SECRETS AND SOVEREIGNTY (Ivanov Bratva 2) by Kelsie Calloway-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 1, 2026

He intercepted my death sentence. Now I’m not sure if I’m his prisoner—or his obsession.

Alexei Ivanov is the Bratva’s strategist. Cold-eyed. Calculating. The reason I’m still breathing.

I dug too deep into a story I shouldn’t have touched. Someone ordered my death. He stopped it. Now I’m trapped in his penthouse while he decides what to do with me.

He says I’m leverage. An asset. A problem to manage. But the way he watches me doesn’t feel like strategy. It feels like hunger.

The door isn’t locked. He reminds me of that constantly. But every time I try to leave, I find myself walking toward him instead.

He killed for me. And the most dangerous part? I don’t want him to stop.

•••••••

REVIEW: SECRETS AND SOVEREIGNTY is the second instalment and novella in Kelsie Calloway’s contemporary, adult IVANOV BRATVA Mafia romance series. This is Alexei ‘The Ghost’ Ivanov, and journalist Zara Okonkwo’s story line. SECRETS AND SOVEREIGNTY can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary .

Told from dual first person perspectives (Alexei and Zara) SECRETS AND SOVEREIGNTY follows in the wake of the abduction of journalist Zara Okonkwo by the Ivanov Bratva, more specifically Alexei ‘the Ghost’ Ivanov . Zara Okonkwo is investigating organized crime and corruption in her city including the Ivanov Bratva and Corsetti Crime Family but Zara never expected to find herself under the protection of our story line hero. The Corsetti crime family has ordered a hit on our story line heroine, and Alexei becomes guardian and protection of the woman who could destroy them all. As the days go by Zara discovers there is more to Alexei than the determined and quiet killer, but a lonely man, heart broken by events of the past.

The world building focuses on the protection of Zara Okonkwo, and the encroaching war between crime families. Alexei is determined to protect Zara even if it costs him his life; Zara struggles to prove Alexei is worthy of his own happily ever after.

The relationship between Zara and Alexei is one of force proximity in the wake of Zara’s abduction. Alexei quickly discovers he wants Zara for himself, something he never could have imagined or dreamed of in the face of his life style and demands. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are reintroduced to Alexei’s brothers: Sergei, Dmitri and Pakhan Nikolai Ivanov, as well as Nikolai’s wife Sable.

SECRETS AND SOVEREIGNTY is a story of power and control, secrets and lies, family and relationships, acceptance and love. The fast paced, character driven premise is dramatic and edgy-for a novella length story, SECRETS AND SOVEREIGNTY packs quite a bit of detail and proverbial punch, though not as dark a many Mafia series. The characters are determined and dynamic; the romance is fated and seductive.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy