The Nightmare Queen

by C.V. Betzold

Vellar’s heir to the throne and greatest disappointment is known for being stubborn and disobedient. Thrown into battle against a genocidal tyrant, Rorin and his out of practice army are forced to seek out help from the one person he knows only rumors of.

Obsidian’s queen has been elusive for twenty-five years. Just the way she likes it. A fan of striking fear in the hearts of men she’s shocked to find that there is a prince daring - or stupid - enough to seek out her aid. Now with him willing to plead his case at her feet in exchange for a high price - a decision must be made.

She’s his final bullet in a game of roulette he can’t stand to lose and it all banks on her willingness to be generous.

Welcome to the Realm of Allora; where magic, wars, and betrayal run rampant. A realm where secrets are your best friend, and the monsters under your bed are real.

Genres: Fantasy

413 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 11, 2024

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has everything I want out of a book. A morally black FMC, who is hilarious, and has absolutely fascinating, devastating powers, and out for revenge for the murder of her parents. A pining MMC who also has deadly powers and his fair share of family trauma. A group of supporting characters that are easy to fall in love with, a sassy dragon, and beautiful world building. There is so much tension between the two MCs and some favorite tropes (one bed AND fake dating). I’ll admit that cliff hanger hurts, but I’m incredibly excited to see where the story leads.

Absolutely brilliant debut novel and this author has been added to my list of favorites.

[Tamyka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need the second one asap. I need to know! Such a slow burn but the banter is it 🫡

[Everlie Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was an absolute whirl wind in the best way possible. I would’ve easily finished it in a day if adult obligations didn’t pull me away from it. All I have to say is WOW. Eveera is such a breath of fresh air as a morally gray FMC. And Rorin… is perfection.

Everything about the plot, characters, and writing was beyond perfection. I fell in love with this book so incredibly fast and needless to say I am needing more—ESPECIALLY after that ending 😩

[gretchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

great characters

I fell in love with the characters right away and the story kept me spellbound!
This is a must read!

[Isabella · Rating 5 out of 5]

How could I explain to my men that I didn’t care what the traitor or his lover suffered at her hands because they almost cost me her.

So I have a habit of quiting Romantasy books within the first ten pages because so many of them are absolute trash I have the very firm belief that I can tell if I'm going to enjoy it by the first few pages but the last romantasy I enjoyed was about six months ago and I was starting to question myself like maybe I can't tell that early maybe I should be giving these more of a chance but this has restored my fucking faith I was 4 pages in FOUR and I knew this was going to be fan-fucking-tastic and it was it was so so good and it was a slow burn romance a real slow burn not that bullshit some authors pass off as slow burn we got a neck kiss at 86% and that my friends is a real fucking slow burn and it was so perfect

“I need to hear you tell me you hate me. Just like all those times before, I need you to tell me now. Because if you don’t, I won’t be able to stop. Won’t be able to stop kissing you or needing you. I won’t be able to erase the feel of your skin underneath my fingers. Hell, I may never be able to do that last one regardless.”

That part was so reminiscent of The Wicked King which is one of my favorite books the MMC says something similar and the FMC responds “I hate you so much that sometimes I can’t think of anything else.” like I literally screamed at that parallel

I also notice the author was very clear in her classifications she said it was one sided enemies to lovers which I whole heartedly agree with Rorin had no beef with Eveera and I thought Eveera just hated him because of who his parents are but given what we found out at the end of the book I'm unsure if she had a better reason for hating him or if she doesn’t know yet either way it is going to be absolutely wild ride in December and I'm so conflicted part of me hopes this is a duology so I won't have to wait an entire year for the thrid book but the part of me who is obsessed with these characters hopes to live in this world for as long as possible. Now at the very end of this I would like to say the things I didn't like there wasn't much honesty I think that it may need a bit more editing like I think there might have been a few grammatical errors but despite my love of reading my grammar is shit so I could be mistaken but definitely too many onomatopoeiae (if thats wrong I'm sorry I'm dyslexic af and just searched the for the plural of onomatopoeia and copy pasted) it felt like reading a Wolverine comic if you haven't read one just know they're mostly comprised of the word SNIKT because that's the onomatopoeia for his claws I digress too many onomatopoeiae but that was pretty much my only complaint I loved everything else it was so so good



Literally me ^ if I had a physical copy

[Nymph_of_water · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.30 ⭐

I DNFed it in the first 5 chapters. The idea is great, the execution is not. The writing just isn't good. It's not bad (I have read worse) but it's in a level where I cannot take this book seriously.

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The concept of this book is amazing. The FMC Eveera is a morally black queen with deadly powers and is out for revenge for her parent's murder. The MMC, Rorin, is a prince with his own deadly powers that he’s been shunned because of them. He is so desperate to save his kingdom that he goes behind the king's back to search for help. The banter between the two of them was great and I absolutely loved Eveera’s sense of humor and attitude.

This book started off really good but once they traveled to Vellar towards the middle of the book for me the plot seemed to really slow down and didn’t pick back up until the very end. I feel like the middle was just a lot of filler and it seemed like the characters weren’t doing much.

I wish there were more world-building and descriptions of locations. The front of the book has guides on the magic but I wish it was talked about and described more in the book because it was slightly confusing at the beginning. There were also several typos throughout the entire book that at times took away from the reading because I was trying to make sense of the sentence.

The book ends with a major cliffhanger and I am excited to see what happens in the next one.

[Sybil · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s dragging on forever. Once they reach the castle in Vellar, they are doing jackshit the entire time there. You don’t know what’s going on, you just get them whining about the war, the king and queen, but not doing anything about it. Rorin would be a shitty King, all he does is complain and stare at Eveera like a lovesick fool. I’m seriously considering not finishing this because it’s so fucking annoying.

[Carmella DeJesus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was sold knowing it was a romantasy AND had an animal companion. The icing on the cake was having a fmc who is a badass and UNHINGED AF. Also, the twist, cliffhanger, and SLOW BURN ROMANCE!! Ugh! I need the next book!!

If you are looking for a fun romantasy with a dark side, you have found your book!

[Caitlin Koch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, but I did have a hard time understanding some of the magic and some of the world building as this is the author‘s first book I look forward to seeing more of her work and to see how it grows and improves. The storyline is very good. The banter hilarious