Coronation

Royally Forbidden, Book 1

By: Cleo White

Narrated by: June deBorahae, William Macleod

Not every "once upon a time" ends in a happily ever after.

My fairytale, for instance, didn't come with a handsome Prince Charming, a night at the ball, or a magical pumpkin carriage.

Instead, I got a bearded, bad-tempered king, a sex party for rich people, and a driver waiting to take me home after the royal asshole was finished with me.

And they lived not so happily ever after. The end.

That should be it, right? Even missing some conventional fairytale elements, it's clear no one is riding off into the sunset in the tale of the grumpy king and the naïve, much younger actress.

Except, a positive pregnancy test just proved that, in this fairytale, the end isn't the end at all. It's the beginning.

The Prince and Me meets Scandal in this royally high-spice, forbidden romance, from bestselling author Cleo White.

©2025 Cleo White (P)2026 Podium Audio

Ohhh the spice 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

This book was the perfect mix of romance, spice and a great plot. I fell in love with the characters. I would read it again.

Fairy tale after all

An unexpected grumpy/sunshine, king/commoner, age gap (a trope I am totally digging right now), forbidden, instalove (in the best way) romance with tons of spicy moments. Ben makes mistakes in his relationship with Zelda, which will leave you angry and frustrated at him (while understanding his motives).

But this story really shines when he apologizes and does everything in his power to win her trust--remembering little things about her, the picnic, the play, and more. There are many swoony moments that will make you fall in love with Ben, too. Zelda's family had me laughing put loud.

William Macleod as Ben is a great choice, as is June deBorahae as Zelda. They really brought the story to life.

Unexpected and loved it.

This was a first time read for me with this author. And I am NOT disappointed at all. I really enjoyed the story, the narration, and the style of writing of this story. It has a good amount of spice, a little dirty talk, and some very real non perfect main characters that were completely lovable. I was never bored or felt like this was a rinse and repeat type story despite the tropes that are so common in romance books. I absolutely loved the characters, lived the narration, loved the story, and know it will be a frequent re listen for me as it’s quickly became a new favorite. I can’t wait to listen/read some of this authors previous works and look forward to more in this series.

Incredible narration!

I really enjoy Cleo White's books. This one was truly Royal💙It was grumpy/sunshine, age gap, unplanned pregnancy and fake dating. I enjoyed the characters. It was a great opposites attract situation. This also includes great family moments, each character had family members that seemed intriguing and I would love to have had more of them. Now the spice! This included a good spice and your grace is such a dirty talker who maybe prefers things a little more on the rougher side. I do wish though that we got more of why he was always ensuring if she was ok, making sure he wasn't to rough, like was that an issue before? I just felt like there was more there, I kept asking myself everytime it was mentioned. The narration, top tier. Both narrators were new to me and I was very impressed. I believe William did incredible with the accent, it was consistent, very pleasant to listen to his dirty talking voice🔥. June was so calming but upbeat at the same time. I really appreciate the cadence in her voice she really brought the sunshine to the character. Definitely a great listen.

King Ben 🫦

4.5 ⭐️ 3 🌶️
-Fake relationship
-Age gap
-Royalty
-Surprise pregnancy
-Forbidden love

Cleo White writes the most perfect age gap stories 👏🏼 and once again I was completely invested in Zalem & Benedict’s story. She’s sunshine but with her own insecurities to work through and he is broody/cold to everyone else but her ❤️ and together they brought the best out of each other and OMG the command Ben brings with that mouth of his 🫦 yes please!


I’ve been king for over a year now, and I’m not sure I truly felt like one until this moment, with the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen spreading her legs for me, offering herself up at my command.

I am a king, but at this moment, it couldn’t be less consequential. I would crawl on my hands and knees for this woman.