Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book.

When I tell you that I have been waiting for this book to come to NetGalley, refreshing every other day, ever since I read the first book, you would think I was a mad person. Finally getting the chance to read to get a copy and read it was amazing and I immediately started.

And I was disappointed.

This is not a standalone and I'm unsure why other reviewers are trying to read it as a standalone when the book synopsis implies the first needs to be read. And boy, does it need to be read. This book starts right where we left off so the reader has to remember what happened quickly since we aren't given a rundown.

I really enjoyed the first 25% - 40% of the book because it felt as fast paced as the first and the characters still felt real and like they were adults.

After that, the action slows down a lot and Isabella starts flip flopping on characterization. Once she makes a decision, she waffles back and forth. This made sense in the first book, but now, as we're moving toward the end of this story, it shouldn't be happening as much.

One of my complaints from the first book and it continues to here is that the two books could have been one novel with some editing. Things could have been cut or reworked and it would have been tighter and I think a much stronger story.

The reason for my rating has to do with the spoilers which won't appear here on NetGalley, but on GoodReads.

For how much the characters kept saying that Lorenzo and Isabella were a match together, it never reached that level to me. Instead, I kept realizing that the magic of the first book really was in the first book.

Overall, I wish I had liked this book as much as I loved the first, but ultimately, I was let down hard.

I just did not vibe with this one I’m so sorry. I just did not like the pacing, the tropes and how the writing was done. I can see why other people would enjoy this but it just was not for me. Thank you for the opportunity to read this however I won’t be posting any review about this apart from Goodreads as I don’t wish to spread anything bad about this author when others would enjoy it !!!

Dark mafia romance at it's best, and for those that read the first book, you've been waiting for this one! Lorenzo and Isabella's story picks up right where it left off in Savage Proposal, and the suspense just never gives up - betrayals, violence, evil, murder, kidnapping, torture, and a good deal of spice! The author never disappoints and this is definitely one of her best duets.

This was a stellar follow up to Savage Proposal. Mafia romances aren’t usually my preferred genre but I enjoyed book 1 so much I had to keep reading to find out what happens between Isabella and Lorenzo. It should be known that I would consider Lorenzo to be truly morally black and this is a dark romance with abuse of multiple kinds by multiple characters. I kept waiting for Lorenzo to have some redeeming moment where you go ‘oh see he’s really not that bad’ but that never happened. I don’t think it was supposed to happen I just wasn’t ready for his level of depravity. There were good plot twists and plenty of spice! Overall a fun read I was just hoping for a little more redemption in his relationship but he held out to the end with his callous abusive behavior. Probably expected for mafia romances.

This book doesn’t rely solely on the steamy moments—there’s genuine effort put into building relationships between the characters, which adds emotional weight to the story.

That said, I found the beginning a bit frustrating. This is definitely a better experience for those who’ve read the first book; as a standalone, it can feel disjointed and slightly harder to follow. The opening chapters consist mostly of short, simple sentences, which move the plot forward quickly but read more like a list of statements than immersive storytelling.

On the whole, the characters are reasonably well developed, but reader connection likely resonates more if you’re familiar with their backgrounds. This one is definitely best enjoyed as a continuation of the series, not a starting point.

I did not read the first book, but was able to pick up the story quickly. It was quite intense, but Isabella annoyed me with how she acted with Lorenzo. The book also seemed to drag a bit with the same themes repeated on a loop.

this book was tense and gripping in all the right places. i couldnt put it down. its dark and gritty and everything in between.
and once with these books you hand your morals over at the front door you can step in and root for the plot and the characters. because the brilliance of the telling in Bellas books is all you need to just find a really great read and a fab author doing the writing.
the characters are all so interwove and perfectly written. you feel you are there with them. you feel the tension,the shocks and the endurance of power of power being different to the power of love. and how it gives you the strength to do whatever it takes.
the characters come back into this book with just as much punch as the last. i mean should people really go through this much!?
a stoker of a read. if you like this genre type then you need to read Bella's books. she knows what she is doing with both plot and the characters she makes us addicted to.

Savage Claim was a great follow up to the first book. I really loved watching Isabella come into her own power while watching Enzo show off a different side of his character. I only had two real problems with the book- some characters felt a little inconsistent and the book dragged on just a little too long. I found that Elio for me was the biggest character who felt inconsistent when he suddenly seemed to hate Isabella. I also found Gemma to be extremely unlikeable even though I wondered if she may end up with Cris. While the book did drag on just a little too long I was happy overall with the story that was told

This picks up right where the first book ended. You get to see th love between the two of them grow even more. There is a lot of interesting things going on between the families and you won’t be able to put it down. I loved this story as much as I did the first book and it leaves you with a new story to unfold. I was given an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.