Kiss of the Demon King
4.5 Stars

Synopsis
Sabine, the Queen of Illusions, lures Rydstrom Woede, deposed King of the Rage Demons to her lair in order to seduce him and produce an heir. Not only does Rydstrom plan to escape but is also determined to claim Sabine as his own. Can these too unlikely lovers overcome the obstacles in their past and defeat the sinister foe standing in the way of their predestined future?

Review
Rydstrom's scene at the end of Dark Desires After Dusk had me salivating to read this one and I wasn't disappointed.

Rydstrom is seriously smokin' and I wouldn't mind keeping him in my dungeon (if I had one). Nevertheless, he is not only a pretty face but honest and honorable, fierce and lusty.

Sabine grew on me like a fungus. Even though she classifies herself as evil, I saw her as a powerful woman willing to do anything to survive. Yes, she is immoral, ruthless, manipulative and untrustworthy but she has her reasons and she is never intentionally cruel or vicious (unless keeping a man sexually frustrated is considered cruel and unusual punishment - he didn't seem to mind too much...).

Sabine and Rydstrom are a perfect, if ironic, match and their clash of wills and battle for dominance is very entertaining (theirs is definitely the most erotic romance so far). Moreover, their journey toward mutual acceptance and a deep emotional connection makes this an excellent addition to the series.

The writing is wonderful as usual and the story within a story prologue establishes the darker tone and atmosphere that characterizes the book as well as providing insight into Sabine's nature. The secondary characters are very compelling, especially Lanthe and Thronos (there's another book in there) and Lothaire - there are no words to describe how much he intrigues me.

Couple of nitpicks - the dungeon scenes are too drawn out and although Omort's demise is satisfying, it is too rushed and a little anti-climactic given all the build up of the war in previous books.

Overall, two thumbs up! ( )

[b:Kiss of a Demon King|3585344|Kiss of a Demon King (Immortals After Dark, #6)|Kresley Cole|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1357612809l/3585344._SY75_.jpg|3627605] by [a:Kresley Cole|4428|Kresley Cole|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1328377628p2/4428.jpg]
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance, Suspense
4.75 Stars

Gut clenching intensity.

Sabine is intelligent, sneaky and sly. Always planning and plotting.

Rhystrom is dignified, virtuous and ethical. Putting his people before all else.

And then fate and destiny put the two face to face and the fun begins.

Stimulating, provocative, exhilarating, and thrilling!

A real 5 star book! ( )

I just didn't enjoy the dynamic in this one. I had liked the hero as a side character, but here he was kind of a mean, hypocritical, fool. Enemies to lovers isn't my favorite trope anyway, but this couple kept treating each other poorly long after they had started to develop feelings for each other, which made it feel worse. Until the very end of the book it felt more like a battle of wills, possessiveness and revenge than it did love. Even when signs of affection would pop up they were so interspersed with the opposite that it felt like an abusive rollercoaster relationship. And rather than building trust in the usual ways, their solutions were just ways of making it harder to get away with lying... So even any growth they might have built otherwise felt undermined.

So when they were strangers and enemies she held him captive and sexually frustrated him repeatedly trying to manipulate him into doing something. That's not my cup of tea, but they largely both enjoyed the power dynamic play and their activities together, so whatever. She'd basically been raised to be a villain, and though he was left frustrated, he wasn't flayed alive or anything. He also discovers she's his one fated mate to love out of all the universe and eternity. So then when he gets the upper hand he follows through with all the nobility and higher ground he's been claiming. ... Just kidding, he's basically willing to sacrifice all hope for a happy future together in order to exact revenge. And he doesn't just frustrate her in captivity, which would be turnabout, (still not wise when you're hoping someone will grow to love you or something, (or at least not flee from you), but... ¯_(ツ)_/¯ ) he also ups the ante! He strikes her, he destroys her property, he exposes her to the elements, he puts her life in danger (that was a byproduct of the captivity, to be fair, but still, she was made helpless at the mercy of *a gang* when she never would have been if she’d not already been bound) and he yells at her to confide personal secrets to him like he's entitled to anything he wants from her. It's so far past the point of reasonable. And even after they've arrived at a truce where they're both mostly liking each other, she does one thing (for very good reasons I might add) that he dislikes and *he barely resists raping her* (twice!). He spins it like it's his love for her that drove him to it, but that's just twisted. He'd even been told by a previous hero not to do anything regarding his mate that could never be repaired, and he thinks about that several times, but then continues to do the damaging shit anyway. And they both kept major secrets until the very last, it was just disappointing to me. If the relationship had been healthier I would have liked it fine I suppose, so two stars rather than a single. ( )

3,75
I loved Sabine and Rydstrom: their characterisation, their relationship and so on.
My only complaint with this book and with the whole is that there is too much sex, especially in the first part of this book. Please, dear Kresley, can't you just give more space to the plot, the setting and the characterisation? You created a very good lore and lovely characters..do you need to put so much erotic scenes in your books? That's bad. I find it annoying when events revolve around sex for 100 pages and it looks like a sort of filler for the lacking of better ideas.
Overall I liked the book. The second part was so better, fortunately!
I hope the series will get better and will focus more on the wide cast of characters than sex. ( )

OMG! I loved it! Rydstrom sounds so delicious. Sabine better be kind. ( )