A Deal With the Elf King is the first book in the Married to Magic standalone series by USA Today bestselling author Elise Kova.
In this article, you will find answers to some frequently asked questions about this book.
Also, this article contains spoilers. Therefore, if you haven’t read A Deal With the Elf King yet, proceed with caution.
I hope you enjoy reading these, and I hope this post answers some of the questions you may have about this book!
A Deal With the Elf King books in order
A Deal With the Elf King is the first book in the Married to Magic series. To sum up, the series contains two books and one more book announced. All books can be read as a standalone, and therefore they have no reading order. However, if you want a reading order based on release dates it would be;
- A Deal With the Elf King
- A Dance With the Fae Prince
- A Duel With the Vampire Lord
Is this book a standalone?
A Deal With the Elf King is the first book in a series of standalone books. So in a way, A Deal With the Elf King is a standalone but also part of a series.
Does A Deal With the Elf King contain romance?
A Deal With the Elf King contains romance. Basically, the book is a YA Fantasy Romance novel so a big part of the story is about the romance taking place in the book.
Books similar to A Deal With the Elf King
Below you can find some books you can read if you enjoyed A Deal With the Elf King.
- A Dance With the Fae Prince by Elise Kova – This is the “second” book in the Married to Magic series. This book also takes place in Midscape but follows two different protagonists.
- When Whishes Bleed by Casey L. Bond – One Prince. One Witch. One Fate. This book is about a witch who reads a prince’s fortune. After that she gets an invitation to join twelve other women in vying to be the prince’s wife and future queen.
- Gilded Rose by Emma Hamm – This is a twist on the tale of Beauty and the Beast. Set to destroy the curse that made the king of the Dread a beast.
- Court of Bitter Thorn by Kay L. Moody – This is a book about humans and Fae with a lot of action and intrigue.
- Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin – Firstly a witch on the run from her mother who wants her dead. Secondly forced to marry a chasseur who hunts witches. Action packed with a spice of romance.
Bonus Scene (Contains Spoilers)
There is a bonus scene. However, this is not inside the book.
In the conclusion you can register your email address on Elise Kova’s website and through that get an email with the bonus scene.
The Bonus scene takes place 2 years after the ending of A Deal With the Elf King.
During this scene, we learn that Eldas and Luella have a daughter of around 8 to 10 months named Aruna.
They find out Aruna also has magic and that Eldas’ brother Drestin is expecting another baby.
In the end, Drestin tells Eldas a story and that is the real ending.
I have a feeling this has to do with the “next” book, A Dance with the Fae Prince.
Does this book have a map?
Yes, A Deal With the Elf King contains a map. Below you can see the map that is in the book in full color.
Is A Deal With the Elf King enemies to lovers?
In a way, A Deal With the Elf King is a enemies-to-lovers.
Luella is forced to marry the Elf King, Eldas, and is forced away from her life as a healer.
So she does hate Eldas, but not in the way they want to kill each other before growing to love each other.
They soon get to know each other more and their feelings for one another start to grow with that.
[SPOILERS]
Is it spicy?
There isn’t a lot of spice in A Deal With the Elf King.
There is a kissing scene and one sex scene that’s isn’t very descriptive.
In short, it is written in a way that you know this scene is happening at that point but it is still suitable for older teenage audiences.
What is it about?
The elves come for two things: war and wives. And unfortunately, in both cases this means death.
Three thousand years ago, humans were hunted by powerful races with wild magic until a treaty was formed. Now, for centuries, the elves have taken a young woman from Luella’s village to be their Human Queen.
To be chosen is seen as a mark of death by the townsfolk. A mark nineteen-year-old Luella is grateful to have escaped as a girl. Instead, she’s dedicated her life to studying herbology and becoming the town’s only healer.
That is, until the Elf King unexpectedly arrives… for her.
Everything Luella had thought she’d known about her life, and herself, was a lie. Taken to a land filled with wild magic, Luella is forced to be the new queen to a cold yet blisteringly handsome Elf King. Once there, she learns about a dying world that only she can save.
The magical land of Midscape pulls on one corner of her heart while her home and people tug on another. But what will truly break her is a passion she never wanted.
Is A Deal With the Elf King YA?
A Deal With the Elf King is tagged as Young Adult. However, it is also tagged as New Adult due to one scene in the book. As I mentioned, the sex scene isn’t explicit or very descriptive. Thus, I think this book would be suitable for older teenagers.
[SPOILERS]
How does A Deal With the Elf King end?
A Deal With the Elf King has a happy ending.
Luella breaks the cycle of human queens needed for the throne to feed the lands of Midscape.
With this, Luella leaves for her own land already in love with Eldas.
Once there and reunited with her parents she finds out she doesn’t belong there anymore and runs away. Then she has a run-in with her mother, ultimately having a good chat with her.
Luella knows now she wants to be with Eldas but only one blessed by the king can go through the fade.
Luella knows no way back until she thinks of Hook and calls for him. Hook helps her to get back to Midscape, and there Luella proclaims her love for Eldas.
Editions
A Deal With the Elf King has multiple editions. There are the normal paperbacks and hardbacks. All hardbacks contain gorgeous art on the naked cover both front and back.
Bookish Box
The Bookish Box edition contains an alternative dust jacket with art on the reverse of the jacket. It also has Stenciled edges, foiled art on the naked cover, artwork on the inside of the book, custom endpapers, and is signed by Elise Kova.
Faecrate
Then there is the Faecrate edition. This edition has the regular cover but contains a very different gorgeous art on the naked cover. It also has solid sprayed edges and comes with a signed bookplate.
Conclusion
I hope this article has answered some of your questions about this book.
And I hope that, if you have any questions I didn’t get to answer in this post, you will let me know in the comments below!
