A Game of Veils

The Royal Spares, Book 1

By: Eva Chase

Narrated by: Meg Sylvan, Aaron Shedlock

Play for a husband. Don't fall for his enemies...

As the second-born princess of a kingdom conquered by a brutal empire, I'm nothing but a pawn. Little do I expect my parents to arrange my marriage to the most powerful bachelor of all: the son of the emperor himself.

But when I arrive at the imperial palace, I discover I must compete for my betrothed—vying with the court noblewomen in a series of humiliating trials to prove our devotion.

Those who fail will be executed.

For the sake of my country, I'll risk my life to win my husband—this sadistic man who applauds the torment and flaunts his lovers.

Unfortunately, my scheming competitors aren't my only enemies. The emperor's royal wards—princes of other conquered domains, held hostage to ensure their families' obedience—lurk in the shadows.

They see me as a traitor, prostrating myself for our tyrants' approval. The perfect target for their bottled rage. They'll do whatever they can to distract me, unsettle me... ruin me.

Forbidden as they are, I can't help being drawn in by their seductive wiles. Behind their simmering fury, their pain and broken hopes call to me.

They might be just the allies I need to save my life and my kingdom. But only if I can conquer these wicked men before I lose my heart.

*A Game of Veils is the first in a fantasy romance series with a sizzling enemies-to-lovers romance, smoldering morally grey men, and a determined heroine they'll regret underestimating.*

Perfect for fans of hot but damaged royal men, sweet but underestimated heroines, enemies to lovers angst, deadly trials, arranged marriages, forbidden love, found family, disability rep, and plenty of plot twists.

©2024 Eva Chase (P)2024 Eva Chase

100% Recommend!

I loved this audio book! The story line was exciting and pulled me right in and left me wanting more! The narrators did a spectacular job bringing the author's characters to life! Sooo gooood! I can't wait for the next book!!!

This series has me in a chokehold!

I'm a long time Eva Chase fan, so it was no surprise to me that I enjoyed this book. However, it still surprised me just how quickly it reeled me in and I could not get enough! The tension in this book is SO GOOD. I love the forbidden aspect to the relationships because it just cranks up that tension. You never know what's going to happen next in this book because it has the most perfect twists and turns.
My favorite part though? The world building and mystery. This series has little nuggets that make sense more and more as the series progresses. Some you don't even notice until you re-read. The layers to this story and this world are just fabulous!

As for the narration, Aaron Shedlock is one of my favorite narrators and he does a fantastic job with these characters. I also enjoyed Meg Sylvan's performance. I read the ebook first and was really happy with how the voice actors brought this book to life!

Wow!

This novel was interesting and intriguing. I love the cliffhanger and at the end but there are some things I disliked about the overall story. Anyway, it was entertaining enough to hold my attention so I will give it four stars.

A captivating why choose/RH!

✨𝒜𝐿𝒞 𝑅𝑒𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌✨
🎧: A Game of Veils (The Royal Spares Book 1)

Aurelia of is the second-born princess of Accasy and the time has come to fulfill her political marriage contract to the tyrant Emperor’s son. Instead of a tepid welcome, she learns she must compete and survive de@dly marriage trials to secure her place as Prince Marclinus’s bride. Please see my full book review on Goodreads and Amazon.

Tropes:
👀 Multi POV
⛔️ Enemies to lovers
👑 Royals
💍 Arranged marriage
💀 Deadly trials
🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 Found family
⚠️ “Who did this?”
👯‍♂️ Why choose
🩶 Morally grey MCs
🌶️ : moderate

I loved being back in this world and experiencing this story through this audiobook. The narrators beautifully captured Aurelia’s grace and determination and the foster princes’ distrust, conflicting emotions, and undeniable draw towards Aurelia.

The simmering tension and courtly intrigue was portrayed so well and each reveal and surprise was wonderfully crafted. A Game of Veils is a captivating why choose/RH brimming with shrouded deceptions, de@dly consequences, and irresistible romance! I cannot wait to listen to the next books in this series!

So grateful to the author and StoryOrigin for the audio review copy opportunity! This is my honest and voluntary review.

fantastic

Fantastic. Exciting. Dramatic. This series is already starting off with a bang, as on tends to expect from an Eva Chase book. An arranged marriage is expected for our young heroine but she isn't expecting competition. If the rest of the series continues to be as good as this one, I can see this becoming a new favorite re-read for me.

I thought the narration was well done

I received an advanced copy of the book and am voluntarily leaving a review

THE WHOLE TIME

Yes I did say the title in that audio if you're wondering...
you'll want to listen to this one guys. I really liked the whole storyline and can't wait for the next one!

AH! New favorite series alert! This was INCREDIBLE

🗡️🥀 “Sometimes blood must be spilled to prepare the ground for peace.” 🥀🗡️

I was completely invested from very early in—it was like a drug. I couldn’t get enough, already! The hold this had on me. I’ve always enjoyed Eva Chase, but this read is next-level-good. A forced marriage-turned-trials, rife with scandal, literal poisons and death-challenges and royal politics and having to be so incredibly sharp at all times … it’s just so addictive.

Complete with a strong female lead who does not need anyone to rescue her, there’s so much to love here. She’s so self aware, quick-witted and sharp/fast-thinking, it’s endlessly entertaining on this front alone, but then all of the action, the trials, the abüse, the mysteries .. there’s so much going on here.

And there were 1-2 twists I didn’t see coming—this almost never happens.

⚖️ Royals / royal politics.
👑 Arranged / forced marriage.
⚖️ Bride trials - non-consensual.
👑 SA.
⚖️ People with disabilities.
👑 Magic and potions.
⚖️ Public executions.
👑 A strong, resourceful female lead.
⚖️ Group scenes.
👑 Betrayal.
⚖️ So much danger.
👑 An absolutely demented ruler.
⚖️ Manipulation.
👑 Nothing is as it seems.

Overall:
Those twists, and the grip it had on me? This is one of the best books I’ve ever read.
ALL the stars.

🎧 Audio:
Stunning—completely flawless production with a beautiful performance to boot. 5 stars.

A Game of Veils

I love this series. Every time I read an Eva Chase book I know I’m going to read something interesting with a crazy world and this one did not disappoint

Made me fall in love all over again!

Just when I thought I couldn’t love this book even more, Meg Sylvan and Aaron Shedlock blew my mind with the narration of A Game of Veils.

The way that Meg brought Aurelia to life you could feel the fierceness and determination in her voice that I had felt when I read the book the first time.

Aaron was able to capture each of the prince’s personalities to perfection, Lorenzo with his sweet and timidness, Bastian with his grumpiness and Raul with his flirty/broody ways, as well as Neven’s teenager attitude.

Having read the book previously I was able to pick up on things I didn’t the first time around while listening and it made me giddy hearing it.

Great Story.

This is an interesting first book in a new fantasy series. Aurelia is in a hard situation and competing for the hand of the Prince, but complications arise and it makes for some interesting situations. The narrators are fantastic and I love how they brought the characters to life. I look forward to the next book.