At this point in time, I don’t think I need to explain myself.  I love romance books, I love smutty romance books, and I love smutty romance books with men and women that know what they want.  Marked by Him, by SR Jones checks all of those boxes, so of course I read it immediately.

Marked by him starts with Sienna, a low level informant.  Her handler demands she goes into Nikolai’s club and spy on the individuals inside of it.  She is worried for her safety, but of course her handler assures her she is safe, and so off she goes.  She is made immediately.  And by immediately I mean within a few hours and she is not safe anymore.  To save her and protect her, Nikolai offers her his mark, and marriage.

This book was such a good mix of sweet and sour.  It was a dark romance with bitter moments, but the main character, Sienna and Nikolai, both stood their ground on what it was they needed, and what they were determined they would have.  One thing this author did that I sincerely appreciated, was that Nikolai was there for more than a plot point.  Often times I find that reading mafia romance books like this, the individual in the mafia is just a hardass, an asshole, and not friendly at all for plot purposes.  But Nikolai, while he had a hard shell and exterior, it was not his whole persona.  He was a very sweet and caring individual that knew what he had to do for his job.

I did find Sienna a bit whiney overall.  She was essentially handed everything with Nikolai and still consistently demanded more.  But in what she was demanding, I understood it.  Because if I was being forced into a marriage, I would want to know that he loved me and protect, not just protect me.  And she refused to back down on that.  She was willing to walk away from the entire thing, even though she was happier than she had been in a long time she knew she would wither without the love she needed.

Overall – I really enjoyed this book, and I appreciated that book two with separate characters was set up so easily without distracting from the overall plot.  I know it is a darker book, so it might be weird to apply the words sweet, but I did find the book sweet.  The love between the two characters was incredibly clear, and I would love a second book centered around them just to see how their lives unfold together.  Hopefully in the next book we get to see a bit more of them.

Plot – 8/10

Characters – 8/10

Originality –  8/10

General Joy of Reading –8/10

Overall Score – 32/40

Marked by Him – SR Jones

Cost* – Kindle edition $3.99.  This book is included on Kindle Unlimited.

*Cost is based upon what the book cost when book review is published