This short novel is epic. Battle and romance combine. Lucien Thorne is an isolated lord in the city of Thorngate. As Winter King of the Fae lands, he holds the loyalty of lesser royals in the Fall, Spring, and Summer Courts. Princess of Fall, Madelynn Windstrong, is about to meet THE RUTHLESS FAE KING she’s feared most of her life.
Madelynn is a wind wielder, the most powerful at present, which explains why Lucien asks for her hand. He needs strong backing for a rumoured coming war. But the Winter Palace doesn’t sound like anywhere the Fall fae girl wants to go. Lucien caused the Great Freeze years ago which killed several people, and wasted crops. She disagrees willingly, but among the fae, women are bargaining chips. Madelynn has been raised to this position and knows her duty.
The Nightfall queen is arming for war, as we saw in the previous two books of the Kings of Avalier. Queen Zaphira wants to divide and conquer the other races. She subverts the prince of Summer, Marcelle Haze, who had designs on Madelynn too. And that’s where the adventure goes wrong, just as the couple are starting to find romance ahead of their wedding.
Other characters include Piper, who is a lady in waiting for Madelynn and goes along with her to the palace. While she doesn’t have powers, she’s got a lot of good sense. We also meet the kings and queens of Avalier again from earlier books, elves and dragonfolk, and later glimpse the wolven who will feature in the final book.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. War, abduction and sexual assault feature during the tale, but author Leia Stone never fails to show which is right and which is wrong. Those who have strength can justify their erring ways, but there’s a reckoning. While this may seem harsh for a YA book, the fantasy setting should remind us that somewhere in our world, girls are also sold into marriage.
By now the series feels more grown up and political, and Madelynn is just right, a strong woman meeting her destiny. Lucien remains something of an enigma, but she starts to crack the frost of his private life, and we get the sense that she is his destiny too. THE RUTHLESS FAE KING has met his match – if he can keep her. While the tale could be read as a standalone, it would be much better to read the series in order.
USA Today bestselling author Leia Stone raises the stakes in the third book in the epic Kings of Avalier series. The Ruthless Fae King is a must-read YA fantasy romance brimming with unexpected love and fierce magic, perfect for fans of Holly Black, Sarah J. Maas, and Fourth Wing.
As the Princess of Fall, nineteen-year-old Madelynn is duty-bound to marry whatever suitor her father chooses for her. She never expected he would promise her to Lucien Thorn, the vile Fae King who has caused unimaginable loss in their kingdom. She marches into their betrothal making it clear she will never be happy to be his wife, but when they spend time together, he treats her with respect and kindness, and she begins to question all the rumors about him.
As she learns the truth about his dark family history, Madelynn can't help but feel a growing sense of protection for the king. But there's a catastrophic war brewing and enemies among them are willing to do anything in their power to keep Madelynn from Lucien in an effort to weaken him.
Madelynn never goes down without a fight, though, and she will do whatever it takes to defeat her enemies and save her kingdom. And as much as Madelynn wants to hate Lucien Thorne for everything he's done to her realm…she cannot deny her heart.
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