Beauty In Darkness

Royal Hearts #1

by Elizabeth Briggs

We've been enemies our entire lives, until an arranged marriage sparks a passion we can’t ignore…

ROSE
To save my father, I'm forced to marry the handsome, brooding wizard king--our kingdom's greatest enemy. Now I've been whisked away to his foreboding castle without even a chance to say goodbye to my sisters. Then I discover my new home holds dark secrets that threaten the entire land, secrets no one dares speak of—and my mysterious husband is at the center of them. He tries to push me away, but I see the hidden fire in his eyes, and I'll do whatever it takes to uncover the truth about his past and stop the shadows spreading across the land.


RAITH
I took a bride to end a needless war, but after my former wife's death I have no interest in a real marriage. My heart is cold and black, but Rose's beauty and boldness tempt me like no one else has done before. Every day it gets harder to resist her, but she must never discover the curse threatening the kingdom—or the dark depths of my soul.

When darkness threatens to tear us apart, we'll have to find a way to stop it together—or doom our kingdom forever.

Beauty In Darkness is a steamy adult fantasy romance, perfect for fans of Sarah J Maas, Jennifer L Armentrout, and Grace Draven.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Fantasy Romance, Magic, Audiobook, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance

264 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 16, 2019

About the author

Elizabeth Briggs is a New York Times and Top 5 Amazon bestselling author of paranormal and fantasy romance featuring twisty plots, plenty of spice, and a guaranteed happy ending. She's a Stage IV cancer warrior who has worked with teens in foster care and volunteered with animal rescue organizations. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, their daughter, and a pack of fluffy dogs. Find her online at http://www.elizabethbriggs.com

Reviews

[Kristi]

Meh.

I mean the writing isn’t bad. But there is a lot of telling and not showing. Feels like we just skimmed the characters and story.

[Shae · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am in love with this book! I have already purchased book 2. This world is easy to understand, but has a rich and full magic system, which already leaves a lot for us to learn in future after this first book.
A political marriage to end a war is truly a fated love match, and the way these two compliment each other is magnificent.
My only complaint would be that the hero fought their love a little longer than he should have.

[Tiffany Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars!

I was really intrigued by the synopsis of this book and overall enjoyed it, just felt like it got really predictable and scripted the last 35% of the story.

Rose is from an enemy and at war kingdom to the wizard Raith and in an attempt to end the war is offered to Raith as his bride. The two marry but Raith is still grieving the death of his wife from 3 years prior making it a rough and almost unwelcome transition for Rose into her new home. The only bright spot in the beginning is the prospect of Raith teaching her more about magic which has been forbidden in her homeland by her father, the King.

There was a slow burn aspect, a little enemies to lovers plotline, in the first half that I really enjoyed. The fantasy is fairly light and I was a little unsure in the beginning if this was geared more towards young adults or adults...I think in the end due to the sexual content increasing it might be more adult, but I almost wish the author would have been more vague about that keeping it more young adult...I feel like the storyline works better as that, but just my opinion. Once the conflict is revealed that's when I felt like the story became a little stale and predictable, which was a disappointment, but I think people who desire a light fantasy plot will enjoy this one overall.

[Ashley Basile · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not terrible, a quick read. I feel like this story needed more character development. There is a bit of depth missing that I think would transform this book into something amazing.

[Somia · Rating 3 out of 5]

To save her kingdom and her sisters Princess Rose put herself forward to wed the handsome, brooding wizard King Raith. Their marriage is meant to be a political alliance, with Raith still morning the death of his first wife and Rose focused on cultivating her magic, yet their attraction is one that cannot be denied, and as danger lurks closer and closer they'll find working together is the only way to go.

More fluffy than I expected Overall, an easy and light one time read, wished there had been more worldbuilding and more intensity to the plot. More energy to the plot and character interactions was needed.

Acquired via KU.

[Christy Hall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beauty in the Darkness is a mildly entertaining fantasy twist on the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. I was hoping for more development of the fantasy elements, like the magic and the kingdom realms. At first, the introduction to the setting and characters was well done. Then the romance became the focus and details were lost. Unfortunately, that led to cliche dialogue and a insubstantial plot. It was fine for a simple read. I might try the sequel to see if her writing has more depth as she explores more of this fantasy, fairy tale world.

[Temecka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, this is a very shocking turn of events

[Jenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

So this was a classic case of a book telling us things rather than showing us. Because of this, I never felt connected to the characters or their story. But I will say, it was a very quick read.

In order to stop the ongoing war between their two kingdoms, Rose agrees to marry Raith, the Fae King. He's brooding over the loss of his wife but yet he's taken with Rose immediately. Rose wants to learn the fae magic her father outlawed in his kingdom and while she knows the fae prince to be dangerous, she's taken with him immediately. You see where this is going right? The insta love was, well, instant. What bothered me was that we never really got to know who these people are. Why was Raith considered so dangerous? Just because their kingdoms were at war? That's such a fun dynamic to play with - forced marriage from opposing sides - but there was never any conflict, no warming up period. Zero emotional reactions to anything happening around them.

Then there was a weird shadow monster plot thrown in and while that also could have been interesting, it was solved in like 2 pages so there's that.

The series is only a duology so I probably will read the second one because I don't like to leave things unresolved, but I just hope there's more depth in the next one.

[MasterSal]

July 24, 2021

I read to chapter 6 and was not particularly impressed or engaged. The writing felt a bit modern for the fantasy setting. However, l only read 15% into the book so this may have settled into something fun. I am therefore not rating this but neither am I continuing…

Meh 🤷‍♀️

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is very YA 16-19 would be ages I recommend. For parents that don’t want any kind of sexual content for minors just know there is a little bit of sexual content. Nothing they probably haven’t heard of. It was cute just young.

[Cleo & Vine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to be honest, I’ve devoured so many fantasy standalones in the past few days that it’s hard to differentiate between all the books featuring forced proximity and arranged marriage. A strong willed princess of one kingdom must marry the dark, brooding wizard of a foreign land….it’s a tale as old as time.

Somehow, Elizabeth Briggs kept her story refreshing and light. Much like my other recent reads, this has nods to Beauty & the Beast but with much more magic and mystery involved. Even with common tropes and themes, the story felt new and exciting. The characters were wonderful, offering a perfect push-pull, slow burn enemies to lovers romance. The plot is also full of twists and turns; I genuinely didn’t expect certain aspects and that made me love it even more.

Adult fantasy readers looking for something to fill their insatiable appetite for spicy, spellbinding tales need to read this book.

[Brend · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some Thoughts Brenda Had When She Read This Book

Oh Lord, just eat that fucking orange

He only makes out with her when he gets worked up about danger. Is that a kink? Do I… have that kink?????

Bro, she came after you went down on her; saying that ‘’it will get even better now’’ because you’re about to add your dick to the equation is only setting this up for disappointment.

Wait.

Do I see all dicks as a disappointment?

Have I ever truly enjoyed their addition to the act?

Am I really bi?

Should I question my sexuality again?

FUCK

[Aleksandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Świetnie się bawiłam! Pokochałam postać Rose. Cudowna główna bohaterka. To ten typ, co jeżeli okno jest zamknięte, to rozwali ścianę! Ze szczerą przyjemnością jej kibicowałam. Raith też był zarabisty, ale dosyć pospolity z niego mąż książkowy. Bardzo mi się podobała jego walka z emocjami i to, jaką stronę udało mu się przejść.
Mimo tego, że mi się tak podobała to przyznam, że jest dosyć schematyczna. Nic tu odkrywczego nie znalazłam, ale też na szczęście nie tego szukałam. Chciałam dobrej rozrywki I ją dostałam. Chociaż jednego oczywistego plotu się nie spodziewałam. Ja nie wiem dlaczego nie wpadłam na to sama XD.
Fajnie ukazana została ich relacja i czuć chemię, ale troszkę za szybko się to toczyło momentami. Nie zmienia to jednak faktu, że bawiłam się świetnie i na pewno sięgnę po kolejny tom, który kręci się wokół siostry Rose.

[Nancy The book junkie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 3.75/5

Review to come!

[Malischa Nijenhuis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely audiobook❤️🥰😳😍 and a lovely retelling of beauty and her beast🥰

[Christina's Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really impressed

[Emmalynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay. Not what I was expecting but ehh it wasn’t horrible either

[Anita · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just meh. It was so basic in every way and I didn't feel any connection to the world to any of the characters to the relationship between the two main characters that was not realistic whatsoever like it was just an okay book and I don't think I'm going to be reading anything more by this author.

[Nila · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars
Meh it wasn’t too bad

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plot: .5
Writing: .5
World Building: 0
Characters: .5
Themes: 0
1.5/5

Spice: 2/5

This just wasn't for me. Certain things were explained almost verbatim a couple of times which seemed unecessarily redundant. The plot had potential but there were so many things that just seemed convenient or wasn't fully explained. The magic system and world seemed simple.

I just really didn't care about the issues the MMC went through. Why are we supposed to care? We were never invested in it in the first place and it made me not buy the romance with the main characters. The FMC was just good at everything. Learning magic and spells were nothing to her.

I don't know. I think there's definitely an audience for this one, I'm just not it.

[Jac K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was drawn to this one by the book blurb: it’s like the paranormal version of my fav tropes. We have arranged marriage to a brooding H hung up on his dead wife. My issue is that I don’t LOVE paranormal ya, and although this isn’t technically ya; it sure felt like it up until about 70% into the book when we finally got some sexytime, and plot action.

Overall, it is really well written especially for KU para. The story drags at times, and it is pretty vanilla in the smut department, but it has a solid plot, and likeable characters. This is the beginning of a new series, but it looks like each book will start with a new sister so it can read as a standalone.

[Jazzy Mermaid · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a sweet and lovely storyline. I absolutely love when FMC come into their own and discover themselves to stand for what they firmly believe in and seeing how a MMC allows love to come into their souls to give way for growth, healing and flourishing. I truly enjoyed this sweet story.

[Tia Moreno · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. I can’t wait to read the next one and the authors other books. I was hooked 30 minutes in.

[Shruti · Rating 3 out of 5]

( I received a digital copy of the book. Thanks to Elizabeth Briggs! )

my review to the prequel - Queen of Secrets


This book is based on Beauty and the Beast. The story is well written but the plot is quite common and predictable. The first meet was the only part of the book that I really enjoyed reading. The first two-three chapters were fun but then everything just fell into one pattern and things got boring. So basically this wasn't a particularly interesting or memorable read. Unlike what I had expected after reading and loving the prequel. After reading the prequel, I had been excited to read the series and have been waiting for it for a while now. But I am nowhere near satisfied by this book.


I remain hopeful that the next book would be better. This world is really cool- with mages, royalty and fairy tale elements. And I want to see how the lives of the other sisters turn out. So I'll continue with the series for now.

P.S. The cover is really beautiful. Quite catchy.

[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.

What an interesting take on Beauty and the Beast! Rose is a strong take on Belle that manages to really carry the story as she deals with everything being thrown at her. The Beast is intriguing as well since his issues are a whole new take on things though is still fits with the actual fairy tale. Great writing full of characters that you will both love and hate depending on who they are. Perfect for fans of remakes. I really liked it so I give it 4/5 stars.

[Melodie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started out interesting enough but it was meh towards the end

[Lauren Sevier · Rating 1 out of 5]

My first DNF of 2020.

So, every once in a while I want an uncomplicated paint-by-numbers-plot type book so that I can just enjoy the ride and unwind while reading. This is definitely that. I picked this one because it touted having a fantasy romance but also that the Love Interest (King Raith) was struggling through the grief of losing his first wife and his feelings for his new wife, our protagonist Rose. That was a new hook for me and I was excited to see emotional stakes in a blurb.

This book got such a low rating because I found the romance aspects unbelievable and almost no chemistry between the two MC's of this book. It also received a low rating because of the shoddy depiction of a character struggling through the loss of one of his wives. Major relationship issues were brushed over, the MC was a too-virtuous mary sue/mother theresa, and Raith pretty much treated her like crap the whole time... which I don't find very attractive.

In essence, the couple dollars I spent on this ebook I wish I bought a cold drink with instead.

[Julia Potter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A feels good fast read fairy tale 🪄🧝‍♀️

[Clare B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this as a Christmas joke from my brother but I never thought that I would be so annoyed by it in just the last 56 pages, that’s impressive.

What can I say, it was good until it wasn’t. After Raith discovers that he’s the one who is causing the darkness to spread, he goes full Edward Cullen and orders Rose to get away from him for her “protection.” Even though it’s so obvious that he needs to let go of the hate that he has over Silena’s murder and let Rose “fix”him.😒

After page 200 I wanted to punch Raith in the face. He was such the typical male who is a monster and doesn’t want his loved ones around him. It was so annoying because even though he told Rose to leave later in the book he complains in his shadow form about her leaving and I’m just shaking my head because he was the one who told her to leave in the first place! And then he’s not even emotionally smart enough to realize that since he blocked out everyone he loves it’ll be super easy for the darkness to take over!

Also, the amount of times he talks about how bad he is and how he can’t let the darkness win, was too many times, I was so tired of hearing him talking about his shadow issue. If you have time to complain you have time to solve it! I was so done with hearing about his emotional problems because he talked about them so much in the book but he never actively tried to solve them by himself. Also, the amount of times he said darkness in the last 56 pages made me want to rip the word out of the book, there are other synonyms for darkness other then shadow!

I hate how most men in romance books are emotionally dumbasses. They have no condition to their emotions and it gets really tiring really quickly. Especially when they have an uncontrollable power that can be so obviously cured by just letting themselves feel something. God, so disappointing.

Something else that REALLY angered me was when Rose comes back after her father is dead and finds Raith destroying the castle, she says that it’s her fault! What the hell? I personally think that maybe, just maybe, the guy who is actively wreaking the castle is the person at fault! I hate how she is so quick to take responsibility for a thing she has no control over, it’s not her job to fix Raith, he should be the person to do that. Same goes for Rose, she should be the one to deal with her issues, not Raith. I’m so disgusted with the stereotype of how women are there to fix the man, like, the man can do it himself. He doesn’t need a woman to do that! Men are not objects to be fixed and women are not tools that fix them. I just want that stupid trope to be put to bed.

What makes me sad is that the story was pretty interesting before Raith’s “true nature” is revealed. I thought that Malren would be dealt with in a better and more exciting fashion but it was extremely stereotypical. Everything after page 200 was so clichéd that I was very bored even though something “exciting” was happening. Same thing happened with the true Shadow Lord.

I’m just disappointed because the world was interesting but it’s not explored much and they mention this one ruler that I thought would have a bigger part because Raith says that she was gaining power but she only gets mentioned twice in the entire book!

One thing that was amusing to me was that Raith and Rose strongly reminded me of Feyre and Rhysand from the “A Court of Thorns and Roses” series. I had just finished the series when I started this book so the similarity’s were striking.

Honestly, the book was doing really well until page 200, then it went downhill in a spiral of stereotypical bullshit that made me want to throw up. I so badly wanted to like this book but it was so disappointing. And that’s all I have to say in the matter.

[Billie · Rating 5 out of 5]

They’ve been enemies their entire lives, their two kingdoms locked in a never-ending war—until an arranged marriage sparks a passion they can’t ignore…
To save her father’s life, Princess Rose must wed the handsome, brooding wizard king Raith, her kingdom’s greatest enemy. Though she always knew she’d be married off in a political alliance, she never expected it to be to that monster. Or that the only time she would see her elusive husband is when he’s teaching her magic, treating her more like his student than his wife.
King Raith may have taken a bride to end a war and protect his people, but after his former wife’s murder he has no interest in falling in love again, especially when Rose defies him at every moment. But Rose’s beauty and boldness tempt him to open his heart a second time, and every day it gets harder to resist her.
Just as Rose begins to see another side to Raith, she discovers her new home holds deep, dark secrets that threaten the entire land, secrets no one dares speak of—and Raith is at the center of them. As their desire for each other grows, Rose will do whatever it takes to uncover the truth about his past and the shadows spreading across the land. But when darkness threatens to tear them apart, they’ll have to find a way to stop it together—or doom their kingdom forever.

I really enjoyed this as it is a bit like Beauty and the Beast fairytale.
In this story we are introduced to our two fated characters; Rose and Raith; two young monarchs from rival warring countries, who must engage in a political marriage of convenience to stop the decades-old war between their two realms.
Now Rose is very strong minded and knows what she wants to do with her life and she doesn't see a way to do it. She enters the marriage with Raith with intentions to save her sisters and her kingdom.
Raith is very much the sullen and broody male as he has lost his parents and wife so he has decided to close homself to all feelings.
This is where the fireworks begin for our two.
Drawn to each other but fighting the feelings, dealing with the war between kingdoms; can our two overcome and work together to bring to their kingdoms and their hearts?
Lovely written story; loved the plot and good pace.
I adore the characters and loved their interaction with each other.
I can't wait to read the next installment!
Recommend reading!

I received an ARC from the lovely author and this is my own honest voluntary review.