• A Court This Cruel and Lovely

  • Kingdom of Lies, Book 1
  • By: Stacia Stark
  • Narrated by: Tim Paige, Meg Sylvan
  • Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (565 ratings)

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A Court This Cruel and Lovely  By  cover art

A Court This Cruel and Lovely

By: Stacia Stark
Narrated by: Tim Paige, Meg Sylvan
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Publisher's summary

For years, when I fell asleep, I dreamed of a man with blazing green eyes and a cruel smile. The day I meet him, the ruthless mercenary leaves me for dead.

Just hours after humans are born, the gods take what little power we have. In return, they protect our borders from the vicious, merciless fae.

The humans who manage to keep their power are known as the corrupt. And they are burned.

When my forbidden power is discovered, I’m forced to flee my tiny village and the life I adore. To survive, I make a desperate bargain with the mercenary who abandoned me at my weakest moment.

Our deal is simple: I’ll help him and his mysterious friends sneak into the city, and he’ll help me learn to wield the strange, dark power I’ve always kept hidden—the power that may just be the key to my survival.

But the ruthless mercenary is hiding secrets of his own, secrets that threaten the safety of everyone I love, that could tear this kingdom—and perhaps even this world—apart.

Please note: A Court This Cruel and Lovely is an NA/adult romantasy book with steam. While this series is slow burn, the chili-pepper rating will increase for each book.

©2023 Stacia Stark (P)2023 Dreamscape Media

What listeners say about A Court This Cruel and Lovely

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
    90
  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Plot!

Absolutely loved every part of this book. The title is like every other romantasy out there, so I wasn’t too excited - but, it totally blew me away. It’s not ACOTAR or Blood and Ash- it’s better.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • s
  • 04-21-24

So good

Such a gripping story!!! What a great cliffhanger I cannot wait for the next installment and though I wish I found it sooner, at least I won’t be waiting too long for the final book now

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One of the best romantasy books in a while!

It’s been a while since I’ve listened to something this good. It kept my attention going through out. Should get way more exposure!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent story and build up of characters.

Love the story, the characters and the romance! Can’t wait to start the next book. 🔥❤️🔥

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

slow to start but good story line

the first book is slow to start and can take a while to get into. however, the narrators did a great job and I ultimately stuck around because I heard the second book got better, and it does.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

acting so so, story was good

the story was good, engaging and slow burn. the voice acting was annoying at times, especially some of the male characters sounded like someone mocking a stereotypical dumb jock. the story was good enough to keep me engaged though. might by the next one in book form so I don't have to listen to the voice acting.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

way more than I expected

This was a wonderful surprise. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the description bc I don’t like the immature love stories between 2 people that just met and miraculously they fall in love without the how that happened! but I was happy I took the chance. there is humor, action, good character building and magic unfolding, and an overall fun dislike to love story. The narrator is great!

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

LOVED!

Everything I’ve been looking for in a book.
Starting book #2 now. Can’t wait to dive in further.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

great new series

love the beginning of this series and can't wait for more. love the passion and romance

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Crowns Criminals and Corruption

A war between humans and the fae damned the humans magic. To fight back at the fae, the king chose to take the humans magic when they are born and give it to the gods to keep them safe until they turn 25. If they pass the corruption test, part of their magic is returned to them. If you are found to have any magic abilities on that day, you and your entire family are killed for hiding the magic and not giving it to the gods as intended.

When a young woman only has a few years left before she is found out that her magic was still active, she has to hide it and make a plan to escape before she turns 25. Her time was cut short when someone in the village exposed her and she is forced to fee leaving her mother and brother behind. When she meets a group of missionary, one of which she had vivid dreams of changes her plans to flee the kingdom and puts her into even deeper danger than she imagined.

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