Stacia StarkA Crown This Cold and Heavy

This book is a mix of action, politics, magic, passion, sorrow, and love, and I adored it.A Crown This Cold and Heavy starts right after A Kingdom This Cursed and Empty ends. Prisca has been taken prisoner, and she is being tortured in hopes that she breaks and reveals what happened to the hourglass and what plans she made with her inner circle. This book is darker than the previous ones, and it focuses more on the political moves Prisca and the other rulers of the Realm are making, as everyone seems to be trying to outmaneuver or take advantage of the others.Despite everything she has to endure, Prisca remains strong and fierce, and she is growing into the queen Lorian knew she could be. Her traumatic experience in Regner’s dungeons also allowed her to become more apt to make tough decisions. She understands that her decisions affect a lot of people, but she also knows that she will not be able to save everyone and that Regner needs to be stopped, even if it means having deaths on her conscience.Lorian and Prisca’s relationship is stronger and well-established in this third book. There is no angst and uncertainty between them anymore, and instead, they form a steady and powerful team. Lorian is still as intense and protective of Prisca, but I love that he doesn’t smother her. He respects her choices and lets her thrive instead of trying to control her actions to protect her, as we often see with the whole “protective fae mate” thing. They are both adults and they talk through their issues instead of creating problems due to miscommunication and immaturity, and I love their relationship so much because of that.

i started this book knowing i would be really bummed when the last page come and i didn't have the next book ready to be downloaded so yes of course i'm pissed at myself now because i can't wait to see where the story is going.so yes i really enjoyed this book, so far in the series the best one in my opinion.it's split in few povs so you get to hear what the other characters were going through and not just the main couple. i was on the edge of my seat so hats off to the author i felt all the feelings........ Can't Wait for book 4!!!!

Man, I knew this was going to break my heart, and it succeeded successfully! But, I’ll get to that later on! A Crown this Cold and Heavy picks up where we left off, with Cavis having been revealed as one of Regner’s spiders and taking Prisca. Things get progressively darker in each book, and Prisca has to deal with a lot in this one. When Cavis takes her, he delivers her right to Regner’s men. Despite Cavis fighting the compulsion tooth and nail. Still, Prisca ends up in a cell, tortured, and having to count down the moments for Regner to arrive. And that’s only the start! A lot of this installment focuses on the different political moves Prisca and the other rulers across the continent are making. Each one trying to out maneuver one another.Poor Prisca undergoes a lot in those cells, and they use Cavis against her as well. She holds on, but the experience changes her. She’s darker, more apt to make decisions that will have inevitable fall out. Part of that is that her decisions will inevitably affect a ton of people, and she knows she has to make hard decisions. But the other part is her wanting vengeance. She has to put potentially innocent people in harms way, and has to find a way to live with that. As things get harder for her, she leans more on Lorian. She holds in her grief and emotions, pushing everything down. But with him, she allows herself a bit of reprieve. Lorian helps her, but also makes sure she’ll let herself feel what she needs to, so she won’t explode later. I definitely feel for her throughout this. The decisions she’s making are hard enough, but pile that on top of grief and fear and everything else? Yikes.Lorian is as amazing as always here. He’s rabid at the start, desperate to get Prisca back. He’ll kill anyone who get in his way of finding her, and I love to see it! The man is just too hot when he gets all overprotective. Throughout most of the rest, he acts as a support to Prisca, but he also has his own issues to deal with. Like his brother. Prisca has been mad about Conreth’s treatment of Lorian since she’s learned of it. And Lorian finally has a chance to come to terms with things himself and confront his brother in a way. You could tell how big of a step it was for Lorian and how thrown Conreth was by his brother finally standing up to him. But I’m fairly certain things can improve there, depending on how the start of the next book goes. I have hope for Lorian’s sake, at least.And if you’ve read the book, you may be questioning my optimism here. But 1. I trust Stacia and 2. I trust Prisca. How this book ended will not be a! I was so, so thankful that she gave us a clear way it could be fixed, because I was sobbing at the end regardless. It took me longer to get through this book than normal, because after we got the prophecy earlier, I was dreading the ending so badly, I couldn’t keep my usual pace. I knew I would both love and loathe what was coming, and I was absolutely correct. The ending was built up to beautifully. All the little bits and pieces of foreshadowing were fantastic. I loved how the prophecy’s details worked out, well, except for the obvious! But the way each piece came together was perfect.I loved all the aspects of this book, truly. The relationship between Prisca and Lorian was as amazing as ever. And seeing them both doing anything for one another is always fantastic! The development for both of them separately was on point as well. The side characters were also great. We get so many POVs here and I loved seeing into so many different aspects of the world and plans. We get little bits from all sorts of corners. Lorian’s crew and Prisca’s family and friends are always my favorite. Even if Lorian’s friends are all having a very rough go of it right now. Each dealing with things in their own way. Not that Prisca’s people are having any easier of a time. With Demos and Asinia going after Tibris, and dealing with the issues there. They’ve also got their own drama going on, which I absolutely adore. Not as much as Prisca and Lorian, because obviously, but I’m rooting for them!Not to mention the magic and prophecy’s at work, which I always love. The political side of things took a definite step up. I always love court intrigue and political maneuvering. This was on a bit broader of a scale. There’s so many different factors and people at play. But I loved seeing all of it and how it’s all coming together. Their work on a larger scale to try to turn people from Regner was awesome. Seeing the workings of the fae kingdom was super interesting as well. They work so differently with their different regions than the other kingdoms we’ve seen. The Hybrid kingdom is still making major mistakes. Prisca’s cousin is so obviously evil, it’s almost funny anyone would want to follow him. But it’s clear it’s not everyone at least. And while I desperately hope that his current actions end with death so no one can follow him, I also hope that they realize on their own how much better Prisca will be.I have faith in things working out, even though things seem bleak right now. I truly hope Stacia doesn’t throw me a curveball there! Because what I need is Prisca and Lorian and the hybrid kingdom Queen and King. With good relationships with the human and fae kingdoms, even the pirate Queen! Maybe despite the current human Queen and her own plans, though I do love to see her plans in action! But with Regner’s son in play, he could potentially make his own decisions. Unless something goes badly there, which is definitely a possibility. I can’t believe I have to wait for March, even if that’s not too far away, for the next and final book! I feel like I can’t live with the uncertainty that long! But I also can’t believe the last book in this series is coming so soon! I’m not ready for it to end!!

Omg the cliffhanger!I really need book 4!The 3rd book was another great read, I read it in less than 24 hours, I couldn't put it down.The depth to some of the side characters is totally unexpected which I absolutely loved this about stacias writing. Each character is totally different, the queen for example.. although she's cold and ruthless you learn to understand why she's like that and what bought her to that point.The plot still continues to be great, I love that the girls have each others backs too! We need more of that in books!.I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

How can I be asked to write a review directly after finishing a book with an ending like that??I loved it. It was well thought out, well written, and there is character development all around. Looking forward to the next release!