Category: mini reviews

Crown Me Dead & Crown Me Yours by. Liz Zander | Mini Book Reviews

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️

Title: Crown Me Dead (#1)

Author: Liv Zander

Format: ebook

Pages: 270

Format: ebook (Kindle Unlimited)

Publication Date: 4/10/26

Categories: Dark Romance, Dark Fantasy, Series


Wed me. Bed me. Slit my throat.

Born in dirt, raised in rot, I dig graves for the dead, while the living decay around me.

When my brother coughs blood, he appears.

A man too polished for the graveyard, with a bargain too cruel for the Seduce the King. Become the Queen. Die. And my brother lives.

Kael is a nightmare of living ruin, the rotting ruler of a festering realm. And Vale is his shadow, the cold architect of my demise.

One man needs my heart to beat. The other plans to stop it forever.

They think I’m a pawn. But I’m the gravedigger’s daughter. And I know exactly where to bury them.

Welcome to the funeral.

Content Warning: violence, death, body horror, maggots

World Building: This is a dark fantasy where a whole kingdom is rotting, and I don’t only mean the crops and buildings, but the people too. There is a curse that the current King Kael is trying to starve out, he’s supposed to take a wife he loves and slice her throat to feed his crown blood, but he refuses to do it but it means people will rot and die. There is body horror and…maggots. So if you are totally grossed out about both those things, this might not be for you.

Characters: I love Elara. She is always around death because she is a gravedigger along with her mom and brother. She’s not afraid of it and has seen so much of it that it doesn’t phase which makes her perfect to be King Kael’s bride since he is rotting. King Kael is someone who wants to end the curse, he’s rotting, he’s angry, lashes out but he softens towards Elara’s brash attitude and I was enjoying their growing friendship. Vale is a mystery – he’s handsome, and claims he is a steward for the king. His plan, to get Elara to make the king fall in love with her, so he can sacrifice her and feed the crown – which would remove the rot killing everything in the land.

Romance: For a moment in this book I thought there would be a love triangle. Elara is getting to know Kael, but her body wants Vale. And I was all for her attraction to the dark, mysterious man, even though I thought Kael was the nicer one of the two. There is a lot of mystery around both men, and you can never tell who is good or bad, who to trust. There is spice but nothing too overboard.

Story: I could not put this book down and I didn’t realize it was under 300 pages until I finished it so quick! I love Elara and how strong and brave she is. She loves her family and will do whatever it takes, even give up her life to save them from rotting. She gets under Vale’s skin and she befriends the Kael. There are secrets and lies and everything comes to a head in a cliffhanger. But thank goodness book two is out – because I had to read it right away. There were decisions that Elara made that I was frustrated about, but I understand she was trying to play her own game too and survive the situation she was in.

Vibes: dark vibes, some gross moments, but death is all around

Final Thoughts:

I love this book and only lowered my rating because some of the body horror was gross. But I was horrified and couldn’t look away – and I love Elara. I had to see if they could break the curse! It’s why I had to read book two right away.

Read if you like:

  • dark romance
  • dark fantasy
  • secrets, betrayal

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️

Title: Crown Me Yours (Heartstrings Duet, #2)

Author: Liv Zander

Format: ebook

Pages: 244

Format: ebook (Kindle Unlimited)

Publication Date: 4/16/26

Categories: Dark Romance, Dark Fantasy, Series

Wed him. Bed him. Slit his throat.

I killed the king.
Crowned myself in his blood,
But the curse still festers.

To break it, I need Death,
On his knees,
A ring on his finger.
My blade at his throat.

The god fights me to the grave,
Evades my touch,
Mocks my wanting.

He would rather tear himself apart,
Than let me close enough to end this.
But I didn’t come this far to lose.
I came to crown him mine.

Welcome to your wedding, my love.

Content Warning: violence, death, body horror

Part two in this duet – this is a love story that makes me cry because what do you mean Elara makes Death fall in love with her? He tries his hardest to not succumb to her but he cannot resist. I love them together. There is spice and banter, it’s less dark than book one – less body horror and there is a battle of wills but Elara is a force.

And the ending chapters which is basically an epilogue? Ugh…my heart! For some reason it was reminding me of Jack and Sally in Nightmare Before Christmas 😅 maybe because of all the skeleton parts of Death when he is revealed as himself. But hello his heartstrings? I could not take it. 💔 What a beautiful ending to this story to show us that love is always worth it, even through loss and pain.

I will say this was shorter than book one and I feel like both books could have been combined since most romantasy books these days are long. I was totally engaged in this story and I really loved it.

Quote from the book:

“You can’t have love without embracing grief. Pain is the price we pay for participating in life.” – Liv Zander, Crown Me Yours

Final Thoughts:

I love this duology which I feel could have just been one book – but besides that, what a story. It’s dark, but so heartfelt at the end. It pulled at my heartstrings. I’ll be looking forward to reading more from this author!

Read if you like:

  • dark romance
  • dark fantasy

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Mini Reviews | Hades Castle Trilogy by. C.N. Crawford

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Fallen (Hades Castle, #1)

Author: C.N. Crawford

Format: eBook (Kindle Unlimited)

Pages: 310

Publication Date: 10/14/20

Categories: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal

Synopsis:

In Dovren, even the angels sin. 

Most nights, I dance and laugh with friends till the morning birds start to sing. But then disaster strikes.

A sinfully sexy angel strides in to my favorite dance hall and compels me to work for him–in Hades Castle. Sure, I always wanted to see the inside of the ancient fortress that looms over the city. But the fallen angel is a brutal tyrant–and I think he killed my sister.

Now, he wants me to pretend to be his wife. Instead, I plan to assassinate him. Too bad the only way to kill an angel is to seduce him. And the sensual charms of the fallen will make it hard to stay on task. 

But this is a battle, and he’s my beautiful enemy. We are fighting with weapons of desire, and we’re both at risk of losing ourselves in this war.

In this first book, Fallen, we get introduced to Lila a poor thief who is just trying to survive and Samael, basically a fallen angel – but the Angel of Death. He hires Lila (who poses as someone else) to be his wife – he needs to marry a mortal to be king of the fallen angels in Dovren. But there is a group of rebels trying to take him down and end the angels’ reign in their kingdom. What side is Lila on? Clearly the human/rebel side and she tries to find ways to actually take Samael down.

This was a super quick read – Lila seems like an interesting main character, at times she can call some powers to her but there is no indication that she is a fallen angel or a demon. Samael is all death – many times we are reminded looking upon his TRUE face would cause people to lose their minds and it’s why he wears a cowl. Of course Lila can look at him straight on. They are both attracted to one another because she’s got a nice body and Samael is an angel and apparently they are super hot even though totally deadly. I think it was a solid start to a series and it did make me curious about the fallen angels and what Lila’s powers could be.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Rapture (Hades Castle, #2)

Author: C.N. Crawford

Format: eBook (Kindle Unlimited)

Pages: 244

Publication Date: 1/18/21

Publisher: Amazon Digital Services

Categories: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance

Synopsis:

The angel of death locked me in one of his castle rooms, surrounded by books and delicious food. Not bad, right? Except for the loneliness, and the lust-fueled dreams that torment me every night. Specifically, dreams of Samael. And did I mention a psychotic ghost keeps trying to kill me? Because no one else believes me about that.

Now, I’m desperate to get out of the castle and hunt down the murderous Free Men who led to my imprisonment. Samael wants to destroy them, too. We have the same goal, but don’t trust each other. When distrust shifts into passion, it only makes things more complicated.

Despite what we feel, we’re destined to be enemies. If we can’t rewrite our fates, we will lose each other forever–and one of us will end up dead.

Another quick read – I felt like this book could have been split with the first and third and it could have been a duology. This one is shorter than the first one! The story starts off where it last ended in book one, Lila is imprisoned in a tower because she tried to kill Samael. She feels more of the Raven King’s power and yes there is a whole back story about Samael’s life before falling, apparently he was married to a demon named Lilith. We learn that Lilith has her own backstory with the Raven King and they are tied to Lila – hence why Lila has nature powers. There is more attraction between Lila and Samael and things get heated between them even though she tried to kill him. He doesn’t trust her, but he’s falling for her. I did enjoy learning more of the back story of some of the characters but I just wish it wasn’t so short. It would be nice to get to know more fallen angels because so far there is only three in this series that we have met. Because it was so short I immediately read the next book.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Possessed (Hades Castle, #3)

Author: C.N. Crawford

Format: eBook (Kindle Unlimited)

Pages: ??

Publication Date: 4/21/21

Publisher: Amazon Digital Services

Categories: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance

Synopsis:

I’m struggling with my dark side–the demon within me–and only Samael can help me. He has decided we’re dangerous for each other, but I know we need to join forces. If we can’t defeat the Free Men together, I will lose myself to the demon within me, and a darkness will spread across Albia.

Lila is possessed by Lilith’s spirit and the rebels have a book that can control that spirit. What they want is for Lilith to end Samael and the angels’ rule. But Lila/Lilith is remembering a lot of her past and she also remembers how humans tortured her in her past life. Lilith also remembers why she hates Samael and though Lila doesn’t, Samael decides they are bad for one another. Except they can’t stay apart so they give in to their needs and Lila/Lilith helps Samael defeat the Free Men. I think this was a solid ending to a story that could have maybe be just one book or a duology. I read the three books in one night so most likely it could have been one book. Overall, I thought the series was entertaining, it was quick and some parts felt rushed, but that’s ok.

📚 ~ Yolanda

Mini Reviews | Kingdom of Runes, Books #1-3 by. Audrey Grey

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Oath Taker (Kingdom of Runes, #1)

After the Prince of Penryth saved her from captivity, seventeen-year-old Haven Ashwood spends her days protecting the kind prince and her nights secretly fighting the monsters outside the castle walls.  

When one of those monsters kidnaps Prince Bell, Haven must ally with Archeron Halfbane and his band of immortals to rescue her friend.  

Her quest takes her deep into the domain of a warped and vicious queen where the rules are simple: break her curse or die. 

Lost in a land of twisted magic and fabled creatures, Haven finds herself unprepared, not just for the feelings she develops for Archeron, but for the warring powers raging inside her.  

Her rare and forbidden type of magic may be their only hope . . . but mixing light and dark comes with a steep price.  

Haven’s soul. 

Faced with impossible love, heartbreaking betrayals, and a queen intent on destroying the realm, only one thing remains certain.  

Haven must shatter the curse or it will devour everything she loves. 

Author: Audrey Grey

Format: eBook (Kindle Unlimited)

Pages: 317

Categories: Fantasy, New Adult, Romance

My Review:

  • I love Haven and Bell’s friendship. Haven is Prince Bellamy’s guard but she is also his best friend. She’s very protective of him her sole purpose in this series is to save him. I mean, that’s devotion!
  • Haven is a fighter but at some points she’s so cocky around more powerful beings than her. She’s rash at times with major tunnel vision (saving Bell) but Archeron, the Sun Lord is right to be aggravated with her at times. As for her feelings about him…warning, there IS a love triangle in this series.
  • The world building is detailed – we have mortal kingdoms, and immortal kingdoms. There is also the Netherworld which Stolas rules. The magic system is based on rune magic. There is a quest to save Prince Bell and to break a curse so the stories moves along quickly, plus at barely over 300 pages – it’s a quick read.
  • Triggers: violence and self-harm (because of how the rune magic is used)

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: Cursebreaker (Kingdom of Runes, #2)

All magic has a price.  

Haven survived the Devourers, but she isn’t any closer to breaking the curse. Meanwhile, her forbidden magic rages brighter and more dangerous every day. 

To control her powers and stand a chance against the Shade Queen, Haven made a bargain with two enemy immortals. Now her waking hours are spent fighting alongside the Sun Lord, but her dreams belong to the Shade Lord. 

Only the closer she ventures into the wicked Shadow Kingdom the more her magic shows itself—and the more she struggles with whom to trust. The golden but wounded Sun Lord or the darkly charismatic Shade Lord. 

Both are off-limits. 

And both have the ability to save her . . . or destroy her. 

With the Shade Queen closing in and Bell’s time nearly up, Haven will sacrifice everything to break the curse—but will it be enough to stop the mortal realm from falling into darkness forever? 

Author: Audrey Grey

Format: eBook (Kindle Unlimited)

Pages: 380

Categories: Fantasy, New Adult, Romance

My Review:

  • Bell has always been in Haven’s protective shadow even though he is a Prince and will rule one day. He is not good at fighting and always had Haven do it for him – so in his captivity he struggles but learns he can be without Haven. Bell is learning to find his own strength which is wonderful. He also meets the person who created the curse on the land in the first place.
  • We learn more about how the curse was created and more about Ravenna and her evil mother.
  • Haven gets into more harrowing danger and her hurt people, which annoyed me at times. When will she learn?! Ugh, that was frustrating about her. Her focus is still saving Bell but Archeron and she have an attraction happening. And the others in the group are becoming her friend. She shows heart in trying to help them instead of trying to deceive them. We learn about her past with evil Daimus as her captor. And then there is Stolas…uh huh…I can kind of guess how this is going to end.
  • This book kept giving me ACOTAR vibes…like MAJOR ACOTAR vibes with the whole Archeron and Stolas thing (Tamlin vs Rhys) and the curse. Like I just knew, she would end up with Stolas (Rhys)…I mean, at this point it’s reading like a fan fiction ACOTAR book! It bugged me but I love ACOTAR so much that I kept reading haha.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: King Maker (Kingdom of Runes, #3)

They broke the curse, but at what cost? 

Haven and her crew may be considered heroes, but they arrive back in Penryth harboring dangerous secrets. Plagued by nightmares, Haven struggles to control her newfound magic while Bell shrinks under the weight of their shared lie. 

When an emissary from Solissia shows up in Penryth and drafts Bell in a magical tournament, Haven is once again forced to follow the prince to foreign lands, this time to the bloodthirsty court of Archeron’s mother. 

Trapped in a shifting landscape of dark politics, duplicitous immortals, and cruel sovereigns, Haven fights to keep Bell alive all without revealing their secret. But a terrible evil brews on the horizon. One that threatens the very fabric of the realm. 

Haven might be their only hope of stopping the impending darkness. But first she must learn to accept her own darkness and follow her heart—no matter where it leads. 

Author: Audrey Grey

Format: eBook (Kindle Unlimited)

Pages: digital – ? /Amazon print version says 640

Categories: Fantasy, New Adult, Romance

My Review:

  • And yes…there goes the ACOTAR love triangle dilemma -Archeron becomes a villain, Stolas is now the hero. SIGH. I mean, I was loving Stolas anyway but it was just so similar. Did it really have to happen? Archeron was there for her in the beginning and he has to go out like this? Evil, broken hearted, and disfigured – damn.😔
  • Since the curse was broken in book two, we are now introduced to Archeron’s kingdom and his family. There is a trial, and the winner gets to rule over all nine kingdoms (and yes the Nine reminds me of LOTR! 🤦🏻‍♀️). This series actually reminds me a lot of other books out there.
  • I did love learning about Stolas’ sister who is as sassy as they come, but hey she is a Queen. Also Haven finally has more friends than just Bell now, yay – and her friendship with Bell gets tested but it needed to happen. Bell needed to come out through some struggles on his own and Haven needed to let him do it.
  • Despite the similarities to other books, it’s an entertaining series and I’m bummed the next book isn’t until November.

Overall, the three books in the series I read gives off major ACOTAR vibes with some differences, like this one has wyverns and rune magic. Haven does grow…slowly, she definitely learns the hard way which is so frustrating. She is not my favorite female lead, the battle in the end worked because she had help from her friends. I do enjoy the rune magic aspect of this world and how Haven has both dark and light magic. Will I read the next books, YES, I need to find out what happens with Archeron, how low will he go? There is also still a battle with Daimus coming, he definitely needs to be eliminated.