Curse of the Thorn King by Lisette Marshall is live!
A Beauty and the Beast retelling with a fae king, a reluctant assassin heroine, and an enemies-to-lovers, close proximity romance that sucked me in from start to finish!
Amazon
Blurb
Killing a fae king is hard. Doing so politely is even harder.
Briannis Iavi – well-bred lady and accidental assassin – is so close to securing the life of her dreams. All she needs to do is complete one last make her way into fae territory, sneak into the enchanted halls of Rosethorn Keep, and kill the king of Faerie.
But her plan goes disastrously wrong, and Briannis finds herself a captive at her target’s mercy instead.
Cursed to a life of loneliness and slow decay, the monstrous fae king seems hell-bent on revenge – and if he can’t hurt the human rulers who sent her, he’ll amuse himself with her instead. Unable to escape his sentient castle or to disobey his commands, Briannis has no choice but to fall back on her sharpest weapon: her wits.
Tricking fae is a dangerous game, however. And miles away from the respectable life she thought she knew, even her knives and poisons may not be enough to protect her heart …
Bridgerton meets The Cruel Prince in this steamy Beauty and the Beast retelling. Featuring a tormented hero, an almost-proper heroine, and a castle that’s just trying to help, Curse of the Thorn King is the first in a series of standalone fantasy romances with an overarching plot. Intended for a mature audience.
Review
4 stars!
A Beauty and the Beast retelling with a fae king, a reluctant assassin heroine, and an enemies-to-lovers, close proximity romance that sucked me in from start to finish!
This is the first book in the Wayfarer Fae series. It’s got similarities to Marshall’s Fae Isles series world, and I’m not sure if this is set within that world (perhaps in the past?), or if it’s completely different, but I was happy to just dive in and explore the world of human and fae, and it’s very clever nature-based magic.
Briannis is a human woman who has reluctantly taken on the role of assassin, and she is forced into one last job in order to reclaim her life back – she needs to kill the Fae King. Reclusive and secretive, the king lives in Rosethorn Keep, an enchanted castle on a remote clifftop, and she makes the trek only to end up trapped inside the castle’s defence systems, locked in with the very fae that she was sent there to kill.
Moridyr is the last of his line, and is in the devastating position of ruling over a dying land. Tied to the future of faery, he is dying right alongside it, and his body is half-alive, half-dead, giving him a grotesque half corpse-like appearance. He’s been alone in his castle for over a decade and he is lonely and desperate for contact, so he accepts his would-be assassin into his home, attempting to make the best of the situation so that he can finally have companionship.
Not a lot of authors could make you fall for a half-dead, corpsy fae, but Marshall totally did it! Moridyr is a strong and proud fae with a witty sense of humour, and a fabulous sarcastic streak, but he’s got this irresistible vulnerability about him. He’s been alone for so long, and the way he welcomes Briannis into his life, caring for her and craving her touch, made my heart ache.
“Anything else, Your Majesty?”
Everything. He wanted everything else.
Touch me, he almost said, the command burning on his tongue, hold me, want me, look at me again as if you don’t see a corpse in my place.
Briannis was raised to be polite and proper, and she’s initially horrified by her situation. But with encouragement from Moridyr, and as she comes to accept the position she’s in, she loosens up and begins to find her true self. She helps Moridyr, they talk, she is playful with him, and she even gets a bit touchy-feely. They become friends, and with the chemistry burning strong and the two of them slowly falling for each other, it eventually leads to hot and steamy sexy time.
But Moridyr has secrets, and with his precarious position as king of a dying land, and greater political shenanigans going on, there is a lot more to the story. There are some reveals along the way, and there’s drama that they have to work through, but overall, this is a really beautifully written love story with a well-developed world, and characters that I absolutely loved.
There are story threads left unfinished, and so much more than needs to happen in this world, and I’m excited to carry on with the series when Lies of the Ink Mage is released in 2024.
Loved this one – 4 stars!
An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Wayfarer Fae
Curse of the Thorn King (#1)
Buy: Amazon
Lies of the Ink Mage (#2)
To be released 2024