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⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ 4/5
Here's the setup: a bodyguard who has exactly two rules, and a princess whose entire personality is built around breaking rules she didn't agree to.
You already know what happens to rule number two.
Twisted Games by Ana Huang is a slow-burn, forbidden royal romance, and it's book two in the Twisted series, though you don't need book one to follow what's going on here.
Listen to it if you like your romance slow, tense, and a little bit doomed on paper.
Skip it if you want the leads together by hour two.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Title | Twisted Games |
| Author | Ana Huang |
| Narrator(s) (audiobook) | Aiden Snow, Cindy Kay |
| Series | Twisted, Book 2 (works as a standalone) |
| Genre | Contemporary Romance |
| Subgenre | Royal romance, bodyguard romance, forbidden love |
| Audiobook length | 13 hours 14 minutes (Unabridged) |
| First published | July 29, 2021 |
| Publisher | Tantor Audio |
Rhys Larsen is an elite bodyguard with two rules he's never once been tempted to break.
Protect the client. Don't fall for the client.
Then he's assigned to Princess Bridget von Ascheberg, who has a stubborn streak that matches his own and absolutely no patience for being managed.
When her brother abdicates, Bridget is suddenly staring down a future she never wanted: a political marriage, a throne, none of it chosen by her.
The one person standing close enough to notice how much that's crushing her is also the one person she's not allowed to want.
You can feel where it's headed from the first few chapters.
Getting there is the whole point.
Rhys is the controlled one. Clinical, almost, in how hard he holds the line at the start.
That's what makes it land when the line finally breaks. You've watched him hold it for so long that the crack actually means something.
Bridget doesn't play the passive princess role either. She pushes, she argues, she calls him out.
I liked that Bridget's story doesn't disappear behind the romance. She actually feels like her own character first, and Rhys's love interest second.
Their chemistry isn't built on witty banter or instant sparks. It's built on restraint. Every scene where one of them almost says the thing and doesn't carries more weight than a big declaration would.
That's a harder kind of tension to write well, and it mostly works here.
The royal backdrop gives this one a different shape than most bodyguard romances. There's actual political weight pressing down on Bridget's choices, not just family drama dressed up as stakes.
I also liked that her arc isn't only "falls for her protector." Underneath the romance, it's about a woman with zero say over her own life trying to claim some of it back.
Now the honest part.
This is a slow burn in the truest sense, and the pacing shows it. The middle stretch spends a lot of time in Rhys and Bridget's heads before much actually happens between them, and if you're someone who wants forward momentum from page one, that section might test your patience.
Twisted Games is narrated in duet style by Aiden Snow and Cindy Kay, one voice for each POV.
That structure earns its keep here. The book alternates between Rhys and Bridget's perspectives constantly, and having two distinct narrators means you never lose track of whose head you're in, even mid-chapter.
Snow's performance suits Rhys well. A lot of that character's arc is about what he refuses to say out loud, and that kind of restraint is genuinely tricky to pull off in audio. You can hear him holding back, which is basically the entire tension of the role.
At just over 13 hours, unabridged, it's a manageable listen without feeling rushed. Good for a week of commutes or a couple of long drives, and the dual narration keeps things moving even through the slower middle chapters.
Good fit if you like a slow burn where the tension is the entire draw.
Good fit if forbidden, bodyguard-and-royal dynamics are your thing.
Good fit if you want dual narration that actually makes the alternating POV easier to follow.
Not the best fit if you'd rather have fast pacing over a long emotional build.
Not the best fit if brooding, guarded heroes aren't your type of hero.
Twisted Games by Ana Huang, Book 2 in the Twisted series, may be available to borrow free on both Libby and Hoopla with a public library card, depending on your library's collection. Alternatively, the Start Free Trial Now button on this page can help you get started — check the trial page for current terms and what's included.
I expected a light, easy royal romance going in and ended up with something that sat a little heavier than that, in a good way.
It's not without its slow patches, and the setup takes longer to pay off than it probably needed to.
But when Rhys finally stops holding the line, it's worth the wait.
Want to give it a try? New members can listen through a 30-day audiobook free trial, which makes Twisted Games an easy one to try if you're curious about the hype.
