January 13, 2026

Temperance Verus has never been kissed―not exactly ideal for a girl competing in the palace's most closely watched matchmaking ritual. Every year, a select group is invited to bond with the realm's magical basilisks and train in the art of charm, poise, and influence. The prize? A chance to win the prince's favor―and a life of privilege.

Tem expects rules, gowns, and etiquette.

She doesn't expect her assigned partner to be Caspen―the Serpent King, commanding, mysterious, and anything but safe. As he pushes her to unlock the strength she never knew she had, Tem finds herself drawn into something deeper, stranger, and far more powerful than royal approval.

But not all bonds are built for the court, and some secrets are meant to break them.

Reader discretion is advised. Kiss of the Basilisk contains mature themes that may be sensitive for some readers, including (but not limited to):
Sexual content / explicit scenes
Violence and injury
Dark fantasy themes
Power imbalances
Emotional manipulation
Death and peril
Themes of control and danger
As always, we encourage readers to take care of themselves and skip or pause reading if needed. If you’re unsure, looking up additional content warnings before diving in may be helpful.

Kiss of the Basilisk is what happens when a book confuses shock value for storytelling and calls it “dark romance.” This is not fantasy. This is not romance. This is 700 pages of reptile smut pretending it has a plot.

Every time Temperance comes this close to having a coherent thought, a personality, or even a whisper of self-awareness, someone immediately shoves a dick at her and—poof—the thought evaporates. Character development? Gone. Plot progression? Forgotten. Brain cells? Deceased.

Temperance is written as both painfully naïve and inexplicably arrogant about her powers of seduction, which somehow work on literally everyone. Princes. Enemies. Their enemies. Their dads. The town. The walls. The air. Loyalty does not exist. Consequences do not exist. Internal logic is a myth.

The men have exactly one personality trait and you already know what it is. Why bother naming them when they exist solely as walking anatomy props? There is no romance. No tension. No emotional buildup. Just constant, repetitive, meaningless sex that actively sabotages any chance this story had of being interesting.

The “plot twists” don’t unfold—they scream. Subtlety is dead. Dialogue is either unintentionally hilarious or aggressively incoherent. I genuinely could not tell if this book was trying to be serious or satire, but whatever the goal was, it missed. Badly.

And the worldbuilding? Don’t make me laugh. Calling this fantasy is insulting to the genre. There are no rules, no lore, no atmosphere—just vibes and sex and confusion. If you’re going to write porn, WRITE PORN. Don’t slap a basilisk on it and call it epic.

The fact that this has a sequel is wild. The fact that people defend it as “unhinged fun” is wilder. This isn’t chaotic genius. This is repetitive, poorly written nonsense with zero payoff.

I finished this book out of spite and only because I promised my book club. Now, I am tired. I am offended. And I will be filing emotional damages.

Fuck this book.

By far the worst book I have ever read. Hands down, if this were not my book club read I would have DNF'ed it.