The Broken Elf King is the second book in the Kings of Avalier series by Leia Stone. The reader is taken to Archmere, the kingdom of the elves. Kailani, our FMC, finds herself in the throes of slavery. However, a chance incident bestows her the position of personal assistant to none other than King Raife Lightstone himself. Having witnessed the poisoning of his entire family by the Queen of Nightfall, Raife is a traumatised and distrusting person. His deep-rooted hatred for the Queen of Nightfall is consuming him, which is why he finds himself incapable of thinking about anything else but the demise of the Queen. The life of a king is no bed of roses, so it is not surprising that Raife is being forced by his council to marry. Being unable to find a suitable candidate, he talks Kailani into a fake-marriage farce, just to get the council off his back. Which sets out as a game of play pretend turns into a tale of love. I like that the female main characters in this series are all strong, capable, intelligent, and brave young women. The love story between Kailani and Raife is full of suspense, as we constantly wonder whether Raife will be able to let someone into his heart. His trauma is too deep, and his struggle between his feelings and his fear of losing her seems to paralyse him. It remains suspenseful till the end. Unfortunately, the writing could not win me over. The author’s word choices were not aligned with the world in which the story is set. Even the fact that Kailani comes from Nightfall, where technological advancements are common, could not change the awkwardness some passages created.