I definitely liked this book, but struggled to engage with the pacing. The middle 50% I absolutely sped through, but the first and last 25% took me a while to read.

The spice was definitely spicy, but it overtook the logical response to plot points towards the end of the book for me, which made it less enjoyable to read.

I’m glad I read this book, but I can’t say I’d read it again.

Thank you NetGalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC for giving me the ARC. Here I leave my honest review!

Honestly I didn’t read the first book (but I think I will later). I didn’t know when I request the book that this book is part of series. Actually this book is interconnected series so we see different couple as the main character but the previous couple still involve in the story. Even tough it has different couple but I still recommend to read this book in order of the series. Because the problem connect with the previous book and still continue to the next book.

Even I didn’t read the first book it still okay for me to know the major problem and what kind of world the live now. The author did a good job to briefly explain to a new reader like me to understand the story but it will of course spoil the story from the first book.

Fiona and Tiernan. The maid and The King. You now for sure that this will be a forbidden love. Start with relationship with benefit now they know that they mean much more to each other. The book itself has two conflict, the first one is continue from previous book, with this organization want to banish the Dark Fae and the second of course between Fiona and Tiernan, their status surely become a hurdle for their future.

I’m not sure how the author describe their relationship in the first book. But here we just know that they have a relationship without label. We continuously see their need for each other. So I think I lost a moment of their beginning, how their feeling develop and how they act toward each other before. Despite what happen between them before, I think with them realize what they want toward each other show us how they behave with each other later.

With dual POV I know exactly how they feel. I like their relationship with little banter but still care for each other. The way Tiernan treat Fiona differently after what happen to her, how he help her to face her problem, save her on any situation. I think as a character I love Tiernan. He knows what he wants and still trying so hard to protect his family too. And I love how Tiernan trying so hard to make it happen with Fiona.

But, I think the problem regarding the Dark Fae and his court not solve really well. I’m not pleased with how they solve the problem. I don’t know if it’s the author’s way to make this problem bigger for the next book but I was hoping something much better than that.

I think the romance is much more better than the fae problem. A little disappointed but I still recommend this book. I give this book rating 3.5/5 ⭐ with 3 🌶. If you love fantasy romance maybe this book is for you!

This second in the series is explosive and and will leave the reader eager for the next book. Tiernan has the task as preparing to be the Dark King after his brother’s abdication. He is the middle brother and a rebel. Fiona is the housekeeper at the manor and in a relationship with Tiernan. The author keeps the plot interesting by offering surprises. It becomes steamy and heated as Fiona and Tiernan unmask themselves. Readers will love the outcome of this story.

After taking a break from this series, I finished book 2. I can see a lot of people loving these books, I just don’t think they are for me. I’m not a fan of the dialogue, which is a big deal to me.

I will say, the characters are so interesting and easy to read about. It can definitely be an entertaining book.

My biggest complaint is that this reads like a contemporary romance with cheesy dialogue. But the description and cover come across as dark fantasy. Definitely isn't dark. However I did enjoy Fiona and Tiernan story

DNF @ 34%.

This ARC was very kindly provided through NetGalley, though all thoughts are my own.

Unfortunately I can't finish this book even though I was really looking forward to it. I really love Tiernan's character and his reluctant nature in the future he's thrown into. I also LOVE Fiona and their chemistry together.

However, around the part that I stopped reading at the author was describing that the Fae were having to go through a Lock Down, like the humans experienced during a pandemic, because of extremist groups that are rising up and trying to kill the fae.

I can't do pandemic. I can't do extremists. it's too soon for me.

Had I known this, I probably would not have requested this ARC as it is very much a me thing and not any fault of the book.

Up until this point, I was enjoying the book even though I was feeling it was a slow start and a bit overly descriptive in parts. and again, I love this world and the characters a lot. But I do love this Gina L Maxwell's work and will definitely try more books from her. My star rating on this is only because required and this was how i was feeling about it up until the time i DNF'd.

I really hate to do this, especially with books I requested, but I'm an anxious person who reads for fun, and nobody wants to stress out in their self-care time.

An absolute joy to read! You will get hooked from the first page and not be able to put it down. It was full of laughs, tears, and love all rolled up into one fabulous story.

I didn't read the first one in this series but I devoured this one! The story was compelling, the chemistry between the leads was delicious, and the drama was intense. And that cliffhanger! I can't wait for the next one.

Well, I learned after reading this book that although I might enjoy spicy books, dark or forbidden spice just isn’t my thing.

I enjoyed this authors previous book, but this one was just a bit too much for me so I DNF’d it.

I do think that lovers of dark fantasy novels will probably devour it though.

Thank you to Entangled Publishing and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book to read and review.

I went back and forth on how to rate this book and ultimately decided on three stars. I LOVED the first book, but I can’t say the same for this next installment unfortunately. I think I just didn’t connect with Tiernan and Fiona the way I did with Bryn and Caiden, which made it hard for me to care about this/their story. I do like this world and Dmitri is my favorite supporting character so I’m still excited to see where things go in the next book!

I loved the first book, so I knew I had to request this immediately! Personally, it was okay ready, there was no plot, but it had great dark fantasy romance. I am not sure if I will continue with the series only because I prefer plot over spice.

I really wanted to like this book more - mainly because I was more interested in Tiernan and Fiona than Caiden and Brynn from the first book. Those two were way too grumpy-sunshine, and I usually love that trope!

At every turn in The Rebel King, there were glaring opportunities to flesh out this contemporary/urban/dark fantasy world - which is apparently full of Fae, vampires, werewolves, and other mythical creatures. But at every turn, the story instead gave *vibes* instead of world-building.

Tiernan and Fiona's relationship journey - 4 stars
The overall plot and story of this book - 3 stars

Not a terrible read and I enjoyed it for what it was. I'd also say the spice was better in this one because the characters had a deeper and more established connection instead of basically insta-love and insta-lust like Caiden and Brynn.

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC of The Rebel King. All thoughts and opinions on this review are my own.

I absolutely DEVOURED The Dark King when I read the ARC for it last year, and The Rebel King was absolutely the same feeling for me. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to love a couple & their story as much as I loved Caiden & Bryn’s story…but I was wrong. Tiernan is such a FUNNY male lead & Fiona is just so damned relatable with her wit and sassing. I absolutely LOVED the addition of the Romanov vampires & the role it seems they’ll be playing in the third book. I’m such a slut for well developed and relatable characters vs complicated plot.

As far as plot goes, The Rebel King built on The Dark King so well. More background info and context for the overarching storyline were given without massive amounts of info dumping, which I appreciate.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed The Rebel King & will be recommending it to friends. I cannot WAIT to see what Finnian’s book holds, my fingers are crossed for some “touch her and die” himbo energy

I seriously love Gina’s books! This one did NOT disappoint! I loved Tiernan and Fiona! I enjoyed the magic, the fae, the story, and the amazing chemistry the MC’s had! I hadn’t read the first one, but I will be going back to read it. This book also had all the BDSM spice! I think Fiona and Tiernan work so well together in and out of the bedroom! Also knowing that them being together was forbidden added to the hotness! I loved that they worked together to find the missing fae women. I also enjoyed the vampires in this story! Really there wasn’t much to not love! I can’t wait to read the next in this series! Highly recommend this one!

Gina does an amazing job creating a fantasy world that I would love to experience. Her characters are relatable and I can’t wait to read more of this series.

4/5 stars!

I love this series okay! I'm such a huge fan of Gina L. Maxwell im starting to work my way through her entire log of books! This is the second book in this series and I really love the way that she has set up this series making each book a new character is not something new but the ways she passes the baton to the next character is truly interesting! My only sad thing is why do I keep picking up incomplete series? Because I do not have a patient disposition okay?? but maybe this is making me grow... who knows!

Anyway... banter is fire, spice is fire, couple was cute as hecky hecky! This series gets The Bookish Life stamp of approval!

Whoa, didn't think this author could up the ante from the first book in this series, but she totally freaking did! This story had loads of twists and turns, and on top of Tiernan and Fiona's off the charts chemistry, this book was a real page turner. Difficult to put down, there were a few 2am mornings for me, but it was so worth it! Lots of nail biting moments, and this couple just hit all the marks for me. Awesome ending for this book and I cannot wait for Finns book!

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC copy of this book.

The Rebel King is the second book in Gina’s Deviant Kings series. I really enjoyed the first one so when I was approved for the second one I was thrilled. Again this novel is told in dual POV ( between Tiernan and Fiona ) and like the first one I also enjoyed this one! Tiernan was the playboy brother and after his old brother Abdicated the throne it was passed down to him and this becomes an issue because of his secrecy relationship with Fiona, who is only a half Fae and not fit for a king.

I honestly loved these two together and thought they just fit perfectly. Fiona is a badass, but at the same time she’s very selfless which I adored. Again I just thought these 2 worked perfectly together and reading about their love story was just everything and more! This novel was very layered and had all the elements needed to make it interesting like suspense, steamy romance, court politics, found family and more.

I enjoyed this almost as much as the first and I can’t wait for the conclusion!!!

Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for gifting me this e-arc in exchange for an honest review

wow Gina Maxwell takes us on a new adventure in this world that I love, it had me heart in my throat and on the edge of my seat from start to finish.

I loved Tiernan and Fiona's story, their emotional and physical connection and their deliciously hot scenes. The Rebel King is the perfect combination of feelings, spicy BDSM, angsty, action and adventure, a world o magical beings, faes, mates, vampires, definitely highly recommended for fans of dark paranormal romance

This second installment was still enjoyable, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I did the first.
Fiona and Tiernan's story was missing something for me, maybe the angst of the forbidden love trope (which is what it was because Tiernan was now king of the Dark Fae and was only supposed to marry royalty).
I felt.like the plot.was lacking something and it the ending felt rushed.