Princess in Chains Review (Dahlia Hemlock): Is It Worth Reading?

Updated on October 8, 2026

Verdict: A 150-page, deliberately unhinged sapphic mafia novella — a Russian enforcer, a kidnapped mob wife and a great deal of kink — that its target readers call a wild, funny ride with a surprisingly sweet ending, and that others call smut with very little book around it.

Best for: Readers who want a short, very explicit captor-and-captive story with knife play, blood play and bondage, a gleefully psychopathic heroine and a happy ending, and who do not need much plot.

Heat level: ★★★★★ (5/5 — romance.io’s small sample says 5, “explicit and plentiful”; readers describe it as wall-to-wall kink)

Rating: ★★★½☆ (3.4/5 — a 3.85 Goodreads average from 236 ratings, adjusted for thin plot, weak editing and a short review base)

Tropes: Mafia romance, captor and captive, enforcer heroine, mob wife, queer awakening, forced proximity, BDSM, consensual non-consent, standalone.

Princess in Chains is a standalone in Dahlia Hemlock’s Blood and Blooms series, a dark sapphic romance self-published in August 2025. Katya, an enforcer for a Russian crime family, is ordered to kidnap Livvie Corretti, the wife of a rival family’s heir, and get information out of her. Livvie turns out to know nothing, and Katya turns out not to want to let her go.

It has 236 Goodreads ratings averaging 3.85 and 21 written reviews, 193 Amazon ratings averaging 4.2, and a 3.50 from five romance.io readers. Most of the written reviews are short, so the evidence here is thinner than the ratings count suggests. What it does show is consistent: readers know exactly what this book is, and their rating depends on whether they wanted it.

What Is Princess in Chains About?

The author calls it a standalone dark sapphic mafia romance with a morally grey enforcer and “intense dynamics,” and the subtitle on Amazon promises a captor, a captive and no safe word. The story is told from both women’s points of view. Katya is small, Russian, armed and, in one reviewer’s word, insane; Livvie is the soft, spoiled mafia wife she ties to a bed.

Readers list captor and captive, mafia, forced proximity, BDSM, blood play, knife play, strap-on use and one FFF scene. Romance.io’s tags add fem-dom, bondage, consensual non-consent and queer awakening. For Livvie, the book is also a coming-out story: one reviewer calls it a bisexual awakening.

What Makes This Dark Mafia Romance Work

Katya: Readers love how unhinged she is. One says the author made them like both “insane women,” and another that she is dark but still lovable.
The humour: Two readers say they laughed — at the dialogue, at the sheer absurdity, or both.
The chemistry: Fans describe Katya and Livvie as electric and perfect for each other.
The ending: One reader is surprised to find it sweet, and another marks it a happy ending.
The length: At 150 pages it is a one-sitting read, and readers enjoy it as exactly that: short and bonkers.

Book Synopsis

Katya does what her boss tells her, and she enjoys most of it. This time the job is to take Livvie Corretti, the polished wife of a rival family’s prince, and find out what she knows.

Livvie knows nothing useful. She is also not what Katya expected: spoiled, yes, but unafraid in ways that make the interrogation turn into something else. Chained up in Katya’s keeping, Livvie stops waiting to be rescued.

Katya has been broken for a long time, and Livvie can see it. With both families looking for them, the two have to decide what they are to each other — and whether Katya can give back the one thing she has started to want.

My Review

This book is honest about itself. It is not trying to be a slow-burn literary dark romance; it is trying to be short, filthy and funny, and by its readers’ accounts it succeeds. Katya carries it. A tiny, cheerful sadist is a fun change from the brooding mafia boss, and reviewers who enjoyed the book talk about her first.

The limits are just as clear. At 150 pages, the mafia plot is backdrop. A two-star reader sums it up as “smut just to be smut” — two stars as a book, four as smut — and a three-star reader says they did not like the writing and found the characters “whatever,” even while having a fun time. Another calls the editing not the best. One reader simply says it had more potential.

The darkness is mostly in the kink and in Katya’s past rather than in a long captivity arc. One fan found the abuse in Katya’s history slightly triggering. Readers repeatedly say to read the trigger warnings first, and the consensual non-consent and blood play will be hard limits for some.

The ratings reflect all this. Goodreads readers are split — about two-thirds give it four or five stars, and about a third three or fewer — while Amazon readers are kinder. The written reviews are short and enthusiastic or short and shrugging, with one reader regretting a TikTok recommendation.

My honest note: A fast, gleefully explicit novella for readers who want exactly this. If you want plot or polish, this is not the book.

Element	In Princess in Chains
Central relationship	Katya, a Russian mob enforcer, and Livvie Corretti, a kidnapped mafia wife — F/F, with one FFF scene
Core tropes	Captor and captive, mafia, queer awakening, forced proximity, fem-dom, BDSM
Setting	A contemporary mafia world; most of the book takes place in captivity
Heat level	5/5 — romance.io says 5, “explicit and plentiful”; knife play, blood play, bondage, strap-on and consensual non-consent
Series	Blood and Blooms — a standalone with a happy ending
Content notes	Kidnapping and captivity, violence, consensual non-consent, blood and knife play, abuse in a lead’s past; readers advise checking the trigger warnings

How Dark and Spicy Is Princess in Chains?

A full 5/5, and every source agrees. Romance.io’s five raters give it five of five, “explicit and plentiful,” and readers call it a kink fest from start to finish. The scenes include knife play, blood play, bondage, strap-on use and one FFF scene, and romance.io’s tags add consensual non-consent and fem-dom. If you want the most explicit end of sapphic mafia romance in a short book, this is it.

On darkness, it is dark in content and light in tone. Katya is a sadist and the premise is a kidnapping, but readers keep using words like unhinged, bonkers and hilarious, and the ending is warm. For a darker and longer mafia captivity story, try Her Wrath; for something gentler, Captive of the Crime Queen.

Who Should Read This Book?

You’ll likely love it if: you want a short, very explicit sapphic mafia read, an unhinged enforcer heroine, knife and blood play, a mob wife’s queer awakening and a happy ending.

You may want to skip it if: you want plot and character development, consensual non-consent or blood play are hard limits, weak editing bothers you, or you are looking for a slow burn.

In short: a one-sitting kink novella that does what it says on the cover.

What Readers Are Actually Saying (October 2026)

This is a small indie release with a modest but engaged readership. It came out in August 2025, it is in Kindle Unlimited, and it has 236 Goodreads ratings and 21 written reviews. The distribution is 30% five stars, 35% four, 24% three, 6% two and 2% one. On Amazon, 81% of its 193 ratings are four or five stars. An audiobook appeared on Audible on October 1, 2026, read by Amazon’s Virtual Voice; we found no edition on Libro.fm.

Why readers love it (according to the discourse): Katya, the chaos and the heat. One reader calls it one of the best captured-by-the-mafia books they have read in sapphic romance, and others say they finished it in a night.

What readers argue about and complain about: Plot and writing. The lower ratings describe a book that is all smut and not much else, with editing and writing that could be better. The split is less about quality than expectations: the same reviewers who call it stupid or unhinged often still had a good time.

The series question everyone should ask first: Princess in Chains stands alone and ends happily. It is part of Blood and Blooms, which Amazon now lists at five books, and one reader was eager for a book about Katya’s boss.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Princess in Chains a standalone?

Yes. It is part of the Blood and Blooms series but tells a complete story, and readers describe a happy, surprisingly sweet ending.

How spicy is Princess in Chains?

Very. Romance.io’s raters give it 5/5, “explicit and plentiful,” and readers describe knife play, blood play, bondage, strap-on use and one FFF scene. We rate it 5/5.

Is it F/F or a why-choose?

F/F. The romance is between Katya and Livvie; readers note one scene with a third woman, but it is not a why-choose.

How long is Princess in Chains?

About 150 pages. Readers call it a novella and finish it in one sitting.

Is Princess in Chains on Kindle Unlimited?

Yes. As of October 2026 it is in Kindle Unlimited. There is an Audible edition narrated by Amazon’s Virtual Voice; we found none on Libro.fm.

If You Loved Princess in Chains, Read These Next

For more mafia captivity, read our reviews of Captive of the Crime Queen and Her Wrath. For another very explicit dark read with a dangerous heroine, try Sadist. Browse our lesbian mafia romance books, mafia lesbian romance on Kindle Unlimited, possessive and obsessive sapphic romance and 25 dark lesbian romances, or explore lesbian romance books by trope and mood.

The Bottom Line

Princess in Chains sets out to be a short, unhinged, very explicit sapphic mafia romance, and it is exactly that. It succeeds on Katya, on chemistry and humour that readers did not expect, on heat that delivers everything the subtitle promises, and on a happy ending. It is weaker on plot, writing and editing, and its review base is small and brief. In Kindle Unlimited and 150 pages long, it is an easy recommendation for readers who want a kink-forward one-sitting read and an easy skip for everyone else. Check Princess in Chains on Amazon →

The Eikna Overall Ranking

On the Eikna scale, Princess in Chains ranks as a fun, extreme-heat novella for its exact audience — memorable heroine, maximum spice, minimal plot.