Crowned for the King's Secret

by Kali Anthony

He’ll secure his throne with the heir he’s only just discovered in this royal secret-child romance by Kali Anthony.

She hid his son…
Can she hide from their desire?

One year ago, her spine-tingling night with exiled king Sandro left Victoria pregnant and alone. Lied to by the palace, she believed he wanted nothing to do with them. So Sandro turning up on her doorstep—ready to claim her, his heir and his kingdom—is astounding!

Burned by her past, Victoria has no intention of complying with His Majesty’s command. But she’ll need to keep her wits about her because their insatiable craving once made her abandon all reason. And it’s about to reignite with a vengeance…

From Harlequin  Escape to exotic locations where passion knows no bounds.

Read all the Behind the Palace Doors... 

 Book 1: The Marriage That Made Her Queen
Book 2: Engaged to London's Wildest Billionaire
Book 3: Crowned for the King's Secret

Genres: Harlequin, Romance, Fiction

201 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 28, 2023

About the author

When Kali Anthony read her first romance she realised a few truths; that there can never be too many happy endings, and that one day she’d write them herself. After marrying her own tall, dark and handsome hero in a perfect friends-to-lovers romance, Kali penned her first story. If she isn’t battling her cat for access to the keyboard, you can find her wearing vintage clothes, gardening or bushwalking with her husband and children in the rainforests of South-East Queensland.

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was supposed to be one night for him to be a man before he becomes King of Santa Fiorina, that was all Alessandro Nicolai Baldoni wanted and he got in with the beautiful Victoria Astill a night of passion that he will never forget.

A year on from that passion filled night and Victoria now has a beautiful little boy Nicolai Lucas, she contacted the palace and was led to believe the king wanted nothing to do with his son, she is strong after her first marriage and is loving being a mother but when Sandro arrives unannounced and wants to see his son her life is turned upside down.

Sandro has never forgotten Victoria but life has been busy, when he has to visit England he get his security team to find her but what they discover makes his blood run cold and he is determined to bring his son home to keep him safe and that will mean bringing Victoria as well, Sandro is furious at the deception but his heart still beats harder when she is around.

Victoria has been treated badly once and she will never let that happen again, will Sandro listen and believe what she tells him, can they work together for their son’s sake and can she keep her feelings to herself when she is close to him. And Sandro cannot bring himself to love after all that has happened to him and firstly he must keep them safe at all costs but Victoria could be the best thing that has ever happened to him, can they find the love they deserve?

I loved this one from the start, it is filled with emotion and suspense as lives are threatened, I loved Victoria and Sandro both are strong and loving characters, I do highly recommend this one to any romance reader, you will thoroughly enjoy this one.

My thanks to the author for my copy to read and review.

[Paula (In & Out) · Rating 1 out of 5]

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!

Wish people who write these things that they take time to read their own work before publishing.

First, the story. Anyone that likes virgin heroines, this one is not. She was married for 5 yrs & is now divorced, though it wasn't clear if she became a widow before or after she got divorced.

OM abused her throughout their marriage and was instrumental in her low self esteem. Not too much is delved into it other then the fact that he was cheating on her throughout their marriage and that she was hooked on pain killers in the past after an accident.

Hero is a king of some country. He had been orphaned at a young age and never knew love. There's no OW or OM drama and nothing is told about H's past. They basically have a ONS about a year or 2 ago after her divorce and she gets pregnant. She tries to contact him but his evil cousin (whom we never get to meet or hear from) intervenes and manipulates her to think she is talking to H's people on his behalf but instead it's the cousin and he tells her that H doesn't want to get involved in his son's life but to send him regular updates and that is what she does..

H learns he has a son about 4 or 6 months prior to story starting and thinks she is working with his cousin who tried to assassinate him a few months prior - as his uncle did with his parents to steal the throne. Anyhoo, H kidnaps heroine & their son and brings them home. He learns the truth and they have sex again and all of a sudden they are in love with each other.

A brief mention was made that one of his doctors was giving him drugs for a headache and heroine thought he may have been hooked on drugs as she was in the past, and the doctor seemed to be working with the cousin based on his reaction to heroine and her questioning about the amount of drugs being given to H but the plot was dropped and then nothing.

So all in all, this was not a good HP read in my opinion. I was bored, the characters were bland and we never saw their relationship grow from point A to go to point B and the story had no real plot. Author went from one potential plot scene such as the coop by the cousin that could have been interesting if he ever came to the picture and actually kidnaped heroine or his son, or the doctor who seemed to be drugging Hero with so many unnecessary pills, or even his drug addiction that heroine seemed to think he was on. If author had stuck to one of those plot points, perhaps she would have had a story here, but it's as if she didn't know what to write, got fed up and bored as I did myself and just called it a day. And this is what my hard earned money paid for? Is there no publishers or anyone to proof read these things and not publish an unfinished book? LOL.

[Sabilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was over the moon when the author sent me the e-arc for the final instalment of Behind the Palace Doors. It’s a story about Victoria, Lance’s sister, but it is a standalone.

I still recall Victoria from the second book, but her characters seems to have changed here. She becomes a strong, loving and protective mother to little Nicolai. Both Sandro and Victoria agree to a one-night stand that ends in an unexpected pregnancy. The beginning begins with little Nicolai’s lines. He may have me wrapped around his little finger. I loved reading his lines. I love a story where a child is involved even if he is a minor character.

Victoria has been trying to tell Sandro about the baby in the palace, but there are a lot of misunderstandings from the start, so she is accused of being a schemer. When Sandro confronts her, he may literally kidnap her and his son to Santa Fiorina to protect them from threats.

I liked Victoria’s character. After what she has been through, she learns not to let herself be dictated again, whereas Sandro is determined and cautious. He is still haunted by his horrendous pasts. Uncertainty and wariness hover over them, which made me instantly read it in one sitting to find out their happily ever after.

The book is packed with emotion, drama and a little suspense and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Thank you, Kali, Anthony for the e-arc which I volunteered to review. This final instalment of Behind the Palace Doors made my day.

[Michelle Boyer · Rating 1 out of 5]

My thoughts on this book can be summarized as follows...



Let me start with the glaringly obvious problems with the novel. First, the plot is kind of ridiculous. This takes place in some world in which there are all kinds of mini-monarchies out there and their princes/princesses/whatever are all out there galivanting and hooking up. And I can be okay with that, really. What I can't be okay with is that we are in the 2020s when these books are taking place and everyone is acting like it is the 1500s. I mean... the idea that in these monarchies people need to be virgins, or can't have a social life, or are being put in positions where their uncle is trying to usurp the throne. I mean... this entire series of books wants "royalty" but they are not "contemporary" by any means. So the entire plot just gets lost in this ambiguous creation where its the 2020s but nothing makes much sense.

And again, I'll try to put the dumb plot aside, but here's something I cannot give up... Sandro is a walking idiot. He's bland, dumb, and honestly he was giving "crap dad" vibes the entire story even when he was 'trying' to be a protective/good father for a kid he didn't know he had. Apart from being good in bed (which, idk, he seems pretty vanilla) I really don't see a lot going on there.



Everyone in this book needs serious therapy. Instead of getting that therapy, and becoming okay within their own skin, they just have sex and hopefully that will fix things. It won't, we all know this, but it just makes for weird moments. I absolutely understand that we want characters with some realistic flaws... but we had drug issues, husband issues, uncle issues, dead family issues, it just goes on and on and for a 200 page book I just think we need to calm down. Go to therapy. Work this out before getting into bed with others.



And here's actually my biggest issue with this dumpster fire.... the heroine is a complete moron and I'm ashamed the author wrote her this stupid. Okay, our hero is Vic, and she's been married in the past (not a virgin, cool). She meets Sandro one night and is feeling wild, so they hook up, she gets pregnant, but she ditched him so... not much to go with. When they reunite there is a steamy scene were he wants her to put a condom on him.

Okay, she's an adult woman. She should know how but... page 129... she acts like she just can't figure it out. She needs help. She's that stupid. A grown ass woman that doesn't know how to put a condom on a guy? I get it, she's had few lovers, but you want me to believe that there's a woman out there who, handed a condom, couldn't even begin to figure out, without help, how to get one of these on an erect penis?

The author tried to create a strong willed woman who is single parenting and kicking butt, who isn't afraid of her sexuality (sometimes?), and then made her ask for help getting a condom on because she just can't figure it out...



I'm actually upset by this entire scene because I just refuse to believe any woman on this planet is that dumb. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe this is someone's kink and they like women who are like "help me, I just can't figure out how to get this on your big rock hard c***" but like... seriously?

Who are the women reading this that are like, yeah, that's representative of me!

This really may have done me in for these Harlequin books. I like them because they're short and quick and usually kind of fun. But... I haven't read them in a few years and now that I've been ruined by all the Romantasy smut out there... the women in Harlequin books are seemingly stupid. And I don't want to support stupid women. Do I? No, no I do not.

Do better Harlequin. Do better.

[Peta Baum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crowned For the King's Secret:
The back cover read:
He’ll secure his throne with the heir he’s only just discovered in this royal secret-child romance by Kali Anthony.
She hid his son…
Can she hide from their desire?
One year ago, her spine-tingling night with exiled king Sandro left Victoria pregnant and alone. Lied to by the palace, she believed he wanted nothing to do with them. So Sandro turning up on her doorstep—ready to claim her, his heir and his kingdom—is astounding!
Burned by her past, Victoria has no intention of complying with His Majesty’s command. But she’ll need to keep her wits about her because their insatiable craving once made her abandon all reason. And it’s about to reignite with a vengeance….

I was really looking forward to the release of the final book in the Behind the Palace Walls series, we first met the heroine Victoria in the second book of this trilogy Engaged to London's Wildest Billionaire (Lance and Sara’s story) I knew then that any story featuring Victoria would be something special and for me Crowned For the King’s Secret does not disappoint.

Without giving to much away in spoilers (I personally am not happy when a reviewer all but tells me everything that happens in the book, I like to read it for myself).

I will be honest this story is a little darker than Kali Antony generally writes and some of the subject manner even now is not necessarily openly discussed, like how easily prescription drug addiction can happen especially if your self-confidence has be severely eroded by emotional and physical spousal abuse, the Loss of trust in family and self. This story may not necessarily appeal to everyone but I really love stories with a bit of drama that evoke strong emotions and reactions and if there is a lovely Epilogue to finish I’m happy which this one does, so it ticked all the boxes for me.

Heroine Victoria:
I thought Victoria’s particular storyline was handled with great sensitivity and while reading I felt Victoria’s pain and struggle as she had fought to overcome these issues and finding the strength to rebuild her life and then after one amazing night with Sandro and the birth of her son and when she feels that they have been abandoned by Sandro she vows never to let go of her own power again (mind you she is tested).

Hero Sandro:
Sandro has for years quietly campaigned to regain his rightful place as King of Santa Fiorina after a coup many years before robbed him of his family and childhood, not knowing who to trust after the betrayals of this event. So for one last night he wants to be a normal man before he reclaims his birth right and takes his place as King, on this one last night he meets and has an instant connection with Victoria but knows after this night she has no place in the future laid out for him, till he finds out about his son.

As I said no spoilers but I became so involved with this story many pages were read in tears and I felt so many emotions while reading, sadness, anger and best of all joy, I just couldn’t put it down till I had finished it, so was the early hours of the morning before I went to bed.

Congratulations Kali for me this is definitely a ⭐⭐🌟⭐⭐ and will be living with your other books pride of place in the Keeper Book case 😍

[Fiona Marsden · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you make me cry or at least seriously mist up in a romance, you will usually get a 5* from me unless there is something else really annoying in the book.
I've been waiting for this book for a while because we catch a glimpse of Victoria in her brother's book, the Wildest Billionaire.
We get a hint that there's something drastically wrong in Victoria's life but we have to wait for her own story to get the nitty gritty.
When Victoria and Sandro meet, they are both in a crucial place in their lived and the time they have together is a moment out of reality. Until there are consequences.
We get the idea almost immediately they meet again that something nefarious has been going on in the twelve months since the birth of Victoria's son and Sandro's heir. It means their meeting is fraught with anger and misunderstandings and it doesn't make for a good start.
The two protagonists have a lot to work through as a result of all this and both have their own baggage that feeds into the problems they have to overcome.
I really liked that once they started to communicate, they acted like grownups about it all.
Overall I really enjoyed this book, though there were some aspects that were challenging when we learn about the past.
The character depth was good, the intimacy was spicy and the resolution satisfying.

[Susan in Perthshire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry but I’ve just about had it with Mills and Boon Royal stories.

Apparently the Mediterranean, and other parts of Europe are packed with mini principalities and monarchies - all operating as if it was two hundred years ago. Has anyone bothered looking at Monaco, Liechtenstein and Andorra for example?

In Mills and Boon land - it’s like Ruritania - Kings who have a stiff upper lip, a dedication to protecting their people and melodramatic enemies who assassinate royalty so that they can take over. It’s also usually about Virgin heroines, unexpected babies and convenient weddings. It’s all melodramatic tosh which reaches a new depth in this story.

I picked this because I realised it was about Lance’s sister Victoria who we met in “Engaged to London’s wildest billionaire.” I had always wondered if she could have a happy ending. Thankfully it was in KU.

Sorry but Sandro - who I liked when we first met him, was an idiot throughout. Quite how treating Victoria as he did at the end of the book was meant to be a good choice - totally escapes me.

This had the makings of a great story but the fairy tale melodrama simply made me laugh. Well written as one would expect from KA but the plot etc was utterly unbelievable .

[Mattie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok, but I wouldn't want to re-read it. It was not clear if he was celibate for the 21 months they were seperated.

Their connection was ok and the beginning plot was interesting with her thinking he knew about their son, but he actually didn't know and it was his evil cousin lying to heroine. However once they were in his palace it got a bit boring.

I did not like his decision at the end to send heroine and their son away because he loved them and wanted them safe, but decided he would then go and marry someone else and make a new heir. He didn't come to his senses by himself, but rather the heroine went to him and confronted him. No thanks. If the hero is going to coldly reject heroine, then he should be the one to go after her and beg for forgiveness for what he said. P.

[Carmelita Clardy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book

This is the 3rd book in the series and it was good. I will have to go back and read the other two. The h and H meet at a bar, both wanting a night to forget about their troubles. They have a one night stand and she becomes pregnant. She reaches out to the H, but his cousin intercepted her message, she doesn’t know who he is and what he has done to the H’s family. The H kidnaps her and his son to protect them. The plot and characters were very well written. They had an immediate attraction to each other and they were able to find their way back to each other. Great epilogue.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved Victoria and Sandro’s electric chemistry right from the beginning. Their own inner struggles are written with strength and compassion that takes the reader on the intimate journey not only through the characters own dark past but ultimately to the light of their future together as a family.

It is set in the fictional Mediterranean country of Santa Fiorina, which lends to the backdrop of the story’s beauty and luxury. Its modern day hope of love and strength can conquer all will take you right to the emotionally magical end.

[Harlequin Books]

Contemporary Romance
Miniseries
Behind the Palace Doors... (Book #3)

[Harlequin Books]

Contemporary Romance
Miniseries
Behind the Palace Doors... (Book #3)