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Deadly Betrayal
Not yet published
Expected 24 Mar 26A dark romance fairy tale reimagining of the infamous Rapunzel.
I'm not the kind of girl who wears a crown,
I'm the kind who was never supposed to see one.
I'm a Craven.
A girl who was supposed to spend her life under the mountain,
dreaming of the
Freedom
That was until they came.
One stole my heart, and the other stole me.
Stuck between two kingdoms, I understand now that
Mother did know
Men are Monsters
The weight of a crown is nothing compared to the ache for the almost.
Deadly Betrayal is a dark romance and the fourth of the interconnected standalone novella series Cruel Kingdoms, where the villains get to tell their stories.
While this is a standalone, Deadly Betrayal is also a prequel, so reading the other novellas in this series is highly recommended.
I'm not the kind of girl who wears a crown,
I'm the kind who was never supposed to see one.
I'm a Craven.
A girl who was supposed to spend her life under the mountain,
dreaming of the
Freedom
That was until they came.
One stole my heart, and the other stole me.
Stuck between two kingdoms, I understand now that
Mother did know
Men are Monsters
The weight of a crown is nothing compared to the ache for the almost.
Deadly Betrayal is a dark romance and the fourth of the interconnected standalone novella series Cruel Kingdoms, where the villains get to tell their stories.
While this is a standalone, Deadly Betrayal is also a prequel, so reading the other novellas in this series is highly recommended.
205 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication March 24, 2026
14 people want to read
About the author
S.Y.K. Kelly
5 books62 followersSYK KELLY IS A DARK ROMANTASY WRITER WHOSE BOOKS REIMAGINE THE CLASSIC MYTHS AND STORIES WE ALL KNOW, BRINGING A DARK, SULTRY, EPIC,
ROMANTIC TWIST.
Cruel Kingdoms series: dark fairy tale retellings
Cruel Gods series: dark Greek mythology retellings
ROMANTIC TWIST.
Cruel Kingdoms series: dark fairy tale retellings
Cruel Gods series: dark Greek mythology retellings
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 24, 2026
I had the pleasure of getting to ARC read the prequel, book 4, to the Cruel Kingdoms series, a dark romance retelling of fairytales. Deadly Betrayal is a Rapunzel/Gothel retelling.
This story is truly a tragic romance… move over Romeo and Juliet, Deadly Betrayal is soul crushing tragic romance; it’s so fucking beautiful. 😭 Every single one of my emotions was triggered at some point during this novella, I cried into my pillow for 2 minutes. I’ll be crying myself to sleep and I’ll most likely wake up crying.. if I’m even able to sleep after that ending.
Seriously read this book! Read the entire series! S.Y.K. Kelly perfectly captures each fairytale while being able to incorporate Easter Eggs within the series. I just seriously fucking love this series, please read it (available on KU).
FIRST 5 STAR READ OF 2026!
This story is truly a tragic romance… move over Romeo and Juliet, Deadly Betrayal is soul crushing tragic romance; it’s so fucking beautiful. 😭 Every single one of my emotions was triggered at some point during this novella, I cried into my pillow for 2 minutes. I’ll be crying myself to sleep and I’ll most likely wake up crying.. if I’m even able to sleep after that ending.
Seriously read this book! Read the entire series! S.Y.K. Kelly perfectly captures each fairytale while being able to incorporate Easter Eggs within the series. I just seriously fucking love this series, please read it (available on KU).
FIRST 5 STAR READ OF 2026!
Review of advance copy received from Author
I was given a copy of this book by the author. All thoughts are my own.
4.5 stars / 5
S.Y.K. Kelly serves up the twists and turns we've grown to love in this Rapunzel retelling dark romance novella. Novella doesn't mean it doesn't pack a heck of a punch, so beware of the trigger warnings and that this one is pretty tragic. FMC Gia goes through SO much.
Her character changed and grew so much, going from living under a literal mountain and never seeing a man before she was 20 to where we ended in this book. It was very fitting that she passed her time playing chess alone when we first met her because every story in this series is a game of chess, but especially this one.
It's hard to say much more because I don't want to spoil anything. BUT I will say it made me want to re-read the series now that I have all of this new info, and that the way these books make me feel SO much in such a short time is wild. I basically stayed up all night reading up to 50% then finished first thing this morning.
About the spice: It's hard to rate this one. It's there, but for the purpose of the story, it's often used to show dominance and control in a situation where a b ú s e is going on.
A note to improve your reading experience:
I've previously read the other 3 novellas in this series. This is book 4, and it's a prequel. It sets up the world and the kingdoms we met previously. This means there are a lot of characters in a small package, so my recommendation is to be sure books 1-3 are fresh in your mind before you read this one.
4.5 stars / 5
S.Y.K. Kelly serves up the twists and turns we've grown to love in this Rapunzel retelling dark romance novella. Novella doesn't mean it doesn't pack a heck of a punch, so beware of the trigger warnings and that this one is pretty tragic. FMC Gia goes through SO much.
Her character changed and grew so much, going from living under a literal mountain and never seeing a man before she was 20 to where we ended in this book. It was very fitting that she passed her time playing chess alone when we first met her because every story in this series is a game of chess, but especially this one.
It's hard to say much more because I don't want to spoil anything. BUT I will say it made me want to re-read the series now that I have all of this new info, and that the way these books make me feel SO much in such a short time is wild. I basically stayed up all night reading up to 50% then finished first thing this morning.
About the spice: It's hard to rate this one. It's there, but for the purpose of the story, it's often used to show dominance and control in a situation where a b ú s e is going on.
A note to improve your reading experience:
I've previously read the other 3 novellas in this series. This is book 4, and it's a prequel. It sets up the world and the kingdoms we met previously. This means there are a lot of characters in a small package, so my recommendation is to be sure books 1-3 are fresh in your mind before you read this one.
Review of advance copy received from Author
5 ⭐
4 🌶️
This isn’t a love story—it’s the moment an innocent girl realizes fairy tales lie.
Deadly Betrayal is a dark romance reimagining of Rapunzel, and if you’re someone who can love a tragedy, this book is absolutely, devastatingly perfect.
This story broke my heart in the quietest, most painful way. Gia is the kind of character you ache for—an innocent girl shaped into a monster not by choice, but by the cruel cards she was dealt. Watching her story unfold was heartbreaking, especially knowing how little control she had over the forces shaping her fate.
This book truly highlights just how cruel the royals are. The behind-the-scenes revelations peel back the curtain on the Cruel Kingdoms world, showing the manipulations, betrayals, and systemic cruelty that created the villains we’ve met in previous books. Seeing how those characters became who they are adds a whole new layer of emotional weight—and made my heart break all over again.
While Deadly Betrayal is a standalone, it also functions as a prequel, and I highly recommend reading the other novellas in the series. The connections are powerful, and the context this story provides makes everything hit harder. This book embodies the very cruelty the series is named for.
As always, I will read anything SYK Kelly writes—but this one almost broke me. Deadly Betrayal is tragic, emotional, and unflinching, and it proves that sometimes the most unforgettable fairy tales are the ones without a happily ever after. 🖤👑
4 🌶️
This isn’t a love story—it’s the moment an innocent girl realizes fairy tales lie.
Deadly Betrayal is a dark romance reimagining of Rapunzel, and if you’re someone who can love a tragedy, this book is absolutely, devastatingly perfect.
This story broke my heart in the quietest, most painful way. Gia is the kind of character you ache for—an innocent girl shaped into a monster not by choice, but by the cruel cards she was dealt. Watching her story unfold was heartbreaking, especially knowing how little control she had over the forces shaping her fate.
This book truly highlights just how cruel the royals are. The behind-the-scenes revelations peel back the curtain on the Cruel Kingdoms world, showing the manipulations, betrayals, and systemic cruelty that created the villains we’ve met in previous books. Seeing how those characters became who they are adds a whole new layer of emotional weight—and made my heart break all over again.
While Deadly Betrayal is a standalone, it also functions as a prequel, and I highly recommend reading the other novellas in the series. The connections are powerful, and the context this story provides makes everything hit harder. This book embodies the very cruelty the series is named for.
As always, I will read anything SYK Kelly writes—but this one almost broke me. Deadly Betrayal is tragic, emotional, and unflinching, and it proves that sometimes the most unforgettable fairy tales are the ones without a happily ever after. 🖤👑
Review of advance copy received from Author
This story gave me all types of feelings…currently still fuming because almost everyone was such a POS towards the FMC 😤😤 all the secrets (sooo many secrets) and backstabbing, that by the end I’m like hells yes get your revenge girl…it’s definitely interesting to go back to the beginning of how everything started to see how the pieces were set up after reading the others in this series that now I wanna go back and reread them to watch all of it unfold again.
Alright down to the nitty gritty…while the story had spice, I wouldn’t say it was spicy and I think that was intentional, sex was used more to dominate/ control, or as a power play between the king and FMC, while it was romantic between the FMC and Grim.
The character development of Gia honestly had me hooked the whole time from being this naive girl from the broken woman she became after all the betrayal she went through, to the “monster” everyone had turned her into getting her revenge on everyone who betrayed her. And while this story isn’t the traditional HEA where she gets to run off into the sunset, I feel it was a good setup for the series and to give further insight to how we got to where we currently are in the series, and explains why some characters are the way they are.
I seriously can’t wait to see how everything cracks open at the end of this series and who comes out of the woodworks when all the secrets are revealed and all the pieces have been played.
Alright down to the nitty gritty…while the story had spice, I wouldn’t say it was spicy and I think that was intentional, sex was used more to dominate/ control, or as a power play between the king and FMC, while it was romantic between the FMC and Grim.
The character development of Gia honestly had me hooked the whole time from being this naive girl from the broken woman she became after all the betrayal she went through, to the “monster” everyone had turned her into getting her revenge on everyone who betrayed her. And while this story isn’t the traditional HEA where she gets to run off into the sunset, I feel it was a good setup for the series and to give further insight to how we got to where we currently are in the series, and explains why some characters are the way they are.
I seriously can’t wait to see how everything cracks open at the end of this series and who comes out of the woodworks when all the secrets are revealed and all the pieces have been played.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Some villains are made and some take a deliberate step over the line. When you realize what should have been, what choices are left?
A prequel to Cruel Kingdoms - and best read after books 1-3 - Deadly Betrayal pulls no punches. It's soaring highs and devastating lows make it impossible to stop turning the pages in this Rapunzel/Gothel reimagining. It's the dark fairytale you've been craving: a sheltered heroine caught between two royal suitors, shadowed by figures with mysterious secrets, and surrounded by tragedy blooming beneath the night flowers. After all, Silver... men are monsters.
A prequel to Cruel Kingdoms - and best read after books 1-3 - Deadly Betrayal pulls no punches. It's soaring highs and devastating lows make it impossible to stop turning the pages in this Rapunzel/Gothel reimagining. It's the dark fairytale you've been craving: a sheltered heroine caught between two royal suitors, shadowed by figures with mysterious secrets, and surrounded by tragedy blooming beneath the night flowers. After all, Silver... men are monsters.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews