Name: Savage Lover
ISBN: 9781958931042

Sophie Lark

Camille Rivera is drowning. Her father's sick, her brother's in deep with a dirty cop, and her mechanic shop is failing. Nero Gallo is the neighborhood psychopath. As vicious as he is gorgeous, Camille has watched him burn through every girl in a ten-mile radius, breaking hearts and never, ever getting attached.Which is why she can't quite believe it when Nero saves her from a seriously sticky situation. Could the Demon of Oldtown have his head turned by a girl with grease under her fingernails? Nero is the last person Camille should trust, but when he presents her with an opportunity that could solve all her problems, Camille is faced with a choice: pray for salvation, or dance with the devil.

Illustrated Edition

Savage Lover

Now my eyes are fixed on him like I’m seeing him for the first time.

God almighty, why did you give the man with the blackest soul the most heavenly eyes?

If you could see my whole life laid out on a string, this would be the one bright bead. The one moment of happiness. 

“Camille,” he says. “I want you. But not . . . not like I usually do. Not to just fuck and get off.”

I want Camille like I’ve never wanted anything in my life.

 She’s the only one who knows me, so she’s the only one who can.

I’m fucking awful at it—I’ve never had any practice.

I don't like Nero bc he was calling her ugly at the beginning of the book but good book

Keira

definitely my favorite of the series so far!

nero + camille, fast and furious / bank heist vibes, loved the pacing of this book! Finished it within a couple of hours

brittney arthur

best brutal birthright book i’ve read so far. major fast and furious vibes i LOVED IT

ariah west

Skye

“I’ve always felt things . . . intensely. Or I thought I did. But every emotion I ever had, my whole life through, is nothing compared to what I feel when I look at you."

•

this book gave me serious The Fast and the Furious  vibes, and I loved it. Nero and Camille may be my favorite characters in this series so far!

•

read if you like:
♡ dual pov
♡ mafia romance
♡ the original the fast and the furious 
♡ bad boy falls in love
♡ girls who love cars
♡ bank heists 

trigger warnings:
☞ cancer
☞ drugs (using / dealing) 
☞ loss of parent 
☞ parental abandonment

I love how fast these books go, I read them in less than a day each and they are so fun and fast paced. This one is my favourite in the series so far

Jade 

this man is hot!!!!! this was my favorite so far in the series. lark’s writing is just very entertaining and addicting to read. i feel like i speed through reading her books

Danyella Barajas

grayson gruber

Breonna Canova

mikee ♡

they say all good boys go to heaven but bad boys bring heaven to you.

Lover of Romance 

This review was originally posted on Addicted To Romance

  
    
  






Savage Lover is the third book in the “Brutal Birthright” series, and I have been trying to work through this author’s book. Now she writes mafia romance, and she does have a unique voice and I have come to respect her work. I first discovered her through Jenn’s channel “The Book Refuge” and she has had this author and her husband on her channel a couple of times now and I have really loved seeing these interviews, but I will admit I haven’t quite become sold into this author’s writing. Now the previous book “Stolen Heir” was actually SUPERB (I will be releasing that review soon here on the blog soon, as I read it during my hiatus) so I definitely came into this book with some higher expectations than I probably should have had but also there are some mixed reviews of this one on Goodreads, but after having read it now, I am not shocked. It wasn’t one that really packed a punch like the previous book so there is that. Its not a terrible book but you can tell its not her best work. I have heard that it does get better though so looking forward to that.



 Savage Lover is a unique story that has its emotional twists and dynamic turns that features: 



 
   Nero- loves working on his cars, one of the less favored of the children in the family, desires to give something more to his family and is a playboy with the women and is honest in how he treats them 
 



 
   Camille -Grew up poor but honest, raised in a mechanic garage, a “grease monkey”, protective of her family and willing to protect them no matter the cost. 
 



Savage Lover is a story that begins with our heroine Camille. Camille grew up very poor, barely making it by with her father and a mother that deserted her and was constantly mocked growing up for her parentage and for being one to tinker with cars more than socializing or dating in high school. Camille was more of a “pariah” in school and is still treated that way. But her younger brother, whom, she practically raised, is now in high school and she is determined that he makes something of himself. But when she follows him, finds him at a party, and has drugs in his possession and realizes he is being used by a drug pin in school, she will protect him even if that means having to work with a cop to save him from himself. But what she didn’t plan on was running into Nero, or forming a bond with him. He is the last person that she ever expected to build a friendship with or that more would develop between them. But he has his own goals to help his family, and he will need Camille for it, but also for so much more than he ever expected. He never imagined to have this sweet relationship with anyone and is determined to keep her ….forever



Savage Lover, while it was a decent read, was a bit of an average read and didn’t really spark anything considerable in me. In fact I would label this a bland book for a mafia series. And if I hadn’t read the previous two books in the series, I would be shocked that this is a mafia family that our hero Nero is actually a part of because it just doesn’t seem like that in this one here. I was really disappointed in this one. It just felt so all over the place in what happens and felt more of a edgy new adult romance rather than a dark mafia romance. There are aspects of the story that I did like. I really enjoyed the strength of the heroine and seeing what she is willing to sacrifice for her family. She is so devoted to her father and brother and I found that characteristic to be endearing, but she could be naïve at times. The actual romance that develops between Nero and Camille was quite an interesting take. I honestly didn’t expect Nero to make such a sweet hero but those sexy moments between these two were actually so poignant at times. It was these small sexy moments that really kept me eager to continue with the story. I didn’t like the “robbery” plot though, it just didn’t really fit with everything else building in the story so I found that a bit odd to be blended in with the plot. I did like seeing the cop that becomes involved here, to see more depths added to him than I expected of him and that he wasn’t all that bad. But who knows, I have a feeling we will see much more of him in future books maybe? 



Overall I found Savage Lover to be a unique installment of the series and while it didn’t completely worked for me, I still enjoyed some aspects of the story and this author delivers a sweet romance amidst some edgier elements that I found to deliver something…different than I expected.

Samaa

** spoiler alert **
           The second book is definitely better than the third but I'm looking forward to dante and simone

"Finish Line" by Jules Larson (Camille's song)
"Sober" by G-Eazy, Charlie Puth (Nero's song)

I started reading this book after what Nero said about Camille in Broken Vow
"There’s the parts that are the same, and the parts that fill up the holes in each other. You don’t know what’s missing inside of you, until you find it in someone else.” ....the way I ran to read Savage Lover

I love Camille and Nero <333 I’m a slut for rich, bad boy x poor, good girl!! even though they are from different social classes, they find home in each other and feel like they finally feel seen/belong which is through one another AHHHHHHHH - omg I love the "I hate everyone but you" trope combined with "I'll murder anyone that hurts you" trope!!

“I won’t ever leave you,” Nero says. “Never, Camille. You’ll never have to wonder where I went. I’ll be right by your side.” - i love this!

The author cleverly utilizes the dual pov to also show the two characters' striking contrast of their social classes which in turn emphasizes how strong the couple’s compatibility is! For example, the first few chapters (three and four) describe Camille and Nero's different mornings in their own homes. Camille's one single coffee for breakfast while Nero's feast of a breakfast, made by a housekeeper. Even though Camille and Nero are from very separate worlds, they still connect and fell in love. I also heavily enjoyed reading Nero falling for Camille in his POV! Nero internal thoughts on their first kiss was so cute 

I love reading about the car world and learning about all the terminology about car machinery and car restoration. Yes I was thinking of the Tokyo Drift song during the car chase. I also wasn't expecting this to be a low-key heist book I LOVE IT

"I’ve spent a long time with a hole in my heart. Nero fills all the empty space inside of me. He heals every wound. I know how dangerous he is. How intelligent. How ruthless. He makes me feel invincible, because with Nero next to me, nothing can hurt me."

Savage Lover Illustrated Edition