Kingmakers: Year Four

I can’t even put into words the myriad of emotions I’m feeling! The amount of gasps 😱 and deep breaths I had to take while reading because of how emotional and invested I got while reading this series should be a crime lol 😂🥰.Sophie- honestly- you have a way with words and world building that is a testament to how brilliant you are as a writer. Your attention to detail is admirable, and I’m so humbled to be able to read your masterpieces.The book starts off by giving us the perspective of the Spy. I have to admit, I got emotional reading that opening chapter. Then, we get Nix’s perspective (the h). Nix has been sheltered all her life. Although she knows the dangerous dealings that her father is in, she doesn’t know everything that he’s involved in. So, he agrees to allowing her to go to Kingmakers to have a chance at attending a “normal” academy (um… but Kingmakers isn’t really a normal academy 😂). She wants to meet new people and make friends, something she doesn’t have at home.Finally, the Spy’s identity gets revealed. Ever since book 3 came out, I was racking my brain, trying to figure out who the Spy was. I had a few guesses, but I was still surprised. Not only by “who,” but everything that gets revealed! Gahhh!! So many things make sense now! I’m soooo tempted to reread the other books in the series just to continue fitting the pieces of the puzzle. His identity gets revealed early (thank god lol) and then I was GASPING at all the revelations throughout the book!I loooooved the third POV! Gah! Again, it all makes sense! This is why I need to read all of SL’s books!!! Now, if only I could quit my job and family, I would be able to do it lol😂.The chemistry between Nix and The Spy was 🔥. Of course, WE know it’s like enemies-to-lovers, but Nix doesn’t, and enemies-to-lovers is my FAVORITE trope of all time 😉. I loved all the smexy scenes, even the ones from the third POV 🥰🔥🥵😅💦. Jeeezus-I loved how animalistic and passionate they all were 😉🥵. The underwater scene was inventive and 🔥 (I mean, really, all of them 👏🏻). The playlist was PERFECTION yet again 🥰.My mind was BLOWN 🤯while reading! I got so sad finishing the book. The epilogue… god… the epilogue was “Chef’s kiss”. Simply amazing and heartwarming!! I felt that sad feeling in my stomach, like I was saying goodbye to so many friends 😩. I didn’t want it to end 🥺.HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! 👏🏻(Side note) again, like in the previous books in this series, there’s no talk of bc… I don’t want the MCs to use any lol, but I like there to be some kind of talk (some people prefer there not to be any mention of anything)… the H hasn’t been intimate with anyone in LOOOONG time and the h is very inexperienced as well, so I would say, they’re safe against STDs lol. This is my personal preference. If the H was a hoar, then please wrap it up. This H isn’t 🥰👏🏻.⚠️safety squad⚠️-no cheating-no owd/omd-people get killed- it’s mafia 🤷🏻‍♀️

It’s taken me a few weeks to write this review as I really needed to sit with this one awhile. I also re read it before writing my review too :) I think I had a hard time because if I wrote my review it would mean the Kingmakers journey was finally officially over and I just didn’t want it to end.The Spy was a fantastic book! All of our questions were answered and every mystery was finally revealed. Once I finished it the first time I re read the entire series again and found even more tiny clues and breadcrumbs from every book that were so carefully crafted into the stories!Now to the good stuff. I’m going to keep this spoiler free for the most part in case you haven’t read it bc I don’t want to reveal anything and wreck the mystery!!The Spy: loved finding out who he was and getting that inside look at what his life had been like. Was VERY satisfied with his identity. I enjoyed seeing him fall for Nix and love her so recklessly. I think one of the reasons he was drawn to her so fiercely (outside of his plans) was that she was his complete opposite in so many ways with his secret life but yet so much the same. She was unapologetically herself, wild and fierce and free, so brutally honest when he still had to live a lie. The Spy also learns who his real friends are and it was a joy to see this.Nix: gosh I loved her!!! I adored the story of her birth and her namesake. Despite who her father was, seeing their relationship was still beautiful, although bittersweet knowing the reality of the man she cared so much for wasn’t entirely true. When her eyes are opened it was truly heart wrenching to watch. I loved that she threw herself into loving the spy and gave him everything of herself so freely.The story: we get to see some amazing action and an unexpected (but epic!) reunion, love stories unfolding, mysteries revealed, and THAT EPILOGUE!!! The book would have been amazing even if it just consisted of the epilogue, it was THAT good!!!We also got to see the rest of Dean’s redemption and little glimpses of him and Cat (the dance at Christmas was once again awesome!). He is still my favorite character so getting to see him continue to evolve was wonderful. By the end he had changed into the man he was always meant to be and it was so good I cried! The scene with him and Leo on the boat was the perfect example of his redemption coming full circle. His epilogue was my favorite of course :)There was one thing I wasn’t hugely enthused about though and that was the lack of real groveling by the spy when the truth comes out to Nix. He really hurt her and in my opinion should have had to go through more to earn her forgiveness (although maybe I’m just comparing their situation to Dean’s from the bully bc his grovel was so satisfying; you really can’t top that!). He does save her life though and we get to see that he loves her so very fiercely so those make up for the lack of groveling.Overall a splendid end to Kingmakers and we see once again that Sophie has the capacity to weave a tale in a way that draws us in and makes us really live it while we read. Well done!!You will be so happy you made the decision to read this series (and if you’re just starting that means you get to read them all with no waiting in between, you lucky thing!). Although technically you could read this as a stand alone why would you want to?! You would miss the amazingness that is Kingmakers and the background clues and other love stories (especially Dean and Cat’s) that set up the Spy so perfectly so do yourself a solid and start from the beginning with the Heir (or if you want to really set yourself up before Kingmakers also read the first 4 of the Underworld before starting as you will see some of those characters again—it’s not 100% necessary bc they can all be standalones but it will make your reading experience that much richer). Happy reading!! :) ❤️

The Spy is the fourth book in Sophie Lark’s Kingmakers series and is a spin-off/2nd gen series from the couples of Brutal Birthright. Kingmakers Academy is a private college for children of mafia families from around the globe. It’s situated on an isolated island in the Adriatic Sea and once there the students are categorized into 4 houses so to speak: heirs, accountants, spies, and enforcers.This book has a lot of mystery and intrigue to it just because of the POVs. I don’t even want to say too much either, so it’s hard to talk about this book. 😅 but omg has Sophie set up sooo much with her books and seeing it happen in this book was so good. This book was definitely heavier on the plot, the mystery, the action, revenge, and the POVs. I think the romance was less of a focus for me in this one just because of some other things going on in the story. Some definite freak out moments while reading and seeing things unfold in front of my eyes. lol All the action towards the end had my attention. If you’re a longtime fan of Sophie Lark’s other books, this book will be so worth it! This was originally supposed to be the final book in the series so the long epilogue for all the couples was just everything!! That said, since we were treated to an additional book after, I’m definitely jumping into The Savage next.

This was an exquisite tale that beautifully tied the whole series together. Definitely a series to read in order. I loved it and was sad to see the series end and excited to see about her other writing. Well written and it kept me up late at night and had me waking early to keep reading. I have thoroughly neglected all my housekeeping duties while tearing through the Kingmakers series. Bravo

This was so so well done. I loved every minute of reading this compulsive, captive and beautifully written story!The revealing of who The Spy in the story was well done and satisfying when confirmed. Every puzzle piece and mystery leading up to this book was cleverly presented as the story progressed and of course in true Sophie Lark fashion, so much epic action and suspense kept this book flowing in the best ways possible.The coupling in this book was perfect for the demanding plot that it hosted. And then the epilogue and conclusions to each couple from the previous books? Masterpiece. I loved it all.Now to read The Savage!

3 stars because I didn't like the how it ended, the way things navigated to the end. How Ares revealed himself to his friends first instead of Nix and how he never apologized for what he did, for telling lies and betraying her the way he did. Until the middle of the book I was happy with the story, though I didn't appreciate those Ivan's chapters, I would orefer if Rafe told the story than having to read it from Ivan himself. I expected more couple moments too.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/6.🌶️🌶️🌶️.5/5.This book felt like a present where I was unwrapping it little by little and having a great time while simultaneously having a break down in my brain.The mystery was slowly being unraveled and I was full with theories and sometimes confusion but when the pieces of the puzzle started making the full picture I was blown away by it.Some things I guessed and spoiler alert, I love when I’m right while other things happened where I didn’t think it would go that way. With that said tho I really appreciated how everything worked out and I honestly would’ve been furious with Nix if she chose somehow differently. Loved how everything worked out.I also loved talking about all the things, theories and questions I had with The Book Refuge and let me tell ya that girl is a damn vault and I appreciate her to death. It felt even more special to read this while talking it through with her.I loved The Spy! I mean the whole spy thing blew my mind, the little things he did, what he endured I mean all of it. Miss Robin was a delight. I knew who she was early on but it still gave me all the feels.Ares was so drawn to Nix from the beginning and while he thought it was all about hate, deep down he knew it was something more. I loved how things between him and Nix progressed. I loved Nix too on how she was so perceptive of little things , sort of like Cat was. I loved her strength too. Her and the spy make sense together and I loved them.Sexy times were amazing too! 🫠🥵💦I loved the 3rd pov and I must say that when I heard there was a 3rd pov I thought it would be Miss Robin so I was surprised and over the moon to find out who it was. It makes a lot of sense to have the 3rd pov and I appreciate the break down of all the circunstances that lead to this book. I loved how everything came together and having little pieces of the spy’s parents day to day life was everything and I was living for it.I loved how everyone came together and never blinked an eye when it came time to help the spy.I LOVED Snow and the fact that he gives the best advice ever. 🥹I’m kinda bummed we won’t get Hedeon and Cara’s story but the silver lining is that they are together so I can’t complain much.Sabrina and Adrik are certainly an interesting pairing although they are a bit too wild to me so let’s see how that goes.What I will say though is that people before this generation having the same first name drove me a bit crazy. I had to go chapters back and see if it was the same person or not. 😅This book was amazing, very well done and tied tightly. If you haven’t read this series, you’re missing out big time!

He picked my interest since the Heir and I just new he was their son as soon I started the Spy. The author made a great job with this final installment, even blessing us with an HEA for all the main characters we have met during this serie.

I’ve spent days trying to think about how I would write this review and I still don’t know where to begin.The last few days have felt strange nonetheless… I have been grieving because it’s all come to the end. Everyone in Brutal Birthright/Kingmakers/Underworld has had their happy ending and all loose ends are tied. Never have I felt more sad over the end of a series (or in this case three interconnected series)I’ve come to think of all these awesome characters as real humans and I love them all… It even feels bad calling them characters because they’re more than that 😅Anyways, THE SPY!!!OHHHMEEEGOSHHHH!!I don’t want to be a too much of a spoiler so I’ll Just call him Mr Tall Bronze and Handsome or Mr TBH for short.So I was correct in my guess of who Mr TBH was and I couldn’t have been happier! I always knew there was a lot more than met the eyes with him and I wanted to strip him down 😉 to find what’s underneath. I wasn’t disappointed in the least. He’s definitely one of my top Favourite of Sophie’s Men.And his real name! 🥵 I have loved that name since I watched Pearl Harbour when I was around 7/8 years old and fell in love with Ben Afflecks Character 😅Nix was a Goddess 🔥🔥🔥I just loved Every.Little.Thing about her! I could picture her a powerful deity of Old Mythology, body of an Amazon, Hair of Flames, A fierce and just warrior who can strike men down with the sharp wit of her tongue or the piercing point of her Arrow.Nix and Mr TBH couldn’t have been better suited (unless it was with me. Just saying),The Passion for revenge in Mr TBH was ultimately his downfall when it came to Nix. He had almost shut off all of his emotions in an attempt to go unnoticed and blend in with other students but the moment Nix came along he seemed to switch back on. yes it was mainly so he could convince her he was her friend while trying to remember he hates her as well, but putting all his attention on her after distancing himself from everyone around him for nearly 4 years is a sure fire way to get feelings… and not the vengeful kind 😏I also LOVED the dynamic friendship between Nix and Sabrina, those two together were trouble I could get down with! 😈I just don’t want it to be over 😭😭😭😭