A Court This Cruel and Lovely is the first book in Stacia Stark's series Kingdom of Lies. While the print and digital version was released in March, I am reviewing this title as an audiobook ARC. The audiobook will be released later this October. This was my first time enjoying Stark's work, and I am thoroughly impressed!

What I loved:
- The characters were well-developed, and truths were revealed about the cast in a way that made my mind whirl. As soon as I thought I understood someone's motivations, things changed. I loved this approach to divulging character traits, and it kept me on my toes as I considered the whole cast.
- This title has so many tropes that I enjoyed! Only one horse, enemies to lovers (to enemies again?), hidden identities, found family, and forbidden/less-than-ideal-circumstances romance. These tropes were very enjoyable to read. If you love any of these tropes in any capacity, you'll enjoy how they are written here.
- The will-they-won't-they of the romance was SO fun!! I am a huge lover of slow burn romance, and the temptation and chemistry between the FMC and MMC was, for lack of better words, hot. The dual POVs to see how obsessed Lorian is with her was just incredible. I live for the pining! The payoff of waiting so long was worth it. I promise!
- I genuinely did not see the big reveals at the end! I knew there was some kind of information in the background that I, as the reader, didn't have access to during the main plot. I expected something shocking, but I was wrong LOL. I applaud Stark for the fresh twists - big Holly Black Cruel Prince energy tbh!
- The narrators were lovely. Both of the narrators perfectly portrayed Prisca and Lorian. I am so thankful I read this book in the audio format in stead of print!

Room for improvement:
- The book was very repetitive in the middle section, like 40-70% ish. The plot felt like the same few things on repeat until something about the circumstances outside of the main cast's control caused a shift. This section was monotonous, in all honesty, but not enough for me to stop reading. The slow pacing and plotting of this section is my only critique.

Overall, I enjoyed A Court This Cruel and Lovely quite a bit, so I am rating this title 4.5 out of 5 stars (rounding to 4 stars for the NetGalley rating scale). This title is perfect for fans of The Folk of the Air trilogy, A Court of Thorns and Roses, These Hollow Vows, and The Shadows Between Us.

Quick Summary: A dark delights sci-fi fantasy

My Review: A Court This Cruel & Lovely by Stacia Stark is book one in the new Kingdom of Lies series.

About the Book: Oppression, deceit, secret powers, imprisonment and evil machinations have kept one people in power and another in a state of hopelessness and dread. Plans, however, are slowly but surely coming together to right a great wrong that has been done but at what cost.

My Final Say: This book was sensational! From the characters to the world building to the web of deception that existed throughout, it was all incredible and so well written. I did not want it to end. Book two cannot get here fast enough.

Rating: 5/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: A
Re-read: Yes
Keeper: Yes
Favorites Shelf: Yes
Series: Yes
Audiobook: Yes
Status/Level: 💣💥⭐

Sincere appreciation is extended to the author, to the publisher (Dreamscape Media), and to NetGalley, who provided access to this title in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

THE BONES WERE GOOD.

Audiobook notes: LOVED. I have no complaints about the narrators or production. I really loved it in this format.

I wanted to love this more than I did but a few things kept holding me back. What it does have is a really good general fantasy romance set-up. I love hidden identities, some enemies to lovers and warring lands. I just wish the execution was a bit less…repetitive. The same ideas kept continually rotating through the story, they kind of kept doing the same things over and over and even the romance lost some steam too.

I didn’t mind Lorian and Prisca as main characters. They were perfectly fine. I liked the banter that they had and wanted to see them together more often to really feel that chemistry igniting. I did love that it was dual POV and that I saw both sides of the story.

There’s some good plot lines but I am on the fence about continuing the series. Might do the audiobook route again.

Overall audience notes:
- Fantasy Romance
- Language: some strong
- Romance: 2-3 open door
- Violence: high
- Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of life/loved ones, attempted murder, executions

There are so many fantasy romance books out there and few of them are done well. This one was great. The audiobook was also done very well and the voice actors were great.

A small complaint is the amount of characters that are introduced in the first two chapters of the book. You don't know which ones to keep track of and which ones will not be relevant to the story. I had to write them all down.

This is definitely a slow burn romance and the wait is worth it. This is also an enemies to lovers romance, which I already love.

The book is on the longer side, coming in at 500+ pages but once you are invested in the story, it goes by quickly. The ending is satisfying while also ending on a cliffhanger so beware and have book 2 at the ready :)


Thank you to Dreamscape Media, Netgalley & the author for the advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

4/5🌟🌟🌟🌟
World Building 🌎 4/5 | Characters 😉4/5 | Romance ❤️.5/5| Spice 🌶️2/5 | Writing 📖 4.5/5 | Audiobook 🎧 5/5

🌙 enemies>lovers
🌙 multi POV
🌙 morally grey
🌙 alphahole MC
🌙 Vicious FMC
🌙 slow-burn (this is not sweet with chocolates and flowers type love. Think save your life, touch her and die, hold you through nightmares kind of romance).
🌙 found family

A court this cruel & lovely is an extremely enjoyable read/listen packed full of revenge, betrayals, plots, schemes, political machinations, survival and loyalties. There is almost nothing in this book that is what it seems and I have to say, even though you expect the plot twists and turns, there were definitely a few things I couldn't really predict that happened. The world building was good for book 1 but I look forward to learning more about the other kingdoms/courts in later books. While the magic system seemed pretty straight forward, I still have a few questions. Like about those damn priestesses. Honestly, I feel suspicious of all of them. And how do the magic get transferred? What about the gods? I can't wait to learn more. There are also many plots and characters schemes that come with any book involving courts. So if that is your thing, you will love this book.

For me the strength of this book lies in its characters. I love those damn mercenaries and the supporting crew but Prisca and Lorian steal the show. I love Priscas growth from the beginning and that she doesn't crumble in the boiling pot she's been tossed into. I love that she is pro-active in her life more than reactive. I have to say that Stacia Stark does a great job writing her. I hate when you have a simpering, weak introvert FMC that transforms over the course of the book into a completely different person than she was at the beginning. Personalities just don't change like that. Sure, due to circumstance a person can change and grow and I think that it important for all characters in a book- but so often authors overdue it. Prisca remains true to her nature and I love that about her. She starts off as strong-willed, selfless and feisty and that is part of the core of who she is and that does not change. What does change is her goals, the scope of her life, her magic grows, she trains to be stronger but ultimately, she is the same wildcat from page 1. LOVE THAT!!! Lorian is also just so yummy. Love the mystery around him and I love seeing him go head to head constantly with Prisca. When the two get together the chemistry and great and HAWT🌶️!! I also appreciate that these two characters don't let their ultimate goals fade away because they have found each other. They stay true to themselves. Sure, they can work to help each other but they manage to make it work while going about their own plotting.

My only critiques of this book were the pacing and the name. It starts out really fast paced and interesting and the middle section (while still interesting) seemed to drag out longer than necessary. The entire book leads up to one day which then ties up was too quick. I feel like it is the last 5% of the book where secrets are revealed and the climax finally hits and then the book is over! Yes, a cliffhanger. May have seen it coming, although not quite in this way but the whole thing tied up way to quickly for my liking. Now I am just dying to get my hands on the next book.

Lastly, the name. I am sure many many people have brought this up but I am always so hesitant to pick up ANY book that starts with " A COURT OF/THIS____ & ____." It is WAY too overdone and to be honest, it is forgettable. I will remember this plot and author for sure but I can almost promise you, if someone asks me the name next month, I will probably blunder. The market saturation of this title has to end. Be original. Yes, if I hadn't read dozens of other books with similar titles, I would agree that it is a lovely name. But I have and I can promise that most readers in this genre have too.

So, do I recommend this book? Definitely! If you like magical worlds, evils kings, court politics, Badass MCs and spice, this is the books for you. Now, on to book 2!


The audiobook was really great. The narrators did a phenomenal job!!

*Thanks you Netgalley and the author for providing me with an ARC audiobook of this book. My review is 100% honest, my own and freely given*

Thank you to Dreamscape Media, Netgalley & the author for the advanced copy of this audiobook

Prisca is born into a world where the gods take their magic as payment for protection against the Fae. Humans who manage to keep their powers are killed. Her power is discovered and she goes on the run to save her life. She meets a mercenary along the way and makes a bargain with him, she helps him. He helps her. But they both have their secrets.

The audiobook of the first novel in this series is well performed. I enjoyed both narrators Tim Paige & Meg Sylvan. I do wish Meg had a bit more variation in her tone for different characters speaking, as sometimes it was difficult to keep track of who was talking. Overall, this was a spectacular experience. The story really shines with these performers.

Prisca only wanted to live her life without the threat of death looming over her. She spent so much of this story trying to do the right thing and ran into every road block, every betrayal and is forced to grow into more than she ever imagined. Lorian is known for being blood thirsty and ruthless and it's so interesting to watch that version of himself battle how he feels about and acts around/to Prisca. I enjoyed the first person pov along with the dual pov. It really gives the characters depth. The author Stacia does a good job of building this world without ever making it feel heavy and burdensome. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who loves fae, enemies to lovers, adventures, found family and unique magic systems.

Ugh!!! I am so sad this is over. I finished this in less than two days. I need book 2 audio ASAP!

Sometimes fantasy books can be confusing especially in the beginning during the world building. I had no trouble with this and was hooked from chapter 1. The MFC was strong and not stupid. She stood up for herself and those around her. The spice was just enough too! I like how the main focus isn't on the romance.

The narrators were great! I really liked the dual POV.