Name: Cruel King
ISBN: 9781685450489

Rina Kent

NOTE: This is the special edition print of Cruel King. To find the ebook and audiobook, please look for the main edition. He's no fairy tale king. Levi Here, little princess. I'm your king. You have three rules. Bow. Break. Bend the knee. Fight me all you want, but soon enough, you'll be chanting long live the king. Astrid One day I'm Royal Elite School's small fly, the next I'm hunted and left to die. He doesn't only shred my life to parts, but he's also coming after my heart. He thinks he broke me, but the new princess will bring the king to his knees.

Special Edition Print

Cruel King

I enjoyed it, but I've to say that I'm not a huge fan of dark romance🤷🏻‍♀️

Varolena🌬

aleksandra

Renata

okay so leviastrid were a great way to introduce royal elite but, imma be honest they made me obsessed that read this is 2 sittings, agh levi king, wow. 

- "They're nicknamed the four horsemen because whenever they're on the field, they bring conquest, war, famine, and eventually death. I call them the four fuckers. Aiden, Xander, and Cole snatched their positions from the seniors. Ronan is the last to join."

- "As if I'm allowed to fight you on anything else?" 
"You are."

- "I made you visible, huh?"
"You did! You screwed up evervthing."
"You were never supposed to be invisible, princess,"

- "In one night, I had a bruised nose and shoulder because of her. I had my first all-consuming kiss with her. I enjoyed the rain after a long time also because of her. I can't begin to imagine what my life would be like if I spend more time with her. No idea what's this fucking obsession with Astrid is all about, but I know one thing. I'm seeing it to the very end."

- "This obsession is becoming dangerous and fucked up. I'm not the type of person who lets anyone else take over my thoughts, my mind and even my fucking dreams. And yet, everything has been revolving around
Astrid Clifford."

- "Don't call me that."
"Isn't that what you demand everyone to call you, King?"
"Not you."

- "Do you believe in fate?" 
I'm taken aback by his super out of character question.
"Not really."
"Me neither, but now I'm starting to."
My pulse quickens at the irresistible drop in his tone. "Why is that?"
"I would've found you no matter what, princess. It was a matter of when not if."

- "What is wrong with you?" 
"You!" "You're what's wrong with me!"

- "She only belongs to me now and no one will be able to take her away. Ever. I might not know how the fuck Astrid fits in the big picture, but I know that she's mine. I know that I'll feed off everything she offers like the parasite she paints me as."

- "I've been debating against who and what I am for two damn weeks and guess what?" 
"W-what?"
"I can't win when I've already abdicated, princess."

- "And what do you want?" 
"You."
"What else?" 
"Just you would do."

- "Astrid didn't only engrave herself in my soul, she's also become an inseparable part of my core. And no fucking one can take that away from me. Not even her."

- "Astrid once told me I'm a dark night. It's in dark nights that stars like her shine the brightest."

- "Tell me you couldn't sleep, too. Tell me I've been driving you as fucking crazy as you've been driving me." 
"I know there's a dark past between us, but I'm choosing to be selfish. I'm choosing the future, Levi."
"Thank fuck because I'm never giving up on you, princess."

- "I'm happy," "Thank you for existing, my king."
"Thank you for being mine, princess."

Faith Kitowski

4.5/5. oh i’m so excited for this series. it’s off to a great start with this one

Raquel 

I can only say that Levi and Astrid stole my damn heart, I wish I had more of them to read. I flew through this like there was no yesterday, it was so addicting and easy to read. 4,5 stars ⭐️

Lover of Romance 

Cruel King is the first book in the Royal Elite series. And after reading the "Legacy of Gods" series or the books that have been released so far, I knew I had to binge on the parental's stories and I knew that it started with the Royal Elite series. I absolutely adored this book, it was so much fun and one of the best "Bully" romances that I have ever read. I will say that this is a dark romance, it has a possessive alpha male, and these two really battle it out but I absolutely adored it. And the "CHESS" references were brilliant, now I know why the parents in the kids books were so obsessed with Chess haha It makes so much more sense now. 

I really enjoyed this book, and even though the pacing in the middle felt slightly slow at times, I truly couldn't get enough of this pairing and was curious to see where the author would take this romance. I absolutely adored the forbidden themes in this one as well, and we also see some other connections being built into the first book of the series. Even though this one was YA, it didn't feel YA at all, it felt like an adult romance, which is probably why it worked so much for me. Normally YA won't work for me, but because felt the characters felt more mature, it didn't bother me. I enjoyed the setting in modern day England and the British references that was really delightful, but I had to remind myself this wasn't an American based romance haha. I will say that Rina Kent has a certain writing style, that you need to give a chance. It took a few books for her style to really work for me but now I can't put her down and I just want to indulge in her backlist. 

The romance itself in this one was truly magical, with a blend of intensity, deep emotion and so riveting from beginning to end. There are plenty of tropes that are mixed into this story. We have a bully romance, enemies to lovers, forbidden love, anti hero alpha male. artist nerdy heroine, abused heroine even has a cinderella feel to it at times. I did enjoy the blend of the tropes and seeing so many depths that are delivered within the relationship. And it just didn't feel like your typical bully romance either. It just felt like it had so much more to the story than that. 

Overall I had a blast with "Cruel King" and I can't wait to explore the other books in the series and this world that Rina Kent has created, because I can tell you that I am addicted and am thirsting for more on what she delivers!

Cruel King Special Edition Print

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