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The Court that Bleeds Gold

A Dark Fantasy Romance (The Gold Weaver, Book 1)

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The Court that Bleeds Gold

By: Zara Storm
Narrated by: Ash Kingsley
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About this listen

A dark fantasy romance perfect for fans of Raven Kennedy, Krista Street, and Sarah J. Maas.

Desperate to escape marrying a brutal king, I make a deal with a Fae Prince...

I can spin gold, I lie.

With my life at stake, I have no other choice.

I get one chance to turn my lie into truth, and I'm shocked when I succeed.

But now the cruel human king demands I become his wifepassing between his bed and being locked away in a tower, spinning gold until my last breath.

My only way out is to summon him.

A brutal Fae prince.

The deal we strike is sickening, but it's the only way I'll live after I'm caught escaping.

My new captor drags me back to his realm.

A place of profound beauty and savage cruelties.

As wicked fairies play sadistic games, the prince is my sole protector.

He's not just protecting me, though. He's guarding his own secrets.

I should hate him. But our pact shows me a side his court never sees.

There is more behind his monstrous mask.

I can't stop myself from looking.

Especially when I learn what he really wants with me.

The Court that Bleeds Gold is the first book in a dark fantasy romance trilogy. This enemies to lovers series has shades of Rumpelstiltskin and Beauty and the Beast, with a dark hero who will absolutely burn this damned world to the ground for our sharp-tongued heroine. Expect steam, violence and plenty of barbed exchanges.

©2024 Relay Publishing (P)2024 Relay Publishing Dark Fantasy Fantasy Royalty Fiction Paranormal Romance
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Listener received this title free

5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️
2🌶️🌶️

The Court that Bleeds Gold is the first book in The Gold Weaver series. Zara Storm is a new author to me. This book grabbed a hold of me from the very beginning. Eleanor is a human woman that is just trying to provide for herself and her father. Her poor father has not been the same since her mother's passing. Her mother was just starting to experiment with the Art of Alchemy. Eleanor has been using her mother's journals and tools to try and perfect her mother's work. Eleanor is on the verge of making Gold. One day she shows a friend her progress. That friend gets caught stealing from the king. He tells the king that Eleanor can make the King as much Gold as he wants. The King takes Eleanor to his palace and is going to force Eleanor to marry him. Eleanor has only one last chance to escape the King. She calls upon a Fae prince to bargain her freedom with. Ruskin is the Seely Fae Prince. He is known in the human realm for his bargains and trades. He is also known for being a bit savage and unkind. Eleanor bargained for her freedom from the King in return to help Ruskin with one task. However, the one task is not an easy one. This is a slow burn, enemies to lovers, dark fantasy romance. I really enjoyed this book! Can't wait for the next book.

Ash Kingsley is a new narrator to me as well. She did an absolutely amazing job narrating this book. I can't wait to listen to more books narrated by her.

The Court that Bleeds Gold

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Listener received this title free

Fast paced and thoroughly enthralling. A lot of world building squeezed in but well done as it tied in to the storyline. FMC is 19 and definitely acts like it, but she also had some intelligent insights that surprised me. MMC is intense and is hiding things from even his best friends. There is some light spice.

Narration was excellent.

Warning: this is book one in a trilogy and ends on a medium sized cliffhanger

Dark fantasy with romantic theme

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Listener received this title free

I had previously read the ebook and this was my original review:

I can't begin to describe how much I love this book. It has everything I want in a dark fantasy/romantasy story: enemies to lovers; slow-burn romance; damsel-in-distress; morally grey hero ... I could go on and on.

I fell in love with Ruskin, Eleanor, Destan and Halima. Ms Storm is a master at characterisation.

Thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this new series, and if I could give it more than 5 stars I would.

As far as the audiobook is concerned, I enjoyed hearing the story again, but it took me a while to get used to the voice actor's way of speaking, and I found the stilted sentences a bit jarring at first.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

The Court that Bleeds Gold

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Listener received this title free

This was an interesting fantasy listen. I enjoyed the whole faerie plotline as well as the villain's plan and motivations. The first few chapters in faerie do a good job of setting the scene and the cruel nature of the fae who live there. Although there was one scene towards in the end of the book which was pretty dark on the whole it wasn't too dark a story and it kept me engaged. There were a lot of elements I liked but felt a little rushed in parts such as the pre-deal section of the book which was over really quickly. I thought there would be more from Thatch (a Gaston type character) and even King Albrecht but neither of them felt particularly threatening largely due to their interactions on page being pretty limited in the first few chapters. As this is a trilogy though I would be interested to see if they appear in later books as both have potential to be some kind of villain towards Eleanor.

I enjoyed the narration of this; Ash Kingsley really brings Eleanor's curious and tenacious nature to life. I also liked that Eleanor's gift for alchemy was a key point in the book and was more interesting than the standard out and out ability to do magic or her being a chosen/ prophesized one to fix the Kingdoms problems. Ruskin was fine as the MMC; I liked his character but I just felt that I wanted to see more of the dangerous fae who made the deal with Eleanor at the beginning. Destan however was who leapt off the page and I really liked him as well as Halima. The cliffhanger isn't too brutal but there will definitely be some major fallout; I'll be picking up The Kingdom Cursed by Iron to see how it pans out.

My interpretation of the star system;
3 stars - I enjoyed it; would read the author again
4 stars - I really liked it; I am invested and definitely want more from this author/series
5 stars - I loved it; I engaged with this book completely until I finished it and it is one I will read.

Interesting debut

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Listener received this title free

I am primarily a contemporary romance reader but do like an occasional PNR or Romantasy. This is exactly the type of book I look for when I’m in that kinda mood! The storytelling was impeccable. The way the tone is set in the opening scenes and the plot unfolds after that had me thoroughly impressed. The characters were full of depth and had me so emotionally invested. I also appreciated that this book has its own conclusion while leaving an opening into book two, which I will definitely be following.

Another thing outside my norm, this audio is a solo narration. One of the best I’ve listened to! Ash Kingsley did a phenomenal job differentiating between tones and inflections when assigning voices to each of these characters. She gave each of them such unique personalities and brought this story to life impressively.

Amazing Storytelling!

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