Review: Sophie's Surrender by Sam Mariano & Laura Lovett

*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Publisher: Self-published

Release Date: December 4, 2022

Genre: New Adult Dark Romance
Pages: 517

THE STORY:

When I saw her at the party that night, her fate was sealed.

Sophie Bradwell would be mine, no matter what I had to do to get her.

Men have always committed atrocities chasing after their desires.

The men in my family have it down to an art form.

Personally, I’ve never experienced a desire that ran so deep it poisoned my soul.

Until the night I laid eyes on her.

It’s really too bad she didn’t feel the same way. It could have been a fairytale.

I guess our story was meant to be something a little more twisted.

No matter.

I desire Sophie Bradwell, and I don’t care how many terrible things I have to do to get her… and keep her.

Warning: this is a dark romance intended only for a mature adult audience. It contains possible triggers, so if you have triggers commonly found in dark romance (especially the ones penned by Sam Mariano), please make sure you read the author's note in the beginning of the book.

LINK: Goodreads   

RATING: 

OPENING LINE: I knew I should have brought an Uber to this thing.

REVIEW:

Quick note: It’s been months since I’ve read SOPHIE'S SURRENDER and I still cannot stop thinking about it. I had to buy the book in paperback because I love it so much.

I utterly fell in love with SOPHIE'S SURRENDER! It was chef’s kiss. Sam Mariano and Laura Lovett wrote a stalker romance masterpiece. The spice is hot and delicious with so many of my favorite Dark Romance tropes.

SOPHIE'S SURRENDER starts when Sophie forces herself to crash a college party to appease her mother who constantly encourages her to go out and makes friends after a falling out with her childhood friends. Turns out the party is at some hot, rich kid's house who corners her. But little does she know, her life has changed course in a major way Insert hot stalker obsessed with her.

𝒮𝑜𝓅𝒽𝒾𝑒’𝓈 𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝒹𝒶𝓇𝓀 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝐼 𝓈𝓁𝒾𝓅 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝒾𝒹𝑒. 𝐼 𝓁𝑜𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝑜𝑜𝓇 𝒷𝑒𝒽𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝑒 𝓈𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓌𝑒'𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝒶 𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓎 𝓃𝑒𝒾𝑔𝒽𝒷𝑜𝓇𝒽𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐼 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹𝓃'𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓊𝓃𝓈𝒶𝓋𝑜𝓇𝓎 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝑔𝑒𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝓎 𝑔𝒾𝓇𝓁'𝓈 𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝓁𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓂𝑜𝓂 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓈𝓁𝑒𝑒𝓅.

I am convinced Silvan is my psychotic fictional soulmate and you can’t tell me otherwise. But he is also incredibly devoted and loving to Sophie. Not to mention, his love languages are acts of service and stalking.

𝐻𝑒 𝓂𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝓈𝑜 𝓉𝑜𝑜, 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒽𝑒'𝓈 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒾𝓈𝒽𝑒𝒹 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓂𝓅𝑜𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝒶𝒾𝓇, 𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝓊𝓁𝓁𝓈 𝓂𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓈𝓉 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝓊𝑔𝓈 𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎 𝓌𝒶𝒾𝓈𝓉 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝒷𝑒𝒽𝒾𝓃𝒹. 𝐻𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓀𝒾𝓈𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝒾𝒹𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝒻𝒶𝒸𝑒, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐼 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝐼 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁 𝒹𝒾𝒻𝒻𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓁𝓎 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒻𝒶𝒸𝑒 𝓈𝑜 𝒸𝓁𝑜𝓈𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒, 𝒷𝓊𝓉... 𝐼 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁 𝒸𝒽𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓈𝒽𝑒𝒹. 𝐿𝑜𝓋𝑒𝒹. 𝐼 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝒸𝓇𝒶𝓏𝓎, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝓃𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒻𝑒𝓁𝓉 𝓈𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝓌𝒶𝓇𝓂𝓉𝒽 𝒷𝑒𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑒. 𝒮𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒶𝒷𝓈𝑜𝓁𝓊𝓉𝑒 𝒶𝒹𝑜𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃. 𝐻𝑒 𝒽𝑜𝓁𝒹𝓈 𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓀𝒾𝓈𝓈𝑒𝓈 𝓂𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝐼'𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝒸𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒽𝑒'𝓈 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝑜𝓊𝒸𝒽𝑒𝒹, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐼 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁 𝓇𝒾𝒹𝒾𝒸𝓊𝓁𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝓊𝓅 𝒾𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝑒𝓎𝑒𝓈.

All in all, I highly recommend SOPHIE'S SURRENDER to anyone who enjoys OTT/possessive MMC who are obsessed with their women.

“𝒮𝓊𝓇𝑒, 𝒽𝑒’𝓈 𝑔𝑜𝓇𝑔𝑒𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒻𝓊𝓃𝓃𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝑒 𝒶𝒸𝓉𝓊𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝓂𝓈 𝒹𝑒𝓋𝑜𝓉𝑒𝒹, 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒽 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝓇𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝓇𝒶𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝑜𝓃𝑒, 𝓁𝑒𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒶𝓈 𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒶𝓅𝓅𝑒𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓈 𝒽𝑒 𝒾𝓈. 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝒽𝑒’𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓈𝑜 𝓅𝓊𝓈𝒽𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓇𝒶𝓅𝑒𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓀𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓁𝓀𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓈𝒽."

TROPES:

✨Stalking

✨Breeding w/pregnancy

✨OTT/Possessive hero

✨Virgin heroine

✨Forced proximity

✨BC tampering

✨Kidnapping

✨Dub/CNC

✨HEA

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sam Mariano has been writing stories for as long as she can remember. She lives in Ohio and has a sweet and wonderful daughter. Because of You was her first finished story (she started writing it when she was 18) and due to a full-time work and college schedule, it took her years to finish. She has also been telling people for years that there would never be a sequel (sorry, guys!)…which turned out to be a lie. Sam Mariano is currently working on Dante’s book (if you’re a Morelli reader) and some other WIP. Feel free to find her on Facebook, Goodreads, or her blog—she loves hearing from readers!

Hopeless romantic with a penchant for bad boys 💙 Laura is a busy momma who loves romance but doesn't have a ton of time to read it, so she writes spicy love stories featuring bad boy heroes you can read in an evening. Who doesn't want to spend the night with a handsome bad boy? ;) You can follow Laura on Facebook or Instagram! FB: https://www.facebook.com/lauralovetta... Insta: https://www.instagram.com/lauralovett

Happy Reading!

Wishlist Wednesday

*Wishlist Wednesday is where you show a book that is on your bookish wishlist*

THE SHADOW SISTER by Lily Meade

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Release Date: June 27, 2023

Pages: 336

Publisher: YA Mystery Thriller

THE STORY:

Sutton going missing is the worst thing to happen to Casey, to their family. She’s trying to help find her sister, but Casey is furious. And she can’t tell anyone about their argument before Sutton disappeared. Everyone paints a picture of Sutton’s perfection: the popular cheerleader with an entourage of friends, a doting boyfriend, and a limitless future. But Sutton manipulated everyone around her, even stole an heirloom bracelet from Casey. People don’t look for missing Black girls--or half-Black girls--without believing there is an angel to be saved.

When Sutton reappears, Casey knows she should be relieved. Except Sutton isn’t the same. She remembers nothing about while she was gone—or anything from her old life, including how she made Casey miserable. There’s something unsettling about the way she wants to spend time with Casey, the way she hums and watches her goldfish swim for hours.

What happened to Sutton? The more Casey starts uncovering her sister’s secrets, the more questions she has. Did she really know her sister? Why is no one talking about the other girls who have gone missing in their area? And what will it take to uncover the truth? 

LINK: Goodreads

MEET THE AUTHOR

My name is Lily Meade.

I was born and raised in Washington state (the one with coffee, not congress), the second oldest and only girl of four. I like to think I was a cool kid (my mother was an ice cream lady, I mean… come on), but that is debatable.

I believe stories have power.

I strive to live by the motto of a life inspired by fiction. I come from a background of extreme poverty (I've been homeless twice!) and live with a chronic illness, so I know just how powerful hope can be when you're on a difficult journey.

I believe anyone can achieve their own happy ending, no matter how bleak things may currently seem. I'm a passionate advocate of at risk youth outreach and reading programs.

My debut novel THE SHADOW SISTER and an untitled second novel will be published by Sourcebooks Fire in 2023 and 2024 respectively. My ultimate career goal is to be hired to write a modern YA reboot of Scooby Doo.

Want to see my entire Wishlist? Check it out on Amazon: Bookish Wishlist

Happy Reading!

Feature Friday ARC Review: The Phantom by Gena Showalter

*Feature Friday ARC Review is a meme hosted by The Tattered Page to review books not yet released.  

*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Publisher: HQN
Release Date: February 7, 2023

Pages: 384 

Source: E-ARC 

THE STORY:

"One of the premier authors of paranormal romance. Gena Showalter delivers an utterly spellbinding story!"—Kresley Cole, #1 New York Times bestselling author

New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter returns with The Phantom, the third book in her pulse-pounding Rise of the Warlords series, featuring a vengeful harpy and a callous torture master locked in a battle to the death. 

As the son of a war god, Roux Pyroesis has suffered unending pain—he’s caused it, too, dispatching his foes with alarming ease. Now he’s tasked with cutting out the heart of a powerful queen who rules an ancient prison realm inhabited by the most vicious immortal females in existence.

Blythe the Undoing is a decorated harpy warrior determined to annihilate Roux, the invader who killed her beloved consort. Nothing will stop her. Even if she must trap herself for eternity by sneaking into the brutal realm and taking the crown, pitting herself against the merciless male she’s sworn to despise.

Having never known desire, Roux is ill-prepared for the stunning beauty who challenges him at every turn. For the survival of his army, duty comes first. Always. But what happens when the flames of Blythe’s hatred burn out and she craves him, too…but only one of them can live?

Rise of the Warlords:

Book 1: The Warlord

Book 2: The Immortal

LINK: Goodreads 

RATING: 

ONE-WORD REVIEW: SIZZLING

TAG LINE: He knows only war. He gives only pain. He's never felt desire—until her.

OPENING LINE: "I would do bad things for a maple-glazed donut," Blythe the Undoing said to the warrior with his back to her.

REVIEW:

Huge thank you to Gena Showalter and Naomi for the ARC of THE PHANTOM! I was so excited to continue the RISE OF THE WARLORDS series and Gena did not disappoint!

To begin, the RISE OF THE WARLORDS centers around the brutal, merciless Astra—an army of immortal warlords who conquer realms in order to gain a blessing on their quest to destroy their mortal enemy, Erebus, the dark god—and the women who bring them to their knees. THE PHANTOM is Roux the torture master—Roux the Unhinged—and Blythe’s story.

𝑅𝑜𝓊𝓍 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝒹, 𝑒𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓀𝒾𝓈𝓈, 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝓁𝒾𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝒶𝓂 𝑜𝒻 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓁𝒾𝓅𝓈. 𝐵𝑒𝓉𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝓈𝒽 𝒷𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽𝓈, 𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝒾𝓉 𝑜𝓊𝓉, "𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒷𝑜𝒹𝓎. 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈. 𝒢𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝑒."

Not going to lie, I didn’t know how Blythe and Isla were going to forgive Roux for killing Laban. Laban was the love of Blythe’s life and Isla’s beloved father. How do you come back from that?

Roux couldn’t stand the touch of another . . . except Blythe. She was the first person he’s ever even had a sexual attraction to. But while he’s bent on coaxing his enemy to his bed, Blythe was bent on her revenge. She vowed to avenge her consort but how do you do that when the one you seek to kill is unkillable?

Not to mention he's hotter than sin?

𝐻𝑒𝓇 𝑔𝒶𝓏𝑒 𝒹𝓇𝑜𝓅𝓅𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝑜𝓊𝓉𝒽. "𝐻𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓀𝒾𝓈𝓈𝑒𝒹?" 

"𝒩𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇," 𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝒶𝓈𝓅𝑒𝒹. 

"𝒟𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜?" 

𝐻𝑒 𝓈𝓃𝒶𝓅𝓅𝑒𝒹 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝑒𝑒𝓉𝒽 𝒶𝓉 𝒽𝑒𝓇. "𝑀𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔." 

𝐻𝑒𝓇 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝑔𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑜𝓅𝑒𝒹. "𝒟𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒽𝑜𝓅𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓁𝑜𝓈𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓋𝒾𝓇𝑔𝒾𝓃𝒾𝓉𝓎? 𝒲𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓂𝑒?" 

𝒜 𝓂𝓊𝓈𝒸𝓁𝑒 𝒿𝓊𝓂𝓅𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒿𝒶𝓌. "𝒴𝑒𝓈, 𝐿𝓎𝓁𝒶. 𝒲𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓎𝑜𝓊. 𝒪𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊."

All in all, I really enjoyed THE PHANTOM and recommend it to fans of paranormal romance with steam and fun banter!

TROPES:

- Enemies to lovers

- Forced proximity

- Tortured hero

- Single parent

- Found family

- Virgin H

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Gena Showalter is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of over seventy books, including the acclaimed Lords of the Underworld series, the Gods of War series, the White Rabbit Chronicles, and the Forest of Good and Evil series. She writes sizzling paranormal romance, heartwarming contemporary romance, and unputdownable young adult novels, and lives in Oklahoma City with her family and menagerie of dogs and cats. 

Happy Reading!