Thank you to Sophie Lark, Bloom Books, and Raincoast for the copy of the new Bloom Books edition of Broken Vow, the fifth story in the Brutal Birthright series.
Broken Vow is officially my second favourite in this series, so far! If you love either mafia romance or cowboy romance, this one is both!
He’ll protect her…whether she likes it or not. Riona Griffin is gorgeous, intelligent, and iron-willed. My perfect woman, except she hates my guts. She thinks she doesn’t need anybody. But she needs me. She’s being hunted by an assassin who never misses his mark. I’m going to stay by her side, day and night, keeping her safe. Riona thinks that’s a fate worse than death, but I know she’ll learn to love me. If this hitman wants to kill her, he’ll have to go through me first. Broken Vow is the wild and dangerous fifth installment in the Brutal Birthright series. It’s a standalone bodyguard mafia romance, with a HEA and no cliffhanger. Contains steamy scenes.
Check out my more detailed thoughts below…
- Characters: Riona Griffin’s story has been one of my most anticipated since I started reading the Brutal Birthright series. I knew early on I was going to love Riona, in the other instalments she is presented as the workaholic, ice queen sister to Griffin. Being in her head allows the reader to really understand how she balances her fierceness and determination with a whole lot more to it. She’s one of Sophie Lark’s most flushed-out characters, Riona is so focused on taking care of everyone else and her career that she has little left to care for herself. Enter Raylan, her new bodyguard and a bit of a cowboy! I loved him and his family so much, he is a very different hero for this series as he is the first and only one who is not in the mafia directly himself. Rather, he is hired to be Riona’s bodyguard because her life is in danger. He was the perfect counterpart to Riona, ready to match her fierceness.
- Setting: The setting is such a fun part of Broken Vow. Early on it is apparent that the city of Chicago is not safe enough for Riona so they must escape to Raylan’s family ranch. I loved the little, small-town cowboy romance inside a larger mafia romance series, it was like an escape inside an escape.
- Pacing: Sophie Lark writes these incredibly easy to breeze through books. This series is just so damn bingeable to read, I basically read Broken Vow back-to-back with Bloody Heart in the same night. The pacing is so strong in the first two thirds, due to their length these books often need to be wrapped up rather quickly at the end. Yet I can overlook that in the instalments that really shine bright like this one and Brutal Prince.
- Romance: The relationship is very opposites attract, with grumpy sunshine vibes. Riona is the grump, and Raylan is the sunshine. Both characters really push each other because of this and bring out the best in each other. The sex scenes in this book are on another level for this series, with some light BDSM elements for those who are into reading that. Of course, I have always been a sucker for bodyguard romance in each and every form it has come in and this was a great take on it.
Broken Vow receives five out of five stars.
You can pick up the story below…
Shop Local | Amazon | Indigo
Thank you again to Sophie, Bloom, and Raincoast for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!
