King of Unraveling

Cursed Fae of Orphydice Manor

By: Jes Drew

Narrated by: Caleb Mason

He wasn’t meant to be the groom.

She has always despised him.

A marriage alliance forged on a lie.

As the second son, Sef knows his place in the world is in his brother’s shadow, and his destiny is a betrothal to a woman marked for Death. Everything changes in a moment, though, when his twin’s wedding becomes his.

Lady Akila finds only one thing more distasteful than allying herself to the Court of Dusk: closing her eyes to the fact that the Night Court is making bargains with the Underworld. If she has to take a bridegroom from a lesser Court to secure her people’s safety, then so be it. At least she’ll be wedding the elder brother.

The fate of two Courts depends on Sef’s ability to deceive without the capability to lie. His own future, though, depends on his ability to woo without the courage to love. Otherwise, he will always be destined to be the lesser ruler, bound to a tragic marriage.

©2024 Jes Drew (P)2024 Jes Drew

Great

this was an exciting fantasy read. I really enjoyed it. there is chemistry between the characters and the narration does a great job of portraying that!

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

A Whimsical, Magical Fantasy Read!

Thank you to Jes Drew for allowing me to listen to a copy of this book. I absolutely loved my read and experience. It was nice to have a romance in an arranged marriage. And you could FEEL the love and the admiration between the two main characters, even though it was an arranged marriage. And the magic was just so fascinating. It was such a fun read and I would highly recommend it to any fantasy romance reader out there.

enjoyed

a side story to bigger story this one focuses on Sef and Lady Akila. The audio just adds a nice touch to a story worth checking out.

Great listen

King of Unraveling
Cursed Fae of Orphydice Manor
By: Jes Drew
Narrated by: Caleb Mason
Length: 4 hrs and 58 mins
Audiobook

Well written. Great characters, brilliant journey and easy to read.

Sef and Lady Akila

Part of the Cursed Fae of Orphydice Manor, second son Sef and Lady Akila's story of secrets, a marriage, drama, twists, turns, drama, danger, suspense, a brother and romance. I enjoyed reading their engaging story and also listening to their story. I enjoyed listening to Caleb Mason narrate their story.

I Enjoyed It

I really enjoyed this story. Good world building and wonderful characters. I was fascinated by the differences between the Dusk Court and Dawn Court, as well as the destinies of the two twin brothers. But it doesn't go according to plan and suddenly younger brother Sef needs to take his brother's place and marry Lady Akila when he becomes too ill to perform the magic needed to seal the marriage. Only she doesn't realize that they have switched- which may get him executed. She's a strong female lead, powerful, cold, and scary. With his life on the line, Sef keeps his identity secret until they can figure out how to tell her and mitigate the situation. But there is more danger looming... And Sef is falling for his bride. This is my first book from this author.

Caleb Mason did a good job narrating this book and bringing the characters to life. I liked his tone of voice. This is the first I've heard of him and his work and I look forward to hearing more.

Overall: 4 stars
Performance: 4 stars
Story: 4 stars

Alliance Forged through Marriage, But ...

I've now listened to the audiobooks for the first two books in this series as well as a novella meant to be read between those books. The couple at the heart of this story has a role in the other books of the series, so when I heard about this book, I was curious to see what their love story would be. Their relationship seemed peculiar in the other books (I’ll admit I want to go back and listen to books one and two now to see what my perceptions of them are now that I’ve learned their origin story revealed in this audiobook.)

Their romance has an unlikely beginning. The heroine was meant to marry the hero's twin brother, but he became violently ill the day before they were to marry. As they are fae, he has to be able to do magic during their ceremony, but he can barely get out of bed. The twins decide that rather than delay anything or re-work the marriage agreement meant to protect both courts, the younger twin, Sef, will marry the queen of the Dawn Court. They just need to have a prince of the Dusk Court marry her—doesn't matter which—and he's one, right?

Neither of these men thinks they need to tell the lady of the switcheroo before it happens. As the reader (and brothers) soon finds out, this has repercussions that ripple through the rest of the book. The ceremony just kicks off the marriage; the two are not truly bonded until the couple is intimate three times. Things go perfectly fine in the bedroom—though we know little specifically because the full love scenes happen behind closed doors. But even though we don't read or hear about precisely what happens, we know from their interactions afterward that both appear to have had a good time!

Despite this honeymoon interlude, things are not right in the Dawn Court. Shadow magic, usually the domain of the Dusk Court, has infiltrated the Dawn Court. And what's going on with the love potions? Our hero, surprising himself, starts to fall for his bride. She is not an easy woman to have any affection for. She's cold and dismissive of him outside the bedroom. It was a fun spin on the typical fantasy/historical romance story where the consort is female; in this book, the male gets the concert treatment … and he didn't just want to be arm candy and available for bed sport! I loved the dramatic scene at the end where the hero's life is literally in the heroine's hands. A big gamble he took!

Though the book is relatively short, it has surprising complexity, and I appreciated what it added to my knowledge and perception of the greater fae world created by this author. As with all the other books, each is not just about the couple or the protagonist, but it slowly peels away layers of the fascinating, complex world as we see the interactions between the courts and characters. I've enjoyed this series so much, and I highly recommend it. Unlike what I normally say about later books in a series, I actually recommend listening to this book first, as it will give you a good grounding for what you'll see in books one and two, though you certainly could start in the traditional order. It could be read as a standalone as well, but again, the author has created such a rich world with magical intrigue that once you start, you will probably want to read or listen to the other ones as well.

A propos of nothing, I love the Legolas vibe of the hero on the current cover ... though I might prefer to see him in the golden kilt often mentioned in the book!

King of Unraveling!

This is a magical story in the Cursed Fae of Orphydice Manor series. This one is follows Sef, Akila and their arranged marriage. He replaces his brother in the marriage to the unsuspecting, Akila. The story develops nicely as their marriage evolves to more. I like the characters and the story development. The narration is well done; really bringing the story to life.