Supernatural Book Crate | See Sadie Read

I received a signed paperback copy of Kayleigh King’s Bloody Kingdom in a Supernatural Book Crate book box I purchased. I think it was maybe the August one.

This isn’t a fairytale.
I dethroned Prince Charming long ago.
They call me the King of darkness and death.
Ruler of the underworld.
My reign is ruthless, my word is the law.
If I want it, I take it, regardless of the bloodshed.
But then she walks into my life.
I don’t want her, I need her.
She can fight, she can beg, but her fate is sealed.
Until her debt is paid, she’s mine.
She ran from her old life, but she can’t outrun me.

Welcome to my Bloody Kingdom, Quincey Page

This is a fine Beauty and the Beast retelling. Though I don’t know why authors insist on trying to tie every damned story into a retelling. Why can’t a story just be a story? I digress. This is a fine Beauty and the Beast retelling. But it does not live up to the blurb at all. I expected this to be dark vampire romance, maybe even erotica. Instead it really isn’t particularly dark and there isn’t even a sex scene until around page 225. It’s a fine sex scene, but it’s not especially impressive or dark. And there’s not even very much sexual tension up until that point. So, that blurb makes promises the book does not deliver on. Hell, the story isn’t even particularly bloody. So, even the title is misleading in that regard.

Having said all of that, once I let go of the expectations the title and blurb set up, I enjoyed it well enough. It was entertaining. The love was basically insta-lust that morphs mysteriously into insta-love and the whole thing ended on a cliffhanger. So, admittedly, it’s not super satisfying. But I did enjoy the time I spent reading it. I’d be winning to read book two, if I could get it at the library or as a freebie. But I don’t think I’d be willing to pay for it. (That’s kind of my go-to system of deciding how much I like or dislike a series; would I pay for more of it?)

Other Reviews:

The Phantom Paragrapher – Review: Bloody Kingdom

https://wickedlyromance.com/bloody-kingdom-by-kayleigh-king-book-review/

I purchased a Supernatural Book Crate book box and a signed copy of Deborah Wilde‘s Throwing Shade was included as one of the featured books in the August box.

She’s ditching her shapewear, owning her hormones, and letting her magic fly free.
Underestimate her. That’ll be fun.

It’s official. Miriam Feldman is killing it in the midlife crisis department. She’s mastered boredom, aced invisibility, and graduated Summa Cum Laude in smiling and playing nice in her post-divorce life. But when a drink with a “good guy” goes sideways, Miriam snaps, and in a cold dark rage unleashes a rare and powerful shadow magic.

To make matters worse, her best friend goes missing and Miri is thrust into a world of hidden magic, vampires, and a legacy of hatred aimed directly at her. Hard to say which is more dangerous, this spiderweb of supernatural power plays, the grumpy French wolf shifter she’s teamed up with, or Miri herself, kicking butt and rediscovering the woman who got lost along the way.

But lines get blurred in the shadows, and if she’s not careful, she could lose everyone she loves. She’ll have to turn her invisibility into strength and pray they never see her coming.

Forty isn’t the new twenty. It’s better.

I enjoyed this quite a bit. I had a funny moment when I was about halfway through where I was thinking, “Urban fantasy set in Canada with a Jewish heroine and paranormals from Jewish mythos, it reminds me a lot of Blood & Ash and The Unlikable Demon Hunter? Who wrote those again? Deb…Deborah….?” At about this time I walked by the book on the table and caught a glimpse of the author and went, “…Wilde. Deborah Wilde. No wonder it feels familiar. It’s the same author.” I amused my self.

I have to admit to liking this book more than either of the other two by her that I’ve read. Not necessarily because it’s a better book. I think I just like the older heroine more. I liked Miriam. I really liked Laurent and the banter between the two. I liked Miriam’s relationship with her daughter and the world Wilde has created here. Plus, I liked the 40-year-old woman finally learning the fine art of giving no fucks about convention. She lets the snark fly.

I’m not a huge fan of the cover though. I know this isn’t really relevant to the book review, and I don’t dislike it. I just don’t feel like it matches the tone of the book. Sure, there’s reference to Miriam taking her heals off after work as a legal librarian. But nothing about her character paints her as quite the fashionista who would wear stilettos to work.

All in all, I’m hoping to read book two and three in the series at some point.

Other Reviews:

Book Review: Throwing Shade by Deborah Wilde

https://wonderfullyweird88.com/2021/04/09/throwing-shade-magic-after-midlife-1-by-deborah-wilde/

Throwing Shade by Deborah Wilde

See Sadie Read

Sci-fi, fantasy, UF/PNR & LGBT+

Tag Archives: Supernatural Book Crate

Book Review: Bloody Kingdom, by Kayleigh King

Book Review: Throwing Shade, by Deborah WIlde