Frozen in a deep sleep, Neve didn’t imagine her life taking such a drastic turn. Tricked by one Queen to be manipulated by another, she wakes from her sleep to find a kingdom she can no longer recognize, and her enemy at her side. The man who is responsible for her father’s death has to die. But the more she learns about the cursed boy, the less she believes he killed the King.
All Ban ever wanted since being gifted as an Ice Mage is to understand his purpose. Twice dead, he can’t help wondering if fate is playing a cruel joke on his existence the longer he escapes death himself. When the princess of his home kingdom wakes to find her mother’s turned into a tyrant, they’ll discover what hides high in the mountains of the Frostlands, and why the Mad Queen leaves this land be.
Forgiveness was never part of Princess Neve’s plan. Discovering the mage who slain her father might not be the monster he’s painted to be unravels her world, and in turn, she will unravel her mother’s.
The ice is thinning, and secrets are thawing.
This is a dark romantasy retelling set in the world of Mystica. It is strongly recommended to read this series in order as each picks up with a new couple where the last book left off, following the quest to stop the Mad Queen
✨🌻 Tropes 🌻✨
⚔️ Enemies to Lovers
🩸 Revenge + Secret Past
👑 Powerful FMC
🖤 Traumatized MMC
🏰 Fairytale Retelling
❄️ Jack Frost & Ice Princess
☠️ He’s a Grim Reaper
🫖 Wonderland and Queen of Hearts lore
🌍 World Building
🗡️ Epic Adventure
🧚 Once Upon a Time mixed with Shrek 2
🔥 Slow Burn
⁉️QOTD: Are you team original fairytales or dark fantasy retellings with twists, romance, and spice?
More by H.N. Defore
- Author: H.N Defore
- Release Date: February 20, 26
- Genre: Fantasy Romance
- My Rating:
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
- 🌶️🌶️/5
❄️The third book in the Deadly Ending series! I was waiting for this one and wow was it worth the wait. But of course I need the last one like yesterday. If you are like me and love retellings of fairytales with spice, twists and turns, madness and mystery this one is for you
Spoilers Ahead
💋We meet Neve the Ice Queen, the heir to the Frostlands who has been cured with the frozen deep sleep for the past century. Waking up early from her “little” nap, Neve finds a kingdom she no longer recognizes. Odd/weird beings now walk the castle and her mother looks nothing like she did before Neve went to slumber. Frail, weak and could hardly move were the words Neve used to use to describe her mother. Now, she was glowing, strong and the ruling Snow Queen of the Frostlands, who seems to be able to control these odd/weird creatures roaming the palace halls. You would think that sleeping all that time would allow her to grieve her father’s murder, it only fueled her for revenge. With everything going on at the palace one thing keeps Neve going, finding the Ice Mage that killed her father.
🌨️Dying once was enough for Ban coming back as an Ice Mage wasn’t in his card, but dying twice beyond his imagination. Now he is one of four of the grim reapers wandering the lands collecting souls to help move into the afterlife and not get lost on the way. But that isn’t the only thing Ban is traveling the lands for. He is looking for the spinning needle to wake the rightful Queen of the Frostlands and bring the land back to its formal glory.
💙I absolutely loved this book the tension between Neve and Ban is *chief kiss*. The world keeps getting better with more characters, twists and secrets coming to light. If you love fairytales like I do you will fall in love with this one, with the perfect retellings. The spice is spicin’, and the plot gets thick. This series just keeps getting better with every book and I can’t wait to see where our next adventure will take us
Favorite Scenes
“You think she destroyed records of the past,” I groan.
“I think it takes one generation to wipe clean the recording of time,” Lucius says carefully. “She’s had four to the Frostlands into her utopia, to let the past be forgotten. She doesn’t reach outside the walls of her own kingdom, and trade with the Frostlands is all but gone. The borders are closed, the people trapped, except for Icicle Pass. If she wishes to rewrite history, it would be the perfect time and place to do it.”
“Magic beans, magic stalk. Maybe it leads to something good.”
“Maybe there is no point to this at all,” I counter.
She shakes her head, shooting a look over her shoulder as we walk.”Would it kill you to put some positivity into your words?”
“I’m positive there’s nothing up here,” I have the nerve to throw her a sarcastic grin.
I really loved this interaction between Zarev and Odette. Two completely opposite people working together for one common goal.
Favorite Quotes
“Where once there was a passage to the next life, the gates now stand forever closed. Because we stopped caring about the souls who carry us into the beyond. Now, that duty rests on four souls I damned once upon a time.”
My path is wherever hers goes.
I get that her parents weren’t big on going out of their way for her when they were alive, but I will move all the shadows in her path if it clears her way to greatness
- Down from the Tower
- Beneath Swan Lake
- Across the Frostlands
- Book 4
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