Prince of Control | Renee Rose

Renee’s Chicago Bratva series is one of my favorite mafia series that I have read. So when she announced her second generation series I was so very excited. I started a reread of the series and it made me even more eager for the release. I love watching some of our favorite characters parent and see how their relationships have grown over the years.  

Benjamin Baranov is all grown up and living his life at Thornecroft University. Baron, to his friends, is the man on campus all the girls want and all men are envious of. He has an air of aloofness that plays into the persona so well.  Benjamin is well aware of his standing on campus and uses it to his advantage. Fiercely protective of those that he considers his family, blood, found and Bratva. He works hard to set his own path and is working hard to create his own path in life. Baron has created a “cell” of his own and they are all their own family. Benjamin takes protectiveness to a whole new level with all of his friends and in turn they are extremely loyal to him. 

Lara Turgeneva is a mafia princess with a protective Bratva father. Lara finds herself plucked from her happy life in Paris and on a plane to Illinois to marry. I feel like Lara adapted and took her arranged marriage to Benjamin very well, especially for being kept so in the dark about why she needed to marry Benjamin. While it might have taken Lara a little bit she did find her place in the “cell” at Thornecroft and they easily took her in as one of theirs. Ben and Lara might be young but the pair obviously share a connection from the start. I love how many see Ben as so stoic but he shows his softer side for Lara from the start. He really works to see things from her perspective and does what he can to ease the change while also keeping her safety a top priority- and he is just as protective and possessive as his father. Which is hard because Ravil is one possessive guy. And these two lit the pages on fire! Their banter made me giddy and the way that they challenged one another really added to the excitement of the book. 

I also feel like I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how amazing Thornecroft sounds. I love the descriptions that Renee used and I could picture the beautiful setting on the Wisconsin and Illinois border. If you enjoy dark romance or mafia romance I would highly recommend this book! I am so excited for what is next in this series!