King’s Bride ♥ Beck Michaels ♥ The Chronicles of Urn #1

Published May 23, 2023 ♥ Published by Pluma Press

❥  Trigger Warnings :

explicit sexual content, adult themes, language, graphic violence, past sa trauma

Once upon a time, there lived a cruel beast in a castle of ice and roses. His magic coated the land in an endless winter until the day a bride came to burn it all down. This is the grim truth behind their tale, dark as it may be…

❥  Touch Her & Die

❥  God of Death

❥  Beauty & The Beast Inspired

❥  Enemies to Lovers

❥  Fantasy Romance

Thoughts I had while reading King’s Bride by Beck Michaels

King’s Bride has been one of, if not my most anticipated release of the year. I was so excited to receive this arc from Michaels to review. It’s no secret that Guardians of the Maiden is one of my favorite series so I’m stoked about these prequel novels. I love that we are starting the journey with Tarn’s ancestors. 

It is my understanding that this prequel will be far spicier than what we get in the main series. Which honestly I’m excited about. I’m also interested to see how the Beauty and The Beast vibes play out throughout the story. 

Skip down to my Final Thoughts to avoid any spoilers. 

1. I love the use of the word clans to describe the people of The Everfrost. 
2. I like Fenrin and Rune.
3. Fucking hate the dad. 
4. Gargoyles protect the garden. 
5. Already can’t wait for Daddy Dearest to come to a painful death. 
6. Even the horse doesn’t want to go into the Black Woods.
7. Ok, but how are you getting home? 
8. Swamp Thing here sounds delightful. 
9. Damn Rune, I thought you were The King. 
10. Rune seems to know an awful lot. 
11. And I guess we will never know why. 
12. Hello stranger. You must be Rune. 
13. This is not at all how I thought Sunnëva got her scars or how Freya died. 
14. It’s kind of merciful. 
15. Vicious little thorn. 
16. Oh Daddy Dearest, she’s Jökull’s now. 
17. Bride price. This fucking man. Your clan doesn’t die today, fool that’s the payment. 
18. Could have done with Jökull killing Daddy Dearest instead of paying him. 
19. A fae seer with eyes cursed by the God of Time. Swoon. 
20. I just can’t wait for Daddy Dearest to die. Painfully. 
21. Lethal talons. The man has lethal talons that need to be retracted. After he’s turned from Phoenix to man. 
22. Stupid bird. 
23. Imagine getting stalked by a huge ass Ice Phoenix. Is the Ice Phoenix seven feet tall too or taller? 
24. She hissed at him. 
25. Dammit I wish I had skeletons for chandeliers. 
26. I wonder what Jökull needs Sunnëva for. I’m assuming it’s a curse…
27. A gambling man. 
28. I like Aero. Also, is Jökull stuck in the mortal realm? 
29. Jökull is not the only God in the mortal realm then. He can’t be stuck here. Unless it’s a God prison realm as well. 
30. As if he made them to spite me. 
31. Jökull might be my favourite God of Death. 
32. Brother !
33. Jökull really has a thing for throats. Well, Sunnëva’s throat. 
34. I mean, I’m pretty sure this is indeed restraint. 
35. So which God created the demons? Is that something I know already?
36. Bow or burn.
37. Mission kill the King postponed. 
38. The magic ingredient is definitely love.
39. Hot damn Aero. 
40. A gate you say? Ohhhh.  
41. Is Sunnëva inheriting Jökull’s powers?
42. Well that’s a twist for you. Got my answer after all. 
43. Poor Sunnëva. 
44. If she dies, it’s because you died first. 
45. Why am I so surprised there is a battle? 
46. Yanno, this might be my first shifter romance that wasn’t of the wolf/coyote variety. 
47. I’m going to pluck off your fucking wings. 
48. A rose freely given. 
49. Can we not just go get the sister already? I mean, Sunnëva is the Queen of the Everfrost and married to the God of Death – the fuck is your dad gonna do about it?
50. I mean, I feel like this is a trick. 
51. Good girl. 
52. Maybe Fenrin will eat Daddy Dearest.
53. I mean, I can’t wait to find out who actually walks through Death’s Gate. 
54. Personally I can do without all this baby talk. 
55. I feel like Daddy Dearest is in the God of Shadows pocket. 
56. There you go, Sunnëva.
57. So did Jökull sleep with or kill his brother’s wife? 
58. Personally I could not fuck someone with feathers but that’s just me. 
59. She left one bird to fall into the talons of another. 
60. Wait now, do the Skelling’s look like this in Guardians? I thought they were people and not birds. 
61. This bird has the hots for the little sister. 
62. Oh Daddy Dearest you fucker. 
63. So the Skellings just started out as birds and became human? Why am I obsessed with this detail?
64. Ah, interesting
65. And well, fuck. 
66. Yes Jökull, tell us what Rumiel did. 
67. Of all the things, that was not what I expected. 
68. My thoughts exactly Jökull, a ball? 
69. Or a wedding instead. 
70. She is featherless and frail, like mine. 
71. Ngl, my eyeballs see the word Skelling, but my brain says Skellington. 
72. I like the Dragon Princess. 
73. Oh Sunnëva, the Magos Empire will not always treat their women as such. 
74. Well shit ! 
75. Jökull is not a Vanilla Ice Ice Phoenix.
76. A mother. A woman. Damn that riddle. 
77. Oh man. 
78. Ones! That’s a multiple.
79. This really isn’t wrapping up at all how I thought it was going to. 
80. I really fucking hate Daddy Dearest. 
81. The Sacred Scrolls!
82. The puzzle pieces. Oh man. Delightful. 

King’s Bride Review

First of all, I officially have a new favourite God of Death. Second of all, I want to give the King’s Bride nine million and three stars.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…

Sunnëva, the vicious thorn, is lethal. I loved her instantly. She’s strong and feisty. Loyal and brave. Broken and damaged. To save her brother’s life, Sunnëva breaks into the God of Death’s garden for a rose. The King of the Everfrost quickly and promptly eats her friend (slash) lover and proceeds to gallop into town on his crystal ice horse in search of his stolen rose.

He had strange magic.

The Ice Phoenix, they called him.

The wielder of ice and death.

The clans of the Everfrost fear their King. Bow or burn. They loathe him for the frozen baren wasteland they call home, not knowing what hunts them in the shadows. I on the other hand, quickly fell talons over feathers for Jökull.

Your clan has been marked for death. As is the punishment for stealing from his majesty, King Jökull, ruler of the Everfrost.

Ultimately the real villain here is Sunnëva’s father. 

Unbeknownst to Sunnëva’s good old father, each of the seven Gods of Urn had fated human mates. As payment for his daughters thievery, he offers her up as a bride. But he’s an asshole, so he also wants grain. Honestly, I hated the man. I wanted him dead the second I met him. My man Jökull is better than I am though, and agrees to his terms. Sunnëva just happens to be his fated mate after all.

Like most villains, Jökull is not at all what Sunnëva believes.

On its own, I loved Sunnëva and Jökull’s love story. What I loved even more though, was all the Guardians of the Maiden easter eggs woven expertly into their tale. For those who have not read Guardians and decide to take the plunge after reading King’s Bride, please know that they are completely and utterly different. The similarities end at the land in which they take place. Same goes for fans of Guardians picking up King’s Bride.

If you happened to catch my review for book three in the Gardians series, Shattered Souls you’ll know I was getting a little miffed with, well – the maideness of it all. I know, it’s right there in the title, but anyways. Not the case with King’s Bride. There is no maiden here and the spice is spicy. There was lots of sexy banter between Sunnëva and Jökull and the heat intensified as their relationship grew.

The little love side quests melted my heart.

You can be guaranteed Michaels is going to deliver top notch characters. With the exception of Daddy Dearest, King’s Bride is littered with them. Don’t get me wrong, you are not meant to like him, and Michaels does that well too. I know I said Daddy Dearest was the real villain, he’s a villain in sheeps clothing if you will. Really though, where there is one, there’s bound to be another. That statement is true for both Gods and Villains.

The God of Shadows

I love how Michaels is showing us Urn. If you have read Maidens, you have heard about The God of Shadows. In the time of the Maiden, very little is known about the Gods. They have been gone for centuries if not millennia. Again, I’m going back to all those little easter eggs, but I just loved them. I love how the God of Shadows is meant to be a villain and although we know he’s not what he’s been made out to be – the next book in the series will probably prove it.

Yes, that’s right the next book is all about the Shadow God.

King’s Kiss will be released sometime next year.

If I was a betting woman, I’d say there is a good chance we will be introduced to the Celestials and Hilos for the third book.

No place in the world was safe. The land was a coffin of ice, and they had been buried inside it a long time ago.

From the castle came a violent screech, and a massive bird of ice spanned the skies, gleaming against the moon.

Everything perished in the Everfrost, and hope was always first.

Trepidation hung over her like storm clouds threatening to pour.

In the silent snowfall, she swore to all the Gods, she would be the one to kill him.

Talons scraped the floor as it stepped closer, moonlight glinting off his ice feathers.

“If you’re cold, then I will gladly be the one who keeps you warm.”

The bastard looked like a fairy prince with the deep voice of a beast.

“Every time you attempt to kill me, I am tempted to devour your soul or do other more beastly things that end with you screaming.”

“Touch my wife, I take your life.”

“I am a God. I do not woo.”

He looked like a vision of war covered in blood and dirt, the last whips of smoke curling in the moonlight.

It was full of monsters of every kind, and they were feasting. On humans. On each other. The ice was drenched in red.

This was a real kiss that cracked her open, leaving her raw and bare.

Every touch of his lips branding her soul.

Her core vibrated with ecstasy as she was completely devoured by the God of Death.

Currently, if you are a Kindle Unlimited subscriber you can read both the first book in The Chronicles of Urn prequel series and The Guardians of the Maiden series here.

Physical copies can be purchased through them as well here.

However if giving Jeff Bezos your money makes your skill crawl like mine, may I suggest purchasing straight from Michaels here.

❥ Beck Michaels : Webpage ♥ Twitter ♥ Facebook ♥ Goodreads ♥ Instagram

❥ Purchase : Amazon ♥ Barnes&Noble ♥ IndieBound