Coronation

Royally Forbidden, Book 1

De: Cleo White

Narrado por: 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.

©2026 Cleo White (P)2026 Podium Audio

I loved the book.

I’m 49 and age-gap is my favorite trope and Cleo White is the queen of age-gap. As will all her stories, I was captivated from the very beginning. Cleo always takes you on the sweetest journey to love. I really loved Ben & Zelda’s story. Who doesn’t like love at first sight. I’m not one for spoilers. The book is a 10/10 and has a great story line and just enough spice.

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.

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.

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.

Wonderful narration!!

Wonderful narration—especially since it is a dual narration. Each narrator did a great job voicing characters of the opposite sex, and the accents were great as well!

This book had a great plot, great spice, and has me looking forward to listening to the next in the series!!