Throne of the Fallen

By: Kerri Maniscalco

Narrated by: Marisa Calin, Shane East

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Kerri Maniscalco makes her adult debut with this New York Times bestselling sensation, a "hot" new standalone fantasy romance (Jennifer L. Armentrout) about a dark prince battling an impossible curse—and the artist who might be the only one who can set him free.

Sinner. Villain. Wicked.

The Prince of Envy has never claimed to be a saint. But when a cryptic note arrives, signaling the beginning of a deadly game, he knows it will take more than a hint of sin to win and save his falling demon court. Riddles, hexed objects, anonymous players, nothing will stand in his way, though none of his meticulous plans prepare him for her, the frustrating artist who ignites his sin like no other…

Virtuous. Darling. Liar.

The trouble with scoundrels and blackguards is that they haven’t a modicum of honor, a fact Miss Camilla Antonius learns after one desperate mistake allows Waverly Green’s most notorious rake to blackmail her. To avoid a ruinous scandal, Camilla is forced to enter a devil’s bargain with Envy, little expecting his game will awaken her true nature . . .

Together, Envy and Camilla must embark on a perilous journey through the Underworld—from glittering demon courts to the sultry vampire realm and beyond—while trying to avoid the most dangerous trap of all: falling in love.

©2023 Kerri Maniscalco (P)2023 Little, Brown & Company

Loved it!

Couldn’t stop listening! I love everything she has written. So glad I did the preorder

Amazing!

I absolutely loved this book! I adore Envy!!! Envy and Camillas banter had me rolling!

A beautiful love story

For once a story without constant bickering between the main characters.
I missed that. I will be reading more of her books!

A wicked game full of secrets, tension and desire!

One of my favorite authors in the realm of dark fantasy and romance is Kerri Maniscalo. After finishing her Kingdom of the Wicked (KOTW) trilogy, I was still craving more of her delightfully sin filled world ruled by seven devilishly handsome princes of hell. Needless to say, I was so excited to hear that Kerri was coming out with a series of standalones that take place in the same universe as KOTW and each brings to life a different wicked prince's story.

Throne of the Fallen is the first book in this Princes of Sin series and it focuses on Prince Envy, whose reputation for stoking jealousy and being lethally gorgeous is only outdone by his unceasing desire to always win, no matter the cost. However, as Throne of the Fallen starts, we learn that Envy is playing for the very survival of his Court and he will let nothing and no one stop him. Of course, the fae trickster in charge of the game has other plans for the prince and soon enough the clues that Envy solves throw him in the path of a mysterious and intriguing female artist named Camilla Antonius.

From the start, Envy knows there is more than meets the eye to Ms. Antonius and soon he and Camilla's fates become intertwined as they reluctantly become allies in this wicked high stakes game. However, each is harboring secrets and when these come to light it just may lead to their downfall. While their trust in each other is tenuous, the fire and passion between Envy and Camilla is absolutely fantastic and off the charts! Kerri is a master of fiery word play and sexy innuendo and it blazes between these two hotter than any inferno that exists in the dark underworld. Envy and Camilla challenge each other at every turn, with each refusing to back down and both wanting to give into their darkest desires. Soon enough, it becomes clear they are in danger of losing much more than they bargained for in this deadly game.

While the scenes between Envy and Camilla were fun, flirty and down right naughty at times, I have to say that probably some of my favorite parts of this book were the opportunities when we got to see Envy and his brothers interact (and yes most of the times fight). Each of the princes has such a unique voice and personality and the way that they argue and rib each other just made me laugh so much. Even after reading Throne of the Fallen, Wrath still is my favorite but I must say he may just have a bit of a challenge from Lo (Sloth). Who doesn't love a man whose intellect leads his actions and whose library is the stuff of legends???!!

There were also so many wonderfully rich and entertaining side characters who are crucial to Envy and Camilla's journey, both together and apart. I was absolutely intrigued by the glimpses that we got of the vampire court and its fascinating politics. I do hope this is not the last we will see of vampire Blade, whose cool and deadly brand of fierceness just screams for a story all his own! I also appreciated Envy's vampire second, Alexei, so much more in this story as we see just how much Envy respects and trusts him and how committed they both are to protecting the family they have created in their court.

Since this is a standalone, the story moves quickly as the tension between our two main characters builds while working together to defeat the game master before time runs out. I thought that the pace made a lot of sense within the context of the game and only serves to heighten the reader's own anxiety and anticipation as both Envy and Camilla make their final moves with stunning betrayals and revelations that left me reeling.

I thought that the dual narrator format was masterfully done. Marissa Calin is a favorite of mine and was so wonderful in KOTW, so I am glad that she was back for this story. Shane East was a great addition and his brand of delicious raw sexiness is perfect for the world and characters that Kerri has created in this series. Both of their performances are powerful, intimate and blush inducing at all the right times!

This was another fantastic read from Kerri. The fire, the tension and the game play, both emotional and physical, was dark and delightful. You don't need to have read KOTW before this book but I do think if you have, it will bring a lot of richness to Envy and Camilla's story. I cannot wait for Kerri's next book in the series as I have a feeling our next wicked brother is as gregarious as he is gluttonous in his enjoyment of all that is sinful!

AMAZING

Camilla and Envy are such a fun duo. Sexy, Intriguing, Humorous. I loved every second. Also, I love that they kept the same voice actress from The Kingdom of the Wicked series, and the voice actor for Envy is sooo wonderfully sinful.

Interesting start to a new series

3.75 Stars 🌟

For some reason, I assumed that this was an author that I had already read before. After looking back, that wasn't the case and this ended up being another "new to me" author. I THINK the reason I thought that is because I've had her other series - Kingdom of the Wicked - in my TBR pile for quite a while...anyway, that's not really that important. The reason I brought it up was because I was worried that even though this said it was the first book in the series, that I was going to be stepping into an already built world and I am not really a fan of doing that. Long story short, YES, I did get the feeling that this was an existing world of a previous series based of several comments and some pretty nicely already fleshed out characters, but it wasn't a detriment. It was pretty easy to slide into this world and get to know the MC's.

The beginning of the book took me a little bit to understand the gist of the situation. Apparently, there are 7 brothers - Princes of Sin - and each brother rules one of the Sins. In this book though, that fact is really only a side fact and not really a huge part of the story. One of the Princes - our MC the Prince of Envy, is involved in a "GAME", and this is where I had a bit of trouble understanding everything in the beginning.

We are not really given too much information at the start, we just know that this Prince is involved in this "Game" and he receives clues and if he figures out the clue or accomplishes the task, then another clue is given. Unbeknownst to anyone, especially his other brothers, he is in dire straits due to earlier circumstances and his "circle" (remember, he rules the Envy group - can't think of the official name...oh, it's his Court) but drastic and dangerous things are happening and if he does not win, then all is lost for the Court of Envy.

We don't really know WHO is running this "Game" or who else is involved...see, that was why to me it was a bit of a head scratcher at the beginning. Anyway, we then meet the female MC - Camilla Antonius - who is a single woman (we are back in the Regency Era type of time frame). Anyway, she is a very talented artist who now runs her own gallery after the death of her father. Back in this time period, that is not a very common event - women seem to not have too many freedoms if they are not married.

So, right away we know that Ms. Antonius is more than she seems. WHAT exactly that means, we don't know, but there is more to her than meets the eye. The Prince comes to her because one of his tasks is to get her to paint a specific painting and that is how the two of them become a team. Somehow, she gets wrapped up in this "Game" and before you know it, they are forced to work together, happen to be VERY attracted to each other (tons of UST) and lots of things begin to happen - drama, action, betrayal......

Bottom line, I did enjoy it. The female MC is a very strong willed character who does her best to stand up for herself in an arena where that is not always easy. I actually even liked the Prince, who was the normal macho alpha type of character, but it becomes pretty apparent to realize that he wears a mask and is a big softy underneath....okay, okay....maybe not a softie, but a lot nicer than he would like others to believe.

The book then sets up the next situation for the next brother - different situation - but looks like each brother is going to have situations where get thrown into situations and they become couples.

Will I continue with this series? Yep, I think I will. (and I'm going to try to move the Kingdom of the Wicked series higher up on my TBR list....)

Def enjoyed

This book was entertaining for sure! I’m not normally good at riddles, but Riddle to get the chains off…solved that one in all of a second…was kind of cool 😋

Familiar places and new adventures

We are back in the 7 circles and beyond for a new adventure . This time it’s with a new prince and a new protagonist.
Kerri Maniscalco’s style is the same . The story is lightheaded but with many twists and turns . Many were predictable but it was still very fun .
I laughed and giggled a lot while listening . I had earplugs on, which is a great idea since it’s 🌶️🌶️🌶️, so I wonder if people thought I might be mad for suddenly bursting out with laughter for no apprent reason to them.

In a way this book could be stand alone as it’s not really built on the former books . However , having read the trilogy and now this gave me a warm feeling like am checking on old friends . It was nice to hear how Amelia and Wrath were doing after their coronation. We visited some familiar places and ventured into new territories . We got to spend some time with LUST 😝😝😝 and SLOTH. ( they might be my two favorite brothers)

We definitely need more stories that are set in the 7 circles and I have a feeling we will be getting that in the near future.

The narrators are phenomenal !! Even though we are used to Marisa Calin since she narrated the Kingdom of the Wicked yet she manages to sound a bit different when voicing Camelia. Envy sounded the same .
Shane East was also wonderful although sometimes it was confusing when there was a conversation between two men . Still ! It was wonderful having him narrate Envy’s POV .

Turned me into a book lover

I wasn’t a bookie until now…. this was my first read in 11 years and I couldn’t put it down. I wish it wasn’t a standalone. I want MORE!!

Story line

Absolutely love this book. I love the author and I love that she connected a character to one of her other books. Loved everything in the story.