Bloody Heart (Brutal Birthright Book 4) by Sophie Lark

🛑 Please Do Not Read If You Would Like to Avoid Spoilers 🛑

Ratings:

⭐️: 4.5/5

🌶: 4/5

Tropes:

- Mafia

- Second Chance

- Interracial Relationship

- Surprise Pregnancy

Review:

Bloody Heart is the fourth book in the Brutal Birthright series by Sophie Lark. This book follows Dante Gallo and Simone Solomon. In the past books, we have read that Dante is uptight and emotionally resistant due to his heart being broken. However, we as readers never knew the girl's name or who she was. But, this book gives a glimpse into the past and present following Dante and Simone. The book examines as the both of them struggle to commit to their relationship as youngsters with people in their way. As time passes and they sneak around, it leads to a surprise that years later play a vital role in their lives.

I was intrigued by this book because in Brutal Prince and Savage Lover as a reader I was wondering what happened to Dante. I could not wait to read it and was happy when it came time to read it! As for Dante he was always emotionally detached from his other siblings, and I wanted to know what happened. All I knew was that he was heartbroken before by a girl he loved. I loved that about this book Sophie decided to go from past to present and do it in chronological order. I was able to keep up and see the story go from when the characters were teenagers/young adults to adults.

I will be honest the way Dante and Simone met each other was weird 🤷🏾‍♀️. He kidnapped her, by accident, and they kissed in that same scene after talking for a bit. From that point on there, the relationship builds and at one point Dante sneaks into her house and does sexual things to her after meeting her for the second time. I have always struggled with the way Sophie builds relationships. It’s like the two people meet each other and they automatically fall for each other. I had that issue with this book as well Dante and Simone meet and soon, they become sexual with each other, and they barely know each other. They even admitted they love each other, but they haven't been together for long 🤣.

However, I can say Dante and Simone shared wonderful chemistry that I feel like made me

enjoy this book. There you go I liked this book and I liked reading about their time together.

Their chemistry was great as the book began to continue and I was happy to see Dante smile. In the other books, I never see him have many emotions. But, with Simone, he was always sweet, and I loved the way he always took care of her. But, I knew it wasn’t going to last and I knew that the moment her parents met Dante.

My biggest pet peeve of the book was Simone’s family, specifically her father. Granted I will say like Simone’s father my dad is African, Nigerian to be exact, and he can be controlling at times and intimidating. But, I know he wants me to have a life he wasn’t granted when he was younger. I don’t think my dad even knows sometimes he comes off as overbearing and judgmental towards me though I work my a** off to be successful. I love my dad, but I would like him to know this is my life and if I fail at certain adventures, I will have to learn and build from them. I wish Simone would have said that to her father, but she never did. Even when he forbade her from seeing Dante, she was a grown woman and could make her own decisions, but still, she listened to his demands. It angered me how she let her father control her life and my hatred came for him when Simone gave birth. I didn’t expect this book to have a surprise pregnancy, but that added fuel to the story which I was interested in. Also, I liked that Sophie explored another culture. Sometimes readers have an issue with Caucasian authors' right characters of a different race, but she was respectful and I loved that about her writing.

Back to the book with Simone keeping Dante’s child away from him was wrong and understandable. She was eighteen years old and at the scene when she was going to tell him the state, he was in was scary. Not to mention her father's words were on repeat in her head about Dante and she was pregnant with her hormones escalating. But, still, that was Dante's

child and he had every right to be a father especially because she decided to move and deliberately hide their child. But, for her parents to force and degrade her into giving up her parental rights was disgusting. I wish Simone had a backbone sometimes because that was her child, and she gave the child to her sister. Then the worse part was that they guilt-tripped her into giving the child to her sister Serwa. I loved her sister, but it was not her child.

Then nine years later Simone’s life is different she is a famous model, her sister passed away, and she has her son, Henry, full time. I liked the time jump and I was glad to see where Dante and Simone were. I was happy to see Simone more independent and standing up for herself though her father still tried to control her life at points. When she and Dante saw each other for the first time again I held my breath. I almost became blue during that scene 😂. They hit it off right away when the time came. They reconnected through a threat, and I was biting my fingernails during this plot. Apart from their romance and seeing them rekindle I wanted to know who the sniper was, and I genuinely thought the person was after Simone's father. He wasn’t instead he was after Callum Griffin and to see the connection between this book and Stolen Heir was amazing. It reminds me of American Horror Story when you witness how all the seasons connect. Christian DuPont his name was and to me, I would have thought he would have been after Mikolaj first instead, but he wasn’t.

When Simone told Dante about their son, I didn’t expect a different reaction, but I wanted the scene to be longer. Finding out you are the father of a nine-year-old boy and the woman you are rebuilding with kept it from you would be the worst feeling. I felt it was too short and Simone being kidnapped by Christian after it was not something I expected, but it added more fuel to the book. Then Dante met Henry the same night. It was just so much within one scene, and it could have been prolonged. It wasn’t bad, but I wanted a longer scene to be honest.

Towards the end, the book was rushed. The scene where Simone is running through the field as Dante is trying to save her and Christian was trying to kill her was too long. I felt the scene could have been two or one long chapters, but it was multiple between the perspective of Dante and Simone. I liked feeling anxious and on the edge of my seat, but I didn’t think it needed to be that long.

When the book came to an end, I was happy to see Dante and Simone happy with Henry and a baby on the way. With the years apart and people coming in between them you wouldn’t think such chemistry would be intact again.

I liked this book, and I can say the chemistry between the two main characters was exquisite.

I gave the book a 4.5/5 and that is because there was one plot, I wanted to see which involved Simone's father. He was accused of covering up a sexual abuser's crimes and ignoring it through a deal. Not to mention the abuser had a hard drive that Dante and Simone stole and we're going to expose it to the public. I wanted to know what was on it and who would suffer from it 🙃. But, besides that overall, I enjoyed the book, and this is my second favorite book out of the Brutal Birthright series. I have already read the other two books in the series, and I can say they were great, and I witnessed Sophie's writing become increasingly better!

"Bloody Heart" Amazon Link