A Court This Cruel and Lovely

Kingdom of Lies, Book 1

By: Stacia Stark

Narrated by: Tim Paige, Meg Sylvan

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

Amazing!!!

Wow, this book is so underrated and not talked about enough! Absolutely incredible! I literally read it in one sitting. The story, the banter, the surprises, the characters... so good. I cannot wait to see what happens next. I have to rave about our sexy Lorain. Dang, Stacia knows how to give us everything we want in her main MCs. Highly recommended! Stacia Stark books are fucking amazing, get on the bandwagon now!

Loved the audio book, narrator was exceptional

One of the Best Entries in the "A Court of" Genre

I'm not easy to please with my Romantasy books, but this is very well-executed, well-performed, and overall very enjoyable! The author did a fantastic job of making the escalating threats feel threatening, the attraction tense, and the world-building somewhat believable, moreso in the beginning of the story, rather than the end.

The characters are believably flawed but likable, though there is a bit of indulgence with the FMC being the main focus of those she interacts with and being extremely lucky in the latter half of the book, but that's par for the course for the genre and is by no means a glaring issue like it is with similar books.

It's not the book for you if you're looking for crazy twists and trope subversions, and the first half of the book is better than the somewhat-rushed back half, but for a fun romantasy that is actually well-written, I highly recommend this book! I instantly pre-ordered the sequel when I finished this book.

Great story

I loved the whole story and can’t wait for the next one! But I’m praying it has a different male narrator. Gosh, he was AWFUL. He sounds like the narrator from my bible app. Not good. Not good at all. But everything else was wonderful.

Not sure why this series hasn’t blown up yet

This book was great. Loved the characters and world building. Slow burn but when the spice starts, it really builds throughout the entire series. Lorin has my heart. My new favorite book boyfriend. Especially, as we get to know him throughout the series. This book is a page turner. I couldn’t stop listening. I don’t understand why this series hasn’t gotten the hype it deserves. If you like Throne of Glass and ACOTAR, you’ll love this book. It got me out of my Iron Flame slump.

Slow Burn! Worth it!!

Skeptical at first but so glad I stuck it out. Love the banter. Looking forward to finding out how the lead female uncovers more mistruths. Really reminds you how easy it is to be fooled even though the answers are right in front of you.