Thank you to NetGalley, Nisha J Tuli, and Forever for the opportunity to review Rule of the Aurora King.

This book picks up shortly after the events at the end of Trial of the Sun Queen, in which Lor moves from one gilded cage to the next. We get to know more of Nadir’s cadre - and I adore how they needle him and are quick to develop a fondness for Lor. The group realizes that a powerful object Lor needs may be in the palace of the Aurora King, and so Lor and Nadir must fake a relationship, even though they’re constantly at each other's throats.

Miscommunication is not my favorite trope, so I liked how fast-paced this book was to move through it. The dual POV helped too, especially as a break from Lor’s (mostly justified) rage. A lot of this book is about Lor’s trauma resurfacing now that she’s not in a constant battle to stay alive. She’s flawed and broken, but healing. Nadir has his own damage to deal with, but I really didn’t like his pet name of “Inmate” for Lor because it was such a raw spot for her.

In addition to dual POV, we also follow an additional character’s POV as they lived through previous events that resulted in the current state of Ouranos. This also helped to break up some of the tension between Lor and Nadir, but gave a lot of fascinating lore.

Rule of the Aurora King is a drastically different vibe than Trial of the Sun Queen. This one is more behind-enemy-lines, found family, and animosity to lovers. I’m really looking forward to the third book in the series because I think we’ll get something totally different and be able to see how the characters handle their next situation.

Okay, this book has a lot of things that seem to really mirror things in the ACOTAR series. Was it on purpose? I’m not sure. Did I eat up every word of this book like I might die if I didn’t continue?! Absolutely. Nadir’s POV’s continue to be my favorite, and Lor continues to be a badass. No notes. No criticisms. I just need more! 😍

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever(Grand Central Publishing) for this arc and the opportunity to read rate and review it. This book has been available since Sept,12,2023!

Holy chemistry Batman! This was a very spicy, very tense romantasy. Lor and Nadir’s chemistry was on point! The plot never let up. It was a freight train that was speeding along. Devoured this book.

This book was bingey and fun. I love Lor’s character so much. She’s brash and determined and so strong. And I love the romance storyline in this. Such slow burn in the best way!

I found a lot of parellels to ACOTAR, which I feel like might put some people off. But I like what I like and it’s morally grey fae with a rich backstory. 🤷🏼‍♀️😂

I’ll definitely be counting down the days until book three!

A tension filled second addition to the first book. It had it's ups and downs.
We learn a lot more about the back story and history of the main character, giving a more in depth feature of how their world has come to the current point in time.
Excited for the third book.
I received an ARC from NetGalley.

I’m loving this series & can’t wait to continue with the next books!

Thank you to forever & netgalley for an advanced copy.

These two books, Trial of the Sun Queen and Rule of the Aurora King, are in my top five of the year with Fourth Wing and Iron Flame. Beyond excellent world building and storytelling that is powerful, emotive, compelling to the point you want to read all night and not sleep. The story is original yet resonates with comfort vibes of the past with undertones that are reminiscent of The Selection, Hunger Games and even an element of the Bachelor. It's thoughtful and creative with an intricate plot you can follow easily but also leave you in suspense in a way that pushes you forward as the story propels itself through heartache and trauma to healing to lust to love. You fall even more in love with Lor in this book and get to know Nadir, and he is sexy, powerful and stands behind Lor at every turn. Lor isn’t a coward or a woman that is weak, she is the queen of her own castle and shows it in everything she does.

Book 2 spoilers for character/relationship but not plot
Book 1 plot point mentioned

Plot 3/5⭐️
Spice 3.5/5🌶️
Vibes 5/5👏🏻
Dual 1st person POV

I LOVED the first book, so I immediately jumped into the second book and devoured it. The second book focuses more on building a connection between Lor and Nadir, so the action and suspense are toned down. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the enemies-to-lovers focus this time around because the banter, tension, and spice went up a notch. I would have loved a little more world-building in The Aurora Kingdom. The Frostfire celebration would have been a good opportunity for this. Given how cold the Aurora King is, I understand why the palace celebrations were lackluster. However, when Lor goes out with Amaya I was hoping for more. Instead, we don’t get much besides the mention of people preparing for “various Frostfire activities”. The story continues to switch POV between Lor and Nadir, but we also get a new POV. We are introduced to Serce who is Lor’s grandmother (I have some theories about this), and we flash back to learn how everything happened that resulted in the loss of the Heart Kingdom.

I noticed some reviews mention that they didn’t like Lor because she seemed “whiney”. Yes, Lor was certainly more angsty this time around. However, I’m going to defend my girl just a bit. Lor is not completely out of danger, but she’s not fighting for her life in the trials anymore. As such, she’s able to start processing some of the events she’s been through. However, it’s hard to process trauma when you are not fully in a safe space/place. Lor is very much aware of this, which is why she decides to continue compartmentalizing while she works towards her goals. So, while I would love for her to give in to the very obvious mate bond, I understand her hesitation. In the meantime, I love how Nadir is willing to learn from his mistakes as he pursues Lor. I’m so excited to see Lor unleash her power (hopefully in the next book), and see her relationship with Nadir grow.

4.5 ⭐️

A solid sequel! I liked that we got some more answers (and perspectives). Trying to keep this spoiler free, so don’t want to say too much. This has been a really enjoyable slow-burn romantasy series, and I cannot wait for book 3 this summer.

I love that we’re given a Tamlin situation here with the dark anti-hero “saving” Lor from the Sun King at the end of the last book. The bickering and banter in the first 20 pages alone has the tension SKY-HIGH. I wanted a little more from this book after absolutely loving the first, but I’m definitely not giving up on the series. I still adore Lor and Nadir and am dying to find out what happens with the two of them.

There are additional POVs added to this book with the addition of Serce and Wolf’s history, and I know it is probably important for building the backstory and explaining some things, but I just didn’t feel a connection to them at all and was a bit bummed when their chapters came up.

We learn more about Lor’s history and find that she has buried magic, but I just wanted more. I’ll be impatiently waiting for the release of book three.

There is more spice in this book, but it is basically all between Wolf and Serce. We’ve got enemies to lovers, forced proximity, slow burn, and I’m thinking a fated mates bond coming up.

⭐⭐⭐.5
🌶️🌶️🌶️.5

I enjoyed this book more than the first. We really get to dive into the magic and the world they live in. Are there still some holes, yes, but I got enough answers for me to continue to enjoy it. I do wish we had left Aurora earlier but oh well. I also enjoyed the past chapters we got as they lent a lot of credence and information to the present. Lor and Nadir are obviously mates and are cute together because she doesn’t take any sh*t from him. Very strong willed but can have fun. I’m interested in why her magic is still locked up!

This book was a quick and easy read, and it intrigued me enough that I'll definitely be continuing the series.

However, I found this book to be really repetitive whenever either of our main characters were talking about each other romantically (which happened in some capacity in almost every chapter). It felt that it was trying to hit each and every popular trope too hard. We get it-- our MMC is possessive and and Lor hates him but also they are super attracted to each other. I did like the plot, when we got glimpses of it; I would've loved more of that and less of the romantic whiplash.

5 ⭐️

A really good sequel. Rule of the Aurora King built upon the first book, and i think, turned out better.
One thing i didn’t really like about Trial of the Sun Queen was that i barely got to know Nadir, even though there was an entire pov for him. But this book fixed that, and i really enjoyed him.
Thank you to Netgalley and Forever for allowing me to read this book.

The second book in the Artefacts of Ouranus series hits just as hard and fun as the first. I think I would have liked it to be just a bit longer to get to know the side characters a little more, though this time we get a better grip on Lor and Nadir. Mostly on Nadir. I feel like Lor is still holding in some secrets from the reader, which is fun. I enjoyed the intrigue within the flashbacks, and I super love how like, no one is really a "good guy" in this story. Morally Grey, morally nebulous, all the characters have got something going on. Especially the people in the flashbacks! There's spice, some world-building, devastation, a fight/battle, and a sort of mystery. Something for everyone!

Thanks to Netgalley and Forever for the e-ARC!

I read part of the first book so I can’t really read this one.

I can’t recommend.

I’m sure some would love this series but I can’t even get passed 30% of the the first book .

"𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘧*𝘤𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱*𝘴𝘴𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯."

🌹 Possessive MMC
🌹 Forced Proximity
🌹 Enemies to Lovers
🌹 Fake Dating
🌹 One Bed
🌹 Touch Her & 💀
🌹 Dual POV
🌹 Spice 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Gah the sexual tension between Lor and Nadir had me 🥵🥵 for most of the book. Nadir 100% was the star of this book. I enjoyed his broodiness, possessiveness and complete confidence that he was going to be with Lor. It's a no wonder she struggled to keep him at a distance 😂
Lor on the other hand was driving me a bit crazy with her annoying back and forth on her feelings towards Nadir. I need to add that the chair scene in this book was so damn 🔥🔥🔥 I may have reread it a few times and I definitely ran and signed up for the newsletter to read it from another POV 😂

Again some of the plot was a bit predictable, but the steamy angst between the MC's and the evolving plot around Lor's familial background kept me engaged and wanting more. I look forward to book 3 in the summer of 2024!

Thank you to NetGalley, Nisha J. Tuli & ReadForeverPub for the eARC!

When I saw the second book, I just had to grab it!🔥🔥

We pick up right where book one ends the Aurora Prince took her. Then we jump back to 286 years ago and find out what happened in the queendom of heart.

I really enjoyed that we got a deeper picture of the story to know where it all went wrong and how things got up to the way they are now.

Serce was supposed to be arranged to marry the Sun king but she walked off and felt a connection with the Woodlands King named Wolf.

“And I am my own fucking castle.”

Yesss!🔥🔥🔥 This book was a great follow up and I’m obsessed with the series. I need the 3rd book now! This author is my top for the year.

5 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"I want her like I want air and the magic that flows in my veins."

Rule of the Aurora King is the second novel adult fantasy romance series, Artefacts of Ouranos. Following immediately after the events of book one, we continue with Lor as she escaped the clutches of the Sun King, only to find her held by the Aurora Prince. Nadir knows she is hiding secrets that could change to tide of his secret rebellion and when the two find common ground they realize in order to get what they both want that have to give...yet nothing is safe as the Sun King is not ready to give up on finding Lor. As these two are drawn together, passions rises...as well as questions around the fate of Ouranos hidden in Lor's family history.

This book took what I loved from book one and just escalated to new heights! Lor continues to be this fierce rounded character with edges and weaknesses that balance and heighten her strength. Her loyalty to her family is powerful and her need to challenge helped keep every conversation moving and riveting.

Nadir starts out a little frustrating with his need to distance himself from Lor but as he begins to engage and find common ground his facade crumbles. With each vulnerable moment he reveals himself to be this fascinating character determined to avenge and protect his loved ones. I loved seeing him desperate for Lor at times.

I also want to highlight the other POV we get in this book from the past that gripped me. This character helps introduce lore but also is an equally powerful and strong. I loved how they refused to bow to those around them and the romance the builds in their journey...I want more!

This book does contain spice, much more than book one. I would say about a 3 spicy pepper out of 5 spicy peppers. While Nadir and Lor's relationship is more slow burn with an antagonist steamy slow burn the other POV is more fast burn for reason you will later discover. I liked the balance of romance as I felt I was getting all the romance I needed spread across the story. The romance in this book was perfection and so rewarding after book one...yet there is still so much to unpack!

"You're going to ruin me, too, Inmate...Lucky for you, we'll go down in the blaze together."

The world of Ouranos continues to be an enthralling world. I appreciated being able to explore more political machinations and gain more understanding of the Sun King. Add in the excellent lore building in the added POV I felt like I was gaining so much about this world in an effortless manner. Prepare to learn so much and be drawn in throughout.

The story itself is well paced with tension and angst throughout as the character struggle to trust and accept each other. The banter alone had me the entire time but the beautiful vulnerability in between was the cherry on top. I enjoyed the forced proximity this book enforced as we get to see these characters butt heads in all the best way alongside side characters that motivate them and five you so many good feelings. I will say the action part of this story is a bit slower burn but when it hits in the second act, I was drawn in. The ending alone has its teeth sunk in me.

Overall, this was an amazing sequel to follow up Trial of the Sun Queen . I love Lor and Nadir and seeing them in this ever growing and enthralling fantasy world mixed with delicious romance and lore has me so excited for book 3! I am eagerly awaiting its arrival!

Thank you Forever Publishing for this review copy!

This is a magnificent second book in a series. Laura finds herself caught between two kings who she’s not sure that either can be trusted. She’s running from the Sun King, who she no longer trust yet finds herself having to work with the aurora king who she also does not trust. The story is so fascinating and has so many twist interns and you never know who is on what side. I am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.