I did not know what to expect before reading this ARC but I enjoyed it. The one thing that stood out to me was the world building - it gives off steampunk fantasy fire vibes, if that makes sense. I liked Lydia’s character - she’s quite feisty yet sensible. This book was shorter than I thought it would be, so I was hoping to have it slowed down a bit - some scenes were too fast while others were too slow. To be honest, I did not know what the heck was happening in some parts but it was unique and interesting nonetheless. I am curious to see what will happen with Lydia and Aon, and I am hoping that Lydia will see her friend Nick again.

A forensic scientist is taken from her home on earth and dropped into another universe and forced to participate in an ancient ceremony and be placed under one of the six ruling houses... yet she's caught the attention of a much darker king who is as seductive as he is deadly, can she survive? The first book in a six book series following Lydia, a forensic scientist who is abducted into a strange world filled with magic and kings who rule over everyone. Lydia wants nothing more than to get back home to earth but she's caught the attention of certain kings, and of the King of Shadows, Aon who is about to rise... for her. Aon and Lydia share a connection, they can see each other in their dreams... and Aon is known for being the most ruthless and deadly kings.... but he was meant to be laid to rest, and now he is about to arise.... and he wants her all for himself. Aon's rivals are determined to get rid of him and when Lydia's connection to him is discovered her own life is in danger... can she trust the cruel king who is determined to keep her for himself or will she find a way to free herself? This was definitely a fun start to the series and I can't wait to see where the next book grows. This one definitely felt so short and I am so interested in seeing how the second one continues the story and the relationship between Aon and Lydia! It's a fairly fun read and very easy to get into for fans of fantasy romance books with simple structures and easy to read plots.

Release Date: August 26,2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Second Sky for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I think the premise for this one is great and I can see how the continuation of the series will be good, but as a kick off this one just didn’t hit for me. I found it had a slow start and it was hard to become immersed in the story. The ending was super suspenseful though and that cliffhanger has me hooked. I’m hoping that book two in the series has a bit more action.

Thank you to NetGalley, Second Sky and Kathryn Ann Kingsley. These are my honest thoughts.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am all about fantasy right now, and this synopsis fit the bill. A bit shaky in places, but interesting!

This book was different from others I normally read. I found it addictive from the very beginning. When I got to the last page all I could say was no no no I did not want it to end. I cannot wait to read book two.

hanks to Second Sky Book for having me on the tour

"King of Flames" is a quick fantasy read that features vampires in its central plot. The story follows Lydia after a mysterious event at the morgue where the corpses disappeared. She is then pulled into the underworld. I enjoyed the world-building in this book, and I must say that Evie, whom Lydia meets, is a standout character. I love the line, "Yup, Bunny, welcome to the Under." The tension between Aon and Edu is felt throughout the book. Note that I have read the revised version of this book. #SecondSkyBook #FantasyRead #Vampires #UnderworldAdventure #BookTour #WorldBuilding #CharacterDevelopment #RevisedEdition #BookReview

"King of Flames", book one in the Masks Under series, by Kathryn Kingsley transports readers to a realm filled with magic and mystery. The story revolves around a young woman's forbidden attraction to a mysterious and alluring king. This attraction triggers a perilous chase, akin to a game of cat and mouse. The story's heart-racing action promises to hold readers captive into the early hours, eagerly flipping through pages to unravel the mysteries surrounding the elusive King Aon and the realm of Under.

Lydia, a forensic autopsy technician, life took an unexpected turn when she woke up to find an mysterious tattoo etched in her skin. The day's mystery didn't end there; it intensified when she was attacked by a body she was examining at work. The mystery deepened with the revelation that her best friend Nick, a security guard at her job, bore a matching tattoo. Their shared mark became the first clue in a chain of bizarre and frightening events, ultimately leading to their abduction into a shadowy world called Under.

Wow! This book was a wild ride, yet delightfully so. The world crafted by the author fascinated me. While it's not a place I'd choose to visit, it impressed me. 'King of Flames' captured my attention from beginning to end with its captivating storyline, distinctive world-building, and intricate characters.

While 'King of Flames' is promoted as a dark fantasy romance, it's best to lower expectations regarding the romantic element. The story is indeed dark but lacks the anticipated romance. However, the evident connection between Lydia and Aon hints at a possible romantic development in future sequels.

The installment was captivating, setting high expectations for the sequel, 'Queen of Dreams'.  My excitement grows for the next installment of this thrilling series.

In Under, everyone has magic. A ceremony marks Lydia as being without magic, which leaves her as something to be studied or hunted. The King of Shadows Aon takes her under his wing after several inadvertent meetings. The magic of Under is changing, and there is now a deadly struggle for power.

King of Flames is the first dark fantasy romance in a series of six books. We begin with Aon in a crypt, casting his mind adrift. Then we meet horror aficionado Lydia as a forensic autopsy technician waking up with an odd tattoo and additional work at her job. Lydia is one of several humans collected for the Fall, a ceremony to add to the ranks of citizens in Under. It's a dead world, and the residents have skills and traits that resemble that of human nightmares and myth. There are different Houses, each with different traits, and they can't get sick or age. When Under is close enough to be in similar phase to Earth, the marked humans are collected and brought to Under. There, humans transform into immortal beings who either eat and revel or are eaten. Lydia is the first to be rejected, and the mark she woke up with is gone. Desperate to avoid the "games" of Under, Lydia does her best to try escaping.

As the first book in a series, there's a lot of world-building and explanations for what was happening. The chaos that ensued in Under was controlled by tradition and the need for novelty, but Lydia doesn't have a mark for one of the six houses. It throws all of their traditions into disarray. Aon and Edu are warring kings of Under. Where Edu is straightforward and relatively merciful in his manner of killing, Aon enjoys the game of maiming and torture. With a dark romance, death and destruction lurk everywhere, with the fragile Lydia the prize in the war between the kings. If dark fantasy romance is your interest, this is another series to pique your interest.

⭐️⭐️ / 5
0 🌶 / 5

✨ Enemies to (presumed eventual) lovers
✨ Slow burn
✨ Fated mates (?? maybe)
✨ Portal fantasy


I wanted to like this one, I really did. But while I love a villain, I like them to have a little more substance than sadism, psychopathy, and, frankly, insanity.

Like, give me a villain who has been wronged and is out for vengeance. Give a villain who wants to inflict pain upon his enemies...not everyone in sight, including the lady he's got a boner for.

Aon is such a one dimensional villain, he's as bland as a Disney hero. When you couple it with a one-eyed mask (how does he have any depth perception???) and long hair, he has absolutely nothing going for him.

I was honestly rooting for horn-dog Edu. I would have enjoyed this book much more if Lydia became a bridge for Edu and Aon to get over this childish feud of theirs. Or for the feud to evolve to be over Lydia. Honestly, Lydia saying screw them both (figuratively and literally) would have been the better narrative choice, in my opinion.

The book was also incredibly short. It felt like it should have been at least 50% longer, if not more. It just felt like an introduction to the world and a poor one at that. The strong lack of world building left me less than invested in characters and plot.

I liked this book a lot! This is the first book in a series, so there is a lot of world building within the story. Despite this, it doesn't get too overwhelming and the story flows really well! There's not much spice since we are still getting to know the characters. Overall, a great book and I am looking forward to getting further into the series!

What an intriguing start to a new series by this awesome author. There is not as much spice in this book, but it is building you can tell. This was world-building and piqued our interest. Lydia our MC, what is so special about her that the Ancients have marked her differently.....a way which is going to cause her death if Edu has anything to do with it.

I loved the Under and how this world links together. How they have a small window of opportunity to enter Earth and then the hunt begins. It was fascinating with the one king at a time, and yet Aon is linked but how when he should be in a slumber.

What the hell has happened to Nick? I need to know. And Evie, is she ok? I was hooked on every one. Maverick is a character I want to know more about, he's mysterious along with the priest. I hope there is more from them. I need to read the next book. So much feels like it is in the balance!

Edu, the gentle mute giant and Aon the absolute psychopath. Both have got me wanting to know more, both have their quirks and if I was Lydia I wouldn't have an idea who I would want to be with. Eek.

As I said this was about the world building and it is fascinating. I would love to know what people on Earth think about people disappearing. Or if they even notice. Who are the Ancients? How does it all fit in!!! I can't wait to find out that is for sure. Kathryn writes about the most magical and rich worlds. They are vivid, they are bleak, they are dark but always a light within the story. Lydia is the light. Her spirit and her fight propels her, keeps her alive and I wonder what makes her special.

I need the next book.

4 ⭐️/5
1 🌶️/5

Woahhh 😳 What in the fever dream did I just read? King of Flames from Kathryn Ann Kingsley grabbed my attention from start to finish in the best way. 🤗

The Masks of Under series books 1 - 3 is re-released, updated with new content. Books 4 - 6 will be released November 26. I’m glad I don’t have to wait for book 2 or 3 because book 1 ends in a cliffhanger and I’m guessing each book of the series ends on its own cliffhanger. 😅

King of Flames we get:
▪️References to sexy times, nothing descriptive
▪️Separate world planet
▪️Replenishing the Under
▪️Dream visits
▪️Ancients and primordial beings
▪️Marked humans
▪️Masked beings
▪️Cliffhanger

The FMC is human Lydia who gets abducted to the Under. Of course she’s the most fascinating human there ever was, but I really appreciated her seize the day attitude. Being abducted and thrown into portals can’t be easy, but Lydia has taken it all in stride. Act first. Panic later.

The dark Aon is delightfully the darkest shade of gray. It seems like a war is starting on this other world, and Lydia and Aon are somehow connected.

You will enjoy this series if you like dark fantasy worlds that parallel modern day Earth. This series seems dark, there’s gore, there’s monsters, there’s shifters, there’s immortality. This whole book was a puzzle I could not wait to piece together.

Thank you to Second Sky Books for the ARC. All thoughts/opinions are my own. My review is voluntary.

"Perhaps she would always be destined for darkness no matter where she went or what she did."

♡ FMC in STEM
♡ Alternate Dimension
♡ Dream Connections
♡ Enemies to... Something?

Haunting and eerie, this portal fantasy is unlike anything else I've read recently. When Lydia is mysteriously marked and then kidnapped from her world, she's thrown into a land of nightmares and monsters.

I received an ARC of the re-released version of this book from NetGalley. I can't speak for the original, but this updated version was well-written and polished. Though a short read, the story captivated my attention with the grotesque creatures of Under and the mysterious masked man in black haunting Lydia's dreams.

I hope the rest of the series re-releases soon because that cliffhanger has me desperate to know what happens next.

This one wasn't really for me, I don't think. There were some intriguing things in it, like the portal world, Under, and characters, but overall there just didn't seem to be much in the way of detail or plot.

There was a lot of mention of a war that had happened, but we got no details of this, and I felt that this should have been fleshed out more. This was a very short book, so there was definitely scope to do this.

I felt that the whole thing was really anticlimactic with nothing much happening. Cliffhanger ending to entice you to want to read more.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Steam level: No steam, mostly plot and introductions; lots of chemistry

Thoughts:
King of Flames is a well-written dark fantasy book. The world-building is unsparing, and the story is unique, inviting, and gripping. Both of these elements, along with interesting main and side characters, provide an excellent introduction to The Masks of Under series.

Aon and Lydia’s story begins at a fast pace. The book introduces Lydia in her journey to the Under, a terrifying, corrupt world where Aon resides. Aon is a sadistic, cruel, and intelligent king, while Lydia is a mortal who is naive and somewhat hopeful in nature. Due to the unexpected circumstances of their connection, they feel a sort of kinship and attraction with each other despite their differences in demeanor. Given that they only had fleeting moments at a time to communicate and get to know each other, Lydia and Aon’s sensual connection was often unspoken, but present. They’re physically and emotionally drawn to each other, which causes Aon to conclude that Lydia belongs to him, and his involvement in the story increases from there.

In this introductory novel, the romance takes a bit of a back seat, however, the attraction and chemistry between both main leads is obvious, suggesting that their future will involve heavy romance themes.

The book ends on a comfortable cliffhanger with many questions left to be answered in the following installment, which makes me feel excited to read further!

I received a complimentary ARC via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

It is important to note that there are dark elements in this book that some readers may find triggering. Content warnings (CW) include descriptions of violence, gore, torture, abduction, use of guns, a main character works in forensic autopsy, and rituals. This is not a complete list.

4 stars

Honestly this book could have been 5 stars if it had been just a bit longer to flush out some of the ending. I have been a fan of Kathryn Ann Kingsley's work so I expected morally grey fae and world- building that was unique, both I got from this but I just wanted a bit more!
I loved our FMC Lydia, she's feisty but not completely fearless. She's willingly to try to save herself over and over, but admits the entire time that she's scared. It's refreshing to have a FMC who is thrown into a new world, and admit they are scared. The plot is unique, the entire time I could tell if the plot twist would be during the ceremony or at the end. I could feel the tension weaved into the story, and I loved that. I couldn't tell which King was the villain because both seemed to be morally grey, which Kathryn always excels at.
Again, my downfalls with this book simply just go with the length. There wasn't enough time to fully flush out the new world, because the focus was on the plot with how little pages were left.

I can't wait to read the next, and I highly recommend.

I went into this book not really knowing what to expect but I enjoyed the unusualness of the world. It intrigued me enough to keep reading. Overall, I enjoyed my experience.

By far the world building was this books greatest strength. It was well thought out and imaginative. It was not like the regular fantasy worlds readers are used to.

The plot was intriguing though the ending was slightly anticlimactic. I felt like I was waiting for something to happen the entire book then I finished the book with no real resolution. The book could have done a better job of cutting exposition and extending the ending to accommodate plot progression.

3.5* ARC

This was my first book by this author and it was a good, fun ride.

I really loved the FMC Lydia, she was an incredibly strong willed character. She was very feisty and didn't take crap from anyone, no matter what situation she was in.

Edu's character didn't appear to have any redeemable qualities. The author did describe him very well and I could picture him clearly when he was in scenes but I thought he was going to be in the book more than he was, alot of other side characters talking for him and doing his bidding. I just found him boring.

Aon's character was interesting from the start and was one main driving force for getting to the end of the book. His character was a very dark character, one minute he was talking about being a complete nightmare to Lydia, almost cruel in some scenes and the next he was consumed by the thought of her, The last 10% of the book had me on the edge as I just didn't know what he was going to to next as he was so unpredictable.

The author's worldbuilding was very good and I enjoyed learning about Under and all the creatures that reside there. However I felt that there was info dumping in parts of the book but as this appears to be the first book in a large series, the other worlds within Under will be better explained as the series progresses.

I am looking forward to reading what happens next to Lydia, especially after the ending of this one.

Thank you to Netgallery and Second Sky for the opportunity to read this. #KingofFlames #NetGalley

Another new fantasy romance to grab my attention. Dark, mysterious, well crafted and completely potty is the best way to describe The Under!

The story was well paced but did feel as though it dragged slightly at the start, most likely as I was trying to keep all the new people, places, etc in my head straight! The vibe of Under was kind of Steampunk, a mish mash of old and new, ancient and modern.

Lydia may thinks she unravels and is completely useless but I think she and Nick keep it together remarkably well! She is shaping up to be one determined FMC - she leaves the panicking until she has time and just soldiers through. I loved the fact that she and Nick are firm friends - there is no friends-to-lovers or love triangle in the offing that I've managed to determine anyway.

There is no romance as such in this 1st book but the vivid dream connection between Aon and Lydia is the set up for the future romance.

Beware this does end in a cliffhanger...

This was a very interesting book. It is fast paced and has very interesting characters. I am still a little confused about the world Under but it was a good read. I leaves you hanging at the end of the book.