

Kingmakers Year 1 by Sophie Lark

Genres: Contemporary Romance
Source: ARC, NetGalley

Bound by Blood, Torn by Love…

In the shadowed halls of Kingmakers, a ruthless mafia university, the offspring of the world's most feared families come to master the dark arts of influence and intimidation.

Leo, unwaveringly loyal to his childhood friend, Anna, follows her into a world where love is a weapon, trust is a casualty, and survival is the only victory that matters.

But the greatest danger comes from Dean Yenin, a Bratva heir with a vendetta as cold as his heart. Dean plans to destroy Leo and take everything he holds dear, starting with Anna.

Can Leo win back his soulmate? Or is Anna lost forever…

The Lark Notes:
Imagine Kingmakers as a TV show... each book in the series is like one season of the show. Year One is a Friends-to- Lovers romance between Leo Gallo and Anna Wilk. Dean Yenin is the villain, but the entire series is written for his redemption arc. Half of you will hate Dean after Year One. Can I convince you to love him by Year Three? – Sophie

P.S. Kingmakers is second-gen – for the parents' story, check out my Brutal Birthright series.

I went into Kingmakers pretty blind. I haven’t read a Sophie Lark book yet and wanted to try one. I was not disappointed. Normally, I do NOT like love triangles. However, I felt this wasn’t really a love triangle. Anna never really liked Dean. She didn’t even really want to date him, but he was super pushy and forced her. But, more about that in a minute.

Anna and Leo have been best friends their entire lives. Both of them start feeling more than friend feelings, but don’t want to say anything to the other. Overall, I just loved these two! I was frustrated with their lack of clear communication, but honestly it all made sense. They acted like I expect college kids to act-scared to ruin a friendship. I also loved seeing how they brought the best out of each other. Anna needs Leo’s confidence and pep. Leo needs Anna to keep him in line. The plot is interesting, since this isn’t a normal “college”. The danger of the competitions was cool and getting to know some of the other kids added depth to the story.

This was my first Sophie Lark book and it was a hit! I can’t wait to dive into book 2!