Kiss of a Demon King

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. show more 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! show less

Honestly it almost lost me when he kept trying to make her something other than what she is, granted they needed to compromise and that's important in a relationship but compromise needs work from both sides, not just a one-sided affair. He seemed to only see compromises that she has to make and not him. I also have a huge problem with fated love where neither party seem to have much in common, love is more work than that, marriage even more.

The turn-on sex scenes were pretty good and did get me a little hot and bothered but overall it was meh, I didn't care all that much about the characters, I was curious to see what happened but not really cuaght up in it and I felt somewhat cheated by the alpha male chest-beating.

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. show more 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! show less

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 show more 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. show less

Wicked and delicious fun when nearly seven foot tall demon king Rydstrom meets his mate in Sabine, a sensuous, yet vexing sorceress that torments in more ways than one. Then the tables are turned and he gets his way with her instead. Very sexy and entertaining read with the usual road trip scenario common in this series. This is great for paranormal lovers of the lore and other mystical fantasy creatures.

Kiss of a Demon King is the sixth full-length novel in the Immortals After Dark series. This book opens with the continuation of events from Kiss of a Demon King, namely the kidnapping of the demon king Rydstrom by his archenemy the sorceress Sabine. Rydstrom has been waiting for his mate for 1500 years, but during that time he has never forgotten his duty to free his kingdom from the rule of Sabine's evil brother Omort or his responsibility to free his kingdom's enslaved subjects. The realization that Sabine is his mate happens in the early pages of this story - at about the same time that she kidnaps him, locks him in a dungeon and chains him to the bed, determined to make him mate with her so that she can get pregnant with his heir. show more Kiss of a Demon definitely had more of a believable time line for the characters falling in love. I also loved the sense of humor that Sabine had and had bouts of laughing out loud while reading. This is once again another book that I would recommend for readers who are into the paranormal romance genre. show less

I loved the demon king, Rydstrom. His leading lady, Sabin, not so much. I would have liked the story better if Sabin had not been so annoying. She was supposed to be evil, I get that, but something about her turned me off. Loyalty to and love for her sister her one good redeeming quality. Rydsrtome really made the book, a wonderful character who deserved better then Sabin.
The plot really reminded me of Johanna Lindsey's Prisoner of My Desire. Male kidnapped for the purpose of impregnating the heroine and the heir used for nefarious reasons. Then revenge and reversal of roles, hero kidnaps heroine and pays her back in kind. Even though I knew where the story was going, I still enjoyed their adventure. The pacing was good, wonderful mix show more of adventure and the characters together.
Rydstrom fought his unreasonable attraction to Sabin and I enjoyed his struggle between responsibility and what his heart wanted. Sabin didn't have the same struggle and that made her more one dimensional and simple, for me. show less