Kingdom of Lies - Eine Krone so kalt und schwer

Kingdom of Lies #3

by Stacia Stark, Michaela Kolodziejcok (Translator), Ralph Sander (Translator)

Prisca wurde gefangen genommen und wird gefoltert, in der Hoffnung, dass sie bricht und verrät, was mit der Sanduhr passiert ist und welche Pläne sie mit ihrem inneren Kreis geschmiedet hat. Inmitten eines Verrats, den niemand hatte vorhersehen können, schwört sich Prisca, einen Weg zurück zu Lorian zu finden, bevor seine Wut den gesamten Kontinent verwüstet. Gleichzeitig ist ihr bewusst: Prisca und ihre Truppe haben nur eine Chance, um Regner daran zu hindern, gottgleiche Kräfte zu erlangen und alle Menschen, Fae und Hybriden in den vier Königreichen zu versklaven.

Genres: Fantasy, Romantasy, Romance, Fae, Audiobook, Fantasy Romance, Magic

528 pages, Hardcover

First published November 17, 2023

About the author

Stacia Stark is a New York Times, USA Today, Sunday Times, and Amazon bestselling author of fantasy romance. Her books have been translated into over 16 languages, and her Kingdom of Lies series was nominated twice for Goodreads Choice Awards.

Stacia loves writing romantasy filled with found families, female friendship, self-reliant heroines, and brooding, grumpy heroes. When she’s not writing or exploring the world, she can usually be found sprawled on her sofa, lost in the pages of a good book.


Come say hi on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stark...

Or learn more at Staciastark.com

Reviews

[SK · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars✨

It started off amazing. I thought it might even cure my slump, didn't happen. About the 35-40% mark, it started going downhill for me. Things went completely flat. It was also like there was a lot happening but nothing happening at the same time. Idk if that made any sense 😂

I liked Prisca in this one more than Lorian. Lorian was sort of there and for someone who is supposed to be a bloodthirsty prince, I wanted more out of him. I didn't like the other pov at all. There was too much to keep track of and it made things confusing. Madinia is an interesting character, I like her. I didn't really care for other characters, except for Cavis 👀

The romance fell flat as well. I was expecting more out of it but it just felt too superficial in this one. It's a shame cause the previous two books really impressed me on that.

The ending is absolutely criminal. My heart?? Shattered. That cliffhanger is brutal 😭😭 I was considering not continuing the series but I need to know what happens next.


~•~•~
It has a recap 🥹🥹

[♥︎ Heather ⚔ (New House-Hiatus) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

To keep it short and straight to the point...

I don't know what to say. With this series I've had kind of this decline in interest as I progress through each book. I really enjoyed the first book, the second a little less and now the third one just a little bit less.

There was a lot going on here, with multiple POV's that created kind of a muddled effect. With all of the information I found my mind wandering and just wanting the book to be over.

No doubt the ending is a cliffhanger and a half- I'll be checking out book 4 for sure, hope I have better luck with it.


“I had two choices—face it and live a rich, full life, or hide from it and never truly experience the joy and happiness of loving with everything in me. The price of love was loss. We all paid it eventually.” 💘



Many thanks to NetGalley, Dreamscape, and Stacia Stark for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review. 🌷

[Lucie V. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an audio copy of this book via NetGalley (thank you Dreamscape Media). All thoughts and opinions are my own.

✅ Found family
✅ Characters
✅ Romance and some smut
✅ Multiple POVs
✅ “Touch her and die”… But she will be the one to kill you because she’s a badass.
✅ Pace
✅ Plot
✅ Fighting and magic
✅ Good strategizing and politics
❗️❗️Killer cliffhanger (sorry for the wording, no pun intended… iykyk)
❗️❗️Trigger warnings: imprisonment, torture and deaths

UGH!!! The cliffhangers in this series are killing me. 😭

“You had things to do.” His words were flat.
“Well, yes. I couldn’t sit around for days and wait to be rescued. Besides, if I’d done that, you would have arrived and roared at me for not working harder to escape.”

This book is a mix of action, politics, magic, passion, sorrow, and love, and I adored it.

A Crown This Cold and Heavy starts right after A Kingdom This Cursed and Empty ends. Prisca has been taken prisoner, and she is being tortured in hopes that she breaks and reveals what happened to the hourglass and what plans she made with her inner circle. This book is darker than the previous ones, and it focuses more on the political moves Prisca and the other rulers of the Realm are making, as everyone seems to be trying to outmaneuver or take advantage of the others.

Despite everything she has to endure, Prisca remains strong and fierce, and she is growing into the queen Lorian knew she could be. Her traumatic experience in Regner’s dungeons also allowed her to become more apt to make tough decisions. She understands that her decisions affect a lot of people, but she also knows that she will not be able to save everyone and that Regner needs to be stopped, even if it means having deaths on her conscience.

The fact was, if we were going to win this war, we had to fight Regner everywhere. And that included the hearts and minds of his people.

The plot is well-developed, and I appreciate the fact that Prisca and her group take the time to think and strategize. They are being clever, and not just relying on brute force and magic to defeat the king. They need to gain allies, sure, but they are also being sneaky and spreading rumors and manipulating if need be to gain the people’s trust and turn them against the king. Many pieces are being moved in this book, and it promises an intense and engaging final book.

There are still many POVs in this book, but I particularly loved Madinia’s chapters. I knew since the beginning that she was more than a haughty, condescending lady, but having some chapters from her POV allowed us to understand her so much better. I like her and her fire (I’m talking about her inner fire here, although her magical fire is pretty nice too) and I love that Prisca sees Madinia’s worth and also her needs, and she tries her best to make sure that Madinia gets a happy ending. She is cunning and ruthless, but we can see that she has grown attached to Prisca and her group and that living the rest of her life alone might not be what she truly wants anymore.

“I’ve lived a beautiful life, Prisca. I may have lost parts of myself while I was too young to remember it, but in exchange, I found brothers whom I’ve fought back-to-back with for decades. I found Sybella. Piperia. I would die a hundred times to keep them safe.”


“You came all this way, placing both of you in danger, for one man? A human?”
Demos’s face might have been carved from stone. “I came all this way for my brother.”

There were some truly heartwrenching moments in this third book, but thankfully, Prisca still has her family around her to support her. The gruff fae warriors are still being mother hens with her, and they continue to push her to be the best she can, but she also gives them love and support. Prisca continues to welcome people in her circle, and if you love a good “found family” trope, you will fall in love with Prisca and her group. I also like that some characters among her inner circle are developing bonds of their own, like Demos and Tibris, or Demos and Asinia.

“I didn’t need anything before Prisca. I wanted peace on this continent. I wanted our people to be safe. I wanted Regner dead. But I didn’t need anything for myself. I didn’t know I could have anything myself. And then I met her, and for the first time in my long life, I needed.”


His brows lowered into a dark scowl. “Think, wildcat. Do you really believe this is the best action, or are you just mad because I told you no?”
“You don’t tell me anything, Lorian.” Rythos chuckled. Everyone else had various expressions of amusement on their faces. Except my aunt, who leaned past Rythos to shake her head at me. “You could have had a nice hybrid man,” she told me. “You took him on, and now you’ll have to live with the consequences.”

Lorian and Prisca’s relationship is stronger and well-established in this third book. There is no angst and uncertainty between them anymore, and instead, they form a steady and powerful team. Lorian is still as intense and protective of Prisca, but I love that he doesn’t smother her. He respects her choices and lets her thrive instead of trying to control her actions to protect her, as we often see with the whole “protective fae mate” thing. They are both adults and they talk through their issues instead of creating problems due to miscommunication and immaturity, and I love their relationship so much because of that.

That prophecie?!



1. A Court this Cruel & Lovely ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. A Kingdom this Cursed & Empty ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

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[eclecticbychoicereads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stacia, you better fix this :(

Everyone keeps talking about the ending of The Iron Flame, but let me tell you something - the ending of A Crown This Cold and Heavy shattered me. Truly, I found myself staring and staring and staring, willing the pages to transform into something else...

This book was pure perfection - it was love, passion, sadness, sorrow, anger, rage, all of it. Prisca has grown so much in this book and she's finally becoming who she ought to be. And Lorian... Morally grey MMC is him, he is the epitome of a perfect, flawed, angry, passionate fae mate.

I need the fourth and final book, and I need it now.

[Darcey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a good continuation to this crazy entertaining romantasy series!!

Honestly this book had a lot more plot than I expected, but I really enjoyed it - I didn’t anticipate a 4th book but I’m so glad the author didn’t try to conclude the story in 3 books.

As always, this book had miles of protective, obsessed Lorian and strong, determined Prisca. Their relationship is so settled and powerful by now that they’ve mostly left their angsty days behind (thank god), and every moment with them in the same room was swoonworthy. We also got a lot more POVs, which I loved, because I’ll always appreciate more Madinia content.

I need book 4 now!

[meganskogs · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book could have been an email. Nothing happened until the end.

[♡Amanda♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is no review. This book was brilliant. Read it. I am dust in the wind after that ending. It physically, spiritually, mentally, and metaphorically hurt to read. I’m in extreme pain knowing how long I have to wait until book 4. 🥲🥲🥲

[BeautyAndTheBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

My heart can’t take this. Am I dying? Am I dead?
I must be in hell then, other wise I would know the end to this story.

When I first started this book series only the first one had come out. But it was not as painful to wait for the second and third as it will be to wait for the last…

What I love about Stacia’s writing is how everything is very straight forward, and fast paced. None of that slumbering around, or over explaining, or to long inner monologues. Which means stuff is constantly happening. Which, I mean, who doesn’t want that in a book u know?

Prisca is just one of my favourite FMC to read about. She was never weak in any way, and yet she has grown stronger, and continues to grow. The plot is driven forward by decisions she makes, both good and bad, and she leans on other people and their experiences without looking naive, and like they make decisions for her.

Lorain has also had a great character arc so far. He was obviously cold and ruthless in the beginning - which we all love, I mean come on - and now he is protective and sweet, but still allows Prisca to make her own decisions, and supports her in all of it. Despite softening he can still be ruthless, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Demos and Asinia. Need I say more? I think not. They are just perfect. I loved their point of views - well technically Asinia’s, but she was always with him - and I am longing for them to just love each other openly, because, not to brag or anything, but I totally saw their love story coming from when they were trapped in the dungeon together.

Tibris is not one of my favourite characters. He reminds me of Mal from “Shadow and Bone”. I didn’t like Mal.
But his upcoming, potential - definitely happening - relationship with Herne. Yes. Thank you. Gimme.
The way Herne was all “you are not leaving the camp..” and “I will drag you back..”
I squealed.

The queen is the only point of view I am not particularly interested in reading about. She has her interesting sides, but I don’t know. It just doesn’t hit me as hard as reading the other POV’s in the book.

What I love about this series is how so many characters are involved, and yet it feels like I know all of them, and what drives them, and none of them ever blend together. They all have these distinctive traits that I recognise and help me separate them from other characters, even when they only play a small part.
I also love how there are so many characters I can’t seem to figure out quite. It’s intriguing. Examples of this is the queen, and Madinia.
The queen seems endlessly cold, despite her one soft spot for her son. Yet I feel like there might be more to her, or at least will be eventually.
It took me some time to figure out who Madinia would end up being loyal to. Like she was standing at this edge and could go one way or the other. And I am interested in seeing where she will end up, because her fate is one of the few I am the most uncertain about. Death is not an option tho. Just saying, I will not stand for it should she die.

Now, I am a firm believer in the fact that a book I give five stars can still be flawed.
My first issue was her abduction, which was left on a cliffhanger in the last, and therefore the beginning of this. The only reason she was taken in the first place was because she wanted to save Cavis and believed it was the only way to ensure he wouldn’t die. But he died while she was kept prisoner. And she didn’t even meet Regner/Sabium while in captivity. She escaped before he arrived at her location. Which made me feel like there was no point to this happening other than to have her be tortured to know what true suffering means.
The second is the prophecy about “the bloodthirsty prince”
Spoilers to come now.
I remember mentioning about how turning back time was dangerous, and was not to be done in a previous book, and thinking it would likely be done before the series was over. But I had kind of forgotten about it.
Then she heard the prophecy about Lorain, and not only did I immediately know the prophecy would come to pass, but I knew she would turn back time.
It would have simply been more impactful had the prophecy not been mentioned. It kind of ruined it for me, because I saw right through it.

But I still love the book.
I am going to sleep under a rock til the next book comes out, byeee.

[✰⋆☾ ⋆ Anna ⭑☽ ✧˖°.]

DNF for now, Just really lost interest in this series.. The first 2 books were soooo good though! 😭

[Kimberlylovesreadingbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did I finish it or did it finish me????😭😭😭

That ENDING 😶 😭 GIRL!!!!!!! 💀

My favourite quotes;

“If I’m going to die, it will be while I’m protecting you.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
He slowly shook his head. “I can think of no better death.”

Lorian just became one of my favourite book boyfriends 🤭👏🏾♥️

Let me not get started with Demos and Asinia 😭♥️ ughhhh

I’m going to make sure you get that life. It will happen. I promise you.” His voice was so assured. And if there was one thing I knew about Demos, it was that he kept his promises. He stopped walking and turned to face me fully. “But you’re not being honest with me. What is it you really want?”

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars It took me a long time, and what felt like a lot of effort to get through this one. It wasn't as engaging as the previous books in the series and I found myself mostly bored for the majority. It wasn't until the last 10% that I was at all gripped by the story.

There is a lot of set-up to be done ready for the conclusion in book 4, but I just found myself teetering between wanting to skim it and wishing it had been fleshed out a bit more...idk, I'm confused. There's so much information - names, powers, territories, history, relationships and povs. Despite this series being rapid release and it not being all that long ago that I read each one, It's not entirely clear how everything/one fits together, so I was often lost. Or trying to puzzle it back together. Some of the povs I wasn't particularly interested in. Madinia's pov, however, was a welcome addition. I'm really intrigued by her character and where her arc will take her in the final book, or whether she'll get a spinoff. There's so much potential with her character development, and she definitely gives that MC energy.

As slow as I found this one, in typical Stacia Stark fashion, we got to the last 10% and suddenly ~everything's~ popping off and I'm hit with with an action-packed, high-stakes, cliff-hanger. I'm disenchanted, but after investing in 3 books and with that ending, there's no other option but to pick up the last book. At some point. Maybe.

"I'll always be with you, Prisca. It’s you and me.”
Me and him. Forever.

[Sam | Haus of Fables · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

Is there anything better than a book 3 of a gobble gobble series? The answer is No…
This Book definitely felt like the ‘middle book’ of a series. A lot of chess pieces being moved around the board.
There were new POVS added (which I actually really loved ~ especially Madinia ~ new fave FC!) lots of information & things that had to take place to get us to where we needed to be. It’s building to an epic conclusion and you can feel that… But it still retained the easy to read flow & loveable characters. With some heart wrenching moments!
I love Lorian & Prisca even more & their character growth has been fantastic.

I’m so excited for B4 but I’m already sad this series will be over.

[shelbyreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

WTF THE ENDING NO!!!!

[Zeph rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK its redeeming

[Jen (jenslostinthepages) ♥Star-Crossed Book Blog♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Crown This Cold and Heavy was laced with death, secrets, friendship, torture, lies and love. This was an emotionally powerful book that took this series to new heights. Prophecies lay in wait that were soul shattering. The torture will rob you of your breath. Alliances were formed that were smile inducing, yet will leave you feeling angsty. And plans were created that were terrifying because every single thing could go wrong and blow up in their faces. This book, from that first page to the last, consumed my every waking thought and kept me in the palm of its hand!

“You don’t let this break you.”

A Crown This Cold and Heavy started with a few pages that had the most fabulous recap of the second book, A Kingdom This Cursed and Empty! I wish all books in a series would do this! Starting the story, those first few pages were rough. Prisca was held prisoner. And the torture she faced was beyond horrific. It created this fog that made me terrified of what could happen. There was no limits to what could be done. It chilled me to to the bones. Yet we watched as Prisca was brave, powerful and would not yield. She showed us she was a true leader. Someone you could look up to. So even though she drowned in her grief, she still fought fiercely and he watched her succeed. She made moves, plans, and alliances that would help her people. She surrounded herself with those that would fight beside her. And I loved how blood thirsty she could be at times. She was fierce and showed us time and again what a true queen should be!

I screamed and screamed. The horror was torn from my lungs, burning up my throat.

If you haven't heard me say this before, know that Lorian was the ultimate book boyfriend. He stood by Prisca's side. He wanted what was best for her. Not only would he help her fight every step of the way. But at the same point, he knew she had to make her own waves. And as he watched her do just that, his love sihned bright. So the relationship and love between Prisca and Lorian is one of my favorites. I love that they are adults. That yes they fight and struggle, but they also know how to talk and work it out. I have so much respect for them. And I loved that their moments together were steamy, seductive and beautifully intimate. Also when something was revealed, it explained so much back to that first book, I couldn't stop smiling and screaming with joy!

I couldn’t fall apart here. I had to lead. We had to make plans.
Lorian tightened his arms around me, and I took a deep breath. Then another.

We also got other people's POVs again. And as someone who usually only wants to hear from the hero and heroine, I was obsessed with the other POV's we got! Here are some of my thoughts on those.....

*Madinia

The amusement drained from his face. It wasn’t real amusement anyway. “What do you want?”
It was my turn to smile. “I want chaos.”

She became my favorite side character. She made me laugh. She was so cunning and smart. And I loved that she pushed herself to try her hardest. To accomplish what goal was set in front of her. Yet, she didn't think she had any friends. She never did. Yet as she worked with this group that surrounded Lorian and Prisca, it was impossible not for anything to be formed. Even if it was just plain old respect. But I loved watching her and Prisca interact and it always warmed my heart.

*Asinia

Demos had only ever seen me as yet another person to keep alive. I was a promise he’d made to his sister.
And most days, I was fine with that.
Today…today, it ached.

I was obsessed with her relationship with Demos, Prisca's brother. Since she was first locked in the cell next to his back in the first book. They have come so far. And I loved how we got to share moments like Demos remembering what Asinia had told him. They became so much more than just Prisca's best friend and brother. I was rooting for them! So out of all the side character's POV's, I was most emotional with them. Not only did they go through horrific battles, but there were times when it felt like I couldn't breathe until I was back with them. Just like my scenes with Priscan and Lorian. Asinia and Demos also made me sob. For pages I couldn't stop the tears from falling. And my lips are zipped for why!

*The Queen

She was so tricky and played her part so beautifully. I never thought she could be this woman, underneath the facade she wore. Not only was I beyond fascinated by her, but I was also terrified with what she could want down the road. Because she let us in. We got to know her all of her thoughts and plans. But even still, she was someone that will leave you guessing and always thinking about in the back of your mind.

I couldn’t speak. The tears I couldn’t shed were drowning me, and I was gasping for breath.
But there was something I had to say. A promise I had to keep.

I know I haven't talked about what happens as this story unfolds, but I can't say much since there are way too many spoilers. Just know that there were scenes that created guilt that festered in those we love. It was impossible not to shed tears when truths were told. And also tears for those we love that were put in horrific situations. So the pain at times was gut wrenching, when death seeped into the pages. There was also emotional and beautiful sacrifices. And battles that will rob you of your breath. Yet there was also so many moments filled laughter and love. The friendships were everything. The romance was sensual and steamy. And this book had the perfect mix of heart and angst! And be emotionally prepared because this book ends on a cliffhanger! If you thought the last one was challenging, you haven't seen anything yet! A Crown This Cold and Heavy has a heart stopping ending that will leave you gasping for more!

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book, provided by the author. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

Reviews:
Kingdom of Lies:
A Court This Cruel and Lovely #1
A Kingdom This Cursed and Empty #2
A Crown This Cold and Heavy #3
A Queen This Fierce and Deadly #4

Kingdom of Death:
This Vicious Dream #1




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[Jacquelyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prisca wakes in a carriage where she immediately recognizes as a guy (Eadric) that flirted with her at a pub where she got jealous because Lorian was talking to another fae woman. This realization makes her wonder how long this man was following them. He knocks her out again and then she wakes up in a small cell. Eadric comes in with a small stature man and he starts to question her. When she doesn’t answer his questions she finds out the purpose of the other man Soltor. He uses his power to slice through her skin and he is able to knit it back up and he does that over and over for days. When they realize she’s still not breaking they bring Cavis in with her. She sees that he is bleeding from the nose and that he has a far off stare. Eadric taunts her by telling her, “you know what happens when he keeps fighting against the kings spell? He loses parts of his brain that cannot be recovered.” They think that Cavis is her lover because of a rumor from when they were traveling together in a pub she laid claim to all the men in the group. So they start torturing him the same as her. She’s about to break and Cavis begs her to kill him that he cannot be the one that gives the king the information that kills his friends and family. He gives her messages to give to his friends and family and makes her promise to not let this break her and to get away. She says no and they will find a way to break the spell. Cavis is getting worse trying to continually fight the spell on him while also being tortured over and over. He’s basically catatonic. Prisca is desperate and decides to give useless information in hopes to delay Eadric. That’s when she discovers that Eadric is a truth seeker and knows when he’s lied to. He gets impatient and he decides he wants to cut her eye out. Cavis snatches Eadric and Prisca goes for Soltor but it goes array and Eadric kills Cavis. Eadric knows that the king needed Cavis alive to extract info from his mind and he freaks out. He leaves in a hurry with one last message, “Zathrian sends his regards”. Zathrian is her cousin the other person with time magic competing for the hybrid throne. So either Eadric is a double spy but at the very least he works for Zathrian. That’s the last she sees him and she’s no longer being tortured. She starts to lose herself more once the guards take Cavis body away and she starts to shut down and doesn’t eat or move. The guards think she’s going to die. She about gives up and even gets mad a Lorian in her head for taking the Disc Demos (her blood brother) gave her to take her life. Then she remembers her promise to Cavis to not let this break her. She remembers Lorian telling her to not give up and never to take her life and to cheat and do whatever it takes to survive. So she uses her anger to fuel her. She gathers the bones from the chicken that she’s given to eat. And slowly she sharpens the bone on the stone. The guards think she’s going to die so they start not paying much attention to her. She’s told that the king will be there in 24 hours so she knows she has to escape. Meanwhile Lorian, Demos, and Asinia (right after Prisca and Cavis fall) they are trying to run out of the caverns when a beast is chasing them down and they are fighting for their life. They take it down but Asinia is injured and unconscious. Lorian takes her to the fae woman that Prisca was jealous of where she has a healer waiting. Lorian is in his head because he knew Prisca was his mate but he didn’t tell her because he was worried she would run because she hated “fate” and he wanted her to love him before she knew about the bond. He thinks she’s too good for him because of all the “bad” he’s had to do in the name of his brother Conrath (king of the fae). He’s killed a lot in his name. Now he regrets not telling her about the mating bond. Asinia recovers (she’s in her head about being a liability). They work together going after generals trying to extract information to find Prisca with no luck. Lorian had a message sent to Rythos, Marth and Galon and they end up meeting up with them. The Queen, Kaleria as we learned from the last book, that she eventually learns to love her son Jamic (who really isn’t her son.) He was thrust upon her by her husband King Regner. The king uses “the sons” to collect the human power that is taken by the priestesses and when the power is strong enough he slits their throats to strengthen the barrier blocking way to the other continent most of the population doesn’t know about. Then he takes on the son’s identity to become the next king. The Queen knows if the son dies, she dies too. so it’s not completely selfless. She knows the only chance of saving her son is through the hybrid heir. She has ulterior motives and plans on her son taking the throne so she can be in power too and when he does she plans to kill Prisca but until then she needs her. The Queen makes a deal with a seer who we find out is the mother to the pirate queen Daharak and the guy she was working with is the pirate queens brother. The deal she makes had her sacrifice her chance to have a daughter to give her more time to save her son. She makes the deal and that deal creates a message bond with Madinia where she can keep finding her to give her messages. The Queen sends a message to Madinia warning her that the king is about to attack a hybrid camp. This message saves 100s. The queen hopes that builds trust with Madinia. Madinia is not stupid she was the queens maiden since she was a teen and knows that queen always has an ulterior reason for why she does things . The Queen finds out that the king has captured Prisca and ends up finding out where and sends a message to Madinia. Before anyone can rescue Prisca she rescues herself. which I love! She unlocks her manacles with the bones which she learned from her brother Demos. She uses her time magic to get the cell keys from the guard walking by who wasn’t paying attention because they thought she was dying plus they were distracted getting ready for the king. She releases the only other prisoner from his cell named Calysian. He helps fight the other guards and they put the survivors in the cells . They get outside and everyone is torn apart outside. Madinia finds Prisca and Calysian says he owes Prisca a life debt which she says to give to Madinia. We later find out that Vynthar, (the beast that was used to test Prisca’s worthiness by the elders that befriended her and decided he wanted to follow and protect her), is what killed all the guards outside of the dungeon she escaped. Madinia sees that Prisca isn’t coping well with what happened to Cavis and tried to talk to her but doesn’t know how because she’s never had a friend and doesn’t know how to be one. Prisca refuses to open up to anyone about it and as a reader I can see the start of a bottled up rage that will likely lead to something big. the potential for her to lose herself in it. Lorian and the group find Prisca and Madinia. Finally Lorian admits to Prisca that she is his mate. Lorian found out that Tibres is captured by the rebels that he was sent to help by Prisca. He was hoping that he could rescue him before finding Prisca but it was a failed mission. He tells her and she gets all mad that he withheld information from her. Let me tell you this is where I have issues with her… she is a hypocrite because she does the same to him all the time. I swear if these two don’t get their communication issues resolved I’m gonna lose my mind . Half their damn problems is because they don’t talk their shit out. Okay off my soapbox. She admits she’s loves him too (once she processes it because when she was in the dungeon she regretted not saying “I love you” back to him when he had told her before.) She excepts the bond and they have cute words. After they all pow-wow and come up with plans to move forward. Madinia got another message from the Queen that they have 8 days before the king slits the sons throat and instead of enforcing the barrier as done before he’s going to absorb the power for himself and essentially become an unbeatable god on a war path to kill all fae and hybrids. The one thing the king always had on his side was good propaganda where people believed that the hybrids were corrupt and dangerous to the humans. Madinia wants to spread the truth to work against that and has a plan for that so she travels ahead of everyone to enact that plan. Demos and Asinia go to save Tibres. The rest of the group goes to the city. Prisca’s uses the hourglass for the first time to stop time to get the group in the city undetected. They all head together to meet at a safe house in the kings city with Vicer. While they are there, they find out from an elder that the elders gave the armed forces to the cousin which consist of 20,000 people. They extract information from the father of the son Madinia killed in previous book to use the carriages for the hybrids to escape the city. We find out Vicer’s power. He had kept as a secret because he can alter peoples memories. He discovers the location of Jamic. Madinia cashes in her life debt to locate a person who can help cause a distraction to rescue Jamic. The plan is in action. Madinia, Prisca, and Rythos go to the castle to talk to the Queen and extract Cavis body not only to bring back for his family but also they find out the king can still extract information from him. They want to find out the Queens true motives. Lorian, Marth and Galon get Jamic. Explosions are set off at each gate guard one by one setting off a distraction while they each do their part. Prisca’s finds out from the seer that steps through the queens mirror that she needs to help the pirate queen.The seer tells her of her premonition that Lorian will die and if she doesn’t find a way to control her rage she will basically turn bad and that Madinia needs to help her. Lorian and his group rescues Jamic and they all reunite. Lorian sees something is off with Prisca and she refuses to tell him. Telean gets a message from Gromalia from where they are trying to ally with their kings son Rekja. A rumor was confirmed by the dead queens (Rekja mother) was poisoned by the king. They are hoping that if he finds out the truth that he’ll ally with them or at the very least cause a rift between son and father. At the rebel camp, Demos and Asinia infiltrate the camp (Vynthar was with them) and get caught and request to see Tibris from the leader Herne. When Tibris came to the camp he was shot in the arm and fell and hit his head. The 2 healers the camp had were killed so he had to heal the old fashion way. When he woke he said he saw the most beautiful man which was the leader Herne. so I see a love story in the making. They were supposed to only be there for a few days but it turned into a week. Asinia has evolving feelings for Demos. He fails to convince to leader to join them and he tried to use the leaders feelings towards Tibris to his advantage by saying they have to take Tibris to the front lines. As they are arguing a guard says is a line of beast coming from the east to attack. Demos and Asinia join the fight while Tibris stays behind as the only healer. Demos downed the lead creature and they began to retreat except for one creature that was going for a 12 year old boy. Asinia shot it with an arrow but it wasn’t enough and Demos covered the boy with his body and the creature attacked him before Asinia had another chance to knock another arrow into its eye. Nothing like death or near death for someone to realize how much they care about another. Asinia fireman carries Demos limp body to get the Tibris. Tibris was able to heal Demos over several days. Asinia tries one last time to convince the leader of the camp to support them. Regner doesn’t seem too upset about losing Jamic which makes me think that he has something up his sleeve and I think it has to do with the amulet, the mirror he purposefully had the Queen see when he put it in a carriage, and the prophecy that Lorian will die. Finally Prisca tells Lorian about the prophecies. When trying to take the amulet off Jamic and Madinia joins him. One of the healers ended up being a spider and slammed power into him trying to kill him. Madinia burned the spider. Jamic thanks Madinia for saving his life. He states that everyone should worry about is the grimoire. There are others like it but it’s past the barrier which is why the king wants it down. He request Madinia to help him but he won’t say what it is or when but he won’t help unless she agrees and she agrees only if it doesn’t cause her to betray her friends or the plan. Prisca meets with Cavis wife and daughter and finally tells the message he gave her to give to his family. She finally cries when the wife Sybella puts her baby in her hands. Sybella left with the words, hold his baby and promise her you will avenge her father. Maybe she won’t bottle things up after all as I had theorized before. But I don’t know how she’d handle the loss of Lorian. She has a wrath in her I’d hate to see opened up. Prisca tells Galon the truth how Conreth used their friendship against Lorian to keep him teathered to the throne. Galon, Rythos, and Marth all admit that they will follow wherever he goes and knowing the border will be closed to them once they leave. They want him to talk to his brother and make a choice. He finally tells his brother that he will always choose Prisca. Conreth continues to undermine Prisca but she stands up for herself and she finds out that her tactic of having the fae and the hybrids works together at the camp worked and they want to fight together in this war. It’s frustrating how Conreth treats Prisca because she’s the only reason they found 2 of the 3 amulets that returned their power making them stronger. She and Loriann’s team are the only one making sacrifices to find allies. They risks their life to save Jamic to prevent Regner from gaining more power to kill them. Conreth has done nothing. Conreth kept his brother undermined all these years because he was worried that he would want his throne even though he made it clear that wasn’t want he wanted… even now all he wants is Prisca. Despite their differences they have to work together at the summit where they have to convince the wardens (the leaders of each territory within the fae lands) to help fight this war against Regner. Lorian asks Prisca to marry him after he told her he’s following her wherever she goes. Of course she says yes. So on with the formalities of the summit. We get introduced to each warden and what assets they have to could help with the war if they are to agree to join the war. Despite Conreth being king of the fae it’s still the wardens choice to agree to put their people at risk in a war or not. Only 2 out of the 5 wardens agreed to fight in the war. Caliar, the one with the wards said no, Verdion, Rythos dad on an island with a fleet of ships said no but he went against his own laws and didn’t consult his council. And lastly Sylvielle, the one with “predators said no. So Romydan with numerous trained guards and Thorn was the third most powerful person in this kingdom have agreed to join. The others seem to have their own various reasons to not want to join but the biggest one was they didn’t want to fight side by side with the hybrid heir and think she hasn’t don’t enough. Or has anything to bring to the table. So off to sea the ones that agreed they go. Prisca and her crew go to make a deal with the pirate queen. Apparently King Regner had approached Verdion who was sour that the amulet wasn’t in-trusted to his family and has held a grudge over it so he made an agreement with the king to not join the war. King of Gromalia has agreed to join forces with King Regner. Once the fae lands are take king Regner said he’ll blow the island away. Prisca makes another blood bow with the pirate queen. 3 weeks to take down the barrier and exchange for her fleet to help fight a war against Regner. Prisca’s other blood vow she agrees to stop time to help the pirate queens ships who are currently being blockaded by Regners fleet when they tried to get a weapon. They are successful and about to celebrate when they discover another ship in the distance called the Sea Shadow… showing the first prophecy to be true. The ship collides but they move the sail to the sun which causes the other ship to hit the corral reef successfully sinking the ship. Before they can fully process that the first prophecy being true which means the second one is as well. meaning Loriann’s death, Madinia gets a message from the queen. The king knows their plan to break the barrier and there is ships from Gromalia and Erothpia coming in hundreds. So they have to go right away to break the barrier to try to avoid them if they can. Prisca finally pours her heart out to Lorian about how she was tortured and the look on Cavis face and her nightmares. The Queen escapes the castle to go after the 3rd amulet knowing that the hybrid heir is too far away and busy but also to use as a bargaining tool. She knows the amulet is used to breed and manipulate the flying beast. She thought hundreds but turns out there are tens of thousands of them. And not just flying beast. The queen is distracted by the sheer number of beast that a hand clamps down on her face. The ships the pirate queen sent ahead to give them more time to break the barrier failed because the king has a new weapon that can channel elemental magic through a cannon. Prisca freezes time when they go to fire the cannon so the ship moves out of the way which was purposely positioned between Regners ship and the island Quorith (Rhythos father’s island that wanted to remain neutral by making a deal with Regner)… the island was warded so when time froze the ship maneuvered out of the way and when time unfroze the cannon hit the island wards reflected back to the ship that fired it making it look like the island attacked… essentially Quorith is now in the fight… effectively making them not neutral in Regners eyes. Rhythos boarded a ship that Prince Rekja was on easily because he used is making friends power on the crew preventing an attack. Telean had done it. She’d found the proof that Eryndan had killed Rekja’s mother. She’d located his aunt. When he heard of the truth he turned his ship around and Rekja speared him with his power and blew his father apart. Just when things seem to looking up Prisca sees her cousin next to Regner… Zathrian and Regner were working together. Regners ships outnumbered them 5 to 1 and they were losing. There were no other tactics besides one more desperate move. They needed to get Jamic and the powerful fae, humans, and hybrids closer to the barrier to funnel the magic so it was stronger to break it. They were running out of time and they had no other choice. They had to board smaller boats making them targets so they needed smoke to hide them. The barrier broke. Conreth aimed his power towards Regner just has he brought out a mirror. Prisca tries to stop time but it doesn’t work because her cousin neutralized her. Conreths power hit the mirror and reflected off aimed right at Lorian. “Lorian looked at me, and realization flashed across his beautiful face. I saw him forming the words. “In another life.” He was turning to ice, eyes blank. Gone. For a single moment, I felt him next to me, his soul caressing mine. I love you. The ice exploded into thousands of pieces. In every life, wildcat. No matter what happens, you hold on to that. It’s you and me in every life.” I bared my teeth and shoved everything I had into defying the laws of nature and the gods. In every life, Lorian.“

[Rochelle ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

the fact was, if we were going to win this war, we had to fight regner everywhere. and that included the hearts and minds of his people.

a crown this cold and heavy focuses on the politically charged ambitions of everyone involved in the war on the continent, as prisca and the fellow realm leaders take advantage of fragile alliances and crumbling morale in an attempt to outmanoeuvre each other.

prisca’s vanished and has been locked away inside a hidden, undisclosed location where she’s being tortured for information—her enemies want to know the whereabouts of the coveted hourglass and learn what her next moves are against regner.

it’s a small matter, but it’s really appreciated that this series continues from wherever the last book ended so that you don’t have to wait with bated breath to find out what happens next!

“you had things to do.” his words were flat.
“well, yes. i couldn’t sit around for days and wait to be rescued. besides, if i’d done that, you would have arrived and roared at me for not working harder to escape.”

despite the turmoil and heartache endured, prisca remained a strong-willed character. her traumatic experiences whilst trapped within regner’s dungeons, have taught prisca countless lessons in becoming a strategist who has to sometimes make difficult decisions.

prisca’s surrounded by enemies and understands that she can’t save everyone; that sometimes certain sacrifices are necessary in moving forward, but she persisted in her endeavours to protect the continent and the hybrid kingdom. her journey of flourishing into a fitting queen, worthy of the hybrid kingdom, remains an entertaining and admirable one.

i had two choices—face it and live a rich, full life, or hide from it and never truly experience the joy and happiness of loving with everything in me.
the price of love was loss.
we all paid it eventually.

the end letters from lorian to prisca were so beautifully written and tragic, my heart actually melted and swooned. lorian has zero business being that sweet! however, that’s where lorian’s appeal kind of ends. for someone dubbed “the bloodthirsty prince”—i understand he’s supposed to be a loveable, morally grey character—i wanted to witness more of lorian’s villainous side that we just started seeing a little more of when he tore apart regiments in search of prisca.

“i want you to feel how much i love you. i’ll always be with you, prisca. it’s you and me.”

as always, the found family trope is hands-down my favourite aspect of this series! the fae warriors are protective of prisca, but like lorian, they don’t overbear and smother her. the trust and camaraderie between the fae and prisca, and her own family is so heartwarming and wholesome it softens the heart wrenching moments we encounter.

this book felt dense with details and there’s an insane amount of povs (and pov shifting), my brain started hurting. i understand the reasons for the number of povs, but lorian and prisca’s romance begins to feel like an afterthought as this book really leans into war preparations, alliance formations and detailed politics—there’s so much information and too many perspectives.

i loved the action, the adventure and the romance in the last two books, as it was balanced but engaging. in a crown this cold and heavy the beginning was the most entertaining, with the middle section feeling drawn out and the end an absolute emotional nightmare.

speaking of emotional warfare, i have a bone to pick with you, stacia stark (respectfully of course) for ruining my already fragile emotions!!! that cliffhanger is criminally insane—who comes up with something that brutally mean? my heart shattered, but like always those jaw-dropping cliffhangers keep reeling me in.

kingdom of lies
a court this cruel and lovely — 4 stars
a kingdom this cursed and empty — 4 stars
a crown this cold and heavy — 3 stars

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[Marianna Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

FIVE GLORIOUS STARS ✨✨ wow wow wow. I am SPEECHLESS. The ending of this book WRECKED me I still have dried tears on my cheeks. But oh my goodness it hurt so good! Every single book in this series just keeps getting better and better which doesn’t usually happen. I’ve fallen absolutely in love with this whole series, the world, the characters, the relationships.

The new POVs in this book were absolute PERFECTION, I had already grown so attached to the side characters from the first two books so getting to see their perspective really leveled up the story and Stacia Stark beautifully tied all of the side plots together while laying a lot of ground work for everything to come together in the final book. And don’t even get me started on Sin and Demos…. I love them so much.

TALK ABOUT FEMININE RAGE!!! Ahhhh I’m obsessed Pris is one of my favorite FMCs and this book gives you two more POVs from the most bad ass women I love it so freaking much.

Lorien. I can’t. This man. Him and Pris’s love for each other. Etched in my soul forever. I’m obsessed with them and my heart hurts.

Ticked all the boxes to make this a 5 star romantasy for me:
✔️multi POV
✔️bad ass FMC with feminine rage
✔️found family
✔️characters you become emotionally attached to
✔️perfect blend of plot and romance
✔️intricate world building
✔️battle scenes putting you at the edge of your seat
✔️MMC who would burn down the world for her
✔️impeccable spice but not too much


I’m obsessed.

[༚˳⁺✧˚Jennifer ˚✧⁺˳༚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars
3/5 spice

I think this was my least favorite of the series so far, but I still loved it a lot. The ending has me STRESSED!! especially with the next book not coming out for 2 months 😭😭

full review coming soon

[Katyana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Writers who leave cliffhangers like this are assholes. I'll read the last book in this series because I feel like I have to. But I won't read anything by this author again, unless the entire series is out. And maybe not even then.

(Edit in March 2025 to say:)
Or not.

The book following this cliffhanger came out like 6 months ago, and I'm not even a teeny bit interested. Every time I looked at it on my Kindle, I remembered how much I loathe the FMC and can't bring myself to read it. I finally just returned it. I'm noping out.

[Josie Bullard · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐️ there were parts of this book that I loved, but I found myself struggling to get through most of it because I was so bored. For some reason Lorian & Prisca’s relationship has become a bit lack luster to me. The whole mating bond seen was such a let down…?! Idk it was weird I wanted something to snap in to place or for it to be more monumental. It was super rushed and not special at all and it made me almost want to DNF the book😂😂 Honestly I’m really loving demos & asinia atm and hope we get more of them in book 4! I loved the ending even though I predicted it would happen since it was foreshadowed in one of the earlier books. Very curious to see how things will unfold from here.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Crown this Cold and Heavy (Kingdom of Lies #3) by Stacia Stark

The unimaginable has happened,
And none of our lives will ever be the same.
Surrounded by enemies, I've never been further from my crown...
Or closer to death.

Rating: *****
Feels: Anticipation, Revengy, Amazement, Joy.
Style: Fantasy, Romantasy, Fae, Magic
First published November 17, 2023 : 532 pages Kindle, Dreamscape Media Audiobook

I just love the feminine rage in this book. The main FMC and all the other women we get to see in this book just bring joy to my heart. Even ones I may not agree with I can see why they make the choices they make. The bounds they form with each other and within the found family in this book is just heart warming and definitely gut-wrenching in some parts. I love how deeply you start to feel for all this characters. The author has built a world and people that you care about. I love that Prisca fights for not only what she believes in but for her found family, family and her people. I am so glad this is a completed story because I think I would have lost it having to wait for the fourth (and last) book in this series.


Audiobook Rating: Tim Paige (Narrator), Meg Sylvan (Narrator): I was once again enraptured and mesmerized by this narrator team. I did indeed once again do this book on audiobook. I could not wait and purchased it as my library was taking too long to get it to me and I wanted to start it right away and I have really been enjoying this one as an audiobook. Story, tone, pacing and POV are flawless. I always know who is speaking and transitions are easy to follow. I tend to listen to audiobooks at 1.5 to 2.0 and listened to this at 1.75. Highly recommend this book as an audiobook even if you have read it as the story through audio is just charged with magic.

This book has:
Strong FMC (Stabby)
Morally Gray MMC
Enemies to Lovers
Touch her and die
Found Family
Hidden Identify
Slow Burn
Politics
Magic

[Demi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The hell? The end?!?!?! I SWEAR IF THAT HAPPENS IMMA BE PISSED OFF

Anyways giving it just 4 ⭐️ because the unnecessary too much spice was ruining it

[Alisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m so disappointed… after really enjoying the first two, this one just didn’t work for me. I did not like the multiple POVs. I found myself skipping full sections because I just didn’t feel compelled to read some of POVs. The story felt slow. The actual plot didn’t grip me. I’ll likely read the last one so I know how the series ends but I won’t be highly anticipating it.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars!
Holy fucking cliff-hanger!
I need to start doing my research before I dive into series like this because I had absolutely no idea that it wasn't yet completed and after that ending I am SUFFERING. You're telling me I have to wait MONTHS for the next book? MONTHS? I can't. Stacia Stark, if you're reading this, take pity on me and send me book 4 immediately.
I'm going to be thinking about this shit for weeks. This is going to send me into the mother of all reading slumps, I can just feel it.
I need to know what happens and I need to know like... yesterday.

[Mandy]

This pains me to DNF 😭. I stopped at 53% 5 months ago and I have no desire to pick it back up. As someone who absolutely loved books 1 and 2, I found this 3rd installment difficult to get through. Not much happened in this first half of the book, and I found myself bored. It felt way different than books 1&2. Maybe one day I will finish? But not any time soon…

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK.

(Actually a 4.5 rating for unnecessary cliffhanger)

[quin ⁠♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This didn’t hold my attention sadly. The pacing felt very slow, and it took a long time for the story to go anywhere meaningful

[Tay_is_reading_again · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emotionally reeling. Full review to come once I can grasp that ending.

[literary.leyna · Rating 4 out of 5]

YES YES YES

Immediately starting the next one!