Crown of Light and Ashes

Kingdom of Shadows Series, Book 1

By: Joanna Maz, Vi Carter

Narrated by: Roxy Rose, Casey Jones

I stepped into the Shadow Court to save my brother. I didn't expect to walk out as the bride of the monster who killed the man I loved.

Kaan is the ruthless Lord of Shadows—ancient, merciless, and terrifyingly beautiful. He murdered Aslan with a smile on his lips and my name on his tongue. Then he claimed me as payment for a blood debt.

Now, I'm his wife in black silk and silver chains. Owned. Caged. Watched.

And on our wedding night, he doesn't ask. He takes—my body, my breath, my resistance—until I break. His mouth. His rules. His shadows wrap around me like a noose.

I swore I'd kill him. Instead, I'm moaning his name in the dark.

Because monsters like him don't make love. They unmake you. But Kaan doesn't want love. He wants devotion. He wants me to beg.

And the worst part? I think I will.

This is a dark romantasy and the first book in the Kingdom of Shadow trilogy, set in the same universe as the Kingdom of Light trilogy.

©2025 Joanna Maz and Vi Carter (P)2025 Podium Audio

Heart breakingly beautiful

The story line was epic, intense, and amazing!! Although, I don’t like that the narrators didn’t keep to their characters in the chapters that weren’t theirs.

Could be 5stars all the way if only

The spicy is perfect, the story is great, the theme is right and the male voice is panty dropping. But the girl has a nice tone of voice but sounds like a robot trying to pronounce everything perfect. like I can hear the periods when she speaks and it takes you out of the story. PLEASE DO THIS AS A DRAMATIC WITH A BETTER GIRL VOICE.

Narration awful but story is great

The female narrator sounds like AI, there’s no acting or emotion just monotone reading. Kept wanting to DNF but trudged through. Male narrator is phenomenal!! Sorry is amazing and verrryy spicy. 🌶️🌶️

Not a fan of female narrator

The book itself—the storyline, world-building, and spice level—is fantastic. Unfortunately, the audiobook experience was a major letdown due to the female narrator. Her delivery is extremely monotone and lacks emotional range, which made it difficult to stay engaged with the story. She also reads at a very slow pace, to the point that listening became tiring rather than enjoyable.
The male narrator, on the other hand, was excellent. He brought emotion and energy to his sections, and I genuinely looked forward to his chapters. Because of the female narrator’s tone and pacing, I couldn’t make it past the first five chapters and ultimately decided to purchase the hardcover instead. I enjoyed physically reading the book far more than listening to it.
Overall, I loved the story, but I was disappointed with the audiobook narration and really wish a different female narrator had been chosen for the main character.

TERRIBLE female narrator.

Amazing story, amazing male narrator, but the female narrator is absolutely terrible. She has no inflection or distinction between different characters and her pace is soooo slow. Even at a sped up speed it was awful. Almost ruined the book for me, had to go and physically read her chapters and go back to the male chapters.