The Poison Princess and the Lord of Misrule by Bryony Harke

Seravyn
To pay my dominion’s debt, I was betrothed to a cruel king.
I haven’t smiled in twenty-nine days. The citizens call me the sad princess, and my betrothed has papered the realm with decrees, promising a fortune to any fool who can make me laugh.
They don’t know I carry a dark craft in my blood and enough poison in my veins to fell a king.
I lost my home, my life, my future – but when a jester carrying his own heavy grief trips in the throne room, making me laugh for the first time since I lost everything, he becomes mine.
My own personal court jester.
Every day I fall a little deeper into a forbidden yearning that could destroy us both – right up until we’re snared in a tangled web with the very king I’ve sworn to end.

Ren
I came to the palace to put a blade in the king’s heart.
Then I heard her sweet laugh, and I fell to my knees and devoted what was left of my ruined life to being her fool.
Secret meetings. Stolen touches. A love I’d risk everything for. I knew my princess was hiding something behind those sad eyes—I just never guessed it was a curse with a cost neither of us could pay.
She’s a daughter of poison. A queen of dark ruin.
And gods help me, for her, I am her willing fool.
But there’s a crueler truth brewing in the dark of the palace, one with arctic eyes and a menacing grin, and when he discovers our betrayal, he has his own plans for how this story will end.
There are no fairy tales darker than ours.

The Poison Princess and the Lord of Misrule is a standalone Gothic fantasy romance with a dark, morally gray love triangle that defies conventional love stories. Forced proximity, forbidden love, a poisoner heroine, a jester with nothing left to lose, and a villain king who stays a villain. Why choose? Intended for adult readers. Please read the content warnings.