Charming as a Killer

by Kendra Moreno

Gold runs thicker than blood. . . Aurelia hardly remembers a time before she was trapped in Phillip’s golden cage, captured and forced to become a part of his court to await her twenty-fourth birthday. Phillip speaks of horrible plans for her, terrible things, but he can hardly hope for them to work out when the Enchanted Forest has a giant problem. Plagued by attacks from the giant beings, Phillip has one option. Hire the infamous Giant Killer, Jack, with his stolen gold. Jack didn’t earn his fame by being nice. Jaded by life and determined to take whatever he wants for himself, Jack steps into this new court with his eyes on the caged princess. Her attitude calls to something primal inside him. Her lips beg him for a kiss. It’s forbidden, and might very well result in him losing his head, but Jack has never been scared of dying. Magic appears to those who demand it. Two paths call out for vengeance and freedom. The worlds collide and send ripples throughout the kingdom. Will she have the strength to survive it, or will she succumb to the chaos her sister left behind? After all, some things are worth more than gold.

242 pages, Paperback

Published April 28, 2023

About the author

Kendra Moreno is secretly a spy but when she’s not dealing in secrets and espionage, you can find her writing her latest adventure. She lives in Texas where the summer days will make you melt, and southern charm comes free with every meal. She’s a recovering Road Rager (kind of) and slowly overcoming her Star Wars addiction (nope!), and she definitely didn’t pass on her addiction to her son (she did). She has one hellhound named Mayhem who got tired of guarding the Gates of Hell and now guards her home against monsters. She’s a geek, a mother, a scuba diver, a tyrannosaurus rex, and a wordsmith who sometimes switches out her pen for a sword.

If you see Kendra on the streets, don’t worry: you can distract her with talks about Kylo Ren or Loki.
#LokiLives #BringBackBenSolo

To learn more about Kendra Moreno, you can visit her website, kendramorenoauthor.com, or joing her Facebook group, Kendra's World of Wonder.

Reviews

[Kaycee]

5 STARS

As usual Miss Moreno never disappoints! I've been in a book slump recently, trying to finish series that are more like a chore than enjoyment. I haven't found many books lately that drawing in right at the start but the one 100% does! Kendra is one of favorite authors because it doesnt matter the genre. She always draws me into the wonderful stories she's created. I've read many fairytale retellings but never one of Jack & the Beanstalk. If they're all as good as this one I've definitely been missing out. It was nice to see that Aurelia survived the battle at her families castle, not so nice at how she'd been treated since then. I loved Jack & hiw he was supportive but not overbearing with Aurelia. His friendship with Goldie was great #bbfsforever. I also liked Koen. I'm curious to learn more about him. All in all, you can't go wrong with romance, action, karma & kindness. Highly recommend book! You don't have to read the others to read this one but you definitely should because they are all awesome! Start with Mad as a Hatter & enjoy the trip down the rabbit hole & beyond!

[Claudia Coenen]

Great start

Another world and another 4 books coming up. This is the first one from the enchanted forrest and we meet Jack and Aurelia. Jack is a giant slayer after killing giants at the age of 12 after he climbs the bean stalk. And Aurelia had been in captivity since she was 10 by King Phillip being breeded to be his wife and bearer of his heir.

They meet when a giant may disturb the wedding and Jack needs to keep the kingdom but mostly the king save from giants.

Aurelia is a strong young woman who has one goal on her mind and Jack makes it hard to keep to her goal.

Jack's live is about gold till he meets the trapped bird.

Amazing start and can't wait to see where we go next.

[Nicky Anderson]

If you are going to read this I strongly suggest reading the books at the end of this review first as you do get a secondary interconnecting plot story involving characters from these books. I have read Sons of Wonderland but not the rest so did not know what was going on, or what had happened to some characters and you do get some chapters told from the POV of some of them.

That aside Kendra Moreno definitely knows how to put a twist on the fairytales that we all love.

This book gives us a darker twist on Jack and the Beanstalk and follows Jack the Giant Killer and Princess Aurelia.

We start off with a prologue about 12 year old Jack taking his cow to market, his encounter with an old man and the exchange of his cow for magic beans, followed by his resulting journey up and down the beanstalk. Throughout this you do get flashback chapters of how and why he became "Jack the Giant Killer".

Princess Aurelia was taken by King Phillip of Warith after he kills her family when she was 10. He wants her as is his bride, but luckily for her, he refuses to marry her until her 25th birthday and the story begins where she is just weeks away from being forced to become his bride.

Jack is called on to get rid of the giants that have started to become a problem in Warith. Jack and Aurelia have an instant attraction when they meet.

We then follow Aurelia as she plots her revenge against the King, Jack as he hunts the giants and we also follow the other characters as they try to figure out what the "rot" is that has started spreading through all the different worlds.

Although at times I was a bit confused I did still love this. I will read it again once I have read the other books and get an understanding of events.

I can't wait for book 2, Ethereal as a Swan.

BOOKS TO READ
The Sons of Wonderland
Mad as a Hatter
Late as a Rabbit
Feral as a Cat
Cruel as a Queen

The Daughters of Neverland
Vicious as a Darling
Fierce as a Tiger Lily
Wicked as a Pixie
Monstrous as a Croc

The Heirs of Oz
Heartless as a Tin Man
Empty as a Scarecrow
Cowardly as a Lion
Vengeful as a Beauty

The Lords of Grimm
Cunning as a Trickster
Bitter as a Captain
Twisted as a Princess
Hateful as a Sister

[Kimberly]

Charming as a Killer by Kendra Moreno is book one in the series, Keepers of Enchantment. I might be bias with this review as I read and loved a previous series called Sons of Wonderland. So, I already knew how much I loved this author’s writing going into this book. Boy Howdy! Was I right! I absolutely love this book! The world, characters, story or even a plot is just so well written. I couldn’t stop reading when I started until I reached the very last page. Kendra Moreno has a gift writing fantasy books; a gift that can transport you into the very story itself.

The character in this story is a woman named Aurelia. (How pretty is that name? 🌸🌺) She’s being held prisoner by a man named Phillip until her twenty-fourth birthday. There’s a problem that needs dealing with, so enter Jack our giant killer. I absolutely adored the the back and forth between Aurelia and him. I loved all the twists and turns! This was just so masterfully written and I highly recommend it!!!

Final review:
5 out of 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My love for this author:
5 out of 5 hearts 💜🩵💜🩵💜

[Cary]

I hate Phillip! Hated him before, hate him even more now! How dare him? Well, now that I took that out of my chest I can talk about Jack and how awesome he is!!! And Aurelia, such a strong girl. One of my favorite things about Kendra´s books is that her female characters are not weak nor need to be saved and also the strong ties that the lead characters have and how they complement each other "I don't need you to do this but we do it better together". As always, there is a lot to love and a couple of moments to hate Kendra. This book is the first on the Keeper of Enchantment series but I suggest you read the others first because the worlds merge together ( see what I did there? )

[Batwoman]

I really enjoyed this book. I absolutely love how it’s merged all the different types of fairy tales together. It’s like three different worlds colliding. I seriously can’t wait to continue this series and will definitely be reading the series that interconnect with this one. Jack and Aurelia’s stories fit perfectly together and I really enjoying reading their story together. Definitely recommend for people that love a twist on fairytales. Highly recommend!

[Katie]

Another story I so loved. This is the first book in Keepers of Enchantment series. Really need to read all the prior series since they all run right into each other.
This one is about Jack the Giant killer and Aurelia. All the books have a fairytale twist. I’m obsessed with them all. Definitely recommend.

[Marie Tzem]

I was so disappointed with this book!! Too little about the previous characters and as for the new characters? Boring!! I skipped a lot of pages. Maybe Kendra had writer's block with this one.