The Barbarian King's Assassin (Magic and Kings Book 1)
by Eve Langlais
REVIEW POSTED ONLINE: JUL 17, 2026
At the age of nine, Ilyana is rescued from execution at the cost of becoming an assassin's apprentice. Since then, killing is all she's known until the barbarian king gets the best of her and she finds herself tied up on the back of a horse. Instead of killing her for the attempt on his life, the king persuades her to put her talents toward protecting him instead which means she'll be stuck to his side like glue.
AUTHOR: Eve Langlais
PUB DATE: FEB 22, 2022
GENRES: Romantic Fantasy
CATEGORIES: Secret Heir, Dragons, Forced Proximity, Slow Burn, Assassins, Magic
REVIEW
What I Liked:
The banter between Ilyana and Konstantin was so much fun to read. The diminutive assassin constantly feeling like she had to prove her abilities to the giant northerners to offset her appearance as the king's mistress due to the fake relationship strategy was hilarious when she had the habit of accidentally getting herself into horrible situations.
Fair Warning:
The story is slow burn with many interrupted attempts at intimacy which you will either love or not love.
Overall:
Once I got into The Barbarian King's Assassin, I loved it and finished it quickly. Konstantin doesn't appear until a few chapters in and the story really picked up for me once he was there to be the target of Ilyana's verbal barbs. In some ways, the story reminded me a lot of a Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet, which I also loved.
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)
Heat Index: 🔥🔥🔥 (3/5)