Gold (Plated Prisoner #5)

I promised her I'd be the villain on her behalf.
So that's what I'll fucking be.

Available at Amazon.com

Gold
Raven Kennedy
Plated Prisoner, book five
Paperback, 754 pages
ISBN 9781464224454
Kindle edition, 646 pages
ASIN B0B4F9G5JD
Published December 7, 2023


Every end is also a beginning.

I thought I was going to die, and would have if it weren’t for Slade. The only way he could save me was to open a rip between worlds. The only way for me to save myself was to go through it.

Sometimes, fleeing one dangerous place just brings you to another.

Annwyn.

The realm of the fae.

There is magic and beauty here, though around every corner, threats lurk.

But I’m a threat too.

I’m not a girl in a gilded cage anymore, and no one is going to stop me from finding my way back to Slade.

But returning home means facing danger and secrets. So I have to burn bright enough to light my own way…

Or else I might be swallowed by the dark.

Please note: This adult fantasy book includes dark elements that may be triggering, including violence, cruelty, death, adult language, and explicit romance. It is intended for ages 18 years and older. Read at your own discretion.

This post will contain spoilers. A lot of spoilers.

The last book ended as Rip tore a hole in the world, allowing Auren to escape into the void where he could not follow. Although he expected to. Eventually. It was an emotionally devastating scene that ripped my heart out. Why must we relive this?!

Auren falls... flies... and lands in Annwyn. Home of the Fae. Her home. And I am screaming, my eyes welling with tears right along side her, as she finds her ribbons *finally* restored. Even if only in part.

And Slade, desperate to find her, desperate to find his mother, desperate to find his people... is left spiralling and the only path he can cling to is one that focuses his attention on those responsible for every wrong Auren ever suffered in a strategically orchestrated rampage that spans the entire series.

Manu for abducting her.

Queen Isolte for torturing her.

King Merewen for the Conflux forced upon her.

Rotting. Torturing. Executing.

He even took revenge on the pirates for taking Auren's damn horse! The traffickers in Derfort. The dew dealers that provided the drug that subdued her back when Midas hacked away at her ribbons.

And lastly, Queen Kaila.

Some have said this book is the filler of the series. While I would say I understand, I also disagree. This isn't filler. This is natural progression.

Malina is falling for the assassin sent to kill her. I swear, this woman needs to spend more time in self reflection. What do you mean you're 'still married in the eyes of the gods'? You've been riding your own exclusive saddle for years. If your gods are okay with that then I highly doubt they're going to smite you for kissing a man.

All the while, the Fae have invaded from over the bridge that Malina herself helped restore and are waging their own death march on the people of Orea.

Unfortunately, Kaila has already won the hearts of the people of Sixth Kingdom. They don't heed Malina's warnings and curse her instead.

Osrik is in his own agony over his Yellow Bell. Rissa hasn't woken up since Manu and his accomplice left her for dead with a knife in her gut. The way they left the knife. Ffs. And now the wound is infected.

Os just wants to buy some yellowbell flowers from a flowershop. Why does that have to be so hard?!

Jude is operating as an envoy to First Kingdom, the only kingdom seemingly not on the receiving end of Slade's fuck it all to hell parade. Until the fool king calls for Slade's attention. It is so not the time, man.

Ryatt? MIA for the most part. He basically shows up long enough to keep Digby from raining fists upon Slade then grounding his brother before he rots himself to death. Ryatt has taken command of the army after Slade promoted him in order for Rip to step down. To be let loose.

Lu? She's more MIA than Ryatt but finally arrives, at the worst forsaken moment, to inform Slade of the Fae's invasion.

Auren is searching the sky every hour for the rip to return. For Slade to find her. Even as the Loyalists begin to gather to welcome their lost princess and protect her from the currently reigning king. Auren is the seemingly last of the Turley line and heir to Annwyn's throne.

Of course, once they start going in on about their plans of revolution, Auren responds with a firm "No" that sounds more like "Nope. No, thank you" and "Negative".

She is so over being a pawn.

But once the threat closes in, Auren's beast lashes out. Our lady is just as feral as her man.

There's so much happening. It's a lot to take in.

And the piece of Slade's power, that part of himself that held firm within Auren is now too far away and the rot is leaking into his body, rotting him from the inside out. He's dying.

The man is truly dying from a broken heart.

While Auren watches the skies, she journeys with Wick, the rebel leader, as he builds his Vulmin army. With Emonie and Ludogar and so many more new characters.

And the return of Stanton Cull.

Auren claims she has no interest in a crown. Even if it were in Fourth Kingdom? The way I'm waiting for Slade to broach that subject. Although... not sure if there will be a place for Slade and Auren in any of the Orean kingdoms after this. Fae that they are. Fae vs Oreans. Fae vs Fae.

Finally. Finally! We come full circle back to Gild and Glint and Gleam and it's confirmed in black and paperwhite that the aura that Slade followed, the beacon that brought the "last two fae" in Orea together has a deeper meaning. Fated mates.

Bonded fated mates.

Päyur, you and I.

It's true. Not for a single second are Auren and Slade together in this book.

5 out of 5 stars. I'm so not prepared for this series to end.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

Previously in the series:

The Queen of Nothing (Folk of the Air #3)

I knew little else, but I always knew you.

Available at Amazon.com

The Queen of Nothing
Holly Black
Folk of the Air, book three
Hardcover, 308 pages
Published November 19, 2019
ISBN 9780316310420


'HE WILL BE THE DESTRUCTION OF THE CROWN AND THE RUINATION OF THE THRONE.'

Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold on to. Jude learned this lesson when she released her control over the wicked King Cardan, in exchange for immeasurable power.

Now, as the exiled mortal Queen of Faerie, Jude is left reeling from Cardan's betrayal. She bides her time, determined to reclaim everything he took from her. Opportunity arrives in the form of her deceptive twin sister, Taryn, whose life is in peril. Jude must return to the treacherous Faerie Court and confront her lingering feelings for Cardan.

But Elfhame is not as she left it. War is brewing, and she becomes ensnared in the conflict's bloody politics. When a terrible curse is unleashed, panic spreads throughout the land, forcing Jude to choose between her ambition and her humanity...

Well. It finally happened. Someone finally bested Jude.

This book, as with the last two, is divided into two parts. The first here was a tad dull and drawn out. Jude remains exiled from Faerie, living with her sister, Vivi, and foster brother (and Cardan's nephew), Oak, in the mortal world. Until eventually, her twin sister, Taryn, arrives needing help.

And my, were we robbed! Turns out, Taryn has slain her husband. Yep. Locke has died off page and we were robbed of it.

There's to be an inquest and Taryn needs Jude to take her place so that Jude, immune to being compelled by fey magic thanks to Dain's bargan, can lie.

So, Jude returns to Elfhame, despite her exile, fulfills the task, and faces Cardan.

Cardan, who wants to know why she hasn't responded to any of his letters. Why she's pretending to be her sister. Why she expected him not to know the difference. And why... oh why.... has she not pardoned herself and come home.

But before all that, Jude is "rescued" by Madoc and his army while under the pretense of being Taryn.

She thus needs a re-rescue and in sweeps the team to do it. Roach. Vivi. Taryn. Grima Mog. All led by, of all people, Cardan. The man actually did some work!

I tell you, the evolution of Prince Cardan to High King Cardan of Elfhame is something to behold.

After two hundred pages, we are no longer in YA territory.

I slide to my knees in front of him. “Is this what you imagined I’d be like, back in your rooms at Hollow Hall, when you thought of me and hated it? Is this how you pictured my eventual surrender?”

He looks absolutely mortified, but there’s no disguising the flush of his cheeks, the shine of his eyes. “Yes,” he says, sounding like the word was dragged out of him, his voice rough with desire.

“Then what did I do?” I ask, my voice low. I reach out to press my hand against his thigh.

His gaze shimmers with a sharp spike of heat. There’s a wariness in his face, though, and I realize he believes I might be asking him all this because I’m angry. Because I want to see him humiliated. But he keeps speaking anyway.

“I imagined you telling me to do with you whatever I liked.”

“Really?” I ask, and the surprised laugh in my voice makes him meet my gaze.

“Along with some begging on your part. A little light groveling.” He gives me an embarrassed smile. “My fantasies were rife with overweening ambition.”

Ghost! Garrett, you shadow stepping heathen, I knew you were better than betrayal.

4 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

Previously in the series:

2025/44

The Wicked King (Folk of the Air #2)

I want to tell you so many lies.

Available at Amazon.com

The Wicked King
Holly Black
Folk of the Air, book two
Hardcover, 322 pages
Published January 8, 2019
ISBN 978031631035


I have heard that for mortals the feeling of falling in love is very like the feeling of fear. Your heart beats fast. Your senses are heightened. You grow light-headed, maybe even dizzy. Is that right?

Jude has bound the wicked king, Carden, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were biddable. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her, even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.

When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.

The first book in this series was so pleasantly ridiculous that I've actually been itching to get back into the Folk of the Air.

As Malakai Azer would say: What the hell is wrong with me?

The characters are just bizarre. Cardan, the epitome of "I don't want to be here" and Jude... strategic little Jude who can be utterly oblivious in some regard and a rockstar genius mastermind in others.

You love it. You hate it. You're disgusted. You're enthralled.

It's been five months since Jude managed to have Cardan crowned High King of Elfhame and she is now deep in her life lesson that power is far easier to grasp than it is to maintain a hold of. And despite Cardan being under her command, bound by his vow, it seems far better to leave him to the revelry while she plays at the politics.

Jude's the one doing all the work and yet, somehow, it's still Cardan that's carrying this book. Jude can't read him whatsoever. There's no anticipating the shenanigans Cardan's going to wander into next what with Locke pulling at his strings, Madoc plotting wars with the sea, Nicasia firing off crossbows at his would-be lovers, and everybody else dancing in every corner of the castle.

And yet, when he starts unfurling into his role as High King, ...dayumm.

From

“I have heard that for mortals, the feeling of falling in love is very like the feeling of fear.”

to

“Jude," he’d said, running a hand up my calf, "are you afraid of me?”

Meanwhile... Nooooo! Ghost, why????

In the end, Cardan offers Jude a new bargain in exchange for his freedom. A bargain that will see Jude Duarte, mortal though she may be, as Queen of Faerie.

5 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook | collectors edition

Previously in the series:

2025/43

Powerless (Powerless Trilogy #1)

I want to call you mine.

Available at Amazon.com

Powerless
Lauren Roberts
Powerless Trilogy, book one
Hardcover, 528 pages
Published January 31, 2023
ISBN 9781665954884


She is the very thing he’s spent his whole life hunting.

He is the very thing she’s spent her whole life pretending to be.

Only the extraordinary belong in the kingdom of Ilya—the exceptional, the empowered, the Elites.

The powers these Elites have possessed for decades were graciously gifted to them by the Plague, though not all were fortunate enough to both survive the sickness and reap the reward. Those born Ordinary are just that—ordinary. And when the king decreed that all Ordinaries be banished in order to preserve his Elite society, lacking an ability suddenly became a crime—making Paedyn Gray a felon by fate and a thief by necessity.

Surviving in the slums as an Ordinary is no simple task, and Paedyn knows this better than most. Having been trained by her father to be overly observant since she was a child, Paedyn poses as a Psychic in the crowded city, blending in with the Elites as best she can in order to stay alive and out of trouble. Easier said than done.

When Paeydn unsuspectingly saves one of Ilyas princes, she finds herself thrown into the Purging Trials. The brutal competition exists to showcase the Elites’ powers—the very thing Paedyn lacks. If the Trials and the opponents within them don’t kill her, the prince she’s fighting feelings for certainly will if he discovers what she is—completely Ordinary.

Picked this up in hardcover and seriously, could you have picked a smaller font?! /s

I've seen a number of book boyfriend lists, a game of which I do not partake, but consistently within the top five are Xaden Riorson and Kai Azer. Now that I have experienced both... I get why Azer trumps Riorson on most lists.

Less than forty pages in and I was spiralling into this world. The darkness... the bitterness... Kai and Kitt. Paedyn and Adena. The magic. The Purgings. The trials. Hunger Games be damned. This was that and more.

In my tour of book fandoms, I've hit the motherload of bantor and smooth talk.

There isn't anything I could say that hasn't been said before. The hype is real for this book, and so very well deserved.

Loved Kai's darkness. Although he didn't appreciate it as much as I did. Resigned he is to his fate in life though. Didn't care for his smooth talk. "Darling" came way too soon. His POV chapters though? Best parts of the book.

And when my gears started to grind, I took a mental step back and for a time dwelled on what it was he was doing and the "masks" he wore while enacting it. The mask that smiled and said, I'm happy and I'm charming and I'm okay.

And damn it, Malakai, I did not want to feel that much for you. But the author delivers him so exquisitely. He's not a monster. He takes no joy in the executions, the banishments, or the torture. He plays the part, if only to spare it from defaulting to his brother.

That said, he is not without darkness.

I loved what the author did with chapters 4 through 6 with the overlapping pov's accompanied by the rewind. Expected the tactic to continue throughout but was unfortunately disappointed in that regard.

So what was this book about?

Paedyn Gray. An Ordinary girl living in a world surrounded by magic while she herself has none. Taught to fight by her long deceased father so that she'd have a mere chance at surviving in a kingdom where the Ordinary have been deemed diseased and executed for the greater good that is the survival of the Elite.

Since that devastating night when her father was murdered in their own home, Paedyn has survived on the streets of the Loot by thieving, pickpocketing, and lying.

Until one fateful day when her path intersects with the future Enforcer and he unwittingly becomes her mark.

Kai Azer is the second born prince but a spare not to be wasted. Kai was molded at his father's direction and very hand into a ruthless and unyieldingly loyal killer destined to be his brother's most feared tool. A weapon that can take on the power of any within his vicinity.

She's caught in a storm. He's drowning in an ocean.

Paedyn pockets half his coin, and his heart, before disappearing into the shadows. Leaving Kai to wander into yet another's plot as he's attacked by a Silencer, the one power that brings Kai to his knees in agony.

And Paedyn, in a rage spawned from flashbacks of her father's death, is the lone spectator that chooses to intervene.

Saving the man who believes himself unworthy of any such mercy.

What does she get in return for the savage display of putting such a powerful wielder on his knees? Voted into the Trials. A chance to win a better life. A greater chance to die in the name of entertainment.

And once she's thrust into the royal castle alongside the princes and fellow competitors, Paedyn is introduced to a dangerous new path. That of the Resistance.

Which hands her a new mark: the future king and Kai's older, half-brother, Kitt.

And I'm having to remind myself that this is a woman on a mission and not a girl playing with the hearts of boys because there's a triangle forming and of those I am not a fan.

Nor am I a fan of authors pulling a big fuck you to the reader and calling it a plot twist. False memory? Really?

No. Absolutely not, Paedyn. You have no standing to judge him. As morally bankrupt as you are. As gullible as you have become. As much blood that has been spilled because of you... Don't you dare hold him accountable for what he was forced to do.

Forced to kill your "father".

While you chose to kill the king.

Damn it, Paedyn. Now I have to take a mental step back for you, too.

Kitt. I am disgusted by you. I have been from the moment you watched your brother making a connection with someone and your response was to drag that person into the gardens and demand she look at you.

Thankful to bookstagram and their many spoilers for putting me at peace with an ending that will ultimately follow many a plot twist in this enemies-to-lovers, found family (ha!), star-crossed lovers, arranged marriage saga that will result in a daughter's name that my hands are itching to edit in the metadata. If only. Well, there's always redactions to be made in a hardcopy.

So while this is basically the Hunger Games with magic, complete with the necessity of eliciting the support of the devoted fans, it is, at the heart of it, the story of a boy falling in love with a girl.

And her many threats against his life.

4 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

......

2025/42

Keys to the Crown (Rellmira Duology #1)

I can't seem to run in any direction that does not lead to you.

Available at Amazon.com

Keys to the Crown
Leah Mara
Rellmira Duology, book one
Kindle edition, 460 pages
Hardcover, 522 pages
Published January 9, 2025
ASIN B0DKB4Y8DC
ISBN 9781965527023


A princess-turned-spy goes undercover to catch a dangerous criminal—and falls for him instead.

After her mother’s assassination, Kiera gave up her crown to become a spy. She’s spent years training to earn the title of High Enforcer—the elite embodiment of justice in Rellmira. But first, she must prove she's worthy by hunting down any threat to her father's rule.

When a mysterious prisoner becomes such a threat, Kiera goes undercover to learn his true intentions.

But Aiden won’t reveal his secrets easily. His charming tongue spins lies as deftly as Kiera’s does, and he claims he’s just a thief looking for gold. Upon their escape, Kiera proposes they work together on a risky heist—and Aiden agrees.

But the line between allies and enemies begins to blur as he slowly surrenders the trust she is now reluctant to destroy.

When the embers of rebellion, secrets, and desire ignite their world, Kiera must decide who she will be among the ashes—a traitor to her kingdom or to her heart.

Keys to the Crown is the first book in a fantasy romance duology filled with steamy slow-burn romance, found family, and epic intrigue. Perfect for fans of The Bridge Kingdom, Serpent and the Wings of Night, and Blood & Steel. Kiera and Aiden’s story concludes in Book 2.

When a mysterious man infiltrates the Den of the night guard Shadow-Wolves, disguised with a dead Wolf's uniform and weapon, and fails to confess anything of substance after being caught and tortured, it falls to Kiera to extract his secrets.

The princess, now spy, has trained for years, since the assassination of her mother, to be a tool capable of protecting her remaining family and securing her brother's ascension to the throne.

Renwell, High Enforcer of the kingdom of Rellmira and Kiera's mentor and trainer, sends her undercover with the task of freeing the prisoner and earning his trust. And I'm having Metal Slinger flashbacks that bring my heart rate up to a dizzying speed. It's nice to be on this side of the intel this time around though.

Don't fall for it, Aiden!

But damn if our girl isn't about to lose her heart the moment he steps between she and the jailer.

Kiera is starved and thirsty.

And it turns out, Aidan had a plan of escape all along. His friend, Maz, appears, having subdued however many guards, and we're out and off.

Applause for Aiden for side eyeing our girl from the onset. Despite his lack of trust, however, the both of them are mutually tripping over themselves as they fall hard and fast for the other.

Am I a fan when the leading couple's first kiss is a result of a ruse? No. But am I upset about it here? Not a bit. "Not for a single moment."

Kiera eventually discovers Aidan's endgame and her own is one and the same—to put her brother on the throne. And she does what I had ranted and screeched at Brynn of Metal Slinger for not doing when confronted with new intel: reevaluate!

Godsdamnit, Brynn! I hope Acker hunts you down and spanks your ass!!

But here, with Kiera, we basically have Metal Slinger meets Direbound in that she stands in somewhat the same position as Killian. If she hadn't given up her place in line, she would be a false heir to the throne as Killian was. But while Killian sought to unite the false heir to the true heir in marriage, neither Kiera nor Aidan want the crown. Leaving Everrett as both of their choices to take the throne subsequent to Wenlyn's demise.

And no, the comparisons with other books do not end there. Because then I'm screaming out at Slade from Gleam and the whole Plated Prisoner series. Holy Four, this is how you're suppose to talk in the bedroom, Ravinger! If one is so inclined to talk at all.

Now, if we can just get around this betrayal business. I figured early on, since Aiden had already come to terms with the possibility that she was a spy, that he'd be willing to forgive. They had a chance at an easy happy ever after, as long as he wasn't the one that killed her mother.

Oh, ffs.

Touch her and die. One horse. One tent. Mine.

Chapter thirty-four? I read it twice. And immediately, after finishing the book, hunted down the bonus Aiden POV. Go 'head, Aiden, with your "Dance on me, beautiful."

This was such a romantic and suspenseful story with a spy vs spy premise and supporting characters that brought action, bloody violence, and a bit of humor pouring in on all sides.

5 out of 5 stars.

One question though: Why is this promoted as Found Family?

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback

2025/41

Cruel Prince (Folk of the Air #1)

Do not expect others to share my depraved tastes.

Available at Amazon.com

Cruel Prince
Holly Black
Folk of the Air, book one
Harcover, 370 pages
Kindle edition, 385 pages
Published January 2, 2018
ISBN 9780316310277
ASIN B071XQ6H38


Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.

Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

I may be cruel, a monster, and a murderer, but I do not shirk my responsibilities.

Well there you go. Words to live by, ladies and gents.

The fan art made me pick this one up. I was so not prepared.

Seven-year-old Jude was just watching her cartoons and munching on fish sticks with ketchup on the night her mother's redcap husband, Madoc, finally tracked down his wife.

Tracked her down, shoved a sword into the gut of Jude's father, and then threw said weapon into the woman's back.

How's that for a prologue?

Madoc had come for his daughter, Vivienne, Jude's older sister, but left the mortal home with also Jude and Jude's twin, Taryn, in tow, back to Faerie.

Ten years later, the real story unfolds as Jude and Taryn are whisked off to the palace for a royal party by Madoc and his wife, Oriana. Vivi? Like hell if she'll be attending. Total rebel that one.

And so the parade of characters begins. High King Eldred and his six heirs: thorned Balekin, the firstborn; lark Elowyn, the eldest daughter; third born Dain, part deer and leader of the Falcons; their younger sisters, Rhia and Caelia...

And the youngest of the bunch: Cardan, whom Jude proclaims is the absolute worst of them.

And the way my jaw dropped at what happened next. Nope. Won't get an argument from me in that regard. Cruel prince, indeed.

I stand in front of my window and imagine myself a fearless knight, imagine myself a witch who hid her heart in her finger and then chopped her finger off.

Jude Duarte, thou art a glowing a red flag.

Jude is tortured by her classmates in an endless barrage of bullying from Cardan and his trio: Nicasia, Valerian, and the lesser aggressive of the beasts, Locke.

And then Dain recruits her to be his spy against Balekin as rumor of the king's impending abdication slowly comes to fruition. She accepts his bargain in exchange for his protection against being glamoured, controlled, and likewise.

It's during her first mission that she stumbles erroneously into Cardan's bedchambers, intentionally steals his copy of Alice in Wonderland, and unintentionally witnesses his suffered abuse at the whims of his brother, Balekin.

She'll kiss Locke. She'll stab Valerian. Bury a body. Then ultimately stand in the center of a coup.

And my, what a savage coup it was.

These aren't the Fae of our beloved romantic fantasy. Here dwells the classics, the fey, the little shites that steal babes and make wicked bargains.

This is akin to the boy who pulls on a girl's braids in class and pushes her down on the playground. It's annoying and wrong but allowances can be made if we stop holding others to our own predisposed standards. Perception does not dictate intention. Her truth isn't his truth. And so on and so forth.

Have I mentioned I was ill prepared for this? For Cardan!? Absolutely flabbergasted at the cretin. No idea whatsoever what to do with him. He and Jude are their own mood. And Madoc? Live long and prosper, you monster. The way he handled Jude dueling with Taryn—chef's kiss. I could not hate him. Wouldn't trust him, but still couldn't hate him.

4 out of 5 stars.



Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

2025/40