Adult romance. Check trigger warnings before reading.
Tiernan inherits the throne when his brother abdicates the throne. Tiernan's FWB relationship with Fiona develops as Fiona's mother Erin drops a bombshell. Meanwhile dark Fae are being murdered and Tiernan won't let it continue. ( )

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔📔
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞💞
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂
Page Turner Level:📖📖📖📖
Narration:🎧🎧🎧🎧
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧
Overall View: ✨✨✨.75

First Impressions
The Rebel King is the second book in the "Deviant Kings" series which I am assuming is going to be a trilogy. I was really intrigued with this one especially with the ending in the "Dark King" that we received. I have found that this author's writing is very interesting. Its not really my favorite when reading a PNR fantasy as some of the world building aspects she writes, but it has some great plot dynamics and her relationships tend to be wildly entertaining.

First Line
Power is as ruinous as it is advantageous

Summary
Tiernan is the playboy of the brothers and the least likely to take on the role of king. He was never trained for years like his brothers were and was considered the brother that handled things differently. His only current passion has really been chess and women. He never became invested in courtly politics of the fae realms but when his brother abdicates he is forced to change his perceptions. While he is in a relationship with Fiona, he knows that they can never truly be together in the long term aspect. But when he realizes he most likely will have to give her up completely while also trying to solve a murder mystery with her, tensions will rise both in the relationship and within the fae court. Can Tiernan find a way to embrace his destiny while also keeping the woman he loves at his side?

What I Loved
I found "The Rebel King" to be quite a interesting take. I also love to see the unconventional character take on a leadership role. And we do see some many aspects to a court politic element that was intriguing. So I do think fans of fantasy romance or historical romance, will find themselves intrigued by this element. I also can't get enough of the "Forbidden" elements that rise within this one here. I had a fun time seeing how our characters work with each other here. We do have a fun murder mystery that contains some undercover spy work that really pulled me in. We also have some BDSM elements that I had fun with. I didn't expect BDSM in this one, but I really enjoyed what we received in this one, especially the focus of the safety portions of the lifestyle. The forbidden romance was quite interesting. I also love it when a couple finds their way over restrictions on them being together. And how it happens I adored. It happens in a way you don't expect but loved the intellectual enlightening that is implemented to showcase the path forward for our couple. I found these characters to be very likeable and wanted to see them through to their HEA and after that ending I am curious to see what the author has planned for "Vicious King" which releases this summer.

What I Struggled With
So there was a couple of things I struggled with. I wasn't a fan in how the hero pushes the heroine away without telling her what was happening and getting her input on it. It effects her too so it wasn't really explained why he was so secretive on it. Another aspect was the different ways the authors put in some political stuff here. There was some references to the pandemic (I am NOT a fan of COVID references in books) I know some readers don't mind it, but I am not a fan of it but also the whole making so much about the court being all about racism and sexism. I want to see issues like this addressed, it was just done in a way that felt preachy in the writing style and turned me off a bit. Despite this, I still do want to read more from this author, because I didn't see it in the first book and curious about her backlisted books.

Narration
SUPERB in every way. I couldn't put this audio book because of how much I enjoyed the style of narrating that these narrators used. They really brought the emotional aspects behind the intentions of the characters to life. I quickly became invested in their story and I do think some of it is due to the narration being so well messaged.

Overall View
The Rebel King is a story that will take you into a world of fantastical imagination and sensuality. Its one that will take you on some adventures, a mystery to be solved and solid teamwork with our couple to reaching their HEA! A SATISFYING GEM!

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Fantasy Paranormal Romance
Character Types: Royalty, Fae
Themes: Hot Smexy Times, BDSM, Court Politics, Danger/Suspense
Tropes: Forbidden Love, Friends to Lovers, Fling

Book Perspective
Duo POV

Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
Plot Conflict

Recommendation For Reading Order
Yes you want to read this series in order if possible

Steam/Spice Explanations

Steamin' up the room -the sexual content is more explicit in the language and tone, heavier amount of sexual scenes.

Narrators:
J.F. Harding, Kelsey Navarro ( )

The Rebel King by Gina L Maxwell
Deviant King series, book 2. Fantasy romance. Can be read as a stand-alone but better as part of the series. Characters overlap but are secondary. Alternating chapter by Tiernan and Fiona.
Tiernan is soon to be King of the Dark Fae since his brother abdicated to keep his wife safe. Tiernan didn’t expect to ever be King and he’s been more of a Rebel his whole life. But he will do his duty. After this one last task.
Fiona has had an intimate relationship with Tiernan recently but they now must hide and meet in secret since she’s just a housekeeper in his home. She finds out she’s human when the Dark Fae are under attack but they are family and she will help track down the threat.

Explosive and gripping. Dark and sexy. Tiernan and Fiona together rate combustible.
Loved this second book of possibly tragic love then resolved and won. Can’t wait for the next brother to get his book.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley. Opinions are my own. ( )

More than five stars!

So, I loved The Dark King, but this book...this book blew me away! Like the first book, The Rebel King is a spicy paranormal romance with D/s themes. Whips...whew! Tiernan is my new book boyfriend, kthanks.

Tiernan and Fiona are written perfectly. Compared to Bryn in The Dark King, Fiona was much easier to connect to right away. She's a snarky, but vulnerable badass.
Her and Tiernan have an already established connection going into the story and I appreciated that shift from the fated mates trope. I'd say this lingers more in Forbidden Romance territory.
Their vulnerability becomes really apparent on page, making you able to connect to them easier. I could feel the struggle Tiernan had with the mistake he made in his past and I would've loved to have seen more written about that time in his life.
"Tiernan might come off as being no deeper than a puddle, but you know he's not as shallow as that."
Omg, and Robert! Tiernan's human best friend...I love him so, so much! The absolute best side character.

This being the second book in a series, I HIGHLY recommend reading The Dark King first, even if they are technically standalone books, as I feel like there are a ton of spoilers for the first book and you don't want to miss out on Caiden's book ;)

The Rebel King showed us deeper into the Deviant Kings world, allowing us to meet more of the others. With that little peek into Finnian's story at the end, I am salivating for the next book! December cannot come soon enough.

HUGE thank you to Entangled Publishing (AMARA) for the e-ARC to read, enjoy, and honestly review! ( )