The Heart of the King

Painted Wind, Book 1

By: J.J. Fischer

Narrated by: Tawnya Rollingson

The worst monsters live within us.

The warring island kingdoms of Calidore and Jardia are thrown into chaos when Calidore's once prized, but now quite possibly half-mad, seer announces that young gravedigger Rigan North will one day capture the heart of the crown prince of Jardia—and lead Jardia to victory against Calidore. Together, Rigan and the prince will rid the Twin Kingdoms of the Shro Khan: deadly, mind-controlling monsters that terrorize the people on sand and at sea.

Desperate to maintain his stranglehold on power and prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled, the king of Calidore sends a troop of soldiers led by the legendary Aureus Corcoran to kidnap Rigan. Corcoran, who is rumored to be able to communicate with the Khan, wonders how this unremarkable, frustrating girl could ever ensnare the attentions of a would-be king even as he admires her clever attempts to escape him. But when her fiery ways and unexpected kindnesses begin to claim Corcoran's heart, prompting him to second-guess his orders, he wonders how the prophecy could ever come true—until he learns that not only is he far more than he believed himself to be, but she may be too.

©2025 J. J. Fischer (P)2026 Tantor Media

Vivid and Captivating

SO GOOD.

AHH!

The Heart of the King captivated me from the outset and the vivid descriptions and characters pulled me in and had a chokehold on me. There were many, many, MANYYY moments I didn’t want to pause listening! It also made washing the dishes a more pleasant chore, somehow, as I listened and scrubbed😂

I was cheering so hard for these characters too. I actually grumbled and cheered out loud for Rigan and Corcoran. I love them so much🥹My poor husband was subjected to my rants at various points throughout their story.

Also, as someone trying to find fantasy with characters in their 20s, it was so awesome to finally read a CLEAN fantasy with characters that age! I’ve been afraid to venture out from YA for fear of adult fantasy being boring or filled with…content…but J.J. Fischer proved that it’s possible to have a FANTASTIC, clean story for adults.

Gosh I love this story. Can’t get my hands on Reign Breaker fast enough!!

Content: Clean. Romance is only kissing and closed house and door (no fade to black or anything), though jokes or innuendos are present (especially lewd suggestions from icky guys). Cursing is limited to “he let out a string of curses” sort of vibes. Violence and threats abound, even wishing to kill someone, etc.—there were a bit more of those than I liked but it didn’t take away from the book as a whole. Due to these factors and the characters being upper 20s, I’d recommend this adult fantasy for 20 years old and older.