Couronne de lumière et de cendres (Série Royaume des Ombres t. 1)

Kingdom of Shadows #1

by Vi Carter, Joanna Maz

J'entre à la Cour de l'Ombre pour sauver mon frère. Je ne m'attends pas à en ressortir comme l'épouse du monstre qui a tué l'homme que j'aimais.



Kaan est l'impitoyable Seigneur des Ombres—ancien, sans pitié, et d'une beauté terrifiante. Il a tué Aslan avec un sourire aux lèvres et mon nom sur la langue. Puis il m'a réclamée en paiement d'une dette de sang.



À présent, je suis sa femme, en soie noire et chaînes d'argent. Possédée. Enfermée. Épiée.



Et la nuit de nos noces, il ne demande pas. Il prend—mon corps, mon souffle, ma résistance—jusqu'à me briser. Sa bouche. Ses règles. Ses ombres, qui s'enroulent autour de moi comme un nœud coulant.



J'ai juré que je le tuerais. Au lieu de ça, je gémis son nom dans le noir.

Parce que les monstres comme lui ne font pas l'amour. Ils te défont. Mais Kaan ne veut pas d'amour. Il veut la dévotion. Il veut que je supplie.



Et le pire ? Je crois que je vais le faire.

Genres: Fantasy, Dark Romance, Romantasy

410 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 23, 2025

About the author

When Vi Carter isn’t writing dark romance books that feature the mafia, are filled with suspense, and take you on a fast-paced ride, you can find her reading her favorite authors, baking, taking photos or enjoying long walks in the Irish countryside.

Vi’s biggest selling series, Young Irish Rebels, is available in Audio, English and Dutch.

Married with three children, Vi divides her time between motherhood and all the other hats she wears as an author.

She has declared herself a coffee & chocolate addict! Do not judge. 

Subscribe to Vi’s newsletter for a free book to follow her down a dark path alongside the Mafia!



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Reviews

[S.J Way · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got the first two books in the Kingdom of Shadows series due to a recommendation on Tiktok - Which I don't normally do but here we are. Lesson learned!!

The sad things about this is that the basic storyline behind this series had the chance to be something brilliant. The premise was great - but the execution fell flat. The story is rushed, the characters have very little depth of emotion (the MFC witnesses the love of her life get murdered and then suddenly doesn't care and falls for the murderer at the drop of her knickers!) and alongside all of that the repetition is beyond annoying.

However, now I think I know why...

From the amount of comments about this book online it seems that it was written with the use of AI, and not very well I might add. There is little to no editing in the second book - Two characters both talking in the same sentence, dialog that doesn't flow, the same descriptions used close together, key words that are over used for four or five pages and then disappear, and so on.

If you are going to use AI to write a book, please do the decent thing and let people know!

The other thing that annoyed me was that the paperback version seemed to be the same manuscript used to create the ebook, and whilst that normally wouldn't be a problem, all of the links in the book say "click here" as if the paper will magically take you to the link. Spoiler - it wont.

Anyone who is self publishing really should be aware that you need two different manuscripts for print and ebook.

For the sake of a story that could have been something amazing, I would recommend the author pulls these books from production, restructures them into something workable and edits them to within an inch of their lives before republishing because they truly could have been something special and instead they sadly, are not.

[Bree · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nope. I am not going to keep reading this series. The first chapter felt like I was getting thrown into an already developed story. I rolled with it because the spice happens pretty quickly, and the spice is spicy. Unfortunately, the writing didn’t seem like it was proofread at all. There were certain details in the book that I swear were not mentioned in previous chapters. The plot was a bit all over the place, and tbh both female characters annoyed me. I finished the book because what’s a few more pages, but I’m good with not reading any more of their story.

I’m only giving this two stars because I did enjoy the spicy scenes. If it was for them, 1 star.

[Book Wh0r3 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really enjoying the storyline and the characters, but I was unaware about the author’s use of AI in promotional content until I looked up the book (because I was going to follow the author on TT). When an author uses generative AI, they’re taking from artists. When they use it in their books, they’re taking from other writers. I can’t in good conscience support this. So DNF as a result. And I will always assume that authors who use GEN AI for anything also use it in their writing.

[IdRatherBeReading · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve seen so many mixed reviews on this book, mostly bad, but what ultimately got me was the part some of my fave BookTok influencers used, & I ended up using it in my Book Haul, & it’s the bit where “she’s screwing her lover on the forest floor & the shadow daddy enemy shows up, says ‘don’t stop on my account,’ kills her lover, then forces her to marry him.”

But I really enjoyed it! You can never go wrong with an obsessive dangerous shadow king/demon! I really liked the bad ass FMC. The writing was magical, but what (dark fantasy) book isn’t!? I just love the way he longs for her, & can’t get enough of her! Her fairy friend Banu was kind of annoying, but the banter between them all was corny AND funny. The ending was definitely a twist…

[Danielle Ash · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot was fun and all you’d want from enemies to lovers with an unhinged shadow daddy. However while the male narrator was amazing the female narrator was very monotone and it was difficult to tell when different characters were speaking when she was narrating. I had to rewind more than half her chapters bc I literally fell asleep to her droning tone. This is a book I would read on kindle unlimited rather than listening on audible.

[Claudia Finkbeiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodness! What's wrong with me? Lol another unhinged enemies to lovers book that I ate up 🤣🤣🤣 the storyline... so good! Really good banter... laughable out loud moments... moments where I was clutching my pearls... and the ending. What an interesting plot twist! I downloaded book 2 and am ready to see how the storyline continues!

[Cassie McQuilling · Rating 2 out of 5]

This storyline was WEAK. The character development was subpar. One minute we have enemies, the next we have lovers with absolutely no reason as to why. The spice? Top notch. These authors can write some love scenes. But I finished wanting more from the plot.

[Nicole Petrus12]

The audio was fantastic! Couldn't stop listening as much as I couldn't stop reading it

[Michell Oldfather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Female narrator was awful....male narrator was great.

[Eric Scott Ledford · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this on a whim but the story caught my attention. It drag in some places but the burn of the FMC and MMC is addicting. Both are strong characters working through their lives. It’s worth the read.

[Lana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had high hopes. It was a good beginning then he rapes the FMC on their wedding night and suddenly she asks him to do it--what? That came out of nowhere. It was inconsistent. I ended up going back and reading it. The psychology is off. she says one thing and does another. at least the MMC is awful and i know what to expect, but i hate that I agree with what Nesi decides to do then she gives in to him, but he's at fault. The story is good and I am curious what happens next, but surprisingly i dont like the FMC, because i hate when the females make poor choices in the story.

[Rachel Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it very spicy I was hooked straight away very fast paced

[Lisa Kowalczyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

J’ai littéralement adoré ce premier tome et je suis déjà impatiente de me plonger dans le tome 2.
La plume est fluide, addictive, et rend la lecture très agréable du début à la fin. Les personnages sont bien développés, chacun avec une vraie profondeur, ce qui permet de s’attacher rapidement à eux.

La fin… parlons-en. Elle laisse un énorme suspense, peut-être même un peu trop pour moi, mais impossible de nier son efficacité : on referme le livre avec une seule envie, connaître la suite au plus vite.

J’ai particulièrement hâte de découvrir le véritable pouvoir de Nesilhan, dont le potentiel promet énormément pour la suite. Et que dire de Kaan ? Son charisme est indéniable, il apporte une intensité et une présence qui marquent clairement le récit.

Ce que j’ai aussi beaucoup apprécié, c’est que l’histoire ne se limite pas à une dark romance classique. Le roman aborde plusieurs thèmes originaux, ce qui le rend plus riche et plus nuancé que ce à quoi on pourrait s’attendre.

En résumé : une lecture captivante, intense et prometteuse.
👉 Validé à 1000 % !

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dès les premières pages, on entre directement dans cet univers sombre et captivant.
La plume est fluide et agréable, ce qui rend la lecture addictive. Les personnages sont vraiment bien construits, avec de la profondeur et des zones d'ombre qui les rendent fascinants. On sent qu'il y a des secrets, des non-dits, et cette tension constante qui plane sur eux m'a tenue en haleine tout au long du livre.
L'intrigue est prenante, l'univers dark fantasy est bien posé avec ses codes et son atmosphère pesante. La romance se développe dans ce contexte particulier, entre ombre et lumière, avec cette tension palpable qui rend les interactions entre les personnages encore plus intenses.
Et cette fin... on nous laisse en plein suspense avec tellement de questions en tête !

[Bonbons93 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Il fascino delle ombre immancabile! Nonostante sia una struttura trita e ritrita mi è piaciuto molto la struttura dei personaggi, ho trovato un po’ di troppe somiglianze alla acotar su alcune cose però comunque piacevole! Sto leggendo il due ed anche quello mi sta piacendo. Lo consiglio ✨

Khan è una degna copia di Rhys 🥰

[Lynda Lavoie · Rating 5 out of 5]

J’ai adoré

Ce livre m’a tenue en haleine du début à la fin. Captivant, l’intrigue est originale et bien écrite. Les personnages attachants, les deux protagonistes principaux, ainsi que le général du Royaume des Ombres et la fée. Il y a quelques coquilles, mais ça n’empêche pas la lecture d’être fluide.

[pigayle]

dnf a 10%
j’ai lu en biais après jusqu’à la fin et pitié le pregnancy trope a la fin du livre 1 grosse flemme
+ la mmc qui s’entraîne en secret qui a une magie rare et qui est « badass » c’est trop cliché marre