Prisoner of Silk

Queen of the Sun Palace #1

by Lidiya Foxglove

“No,” he said. “Let me see you, Princess. You belong to me now.”
Yes, I realized that was true. That was the bargain. It certainly felt different than mere words on a paper as I stood there before his penetrating gaze.

When Princess Marie Rose was born, a faery witch laid a curse upon her: she would prick her finger on a spindle at the age of sixteen and fall into a long sleep. Her parents destroyed every spindle in the kingdom. Her sixteenth birthday has safely come and gone. But no one will marry the cursed princess…except one. An unusual offer comes from the handsome, reserved faery prince of the Palace of the Sun.

There is no privacy in this palace. The life of the royal family is a carefully choreographed theater. Everyone has a role to play. Princess Rose is protected every moment—but the price of this protection is complete surrender.

Now she is the corseted and gilded possession of Prince Augustus, subject to his every order and desire. No human has ever taken on this role before and her very appearance is a scandal. There is no such thing as a private moment, no matter what is asked of her, and the faery court is waiting for this lovely human girl to make a mistake.

Why did Prince Augustus choose a cursed girl? The witch still follows her every move, and plans to use the princess to destroy the kingdom. But Rose has more power than she knows. First she’ll have to learn when to play the rules...and when to break them.

This very steamy and sensual retelling of Sleeping Beauty is inspired by the life of Marie Antoinette. If you haven't read my other fairy tales or even if you have, let me warn you about this trilogy: It will include cliffhangers, menage with some m/m elements, naughty spells, naughty vines, naughty clockwork, naughty dreams, plenty of decadent surprises and a HEA!!!

Coming on August 8th: book 2, Prisoner of Mirrors!

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Retellings, Fae, Fiction, Paranormal, Fairy Tales

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 18, 2018

About the author

Lidiya Foxglove grew up on a steady diet of fairy tales, folklore and fantasy and also reads way too much manga. Fantasy romance is her favorite thing in the world, but she likes it steamy. She also loves cats and tea--it's cliche for a reason!

Reviews

[♛ Garima ♛]

DNF at 70% - very strange erotic story - not feeling like reading this at all

[Brend · Rating 3 out of 5]

The dude in this story is mediocre at best. He's lucky to be tall.

The meaner side of my brain wants to give it a 2 but I've had wine tonight and the cover is very pretty.

It did what it had to do and, although the writing was not exceptional, it wasn't bad.

[Jessica Robbins · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received a free copy of this book which I voluntarily chose to write an honest review for.

Excellent world building I must say and an interesting twist on sleeping beauty. Thanks to her curse the princess has no real suitors so she has to accept the hand of the fairy prince. What no one tells her is what she is really getting into when she accepts. Slight dom/sub feel to it but overall a great story with lots of surprises. I really liked it so I give it 4/5 stars.

[Maddy · Rating 2 out of 5]

What all the majority of reviews already say - not much substance or storyline, which is a shame as a retelling of Sleeping Beauty and Marie Antoinette combined would have been an interesting read. I don't have an issue with all the sex but at least have some sort of engaging plot.

[macy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book had potential. A dark twist on a fairytale, faeries, and a life based off of Marie Antoinette, sounds like a pretty good book right? Wrong. This book was just full of smut. In the 100 something pages of this book, I counted 7 smut scenes and each one was about 2 pages plus. Also, I think someone needs to put up a missing persons add for the plot because it was MIA in this book. The plot was so weak I'm not sure it was even apart of the book to begin with. This book could of been something really good but it fell so flat.

I hate the court in the books so much. I mean the rules they have and the expectations they have of their king and queen is disgusting in my opinion. The main character in this book prepares to take on the role of the Queen Who Bowed and I find this role so demeaning. I mean her whole role is basically to pleasure her husband whenever and wherever and to basically bow and submit to her husband. And that just didn't really sit well with me.

My overall feeling of this book was disappointment. I was really hoping for something more than just a book full of smut.

[Sam Donovan · Rating 1 out of 5]

full review video coming to a YouTube near you…

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my gosh, I absolutely loved this book. I couldn’t stop reading it. I was annoyed having to drive the kids around because all I could do was think about it. This is such a great twist on the fairy tale with such great storyline and characters. It’s entrancing. Please write the next one quickly. I need to know what happens next.

[Jay Madeleine · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took to long to grab my attention sadly, maybe I’ll go back and push my way through it for now DNF

[g · Rating 1 out of 5]

really unfathomable how bad this book was. the plot was shaky at best, the sex was boring, and the frequent sexual assault that went unmentioned as if it was consented foreplay was batshit. we need to be so clear that there was no consent given for any time she was stripped naked in public, put in a leg spreader, drugged, forced into bondage, or had her pubes inexplicably trimmed cause his clumsy ass can’t find her clit otherwise. not only was she never told about anything done to her in advance, she had no right to say no. so it’s all assault. and he wasn’t even well written enough enough to make up for the bullshit she went through.

[lebedeva · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings.

Yes, the cover is absolutely gorgeous and I love the stories of Marie Antoinette and Sleeping beauty.

I wish I knew beforehand that there are also bdsm themes and history and customs was revolving around it which I thought was lazy.

I'm familiar with French customs as I'm MA stan and I read countless books about her life.

There were things I found annoying but overall I enjoyed this book.

[Laura..devouring books like crumpets · Rating 3 out of 5]

Im pulling it down the middle...

2.5 stars, i probably wont carry this on... im not really sure why Marie was cursed in the first place or why the Faery witch wants to do her harm.

I can see the links with Marie Antoinette especially crossing the border and the dogs.... and other part here and there.

The plot was a bit strange and i found the king kept swapping from being Augustus's grandfather to his father... needs a little editing.

[Kristin Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am such a fan of Lidiya Foxglove! When i got the chance to read this book early i about died from happiness! All of her books are read in one sitting! This book was not an exception, in fact it's one of my favorites! I love how she remakes fairy tales! This story had a touch of Sleeping Beauty but with so much more depth and back story, I can't wait for the next book!!

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

A strange mixture of erotica, fantasy, and historical elements, Prisoner of Silk wasn’t my preferred blend of tea. While I enjoyed some of the world building and intricacies of the faerie court, I would have liked to see more character development, less sex, and especially for Rose to take charge of her own fate.

[Nat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loves it! Prince Augustus is gorgeous and quite charming. Marie Rose is resilient and tough - some of my favourite qualities in a heroine. The only reason this isn't a five-star read for me is the noticeable number of misspellings and missing words around halfway through the book.

[ReadingDiva Book Reviews]

**review to post soon**

[Jasmin E Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wild, decadent & risque retelling of Sleeping Beauty hotly inspired by the life of Marie Antoinette.

alot of fun and alot of spicy escapism.

Quick pacey read.

Jasmin E Reads

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have never DNFed a book but this one tested me and I low-key regret giving it 2hrs of my life. The story was okay - sleeping beauty inspired with fae sprinkled in and an arranged marriages. But that was it for me. The H and the h didn't match well emotionally and while I get the Prince was bound by etiquette and duty it really didn't seem like he cared for her emotionally. The erotism was squashed by imbalances of equality. In this universe the Queen title known as the Queen The Bowed, since the first queen of the kingdom bowed to king and submitted herself inorder to unite the kingdoms and that submission is expected of all queens. H even punishes h for even suggesting that the king should bow to his queen. All the dominance he shows his court in regard to h, like giving her an elixir so she cannot orgasm and pushing her until she screams so the court knows he is in control, or touching her at the table to assert dominance to keep his image clean (rather than for her pleasure too) is just naff. It's all about him, sexual orgasm is not the be all end all of making a woman happy and aside from taking her riding and sneaking her pet dog past their customs he does nothing to earn her love, or her mind.

This rant got a bit too real when it comes to poor representation of erotic dynamics, but it's a big ick for me when dynamics are dom pleasured centered only. Submission is a gift that's given willingly because it pleases the sub to give that trust and power over, it should never be taken. It's about both parties wanting to be there - mind and body. If he built her up to the point of her wanting to please him herself and making moves first to show that, then I'd have no issue with the content - I read dark romances with mafia, coersion and morally gray character ffs, (at least you know what you're signing up for) but without that trust building or something to make the equality seem believable - heck even enemy to lovers have some sort of emotional development - it just falls flat. All he seemed to do was take take take and give very little.

I'm fully aware that I'm reading wayyy too much into this, and it's just a little story for a bit of escapism but for some reason it irrationally pressed the wrong buttons for me.

[windle · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot almost becomes nonexistent, and Rose shows no character development as she continues to be arrogant about her place as the queen. Rose is naive and innocent when she left her world, but eventually, she comes off as stupid and spoiled. At some point, the intimate scenes don't even feel intimate, and some are uncomfortable but played off as duty or discipline.

It feels lacking in terms of perspectives because even though we get to read from Rose's, Augustus', and the Witch's perspectives, it feels almost irrelevant to read from anyone than Rose's pov since the others' storytelling has no depth and is almost like fillers for the story. The story feels quite rushed after the two leads have sex for the first time because after that all Rose talks about is sex.

The world-building is a bit lacking, but I quite enjoy how Lidiya tells about the setting from how it looks and the space it takes up. Generally, I think it could have been better if Rose didn't think about sex 24/7 and explored the place, and maybe read about faery history so both the reader and her can see what she is getting herself into.

[Hannah Leaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prisoner of Silk:
4/5 🌟

This book has me feeling so many contradictory things. I really like Marie Rose, and I mostly like August. I feel bad for them both that they have to be in this court, with so many strange and intrusive customs. But I do enjoy that despite all that, they do seem to truly love each other. I also really enjoy that even though this is a Sleeping Beauty retelling, that she didn't prick her finger and fall into a 100 year long sleep.

I would like to read more of this series, but I'm not sure if I would read this one again.

I had no clue the book was loosely based on Marie Antoinette. I really enjoyed learning about this after reading the book.

As a side note, there were quite a few misspelled words or times where it would say "he did..." but it was something Marie Rose had done. Not something that really ruined the story, just something that nags at me.

[Katelyn Schneider · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 63%.

This book is great if you’re looking for only smut. But, as much as I love some good smut, this is severely lacking just about everything else. The main character, Rose, doesn’t have particularly interesting about her. I want to like Augustus, but I can’t find anything all that interesting about him, either. At more than halfway through the book, it felt like there was no actual plot. It was just the daily life of Rose having to wear an uncomfortable corset and a lot of clothing while she gets fu***d randomly around every corner. I didn’t feel emotionally invested in anything to do with the story or characters so it was hard to continue, especially with the weak dialogue and numerous typos.

[Cristiana Marques · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Prisoner of Silk': 2,5⭐ (3 stars rounded up)

Yeah. This is one of my only 2 ⭐. I rarely give 2 stars to a book. It doesn't mean I didn't like it, just that it wasn't that good.

Prisoner of Silk is a dark faerie retelling of Sleeping Beauty with a twinge of Fifty Shades of Grey. The protagonists, Augustus and Marie Rose remind us of Anastasia and Christian Grey when they played naughty as dominant and submissive. We see Augustus flairing out of dominance and wanting to be submissive, at least once.

Faerie laws are awful and they made me so uncomfortable while reading this book. There were a few bits that were interesting and I enjoyed reading Augustus' pov a 1000 times more than Marie's. The witch was BORING. I don't mean to be rude or anything, this book just wasn't for me.

[Hanna (lapetiteboleyn) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This may we'll end up going down in my year of reviews as my least expected. I really enjoyed it. It's not necessarilygood but it's fabulously entertaining, fully immersive, and extremely sexy. 'Based on the life of Marie Antoinette' here means that moments are lifted wholesale from history and from the 2006 film with the notable exception of Louis XVI who is replaced with an attractive and virile stand in because the history is too depressing. And I agree with that call. The history is many things, but for the first seven years of their marriage, it was notably unsexy.
It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but as far as something steamy to while away these grey January mornings, I don't know if I've seen much better.

[Aleera Ceres · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book OH LORD JESUS MARY JOSEPH HALLELUJAH, THIS BOOK.

The first book of Lidiya's I ever read was Priestess #1. I fracking loved it. It reminded me of fushigi yuugi but just loads sexier. I loved her writing style so much that I had to have Beauty & the Goblin King...so I bought it. AND LORD. I get this book and I was NOT disappointed!

I love how well the writing style flows, I love the steaminess and the characters. There was a mystery about them and I don't want to wait to get my hands on more. I read this whole book in a day because I couldn't put it down. I just want to know what happens next T_T

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the allusions to Marie Antoinette in the world building. The main problem I have with this book is that it reads more like "Part 1" or "Act 1" than "Book 1." There is not a satisfying narrative arc that this book completes. Given how short the book is, I find it frustrating that the author did not decide to release a longer book with a complete story, instead planning to release a trilogy that I suspect could stand as a single book. Well, that is the trend these days... This author is certainly not the only one to operate in this manner.

[Ann Manning · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Startling Tale!

This fractured and twisted retelling of The Sleeping Beauty fairytale was brilliantly crafted and cleverly designed to provide the readers with a look into a world that appears beautiful on the surface but looks horrid and deceptive underneath all the glitter and glamour of the Fairy Royal court. The beauty that is cursed is whisked away into this false world only to be seduced by a young Prince who is mysterious and intriguing ! I have this book five stars because it was definitely compelling and erotic but different from the usual romantic, fantasy!

[ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ Maddy Bear · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like it more but Augustus done PISSED ME OFF too much in the last 1/3.

What I enjoyed: The Court and the cuntiness of the fae who live there. The fashion and debauchery were on point.

What I wanted more of: story is developing slowly, there's supposed to be another love interest but he hasn't even been mentioned yet.

What I didn't like: The King was fucking gross. Augustus is entirely too accepting of the bullshit and enables it.

[Christina Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I quite enjoyed it! It took me a little bit to get into it, as I don't usually read fairytale retellings, but once I did I sped through it. It was dark, in a way I enjoyed. I can't wait to see how Augustus and Marie Rose handle the throne. If they'll open their eyes to the troubles in Ellurine, and what they'll do. Looking forward to the next book!!

[Reiny ☾ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta lectura está con una calificación bastante difícil para mí, porque lo disfruté pero no fue lo mejor que he leído, pasé unas buenas horas leyéndolo y hay veces que eso es suficiente. Y estoy muy segura que le voy a dar un intento al siguiente libro para saber un poco más sobre todo el mundo que Lidiya Foxglove quiere compartir ^^

[Lisa P · Rating 3 out of 5]

All the world's a stage

An interesting union of the human and faery realms brought about through the story of Sleeping Beauty. I appreciate how the author also pulls in the influence of Marie Antoinette, which is quite original. This was a quick read, with court intrigue and gossip, a prince with hidden layers, and a princess willing to test and break the rules.

[Roanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmm..... no offence but this book is an erotic version of the story of Marie-Antoinette ( French queen killed during the French revolution) mixed with the tale of sleeping beauty. It was interesting at first, but I know the history of the French revolution too well to really appreciate the book.
But still good thinking process from the author!