Pawn of the Cruel Princess

Dark Rulers #6

by Rebecca F. Kenney

In a power play against her older sister, fierce princess Ruelle (who likes torture a little too much) lays claim to the young enemy Captain her father has taken prisoner. The captive will be Ruelle's first pleasure thrall, and she plans to flaunt her ownership of him at Summerglee, a debauched retreat for the young nobility of the kingdom. But the handsome prisoner has his own plans.


Trigger warnings are available on the author's website and in the front matter of the book.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Dark Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Fantasy Romance, Royalty, Dark

351 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 23, 2022

About the author

Rebecca F. Kenney writes spicy fantasy romance about sassy, strong women and hot guys with tragic backstories... pirates, warlords, demons, Fae, and royals. Her main series are the "Wicked Darlings" series (spicy Fae retellings of the Nutcracker, Wonderland, and Oz), the "Dark Rulers" series (standalones in a shared world), and the "For the Love of the Villain" series of genderbent fairytales. Other books include a post-apocalyptic vampire romance trilogy ("The Vampires Will Save You"), a demon romance "Interior Design for Demons," a dark mermaid fantasy duet, and other spicy retellings.

Rebecca is represented by Eva Scalzo of Speilburg Literary. She lives in upstate South Carolina with her handsome blue-eyed husband and two smart, energetic kids.

For updates and information about upcoming novels, follow on Instagram @rebeccafkenneybooks, on Twitter @RebeccaFKenney1, and on TikTok @rebeccafkenney

Reviews

[Koisty · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Thrall Stars ⭐️

I think Rebecca Kenney is on the way to becoming one of my favourite Authors. It's been an interesting journey for me to see how her stories have progressed in this series and quite frankly I eat this shit up! - Thank you to the best little devil influence, the lovely Lila 💖 because without her review of Jailer, I would not have had RK on my radar.

**Note: This is a stand-alone but I would recommend reading Captive of the Pirate King first, as this book does contain spoilers from that book

Whilst this book does not take the coveted spot of first or second place. My Ash King and white-hair-streaked Pirate are still ahead in my heart, Pawn does cinch itself onto the podium as third. Pawn was probably the most raunchy of the Dark Ruler books I have read thus far. The main reason was not only was the sex used in conjunction with the plot, the sex for the most part was the plot.

This story follows Ruelle, the little knife-obsessed torture-happy second princess, who in an effort to spite her sister claims a captive enemy Captain as her Pleasure Thrall (read "Sex Slave"). Ducayne is to be used to help her win friends and influence at the upcoming Summerglee event, a beachside retreat where all the young nobility enjoy a little bit of public debauchery.

I, Ruelle Linden of House Larax. I own a whole human being. What have I done?

Ruelle was an interestingly damaged character. On the surface, the world sees Ruelle as this creepy sadistic torturer whose only outlet for pleasure is the fiendish thrills she has when she makes her victims bleed. But internally she is a virgin, pretty innocent and naïve, craving the attention that she never got, and broken to the point that all she has is the brutality that defines her. Her father and selfish spoilt brat sister abuse her, and the only time her father ever shows appreciation to Ruelle is when she hurts the truth out of his enemies.

And then we’ve got Ducayne who has now been forced into this submissive role of sex slave for if he does not play this role, it would surely mean his death. However, he is the polar opposite of submissive and he’s definitely skilled and experienced. A man who knows his way around the bedroom and is proficient in seduction.

“I’m untrained,” he murmurs. “Perhaps you should teach me how to obey. How to please you. That’s what a pleasure thrall is for, is it not? For your pleasure.” He says the last word in a rich, deep baritone, dripping with sensual implication.

I really enjoyed the dynamic between Ruelle and Ducayne. The banter between the two of them was fantastic and I loved the way Ducayne challenged Ruelle to break the mould of how the world saw her and how he taught her to take pleasure without her self-conscious doubts and fears halting the proclivity of her choices. Let's just say that sadistic pleasure through pain was a big theme in this book, and our man Ducayne is cut with a knife a fair few times.

“There’s nothing different I want to see, nothing but the truth of you. You’re sadistic, moody, vindictive, and cruel, and I love you, not in spite of it—because of it. Not because I think you’ll change—don’t you dare. Every jagged shard of your soul is a piece in the beautiful wreck that is my love for you.”

A few things however kept this from being perfect for me.

First, the whole murder mystery plot was a little extreme with all the death, violence and blood - mixed in with the other graphically descriptive acts, I did feel a little uncomfortable at times.

The second was the transition from enemies to lovers which I feel needed a little longer to develop, and it bordered on instalovie at a point - It was like the minute they had sex - he saw fireworks and now she was his one and only. This also ties into the third which is this book is more plot focused so we don't get as much character development, so there are times when both Ruelle and Duc seem a little one-dimensional.

Overall I did really enjoy this book and if you are looking for a Dark Romance that is both dark on the smut and plot - this would be the perfect pickup!

BUT PLEASE PLEASE read the trigger warnings in this before you pick this up

[❁ lilyreadsromance ❁ · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You’re a crude man,”
“And you’re a cruel princess... The Princess who begged me to fuck her last night.

She did it again. She won me over with another unique story. I can't even stress out how much I love this author and her works. Each one of them bring a different dynamic, vibe and story to the table. I'm just oh so excited to see what's coming next from her.

All I have to say is, if you have never try this author yet, you're missing out. (Though maybe it's a good idea to start with some of her new releases first, the old ones, I can't guarantee 😅).

Content warning: slave-master relationship, BDSM, torture scenes, rape scenes, dubious consent, lots of orgies.

[MissClo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so torn between 3 and 4 stars for this book and had to sleep on it before making my decision.

But when I woke up today, I realised that the things I didn’t like were all listed in the TW and other than that, the book was written well and paced great and so so spicy that I couldn’t not give it the four stars.

Anyway. What did I like?
🔥 Spice
🔥 Grump sunshine but the FMC is the grump
🔥 Character development arc. Our FMC especially comes a long way
🔥 Seeing the Pirate King and Queen. YES!!!

What didn’t quite sit right with me:

The whole thrall thing. It is highly highly disturbing. And although I love a good dark fantasy, this was a little too close to reality. There were many moments where I had to pause and take a deep breath. The way the thralls get used and abused was honestly one of the hardest things to read.

This book is dark. The TWs list it all but please note that there is a lot of;
- sex slaves
- orgies
- non con/dub con (not MCs)
- gore and death
- torture


What a list, eh? Anyway. I think I need to go read a soft contemporary and recover haha

[readinfox · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the maleficent faerie by this author, and was blown away. So I was so disappointed that this book was a let down.

Did not like the fmc in the slightest. Gave me major Nesta vibes.
However, that’s my fault. The title literally says “cruel princess” so I can’t be shocked that she was in fact.. cruel.
I just thought she was going to be a morally grey, grump, prickly type of fmc. Not an unjust sadist that makes it a point to stab/slice the mmc up and be impossibly stubborn/hypocritical at every step.
She criticized the nobles for their abusive tendencies towards people they view as lower, but acted the exact same way towards her servants/bodyguards/sex slave.

I love reading about dominant women who are in charge, prefer it actually, but not when that domination becomes abuse. And the weak tiny consent convo felt cheap and thrown in.

I see this a lot in dark romance books where the main character was abused as a child so they use that as an excuse to abuse their partner, but apparently it’s OK because they feel guilty about it later. Bye!

Besides that, I wasn’t a fan of the plot in general, the who-dun-it style type needs a bit of levity every once in a while. But with everyone dropping dead/getting assaulted/getting humiliated over and over again I was just ready for it to end.

[Savannah S · Rating 4 out of 5]

2nd favorite book from this author

[Chelsea Callahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book! Id give it 10 stars. I loved the character so much. The back and forth was fantastic. The people are so well done and the spice is *chefs kiss*

Did not see the ending coming AT ALL!!!

[Scarlet · Rating 1 out of 5]

Insultingly disappointing. The book is advertised and built up from the very beginning as a femdom romance, but that all goes down the drain in the second half of the book. She's described as sadistic but I don't see it? Especially when it turns out she gets aroused by receiving pain and rough treatment.

Probably the most insulting bait and switch of the century to all domme readers.

[Giulia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 🌟


✓ PNR
✓ Dual pov's
✓ Captive / Captor romance
✓ Slow burn
✓ Entertaining plot - 3.5 / 5
✓ Mature language
✓ Fast paced
✓ Spice 🌶🌶🌶.5 / 5
✓ Grumpy Fmc x Sunshine Mmc
✓ Villain Fmc
✓ Enemies to Lovers
✓ Standalone
✓ Forced proximity
✓ HEA


*** Note: I'd suggest reading The Captive of Pirate King, since it's got some spoilers. But I don't think you'll need to read that one to enjoy this one.



The story follows Ruelle, the second princess who loves knives and torture a little too much.
Due to her rivalry with her sister, Ruelle claims the captive enemy Captain Ducayne as her first pleasure thrall.
His only job is to help her win allies and friends in preparation for when her sister becomes queen.
At the Summerglee event on the beach, the young nobility, accompanied by their thralls, will enjoy themselves a bit too much. The problem is that only the nobility will enjoy this event.



This series is getting darker and more entertaining, but be sure to read the trigger warnings first.
The theme of this book is a bit overwhelming and shocking, and it's certainly not for everyone.
The thralls are used and abused without consent, which is unsettling and cruel. However, this is a dark fantasy, and I was surprised by the whole story.
I enjoyed the dynamic between the main characters, and their banter was fantastic. It was great to see how they developed and grew.
The entire murder mystery plot is a bit too aggressive, and there are some disturbing and graphic scenes that took me a while to overlook.
I didn't have high expectations, so I really enjoyed reading this book, but keep in mind that it's definitely darker than the previous ones.
I liked the glimpses of Locke and Veronica in this book.

[M.E. Aster · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy Kenney’s books and this was no exception.

This was perhaps one of the darker books I have read by her. There is a lot of triggering content to look out for so please read the warnings before you start it. But in my usual fashion when reading a story by Rebecca I devoured it in a matter of days.

I did have a harder time connecting to the characters in this one but I think in a way they were supposed to be unlikeable and tragically flawed but in each other they find their happily ever after.

[Seren Song ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this - it was completely different from what I had expected. It’s very dark, and pretty depressing, but also inexplicably cute and wholesome.

The two main characters are wonderful. I cried so much for Ruelle, her story broke my heart, and I loved her character development. I wish we could’ve learned more about Ducayne, but the FMC was chaotic enough that having a boring MMC works.

The ending was even better than I could have imagined, and I’ll probably keep going with more of this series because I’m addicted. 😅

Please, please check trigger warnings for this. The FMC is very broken - it’s heart-wrenching and can be difficult to read at times.

[Tarryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brain-off novel? Perhaps. A Tarryn-Enjoyed novel? Absolutely!

We have a FMC who's kinda deranged bc of her royal lineage and childhood. We have a MMC who is literally her PoW and sex slave who does not give a single fuck that she's kinda deranged. And in this house? We LOVE.

Throw in a surprise murder mystery and I am so in.

I'm not looking for realism from this premise, and honestly, why are any of ya'll? From a book titled Pawn of the Cruel Princess in a series that is lit-ter-uh-lee about Dark Rulers finding love, I am looking from chaos, passion and zero reason. Kenney, my queen, absolutely served.

I just need everyone to know that this author could take over the world if she so chose, and has so kindly decided that world domination is not her bag and instead provides the masses with rich, titillating smut set in worlds that I will never get enough of. Everyone say, "Thank you, Rebecca F. Kenney".

[Tillie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐

Rebecca F. Kenney has really grown into the writing of this series. It was really cool to meet some past characters & see previous unique systems of this world woven into this story.

I will say, the writing is phenomenal. However, this book was *dark* even by my standards. It was Very Much on par with We're All Mad Here by Leann Belle, maybe even a few notches higher, in terms of darkness and dramatic themes. Definitely check out any and all trigger / content warnings because you best believe they are there. This is partly why I rated this book lower -- I love a good, dark fantasy, but this was a bit much for my taste, personally. Still a phenomenal storyline.

I really enjoyed the characterizations in this book. The "cruel princess" is actually cruel -- she has some soft spots that the MMC is eager to peel back, but she still is cruel and is allowed to be that way. The MMC was super interesting. He was simultaneously dominant & subservient and it was super cool seeing how that conflict impacted him and the overall relationship.

There is a touch of insta-love in this book, but it gets to slide because the MCs pretty much trauma bond and I'll just let them have it after everything they went through.

There was a murder-mystery aspect that was fun to untangle and the reveal(s) made sense while maintaining suspense. I eventually figured part of the mystery out, but there were still a handful of red herrings that got me.

Overall, entertaining reading experience but definitely read at your own risk. This one is a lot heavier than previous novels in the series and darker than a lot of things I read (which is saying a bit).

[lou ✿ · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF.

Was fairly excited to dig into this from the title alone, but what do I end up knee-deep in? A boring, insecure princess who only knows to say "shut up," stop," and "don't do that," to every little thing her supposed thrall does. I was intrigued to see how she would tame or handle Ducayne but all of her dialogue with him just felt so one-sided and juvenile and of course the MMC just constantly smirks and growls and is a real alphahole of a man, though there was potential in him. Sad. From the synopsis I was expecting delectable shifting power dynamics but no it's just your basic YA couple sexing it up. It's boring!

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The FMC in this is unlikable, and her past trauma does not excuse or explain her sadistic and sociopathic behavior. I like a complex, grumpy heroine, but this ain’t it.

[Moka Alvarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been slowly reading Rebecca's books and If I've learnt something is her writing keeps getting better 🤤🤤🤤🤤.

Shine baby!!! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pawn of the Cruel Princess blew my mind, I've never hated a kingdom as much as I hated Thannira and the people there -except you queen Ruelle and sweet Captain-. What a awful kingdom and Rebecca's does a fucking great job making you hate it🤣.

Princess Ruelle's father captured Captain Ducayne as a prisoner and he asked Ruelle to torture him. After some exchanged words with her sister, Ruelle claimed Captain Ducayne as her pleasure thrall to make her sister angry because she wanted Ducayne as her thrall. The story takes place at Summerglee which is a holiday where all the twisted nobles of Thannira (there's no other words to describe them) use their thrall to gain alliances and exchange favours.

Not going to lie, there were parts where I needed to stop and take a deep breath because the things those nobles made were disturbed. I was disgusted. That's why I'm telling you the author does a great job making despite that place and those people.

The story is SO DAMN GOOD and the ROMANCE *chef kiss 💋* is slow burn, the sexual tension burned like a summer day. I REALLY enjoyed this book. It gave me chills reading it.

Be aware of the trigger warnings list because this book is not for everyone. If you like twisted stories as I do, this is your book 👀🔥😏💥🤯.

[Spearfrost · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually like this entire Stand alone series. It has a great balance between story telling and smut. It's not over the top on heavy triggers. LOVE that the author intertwines elements from the other books into each other. As long as it has kept me entertained from beginning to end, I am content. I am not looking for perfection.

If it is not to your tastes, that is completely understandable. BUT, with that said. You fucking over zealous critics need to calm the fuck down and stop comparing to other books. It's not a fucking competition.

[Stephanie Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one took me by surprise. I would count it among the darker of Kenney's novels. It does tie in to "Captive of the Pirate King" so be warned of spoilers. I did like this book, though parts of it were hard to stomach. But isn't that the way of darker fantasy? I adored Ducayne and Ruelle's romance. Overall, a good addition to this series.

[🌝 Delululand 🌝 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was sooo good, I can’t believe it’s not more well-known! I was so obsessed I finished it in a day 😍

The FMC was incredible - complex, bitchy but traumatised, the MMC was obsessed, and the mystery aspect - chef’s kiss!

And the ending! Holy crap I’ve never, ever been more satisfied with the way a book ended 🤭

[Shaylin Gandhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh em gee

This book is everything I didn't know I needed in my life and this is my new favorite author. The writing is lush and beautiful, the characters so vivid I feel like I know them, and the spice onnnn pointtttt, with just enough of a dark edge to stand out. I also LOVED the gender-flipped grumpy/sunshine take. Ducayne is 🔥🔥🔥

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another author who writes literature with a sprinkle of crack in it. I read this book in one day🙃 420 pages. Lordddddd

[Maya]

I don’t rlly have anything to say but it’s kinda slay to bring back the pirate king ig

[haleyyy ★ · Rating 5 out of 5]

i’m scared and horny

[Deon Ashleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I enjoyed this book

3.8 stars

The setting, writing, and characters were really good. I loved the emotions, the conflict, and the messiness of the characters.

I didn’t enjoy the ending. It had an extremely long monologue, and that took away from the subtlety and crafting that had been in the book.

Also, I was expecting a “female dominates” book, but this wasn’t that. It had elements, but overall, it was a “male dominates but pretend female dominates” book.

I wanted to read a book where the female actually dominates.

Also, sometimes, the book was melodramatic.

This book kept me up a few nights; it was good. Would recommend!

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this book on the authors Patreon as serial episodes each week. I loved the book so much, I immediately preordered my copy. Ruelle is the second princess in the kingdom of Thannira. She has a cruel father and sister, Vienne. She is in charge of torturing information out of enemies for her father. It’s her way of feeling in control and having some power. In the kingdom of Thannira they have sex slaves which they call pleasure thralls. In a power move against her sister, Ruelle claims an enemy captain of Yurstin named Ducayne as her pleasure thrall. The story takes place at Summer tryst, a beach side vacation home where all nobles attend with their thralls to exchange favors and gain alliances. When some of the nobles are mysteriously murdered, it is up to Ruelle and Ducayne to figure out the culprit before they both end up dead. This book is one of Kenney’s spiciest books. Overall, I really enjoyed the book. The ending was HEA, though it was slightly abrupt. I would have liked it to be longer. I have read all the books in the Dark Rulers series and this one is one of my favorites along with Captive of the Pirate King. I also just finished Healer to the Ash King which I really enjoyed as well.

[Kokylinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an ok read, read it in one day.

There’s an element of mystery to the story (a bit Agatha Christie style), with a large group of people in a castle for a getaway, and a dangerous mystery. The cast members have quirks and habits, making the plot feel “full”.

Ruelle, the protagonist, is also interesting and consistently depicted. She is cold, unfeeling, and callous, but over time you get to see it as the defense mechanism that hides a soft centre. This is one of my favourite heroine tropes.

The good stops there for me.

The book is heavily centered around the thematic of sexual, dehumanising slavery. It made me uneasy the entire time, so I couldn’t fully enjoy it. People were getting killed left and right all the time, giving it no levity. I couldn’t get past it.

Ducayne (wonderful name) was a good love interest. He was a kind person, charming, and if you are into the “good guy” you’ll love him. I personally like morally grey, sometimes villainous, heros, but I can understand he balances the cold, cruel nature of Ruelle.

[W · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok, it went downhill towards the end, I liked the beginning part where you realized what she had been through and how hard it was for her to accept someone caring about her but then I didn’t like how their characterization and arcs ended at the end

[Dee Dooley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Evil Woman

Take your pick, the evil women in this story are a dime a dozen. The princesses Vienne and Ruelle came by their ruthlessness via their mother and father. While Ruelle drew the line at having slaves and thralls, she spent her adult life as a torturer of captives. The captain she is torturing at the beginning of the story is her love interest, but it’s not at all believable that he would be so taken by her when her treatment of him doesn’t change. I stopped reading it, then skipped ahead and found they meet the Pirate King and Nick at an Inn while trying to escape the massacre at the Summerglee. I mean yay they want a new start and new life but the only character I can somewhat root for is Ducayne. And that is iffy because his devotion to Ruelle makes no sense. I’m flabbergasted to think this book is by the same author as Apollo… just shaking my head

[Roseyleaf · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would give this 0. It's not good. Trust me, I don't know how people like this. it's just a male and female fighting on who's more dominant and better calling each other inappropriate names. It also shames both genders repeatedly, and the spice is really really hot, but I didn't really like it

[ifsol · Rating 2 out of 5]

ended up not being what i was looking for. i feel like the villain protagonist thing was sort of skimped on, and i really wasn’t a fan of the ML at all. the plot was also really, really bad.

[Anna Makowska · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an inch from making it to my very selective favourities list, but I'm still debating on it.

Pluses:

- readable, smooth prose
- interesting fantasy world, especially the whole kingdom dedicated to a goddess of lust (& other attributes) and conducting ceremonial orgies, which creates conflict for the fmc who seems to be sex averse due to general abuse (no SA luckily)
- "ice queen" princess fmc x bratty mmc who's a soldier, war captive and fmc's slave
- fmc takes time to open up despite feeling lust / attraction, while there's generally a lot of sex in the novel because of worldbuilding, it takes build up for the leads to do the deed
- murder mystery plot - not anything breathtaking, but done much better than in a lot of romantasies where the external plot takes a complete backseat - this novel was spicy, but wasn't a mindless smutfest
- fmc was relatable, being internally torn between feeling inferior due to all the abuse and feeling superior due to her life of privilege - mmc often points out her hypocrisy or inconsistent behaviour, that makes her complex - not an innocent victim neither just a one-note evil villainess
- mmc also was on one side a strong soldier and a womanizer in the past, but had deep-seated mommy issues and feelings of abandonment both by his parents and by his country to die
- the plot twist was foreshadowed, albeit lightly - I wasn't sure the worldbuilding works that way from the hints
- sex was varied and hot where it needed to be

Minuses:

- most of the story ends up being a "locked room" mystery (people stuck in a secluded place with a killer) therefore we don't see more about the kingdom
- this isn't femdom but rather a switch relationship - both leads take turns in dominating each other, and enjoy being dominated as much as dominating; for a long time mmc despite being a slave constantly plots how he'll "break through the princess' barriers", this is something I'm told constantly happens in femdom-labelled books (examples I heard about: Mercy by Sara Cate, The Snow Queen by Elizabeth Gannon, How Not to Date a Demon by Lana Kole, Soul of a Witch by Harley Laroux) but rarely in maledom books. It's SO hard to find femdom romantasy and the few labelled as such often involve switch scenes and also I feel the ending made it look like more an egalitarian relationship than a female-led one - this isn't as much a complaint about the book itself, but about the dearth of actual femdom romantasy that commits to the idea instead of throwing a bone to fans of maledom, while maledom books rarely if ever feel the need to throw a bone with a scene where fmc dominates.
- a bit convenient resolution / ending (I feel this is extremely common in romance-leaning fantasy books though, I've seen much worse "happy coincidences" to tie everything in a neat bow)
- at points veers close to "good sex cures trauma / anxiety" trope

This is like The Winner's Curse for adults - one that doesn't sanitize slavery and shows blatant abuse and dehumanization the slaves endure. I know The Captive Prince is popular, but I was looking for a long time for a MF romantasy where the fmc holds the power, and this one comes close.

It was a fast read, both the romance and the mystery engaged me, and I liked how it balanced showing a dark, depraved society with sparing the leads most gruesome aspects of it. For example, despite group sex, public sex, cheating, exchanging sexual partners or slaves with no say of theirs, sexual and physical abuse of slaves being rampant, every time we worried mmc will get SAd or traded for sex purposes something happened to prevent it from going through.

I liked both of the leads, mmc had to rely on his charm and cunning more than his soldier's strength and aggression and fmc was deliciously messed up, she was never a goody two-shoe and she wasn't "fixed" to become good by the relationship. She was selfish and pragmatic, and mostly a misanthrope. She's even called out for that several times by various people.

To be honest, as-is the book was great and I loved ice queen X brat dynamics instead of a common one in femdom books where fmc is more of a mommy dom and mmc is a total cinnamon roll. But I really craved something that would have proper female domination and not coupled with thawing the ice queen / breaking her armour trope.