½
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I will disguise myself as the vampire’s bride. I will win over his family. And then I will murder every last one of them.
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Someone who I ranted about this book to joked that my review would be longer than War & Peace, whilst it's not 1000 pages, this is certainly a long, ranty review so buckle in!
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What drew me to the book:
A friend asked me to be their buddy in a book train for this book run by Tandem.
How long it’s been on my TBR:
It was never on my TBR.
My expectations:
Admittedly I don’t really know what to expect, maybe the book will be surprisingly good, maybe it’ll be surprisingly bad.
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My thoughts whilst reading:
It was within the first 3 pages that I realised that I wouldn’t enjoy this book. We start with the prologue, following our main character walking down the aisle when I noticed that her thoughts solely consisted of descriptions of things around her, redundant sentences & some internal monologue but none of her feelings already leaving me feeling a lack of connection to her, which I hoped would change once we got into the book - spoiler alert: it didn’t, as my friend later said, it all felt like telling instead of showing which I agree with. A few pages later & I found myself letting out a sigh as our main character, Nadi, talked about how Raziel was a monster, but a beautiful monster - this leads into a larger issue I had with the book where Nadi's only focus was Raziel but I’ll get into that later.
I liked how Raziel’s Vampiric compulsion worked, that he could compel people into doing what he wanted but there were limits to what he could do & the extent of his powers.
At the 10% mark (& for most the book after) I found myself tired from the repetitive nature of Nadi & Raziel’s thoughts, Nadi kept repeating how she’d wanted this revenge for 80 years, how she shouldn’t feel attracted to Raziel but how every little thing he done was hot & that she was going to inflict a violent revenge upon the Nostrom family & Raziel kept repeating how he was going to break his new toy, how much fun it would be & how much Nadi was turning him on, like I get that sometimes you want to emphasise a point but my goodness half their chapters seemed to be comprised of the same 5 thoughts which was unbelievably dull.
17% in & I was not optimistic, the characters were flatter than a single page of a book, the relationships were about as complex & interesting as a single piece of unknotted string & the plot remained stagnant. The only thing which I found had potential was the world, the premise of the tunnels & the island's surroundings belonging to Nature & the Fae whilst the island itself was awash with Humans & Vampires but this ultimately let me down, the above world felt like it lacked a clear vision for what it wanted to be & we never really got to explore the world underneath.
I already felt the characters were cardboard but at the 20% mark it really did just feel like the characters were just vehicles to tell the story through as opposed to fully fleshed out characters going through whatever it is they’re experiencing.
At 23% I was fed up with Nadi, for a woman who has spent the last 80 years training as an assassin to take down the family who killed hers she had absolutely no commitment to her revenge, the minute Raziel so much as walked into the same room as her she was ready to give everything up for him, thoughts of revenge & any feelings of grief or anger gave way to insta-lust, she didn’t even put up a fight & he wasn’t even compelling her, she was just horny & willing to give everything up for sex, it was frustrating, boring & left me majorly disliking her character due to her lack of conviction.
At 36% there was a quote which easily summed up the book so far for me ‘It seemed… somehow austere to her. Cold. Unwelcoming... Insincere’. It was at the same percentage when we’re hit with the revelation that Nadi was planning on killing 87+ members of the Nostrom family in under a month, how she was meant to do that I’ve not a single clue, despite being an assassin of 80 years (a fact Nadi would not let us forget) she hadn’t displayed a single trait or skill of an assassin & had yet to kill a single person.
I was 38% in when I came to the conclusion that the author didn’t care for Nadi’s character, why else would Nadi’s bar be on the literal floor & why else would she give up all her morals & beliefs to simply be bitten by a man who is playing with her when she should have known better?
The world annoyed me at the 39% mark with its lack of unique culture. “Do you know the waltz?... or can you only line dance?” Raziel asks Nadi disguised as Monica, it just made the world feel like the United States imposed over whatever this Island was called as opposed to letting it be its own, original land which was annoying, either just have it be set in the U.S. or write a new world like don’t half-ass it & just leave it somewhere in the middle.
At the 44% mark I found myself confused, the enemy clan of the Nostroms were the Iltani’s - a clan of Fae-Human gangsters who dabbled in drugs & guns - they started speaking a language & what they were saying wasn’t translated so I looked up the language they were speaking & it was a very real language called Khasi, I’d never heard of the language or its culture before so I couldn’t tell whether or not the Iltani clan were meant to be inspired by Khasi culture or if they just spoke the language, especially as I believe Nadi mentions that the language they speak is a ‘Fae’ & when I looked up the word ‘Iltani’ the only information I could find about it was a character from Assassin’s Creed & a Queen from long ago so it left me a little confused as to why the author used a real language & whether or not the Iltani were inspired by Khasi people & culture or not - I still lacked answers by the end.
60% Into the book & so little had happened, half of Nadi's thoughts are about revenge but she is yet to actually kill someone from the Nostrom family despite that being her motivation & the plot of the book.
61% In & it feels like Raziel’s given too many chapters, so little actually happens in his chapters & they never really progress the plot or show us things we don’t already know - his chapters would be so much better if they were used sparingly, especially as he’s meant to be a very reserved character, alone & harsh, one of the most feared men in the city.
The entirety of the book so far were underwhelming but now, at the 64% mark is when things go really, really downhill. [ We start with the worst decision I’ve read in the whole book, a decision so bad & that pissed me off so much I actually contemplated not finishing the book. What is the decision you ask? Nadi kills her Uncle, her last relative alive she remembers, the only person who could actually help her with her revenge. Why she does this you ask? Well, she didn’t kill him because his decisions & greed got her family killed, she doesn’t kill him because he attacks her or for any other logical reason - she kills her Uncle to gain more trust from Raziel & his family. At this point I fully gave up on Nadi's character, whether it was character assassination or just a bad choice from the author I could not care less. I genuinely do not have the words to explain just how much I hated this decision, but wait, it gets worse! Now, not only has she killed her Uncle, Raziel comes to find her (as they pair went undercover to get revenge against the Iltani’s for them crashing their wedding) & finds her so attractive that he ‘pounces’ on her & they fuck in the same room as her dead Uncle’s corpse whilst she is still covered in his blood. I get this was a Dark Romance but Nadi couldn’t truly consent to sex as she was in the middle of a crisis & breakdown over what she’d done when Raziel found her & it left a bad taste in my mouth. The rotten cherry on top of this all was after Raziel saying how he ‘rutted her’, like there was seriously no better choice of words / phrases that could’ve been used? He had to say he ‘rutted’ her. During all of this I was messaging oomf’s every awfully sordid detail & their reactions were all equally appalled, I’d like to thank them though for going through this with me & letting me vent about just how horrible this book was. Oomf’s aside, I hated absolutely all of that & I genuinely just wanted to be done with the book. (hide spoiler)] After all of that this book got its nomination from me for ‘Worst Read of the Year Award’, stay tuned to find out if it wins.
After all of that atrocity the book was boring, nothing really happened, I ended up skimming the last like 30% of the book because it was at a kind of plateau not making any progress.
Very surprisingly I actually liked the last 5%, it was a shocking but enjoyable twist, Raziel even felt like he had a little life injected into him. It was probably the only part of the book I enjoyed & it actually had me intrigued about book 2 which is really saying something after the Uncle fiasco.
How long it took me to read:
Just under a week.
Overall:
The Serpent’s Bride was a largely unremarkable book, from its flat characters & inability to write a single relationship with an ounce of depth it lacked anything & everything you could want from a book, not to mention the plot feeling forgotten with how little progress the book actually made. The book sort of felt like a waste, it was 306 pages of setup for the sequel when it could have easily been 100 pages which would have would have worked so much better for what it was trying to achieve, alternatively, everything that happened could have easily been compressed into the first 30% of the book leaving the rest of the book to be about what it ended on which would have made the book so much more interesting, even if it would mean that the would book be longer, I honestly believe that it would have worked in the books favour. The only thing which somewhat saved the book for me was the ending, everything else had me disinterested & the only other part of the book that made me feel anything was the part around the 60% mark when I genuinely hated it. Honestly, this book is the kind of book that if someone told me they loved it then I don’t think I could trust their taste in books.
I also want to add on that the book felt as if it were a very polished draft instead of the final version of the book with how little connection there was to the characters & such.
Miscellaneous:
It annoyed me that a bunch of men in the Nostrom family all had fancy, angel names (Raziel, Mael, Deniel & so on) & then the sister was called Lana.
Did it meet my expectations:
Despite the fact that I had like 0 expectations it still somehow let me down.
My thoughts on the cover before & after reading:
Before starting the book I wasn’t a massive fan, I found the cover to be very unremarkable, it’s the kind of cover that if I saw it in a bookshop I’d pass over the book without so much as a second glance. After reading the cover is fine, it’s still not the greatest cover & I feel there were many other designs it could have gone with to better showcase the book.
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Favourite character:
In truth, I didn’t have one, all of the characters felt cardboard, flat, 2D, they just felt like vehicles for the author to tell the story through as opposed to actual people.
Favourite scene:
Again, I didn’t have one.
Favourite relationship:
Once more I didn’t have one, Nadi & Raziel could have been interesting had Nadi’s point of view not just been her thirsting over every single thing Raziel done whilst thinking about how she ‘hated him’ & Raziel’s hadn’t just been him horny over Nadi, like they truly lacked any depth or anything that could’ve made their relationship interesting. At least once again until the very end when their relationship finally got somewhat interesting.
Favourite quote:
Shockingly, I didn’t have one.
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Why I rounded the review down*:
I really struggled with what to rate this book, for the most part I was indifferent & for the rest I either disliked it or hated it, the book had some issues on a critical level like the characters lacking depth & the story not really progressing which was a factor in me not enjoying it but there was also the stuff like with Nadi’s Uncle that I hated & when I think back to how unhappy I was when I was reading it I think I truly can’t rate this higher on otherwise it would be a lie, but with all that said the ending did pull it back from being a complete & utter dumpster fire of a book which is where I struggled with rating it, with that said unfortunately I don't like leaving books unrated on Goodreads so it has to be rounded up to 1 star. In summary: It was so bad, I wanted to give it a 0, but that wasn't possible, so I give you a 1.
Do I regret reading it:
Whilst I did largely dislike it, no, I’m happy I got to buddy up with my friend for this as we made a cool post together.
Will I be reading the sequel:
Honestly, at any point in the book I would have said no, but that ending actually felt promising on both the plot-front & the character-front so maybe I'll give it a chance if I haven't completely forgotten about it by the time it releases.
Will I be investing in a physical copy:
No.
Do I recommend it:
Honestly, not really, I think the book lacked anything anyone could want from a book, it was the ‘nothing burger’ of books.
*(for rating systems such as Goodreads)
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Thank you so much to Tandem for the E-Copy for the Buddy Book Train of The Serpent’s Bride.

Every time I read about vampires, I’m mad at myself that I didn’t give them a chance sooner, and Kathryn Ann Kingsley’s The Serpent Bride has made me even more enthralled!!

After Raziel slaughtered Nadi’s family, her life mission has been to take out the vampire and his entire family. While she waited to get in, she’s been an assassin for hire. She finally found a way into his world, shape shifting into a human bride and glamouring her true fae identity. Normally the vamps would just use, abuse, and discard a human ‘sacrifice’, but Raziel is intrigued by her. She’s different from what he expected, she’s his “little murderer” and she gains his trust little by little, just as he gains a tiny bit of her affection and lust. But is it all a play in her book? Is she doing it for show, and can she take him out, just as she vowed to do?

This dark vampire romance has lots of twists and turns, and it’s super fast paced. I love how the author built the characters and their storylines without slowing the pace of the story or taking away from the plot. It was weaved very well. There were a few predictions I was able to make, but overall I ate up every page and I did not see the end coming! What?!? WHAT?!?

I also absolutely loved Nadis inner monologue. She’s sassy and sarcastic and I loved that we as the readers were the only ones to know who she truly was and what she was thinking. I def recommend this book and will be on the lookout for more books by Kathryn Ann Kingsley.

This was my first time reading this kind of fantasy so it was very different for me. There was some parts that weren't my favourite but I also did enjoy other aspects of the books such as the action and the massive cliffhanger, I will definitely be looking out for book 2 in this series, I need to know what happens next! Also I think if this kind of fantasy is something you usually go for then you'll love it.

This is a real enemies to lovers story. I love this trope and when you add in some vampires and a shape shifter you really have my attention. The main female character, Nadi, is strong, feisty and determined. She has a mission and she plans to execute it. The main male character, Razeiel, is snarky and sexy as hell. He is the kind of character you love to hate.The story was easy to listen to and very quickly you went from 20% to 60%. The narrator was well chosen. They did an excellent job with pacing and pitching. You felt the urgency when needed. I can't wait for the next one!

4.5 Can I have them both??


WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ hidden identity
✨ vampires, fae, humans
✨ arranged marriage
✨ they both plan to kill each other
✨ hypnosis gifted
✨her blood is addictive
✨ headstrong fmc
✨ spice
✨ 3rd act twist


Quick Thoughts:

I am already a fan of this author, so it wasn't surprising that I loved this. It's dark and twisted, both characters aren't good people but I was cheering for them completely. I adored Nadi, and her headstrong tendencies. She genuinely will do anything to murder Raziel and his family. I should have seen the third act coming, but I really didn't and I loved the twist.

I loved:

Plot
The main plot is Nadi pretending to be a human from the outside walls who is marrying Raziel knowing she will be killed. Nadi begins by acting like she's a lamb, but as she and Raziel get closer her true nature comes out more. I adored the cat/mouse game between Raziel and her. It was twisty, and fun.


FMC
Due to the fact she goes by two names in this I labeled this as FMC. Nadi/Monica was incredibly fun to follow. She's an assassin and she doesn't pretend she knows everything. She fully expects to die for her cause, and because of that she's fully dedicated to doing whatever she needs to do to fit the role. I absolutely love the thoughts in her head as she's pretending with Raziel’s family.

Banter
I love the snarky banter between these two. Raziel constantly believes he is in complete control, which is not the case fully. Nadi personally truly comes out in the second half, which I loved and Raziel clearly loved.



The thing I disliked
Pacing of Relationship
Emotional Nadi became invested in Raziel incredibly too fast for the fact he murdered her entire family. I wanted him to fall first, and hers to be more of a slow burn. I felt Nadi was more invested at times emotionally, which didn't make sense for me.

Overall, I enjoy this story! I cannot wait to read the next one!

Thank you Netgalley for this eARC.
All thoughts and opinions are my own.

80yrs ago, a fae shapeshifter named Nadi survived the massacre of her family at the hands of a vampire. That vampire, nicknamed the Serpent for his hypnotic powers, was the son of a very powerful and wealthy vampire family.
The Vampires & Humans are at war with the Fae and have been for centuries. Years later, she hears of something spectacular, a chance at revenge.
The Serpent is supposed to wed this human bride from one of the outposts. A human he has never seen before.
Taking the chance, she bribes the human into going away so she could take her place.

Will she complete her task, destroying the Serpent and his family or will her heart get in the way?

This was cocaine. Unfiltered, yellow, Columbian, straight from the field cocaine.
If I could inhale this book into my lungs and make it part of my entire soul I most absolutely would. 💯
I loved the characters.. even though I probably shouldn't because let's be honest, both of them are basically serial killers.
There's always something so special and sweet seeing the hardass, grumpy, yet sadistic killer intent on killing his bride soften towards her instead.

If you like Fae, Vampires and a Dark Mafia Romance. This is the drug for you.

Thanks to @tandemcollectiveglobal @kathrynannkingsley for the eARC #TandemReadalong #TandemPartner #TheSerpentsBride
It was nice buddy reading with @2babesandbookshelf 😊

Title: The Serpent’s Bride by Kathryn Kingsley
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Genre: Dark Romance
Release date: August 28, 2025 (out now!)

This was my very first dark romance read, and wow! I absolutely loved it. It pulled me in so quickly that I’m already hunting for more books in this genre.

✨ Themes & Tropes: Assassin • Fae • Vampire • Loyalty • Betrayal

Nadi is a fae who has carried the fire of revenge in her heart ever since her family was wiped out. Now, fate finally hands her the chance she’s been dreaming of. But that opportunity comes with choices that test her loyalty to her new family, to her clan, and to herself.

Raziel, a vampire bound by duty, needs a sacrificial bride to fulfill his family’s ancient ritual. His dark, commanding presence collides with Nadi’s sharp determination, making their story equal parts dangerous and captivating.

I adored Nadi from start to finish her strength, her revenge-driven heart, and the way she fought for what she believed in. I was hooked on her journey and rooting for her all the way through.

This book had everything I didn’t know I wanted: sharp-edged romance, betrayal lurking in the shadows, and stakes (literally and figuratively) that kept me flipping pages. I’m already eager to dive into book 2!

❓Would you ever pick up a vampire + fae story like this one?

Serpent and the Bride by Kathryn Ann Kingsley had an intriguing premise, but the execution fell flat for me, earning it two stars. While the darker, gothic atmosphere was initially engaging, the pacing dragged and the romance felt more forced than natural, making it hard to connect with the characters or their motivations. Overall, it had potential, but it didn’t deliver the gripping or emotional impact I was hoping for.

I absolutely loved the plot of this book. The characters were also very well written. I hated and loved them both at the same time.
However, this book was very cringe. There were many little bits that annoyed me. Some things the characters said or thought were just too much for my liking.
But overall I had a fun time.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶🌶🌶

Raziel & Nadi

First I want to thank Netgalley and the Nerd fam for this amazing ebook and the alc was amazing. I love listening to the voice actors they really brought the characters to life.
My first ever read by Kathryn and I absolutely loved this book. I wasn't this story but I absolutely loved it. It had so much action and spice that I couldn't put it down. I love that Nadi is a strong fmc and she doesn't back down. She knows how to defend herself and she goes undercover to avenge her family. But that ending had me screaming like whatt!! I am absolutely hooked and I can't wait for the next book.

This book was so much fun to read! The plot was engaging and there was so much tension between the two main characters! I loved the shapeshifting fae FMC and also the vampire MMC! I also absolutely loved a hidden identity trope, but this was on a whole other level with the shapeshifting!

For a fairly short book, I felt like we had enough world building to enjoy the book and understand the world well enough but also we had great character and plot progression so nothing ever got dull and boring! I really enjoyed the dialogue-driven storyline!

I can’t wait to read the next book after that massive cliffhanger!!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Second Sky Books for the eARC and proof copy!

The Serpent’s Bride is everything I crave in a dark vampire romantasy—danger, seduction, revenge, and a romance that feels like playing with fire. Kathryn Ann Kingsley has crafted an intoxicating story that grabbed me from the first page and didn’t let go.

The premise hooked me instantly: a young woman disguises herself as the bride of a vampire prince, infiltrating his powerful mafia family with the sole purpose of destroying them. But what she doesn’t plan for is Raziel himself—ruthless, magnetic, and impossible to resist. Their chemistry is pure electricity, the kind of slow-burn tension that makes you want to devour chapters late into the night.

This book is sharp, sexy, and atmospheric, with that delicious blend of enemies-to-lovers intensity and the high stakes of betrayal, forbidden desire, and vengeance. I loved the mafia-meets-vampire worldbuilding, and the way every scene dripped with danger and temptation in equal measure.

If you loved The Serpent and the Wings of Night or the darkly addictive pull of Haunting Adeline, this needs to be on your TBR immediately. The Serpent’s Bride is dark, decadent, and utterly unputdownable—I’m already desperate for the next book. 🩸🔥

Sadly this book didnt quite hit the mark for me. I had to dnf in the first half. Im not sure if maybe it was the audiobook or the actual story but I just could'nt find myself to be interest or invested in the characters and world.

I enjoyed this book, it was the first one I’ve read by this author. It didn’t draw me in right away but it did quickly pick up and end with a bang.

It could have been fleshed out more, specifically the world-building and backgrounds for the characters, and the internal dialogues did get a bit repetitive, but it was a fun read overall.

Thank you to NetGalley and Second Sky for the ARC!

We loved this book! Vampires and fae bought together with dark secrets and vengeance! We could not put it down! The ending, though, has left us needing therapy whilst we eagerly await the second book!

Life got the best of me so it took a moment to finish this arc but, I loved this plot! I devoured it once I had the time to fully sit and finish it. And now I am so excited to read the second book that comes to follow this! 4/5 stars loved the development that happened in this, the way it was so easy to follow the story. The introduction of every character and I can’t believe that twist at the end! Cannot wait to get more of Nadi and Raz!

I typically enjoy all of Kingsley’s books but this was fell a bit flat for me. The characters weren’t very memorable but it was a quick read.

3.5 ⭐

Around 80% it still didn't feel like we had much going on, we didn't really progress too far in the story. The romance/trust side we did but the plot felt like it was going back and forth at times.
Really couldn't get into the MMC but loved the FMC from the beginning. I did feel like she gave up the secret identity a few times, like her mask was slipping. In which i would of thought the mmc would of caught on a lot sooner.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kathryn Ann Kingsley's team for the ARC.

This book was the perfect touch of vampire mafia with dark romance. I really like Nadi character, she’s such a strong and confident character which I enjoyed a lot. Definitely was not expecting what happened the last few chapters! I seriously can’t wait for the rest of the series to be out!!

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for allowing me a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I think it's a little straightforward/simple in terms of plot, which isn't a bad thing, but it doesn't make it feel as "rich" as some Romantasy books can feel in terms of in-world universes. However! I really enjoyed the FMC & MMC's energy. Their chemistry was very present, and I think the entire revenge plotline played out very nicely up to the very end. In fact, the last sentence got me quite hyped for book 2. I was not ready for those words, but I am ready to see them play out.

My one thing with this book though, the spice - while good, was a little savage here & there. A couple parts there, I was thinking we were slightly crossing a consent line I'm not sure most readers would vibe with. Mostly because the FMC doesn't even react somewhat appropriately/in character to it. I would think Nadi would be a little more feisty/retaliative or mad at his actions, but I guess not. I think it clearly gets the point across / works with what we know of the MMC, but also - damn bro, yikes.

I am looking forward to book 2 & am super excited to see exactly where this all goes. Sign me up!