The world building is amazing. The plot hooked me in IMMEDIATELY. It’s a dark fantasy, kidnapping, monsters/shifters, kings/queens, mortals/underworld, and morally grey mmc filled book.

Lydia is a mortal that is kidnapped by a king of the underworld in an attempt to increase their population. They have a ritual that turns mortals into monsters if they have been marked/chosen. Lydia and her friend wake up with the mark one day and are taken against their will. She then undergoes the ceremony but instead of turning into some type of creature like everyone else, she remains human.

Aon is a powerful king who is asleep, but for some reason a strong bond between him and Lydia begin to form out of the blue. They call for each other i’m their dreams and she becomes the reason for his early rising. However, he is a ruthless and brutal king who everyone fears. He is known for his horrific torture methods.

Aon is completely unhinged but obsessed with her. He has his own twisted way of showing he cares for her and I can’t wait to start book 2 to see more of him and Lydia. The book ends with a cliffhanger just when the action is starting.

First, thank you to Second Sky Publishing for allowing me to read the ARC of the revised version of King of Flames by Kathryn Ann Kingsley.
Second, not only is Lydia a strong FMC, but she is hilarious. Her comments and thoughts had me laughing from the very beginning. With this being a dark romantasy book, the humor is a nice offset.
I have not read the original version of King of Flames, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. There is a lot of world building in this book, but it is needed, as it is unlike any other world I have ever read about. Under is a one-of-a-kind world with more dark beasts and monsters than I can count.
I am very much looking forward to the second revised book, King of Shadows, to be released later this month and to dive deeper into what will happen with Lydia and Aon.

I really enjoyed this book! It grabs you right from the beginning. I liked that it was a different fantasy premise than most books as of late. The story felt very new and fresh, while still maintaining the fantasy elements that I love. Lydia is a great FMC, headstrong and not afraid to speak her mind. Aon is still very much a mystery, and the ending of the book let me wanting more! On to read the next one!

I received this book as an ARC. It had an interesting premise but I didn’t find myself compelled to be excited while reading it. I was not particularly intrigued by an of the characters, nor did I fully understand the whole crux of the story. I don’t think I’ll pick up the next book

Human girl is selected to be apart of a sacrifice at random by a “monster” world. Human girl sees weird masked guy in her dreams. Definitely a dark themed story of a demon king that has done terrible things but some how is probably a tortured soul himself. Even though it’s labeled as steamy this is as steamy as a hot coffee. It’s also incredibly short. I felt like I was missing information to fully piece together the potential story the remaining books will figure out.

Loved this book so much. I rated it 4 stars because it really transported me to another dimension. The dimension of Kings of Flames. I recommend everyone to read this book.

Lydia is having an unfortunate day. First. She woke up and found a tattoo she has no recollection of getting. Second. A corpse at the morgue tried to murder her. And now third? She’s totally being hunted by strange creatures hell bent on capturing her. Her mantra? Act now, panic later, but later never seems like a safe time to panic. And with one kind hunting her and the other trying to kill her. Lydia is in way over her head.

This book is short. It’s hard to even give a synopsis because I don’t want to spoil anything. I have read a few other books by Kathryn Ann Kingsley. The Maze of Shadows series is my favorite, and this book will definitely appeal to people who liked that series.

I had a really great time reading this. I absolutely devoured it. It was hard to put down and I am beside myself that it’s over. I want the rest of this series like yesterday. I want more of Aon and Lydia. I want to know what is going to happen. I have questions and not enough answers.

Suffice to say. I enjoyed this. Not everyone is going to be a fan of this book, but if you like dark-ish romance or other things by this author then it’s a big yes. Just be prepared for a cliffhanger.

4.5 stars/5

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this arc. While it is immensely appreciated it does not impact the content of my review.

Fantasy
Book 1 of The Masks of Under
Cliff-hanger



Lydia is abducted and transported to a planet where everyone goes through a transformation ritual and becomes magical. When she goes through the process she is rejected by the Ancients and almost drowns in the magical pool, making it out barely alive and with no magic whatsoever.
She is secretly under the protection of a mysterious dark sadist who is currently asleep in his crypt until it is his turn to wake and rule. Aon is drawn to Lydia but he cannot decide if he wants to hurt her or protect her or both.

This is the most unpredictable book that I have ever read. If you are looking for a book unlike anything on the shelves at the moment then this is definitely the book for you. The author really thought outside the box and was very creative with this book, however, this book was not suited for me.

I did not like the male characters in the book at all, every one of them were repulsive and off-putting. The book ended too abruptly and even though I didn’t enjoy the book as much, I am curious to know what happens in book 2.


I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.
A huge thank you to Netgalley and Second Sky for this e-arc.

Well I didn’t love Lydia so that made this book kind of annoying to read. It also didn’t read as very “dark” to me. But i did love the world building though. I’ll probably still read the next book in the series regardless.

Sadly I did not finish this book. I feel like the story could be great and has a lot of potential but the writing was a total miss for me. This book is told in 3rd person pov and I feel it needed to be 1st with dual pov of the 2 main characters. I think that would greatly improve the book. The long sentences and chapters were also a turn off for me. Some of the sentences were so long and the wording was very off putting. Words were added or in the wrong place and it made the story very hard to read. I think the book also needs better world building as well. I made it over 50% in and was so confused with this world of Under. The book has great potential but it definitely needs a lot of editing.

I'm not one to read a story with no spice in it but this one had me hooked with it's incredible world building and interesting characters. It's a story like I haven't read before and I am definitely looking to the second story after that cliffhanger!!

Man this book just didn’t hit for me. I didn’t like any of our main characters, and the storyline just felt so off. Could not get on with this book at all, and just felt like it wasn’t the one for me.

In Under everyone belongs to one of the six ruling houses. Unless you’re Lydia, and all I can say is wow.

The whole concept is amazing and I can’t get enough. Lydia is a badass who doesn’t give up on fighting and I love it.

I was drawn into Kingsley’s world and ate this whole book up.

I am hoping for more spice in the other books as there was essentially none in this despite claiming to be even spicier than before.

Overall

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️/5

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

I will start by saying I will read anything Kathryn Ann Kingsley writes at this point. Every time I see a new ARC come out I have to request it because I know I’m going to read it in one sitting and this one was no different.

I went into this with high expectations because I had just recently finished the Iron Crystal Series. I started this book and honestly had no idea what was going on in the beginning but once it got going I kind of figured it out. However I think it kind of added to the feeling of how confused our FMC was in the situation she was put in!

Lydia is a forensic autopsy tech and one day she wakes up with a strange tattoo on her…the next thing she knows she’s being hunted down because of the tattoo and taken to a whole other world of monsters and creatures. Not only is she in a strange new world but now she has attracted the attention of the King of Shadows and he’s not willing to let her go. Will she be able to find her way home or is she stuck in the Under for good?

I actually really loved this one and I can’t wait to read the next one! 4/5 stars for me and I would highly recommend this one.

This series has a ton of potential.

Lydia is an interesting character and I actually love her strength and grit. The world building was fascinating and I’m curious about how it will evolve.

That said, from the marketing, I expected more romance. I recognize this is book one and there is more to come but I found myself desiring more, especially with how the overview described the book.

I’d be keen to read book 2 to see how Lydia and her two dark kings develop.

What even was that? Definitely not the book for me. If this hadn't been an ARC via Netgalley I would've DNF'd. I truly hate leaving negative reviews but this was not enjoyable at all. Also, romance where??? Thank you, but no thank you.

3 stars - supposedly fantasy romance but I’ll get to that in the review.

Lydia wakes up with a mysterious tattoo with no memory of receiving it and is later forced through a portal to another world along with her friend Nick, who also woke up with a similar tattoo. Lydia learns this world kidnaps people to join their world, and the people who live there live longer and heal quicker but some people turn into creatures after the transformation. Lydia, meanwhile, is also having strange dreams about the worlds previous king who is due to reawaken.

I really liked the character of Lydia, I found her really funny and thought she remained strong as she went through the whole ordeal of being kidnapped and forced to confront her new reality. I found the story fast paced and easy to read.

The whole idea of the story seemed fascinating but I unfortunately couldn’t seem to click with it. Marketed as a fantasy romance, with this version being darker and spicer than the previous edition, I found no romance in the story and definitely no spice. I disliked the two potential love interests. Edu seemed to have slept with everyone in the kingdom and wanted to kill Lydia and also didn’t speak. Whereas Aon just seemed to want to hurt / torture Lydia and even though it was just a dream it felt real to Lydia.

Some people may enjoy true enemies to lovers / bully romance but I tend to be on the morally gray / misunderstood villain type of romance.

This book was fantastic! Although there was no spice (which is okay, I love fantasy without it too), it does set up potential in the next book and it didn't take away from the plot like a lot of others tend to do these days. This was a great first book in the series as it gives you an introduction to the characters and the world instead of just tossing you in there and expecting you to figure it out as you go. I like a good "setting the stage" type of book when I know there's a series planned. The characters were unique, and overall Kathryn Ann Kingsley did a great job.

“But this little thing? This mortal, who gazed at him in such terrified fascination?
She carried no hatred for him. No innate disgust. She would, soon enough. But for now, she was free of the corruption of the Ancients. He could have fun with this one.
And she was simply far too tempting.”

"I'm a prisoner in a world of monsters, so sue me if I have questions."

Loved it !! Absolutely brilliant!! Wonderful dark fantasy romance book where the romance is not there yet but all the seeds are there, ready to bloom!!! Wow !! We have Lydia, a forensic autopsy tech, waking up one morning with a red and itchy tattoo on her arm and a vampire corpse at work? what is that? Until she is kidnapped alongside her friend to the Under, a world similar to Hell, with monsters and creatures as hot and they are dangerous but which cannot reproduce themselves. So mortals are selected by the gods to undergo the Ceremony of the Fall and be part of their community. Only Lydia is not like the others? Why? Well, for starters she is visited in her dreams by a lord calling himself Aon, who’s as handsome as scary. And sooner rather than later she will find herself in the middle of a situation she really does not want to be part of. This book was dark, funny, entertaining, interesting and oh so unique !!! It felt a lot like getting back to the iron crystal series but this time with even a slower slow burn!!! Although I still don’t have enough information about the romance itself so … I find myself ever very intrigued !!! The writing style was very easy to read and the plot and action felt as effortless to get through as breathing!!! I read it in one sitting !!! And I already need more!!

“You are stronger than this, I can feel it.
Fight. Fight, Lydia. You and I are not yet done."

“This one was certainly not vermin.
How he wanted her.”

4.5 stars: Kathryn Ann Kingsley has been and will always remain a favorite author of mine. I liked the main female character in King of Flames and felt the fully revised edition only made this story better, spicier and darker. Bravo great work on the new edition