Title: Rule of the Aurora King by Nisha J Tuli
Genre: Adult Romantasy
Pub Date: August 15, 2023

⭐ 4.5/5
🌶️ 2.5/5

“I am not his conquest. I am not his to claim. I am my own castle.”

Multiple Timelines
Dual POV
Enemies to Lovers
Slow Burn
One Horse

Lor is imprisoned by Nadir.

SO MANY EMOTIONS!! I absolutely love that Tuli gives us the lore in this book, the backstory was so interesting! This one is significantly spicer than Trial of the Sun Queen, so be warned, but it's slow burn and so wonderful ❤️‍🔥

I understand Lor and her apprehension but her being so STUBBORN is incredibly frustrating 😭

Thank you so much @netgalley and Forever Publishing for the digital review copy!

This book is full of angst and banter, which of course are two of my favorite things!

I really like Lor in the first book, but this one, she gave me whiplash 😂 Like make up your mind, lady!

Nadir was also pretty awesome in this book, and that spicy scene. 🔥 I love the Aurora magic; it's definitely unique and so beautiful.

I like that there is also an amazing reunion. It will make your heart happy.

Why do books got to leave on such cliffhangers. I cannot wait till the 3rd book comes out!

Hurry up I need to know more about Lor's magic!

I just finished this book, and I can say that I liked book 2 more than book 1.
Once again this was a fast paced read that I was able to track easily but also made me think. The slow burn, enemies to lovers, found family mix of tropes will always hook me and this book was no exception.
I seriously cannot wait for book 3, and I will definitely be reading it!

This series is turning out to be so much more than I ever expected it to be. When I first began to hear about the Ouranos quartet, it was usually summed up as The Hunger Games meets The Bachelor. While that was the primary premise of the first book, Trial of the Sun Queen, all the underlying plot twists and political maneuvering have come out to play in The Rule of the Aurora King. I love when a book can take me by surprise and charge headfirst in a direction I don’t expect. That is exactly what happened when I realized that the trials were merely a cover for the scheming of a power hungry ruler and why Lor was so important. It is also extremely satisfying to me when seemingly unimportant characters or events come back up to play a pivotal role in the story, almost like chess pieces moving that you don't even realize are on the board. Nisha J. Tuli has proven herself to be masterful at weaving together underlying plot lines and ulterior motives to create an epic storyline with edge of your seat action. I am completely captivated by Lor’s quest to uncover her past and claim her destiny. The world building is immaculate, the character development is breathtaking, the slow burn is boiling, the betrayals kept me on my toes, there was not a single second of this book that I didn’t love.

SPOILER ALERT! The only negative review I have is that I’m WAITING on the best book because of this cliffhanger of an ending! Enemies to lovers to ally to enemies to lovers ahhhhhh I literally have no idea if my lovebirds will get their happy ending or if the prophecies mean something else but I was on the edge of my seat for this entire book! I felt like I was the one sneaking around and being chased! Immersive and thrilling read!

THIS BOOK!
okay immediately after completing this book, I bought physical copies of books one and two. I emailed the publishers about an arc for book three because I am obsessed 😂

I need book three more than my next breath and I've been needing it for months.

I love finding out the secrets, I love the slow burn between Lor and Nadir. i am so excited for them to just give in. and by them, I mean LOR. PLEASE, LADY.

I actually really loved the end with Nadir's father and I'm truly so excited to see what happens next!

these books are so underrated!

Nisha, what did you inject into this series?

The writing is structured in a way to makes it easy to read but I feel so immersed in the story and the world while reading.

Book 2 focuses on our enemies to lovers and navigating that tension. We see the characters grapple with who to trust and with how many secrets. So many questions from book 1 get answered but so many more are revealed as well. I loved getting to see more friend and family relationships in this book.

Also book 1 was spicy but this book is SPICY 🥵. The tension throughout the book is enjoyable as well. I’m excited to see what happens in the next installment.

I loved where this book went with the story. I didn't know what was going to happen when our main character ended up back in the Aurora, but I love the chemistry and the tension between our main female and male characters. The author knows how to write a world from the ground up and keep the reader interested in the next books to come. I really need the third book so I can know where the story goes from here.

The author says there may be a few points you want to throw the book across the room, and honeyyyyy NO LIES DETECTED! The way this slow burn angst got me so mad. Chapter 22 smh. Moving along I have been enjoying this series. I cannot wait for the next book to come out in June. SO many tropes enemies to loves, one bed, slow burn, found family, forced proximity, touch her and die, fake dating. Great series so far!

Favorite Quote: "I arch an eyebrow at her, and she rolls her eyes. “Oh, to have the confidence of a male born to privilege.”

Favorite Scene In 1-3 Words: Serce meeting Wolf

The suspense continues in this second installment of the Artefacts of Ouranos series while Lor continues to come into her own and the readers learn more about her past . . . and her future. I really enjoyed the plot and character progressions in this book. The supporting cast is also fantastic and provides some much needed levity and logic during extreme emotional moments. I cannot wait to read the next in this series.

Highlights:
Enemies to Lovers
Slow Burn
Epic Quest
Vibrant World Building
Witty Banter
Supporting Cast Ensemble

Favorite Quote: “But I am not his conquest. I am not his to claim. I’m not part of their royal line. I have my own family. And I am my own castle.”

This sequel is a rare case of me loving the second in a series more than the first, and I would absolutely love it if this trend continues with book 3 which I can't wait to read this summer!

Although there was relatively a lot going on in the first book and maybe less so here, I felt so much more invested in Lor's story this time around, and I really loved watching the enemies to lovers stance play out so well here. There was tension and angst, but it wasn't an immediate move to intimacy. But when we did get those scenes boy did they leave me blushing!

I really liked seeing the characters in a new light and learning more about them, and I think it was set up really well for book 3!

Quick Highlights :

- enemies to lovers
- one bed trope
- one horse (new trope lol)
- haven't read romantasy in a LOOONG time
- definitely haven't read Fae romance between two brown characters!!
- slowburnn
- also I'm a therapist, so obviously I LOVE Lor setting and enforcing her boundaries!
- SPICY!

"The Rule of the Aurora King" by Nisha Tuli, the second book in the Artefacts of Ouranos series, has me utterly obsessed – an understatement for my love of this series. Following the gripping "Trial of the Sun Queen" (see my previous review), this book continues to captivate with unveiled secrets, magic, deceit, and of course spice. The forced proximity trope is masterfully executed, creating tension that had me hooked from start to finish.

Anticipating the next book in the series, I am eager to delve deeper into Lor's story. The narrative unfolds in the enchanting land of the Aurora King, and the atmosphere is nothing short of a chef's kiss – a testament to Tuli's exceptional world-building.

In essence, "The Rule of the Aurora King" not only lives up to the high standards set by its predecessor but surpasses expectations, offering a compelling blend of intrigue, magic, and tantalizing plot twists. This series continues to be a literary gem, and I can't wait to see where it takes me next.

The story picks up from book one, with Lor being Nadir's prisoner. He knows she is hiding something and he is ready to do anything to figure out what it is. For he is certain that Lor's secret is gonna be the key in his plan to overthrow is father.
But after a life spent in jail and the betrayal of Atlas, Lor needs to keep her head cold. She can't trust anyone. Not even the attractive prince who obviously has it for her too.

The spice level picked up quite a few notches in this book. The story is interesting and the back and forth between the past and present helps clarify some details as to how and why Lor and her siblings where sent to Jail to begin with.
I really appreciate how the story treats the delicate subject of trauma and healing. It adds a perfect touch is sensibility and makes the characters even more relatable and lovable.

I love this series! It's fast paced and you dive right in. This is especially great for people new to the fantasy genre. The world building is woven in without a big info dump at the beginning. The world is rich without being overly complicated. I love that we get to see Nadir and Lor grow closer in this book. Although Lor is hesitant to let anyone have power over her ever again, especially the kind of power love creates.
I did find Lor to be kind of annoying in this second book, constantly complaining about the things the Aurora King did and how Nadir didn’t do anything to stop him. I also didn't like the flashbacks to Lor’s ancestors. It took me out of the story and I think that info could have been given to us in less detail.
But overall I enjoyed this book, I love the series and I'm looking forward to the third book!

Rule of the Aurora King by Nisha J. Tuli Book Review

Star rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Genre: Fantasy/Romance
Series: Artefacts of Ouranos - Book #2
POV: three POVs - 1st person (Lor), 1st person (Nadir), 3rd person (Serce)
Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Forced Proximity, One bed, Fake Dating, One Horse, Secret Identity,

Thoughts:
This book blew me away.

Rule of the Aurora King was better than the first book, and I seriously LOVED the first book so that says a lot. I am obsessed with Lor and Nadir. The tension and banter between these two characters had me in a choke hold, I could NOT get enough of it. I was blushing and giggling .. IT WAS JUST SO GOOD. This is a true enemies to lovers. Nadir is my new book boyfriend for sure. If you are into morally grey, then NADIR IS FOR YOU UGH.

Beyond the spice, the plot was amazing. It was a bit slower than the first book, I thought the whole hunger games type trials were super captivating. But we still got hunting for treasures, secret spy missions, and flashbacks from the past. I didn't think I would enjoy the flashback chapters, but I actually did! I thought it was almost necessary to do that, and it was done in a way that didn't take much brain power to grasp. We learned a lot about why a specific Queendom was destroyed 286 years ago. Did anyone else FALL HEAD OVER HEELS in love with wolf?! Because I did.. he's such a gem.

I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL THE 3RD BOOK COMES OUT IN JUNE 2024 !!

Thank you to the author and Forever Publishing for gifting me a copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own. *ARC provided to me via NetGalley in exchange of an honest review*

Lots of thoughts on book 2 of the Artefacts of Ouranos...mostly positive! I definitely liked this one (slightly) more than its predecessor. I'd officially rate it a 3.8 (rounded up to 4). "Rule of the Aurora King" was very romance-heavy, focusing more on the characters and their relationships, whereas book 1 was of course focused on the world building and the Sun Queen Trials, which was what I enjoyed most about that book.

This book picked up right where the first book left off so it wasn't too difficult to jump back into the world. I had read Trial of the Sun Queen almost 3+ months ago and I was worried I'd forgotten most of the plot. 🥲

While I did love the angsty tension between Lor and Nadir, I really missed the high-stakes action in book 2. There wasn't really any life or death situations, heists, and/or quests for our main characters that have me at the edge of my seat. The characters were truly just battling themselves and their feelings for each other 😂 which again, I do love when men suffer, but even I just wanted the characters to just accept what we/the audience have known to be painfully obvious since probably book 1. IYKYK. Alas, I do appreciate the push and pull of romantasy series so I'm perfectly ok with being teased 🥲 I'm absolutely counting down the days until book 3's release!!

*ARC provided by Netgalley & Forever pub* (Rule of the Aurora King is available now in print & kindle unlimited!)

Another great one from Nisha! Book 2 was really good and I can't wait for book 3 now!! Though I don't want it to end!

Thank you to @readforeverpub for a copy Rule of the Aurora King in trade for an honest review.
This book was great, 4.5 stars!

I was thrilled to continue the adventure and romance of the main characters. I had a great time turning the pages to learn more. I did have a harder time getting into the chapters explaining the past, though important to the story. I found myself dragging at times especially during these chapters. I was more invested in the character growth and romance of the present day. I can’t wait for June!

I can't believe I read this book in 24 hours. I loved it so much and I am absolutely DYING for the 3rd book!

The writing and attention to detail is absolutely amazing. I have created such an attachment to the characters and the world. Nisha paints such an exceptional picture with her writing.

The multiple POV is one of my favorite aspects of this series, but then adding the past to present chapters was even better! Instead of a character just talking about the past, you actually get to visually see it.

The spice is just right where it compliments the story without overshadowing it, and don't get me started on the banter. I smiled, giggled and grinned WAY too much while reading this book.

I'm so glad I found this series and gave it a shot. It's been such a memorable read that I've immediately bought the physical books for my trophy shelf!