Disenchanted

A Lay of Ruinous Reign, Book 1

By: Brianna Sugalski

Narrated by: Krys Janae, Zachary Johnson

The Princess Bride and Buffy the Vampire Slayer meet Sarah J. Maas' Throne of Glass in this Breton-inspired fantasy debut brimming with wry humor, epic adventure, and an irresistible romance.

Lilac Trécesson is a prisoner in her parents' castle after a most wicked secret was revealed on the eve of her fifteenth birthday. Years later, her Accession looms upon her father's decision to abdicate, and between the riotous townsfolk and scheming noble bent on snatching her throne, she prepares for the worst… Until a letter arrives from The Witch of Lupine Grotto, containing a curious offer to banish her curse forever.

She begrudgingly trades her coronet for a cloak and ventures into the forest Brocéliande, only to find herself cornered by a bloodthirsty barkeep who demands her help in exchange for protection against the even deadlier forces of the woods.

With only the protection of her inherited dagger—and unsolicited help of the sardonic stranger who inserts himself on her quest—Lilac must find the impious enchantress and return in time to claim her crown. Pity the fool to underestimate the girl with subpar blade skills but the spite to make up for it.

This is the tale of a cursed princess,
A crestfallen killer,
The town that wants them to burn,
And the witch who can save them both.

©2022 Brianna Sugalski (P)2024 Brianna Sugalski

I'd give it more stars if I could!

Brocéliande is a magical land full of mysterious creatures living amongst regular (often clueless and frightened) humans. Add in a cursed princess with sass aplenty, an evil fiancé, a vengeful witch, a smoking hot vampire, a scary af fae king, and tell an engaging story with multiples of my favorite tropes, ding ding ding... you got a winner! Instalust, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, road trip full of perils, you get the drift. Yummmmmm.

Were there a couple of coincidences I'd find cheesy in a non-fractured fairy tale story? Yes. But this is supposedly based on Breton folklore and those types of events are often featured in folklore so they're to be expected.

And OMG. The narration was TOP NOTCH!! I generally listen at 2.0 because life is short, there are many books to read, my brain needs the speed to keep up with my thoughts. Not only did I lower the speed, I actually went back multiple times to relisten to parts because the narrators did such a great job of bringing the beautiful prose to life.

Not gonna lie, I looked at the 17 hours length and groaned. My ADHD brain does not function well with longer books. Even if it's good, I lose patience with the story. Yes, I did want certain things to happen faster (no spoilers) but the writing and narration was so good that I would have listened to 20 more hours.

Note: HEA implied so no huge cliffhanger (thankfully!) but according to the author's goodreads comments, a sequel is coming soon. Yay! I can't wait to see what happens next!

Note: this is a newly published New Adult version of a previously released Young Adult novel and as such has material more suited for an older audience, such as on-screen sex and violence.

An urban, historical, dark-romance fantasy

Review: ‘Disenchanted’ by Brianna Sugalski (English first | Español debajo)

Genre: dark-fantasy historical romance
Book # 1 in: ‘A Lay of Ruinous Reign’

Tropes: instalust; enemies-to-lovers; hate-to-love; touch-her-and-die; paranormal romance; romantasy; vampire x princess; morally grey MMC; strong FMC
POV: dual, first person

My rating
Story: 3.5 stars
Narration: 5 stars


An urban, historical (medieval) fantasy romance, with fae, witches, vampires, shape-shifters; and great world building

This follows the story of Lilac, a princess who is about to inherit her father’s throne, a fearsome fae king, because he wants to abdicate. She’s being forced to marry a royal member, who is a very bad human being, because she’s not trusted to take the throne alone since a secret of hers was revealed a few years ago: she has the ability to speak an arcana lingua associated with demons. When she receives a letter from a witch who offers to help her get rid of it she ventures out of her castle and into the woods to search for her. In her quest she meets Garin, a century old, morally grey vampire who hates to fall for her. They lust each other as much as they hate each other; and then they just fall for each other. Being absolutely honest I felt something missing in their connection and wonder how it’ll develop in book # 2.

I think this book needed to be longer in some parts and shorter in others. I would have liked for some side characters, such as the evil intent of future mother-in-law of Lilac, or Lilac herself to be more developed. I hope to see more of their background in the next book. And there were other parts that felt too long and out of pace, although I understand that the pace of this book is slow and can appreciate a slow world building as well. But I do think that some of the back and forth scenes between the FMC and the MMC could have been refined.

This is a great debut novel. The writing was beautiful and poetic. The world building was detailed and enthralling and the narration was magnificent. Top moment of the narration for me: the female narrator singing an old fairy song that absolutely pulled you in; I went back to replay it several times. *Chef’s kiss*

I can’t wait to see what happens next and will be reading next book to find out when it comes out.

I’m grateful with the author and Enticing Journey for providing me an ALC of this book.

___________________________________

Reseña: 'Disenchanted' (Desencantada) por Brianna Sugalski

Género: romance histórico de fantasía oscura
Libro #1 en: 'Una Canción de Reinados Ruinosos'

Tropos (subgéneros): atracción instantánea; de enemigos a amantes; odio amarte; tocala y morirás; romance paranormal; fantasía romántica; vampiro x princesa; MMC moralmente gris; FMC fuerte
POV: doble, primera persona

Mi calificación
Historia: 3.5 estrellas
Narración: 5 estrellas

Un romance de fantasía urbano e histórico (medieval), con hadas, brujas, vampiros, cambia-formas; y una gran construcción del mundo

Esta narración sigue la historia de Lilac, una princesa que está a punto de heredar el trono de su padre, un temible rey hada, porque él quiere abdicar. Se ve obligada a casarse con un miembro real, que es una persona muy mala, porque no confían en ella para tomar el trono sola desde que se reveló un secreto suyo hace unos años: tiene la capacidad de hablar una lengua arcana asociada con los demonios. Cuando recibe una carta de una bruja que ofrece ayudarla a deshacerse de esto, se aventura fuera de su castillo y hacia el bosque para buscarla. En su búsqueda conoce a Garin, un vampiro moralmente gris de un siglo de edad que odia enamorarse de ella. Se desean tanto como se odian; y luego simplemente se enamoran el uno del otro. Siendo absolutamente honesta, sentí que faltaba algo en su conexión y me pregunto cómo se desarrollará la misma en el libro #2.

Creo que este libro necesitaba ser más largo en algunas partes y más corto en otras. Me hubiera gustado que algunos personajes secundarios, como la malvada futura suegra de Lilac, o Lilac misma, estuvieran más desarrollados. Espero ver más de su trasfondo en el próximo libro. Y hubo otras partes que se sintieron demasiado largas y fuera de ritmo, aunque entiendo que el ritmo de este libro es lento y también puedo apreciar una construcción de mundo lenta. Pero creo que algunas de las escenas de ida y vuelta entre la FMC y el MMC podrían haber sido pulidas.

Este es un gran debut como novela. La escritura fue hermosa y poética. La construcción del mundo fue detallada y cautivadora y la narración fue magnífica. El momento cumbre de la narración para mí: la narradora femenina cantando una antigua canción de hadas que te absorbía por completo; volví a reproducirla varias veces. *Beso del chef*

No puedo esperar para ver qué sucede a continuación y estaré leyendo el próximo libro para descubrirlo cuando salga.

Estoy agradecida con la autora y Enticing Journey por proporcionarme una copia avanzada de este audiolibro.

5 star listen!

I loved this book and the audiobook made the experience even better!
The narrators, Krys Janae and Zachary Johnson, did such a phenomenal job bringing Lilac and Garin to life, as well as the rest of the memorable cast of side characters. Krys does an amazing French accent that I was delighted with. 
I've had this book on my shelf for a while but I'm so glad I waited for the audiobook to come out. The dual narration added so much to the listening experience: you felt like Lilac and Garin were bantering in the room with you. 
I literally cannot believe this is Brianna Sugalski’s debut novel! She is a master storyteller and lyrical writer. Her writing style is poetic and had me pulling down my physical copy to highlight my favorite quotes while listening.
Brianna eases you into the worldbuilding which is a beautiful mix of historical truths and whimsical, dark fantasy. 
The book is filled with hot, truly morally gray vampires, tricky fae, and shapeshifters in a medieval setting that is familiar and yet exhilaratingly new.  
I was instantly intrigued by Lilac, the headstrong princess cursed with the ability to speak the language spoken in the dark forest by vampires, fairies, and all the other creatures that call it home.  
Lilac and Garin had fantastic banter and their relationship was my favorite part. Who doesn't love a hot vampire love interest? 
This book does not end in a cliffhanger WHICH I LOVED, but the HFN leaves the door wide open for book two which I cannot wait for! I need more Garin ASAP!

Nothing Disenchanting about this Book

First of all, loved the narration. Both Krys Janae and Zachary Johnson did outstanding jobs. The story itself was also outstanding. I will say it seemed a little boring/slow in the very beginning, but once Lilac escaped the palace, it was nonstop action. Character development was great. Getting the back story on Lilac's "curse" was enlightening. All the magic folk were awesome in their own right. Looking forward to the next book.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

Exciting

I love the narrators both did an amazing job and kept me enthralled in the story. This fantasy world building was great it had me from the beginning and kept me listening every opportunity I could get.

One of my favorite narrations!

Rating: ☆☆☆☆ Spice: 🌶

Angst: 💔💔💔

Cliffhanger? More a HFN

Do I recommend it? ✔️

Tropes: dark romantic fantasy, new adult, friends to enemies to lovers, royalty, paranormal romance, forced proximity, action/adventure, magic, touch her and die

Lilac Trécesson is a prisoner in her parents' castle after a most wicked secret was revealed on the eve of her fifteenth birthday. Years later, her Accession looms upon her father's decision to abdicate, and between the riotous townsfolk and scheming nobles bent on snatching her throne, she prepares for the worst… Until a letter arrives from The Witch of Lupine Grotto, containing a curious offer to banish her curse forever. She begrudgingly trades her coronet for a cloak and ventures into the forest Brocéliande, only to find herself cornered by a bloodthirsty barkeep who demands her help in exchange for protection against the even deadlier forces of the woods. With only the protection of her inherited dagger—and unsolicited help of the sardonic stranger who inserts himself on her quest—Lilac must find the impious enchantress and return in time to claim her crown. Pity the fool to underestimate the girl with subpar blade skills but the spite to make up for it. This is the tale of a cursed princess, a crestfallen killer, the town that wants them to burn, and the witch who can save them both.

This has definitely become one of my favorite audiobooks, as the narration of Krys Janae and Zachary Johnson was phenomenal. I couldn't believe this was the author's debut. The world building was spot on as I could easily feel, smell, and visualize the environment around me. Each character was meticulously created and introduced in the best ways. I loved the interactions between Lilac and Garin, but I needed more. I felt like the story was missing key moments between them in order to believe their evolution as a couple. I still recommend this read. I can’t wait to see where the author takes us next in this series. This is my honest opinion, freely given.

Story telling

The story telling by Brianna in combination with the performances by Krys and Zach were other worldly. I am not traditionally a fantasy reader but the author hooked me from the prologue. It was a masterpiece and I hope this becomes a series because I NEED to know what happens next!!!

Dual narration with a hot vampire and a fierce princess! 5 stars!

Fantastic fantasy audiobook! Loved Krys Janae and Zachary Johnson as the leads. They did such a great job and brought the on page chemistry to life in the narration.
The book was packed with action, adventure and romance!
I’m excited for book 2!

Fantastic Story

I really enjoyed this book. The twists and turns kept me engaged. I liked the narrators as well! Definitely worth the listen!

Absolutely Loved

I loved this book more than I thought I would, and so happy I randomly picked it out with a credit.
I fell in love with the main characters very quickly, and found love for many supporting characters. The world and all its inhabitants was wonderful to explore, and I am impatiently waiting for the next installment.

The narration was absolutely wonderfully done. I loved both voice actors and how they brought the characters to life.
Just cant wait for more.