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Dying Lands #1
The Forbidden Fae King
A fierce huntress of savage fae. An exiled fae king desperate to save his people. And a forbidden love between enemies that could ignite two realms.
When Keira discovers the prince she is promised to marry has eyes for another woman, her sister, she goes on a pilgrimage to escape him. They don’t send men on that most sacred and deadly journey to the fae lands. They don’t send warriors. Instead, human women slip into the Otherworld under the guise of innocent girls to kill and deceive. To steal the magic their people so desperately need.
Keira knows the rules: take their magic and return home. Never cross paths with the vicious high fae, or become owned by them, body and soul.
Except the portal takes her into the middle of a fae battle. Aldrin is tall, dark, and handsome in the most brutal way…and dripping with someone else’s blood. He becomes her high fae captor. Dangerous and deadly. An enemy to her people who were once oppressed by his kind.
Falling for him is forbidden. Utterly ludicrous. Especially when he has secret ambitions and a hidden identity.
The fae lands are dying. The human realm is fading. Keira and Aldrin can save both through an alliance of their people, but only if they sacrifice their hearts. If Aldrin lets her go, back to the cruel prince who will burn her kingdom to the ground without her. Will they choose love or duty?
The Forbidden Fae King is a plot-heavy, spicy romantasy, perfect for fans of A Court of Thorns and Roses and From Blood and Ash
When Keira discovers the prince she is promised to marry has eyes for another woman, her sister, she goes on a pilgrimage to escape him. They don’t send men on that most sacred and deadly journey to the fae lands. They don’t send warriors. Instead, human women slip into the Otherworld under the guise of innocent girls to kill and deceive. To steal the magic their people so desperately need.
Keira knows the rules: take their magic and return home. Never cross paths with the vicious high fae, or become owned by them, body and soul.
Except the portal takes her into the middle of a fae battle. Aldrin is tall, dark, and handsome in the most brutal way…and dripping with someone else’s blood. He becomes her high fae captor. Dangerous and deadly. An enemy to her people who were once oppressed by his kind.
Falling for him is forbidden. Utterly ludicrous. Especially when he has secret ambitions and a hidden identity.
The fae lands are dying. The human realm is fading. Keira and Aldrin can save both through an alliance of their people, but only if they sacrifice their hearts. If Aldrin lets her go, back to the cruel prince who will burn her kingdom to the ground without her. Will they choose love or duty?
The Forbidden Fae King is a plot-heavy, spicy romantasy, perfect for fans of A Court of Thorns and Roses and From Blood and Ash
482 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 4, 2024
2803 people are currently reading
4565 people want to read
About the author
Rosa Heart
8 books75 followersRosa Heart is a spicy romantasy author. She loves all things fantasy; magic, fae, dragons and epic battles with monsters. She has been writing since she was a child, but didn’t publish her first novel until she was in her 30s, written during the pandemic. Rosa lives down under, in Australia, where the sun is always shining, even on the coldest days. The oasis of her garden or peaceful bush trails is where she likes to go to unwind. Her favourite thing is to curl up with her cat, husband and a good book.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 168 reviews
November 27, 2024
Slow and boring. I also couldn't get past the fact the MMC was named "Aldrin". 😬
February 23, 2025
3.75 stars
September 24, 2024
This book paints a land so easy to imagine everytime I put the book down I thought I was just watching a good TV show. The characters and places/settings are easy to follow. I did have to look up the pronunciation of a couple words but, it's due to my lack of fantasy vocabulary. I would recommend this book !
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December 24, 2024Couldn’t get past the typos and the awkward, robotic sentences.
December 25, 2024
S L O W. Extremely descriptive in every single move a character makes or thinks. FACE PALM. Omg just get to the point. DNF’d at 16%
May 6, 2025
I was intrigued by the premise of The Forbidden Fae King - women sneaking into the lands of the faerie to steal pieces of their magic. It sounds like quite the adventure but although technically the heroine is in danger at a few points, I found the whole thing rather unexciting. Insipid. There's little struggle. Everyone appears conveniently in the right place at the right time, with minimal effort required.
The fae, who we have been told to fear, are nice, barring some political machinations. Admittedly violent political machinations but still - I was too bored by this point to care.
The bigger threat to the heroine seems to be from her own world and its misogyny, although even this feels distant. Her family are all supportive of each other, no matter what... with the exception of her mother who 1) encourages her to distract the prince from the family's waning magic with sex 2) reminds her to watch her waistline. I was pretty outraged by this but no one else seemed to notice... The heroine doesn't notice any misogyny at all until her mid twenties; it's clear how sheltered her life has been.
It's all quite dull and joyless, particularly the last few chapters. Rather a depressing cliffhanger ending and truly? I don't care how it resolves. I'm so bored.
The fae, who we have been told to fear, are nice, barring some political machinations. Admittedly violent political machinations but still - I was too bored by this point to care.
The bigger threat to the heroine seems to be from her own world and its misogyny, although even this feels distant. Her family are all supportive of each other, no matter what... with the exception of her mother who 1) encourages her to distract the prince from the family's waning magic with sex 2) reminds her to watch her waistline. I was pretty outraged by this but no one else seemed to notice... The heroine doesn't notice any misogyny at all until her mid twenties; it's clear how sheltered her life has been.
It's all quite dull and joyless, particularly the last few chapters. Rather a depressing cliffhanger ending and truly? I don't care how it resolves. I'm so bored.
December 18, 2024
I’m always pleasantly surprised when a book about the fae surprises me. This one was slightly predictable, but still managed to sneak in a few surprises. Love the growth of the FMC.
December 5, 2025
It’s me. It has to be me. I couldn’t stand the FMC and every character seemed to be weak with a weird style of dialogue. It felt two-dimensional without many thoughts in their brains.
I don’t need to read about weak noodles. But again, looking at the other comments….it must be me 😅
I don’t need to read about weak noodles. But again, looking at the other comments….it must be me 😅
March 15, 2025
1.5 stars 🌶️ 2 stars
A little bit of a disappointment. This book had potential but just did not cut it. The plot was lacking and the characters got in the way.
A little bit of a disappointment. This book had potential but just did not cut it. The plot was lacking and the characters got in the way.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 8, 2025
There’s a lot of world building and set up before the love interest is introduced, so I can see why some readers may be thrown off by that and the “slow” pacing then but learning about the heroine Keira first and her human world with its set ideas about the Fae lands helps show the divide between.
Once Keira and her sister journey to the Fae Lands and the book expands on Aldrin, the exiled Spring Court King, by some chapters following his POV the story really starts.
A part of it reminds me of a more traditional Fantasy Outlander (girl travels through a type of portal that cannot be casually used and ends up in the middle of a battle in a land she doesn’t know a lot about), especially once we were near the end and I thought the pair might be separated by actual years. The ending did go its own way, with Keira finding out some information Aldrin did not share with her that made her quickly stop trusting him. Which technically makes sense, as her grandmother raised her not trusting Fae, but it might have helped seeing some more internal conflict out of her. I’m just not a fan of characters learning new info and not at least hearing the other out, but that’s on me.
A really strong start to a series that I think could have been expanded with more chapters and story by the author, but the size didn’t feel too rushed either.
Once Keira and her sister journey to the Fae Lands and the book expands on Aldrin, the exiled Spring Court King, by some chapters following his POV the story really starts.
A part of it reminds me of a more traditional Fantasy Outlander (girl travels through a type of portal that cannot be casually used and ends up in the middle of a battle in a land she doesn’t know a lot about), especially once we were near the end and I thought the pair might be separated by actual years. The ending did go its own way, with Keira finding out some information Aldrin did not share with her that made her quickly stop trusting him. Which technically makes sense, as her grandmother raised her not trusting Fae, but it might have helped seeing some more internal conflict out of her. I’m just not a fan of characters learning new info and not at least hearing the other out, but that’s on me.
A really strong start to a series that I think could have been expanded with more chapters and story by the author, but the size didn’t feel too rushed either.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 12, 2024
This book was SO GOOD! I loved the characters and the world was amazing. I am going to be thinking about this book for a LONG TIME. I can’t wait to read the second one.
December 18, 2024
I only made it 47% of the way through and then quit upon the tenth or eleventh homophone mixup. ("Plane" instead of "plain".) Please get a human proofreader. Story was decent but I wasn't caring about the characters and the grammatical errors were too much for me and took me out of the story, so I stopped.
December 29, 2024
Pick a personality. Pick a plot. Have an editor that actually catches typos and weirdly structured sentences. What could have been an interesting book turned into such a drag. The potential was there but ruined over and over again. It would get good, then bad, then so close to great, and then awful.
December 5, 2024
Unnecessarily long
Why all the unnecessary descriptions and story? Truly disappointed and disinterested. Definitely not interested in this series. The ending was the worst part...
Why all the unnecessary descriptions and story? Truly disappointed and disinterested. Definitely not interested in this series. The ending was the worst part...
January 29, 2025
DNF 2%
Sorry, I just can't with the awkward sentences and the whole telling vs. showing. There is no need to describe everything that you can't tell what is happening.
Sorry, I just can't with the awkward sentences and the whole telling vs. showing. There is no need to describe everything that you can't tell what is happening.
November 28, 2025
This book grabbed me so fast omg 😭🔥
Keira gets thrown into a fae battle and instantly meets Aldrin, he’s tall, deadly, broody and absolutely giving I’d burn the world for you vibes. I LOVEDDD THEIR TENSION 💯
It felt dramatic, magical, a bit violent and very addictive.
Tropes
🖤 enemies to lovers
🔥 he falls first
🪄 fae x magic
❤️ forbidden love
⚔️ warrior girl x deadly fae king
Although I wish there were more action from Keira and a few miscommunications it was still such a fun, bingeable fantasy romance.
Keira gets thrown into a fae battle and instantly meets Aldrin, he’s tall, deadly, broody and absolutely giving I’d burn the world for you vibes. I LOVEDDD THEIR TENSION 💯
It felt dramatic, magical, a bit violent and very addictive.
Tropes
🖤 enemies to lovers
🔥 he falls first
🪄 fae x magic
❤️ forbidden love
⚔️ warrior girl x deadly fae king
Although I wish there were more action from Keira and a few miscommunications it was still such a fun, bingeable fantasy romance.
March 8, 2025
Giggling, crying, and kicking my feet 🤭
I LOVED THIS STORY 😭
I thought I was going to have to take a break from fantasy again, nothing was holding my attention.
The blurb got me though, the premise of being dropped through a portal and coming face to face with a High Fae warrior mid battle? SIGN ME TF UP ⚔️
I LOVED THIS STORY 😭
I thought I was going to have to take a break from fantasy again, nothing was holding my attention.
The blurb got me though, the premise of being dropped through a portal and coming face to face with a High Fae warrior mid battle? SIGN ME TF UP ⚔️
January 31, 2025
original!
I really liked this story. It was very original. Some of the storyline went to quick or didn’t flow like I thought it should but I will definitely be reading the sequel!!!
I really liked this story. It was very original. Some of the storyline went to quick or didn’t flow like I thought it should but I will definitely be reading the sequel!!!
February 24, 2025
I was going to give it a three but there seems to be a little more plot potential. It's a fun read, somewhat predictable.
November 24, 2025
Meh
FMC was way too wishy washy and whiny for my taste. It irritated me to no end. The MMC was too kind. I needed more and was left on empty...
FMC was way too wishy washy and whiny for my taste. It irritated me to no end. The MMC was too kind. I needed more and was left on empty...
December 1, 2024
Good story line. However, very boring at times.
July 19, 2025
This book deserves more attention. The story is good and the characters are worth rooting for. Best of all, the world building is top shelf; full of lush descriptions and a lot of creativity. I’m looking forward to the next installment.
January 8, 2025
I actually liked this book a lot more than I was expecting. It wasn’t perfect, the plot was a bit predictable, but I think the characters and how likable they are made it fun to read. I loved the world building and how colorful the characters are. The ending of the book lost me a bit. I wasn’t really following the logic of why she had to go home? And the twist at the end didn’t really make sense. I did like it and with a different ending or even as a stand-alone story I would have rated it much higher.
August 14, 2025
I have to reflexionate about how shallow I am because it seems that recently I'm inexpicably drawn to romantasies with awesome covers and interesting synopsis and I end up disappointed.
Regretfully which makes it even worse it's that I was really hooked during the first twelve chapters. Sure, it was slow as ice and the chapters unnecessarily descriptive and long but the plot was interesting.
But when we meet the love interest that due to the hate between their species was marketed as enemies to lovers turned out to be the most lackluster insta love with no chemistry which ruined it all for me.
During the middle nothing really happens although we learn more about the world which I appreciate. It picks up during the end but it was completely lost for me already so I didn't care.
Regretfully which makes it even worse it's that I was really hooked during the first twelve chapters. Sure, it was slow as ice and the chapters unnecessarily descriptive and long but the plot was interesting.
But when we meet the love interest that due to the hate between their species was marketed as enemies to lovers turned out to be the most lackluster insta love with no chemistry which ruined it all for me.
During the middle nothing really happens although we learn more about the world which I appreciate. It picks up during the end but it was completely lost for me already so I didn't care.
January 2, 2025
What an adventure. Rosa Heart has created a world, no two worlds that defy imagination. The strong, self-discovery of a girl who has always followed the plan; the uncovering of secret truths hidden for centuries. The journey here was remarkable and left me wanting so much more. A love born through hate and distrust by the mere discovery of learning.
November 8, 2024
** Updated ARC Review **
“Change is so… inconvenient. Especially when the people in power aren’t directly affected by it yet.”
“Desperate people can do unimaginable horrors, especially a tyrant who has their power threatened.”
* Enemies to lovers
* He falls first
* WHO DID THIS TO YOU?!
* Fae
* Magic/magical creatures
* Forbidden love
* ✨ SPICE ✨ 3/5
I am utterly devastated that I have to wait until February for book two.
D E V A S T A T E D!
My jaw was on the floor by the end of this book and I NEED more. I need to be okay again lol.
Aldrin has my heart in a vice grip! I am a huge ACOTAR girly and I’ll be damned if I don’t see the similarities of Cassian and Rhysand in this man. He has the largeness, warrior strength, hair ;), and likeness of Cass. But he also has the softness that Rhys shows as a leader and a lover, the latter I guess applies to both actually.
Aldrin will do absolutely ANYTHING for Keira and it is so wonderful to watch unfold, even if both of them make me want to scream and punch them in the teeth at times lol.
Keira is so headstrong and bad ass most of this book it is impossible to keep her down and make her conform to someone else’s will. There is so much emotional turmoil for both of them, but they grow and work through most (not all) of it by the end of the book.
Everything about this book is incredible from the world building, the magic system, and the well thought out characters it would be SO EASY to turn this masterpiece into a work of art on the big screen!!
Let me just really quickly say, excuse my language, F U C K prince Finan and Titania. They are awful shit lords.
If you need context, please PLEASE read this book.
“Change is so… inconvenient. Especially when the people in power aren’t directly affected by it yet.”
“Desperate people can do unimaginable horrors, especially a tyrant who has their power threatened.”
* Enemies to lovers
* He falls first
* WHO DID THIS TO YOU?!
* Fae
* Magic/magical creatures
* Forbidden love
* ✨ SPICE ✨ 3/5
I am utterly devastated that I have to wait until February for book two.
D E V A S T A T E D!
My jaw was on the floor by the end of this book and I NEED more. I need to be okay again lol.
Aldrin has my heart in a vice grip! I am a huge ACOTAR girly and I’ll be damned if I don’t see the similarities of Cassian and Rhysand in this man. He has the largeness, warrior strength, hair ;), and likeness of Cass. But he also has the softness that Rhys shows as a leader and a lover, the latter I guess applies to both actually.
Aldrin will do absolutely ANYTHING for Keira and it is so wonderful to watch unfold, even if both of them make me want to scream and punch them in the teeth at times lol.
Keira is so headstrong and bad ass most of this book it is impossible to keep her down and make her conform to someone else’s will. There is so much emotional turmoil for both of them, but they grow and work through most (not all) of it by the end of the book.
Everything about this book is incredible from the world building, the magic system, and the well thought out characters it would be SO EASY to turn this masterpiece into a work of art on the big screen!!
Let me just really quickly say, excuse my language, F U C K prince Finan and Titania. They are awful shit lords.
If you need context, please PLEASE read this book.
October 6, 2024
Book rating: 5 / 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Spice level: 🌶️/ 5
I absolutely ravished this book from the moment i started page 1 to the end. I have been in a book slump and the way I was thrown into such an immerse world of magic and fae took my breath away.
I loved everything about this book! The let down of the first potential love partner; how women were seen as an accessory and not an equal had me seeing red. And I am so happy our fmc got to see that too. And see how a woman should be treated. So many women in modern day settle for mediocre men and its just disappointing. Our fmc however is not.
She is built as a strong fmc but I wish that it was portrayed more in battle scenes. Altho she was useful I felt she still leaned on everyone else a lot. Im hoping in the future next boss she truly embodies queen energy!
The build up tension between our fmc and mc was absolutely delicious scrumptious. I love how the author continued to give all of us the readers blue balls 🤣 Until we finally got the spice. I also love how its repeated that she is thick and curvy! Representation of different body types matters! And insanely happy you witness it!
I don’t like the miscommunication trope. And how its a repeated thing. But other than that I absolutely loved the story.
I dont want to spoil anything but definitely worth cracking this one open! I hope I can read book two as an arc again! Idk how Imma have to wait for the next one 😭
I received this book as an ARC. And all opinions are truthful and are solely mine. Thank you for the opportunity!
Spice level: 🌶️/ 5
I absolutely ravished this book from the moment i started page 1 to the end. I have been in a book slump and the way I was thrown into such an immerse world of magic and fae took my breath away.
I loved everything about this book! The let down of the first potential love partner; how women were seen as an accessory and not an equal had me seeing red. And I am so happy our fmc got to see that too. And see how a woman should be treated. So many women in modern day settle for mediocre men and its just disappointing. Our fmc however is not.
She is built as a strong fmc but I wish that it was portrayed more in battle scenes. Altho she was useful I felt she still leaned on everyone else a lot. Im hoping in the future next boss she truly embodies queen energy!
The build up tension between our fmc and mc was absolutely delicious scrumptious. I love how the author continued to give all of us the readers blue balls 🤣 Until we finally got the spice. I also love how its repeated that she is thick and curvy! Representation of different body types matters! And insanely happy you witness it!
I don’t like the miscommunication trope. And how its a repeated thing. But other than that I absolutely loved the story.
I dont want to spoil anything but definitely worth cracking this one open! I hope I can read book two as an arc again! Idk how Imma have to wait for the next one 😭
I received this book as an ARC. And all opinions are truthful and are solely mine. Thank you for the opportunity!
December 16, 2024
Forbidden Fae King
I loved this story. I loved the friendship of the fae who fight together to right the wrongs in the world. I love that the king is not perfect but his love is so strong for Kiera.
I loved this story. I loved the friendship of the fae who fight together to right the wrongs in the world. I love that the king is not perfect but his love is so strong for Kiera.
December 23, 2024
Why do I keep doing this to myself 😭
I shouldn’t start good series when they are not complete 😭
This is so good 😍
🌶️🌶️
I shouldn’t start good series when they are not complete 😭
This is so good 😍
🌶️🌶️
December 20, 2024
The story is good
It’s a good story. The writing is unpolished, the proofreading is horrible, so many mistakes I was constantly annoyed by it. I will finish the series but will avoid this author in the future.
It’s a good story. The writing is unpolished, the proofreading is horrible, so many mistakes I was constantly annoyed by it. I will finish the series but will avoid this author in the future.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 168 reviews