King of Wrath

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Dante Russo is a ruthless billionaire CEO who thrives on control and never planned on getting married. That plan goes out the window when Vivian Lau’s father blackmails him into an arranged engagement with his daughter. Vivian is a jewelry heiress and event planner who agrees to the marriage out of duty to her family, not love. What starts as mutual resentment and cold shoulders slowly burns into something neither of them expected or wanted — and now they can’t walk away from each other.

This was our Quarterly Bookclub pick for Q2 and I have to tell you, we had the best discussion about this book. Everyone loved it. Like actually loved it. Everyone left the meeting ready to buy King of Pride immediately and read the rest of the series this summer.

The enemies-to-lovers slow burn is exactly what you want it to be. Dante starts out cold and calculated and watching him slowly unravel for Vivian is so satisfying. He doesn’t just fall for her, he fights it the entire way and that tension is what makes it work. And Vivian isn’t just sitting around waiting to be swept off her feet. She’s ambitious, she’s smart, she doesn’t fold for anyone including Dante, and she insists on them actually getting to know each other before anything happens. I loved that.

The side characters are also a huge win. Ana Huang gives you just enough of Sloane, Isabella, and Kai to make you desperately want their stories without ever taking focus away from Dante and Vivian. It’s a 7-book series and every single one of the side characters made me want to keep going.

And yes, there is spice. The slow burn pays off and when it does it is WORTH the wait. The tension builds so naturally that by the time they finally give in it feels earned and electric. It’s definitely an open door romance

Where it lost me slightly, the middle section drags a little. Dante’s internal resistance starts to feel repetitive and there’s a stretch where the plot kind of stalls before the third act picks back up. The blackmail subplot also wraps up a little too neatly for my taste. And some of the dialogue is cheesy in a way that you either love or tolerate depending on your mood. I tolerated it because everything else was working.

This book surprised me. It’s well-paced, the characters are layered, the cultural dynamics between Dante’s old money Italian family and Vivian’s new money Chinese family add real depth, and it’s genuinely entertaining. If you like enemies to lovers, slow burn, spicy romance with actual character development, and you’ve ever been curious about Ana Huang, start here!