Królowa ruin

Deliciously Dark Fairytales #4

by K.F. Breene, Aleksandra Górczyńska (Translator)

Finałowy tom pełnego pikanterii, rozkosznie mrocznego retellingu Pięknej i Bestii!

Finley myślała, że po zniszczeniu klątwy ją i Nyfaina czeka walka tylko z jednym wrogiem.

Nie mogła się bardziej pomylić.

Królowa żyje. Jednak to nie koniec niespodzianek. Świadomie ukrywała swoją prawdziwą tożsamość przed Finley i resztą królestwa do czasu, aż klątwa zniknie na dobre. Władczyni wróciła, ale powody, dla których to zrobiła, wcale nie są jasne.

Czy będzie próbowała obalić rządy Nyfaina i sama zechce zasiąść na tronie?

Okazuje się, że można ją powstrzymać… chyba że brała udział w stworzeniu klątwy. W takiej sytuacji, czy naprawdę będzie trzeba stoczyć wojnę zarówno z nią, jak i królem demonów, zanim wreszcie uda się zacząć spokojnie żyć? Czy może to wszystko, co dotąd zostało zrobione, zda się na nic?

Bez względu na to, co planuje królowa, jest coraz mniej czasu, zanim król demonów wróci, zamierzając zmieść wszystkich z powierzchni ziemi.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Dragons, Romantasy, Fantasy Romance, Paranormal, Shapeshifters

732 pages, Paperback

First published May 30, 2022

About the author

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K.F. Breene is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post, Amazon Most Sold Charts and #1 Kindle Store bestselling author of paranormal romance, urban fantasy and fantasy novels. With millions of books sold, when she's not penning stories about magic and what goes bump in the night, she's sipping wine and planning shenanigans. She lives in Northern California with her husband, two children, and out of work treadmill.

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Reviews

[Lanae (findmeonsmutlane) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I have been looking forward to this book and the ending of this series for awhile. And I have to say, I have real mixed feelings about it.

First off, the entire first half of this book was really slow, and I kept feeling like, ok come, something happen, why are we wasting so much time! It just kinda dragged and nothing really was happening. We had gotten so many snippets of things to come, and little breadcrumbs of plot points, but nothing really important was happening.

The second half of the book I feel like all bets were off and it just went from 0 to 100. Lots started going on. Most of it was great and I was completely hooked. I feel like a lot of books lately lead up to a big battle and it's over in two seconds, that did not happen in this book and I appreciated a good long battle sequence. The ending was great and I was very happy for a happily ever after for Nyfrain and Finley.

But there were definite aspects that I didn't like and wish for more of. First, we got like barely any Leala in this book! For someone who was a big part of the last book, we got tons of Hadriel, but barely any Leala and I was very disappointed. Also, lots of little things got brought up and then never really resolved or talked about again. Like the drama with the Flamma kingdom (the wolves involvement in the castle fight), or all the dragons leaving and coming to Nyfrain's kingdom. Just some loose ends I feel like never got finished. We also got hinted at things between Hannon and Dessia, them as people and then their animals. Although I do think that she is setting us up for a book about them, at least I hope so since none of that really got answered or went anywhere.

This book also had a considerable more about of sex in it. I mean it made sense in some aspects but it's.... a lot! I'm not complaining, cause I love good spice, but I do think it's such an uptick from the other books that some people may not like it.

I have to say, I do wish that either this book had removed half the fluff and got down to the point, or we have another book to tie up some loose ends and plot points I felt like weren't answered well enough. But in the end, this series is still a good read and I did enjoy it a lot.

[Sweet and Salty Reviews by DD · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a tremendous ending to a series!!!!

Finley and Nyfain's story grabs you from book 1. This series....there is NONE like!

Breene is a master story teller! There is so much action, heat, thrills, and shockers it is unbelievable! The secondary characters are top 3 in any series for me. Let's face it....if you do not have solid secondary characters then your series is going to become monotonous.

People I can not sing the praises of the series loud enough!

GO GET IT!!

Happy reading,
DD 🥂

[Luckylovesbooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5
I would have given this book a solid 3/5. Except… there was too much sex. Way. Too. Much. Sex.
Every time they got it on, I rolled my eyes and skip skip skipped. The book also dragged along fantastically. The ending was sweet tho, ngl. But the sex. It went past being sexy to tiresome, repetitive and frankly, icky. There were 12 (extremely graphic) scenes. 12!

[debturk1970_bookvibes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epically Brilliant & Still All The Smut!💥💘🔥🌹
A Queen of Ruin: (A Dark Beauty and the Beast Retelling) Deliciously Dark Fairytales, Book 4

I absolutely LOVED this entire series. It's in a class all of its own for this type of retelling, and with a complete slant towards actual adults that aren't adverse to high levels of steam, swearing, and what ever is thrown at the characters!
Bravo to this Author for being brave enough to go 'balls to the wall' in the writing of it, in trusting her readers enough to have her back and that new readers would flock to this story and series!🎉😍

The finale of Nyfain & Finley's battle for Freedom, Love and ultimately Peace, is a beast of a book. We get the answers to was his mother responsible for the curse, did she deliberately trick Finley, and is she after the Crown and Kingdom, and therefore, will Finley need to battle her?👑 We'll finally find out what Hannon's animal is.😏 But will Nyfain ever be restored to his perfect 'pre curse self' and get his wings back?😳 This final book in the series has all of the answers, and then some. Questions are answered that I didn't even know I needed to ask!🤷🏻‍♀️ Surprises are around most corners, and it keeps you constantly on edge, waiting for the next bomb to drop! One of them literally had me sobbing!😭 I freaked my youngest out, and she's 27 😂

There is more sublime world building. But the emphasis is, of course, on the core characters from all of the books and telling the story. I loved the new dynamic between Hadriel and a new addition to Finley's inner circle.😂 Dolion isn't far from anyone's thoughts or ours throughout, despicable slimeball that he is.😡
In summary, this will give you every answer you go into the book wanting, nothing it's left unanswered regarding them. So I'd carve a day + out, sit back, relax, and enjoy your last hurrah with Finley, Nyfain, Hadriel, Leala & co as they face the final battle for true freedom & independence from the Demon King because it's Unmissable!🔥🌟 💥

Debbie, 1970, UK

[Alaina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Queen of Ruin is the fourth and final book within the Deliciously Dark Fairytales series. It's definitely bittersweet since I see potential with a certain spin off. Maybe it will happen or maybe I won't get to see two certain shifters fall in love and watch the world burn. Seriously, I could get behind a certain phoenix and basilisk love making. Just saying.

Back to this book though. I'm so happy that we finally get some action between certain shifters who really needed the demon king to die. As well as love making and mate claiming too. It shouldn't come as a shock, or spoiler, that something ends up happening due to all the love making either. Seriously, I screamed with so much joy because these two deserved all the happiness coming their way. I mean, after the demon king dies of course.

I also liked how a certain mother came into play as well. At first, I thought she was going to take the throne away from them. Especially after a certain secret was blurted out quite rudely. When she became a strong part of the family, though, I was eased into happiness quite quickly. Definitely needed her on board and I loved how she was easily amazed by Finley.

Which, yes, it also shouldn't come as a huge shock that she was constantly underestimated. Heck they both were. It bothered me endlessly but at least they showed everyone not to mess with them. I mean true dragon mates should always be feared. Again, just saying.

As for the battles, oh man, I was so pumped for everything to go down. Wasn't surprised with who chose what sides because the revenge was going to be epic. Then there's the beautiful epilogue that put a huge smile on my face. Definitely happy that I came across this series and will be hopeful for a certain spin off to come my way.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 / 5 STARS;

This last book of the series was a serious let down for me. Even though, everything get's wrapped up nicely and our main characters get their happily ever after, it all feels sloppily done. Sections of this book were awkward, others were predictable and some were boring (and then there was all of the sex scenes which just dragged this whole thing out even more). Now, this doesn't mean it was all bad. Overall, I enjoyed this series; there were portions that were extremely entertaining (though most of them are someone being vulgar about something which can get old) and there were parts where I was definitely completely immersed in the story. In the end though, this series lost it's charm the further we went.

There were two reasons I read this book: to figure out what happened with the Queen and to find out what Hannon's animal was. I was extremely disappointed by the former and only slightly appeased by the latter.

With the appearance of the late Queen, everyone was thrown a little off balance and I was so ready to relish all that drama. The drama lasted all of a chapter, maybe. We got one or two awkward conversations before the queen basically just fell into the background. At first, I was thrilled with the introduction of the queen but as the book progressed I became less and less enchanted with her existence in the story. By the end, I was thinking it might have been better if she had stayed gone and/or dead. Her only role was to lend an air of sophistication to the crass, uncivilized place the kingdom had become (which was not helped any by Finley or Nyfain) and for her to be outshone by Finley in every aspect of life. At one point, she attempted to help Finley (and Nyfain) become a bit more refined but basically everything she said was ignored, brushed aside or forgotten. Once we got to the end, I was only feeling something like pity for a character who could have been so much more (like I know she was a side character but jeez).

With one of the things I was looking forward to falling flat, the other one had to be all out to win me back (I do want to preface this part by saying I'm not a huge fan of the whole shifters being two beings, like that their animal is separate from the person).

Honestly, Hannon is one of my favorite characters in this whole book even though he was shoved aside so often (like I KNOW Finley is the main character but she doesn't need to be the best at everything, okay). I was so ready for him to shift and it got really annoying having his animal talk to him and use its power but never 'show' himself. It took FOREVER to get to the point of his shift and I debated about giving up multiple times. Once Hannon finally shifted for the first time, it made it worth it (though the whole situation and lead up was a bit much in my opinion, and it took entirely too long). I was devastated for a moment when Hannon died, but I was like there's no way he's really dead. And he wasn't, thank you Hannon's animal for having something ACTUALLY happen! After this long wait, Hannon is able to steal some glory for himself, so all of us Hannon lovers can cheer for him. That doesn't last long, however, and it annoys me to no end that Breene ends up belittling what he was and what he could with other characters (including Finley, his SISTER) making him into a joke (which just felt like we had to make sure Finley was the center of the attention AGAIN and yes, AGAIN I KNOW she's the main character but then why even bother with the other characters if that's what you're going to do?).

Like I said, Hannon was one of my favorite parts of this entire story and even though I loved that he finally got his shift (and that it was awesome), it felt really sloppy. In fact, the entire shifter lore was kind of a mess. In the first book, we hear about the dragons and wolves (and a bear queen, I think?) and there's some ground work laid there. As we progress, things just didn't seem to make sense and what the shifters were rather muddled. At one point, I remember there being a honey badger or something of the sort, and I was intrigued and confused by it. Nothing of the shifter lore is ever really explained (even as Finley is learning to shift and all those other fun things that I'm still very confused about) and as soon as a random animal appears, they're forgotten. It feels as if Breene just made things up a she went along and forgot what she had previously written (except that there are wolves and dragons, of course!!). The shifter kingdoms make no sense: there's wolf kingdoms that are mostly wolves, then there's a random dragon village in the middle of the wolves
that kind of just does their own thing, and the dragon kingdom of Wyvern is actually mostly populated by not dragons? On top of that, we have all sorts of random animals, which is fine and dandy but doesn't make a whole lot of sense either. Hannon's plot line (which I hope is a set up for a spin off, even if I was disappointed here I will still read a book about Hannon!!!) seems like it was thrown in last minute and the lore behind it was not super thought out. The introduction of the lore was also very strange, in my opinion. We've heard all about the GLORIOUS libraries these courts have and it feels like there was hardly any reading about shifter history and folklore and biology because we just read plant books and things with kinky scenes to re-enact. To continue the confusion, one of the FAERIE sisters turns out to be a shifter? How does that even happen? With it just being casually thrown in there, it felt out of place and poorly planned as there obviously was no time or place to explain it.

The rest of the lore is rather odd as well and is completely underdeveloped. The faeries are rather stereotypical and one dimensional with only a few traits highlighted that are completely underwhelming. On the other hand, the demons are not as stereotypical but even with an entire book being stuck in the dungeon we never really learn anything of significance. The only thing we know about the demons is the lust demons are looked down on upon. Even with the demon king being the villain of this series, we learn nothing about him or the kingdom he supposedly terrorizes, according to some other demons. Most of the information that the ally demons share with our main characters does not seem to be shared with the reader which seems to leave holes in the story. In fact, this seems to happen quite a lot as things are haphazardly thrown into the story and then just as quickly forgotten, or just glossed over entirely.

I feel as though there was simultaneously nothing happening and too much going on. The pacing of this book was rather stop and start, we'd get going and then something would derail everything and not in a good way. The changing POVs did not help this at all, just throwing more nonsense into the pile. It would have been much better to have just had it all from Finley's POV because suddenly being in Hadriel's insanity just confused everything more and side tracked the plot from where it needed to go. There were , also, way too much emphasis on the sex scenes, which also side tracked from the plot and kept stalling the story. By the last portion of book, the final battle seemed rushed after spending so many pages wasted on things that gave little to the story. Then, we just kind of skipped to the happily ever after.

Okay, this has gotten super long, but I'm not done quite yet, sorry! Onto the characters!

Most of the character's don't really do it for me. First, I'm not a huge fan of Finley. When we first met her, I thought I could maybe like her, but she has not grown on me as we progressed. At the beginning, I thought she was a little juvenile and obnoxious and I don't think she grew as person throughout the series. Her dragon is just as bad. Honestly, listening to her dragon go on and on about being the best is grating and tiresome. Cool, you're an alpha dragon, please shut up. I feel as if Finley falls into the category a lot of main female characters of basically a Mary Sue. They're super tough and awesome at fighting (and one of their main flaws is they are terrible with a certain weapon i.e. Finley can't use a sword). They're not like other girls (because they dress different or act different or whatever) and because of that they're shunned. Except wait! They're super gorgeous and basically everyone is either jealous or in love with them. They're compassionate (in their own way, of course. Who cares that Finley could never actually face any of the people she wanted to help). And they're super family oriented and would do anything for their family, but they condemn others who do the same. I mean, Finley punched someone because they lied to protect their sister from a miserable life (where Finley, herself, lied, cheated, stole, and killed to keep her family safe!!). On top of that, Finley had to be better than everyone at everything which just got annoying.

Moving on to Nyfain. He's very wishy-washy to me. Again and again i realize that Finley is the female main character and basically the most important thing ever, but all his decisions
were based on her. Don't get me wrong, it's nice he considers her but why does everything have to be about her? Oh, she wants to go to war? Let's do it. She wants to play nice with everyone. Done. Like, Nyfain is born to be a king, and he knows what needs to be done. You can't just flip a kingdom over in a week because the female main character wants it. Have an original thought!!! And don't get me started on his dragon!!! Must dominate. Oh wait no, do anything she wants. But must dominate. Seriously, gag.

On the other hand, I did like most of the side characters though some of them only in small doses. Hadriel was great comic relief, until his inner ramblings turned into 'I love Finley, she's the best and my alpha, etc' like okay, enough. Leala was great, and I would love to have learned more about her. Sadly, she doesn't play as big of a role in this last installment. The macho, manly men were kind of obnoxious, though I did enjoy the banter between Venmar and Hadriel. It was also nice to learn a little about Weston. I would have liked to learn a bit more about the other dragons as well.

Part of my biggest problem is Dolion! We are never told anything about him except he's a raging asshole, greedy and apparently a prude. We don't know why he only cursed Wyvern, we don't how he kept all the other kingdoms in line, or how he supposedly defeated the other obscure kingdoms he apparently conquered. Everything about him as a villain is basic which is painfully apparent with his absence from much of the series.

Lastly, I found some of the actions by the main characters unsettling. There was a lot of unnecessary violence in this book. I'm not talking about the actual battles or what not, nor am talking about the rage/hate sex (it's not my thing really, but if you wanna punch your lover in the balls while you're getting it on, go ahead, I guess. To each their own). No, I'm talking about things like when Nyfain's ex is a complete cow, the appropriate response is apparently to toss her in the air multiple times and do her serious injury. Or when you find out someone lied to you (to protect their sister!), you punch them in the face. Or when you don't like the answer someone gives you, so you throw them out a window. Being a dragon or an alpha or whatever does not make any of that okay! But everyone was excusing it because 'oh that's how they are.' As an alpha and ruler, I would expect more out of them and I'm extremely disappointed in their actions and everyone's response to those actions.

All in all, it was a mostly entertaining read that got drawn out for too long without any actual substance.

[Caroline Paquin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great from start to finish (literally)

I really hate goodbyes, it's no secret, and saying goodbye to Finley, Nyfain, Hannon, Hadriel, Leala, Vemar, Weston, and all the others is no different. However, a K.F. Breene goodbye is always a great adventure that leaves us glued to the pages from start to finish.

Again, this is no different.

The Queen of the Battle Scenes strikes again, on top of A LOT of heat, some ugly crying, many laughs, and one of the best closing sentences I have read in my life.

Yes, this book is a brick, but it is worth every minute spent reading them, every word written into it.

A great end to a great series.

[tahliareadstoomuch · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.65 ⭐ *SPOILERS*

Okay, this book was a RIDE and had a happy end for the characters (phew!!). I honestly think this book was the best written by this author so far ☺️.

There were a few things I didn't love though:
- Too much random sex during war preparations. I feel like that is NOT realistic.
- I wish there had been more DRAMA with the queen. It seemed like she arrived shockingly alive and then almost immediately said, "No don't worry I support my son I want him to rule. Ps. Your real dad was not the King lol."
- I did not like the 3 months skip thing, however it was clearly necessary because NOTHING WAS HAPPENING at that point in time. There should never be a point in a book where it feels like nothing is happening.
- The court politics. I really felt like staying at the other castle and SPECIFICALLY the dinner with the other Kingdom leaders all felt kind of awkward and weird. The way that the dinner went with Dolion there and them kind of challenging him but not really and talking sh!t about him and him also not doing anything about it... Didn't really make sense.

I will say that I got caught right IN THE FEELS when Hannon died. Cried. I don't love when no one dies in a book (unrealistic), BUT, I was super glad that he came back as a phoenix. I really wish more than just wolves and dragons were mentioned in the earlier books; I am always here for world-building, more world-building please!

The battle at the end was also crazy (in a good way!!), and it was written well. My nails got bitten for a minute there. The only thing was that they stabbed King Dolion and immediate it was like "cool he's dead, we're done, off we go". I would have liked to read about his supporters disappearing or running away or the classic battle clean-up of the wounded.

But at least we got a happy ending. Lots of love between Finley & Nylain, a baby, and friends and family all around in the castle where they live safely now 💕

Plus, what would this series be without the spice. DONT WORRY book 4 still had it. 🌶️🌶️🌶️

I know there's a few things I have mentioned that have annoyed me in the books of this series, but honestly the story idea is so creative, and the characters are amazing. It really is worth the read if you are into spicy fantasy books! ☺️

[Reece · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a book, this one was okay. It was irritating in several ways and predictable in a lot of ways, but it was an okay end to the series. I nearly DNF'd it a couple of times because of the eye-rollingly nauseating turn of the romance though.

On the whole, this was a mostly decent series. However, I have several bitchings to bitch.

This series would have been infinitely better if:
1. The romance was fleshed out better/more believably with proper anticipation in the beginning.
2. The author would throw in something aside from fingerbanging and pussy licking and standard dickery. I am really done with hearing about Finley's folds (I now have The Gambler playing in my head btw). And can the man lose his load somewhere new once in a while? She's already pregnant. YOU DONE DID IT. Move along.
3. Any of the side characters had their own storylines, relationships, and romances. There are 4 fucking books in this series. Drop some of the fold fingering and add in something interesting and engaging. Let someone else get their folds fingered. Jazz it up a bit.
4. The romance didn't become vomitous towards the end. I get it. ALPHA. He wants to walk her naked through the halls with his jizz running down her calves because of all the jizz he jizzed, which I'm SURE wasn't terribly itchy and awkward, and she is like *swoon,* and all the residents just tilt their heads and collectively 'awww' because isn't that so sweet? They were constantly getting wet and hard at dinner, sucking on each other's teeth in front of their parents/siblings, etc. Like.. fuck off.
5. The pregnancy was also very irritating. She gets knocked up, and he is SO DEVOTED and suddenly she must just become a framed butterfly, pins in the wings, because apparently no one cares if you die, but if your fetus is at risk? *gasp* Everyone treated her like she was made of spun sugar, everyone. I don't care about her hormones, Finley as a character would not have taken well to being treated like she had no value and was nothing but a husk to carry a fetus. She started off pretty bad ass, and then I just wanted to backhand her.

Anyways, as stated, I mostly liked this series. A lot of the plot was interesting and enjoyable to read. It actually made me chuckle several times. I also mostly didn't dislike the sexy bits. I don't mind excessive boning in my books. I see a lot of other reviewers bitching about that. I do not care about the quantity of the boning, I care about the quality, and it was lacking but not awful. If you don't like it, skip it. Nothing pertinent to the plot really happens during the sexy bits. It would certainly cut down the word count and make for a much faster read.

If you like fantasy and romance and sexy bits and have kindle unlimited or some other means of obtaining it for free, give it a go.

[Rhiannon Chillingworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what an amazing ending to an absolutely superb series.

Seriously, this series has absolutely everything you could want in this type of book. Excellent world building, magnificent characters (both main and secondary) you just adore and tonnes of action and romance.

This is a very long final book, and if I didn't just adore everything these characters do, I'd say it was a bit too long, but the characters are so wonderful it just doesn't matter that there are large parts, particularly in the first half, who h is very character driven and then trying to build their kingdom back up. There's loads of fighting and action and loads (probably a little too many, personally) of steamy scenes, too.

That ending was perfection and all of the questions were answered and loose ends tied up.

If you like the author's previous work I don't see how you can't love this.

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Seriously. Way. Too. Much. Sex. Way. Repetitive. Nonsensical. I had to see how the story ended after three previous books, but had to skim. A lot.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

perfection

This book had more words.
I always say her last book was the best book I’ve ever read all the last book I read of her what is my favourite but I have to say after reading this book I think I’ll reread the series or a long time to come this series was totally amazing she totally outdid herself with this book and the series thank you best Series best all the in the whole world

[Malischa Nijenhuis · Rating 5 out of 5]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[LeggothemeggoReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

EPIC FINALE

I need spin off books like right now! I love this world so much. The world building and characters are some of the best I have ever read. There was so much humor, spice, love, heartbreaking drama and action through this series and Kf Breene gave us an epic ending. She really upped her spicy scenes and battle scenes with this one.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything I Hoped For!

Does it have to be over? This final book in the series was absolutely everything I hoped it would be, other than the fact that I'm not ready for the series to be over! I am so in love with this dark and fractured fairytale world the series has created. Finley will forever be top 5 in my favorite kick butt heroines! She's strong, she takes charge, she does what needs to be done, and she does it with sarcasm, intelligence, swearing, and humor and I just love that about her! Nyfain remains hot AF and I'd do anything to meet a man like him, iykyk.
The things that really have made this series stand out all along though are the side characters. KF Breene writes side characters so well! They have so much personality that a person can't help but fall in love with them all and want to know their stories too, much to the author's dismay as we all clamor for spin-offs! Hadriel, omg Hadriel, he's the sassy male bf we all need. If I have to pick a favorite character of the series, it's Hadriel. I love the others for many reasons, but he's just, perfection. His personality is absolutely larger than life and as sarcastic and sassy as he is, he's still the best and truest ally Finley could ever ask for.
With all that being said, without giving away any spoilers, all the questions from the previous books do get answered in this final book. Also, all the looming catastrophes, as varied as they are, do get resolved. This book was a beast in length but it provided every resolution a reader could want and all the seggsy times the series has become so famous for. Tons of seggsy times! Don't worry about that. They're totally all there but along with such an amazing story, I just wasn't ready for it to be over. All the love for this final book and the whole series!!

[Gigi Eldridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

So sad to see this series end! I have been absolutely absorbed into this world and fallen in love with every single character! The love, passion and drama kept me hooked from the very first book but the real winner was the absolute top tier humour! Ive never laughed so hard during such intense scenes! K.F.Breene you are magical! Definitely in my top 10 reads of the year!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Queen of Ruin is the fourth and final book in K.F. Breene's Beauty and the Beast inspired dark fairytale series so I'm going to assume if you're reading this review you've already read the first two books. I'm going to keep the review deliberately vague to avoid spoilers for this book but events from previous books may be referenced.

I've been totally hooked on this series since book one was published and have eagerly waited for each instalment since then so I was both excited and a bit nervous for this final book. I wanted it to be amazing but at the same time I didn't want it to end. I'm happy to say A Queen of Ruin is everything I hoped for and then some, it's a long book and so much happens but I really don't want to go into much detail because I'd hate to accidentally spoiler anyone.

What I will say is that I was excited to get to spend some time exploring other kingdoms and meeting some of the other rulers, I loved getting to know the new characters from the last book even better and I was thrilled with the way Finley and Nyfain's relationship has developed over the course of the series. This final book was an emotional rollercoaster and there was one moment that shocked me to my core and had me so emotional I had to put it down and walk away for a bit before I could carry on reading but I still loved every minute of it.

I'm sad the series has come to an end but I love the way everything has wrapped up and I think we got a really fitting end to the series. That said I have really high hopes for a spin off or two, not because things have been left unfinished but because some of the side characters are so fantastic I want to spend more time with them. I can't say who because *spoiler* BUT one in particular is part of a HUGE revelation that I'm desperate to know more about. I'm sure anyone who has read the book will know exactly what I'm talking about.

K.F. Breene has long been an auto-buy author for me and this series has only cemented her place on my favourite authors list.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last book in the series and it was not my favorite but still was very good. Finley and Nyfain are preparing to battle Dolion and become a real kingdom. There are sections sped up in the story and I kind of liked that, instead of unnecessary fluff.

Shenanigans ensue. We get new characters, as well as a better glimpse into others (Hadriel and Hannon POV!) which I really liked. There was so drama that didn’t need to be there but worked. Not as much spice but it felt like it would’ve been too much.

[Sunseeker☀️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Leah Dynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so sad this crazy ride is over, but this last book did not disappoint. I loved these characters so much, and the story just kept getting better and better. Fantastic read, and a definite one click for the whole series.

[Marta GL · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the final book of the saga created by K.F. Breene. I must admit I started these books out of boredom, I needed some fantasy and I chose these books. I do not regret it.
I enjoyed very much this remake of the beauty and the best (which it is only similar in its essence). The shifters idea and how is developed is really amazing.
I truly believe these are the spieciest books I have ever read, there is so much sexual content sometimes it is overwhelming. Nevertheless, the scenes were not put to fill gaps in the story, they are (most of the times) well conected to the story.
Regarding the characters I just love Finley and Nyfain, there are so cute and terrifying at the same time, they truly are a perfect match. And as it normally happens the secondary characters are just as amazing and I would love for them to have their own books (fingers cross).

----- Re-read--------
I still enjoyed it very much the second time. But I lost hoe on knowing more about Hannon's story :(

[Rachel Tucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

So the -1 for me is due to the TOO MUCH SPICE. Long drawn out & detailed love scenes when there was real sh** to deal with!! I will be happy if I never hear/read the 3 c words again (c_nt, cl_t, and c_ck) 🙄🙄🙄🙄 By the last book the scenes weren't even sexy anymore. I probably won't read another series on this spice level.

Other than that, I loved the story! The characters, the world, the magic and creatures, super cool. Hadriel is obviously my favorite and surprisingly Govam is 2nd lol. Then Leala and Vemar. I absolutely loved the sarcasm and jokes and dialog.

[Tati Alvarez · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending felt rather abrupt and although I love smut, this was a bit excessive to the point it became a chore. Otherwise, it was enjoyable. I’m glad I finished.

[Nate Brightman · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re reading this book the 4th and final book in the Kingdom of Ruin series Breene’s very naughty take on the Beauty and the Beast fable, you probably don’t need this warning but I’ll give it to you anyway. This series has lots and lots of sex scenes. Far more than your typical contemporary romance. I’m not an erotica reader but I imagine this book easily crosses the boundary between paranormal contemporary romance into the erotica genre. Not only are there lots of sex scenes but most of them are far from what most would consider vanilla sex. There’s group sex, rough sex, BDSM, anal, oral etc. In this particular book the sex is limited to our two main protagonists Finley and Nyfain. But these two dragon shifter mates have a very active and varied sex life to say the least. I never thought I’d ever write this but this story contained almost too much sex. I mean after awhile the sex scenes IMHO got a little bit redundant. And oh yeah, fuck, seems to be Finley’s favorite verb, adverb and adjective. Salty and highly sexual language is pretty common throughout the story so if you’re easily offended I would avoid this series all together. But that is the one and only almost complaint I have about this story. There is a lot more to this series and this book than explicit often kinky sex scenes and foul language. If I could I’d give it 10 stars on Goodreads because for me it was everything I could want in a series ending story. And I’m pretty hard to satisfy when it comes to that.
This story picks up where the last one A Kingdom of Ruin left off. After her escape from the Demon King Dolion’s dungeon leading a bunch of grateful fellow prisoners, dragon, and wolf shifters and fairies, back home with her to the Kingdom of Waveryn ruled by her fated mate Nyfain the Golden Dragon Nyfain and Finley complete the mating bond and imprinting ending the Demon King’s curse upon Waveryn. Their combined forces have temporarily fended off Dolion’s army’s attempt to retake their kingdom.
Nyfain despite not having his wings defeats another alpha dragon who wants to claim Finley for himself. As that book closes just as Nyfain is preparing to take the mantle of king and crown Finley his Queen, his mother Queen Arleth whom everyone loved and had long believed dead appeared throwing into question who would rule Waveryn and with the real queen returned, what would common born Finley’s role be in the kingdom if any? As far as Nyfain is concerned his mother has no say in who rules Waveryn into the future. He is intent on continuing with his plan to have himself and Finley crowned king and queen. While the kingdom suffered under a sixteen-year curse placed upon it by Dolion, his mother stayed hidden among some other dragons in a far-away wolf-shifter ruled kingdom. Nyfain is shocked and feels betrayed to discover his mother is still alive and has chosen now to make her existence known. He’s uncertain as to whether she may have even had a role in the curse that was placed upon the kingdom shortly after her supposed death. It takes him sometime before he’s ready to sit down with his mother and listen to her explanation. Finley raised a poor commoner now in the presence of the Queen and much of Waveryn’s royal court whom she helped free from imprisonment is overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy when it comes to being the potential queen and the social requirements that would entail. While Nyfain and his mother are dancing around each other unsure of each other’s intents they must also fend off more attacks by Doolin and his army of demons. They must also resolve the issue of whether they can convince the non-Waveryn dragons and wolf-shifters that followed Finley home and agreed to help her free the kingdom in return to remain in the kingdom and call it home. There’s also the issue of trying to rebuild the kingdom’s economy as Dolion has stolen most of its wealth and killed off much of the kingdom’s best people. And last but not least Finley is determined to find a way to purge what is left of the Demon King’s curse within Nyfain so that he can regrow his wings.
Once Nyfain and his mother make up she takes it upon herself to try and train the headstrong and volatile Finley in the art of court life and intrigue to prepare her for her role as queen. She also works with Finley on how to prevent her dragon’s landing resulting in somersaults and face plants. She also works to help Finley master the use of her sword. Together Finley and Arleth and Arleth’s BFF Delaney work with Finley as she uses her natural skills with plants and creating medical elixirs to create products that will help generate income for the kingdom.
Queen Arleth is a bit shocked at how casual court decorum has become since she left. Hadriel the bi-sexual former stable hand and then the king’s butler has been elevated to Finley’s advisor. To say his irreverent banter and manners shock the queen is an understatement. Leanal Finley’s devoted chamber maid who has a taste for BDSM also has the queen shaking her head. Through it all Arleth comes to admire and respect Finley, realizing despite her commoner background and blunt mannerisms she is truly her son’s perfect mate and the warrior queen the kingdom needs to help him lead them.
Once things begin to settle down at home it is time for Nyfain and Finley to visit some other kingdoms to hopefully gain their support against Dolion when they appear before the Council of Royals. The fairy sisters Calia and her introverted sister Dessia convince Nyfain and Finley that their first stop should be the fairy kingdom to enlist their king’s aid. Before returning home to Waveryn after being informed of his mother’s death Nyfain had been engaged to a member of the Faririe’s court so he his familiar with that royal family and their kingdom. Now fully mated and in heat with Nyfain, just the idea that Nyfain was engaged to another woman sets off Finley’s territorial instincts. When Eris, Nyfain’s former fiancée makes the mistake of laying claim to Nyfain it results in Finley reacting as Finley does putting the Fairy Kingdom on notice that Waveryn’s new dragon queen is not someone to trifle with. Doolin becoming more and more desperate to prevent Nyfain and Finley from reaching the Council of Royals making multiple attempts to assassinate them. Until one attack takes the lives of several of his own guard the Fairy King like most of the other royals acts oblivious to Dolion’s dirty deeds.
Heading off to the council meeting with an angry Fairy King in tow our group intends to hold Dolion accountable for his misdeeds in front of the other kingdom's rulers. There they find few allies as all the other kingdoms are afraid of Dolion. After unbraiding the other royals in attendance for their cowardice they head off to Dolion’s castle to finally takedown the Demon King once and for all. A bloody battle with the crafty evil king and his demon army ensues. Our heroes find they’ve been outmaneuvered by Dolion and if not for some help from unexpected sources would have been overcome by his superior numbers despite their superior power and heroism.
The epilogue closes with several of the main character’s P.O.V. revealing what the near future looks like for our royal family and their faithful subjects. Great, great book to end a terrific series. I suspect its quite possible that several still single characters in this series like Honnan and Dessia and Winston the alpha wolf may get their own books if not series.

[adrie rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

was it entertaining?
i don’t know how you got me to read a 600+ page book but you did and what a wild ride it was. ms. breene put her whole pussoir into this one. drama, epic love, fated mates, phoenixes that fart fire, multiple battles, dual consciousness shifters…how do you dream this shit up miss girl? 5/5

was it enjoyable?
it was and it wasn’t. this just should not have been this long. it was fun to read but it also took way too long. while i can appreciate that this was an erotic fantasy romance, the sex felt egregious again. i ended up skimming through most of the scenes because half a chapter of rage fucking gets old pretty quickly. epic true mates or not, it felt gratuitous.

aside from that, there was just too much time spent on internal monologues. i get that the shifters have a dual consciousness and i don’t hate it but every pov shift has an argument between the human and the animal. i felt like i had whiplash trying to keep up. this series also could have been condensed into 3 books of roughly 400 pages or so without it.

i have mixed feelings about the epilogue and the way this book was split up. using parts to split up a story this long is ideal but the break was in such a weird place and it didn’t coincide with the time jump at all. extremely inconsistent and annoying. epilogues are my nemesis in general but using a time jump in one? JAIL. shame because i actually didn’t mind it otherwise.

overall, it wasn’t horrible to read but i definitely hit some reading fatigue with the constant pov shifts, the warring shifter thoughts, and the constant sex fights. 2/5

was it well-written?
as always, no notes. 5/5

overall, i’m sad to see it end but i’m also glad this wasn’t dragged out to six books like the demigod series. this author has been so hit or miss for me but i’m glad this one ended on a high-ish noted. 4/5 stars

[TheDailyKaylee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have not thoroughly enjoyed a series this much in a while. I've been finding myself skimming a lot of books, but not this series! This beauty and the beast "retelling" was so freaking amazing!!! The character development was on point, the sex scenes my Godddd were they detailed and not repetitive. I loved that their animals were basically another character, and they literally argued back and forth in their minds, it was hilarious. There was so much humor, heat, action, and romance in this series. Nyfain is the ultimate protector and lover, but he knows when to let Finley spread her wings. I love that Finley was such a strong main character, a total badass who literally will do anything to protect those she loves, even if it means sacrificing herself. I don't purchase many books for my home library unless they are the ones I absolutely love and plan to reread again, this will definitely be one of those series I buy the physical copy rather than just the kindle version. 5 stars for the entire series!!!

[✨Gretch✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just like all the other books I absolutely loved this. Originally it was going to be a 4.5 star book, only because the Finley's pregnancy was such a high point in most of this book (I'm not a fan of the pregnancy trope) but then ending solidified it for me, and bumped it back to 5 stars.

The anxiety I felt during this book was unlike the 3 other books, and I was so nervous during 90% of the book because I didn't know what was going to happen, and I didn't want to lose any any of the MC's that I loved. But the way I screamed when Hannon died, and then screamed again even louder when he came back as the phoenix....wow, just wow.

While I'm sad to see this series end, I think the ending was beautifully written, and was a great close to an amazing storyline.

[Erin Clack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the first three books in this series in a week, so fair to say I was pumped for A Queen of Ruin. And I was NOT disappointed! A cleverly crafted shifter realm, plenty of giggles, and beautifully varied characters.

For me, this book tied up all of the stories, and the outcome was satisfying. Loved the multiple character POVs in this one, was great to hear from some new voices. Give me more Hadriel, any day!

Without spoilers, less kinks in this one as compared to earlier in the series, but don’t be sad smut fans, there’s still plenty of entertainment!

I actually found myself skimming through the smuttier scenes in the last 25% of the book. Not because they weren’t good (oh boy, they were) but because I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IN THE STORY!

For reference, the only other book that has made me do that was The Crown of Gilded Bones, so you KNOW the story is *chefs kiss* to be in that category.

This series will be one I come back to, it holds a special place in my heart.

[ForTheThrillofBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Queen of Ruin is the fourth and final book in the Deliciously Dark Fairytales and was wrapped up beautifully, and I can scratch another series off my list! I quickly got sucked into Finley and Nyfain’s story and it was a blast reading these books. I would normally hate saying goodbye but I feel that this ended just the way I wanted and I’m happy to now move on. Although the books are a bit hefty, you get through them so quickly. A perfect blend of fantasy, romance, some shapeshifters and dragons and a colourful cast of characters which will make you LOL. And lots of steamy smut for the win 😉. Overall, glad I read these.

[Heather Curtis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I DID IT. I finished the ARoR series! Without any spoilers, here are my closing thoughts:

-Did not like book 1 & 2, did like books 3 & 4
-A little too far into the high fantasy realm for my personal taste
-If 80% of the graphic 🍆🐱 was plot progression, character development and world building, this could have been a pretty solid series and appeal to a wider audience. As it is… well… it has its audience!
-ARoR is basement porn, Dollar Tree ACOTAR

Book 1: 3 stars
Book 2: 1.5 stars
Books 3 & 4: 3.5 stars… 4-star adventure, 2-star porn, would have rated higher if high fantasy was my favorite genre