𝙰𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠
🌟🌟🌟🌟.5
The Serpent's Bride blew me away! I like a fast-paced book, and this book is definitely fast-paced.
I devoured this book. This book has some tropes I really like:
• Marriage of Convenience
• Vampire vs. Fae
• Revenge
• Strong Female Lead

The audiobook is narrated by Desireé Ketchum. She did a good job, easy to listen to and also understand. I listened at 2x speed.

Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Revenge plot. Marriage of convenience. Mafia. Enemies to lovers. Fantasy. Dark romance. This story is a meeting place for a lot, but it works together so well. I found myself pleasantly surprised with the pacing of the world building. When it comes to fantasy-adjacent, it's easy to feel like you're drinking out of a fire hose. This was not the case here.

I loved the steady build of tension between our 2 main characters, Nadi and Raziel. It took until almost 75% of the way through the book to get to any spice, but it felt well earned -- especially because Raziel was hard to approach initially. It wouldn't have felt right for it to happen earlier.

I fear that fae assassins have been ruined for me (here's looking at you SJM...). But I did find that Nadi's humanity worked for me. She wasn't a bloodthirsty killer - just someone who wanted to honor their family.

I cannot believe the cliffhanger this one left us on. How long are we talking about waiting before I find out what happens next...? Because I don't know if I can take it!

3.75 / 5 stars, rounded up

The serpent's bride has action, intrigue, secrets and spice. I enjoyed how the fmc was a strong and independent assassin bent on revenge. Raz was hard to read, and difficult to love at first but he's wormed his way into my heart.

I read the Maze of Shadows series and loved it so I am so excited for the rest of the Bloodlines Series. The banter, the deception, the twist at the end *chefs kiss.* When I say enemies to lovers, this is the vibe I want!

Thank you for arc.

I really enjoyed the story.
The chareters were writtien in a way that made me both hate them and love them at the same time.
The narrator did a great job bringen the characters to life, and I can't wait to se what will happen next.

First off!! That ending blew my mind!! I wasn’t expecting that, and it was literally fabulous.
I planned to give this a 4-star from early on because of how much I was enjoying it, but something was holding me back from thinking it should be higher than a 4. But that ending is making me need the second book right now!! And I’m contemplating a 4.5 or even 4.75.

I loved this lot of characters—the author clearly put a lot of work and thought into these people to make them bad, but so good at the same time.

If you love a mafia vibe, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, arranged marriage, high-stakes revenge plot with morally gray characters, a slow burn, and a strong female lead, this is your sign to pick this up on release day!!

I can’t recommend this enough, and just typing this review has made me realize it’s definitely right on the edge of 5 stars—so 4.75 stars it is!!!

Now give me the next one! *Grab hands*

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book early. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

*Thank you to NetGalley & Second Sky for the ALC in exchange for my honest opinion*

RECAP: Fae poses as a vampire prince’s bride to avenge her parents - but falling for him was never part of the plan.

REVIEW: Let me tell you, I BREEZED through the majority of this audiobook on a roadtrip. I couldn’t get enough of Nadi & Raz! And that cliffhanger?! GIVE ME MORE, immediately!!! I took off a star because I felt like some parts were slower/seemed to drag on, but the plot was still addictive. Narrated by Desiree Ketchum, who has such a lovely voice, even when switching among characters. This was my first book by this author, and I do believe I’ll need to check out her backlist.

Overall this book was a fun time, and the ending was a twist I didn't see coming. The audiobook was well narrated and I did enjoy it, I just had a bit of a hard time deciphering when the POV changed to the male main character. Since this wasn't a dual narration, I think it would have been beneficial to have chapter headings with character POC changes to alert the listener.

I loved the Mafia vibes with vampires and fae, it was such a fun and easy to devour book. Thank you for the opportunity to listen and review this book, it will definitely be one i recommend to people searching for these vibes.

thanks to netgalley for the ARC in exchange for a review!! I really liked the idea behind this book, it was super interesting and kind of reminded me of slaying the vampire conqueror which I also loved. I liked the ending it was insane!!! finished this in 2 sittings, super fun and addicting!

This book was a 3.5 ⭐ for me

Interesting plot, not the classic enemies to lovers book.

Would have been nice if the characters were a little more fleshed out. Some plot points make no sense. I understand Nadi wanting to avenge her family, but she kills some of her family to get closer to the vampire she wants revenge on for killing her family? Makes no sense. Raziel as a character is a little flat, other than being entirely self-centred, no conscience and doesn’t get along with his family, we don’t really know much about him. I found a few of the scenes quite repetitive, especially the times we see Nadi’s thoughts. The other characters were mostly window dressing and again, a little flat.

The premise was interesting but it just didn’t quite work for me.

Wow 8.5 out of 10 and what a fun romp through this world!

I really really enjoyed the writing. At a time where most romantasy books are first person narrative, writing in a third person perspective with multiple POVs, while still able to give the characters a unique voice is extremely satisfying. I think there is so much you can do for either way of telling a story and it was a very interesting and wonderful choice for this book. It allowed me to keep appropriately detached from Raziel and I think the impact this gave me when Nadi started to unravel him was immensely more impactful!

The ending had me gasping, gagging, yelling so you know it ends on a cliffhanger and I cannot wait for the next book!

I really enjoyed Nadi as our FMC. She was cleverly constructed and she really built the world very well. I was not with her on some decisions and the way she explained away her actions, but of course with female rage comes some morally gray courses of action and I’m not mad at it.

Thank you Bookouture Audio for the ALC of this book! I think the narrator did a great job of keeping me immersed in this world and giving each character their voice and moment which is always difficult when we’re in a scene with multiple characters.

Excuse the heck out of me?! How dare you just drop that on us and then peace out!? I actually loved this book so much! I was hooked and CANNOT wait for book 2!
We’ve got:
🩸enemies to lovers?
🩸arranged marriage
🩸vampires/fae
🩸revenge
🩸slow burn
I flew through this audio in just one day. Thank you NetGalley for this arc! Also the narrators did very well. I recommend this one!

OHow is the author gonna drop THAT kind of bombshell and then sashay away like, “See you in the next book”? 😌 Diabolical behavior!!😩
I should’ve known the chaos was coming. The twists and turns throughout had me suspicious, but that ending? and yet, NOTHING could’ve prepared me for that ending. Like ma’am?? There were clues, sure, but I was out here vibing, not solving riddles!
The plot was plotting and the narration? Chef’s kiss. Smooth and engaging from start to finish. When I tell you I was locked in - I was locked IN.
My only complaint — and it’s petty — is that I wanted more on the world-building. The class system, the setting… it gives “post-apocalyptic dystopia with secrets,” and I was ready to eat it all up. Feed me more, Ms.Kingsley!
Long story short: I was emotionally ambushed in the best way. When this book drops, run — don’t walk — to grab it. Then come find me so we can scream about it together. You will not be disappointed (but you might be left clutching your pearls).

3.5 ⭐️

This was a fun listen with a good twist

The narrator did a great job

Mafia Vampires
Enemies to…
Good spice
Mafia vampires and fae
Stabby FMC
Arranged marriage
Revenge


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the Audio ARC 🥰

3.5☆

Thank you Kathryn Ann Kingsley, Bookouture Audio, and NetGalley for gifting me this ALC copy.

I enjoyed this book. I liked the idea of our FMC hiding in plain sight as our MMC's betrothed to exact her revenge against him for killing her whole family. However, I was a little disappointed in the fact that her whole revenge plan of killing all of the MMC's family members, which is what the whole description of the book is basically about, didn't really happen until the last 20-25% of the book. I wanted to see her being a badass and picking off members of his family one by one throughout the whole story; unfortunately, she only ended up killing one person towards the very end.

Ultimately, I did have fun reading/listening to this book, it just wasn't exactly what I was expecting it to be.

The Serpent’s Bride by Kathryn Ann Kingsley
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Release date: August 28th

Tropes:
🌸 Enemies to lovers
🌸 Marriage of convenience
🌸 Mafia vampires x shapeshifter fae

This book was a lovely surprise and I’m so glad to have had the opportunity to read it before publication. Thank you to @netgallery for the audiobook!

Nadi is a shapeshifter fae who disguises herself as the human bride of Raziel, a member of the most deadly vampire family. She aims to gain vengeance in her families honour who were murdered by Raziel 80 years ago.

However, her plan has faults as she is drawn to his allure and he is intrigued by her deadly nature.

This book had twists and turns along the way that keep you on edge and entertained. There were some points in the novel that I struggled withwhat was happening but as the story progressed it became easier to get wrapped up in the plot.

I found Nadi’s internal monologue a bit repetitive and Raziel’s indecisiveness about how to handle his new wife fairly tedious.

I am super intrigued to read the second novel in the romance fantasy and can’t wait for the publication to have a physical copy!

Absolutely devoured this audiobook!

Nadi, the shape shifting fae badass, wants one thing and one thing only- to kill Raziel Nostrom. To seek vengeance for the murders of her family members all killed in cold blood by an evil bloodsucking vampire. How does she plan on achieving this mission? By shifting into the man's willing bride and marry him.

There was so much I found genuinely refreshing about this story. Not just the genius that is Nadi and her little manipulative brain, but the way the author was able to put these two very morally questionable people in the same room and had them fall in love in a way that felt genuine. Their actions weren't entirely influenced by lust as I so often see in similar enemies to lovers stories, we really had to play the long game with this one and I wouldn't have it any other way.
The tension, the WANT to hate each other but feeling the pull of desire and attraction and real true feelings that put them at war with themselves.

I cannot wait for book 2!!

I read The Serpent’s Bride by Kathryn Ann Kingsley as an ARC, and I’ll be honest — at first I thought it was just fine… but then it got dark, got sharp, and completely pulled me in.

A fae girl agrees to marry a vampire prince — not for love, not for peace, but for something much more dangerous. She’s walking straight into the home of the most powerful vampire family in the city with one goal: earn his trust… and destroy everything from the inside.

But the vampire prince? He’s not what she expected. Charming, brutal, unreadable — and maybe even something more. Every step closer she gets to completing her plan, the harder it gets to tell who the real enemy is.

And by the end? I was staring at the page, jaw dropped.

Although some things were predictable in this story there were also some very shocking moments. Including how it ended. Notti’s character sometime made some choices that I didn’t understand but that didn’t make the story bad at all. Raziel was a very interesting character with lots of different dynamics to him. I would say he is the most “grey” character I’ve ever read.
I very much enjoyed the cliffhanger because it left me wanting more but didn’t leave me unsatisfied. I can not wait to read the next book!
The narrator was great I feel like it was easier to get through because of how she narrated. Made me more immersed.

If the deal at the end doesnt make you so excited for whats to come then we cant be friends lol that was perfect! I loved this book so much. Definitely a favorite of 2025.

A vengeful FMC and a vampire MMC who mind controls people to kill themselves. This has mafia families (Fae vs Vampires) an arranged marriage/marriage of convience, murder, scheming and manipulative moves.The revenge plot was a great starting point to this series. I enjoyed this a lot and would call it a fun, murderous, vampire romance.

I loved the plot and the times of dark humor. I found myself chuckling unexpectedly more often than I thought I would.

The MC's are voiced really well especially the fmc, Nadi. I loved her POV most and admired her ability to get her way into and out of trouble and other dangerous situations. After her childhood trauma, I understood her need for revenge but still thought she walked the line of morally grey perfectly.

Raziel is a dynamic mmc and I think there is a lot more to him than what we see in most of this. His relationship with his family members is so interesting and dysfunctional. He clearly is used by them, but it feels like they also have a close enough bond that made all the family scenes really entertaining. There are moments when it feels like the family is fighting each other over who gets to kill the "human" bride but yet, most are loyal enough to Raziel that it seems like a joke or a way to force him to admit his feelings.