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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This retelling took my breath away, the dynamic and details kept me on my toes the whole time!
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
“You think I am their destruction, little viper. But what if I am their salvation instead?”
There is a threat that is looming over the realm and it is only a matter of time.
Malec, the Void King, has finally succeeded in kidnapping the princess he cursed as an infant.
Aura has fulfilled her duty as bodyguard and switched places with the princess.
I am reminded of the saying—nothing can be loved or hated unless it is first understood.
Kenney has become my go-to for dark fairy tale retellings. Keep them coming, please and thank you. The creativity is… 🤌 The characters are lovable. The chemistry and banter are electric. I could not get enough!
⬗ Sleeping Beauty Retelling: Fae Ed.
⬗ Secret Identities
⬗ Team Villain
⬗ Age Gap (does it count if he’s fae?)
⬗ Touch Her and Die
⬗ Spicy Spice (knife play)
⬗ Read as Standalone ✔️
⚡️🔥❤️
┍━━━━━━━ ❝ ━━━━━━━┑
┍━━━━━━━ ❝ ━━━━━━━┑
“That’s right. I’m the helpless infant you cursed.”
“Helpless infant my rosy ass.”
“Because you hate me. You hate the Royals, and my people, and our religion.”
“I dislike the Royals, I pity your people, and I think your religion is foolish.”
“It’s all right to admit it, little viper. You liked hurting me.”
“You liked being hurt.”
I have not craved a woman this quickly or this fiercely in a long time.
I pause to think through what I just said and make sure it’s logical. I think it is, but I can’t be sure because wine.
“I hate you for being the only one who has told me the truth.”
“I hate you for making me crave your admiration, your touch, your glance,” he says, low.
She is so exquisite it hurts.
This man could be a very delicious and dangerous habit.
┕━━━━━━━ ❞ ━━━━━━━┙
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Okayyyyyyy guys I just finished my ARC of Rebecca F Kenny’s dark sleeping beauty book and words escape me. This book blew my mind in so many ways. It was exciting and gut wrenching. Spicy and sweet. And it touched on a lot of deeper concepts in a really incredible way. Malec was such a dynamic character that continuously surprised me throughout the book with his vulnerability and openness!
I loved this book SOOOOOO much!
Not just bc the spice was amazing but the characters were so well written and the way Rebecca explores trauma, self worth, family and religion is astounding!!!! And the mental health rep in a fantasy book like this was so refreshing!
Times to expect:
I loved this book SOOOOOO much!
Not just bc the spice was amazing but the characters were so well written and the way Rebecca explores trauma, self worth, family and religion is astounding!!!! And the mental health rep in a fantasy book like this was so refreshing!
Times to expect:
This story was fantastic! I couldn’t put this book down. I read it as an arc and instantly started reading. I’ve been waiting weeks for this one and it was worth it! The fun little twist in here about Aura I honestly didn’t expect but it just got better from there. And I love Malec and his entire demeanor. He’s made out to be a monster and in actuality he’s kind of a teddy bear. The book is beautifully written and it’s fun. The banter is great and some parts I actually laughed out loud. Aura is definitely a little spitfire but she has a beautiful heart and soul. And Malec is actually very calm and tame until we get to the spicy stuff!! And the spicy stuff is ***spicy!! You never know what you’re going to get because we have some very Dom aspects but also Domme aspects but none of it disappoints! 5 ⭐️ read! 4
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
4 Little Viper Stars ⭐
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5/5
Note: While this is book 2 in the "For the Love of the Villain" series, this can be read as a standalone.
Reading a Rebecca Kenney book is like coming home after a long vacation and being able to finally sleep in your bed again. It is that cosy comfort that you just know you're going to get immense pleasure out of with undeniable relief. I have taken to calling her my "comfort author", as I know that any book I pick up, irrespective of the plot, premise, character, or setting; I'm going to love! She just has a fantastic talent and ability to write amazing stories and amazing worlds. She can take something that we all know and love and morph it into this unique thing that just oozes enjoyment!
This is a dual P.O.V. which I love because being in the head of the villain is always fantastic. Malec, the Void King, and Aura, the bodyguard to Princess Dawn. Dawn has been cursed that if her finger pricks any spindle she will fall into a hundred-year sleep. One day Aura and her decide to be a little bit mischievous and sneak out of the palace to partake in a festival. On the return journey, Dawn's carriage is attacked by Malec. In order to protect the princess's life, Aura trades places with her and is kidnapped instead.
What I really loved about this story is that as much as Malec is the villain, he is actually a HUGE CINNAMON ROLL SHADOW DADDY!!!! I felt such a connection with him! To see how he has this undeniable pressure put on him in this kingdom and all he really wants to do is save his people and be a good king. In doing so, he has been perceived as this monster but that's not who he truly is. I loved peeling away each layer of his characteristics, because; yes...he is dominant, boisterous, cocky and sometimes a little full of himself. But as his layers got pulled apart and some of his insecurities were explored, you realize what a fantastically built character he is, especially for a book that's really quickly devoured.
Aura was feisty and violent. She is pretty tough, has teeth, and she's not afraid to bite to protect herself. I loved that Malec called her a "Little Viper" because she actually does bite him and is quite vicious and aggressive. The dynamic between the two of them was beautiful. Rebecca Kenny has a talent for enemies to lovers, and she showed that talent in this miraculous book.
I really enjoyed the worldbuilding as well. Although I did get a little bit confused with the Spindle and Void magic and battled to envision what was going on. However generally speaking plot-wise and romance-wise, I loved it! This smut is there. It is kinky and it is spicy!!! There was an element that I normally prefer reversed, so while I didn't mind too much in the spicy scenes the way it played out... for me I would have liked it the other way around. 😉
The tropes you can expect are:
▶ Sleeping Beauty "Retelling"
▶ Enemies to Lovers
▶ Hidden Identities
▶ Forced Proximity
▶ Found Family Element
▶ Captive/Captor Romance
▶ Shadow Daddy!!!
▶ Age Gap
▶ Domme FMC (Light BDSM)
▶ Cinnamon Roll MMC
▶ Captive/Captor Romance
▶ One Horse
▶ Touch her you die
Basically, this book was just delightfully delicious as R.K. is known to do.
If you love romance... pick this up.
If you love fantasy... pick this up
If you love a retelling... pick this up.
It's going to give you everything that you need and even more.
Thank you to Rebecca Kenney for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
All thoughts and feelings are my own
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5/5
Note: While this is book 2 in the "For the Love of the Villain" series, this can be read as a standalone.
Reading a Rebecca Kenney book is like coming home after a long vacation and being able to finally sleep in your bed again. It is that cosy comfort that you just know you're going to get immense pleasure out of with undeniable relief. I have taken to calling her my "comfort author", as I know that any book I pick up, irrespective of the plot, premise, character, or setting; I'm going to love! She just has a fantastic talent and ability to write amazing stories and amazing worlds. She can take something that we all know and love and morph it into this unique thing that just oozes enjoyment!
This is a dual P.O.V. which I love because being in the head of the villain is always fantastic. Malec, the Void King, and Aura, the bodyguard to Princess Dawn. Dawn has been cursed that if her finger pricks any spindle she will fall into a hundred-year sleep. One day Aura and her decide to be a little bit mischievous and sneak out of the palace to partake in a festival. On the return journey, Dawn's carriage is attacked by Malec. In order to protect the princess's life, Aura trades places with her and is kidnapped instead.
What I really loved about this story is that as much as Malec is the villain, he is actually a HUGE CINNAMON ROLL SHADOW DADDY!!!! I felt such a connection with him! To see how he has this undeniable pressure put on him in this kingdom and all he really wants to do is save his people and be a good king. In doing so, he has been perceived as this monster but that's not who he truly is. I loved peeling away each layer of his characteristics, because; yes...he is dominant, boisterous, cocky and sometimes a little full of himself. But as his layers got pulled apart and some of his insecurities were explored, you realize what a fantastically built character he is, especially for a book that's really quickly devoured.
Aura was feisty and violent. She is pretty tough, has teeth, and she's not afraid to bite to protect herself. I loved that Malec called her a "Little Viper" because she actually does bite him and is quite vicious and aggressive. The dynamic between the two of them was beautiful. Rebecca Kenny has a talent for enemies to lovers, and she showed that talent in this miraculous book.
I really enjoyed the worldbuilding as well. Although I did get a little bit confused with the Spindle and Void magic and battled to envision what was going on. However generally speaking plot-wise and romance-wise, I loved it! This smut is there. It is kinky and it is spicy!!! There was an element that I normally prefer reversed, so while I didn't mind too much in the spicy scenes the way it played out... for me I would have liked it the other way around. 😉
The tropes you can expect are:
▶ Sleeping Beauty "Retelling"
▶ Enemies to Lovers
▶ Hidden Identities
▶ Forced Proximity
▶ Found Family Element
▶ Captive/Captor Romance
▶ Shadow Daddy!!!
▶ Age Gap
▶ Domme FMC (Light BDSM)
▶ Cinnamon Roll MMC
▶ Captive/Captor Romance
▶ One Horse
▶ Touch her you die
Basically, this book was just delightfully delicious as R.K. is known to do.
If you love romance... pick this up.
If you love fantasy... pick this up
If you love a retelling... pick this up.
It's going to give you everything that you need and even more.
Thank you to Rebecca Kenney for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
All thoughts and feelings are my own
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol
Minor: War
fast-paced