I absolutely LOVED getting to see/learn more about Crimson.
Yeah okay, he was the evil King of Hearts in Alister in Wonderland, but really, was he *that* evil to begin with? It was his upbringing that made him into what he became, but does he have to be that way? This is all about Crim and his choices.

While he may not love Katrina in "true love" fashion, I have no doubt that he cares a great deal for her, and wants to see her awaken from her enchanted sleep. And not just for her raspberry tarts.

Always twists and turns. Who really is the puppeteer during all this? I ain't telling!

I genuinely enjoy all these genderbent fairytales from Kamen! PHENOMENAL!!!

Mark my words this book is going to be a huge hit for this author. This is an exceptional book 4 in a series..

I really don't want to discuss the plot because I want everyone to discover this story on their own terms. It's intricate. It's breathtaking. It's heart-pumping. It's shiver inducing. It's everything I could ever ask for in this genre. I started this book yesterday morning and tore through 75% without even realizing it. I was completely riveted to the pages.

Thank you to NetGalley and publishing company for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed the fourth installment of this book series; it was an interesting take on the classic, Alice In Wonderland.

Crim (Crimson), the King of Hearts is trying to find a new baker because he misses Katrina's scrumptious raspberry tarts & no one else can make them as good or better than she can. And for some crazy reason, he can't stop thinking about her & he doesn't know why. Why would he think about a servant Cheshire Cat, she's nothing to him. Or so he thinks...

Crim is a villain, right? Things aren't all as they seem to be. The Queen of Hearts has been dethroned & has her heart removed but Alice is here to fix all that, take Crim down so the Queen can take the thrown back & to take down her twin brother, Alister.

Good verses evil are at odds and sometimes the villain isn't really the villain, but was created for a specific purpose & reason. Not everyone is fully good or fully bad but something in between, it's what you do in those moments that really define who you are & who you're meant to be.

I just could not get into this book, I disliked it (and the MC) so much. Maybe if I'd read some of the earlier in the series books??

So I did enjoy reading King of Hearts. The overall Alice in Wonderland genderbend theme, mixed in with a few other fairytales plus some romance and you have a winner right there! Still, there were a number of issues that prevented me from loving it.

The story is mainly set in Wonderland which is now ruled by Crimson, The King of Hearts, a very mixed up young man emotionally. He never seems happy unless someone else is unhappy and if he is not please his reply is always ‘off with their head’.

After a coup d’etat by his mother and father, Crimson aka Crim finds himself in the proximity of his sworn enemy, Alister, and seeks his help to regain his kingdom, his memories and the one he truly loves!

The main problem I had with the novel was it’s overall way of being written. It jumped back and forth between past and present events, sometimes taking up far too much detail in the story when it wasn’t needed and could have been condensed down.

On the bright side, the sex-scene between Crim and Katrina was really well written. It wasn’t trashy or OTT but written to the point it got your heart racing, I was wanting to know where it was going to lead to, mand the interaction between the two characters throughout the whole novel takes you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions making you want to read more into their relationship maybe in a sequel or further in the novel.

I did find Crim to be a little bit unbearable when other characters were trying to be nice to him and he was having none of it, I couldn’t understand his true change of heart after being put to the brink of death by the Cheshire Cat people. But hey-ho we can’t have everything!

Throughout the whole novel we see Crimson overcome many obstacles of emotions and strength. He learns a lot from his past decisions and also from the decisions he makes during the story and knows where he has gone wrong and where he needs to go to make things right. The camaraderie growth between the characters throughout the novel was done wonderfully by L A Johnson and I was taken in from the beginning.

Delectably different and extremely satisfying. Genderbent fairytales are my new favorite fairytales. The King of Hearts has my heart. 5/5 stars

We return to wonderland to catch up with the King of Hearts, Crimson, who has been manipulated by his wicked mother resulting in him being unable to remember his feelings for Cheshire Cat slave, Katrina, who has been placed in an enchanted sleep by Sorcerer Maleficent. The evil enchantress wants to rule again and has initiated a wicked plan for it to be forever night, allowing her daughter’s army of underworld warriors to take over. I totally love the world created by KuroKoneko Kamen and have started investigating her other titles. She has an amazing imagination and her stories are so detailed and descriptive that its difficult not to imagine everything in glorious technicolour. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Very interesting, Gender Bent retelling of Alice in Wonderland. Very interesting storyline and strange characters.