🌟🌟🌟🌟 Review: Crown of Slumber by R.L. Perez

A twisted retelling of Sleeping Beauty full of fae magic, a strong heroine, and a plot that had just the right amount of mystery and magic. This standalone romantasy is part of the Crowns of Fae series.

The first 42%? Chef’s kiss. Rich world-building, complex characters, and a mysterious plot that had me fully invested. Think dark fairytales, court intrigue, and just the right dash of slow-burn romance.

Then came the tonal shift. The second half leans into the spice, more than I expected, and honestly more than was needed. The love between the characters could’ve been just as strong with a little less steam and a bit more subtlety.

🎧 I listened to the audiobook (thank you, NetGalley!) and the narration was well done. It helped bring the story to life and kept me engaged throughout.

Would I recommend it? Yes, especially if you're into fantasy romance and don't mind a serving of steam. Just be prepared for a tone shift around the midpoint!

👑 Best for: fans of spicy romantasy, slow-burn beginnings, and immersive fantasy settings.


Review will be posted on Instagram (and TikTok) mid June. Goodreads review is up now.

Big thanks to R L.Perez and Netgalley for the audioARC in exchange for a review.

A sleeping beauty retelling with dragons and magic, and if course a pretend betrothal that develops into something more.
There are some explicit content but some implied DV and non consensual actions that are well written as impact full but not described in detail.

I enjoyed the ending with a bit of a surprise twist.
4 stars

A Fierce Heroine, a Morally Grey Prince, and a Romance That Sizzles, Fairy Tale Fantasy Perfection!

Crown of Slumber by R.L. Perez is a breathtaking reimagining of Sleeping Beauty with everything I crave in a fantasy romance: dragons, dangerous magic, courtly intrigue, and the most delicious enemies-to-lovers tension.

Princess Aurelia is the kind of heroine I adore, fiercely loyal, independent, and bonded to her dragons more than to her crown. When her family falls victim to a deadly sleeping curse, she’s forced into an uneasy alliance with Prince Fenn, a wickedly charming royal whose help comes at a steep price: pretending to be his betrothed to secure his kingdom’s future.

The dynamic between Aurelia and Fenn had me absolutely hooked. Fenn is the epitome of a morally grey love interest, cocky, mysterious, and layered with secrets. Their banter was sharp, their chemistry electric, and the slow burn between them? Perfect. It gave me major ACOTAR vibes in the best way possible, especially with the seductive undercurrent of dark fae magic and dangerous court politics.

I also loved the fresh take on the Sleeping Beauty myth, Perez doesn’t just retell the tale, she transforms it. The stakes feel real, the twists kept me guessing, and the dragons were a fantastic bonus. And that secret lurking in Fenn’s court? Chilling and brilliant.

This book has everything: high stakes, emotional depth, sizzling romance, and a heroine you’ll cheer for until the very last page. I couldn’t put it down, and I didn’t want to!

Highly recommended for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Holly Black, and Elise Kova. I can’t wait to dive into more of the Crowns of the Fae series!

4⭐
"Two feuding kingdoms, one unbreakable curse."

Fairytale retellings are my absolute favorite, and this Sleeping Beauty retelling just hit all the right buttons!

Thank you NetGalley and Willow Haven Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Dragons, Witches and Fae... oh my!

I love a good fairytale retelling and thoroughly enjoyed this book!
Crown of Slumber is suspenseful, filled with twists, and the worldbuilding is beautifully imagined.

This was an interesting retelling of Sleeping Beauty. I don't know if you call these retellings or inspired by books, because though there are similarities, it is not at all the same. Yes, there is a sleeping spell, princesses, dragons, witches, and we also have the fae. Both of our POVs were of Fae royalty. Aurelia, the princess of the Summer Court, and Fenn, the Prince of the Star Court, these two kingdoms have been warring for centuries, and now both need something from the other. Fenn and Aurelia meet first, and they don't know one another. Once they realize who each other is, they go into the "I hate you" game, except clearly, they don't hate each other. Aurelia has a horrible and traumatic event involving the Autumn King, which may be a trigger for some, but was spelled out very obviously, so the reveal wasn't that surprising. There were some added extra elements, but the trauma was obvious.
I think the best part of the story was the dragons. Is that weird? The dragons weren't really in this that much, but I loved the interaction with the dragons, their personality, and their power. Plus, there is a lot of significance to the dragons. My least favorite part was how Aurelia's dad acted in the end. I feel like he harbored this deep secret, then when she found out, he blamed her and lost trust in her, which was insane. I mean, really? Is that a plot point? No. Anyway, the overall story is really entertaining. I loved the flip of the original tale and that the princess was there to save herself. Love conquers all, and sometimes the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. The enemies to lovers I feel, was a loose trope because we know from the first meeting of these two that they were into each other. Fenn was made out to be this horrid dude, but at the end of the day, he was a big squishball. There were two spicy-ish scenes, one was super weird timing, and the other was not. If you like Fae and fairy tale-inspired reimaginings, this is probably one you'll like. It's worth the read, there are multiple bad guys, secrets, and dragons!

I was so happy with Crown of Slumber - a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, but, make it fae and give me dragons! R.L. Perez brought this story back to life and really did a wonderful job with world-building. The characters were great, and I actually loved Aurelia and Fenn, The banter was delicious! Fenn wasn't the typical broody MMC - I really loved that he was a little softer... a hidden golden retriever, if you will. I am a sucker for a fake marriage trope and I absolutely LOVED the ending!

Evelyn Rose and Tim Paige brought so much life to the book! They really embraced their characters (and ancillary characters like dragons!) - diction and pace were perfect. They were able to help me keep the characters clear in my head.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Willow Haven Press for the chance to review this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

A Rich Fae fantasy world lightly flavored with Sleeping Beauty. The author geniusly borrows a few main points and plots from the fairy tale. Like my favorite: a super meet-cute moment in the forest as themselves and not their title. Steeping heavily in Fae rules and lore adds a level of complexity to the drama and brings life to the world. There are curses, secrets, and opposing Kingdoms. The romance is enemies-to-lovers, fighting attraction, spicy intimate scenes, a rogue with a sweet side, and the shrewd princess has her reasons.
My Reaction: It grew on me. The initial set-up required effort to engage with the characters. I often became bored with their inner dialogue, specifically the female lead. Overall, the rich world made it an appealing story. I have mixed feelings about the narrator's choice to voice the other gender in a different pitch. The pitch especially triggered a Gestalt “What” response that brought me out of the story immersion. This is my own opinion on audiobooks. Een so, it's still a fun read with effort.
3.8/5 stars
This was a sponsored ARC through NetGalley for my honest review.

I enjoyed this audibook a lot! The narrators were great and easy to listen to. The story was intriguing and had some twists I didn't expect. The two MCs had great chemistry! I look forward to more books from the author!

4.5 stars rounded up to 5!

This one is about Aurelia, a fae princess who spends most of her time with her dragons, but with her father the king abdicating, she must interview suitors and get ready to become queen of the Summer Court. Problem: she hates all of them. Enter Prince Fen of the Star Court, who is not a suitor at all. He needs to negotiate with Aurelia to get a dragon and save his people. Problem: Aurelia also hates people looking at her dragons. But when a mysterious curse falls over the Summer Court, leaving Aurelia and Fen unaffected, they must team up to save both of their people.

I liked this one! It’s a Sleeping Beauty retelling with a twist. Aurelia is very prickly, and she’s obsessively protective of her dragons. She’s much more Angelina Jolie Maleficent than Aurora (and I found it helped to picture her that way). She has been through some stuff, so it becomes apparent later in the book why she’s so volatile. Aurelia and Fen really had to go through it in order to achieve both of their goals and I was along for the ride! There were witches, ogres, did I mention a fake engagement? I found it to be an easy read and I wanted to pick it back up.

The audiobook was really interesting! The FMC voice was British while the MMC voice was American. It sort of made sense since they were from different courts, and when they spoke as each other they did the accents. Both narrators did a great job. I was able to listen comfortably at 1.5x and I could move it up to 2x with no distortion.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Willow Haven Press for the review listener copy!

This book was a fantasy retelling of sleeping beauty and oh boy but it did deliver. We had princesses and princes, kings and queens but most ot all we had dragon’s and witches. I loved the main characters and the twist from the original story. Overall a very enjoyable read for romantasy fans.

I was provided an advanced reader copy of this work in audio format from Netgalley free of charge in return for an honest review.

I will start my review by saying that the narration is excellent . It switches between Aurelia and Fenn. It feels like there is one narrator for Aurelia and one for Fenn . It might be the same for both but I truly can't tell as each character has their own voice. Wonderfully done

I was drawn to to the cover art the rich green vines intertwined with the silvered- pink coloring used for the title. It was stunning. Then I found it was a sleeping beauty retelling and I was hooked. I had to know what this story held . How would it rework the story that everyone knew?
I couldn't wait to dive in!

The story switch's between Aurelia's view as the Summer Princess and Fenn’s view as The Midnight Prince. I normally find this switching of view points incredibly annoying. Here it works very well indeed.

This book has something for everyone. Court politics, fae bargins , dragons, witches and romance and some super sexy and spicy times. It's beyond amazing and the most original reworking of a fairy tale I have ever read.
It's beautiful and dark and I just couldn't stop listening I had to know what would happen next.

I really and truly loved this read and I will for sure be keeping an eye out for the next book in the series.

I received an early copy of this book via NetGalley to review voluntarily. I really loved Disney princess fairy tales growing up so I was excited to read this one! The main characters were really engaging and I loved the banter between them! I am a sucker for enemies to lovers it’s one of my favorite tropes! With a tasteful amount of spice, action, and dragons, what’s not to love!? Overall it was a great twist on a classic fairytale without straying too far from the original story. Can’t wait to read the next one when it comes out!!

Sleeping beauty was always one of my favorite fairy tales growing up so this was a perfect read for me. I really enjoyed the story: the worldbuilding and the enemies to lovers trope was executed perfectly! The male narrator was a bit annoying sometimes and I found myself wishing to skip the male POV because of it :(

This was my first ever sleeping beauty retelling and I loved it! The narrators did a fantastic job as well. If you love dragons, fae courts, fake engagements, witches, romantasy, and spice, you need to read this. I love that there was never a moment where I felt bored, there was always something happening to hold my interest. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

Love! Love! Love! This villains to lovers Romantasy was SO good. A retelling of Sleeping Beauty but SO much more. Not your typical fairytale! The Prince of Night and the Princess of Summer have paired up to save both of their kingdoms with a ruse of being. Betrothed.

Crown of Slumber is a dreamy, spellbinding fantasy that reimagines classic fairytales with fresh intrigue and heart. R.L. Perez weaves magic, romance, and danger into a captivating story that keeps you enchanted from beginning to end. With lush worldbuilding and a heroine you’ll cheer for, it’s a must-read for fans of romantic fantasy.

For a seasoned author who has written over a dozen novels, the quality of this novel was quite atrocious.

*Received an ARC via NetGalley in return for an honest review*

The writing was incredibly poor. There were constant repetition of phrases during scenes "her eyes sparkled like she knew something i did not" for one, to a point where it passed merely noticeable to showing a lack of care from both writer and editor to make sure there isn't a constant recycling of terms. To make it worse, the ENTIRE 500 PAGES is told and not shown. A little bit of this is usual for fantasy books, we are entering a totally unknown world here, but the novel cannot trust its audience even deep into the story and narrates everything as if we are reading a history a book and not there with the characters watching them through their own heads. Criminally boring.

Usually with poorly written stories you can at least struggle through by connecting to a character, but every single one felt like a single-phrased workshop instead of actual PEOPLE. The female main character struggles to be anything except 'rebelling against patriarchy, likes dragons'. It was agonising trying to listen to these characters say the most basic boring thing and follow the expected script for their chosen personalities. It made the story lack even more sense and jumbled the world futhark.

Marketing was SEVERELY POOR. This is meant to be New Adult, catered towards romantasy and people who want really in depth characters who feel real, but it read like a Middle Grade novel. In fact, I think it would have been better off this way. The truly terrible writing was more in line with a children's book than an adult romantasy, and everything felt geared towards introducing young readers into fantasy to the first time rather than seasoned consumers which was WILD.

Narrators felt incredibly plastic and over-effected.

Will actively go out of my way to avoid consuming both the author but also the narrators again.

I always want to start off my audiobook book reviews to commend the narrators because I know they pour their heart and sould into these books to bring out the amazing characters thats wonderful authors write. And I must say that Evelyn Rose & Tim Paige were the perfect voices for Aurelia and Fenn. I absolutely loved them.

Now, this book was definitely epic in every sense and I quite enjoyed it! The world was easy to understand and the story was very compelling. What’s not to love? You have Dragons and Faes and witches and the unseelie! You know you’re in for an adventure! Also, you always want the main characters to meet in the best way and Aurelia and Fenn definitely did. I mean dancing in the forest 🌳 😍😍😍

Once that bargain was struck I wanted to know more and more, and this book has SO MANy LAYERS! Of course I don’t want to spoil anything for you! So you’ll just have to listen (or read) for yourself! I’ll also add that this is a standalone book, which I love because sometimes fantasies shouldn’t be 5 books long…. 😅

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸…
💜Sleeping Beauty Retelling
💜Romantasy
💜Enemies to Lovers
💜He falls first
💜Fae Bargain
💜Dragons
💜Hidden secrets
💜Sleeping curse
💜Dual POV
💜Open Door
💜Standalone

I received an advance listening copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I absolutely loved this read. I felt like I really got to know all the characters and their motivation. However I did feel the end was really rushed.