A witch without magic. A king without a heart. A wonderland falling apart at the seams.
Ellie Strife never cared about getting caught as long as she got her revenge. But after she fails to cast her second curse on the king’s twelve daughters, she is banished to the Mad Lands—a place where logic ceases to exist, flower vases sprout legs, and the unexpected becomes the norm.
Rylan Rhapsody, the unpredictable King of Hearts, is a man who hides more than one secret behind his smile. Chaotic, charming, and powerful magic of his own, Rylan is just as likely to make you lose your mind with his babbling alone as he is to make another ridiculous decree.
After getting his heart stolen from him, quite literally, Ellie must help him get it back. She needs his heart to restore her stolen magic. Rylan needs her cunning to save Wonderland from falling into a state of destruction.
What begins as a reluctant partnership spirals into something unexpectedly dangerous: love. But when their adversary makes their move on the chessboard, only one of them can pay the price. And in Wonderland, even love demands a sacrifice.
Falling for the Mad King is the sixth book in the To Win a Dark Heart series which retells fairytales as old as time, but this time it’s the villain’s turn to get a happy ending.
The series
In this shadow tinged collection, familiar fairy tales tilt just slightly off their axis. The stories linger where old legends rarely pause, inside the thoughts of characters who usually stand at the edges of the light. The series, To Win a Dark Heart, follows figures shaped by curses, broken loyalties, and the kind of longing that thrives where magic and danger meet.
Read full series description
Each novella steps into a different corner of enchanted lore. You might cross paths with a witch who guards her solitude like a shield, or a fae whose heart has hardened after centuries of betrayal. Their worlds are textured with quiet forests, forgotten ruins, and spells that hum beneath every choice they make. The romance that grows within these pages leans more toward tension than sweetness, the kind that builds slowly as trust becomes more dangerous than any curse.
There is a constant thread running through the series, even as each story stands on its own. Every tale asks what happens when the so called villain is no longer reduced to a single role. When their motives, griefs, and fierce hopes are allowed room to breathe, the line between hero and monster begins to blur. That shift creates a mood that readers of dark romantic fantasy often crave, the feeling that something ancient and meaningful is unfolding just out of sight.
The author’s voice carries a quiet intensity, using atmosphere rather than spectacle to draw you deeper. The emotional pull comes from characters who are guarded yet vulnerable, powerful yet lonely, each of them navigating a world where magic is both temptation and threat.
For anyone who enjoys fairy tale retellings with a darker pulse, morally gray characters, low spice romantic tension, and immersive settings shaped by myth, this series offers an experience that feels both familiar and new. It hints at danger, desire, and the possibility that even the most guarded heart can be won, though never easily.
If you step into these stories, expect curses that tangle with fate, secrets that reshape old tales, and romances built on fragile trust rather than perfect endings. The shadows do not swallow everything. Sometimes they reveal what the light never could.
#1 · 2026Falling For the Trickster 
#2 · 2026Falling for the Doomed Bride 
#3 · 2026Falling for the Winged Witch 
#4 · 2026Falling for the Crystal Fae 
#5 · 2026Falling For the Pirate 
#6 · 2026Falling for the Mad King 
#7 · 2026Falling for the Sorcerer 
#8 · 2026Falling for the Wolf 
#9 · 2026Falling for the Enchantress 
#10 · 2026Falling for the Pied Piper 
#11 · 2026Falling for the Dark Mage 
#12 · 2026Falling for the Huntsman Be the first reviewer
Sign in and write the first reader review.
