Rings of Fate

Curses and Crowns, Book 1

De: Melissa de la Cruz

Narrado por: Kirsten Leigh, Alexander Cendese

SHE’S A BARMAID WHO DOESN’T BELIEVE IN FAIRY TALES. HE’S A PRINCE CURSED TO LIVE ONE.

Aren Bellamore has no interest in being anyone’s princess. She’s too busy running the Raven’s Beak tavern, fending off unwanted marriage proposals, and dreaming of escape. But when a brush with death and a dangerously handsome stranger upend her life, Aren finds herself bound to a bargain that could change everything.

Prince Dietan has carried the cursed Rings of Fate—ancient weapons of devastating power—since childhood. The magic is killing him, and the enemies are closing in. To make the journey to reverse his curse, he needs a bride to hide his secrets. Aren wants freedom. Pretending to be his fiancée should give them both what they want.

But as their perilous journey pits them against political schemes, monstrous Kilandrar, and a growing attraction neither can deny, the line between make-believe and destiny begins to blur. And the fate of two kingdoms may depend on whether a cynical barmaid and a cursed prince are willing to risk their hearts.

©2026 Melissa de la Cruz (P)2026 Recorded Books

Ugh!

Story was overall good. Feel like the romantasy is starting to get predictable.. but the guys voice for audible sucks! Omg he just sounded so goofy! Smh bad just bad

a solid book

The characters for FMC and MMC are good; definitely fresh of breath. The plot was new than everything else. Actually liked it. The narrators are good but sound very young. That is totally my bias. Worth the book.

More plot holes than Swiss cheese

The love story is cute but there’s a lot of tedious exposition and many plot holes that are not hinted at before hand and not resolved after.

Why can a frying pan hit a monster made of wind? It happened at the beginning of the book and there are 13 minutes left and I still don’t have answers.

How did the prince’s 2 besties get across a crazy desert that almost killed the protagonists who had a power guiding them? No clue.

How does this crazy king have the same powers as the protagonist’s supposedly magical rings? Because he read a book? Ok so why doesn’t anyone show these books to the prince to help him control his powers? No idea.

Why didn’t the FMC just poison this evil king to free her lover? No clue. Instead we have a battle and a bunch of people die.

There are also a lot of things that just get explained but don’t seem woven into the fabric of the story in a natural way. It’s frustrating storytelling TBH

Banter between FMC and MMC is cute for the most part, but every other character feels like a prop more than a person, devoid of motivations and complexity beyond love for the MMC or FMC.

I think this could’ve been a good book, but it needed more work to get it there.

Horrible narration

This was read like a weather report. Which made the intimate scenes cringey and the action scenes lackluster

No spice

Love the attitude of the barmaid, and the heart of the prince. It’s not a “fairytale” in my opinion. And I was definitely hoping for more romantic elements, but it’s only towards the end of the book🥺