KING OF SOULS (VERONA LEGACY #2) by L.A. Cotton

‘I should have walked away. The second I found out her true identity, I should have walked away and never looked back.’

After finishing book one in the Verona Legacy duet, we were left on tenterhooks, dying to find out what was going to happen to Nicco and Arianne. Excited for another delve into a mafia world we find so enticing. Starting off where we ended off we were right back in the thick of it and LA Cotton did a fabulous job of drawing us straight back into her mafia world and keeping a great momentum of angst and suspense.

“Sometimes we don’t realise how strong we truly are until we are faced with our greatest weakness.”

Arianne really comes into her own in King of Souls; from a timid inexperienced young woman kept away under lock and key. That is until she rises in the face of adversity, assuming the role of the family she was born in to. Her family had our backs up once more, and we can’t say we ever warmed to them or forgave their transgressions. Her and Nicco’s love was beautiful and her fierceness grew as we turned the pages.

‘The sins of our forefathers had led us to this point, and now, it seemed we were the ones paying the price.’

Nicco was less of a hard arsed mafia prince this time round. Love truly did soften him, which Enzo enjoyed rubbing in his face. On that note, Enzo has us super excited for his story, we do love when anti-heroes with no sign of redemption, turn! Nicco finds himself torn in two different directions. His heart dictates one path, his family another. However, where Ari’s father lacks compassion and family loyalty, Nicco’s father is the better man by far. The mafia way is to pay in blood, however how much and the blood of whom, is spilt in order for Nicco and Ari to find their happy ever after?

“That girl loves you, more than she probably should. You’re Niccolo Marchetti, Prince of fucking Hearts. You don’t cower and you certainly don’t shy away from making the hard decisions.”

Without question, the love story between Nicco and Ari was straight out a mafia version of a Romeo & Juliet type romance. Both suffering from the forced inability to be together. Family wars, criminal wrongdoings, violence and the sins of the fathers. It’s all there with love as the shining beacon. Whilst we thoroughly enjoyed this second book we felt that at times the storyline dragged with repetitiveness, only for the ending to feel rushed. That’s not to say we didn’t enjoy it, we really felt the romance and the mafia aspect. Trying to unravel a family feud and unmasking the evil was a drama-filled ride!

‘I didn’t want to be Arianne’s prince. I wanted to be her king. The king of her heart. The king of her soul.’