I'm a big fan of the enemies-to-lovers trope in books, as well as the popular fae fantasy themes we've seen in many romantasy books over the last few years. This book was very clearly written with those things in mind, and I enjoyed it, but think it needed a little more originality and polish to help it stand apart from the sea of similar books out there today.

The King of Frost and Shadows didn’t just give me a romance—it handed me ice-burned obsession wrapped in shadows and a crown sharp enough to cut. I devoured it like a starving creature and still wanted more.

The MMC? Cold, lethal, haunted by shadows—and every glance felt like both a threat and a vow. The FMC? Fierce, stubborn, and unwilling to bend, even when the world (and his frostbitten power) demanded it. When they collide? It’s slow-burn agony turned to wildfire, the kind of chemistry that melts glaciers and shatters walls built from fear and pride.

The banter? Sharp as broken ice. The tension? Strung so tight it thrummed in my veins. And the spice? Gods, feral—raw, hungry, beautifully tangled in trust and defiance.

This isn’t just a love story; it’s frost and shadow dancing on the edge of ruin, stolen moments where the monster shows his cracks, and a heroine who would rather freeze than bow. I’m ruined. Frozen. Obsessed beyond salvation. Jen L. Grey, you made me feral—and I’d do it all over again. ❄️🔥🖤

This was my first novel by this author, and unfortunately, her writing style didn’t quite resonate with me. Both the male and female leads had heavy internal monologues, but they felt a bit mismatched with their age and social standing—and the voices weren’t distinct enough from each other. Character development was minimal, and the world-building left a lot to be desired. I couldn’t visualize much because there wasn’t enough descriptive detail. It’s a shame, because with more depth and refinement, this story had the potential to be much stronger.

Book: The King of Frost and Shadows
Author: Jen L Grey
Series: Fated to Darkness, book #1
Length: 348 Pages
Publisher: Grey Valor Publishing, LLC
Overall Rating: 4 Stars

This book is about a spiteful King Tavish of the Unseelie Fae who finally discovers and kidnaps the Seelie Fae Princess named Lira. He had been haunting her dreams for the past twelves years who has been hidden on earth. He needs her blood to save his people and lands. As her parents had betrayed them by murdering his parents and now he is using a double edged sword. One out for revenge and the other he needs her blood to save his people. However Lira had been adopted when she was ten years old and has no memory of her life as a fae. Nor does she have any wings or magic.

It is known any fae who visits earth for a long length of time will lose all their fae memories and powers. She meets Tavish at this club thinking he was human and extremely attractive innocently hoping she would get a New Years kiss from him. However she doesn't realize her life is in danger and is about to spiral out of control! As this sweet talker just wants revenge on her biological parents who had killed his parents who are King and Queen of the water fae. Except Lira has no memory or magical abilities of the first ten years of her life!

This book has many twists and turns where this beautiful man turns into a beast but he too is conflicted but he needs her blood to save his people and lands. As children Princess Lira had been his best friend and he expected to marry her from the day she was born. Furthermore the more Tavis gets to know Lira the more his old feelings and memories develop and he starts regretting this decision to bring her here to end her life. He also feel this uncontrollable jealousy every time any man of his men touch her innocently.,,,,

Yet this doesn't change Tavish’s mind as he still needs her blood to save his people and get his lands back. Afterall his people are dying and barely surviving living on this barren infertile land.! He brings her to his castle and everyone wants to murder her for the damage her parents had done. Even though she was only a child when all of this occurred and has no memory of any of it or even who her biological parents were, Now she is attacked when put in a holding cell-even though he rectified this by protecting her by moving her to his room.

His people are going to go against him if he doesn't act stronger except he is having feelings but still feels by killing her is the only way to get his revenge against her biological parents and to save his people and get his lands back. Instead of the barren infertile land. To show he is strong and so his people do not go against him she must go in this gauntlet with all the prisoners which are games where Lira is the target to be killed! All they have to do is kill her? Will they succeed? Read and discover Lira’s fate.

Disclaimer: Thank you to Grey Valor Publishing, Netgalley and Jen L. Grey and for this advanced readers copy. I voluntarily agreed to do an honest, fair review and blog. All thoughts, ideas and words are my own.

🖤Enemies to Lovers ✔️
🖤Fated Mated✔️
🖤Evil Fae King✔️
🖤Lost Fae Princess✔️
🖤Grey FMC✔️
🖤MMC abduction of✔️
🖤Memory loss of FMC✔️
🖤Danger Games✔️
🖤Fantasy✔️
🖤Magic System✔️
🖤Politics✔️
🖤Slow Burn✔️
🖤Target on FMC✔️
🖤Gauntlet Games✔️
🖤Prisoners✔️
🖤Deception✔️
🖤Betrayal✔️
🖤Who-Done-It✔️

This is one of those books that I ate up and read super fast however I was able to anticipate SOME things, but not the big ones. I like a trial book which I didn’t know I was getting with this so that was exciting, but I just didn’t fall in love with Tavish. BUT BUT BUT I don’t think I’m supposed to yet, I’m still pretty pissed at him and I feel like for pretty good reason. I am really loving watching Lira slowly get her magic and memories back, FINALLY an author who did a memory loss trope in the BEST way possible. This was a good time and I literally could not wait to start the next one.
The slow burn, the off-limits love, the moving target of the “big bad” since we’re set up for a few different antagonists throughout the series. And best of all - not knowing who we can trust. It was just perfect 4 stars!!

A tale of childhood best friends torn apart. One raised to hate the other and with only one goal in mind revenge. The other raised on Earth with no memory of their fae life. Is the unseelie King willing to do what he believes must be done for his people even though it goes against what his heart desires? Read The King of Frost and Shadows to find out.
This story pulled me in from the very beginning. I loved Tavish, Lira, and Finnian’s characters so much. I was rooting for Lira and Tavish from the start. I can’t wait to read what happens next for them.

Darkly romantic and wildly addictive, The King of Frost and Shadows gave me all the broody fantasy I crave. Dangerous magic, enemies-to-lovers tension, and a heroine you can root for—this one had me hooked.

Thank you to NetGalley for this arc. I had no idea it was already released on kindle unlimited and I plan on reading the other books that go along in the series.

I really love books with Seelie and Unseelie fae and the old traditions about them not being able to lie. I loved watching Lira progress into the person she is and Tavish just battling his emotions throughout the book.

3.5/5

The King of Frost and Shadows has sparks of something compelling beneath its familiar fae-romance surface. The main character Lira grew on me as the novel went on. She starts off as being too meek but begins to grow into her own and pushes back near the end.

Tavish is a classic morally grey fae ruler, cold and tyrannical. His mood swings keep tension high, though sometimes his emotions feel a little tangled. I suspect Lira’s will thaw his cold exterior at some point. I found the story really hooked me in the final chapters, especially when the political intrigue and rebellion came to a boil. I also really enjoyed the cliffhanger ending, as it makes me want to read the sequel.

Although The King of Frost and Shadows feels familiar it has potential, and the cliffhanger ending, will make you want to read the next book, especially if you are a fae romance fan.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the ARC!

I LOVE a true morally gray villain—and this book delivers. So many stories promise that tension and edge, but this one commits in the best (and most heart-wrecking) way.

From the very first chapter, this romantasy had me hooked. The world is rich, the tension is high, and the chemistry? Absolutely explosive. Think slow burn, fated mates, “don’t touch her, she’s mine” energy, and true enemies-to-lovers vibes. The dynamic between the leads had me kicking my feet and clenching my chest in equal measure.

There’s action, magic, mystery, and some incredible side characters (including one terrifyingly cute creature I’d die for). I binged this in one night—and then screamed when I realized book two isn’t out yet. The emotional damage is real, and I loved every second of it.

Highly recommend for fans of dark fantasy romance, morally complex characters, and high-stakes slow burns. One of the strongest first books in a romantasy series I’ve read—yes, even more than ACOTAR.

Well that cliffhanger is rude 🤣

True morally grey MMC with literal touch her and die vibes. We have bat wings, trusty dog/not really a dog companion, magic, fated mates, games and trials…I mean what more could my millennial heart want?

The only thing really not making it a 5 for me was it felt like it was lacking a little depth especially in the world building department.
I had a good time though, and I’ll be moving on to book two soon because again RUDE CLIFFHANGER!

Big thanks to Netgalley and Jen L Grey for the eARC in exchange for a review.

So this mimics A court of thorns ans roses in a few ways; life ending games, bat boy, human to fae. If you enjoyed SJM books, you'll love this one.

It was WAY tamer than I was anticipating, with basically no spice. And a cliff hanger like you wouldn't belive!

I'm so excited for the next one!

5 full stars!

The King of Frost and Shadows was one of those books that sucks you in and has a grip on you before you even realize what's happening. I am convinced that Jen L. Grey is one of those authors who has figured out how to "literize" crack. While the author's particular writing style was not my favorite, I found myself completely captivated by Lira and Tavish and was completely unable to look away. The tension between the two was unbelievably intense and I immediately preordered the next two books because I am desperate to find out what happens next. The trials only contributed to the elements of danger that Lira faced, and the pacing made it impossible for me to look away. This one kept me reading long into the night.
The main issue that I had with the authors' writing style was that every single chapter ended like a cliffhanger, even if the dialogue didn't seem to match up to the way that the next chapter started. I'm certainly not opposed to anticipation being introduced, but the way that it was done here felt forced and almost seemed to cheapen the story somewhat. I enjoyed the book as is, but this would have been a hands-down five-star read for me with a bit more editing on the chapter transitions. I am so excited to dive into the next one.

12 years ago the balance between the Seelie and Unseelie Fae was broken. The Seelie princess was hidden on Earth and Tavish who is now the King of the Unseelie Fae is set to revenge the murder of his parents and what the Seelie did to him.
Finally Tavish is sure he found the princess and is taking her back to their realm.
Lira was adapted and has no knowledge about the first 10 years of her live. When she meets this handsome stranger all she is hoping for is a New Years kiss and did not expect how her live is changing and why everybody is claiming she is a Fae and everybody is hating her for what her supposed parents did to the Unseelie Fae. Also that this stranger wants to kill her once she has access to her magic again, so her blood will ensure that his people can go back to their former land, is a shock. So while she struggles with this strange world she can´t deny that there is a spark between her and Tavish which neither of them wants but which they can´t fight.
When she tries to flee and is caught she ends up in a tournament all prisoners need to attend and only the winners will survive. How is a mere human without knowledge or the magic of the Fae supposed to survive?

This is the start of a new series about Seelie and Unseelie Fae, hate, treason, revenge, manipulation but also the magic of being bonded and that you can´t fight fate. So spice is mixed in here but for me in a good balanced way.
The deadly games are interesting and good written. I liked how she tries to understand what needs to be done to survive the three scenarios, how she doesn´t really want to kill somebody but is forced to do so as the prisoners are set to kill her. How they gang up on her but she is not stopping to try to be true to herself is in my opinion good written.
I like how the story is told and its pace.

Lira has no memories before her time with her adoptive family. Her adoptive father thought her quite a lot how to fight and how to stand up for herself. When she is brought into the world of the Fae everybody hates her even so she has a good heart, doesn´t want to harm let alone kill somebody. With her we learn bit by bit what once happened even so many things are still blank. I liked her character and I really suffered with her.
Tavish had to endure unbearable things which were done to him by Lira´s parents and also had to accept at a young age that his parents were murdered. That he wants revenge and a better live for his people is understandable. Also that he doesn´t want to accept that there is a spark between them and that at one point he can´t deny what fate has in place for him I can understand a bit. That he can´t save her to be part of this tournament to not loose further face in front of his people is good written. That different rules apply to her, the aim is to kill her in the tournament even so he made it clear when and how he needs her blood and he is not intervening especially when she means to much to him this was something I had some problems with.
The other characters are also good worked out and I enjoyed them even so the ones I can´t stand.

So all in all for me a good start into this new series with interesting plot, well worked out characters, some spicy and a mean cliff hanger.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. Overall I enjoyed the book, but the story could've been written better. It was so simple. Falling from the tree was when I kind of lost all hope for the book's being a 4 or 5 stars. Characters did not have the relation one expect in a romantsy. Thanks.

Loved the fated mates, touch her and die trope and that it was easy to read but I couldn't get on board with the repetitive phrasing and chapter changes and the poor charscter development.

This book was unfortunately unreadable for me.

It has elements of everything I hate in a book:
- adorkable, "I'm so stubborn" FMC
- transparently "mysterious" MMC
- bad, corny millennial dialogue
- telling not showing
- etc etc

I received this eBook as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Jen L. Grey, and Page & Vine: Anya for the opportunity to review this book. This review has been posted to GoodReads check out my profile https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/62314863 and it will be posted to my bookstagram account https://www.instagram.com/tinynightingales/ and booktok https://www.tiktok.com/@tinynightingales?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

an action-packed fantasy. Great for fans of the cruel prince. There is court intrigue and betrayal. This book has so much action. perfect for fans of fantasy trials.

This reads on the younger side. Its feels amateur and I DNF! The book itself is beautiful! I just feel i t was not for me.

Thank you so much to Jen L. Grey and ARC provided by Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op | Page & Vine: Anya for the eARC of this title. This is my first read by Grey. This was such a good slow burn enemies to lovers story. You have fated mates and the touch her and die vibes too! The MC's Banter, perfection! It was an easy read for me and can't wait to read more from Grey!