The plot had the makings of something unique and good. The characters are all over the place when it comes to development (or lack their of). Some things were not easy to believe, even for a fantasy. But somehow it worked and I couldn’t stop reading it.

Wow! This is a fantastic book! I loved it right from the beginning. The Prologue got my interest and I couldn’t wait to find out what happens. This book is fantasy with some romance (maybe slow burn). It has fae (Seelie and Unseelie). It’s has made up lands and Earth. It’s also a touch her and die book. The characters were interesting and you just learn to love them. Can’t wait for the next book because it does end on a cliffhanger!

This is the first book of the Fated to Darkness trilogy, a romantasy about a fae king that captures a lost princess. I received an advance review copy and my thoughts are my own. Thank you to the author and NetGalley for my eArc.

Tropes and themes include:

✨Fae royalty

✨Forbidden romance

✨Slowburn

✨Revenge

✨Morally grey MMC

✨Villain gets the girl

✨Political intrigue

✨Deadly tournament

✨Who did this to you

✨Touch her and die

✨Portal fantasy

✨Second chance relationship

Rating: 4/5 Stars 2/5 Flames

Nicknames: “Sprite” “Nightmare”

The Lovely: I loved the story and the concept behind it. The FMC doesn’t know she’s fae or a princess, so being kidnapped and taken to a fae realm wasn’t on her list of possibilities. I liked that the situation was made even more complicated by the necessity of the rather fatal tournament.

The Mundane: I didn’t feel like there was much depth or development to the main characters. We get two sentence rehashes of the same events 12 years ago and a bit about the FMC’s life as a human, but neither the FMC nor the MMC show much growth over the course of the book.

Recommendation: While this book does end on a pretty precarious cliffhanger, the related revelation was easily expected. I do plan to continue reading this series to see the resolution of the cliffhanger and how the story progresses. If you like a story focused fae romantasy with a forbidden romance and serious touch her and die vibes, I think you would like this book.

Morally grey MMC, yes please! The plot of this book is fantastic. It may not be a literary masterpiece but it is completely worth the read. I cannot wait to read the rest of this series.

There were things I liked and things that could have been cleaner. The writing was okay. The story was fine. It kept me reading. I will continue on with the series.

The King of Frost and Shadow by Jen L. Grey is a breathtaking blend of fantasy, romance, and danger that kept me hooked from the very first page. The world-building is rich and immersive, with a dark, enchanting atmosphere that perfectly complements the tension between the characters. The chemistry between the heroine and the brooding, mysterious king crackles with intensity, and the emotional stakes feel both raw and real. Grey masterfully balances action and romance, weaving in secrets, betrayal, and magic in a way that leaves you desperate for the next chapter. A must-read for fans of fantasy romance—five stars all the way!

After spending a decade on Earth, Seelie Princess Lira is kidnapped by Tavish, the King of the Unseelie Fae, and dragged back to the fae realm. Lira doesn't remember her past, and the cruel, cold world she's brought to is the stuff of nightmares. Tavish is determined to use her to save his kingdom, even if it means killing her.

While this isn't the worst book I've ever read, there were a lot of issues. I found the main characters boring, so I had a hard time believing or caring about their love story. It's also very repetitive and and the writing is juvenile. While the premise is intriguing, in a market flooded with romantasy titles, including tons with dark fae/morally grey leads, this one is a pass for me.

While the writing style wasn't my idea of masterfully done the plot more than made up for it. I tried to turn the page multiple times before I realized I reached then end cause man what a cliffhanger. I will definitely be wanting book 2.

4 ⭐️ | 🌶️~

Did I say it was a masterpiece, no. Did I say it was a good time? Absolutely. This book was unhinged but also I couldn’t put it down. 🫣

What you get with this book:

• a morally grey shadow daddy MMC with wings. HELLO. 🦇
• games and trials (and a random deadly game of wipe out)
• touch her and 💀
• enemies to lovers
• instalust & lots of tension
• fated mates
• easy to understand quick read

More in depth review

⬇️⬇️⬇️

We start off with a Zodiac Academy-esque intro where the FMC gets kidnapped from modern day earth and whisked away to a fantasy realm. Also like Zodiac Academy there are a lot of references made to “earth terms” by the FMC. Like getting a burn and then talking about how it’s “burnt like a chicken nugget”. Is it whimsical? Haha no but it made me laugh.

We get a morally grey shadow daddy MMC with wings. Hello. 🦇 Some say this book is like Temu ACOTAR and honestly there are so many parallels to ACOTAR that I get it. And there are parts of me that were like “do I hate that this is such a copy or am I ok with this since we might not get another ACOTAR book any time soon?” It’s kind of like if Rhysand was actually more of an a**hole and Velaris was actually a place nobody wanted to be. But somehow I was still here for it. He’d kill literally anyone for his girl but also for some reason he also kinda wants to kill her too. Idk his motives are always kinda confusing and I think that there were moments where he was only “morally gray” for the sake of being “morally gray” but not because it actually made sense. But I’m sure we’ll get more intel on this dude in the next books.

And then we get some deadly games and trials. It felt very hunger-games-arena-ish with all the characters fighting to the death in an arena while spectators watch. But then there was a crazy deadly game of wipe out in there that was so exciting.

As far as spice goes here aren't any actual
"open door" scenes in this particular book but there is so much instalust that it still needs a chili pepper.

Also, there are definitely some writing issues in this book. A lot of repetitive phrases (I don't know how many times I need to hear that their skin "buzzed" when they touched.) and some of the writing feels juvenile but once I was hooked in the book it didn't bother me too much. I was invested in the story and consumed it in like one day so to me that means there is something there.

The ending was wild lol that's all I'm gonna say about that.

I'm actually so excited to read book 2!!

*immediately downloads from Kindle Unlimited*

I LOVED this one! It was just the fantasy book I needed to pull me out of what felt like a bit of a slump!

Lira is stolen from her life on earth, kidnapped by familiar yet strange grey eyes the colour of storm clouds! Brought back to a life she doesn’t remember, Lira finds herself surrounded by people that hate her guts and are awaiting her death.

Lira is determined to work out why people want her blood spilled and Tavish is doing everything he can to keep her safe. Despite uprooting her life for what now seems like a questionable purpose.

Lira is such a fiery, badass character with a heart of gold, she is such a strong female main character I honestly loved her. The character building in this book was great and hoping for a bit more of a shift from enemies to lovers 🤞🏼 in the next couple of books.

Also Finnian is one of my favourite characters! The loyal friend / guard. I’m a sucker for someone perceived to be bad who actually has kind and genuine intentions.

Overall an enjoyable tart. Like others have said, there was a feeling of missed potential at times, but aspects of the story such as the trials made up for this. It felt a bit more YA than expected, but this didn’t detract, just wasn’t what I had expected. Loved the character development / a good read!

Reading in progress, full feedback coming in a few days.

I'm only just getting started on this book and I think it's safe to say that Jen has done it again! By the end of the first chapter, I was already on the edge of my seat and I absolutely love how even though the story takes off right from the beginning, that it doesn't feel rushed at all. I will definitely be staying up tonight to finish!

Rhank you to NetGalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Im a bit on the fence with this. Part of me lived ot but the other part felt it lacked.
The potential in the story was great, enemies to livers, lost princess, shadow daddy. It has everything i love. I can't put my finger on ehat it was but there was something that fell flat.
The trials were great though, really enjoyed the chapters with them. The slow burn was great and the confliction on both MCs emotions were portrayed great.
I enjoyed the characters, Finnian was a favourite and Lorne really grew on me.
I did get quite a YA vibe from this, very small steamy part but nothing too crazy.

Overall i did enjoy it, maybe it was rhe writing style that was new to me but the way the cliffhanger left it, and a few other moments with the change in some of rhe unseelie watching the trials, i am intrigued to read the rest of the series and see where the story goes

I loved this! The vibes were vibing!
If you’re expecting nice pretty fae you’re gonna need to look elsewhere for your cozy romantasy
This is a brutal world.
The FMC is just going about her life, thinking she’s flirting with a cute guy.
When she is kidnapped and brought to another world, a world where she is the enemy and everyone is trying to killer her. Not only that but she’s a prisoner and no one will tell her why.
It’s like you smashed together
The Ever King
+
Powerless
+
Zodiac Academy

Review of The King of Frost and Shadows by Jen L. Grey
* * * * *
A lost princess is swept back to the world she has forgotten by the man she knew as a boy, who is now her warden. Her life is in his hands. Forced to remember past, she must be prepared to be his tool in revenge, fighting those who want her dead, and shoving down any feelings she should not feel towards he captor.

Lira, as far as she knew, was a normal girl living on Earth.
Until a handsome man sweeps her away durnig New Year's Eve to a world of magic, monsters and mayhem.
King Tavish was once promised to Lira when they were younger, before her family betrayed his and made an enemy out of his people. He has a plan for her; the innnocent princess with no memory that will still pay the price for what her people did to his.
However, as feelings grow and rise between the two, fate may have other plans.
As she fights in the gauntlet, faces new enemies in the shadows, and takes on deadly experiences...will Tavish change his mind?

Really enjoyed this read. I am not one for fae romances, but I could not deny that I am very eager to get onto the next book, especially after that cliffhanger!
This poor FMC is deal with soooo many people who want to kill her, when she should be focusing on either dealing with the mood swinging Tavish or how to escape and get home. Though it's hard to focus with Tavish killing and harming any of his people who go against him and his orders about touching a hair on her head. Seriously, people? Defying the will and rule of a king? You're just asking for it!
Then again, Tavish is really all over the place with what he wants with Lira.
Favourite character: Nightbane! I want a buddy like that!

I love this book! Jen Grey is a fantastic writer and I love her world building in her books. Tavish wants to reclaim his lands from the Seelies but he needs to see the lost Seelie princess who has been hidden. Unfortunately for him, she has forgotten her former life. He pretty much needs to drain her life force in order to extract his revenge but falling in love with her wasn’t planned. He will need to figure out which is better…love or his revenge?
Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read and share my review ❤️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

As with many others that have read this ARC I struggled a little with Jen L. Grey's writing style. I felt like I could actually get behind the characters, and the story had so much potential but I just wasn't sure on it personally.

I'm not sure that I'd go for the next in the series, and maybe I'd have perceived this story better in an audiobook format.

I think this had wonderful potential but I don't want to be told how a character is feeling, I want to feel it. I was to see it.. I think the authornstruggled with that here. The spice was spicy though, I'll give you that. I just wanted more from this book then I really got. For me it was a miss but for others it could be a hit.

I really struggled with how to rate this because this book had so much promise, and a very interesting premise, but deeply needed a significantly heavier editing hand. I enjoyed it very much, and would recommend it, albeit with some caveats.

Ultimately, this story suffered from the author telling rather than showing, and just not trusting the reader. It was also repetitive, and the prose left a great deal to be desired. I felt like I was simultaneously getting too much and too little world building.

It wasn’t all bad! I enjoyed the characters quite a bit. I liked Lira, Finnian, and Lorne. I’m on the fence about Tavish - I think this book would have been better without his POV. I can’t believe I feel that way, because normally I love dual POV, but I felt like we had too much information for the tension to really build enough for me to care about where the story was going. I appreciated the positionality of the characters, the slow build of Tavish questioning and deconstructing his belief system, and Lira slowly regaining her fae-ness. And the cliffhanger was really solid and has definitely tempted me to read the next book.

I gave this book two stars because even though the quality fell apart after about the first third, I was still interested in the plot and what happens next with Tavish and Lira. I plan to reread this after it is released in hopes that some changes and editing happened in the interim, because it was SO promising (and all the more disappointing because it was so promising). Even if this book doesn’t improve before its release date, I will probably still give the next book in the series a try, if only to know how Tavish and Lira navigate the mess they’re in.

Recommended for folks who typically prefer a cozy read but are looking for something a little more intense.

Slow burn? Yes. Fae princess from a different Kingdom who surprises people with her compassion and kindness? Also yes. Fighting for her life in three trials to the death? So good! If you’re someone who loves a fantasy plot but also is a hopeless romantic for people fighting against all odds - this is the book for you. Honestly this was sooo good possibly one of the best fantasy romance books I’ve read. The size of the book allows for such a good pace, faster than some of the bigger fantasy romance books.

Anyways, I’d highly recommend. If you want a fast pace, slow burn this is for you.