Name: Beauty's Kingdom
ISBN: 9780525427995

A. N. Roquelaure

After the death of Queen Eleanor, Beauty and Laurent are implored to take the throne and uphold the ways of complete sensual surrender that have made Eleanor's realm a legend.

Beauty's Kingdom

Anne Rice

Lacy W

tw: rape, abuse of all kinds, sexism, racism, basically the same trigger warnings from all the previous books apply in this one as well

When I first heard that there was going to be a fourth book added to this series, I wasn’t sure what to think. Course I hadn’t finished the other two books when I heard about it. I had only finished the first one and was waiting to read the second one as it wasn’t available on my online library at the time. I soon forgot about the series until a couple years ago. I reread the first book and quickly read the second one a few days later. Time got in the way and I wasn’t able to complete the third book until a couple weeks ago. I then devoured this book in record time. I have a weird history with this series, don’t I?

Moving on. Now that I have read all the books, I actually think that this book was needed. AT the end of Beauty’s Release, it felt unfinished. I wanted to know what happened to Beauty, Laurent and all the other characters that I had become quite fond of. I had wanted them all to get happy endings because they all deserved it. I got conclusion with this book and that made me incredibly happy. 

With this book, there were multiple POVs, too many to name actually. Experiencing a variety of different characters was refreshing and helped give a depth to this book which wasn’t always felt in the course of the series. My favorite POV was Lady Eva by far. I loved her sassiness but I also enjoyed how submissive she could be. She was a strong woman who knew exactly what she wanted and she knew exactly how to get it. I loved that and I loved her. 

What I thoroughly enjoyed about this book was consent was a major theme. Beauty and Laurent made their kingdom about consent. No more forced slaves. Gone was the era of the Queen taking pleasure slaves from parts of her kingdom as payment. Each and every slave was there willingly. They signed a contract to ensure they knew exactly what they were getting in to. The slaves were told exactly and explicitly what was going to be happening to them. They could not sign the contract, leave and there would be no punishment for that. Beauty and Laurent only wanted people in their kingdom that wanted to be there. It was fantastic and refreshing to see this in a book like this. 

Overall, this was an excellent addition to the Beauty series and I regret doubting it. It was exactly what the series needed to end. It had a beautiful ending that I am happy with. The way it ended opened doors for additional books if Anne Rice decided she wanted to explore this world more, which I would not be opposed to. I’m sad this series came to an end but I am beyond glad I found it and I will treasure it always.