Bride of the Fiend Prince by Rebecca F. Kennedy is the first book in a six-book series, where each novel can be read as a standalone.  Which I will be honest, I greatly appreciate.  I am not entirely sure I have time to commit to a six-book series at the moment where you are left with cliff hanger after cliff hanger until you want to scream.

We start the book off with one of my most favorite, and somehow least favorite, tropes.  The terrible parent who sells their child into a most likely loveless marriage so they can protect themselves.  In this instance, Amarylla is our lovely heroine, and she is sold to the Kingdom of Terelaus.  I love that when we are introduced to Amarylla, she actually had to be drugged to prevent any form of resistance.  It is established incredibly quickly that she is a warrior.  Upon arriving in the Kingdom of Terelaus, she takes down three or four guards on her own so quickly, there is no chance to stop her.

Obviously, there is no way out of this marriage for her, and so she marries the Fiend Prince.  Which by the way, we do not learn his actual name until late in the book.  Everyone, from his father, to the servants, to his new bride, calls him Fiend Prince, or just Fiend.  Realistically speaking the Fiend Prince probably shouldn’t be my favorite character, but I love how Rebecca portrayed him.  Like absolutely loved it!  How often do you see a dark romance book where the main male character is weak?  And I’m not talking weak like weak spirited.  I am talking like physically weak and needs someone to help him at times because he cannot do it on his own.  Since this is a romance book, obviously the two main characters start to like each other and I love that Amarylla is attracted to him even in his weakened state.  She is attracted to his mind, his weakened body, and she adamantly wants what is best for him. 

My favorite thing about this entire book, and this is not important to the plot in any way shape or form, is a very small conversation that happens between our Hero and Heroine.  The Fiend Prince casually (and I mean super casually) mentions that he likes both men and women, and has been with both.  That’s it.  That is essentially the entire conversation.  It is not a plot point, it is just a quick fact, and it’s over and done with.  I love that he is bisexual, we know about it as the reader, and it is not the focal point of the book.

As the Fiend Prince and Amarylla start to get to know each other, we as the reader spend a vast majority of the book learning what the dark secrets of Terelaus are.  In trying to unearth these secrets, one thing was made abundantly clear to me.  Man do I hate the Fiend Prince’s father.  Talk about a major asshole!  At one point, Amarylla backtalks him, and he sends her to be whipped ten times.  It isn’t often I wish I could enter a book just to punch someone, but the Fiend Prince’s father made me want too.  (Because obviously I would stand a chance in this fictious world where magic exists!)

There was a lot of good about this book, and I really enjoyed reading it. But there was one bad part about this book.  Mainly, the ending.  I typically read on either my Kindle App on my phone, or my Kindle Paperwhite.  One of the things I like about reading on those is they typically tell me how long it is going to take me to finish reading a book.  I noticed almost immediately, that it was only going to take me about two and a half hours to read this book.  That is not a very long time, and when I got to the ending of the book, I really was wishing there was more.  It does end on a happily ever after, which is great, but I wish the author had taken more time to really delve into what happened next and showed up how it happened. Instead, we got a quick couple sentences and then the book was over.

Overall – This book was so good.  I really enjoyed reading it and am currently trying to find time in my life to read the next five books in this series.  If you can get over the rushed ending, this is a book that will leave you with so many feel-good moments. 

Plot – 8/10

Characters – 10/10

Originality –  10/10

General Joy of Reading – 8/10

Overall Score – 36/40

Bride to the Fiend Prince: A Dark Rulers Romance (standalone) – Rebecca F. Kenney

Cost* – $.99 on Kindle or $13.99 for paperback.  This book is included on Kindle Unlimited.

*Cost is based upon what the book cost when book review is published