Blurb:
My lovers all feel the need to give me nice things. Very expensive things. It’s been a fun game. Learning their secrets. Seducing them. Getting them to shower me with gifts.
But to be honest?
I’m bored with it.
I have a new game in mind.
I’m going to woo the king.
I suspect it won’t be longer than a month before he’s helplessly in love with me. And when he proposes, I will say yes for the first time.
For once the marriage is official and consummated?
I will kill the Shadow King and take his kingdom for myself.
—
“They’ve never found the body of the first and only boy who broke my heart. And they never will.”
—
Alessandra is tired of being overlooked, but she has a plan to gain power:
- Woo the Shadow King
- Marry him
- Kill him and take his kingdom for herself
No one knows the extent of the freshly crowned Shadow King’s power. Some say he can command the shadows that swirl around him to do his bidding. Others say they speak to him, whispering the thoughts of his enemies. Regardless, Alessandra knows what she deserves, and she’s going to do everything within her power to get it.
But Alessandra’s not the only one trying to kill the king. As attempts on his life are made, she finds herself trying to keep him alive long enough for him to make her his queen – all while struggling not to lose her heart. After all, who better for a Shadow King than a cunning, villainous queen?
Rating: 5/5 stars
Side Notes:
- YA Fantasy Fiction
- I devoured this book in one day
- Empowering female protagonist
- Many plot twists that you didn’t see coming
- Contains morals about love and yourself
Book Quotes:
- “Waiting. Not waiting. One lover. A hundred lovers. There should be no judgement either way. A woman is not defined by what she does or doesn‘t do in the bedroom.”
- “I think that when you care enough for someone, you reach a point where it’s far more painful not to have him at all than to have him and risk losing him. You realize the risk is worth it. Because happiness, however short-lived, is always worth it.”
- “But I’m desperate for you all the same. And though I will not have millennia to live, I want to give however many years I have left to you. Because I love you. I love the woman who saved me. And though she doesn’t need me, I want her. Fiercely.
- “All the time in the world is worth nothing if I don’t get to spend it with you.”
- “They’ve never found the body of the first and only boy who broke my heart. And they never will.”
- “Aren’t we all drawn to friends in the beginning by trifling things? True bonds develop afterward, when character is revealed.”
- “The rebel in me loves to throw dirt in the face of decorum.”
- “I want a life with you, Alessandra, one without the shadows between us. And I don’t care about being vulnerable.”
- “Who in the world would steal and then not keep the riches for themselves? That’s just bad business.”
- “Tell me,” I say. “You don’t need to read a letter. Just tell me.” He closes his hands into fists at his sides. “I want you.”
- “Do you love him?” Of course not, I think. I do not do such childish things as fall in love. Love made me into a murderess. It broke me for a time. I had to build myself back up.”
- “I’m not a trollop, i announce to the empty room. “i’m a sexually empowered woman, and there is nothing wrong with that.”
- “It is what originally caught my interest, but i lose interest in everything sooner or later. Everything save you. Because in you, i found my match. In you, i found my equal.”
- “Don’t you think you will forget how to be human if you push away all the mortals in your life?”
- “When a man sees something that several other men want, he can’t help but want it, too.”
- “I want to be your first choice. And maybe I’ve never made it clear that I am a choice for you. I like you, and if you let me, I know I could love you. My title might not be as fancy as Kallias’s, nor my pocketbook quite as deep, nor my estate quite so large. “But my heart is bigger, Alessandra. And I would love you completely, wholly, as a woman ought to be loved. I won’t hide behind shadows. I won’t love you from afar. I won’t only take parts of you. I want all of you. Mind, body, soul. I want to be with you. Always.”
- “I told you, you’re my equal. You’ve assisted me in more ways than one. You’ve been my constant companion these last couple of months, and I don’t ever want you to leave, Alessandra. I want to show you how I respect and appreciate you.”
- “No one but me is allowed to decide when Kallias Maheras, king of six realms and counting is going to die.”
- “I hate him. But I love him more.
- “Kallias opens his mouth. Shuts it again. Then, “You and I are playing a very dangerous game.”
- “I’ve done passion before. That’s what it was with Hektor. It didn’t go over well. Passion doesn’t lead anywhere good. It turned me into a murderess.”
- “I handled Hektor as I have handled everything else in my life: alone and with the utmost thoroughness.”
- “Yes, I know the law. No one is allowed to touch the king. To do so is punishable by death. Oh, he is a delightful mystery that I can’t wait to solve.”
- “I want friends. I want to be a bigger part of the world around me. If I’m seen and respected, others will value my opinion. I want the power to change things.”
- “I shrug. “I merely think we should be afforded the same rights as the men. Even in the bedroom.”
- “Kallias turns to me, a wicked grin on his face. “Why, Lady Alessandra, the more I learn about you, the more I like you.”
- “Doing the right thing is not always easy. And being the bigger person, the first to reach out with kindness, takes great strength of character.”
- “People are staring,” Father says. “That’s the point, isn’t it?”
- “He brings his face within inches of mine. “I want to know what you’re thinking about right now.” “You couldn’t handle it.”
- “Don’t be afraid of who you are. Say what you wish. Be who you wish. Don’t try to be someone else. You don’t want to catch a man who wants me. You want to catch a man who wants you.”
- “You didn’t really know me,” I say. “If you had, you’d know I’ve already killed for love once before.”
- “The poets can say whatever they damned like. A woman’s worth is not decided by what’s between her legs but by what is in her mind.”
- “If I were a better man, I would send you away,” he says. “My life is dangerous. There’s always someone trying to kill me. Even if this threat has been dealt with, there will be others. You could get hurt by being close to me.” “Good thing you’re not a better man.”
- “Not that anyone would notice. You stand out like a spark in a dark room all on your own. For someone like me? I have to try to stand out.” “Not anymore,” he says. “You are being courted by the king. That fact alone makes you the most popular girl in the world.”
- “The point is, Father, I know what I’m doing. And I’m going to keep doing whatever I wish, because I am the master of myself.”
- “There is nothing silly about waiting until you want to. Don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise. It is your body to do with as you will.”
- “Passion leads to fierce heartbreak, Rhoda. You might think twice about how badly you wish for it.”
- “You didn’t bow and roll over like every other human alive. You challenged me. “That’s when I first knew I was doomed.”
- “If I were to touch someone skin to skin when I’m not in my shadow form, my ability would go away whenever I’m in their presence.”
- “Have you ever been in love?” “No,” he says. “Not ever. What’s it like?” “Horrible.”
- “All of a sudden, I don’t feel the as though I need the shawl wrapped around my shoulders. I’m so very warm and light. Once, there was another boy who made me feel this way. One who made me feel full and seen and loved. Now the bugs of the earth have feasted on his flesh.”
- “I didn’t mean the chocolate. When I see something I want, I reach for it without hesitation.”
- “But just before I go, the skin about my blackened eye warms. Not with pain. Not from the memory of the kiss pressed there. But at the ghost of a gloved hand.
- “I hadn’t meant for us to keep our clothes on,” the words are out before I realize they might be to forward. “Why, Lady Alessandra, the more I learn about you the more I like you.”