kingdom of the wicked – GoodeyReads

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: NA Fantasy Romance
Length: 448 pages
Author: Kerri Maniscalco
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Release Date: October 26th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

After selling her soul to become Queen of the Wicked, Emilia travels to the Seven Circles with the enigmatic Prince of Wrath, where she’s introduced to a seductive world of vice.

She vows to do whatever it takes to avenge her beloved sister, Vittoria… even if that means accepting the hand of the Prince of Pride, the king of demons.

The first rule in the court of the Wicked? Trust no one. With back-stabbing princes, luxurious palaces, mysterious party invitations, and conflicting clues about who really killed her twin, Emilia finds herself more alone than ever before. Can she even trust Wrath, her one-time ally in the mortal world… or is he keeping dangerous secrets about his true nature?

Emilia will be tested in every way as she seeks a series of magical objects that will unlock the clues of her past and the answers she craves…

One sister.
Two sinful princes.
Infinite deception with a side of revenge… Welcome to Hell.

A SOFT FOUR STARS.

I am mixed on this book.

Half the time I felt like it was trying too hard to be sexy. I know that this was a jump into new adult fantasy romance, WHICH IS FINE. I love that genre. It’s cool. What isn’t cool is the forced angst that happened for 80% of this book where I just wanted them to do it and move on so the plot itself could move forward. Some of the angst was working for me, most of the scenes weren’t.

Still obsessively in love in Wrath though. He holds his own star in this case. He gives me my favorite kind of dark, brooding vibes. I love how he is with Emilia and by the last closing scenes I felt much better about them together. Gives me a loooot of hope for how the next (maybe last?) book is going down. I like when people work together, let’s do this.

Since the plot was stalled for most of the book, the little glimpses were only seen at the end. They were some wild glimpses though that surprised me. I definitely need more information and that alone helped me like this book more.

The audio was a great read and I liked the occasional sound effects used! I love a wonderful production for audios.

Overall audience notes:

NA Fantasy Romance
Language: some
Romance: multiple open door
Violence: murder, mutilation, physical & magical altercations

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: Young adult paranormal fantasy romance
Length: 448 pages
Author: Kerri Maniscalco
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson
Release Date: October 27th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Kerri Maniscalco introduces her next series, a dark tale of a beautiful young witch, a troubled demon, and their epic romance, set against a 19th century Italian backdrop.

Emilia and her twin sister Victoria are streghe – witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Victoria misses dinner service at the family’s renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin…desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to discover who did this, and to seek vengeance at any cost—even if it means using dark magic that’s been long forbidden.

Then Emilia meets Wrath, the outlier among the seven demon brethren, always choosing duty over pleasure. He’s been tasked by his master with investigating a series of women’s murders on the island. When Emilia and Wrath’s fates collide, it’s clear this disturbing mystery will take a bewitching turn.

Thank you to Jimmy Patterson and Netgalley for the gifted eARC. All opinions are my own!

YOU DON’T KNOW IT YET, BUT YOU NEED THIS BOOK.

I don’t even know how to start this review, I LOVED this book y’all! I enjoyed Maniscalco’s first series, Stalking Jack the Ripper, but mainly for Thomas Cresswell. Seriously, don’t ask me what I think about Audrey Rose. That being said, it made me initially nervous to read this because I worried for the main character again.

And I can say, for at least this first book, I am wrong. I adored Emilia as the main protagonist. She was bold and fierce. Made her own decisions based on what she knew and was told, and yeah, maybe ran off into danger a time or two, but what heroine doesn’t? Emilia was the missing puzzle piece I needed to love this.

Enter in, our Prince of Hell, WRATH. Ohhhh can Maniscalco right a love interest amazingly well. I feel a solidified new book boyfriend coming in over the course of this series. I loved the banter and enemies to lovers dynamic. Being forced to work together to solve witch murders led to some close knit and quiet scenes that I JUST CAN’T HANDLE. Part of his character is left very open-ended and I will sit here anxiously waiting to know if some of my thoughts/assumptions are true.

May be wondering why the half-star take down? For one of the characters involved I could spot from a mile away that they were one of the villains. I didn’t like how quick that was to pick out from the get-go. What I did love was meeting all of Wrath’s brothers. Who knew I was so interested in the Princes from hell? All so cunning and manipulative. Filled with arrogance and doing as they please. Couldn’t help myself, I loved them (and hated them, ya know) too.

There’s a lot of action, heat, and mystery involved here. I was absolutely entrenched in this Italian backdrop atmosphere. It fit this story well and only increased my adoration. Give me book two ASAP.

Overall audience notes:

Young adult paranormal fantasy romance
Language: very little
Romance: kisses / make-outs; a scene where characters are undressed, but that’s as far as it goes
Violence: murder, torture, animal attacks, physical altercations
Content warnings: loss of a loved one