His Wicked Games

by Violet E.C

Please note: There are two versions of this book currently available on Amazon, this one is a less explicit version, but does still contain some adult themes.

For fans of The Cruel Prince, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and The Beastly Tales comes an enemies-to-lovers fae romance…

Zia’s longing for freedom from the confines of her struggling family comes to an abrupt halt when on her twentieth birthday, she accidentally enters a deal with the arrogant and commanding Prince Asher, one of the three highly eligible princes of the Kingdom of Nissa.

The deal? Zia must pretend to fake date the Prince, or else be bound to him forever. The problem? Prince Asher is rude, entitled, and devastatingly handsome. With a history of female faes in his bed and everyone at his fingertips, he expects Zia to do as she’s told and fall at his feet in awe.

Zia, on the other hand, is the complete opposite and when their personalities clash, tensions arise.

But with faes going missing in the kingdom, attacks on the crown from a growing rebellion, and dark secrets hidden within the palace walls, hot-headed Zia knows she must choose wisely if she is to survive the Prince’s wicked games.

His Wicked Games is a high fantasy, slow burn, enemies-to-lovers romance stand-alone novel.

Genres: Fantasy, Fantasy Romance, Enemies To Lovers

321 pages, Paperback

Published July 29, 2022

About the author

Contemporary romance writer Violet E.C, began her writing journey with fanfiction when she was only 13. After hundreds of thousands of readers on her stories, she decided to take the leap into publishing over a decade later.

Reviews

[Brittany · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF… too cringy

[Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would definitely say this book was a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers. I do love a good enemies-to-lovers story. I actually really liked Zia and Asher, I think as characters they were really well-matched. I really enjoyed how the book was written and how well-written the characters were. There are certainly a couple of twists and turns and things you don’t see coming.

Originally I thought I was going to give this book 3 stars but the second half of the book really picked up and I just couldn’t put it down, I ended up really loving it so I’m giving it 4 stars. If you can push through the slow start, it is a good read.

If you enjoy reading fantasy this book is suggested for fans of the Cruel Prince series and the ACOTAR series and I would agree you would probably enjoy this story if you enjoyed the others.

[Gabriella · Rating 1 out of 5]

(1.5 stars)
Never listening to booktok ever again.

Some people are saying it's an "easy read" when in reality the book just has a too casual writing style and numerous typos giving it a childish and lacking literary feel.
The story felt rushed, and the dialogues lacked emotion, making it hard to connect with the characters.

The attempt to show Asher's character change fell short, as it lacked a proper development process. His sudden decision to be "better for her" lacked depth, and the romantic relationship felt contrived and rushed, with little emotional groundwork. He straight up disrespects her in many different aspects, than lusts her, she gets kidnapped, he feels guilty than suddenly they're in love. Zia just doesn't seem to respect herself in every single page of the book and what's up with her obsession with the guy's bare feet pls 💀

[morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

if this was written better it would’ve been good. i felt no sense of urgency from the story though. and the dialogue was a little odd. i do fuck with the fairies!

[Bryony · Rating 5 out of 5]

His Wicked Games is a perfect combination for lovers of all things fantasy, capturing the very best from series‘ such as The Cruel Prince, ACOTAR & A Touch of Darkness.

An enemies-to-lovers classic, touching upon societal division, compassion and most importantly the power of love (with family, friends and personal interests alike) conquering all.

Suffice to say that I read this in a matter of one day. I couldn’t put the book down!

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book could have had so much potential. A good plot, romance with a misunderstanding. But it read like it was written by a teenager who had never heard of a thesaurus. Asher and Zinnia definitely needed to chat sooner. As with all miss understandings a little chat would have helped out. Good triumph over evil in the end and they found their way back together. I do think the fae’s would have had a way to at least stitch her wing back on, but maybe it was too many days.

[Sarah Muñoz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the book, since the moment you first read it, better go grab some snacks because you won't be able to close it until you have finished it. Put a lot of work in the description of the scenarios, so you can almost see what the main character is experiencing. Really enjoyed the story. As a person who love reading fantasy books, this was a great option.

[Sarah Gilmore · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would have been four stars had the main character not been called “sweet girl” about a million times. It was such a weird nickname imo, and I could not get into the story because it came up so often. Any other adjective would have sufficed, I just despise that nickname. It’s probably a personal thing, though. The writing was okay. It’s a good beginners fantasy read for sure!

[bxnnyrxst · Rating 2 out of 5]

i mean it was just fine. it follows the exact layout you’d expect of fake falling in love becomes real falling in love, then big conflict, then breakup, then be sad, then in love again.
the characters were okay, and i kinda wish they didn’t have the same names as all my friends ? zia, river, and ivy ??! what’s happening here.
the rebel thing was cool, sorry about your dead friend

[Lauren Schunn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this book had potential. It felt as though it went straight from enemies to lovers and otherwise it was the typical tropes that you can see coming. There was also a fair amount of typos which was distracting.

[Makenzie Erickson · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars

[Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book! I loved it 😍

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the chemistry between the main characters and the story had some great twists and turns.

A great enemy to lover tale.

[Mallory Burnett Swanson · Rating 1 out of 5]

To put it simply. This was atrocious.

[Ang ♠️ · Rating 2 out of 5]

a tough read fr

[Sjamira · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ja net alsof ik een Wattpad boek heb gelezen, maar echt een hele slechte, zulke voorspelbare stukken.

[Danni Deguire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was hard to get a read on at first, in a good way! I felt like I didn’t know what was coming. There are so many characters that would lead great books of their own. It’s such a fun read if you are a fan of romance and fantasy, would highly recommend. It wasn’t difficult to get into and picked up the pace through the book in a great way!

[Emma Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am not sure if I am so disappointed in this book because it’s the first thing I read after ACOTAR or if the writing really was as poor as it appears. Either way, there were multiple times while reading this that I had to put it down because it was so bad. Cheesy, predictable, and the writing was unsophisticated and childish. Not to mention the amount of typos. The only reason it has one star is due to the very last page.

[Kristina Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! The whole close proximity and enemies to lover tropes always get me! I enjoyed that it kept me guessing and how all my questions/wonders were answered by the end. I would love to get more insight into Asher’s POV! Great book! I can’t wait to read more by her!

[Michaela · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars if I could...
Honestly this book is mediocre, and at times did not flow well, however, I'm a sucker for fae royalty and romance, so I stuck it out. The FMC is insufferable, the constant " I need him, I want him, he's everything, to- he's terrible I hate him" was kind of ridiculous. It was way too hot and cold. There's literally another female in his bed at one point and it's literally never brought back up. She forgives and dives into him every single time ...until he actually shows true emotion and heartfelt words?? And then she's like...i can't do this, I'm done. What even? She was *exhausting*. I wouldn't call this a true enemies to lovers, there was no real slow burn, and it was pretty evident they both shared feelings pretty quickly, and rather than enemies they were just rude to each other. Without going into detail to spoil it, the FMC could have literally avoided so many issues especially the huge glaring issue at the end by just speaking up. Lastly, I'd personally like to sign a petition to stop using "brat/bratty" in romance books, it is so cringe. Hated that. I think with some good editing this could have been a lot higher on my ranking. All in all, it's not the worst book I've read, and there are parts that I really enjoyed, but it just had too many flaws for me.

[Beth’s Book Collection · Rating 4 out of 5]

"So, I have a different proposition" - the one line where you know the books about to really start.

I really enjoyed this booked, it had a bit of everything and was a delightfully easy read, and I definitely say that in a good way. We get to where we're going fast enough, while Violet also takes time to describe in great detail so many things to really help paint the picture. I felt that it was far enough away from other books to make it stand out and can I just say the villain and that twist was amazing. We really see great character development with Zia and Asher and it really was lovely to get to read their story.

I would have really liked to learn more about the magical law, and more about the different specific kinds of faeries other than the ones we find out about (I won't say anymore to keep the review spoiler free). Also it would have been great to have some stuff from Asher's POV, I think it would of made it much more frustrating at times but definitely more enjoyable.

Overall a great book that I can wholeheartedly recommend for anyone that loves this genre.