Ana Huang’s latest book in her Kings of Sin series, King of Envy, was released on April 29 and is published by Piatkus Books.
King of Envy by Ana Huang
What is the Book About?
King of Envy follows the supermodel Ayana Kidane, who was introduced in Huang’s previous book King of Sloth.
She is engaged to the CEO of a fashion company named Jordan Ford, with his grandmother Orla falling ill and wanting to see him married soon.
However, this is not a love match as readers will quickly discover, since Jordan has to marry someone to inherit the fashion company.
Additionally, Ayana gets a sum of money from him to payout her modelling contract as she wishes to have a different career path than what her agency wants from her.
Jordan’s best friend, (whom he met in college) Vuk Markovic, is a non-verbal man who is envious of their relationship, and uses sign language to communicate with her.
Known as ‘the Serb’, Vuk is CEO of Markovic Holdings (his alcohol business), Silent Partner of The Vault (a nightclub) and Chairman of Valhalla (an exclusive club for the rich and powerful).
As the book progresses, the protagonists struggle with their emerging romantic feelings as they get to know one another, despite Ayana being engaged.
Vuk doesn’t know that their engagement is a business deal (but that doesn’t stop him) as they have to keep up appearances of being in love to the public.
Readers learn Vuk’s background, from why he rarely speaks to his family history in the mafia that has scarred him.
Also, Ayana struggles with her job as a model, feeling pressured by her agency and manager who are strict and refuse to pay her in full.
As is often with Huang’s books, there is a mysterious subplot that has many twists and turns that leave you wondering who is the culprit.
Lastly, King of Envy is about loyalty and duty versus love and freedom, with the protagonists having their happily ever after.
Who is Ana Huang?
Ana Huang is a Chinese-American author who writes about romance, having released four series and a total of 16 books so far.
Huang first started self-publishing her romance novels during the pandemic as a side gig from her day job in communications.
His first series was the sweet If Love series in 2020, which was a total of four books each with their own tropes.
Afterwards, she released the Twisted series, which was extremely popular, gaining particular praise from BookTok (an online community within TikTok focused on books, largely romance).
The Twisted series is her most popular and recognisable, having collectively sold more than 12 million copies in total.
Since then she has released five out of seven books from her King of Sin series, with the next books being King of Gluttony and King of Lust.
Her newest and ongoing series is the Gods of the Games, which is very different from her other books which are billionaire romances since it is a sports romance series.
In 2024, Huang sold 1,474,194 print copies showing the rise in popularity of the romance genre due to BookTok.
Further evidence of Huang’s success is that her Twisted series has been picked up by Netflix to adapt into a TV show, exciting many fans.
It is still very early in the process as they are still writing the script, but Huang is enjoying the processing of working alongside Netflix.
Why Should I Read This Book?
You should read King of Envy as this book has quite a bit of suspense, with the dynamic between Vuk and Ayanna being more of a slow burn.
I personally find the relationship unique in terms of communication as they largely communicate in sign language at the beginning and in public, but Vuk only speaks verbally to Ayanna since she is the most important person to him.
Vuk is a particularly intriguing character as he is silent and brooding, leaving Ayanna having to wonder what he truly thinks and feels until he feels comfortable enough to open up to her.
Also, Vuk is a morally gray protagonist who is very protective over Ayanna, who harms her manager for threatening her and spies on her modelling agency, in particular the CEO.
Furthermore, you should read King of Envy as readers get to explore seven deadly sins in a contemporary romance format, learning how envy is the initial basis of their relationship.
Ayanna’s relationship with her family is also sweet, with her Ethiopian parents owning a restaurant in Washington D.C. that she worked at from a young age.
Huang’s characters always love each other for who they are, flaws and all, and the other person feels comfortable and seen by the communication.
There is a particularly cute scene in the book where Ayanna gifts Vuk perfume (which is on the cover of the book since she collects perfume and keeps the bottles) and he cherishes it since she blended it for him.
In addition, one side character that is adorable is Vuk’s cat named Shadow after its black fur (which he stumbles upon walking home one night) as Shadow falls in love with him and often appears out of nowhere as Shadow often sneaks into his car.
Huang’s books often have diverse casts as she wishes to “represent that range of experiences, because that is just what the world is … [and I] try to incorporate all of the other types of groups that I can as well” speaking to Marie Claire.
Lastly, romance is a great genre to escape within as no matter what happens to the couple, they'll always have a happily ever after, especially in a world where there's so much chaos and a lot of uncertainty.
by Ayla Vaughan Female First
Tagged in Books Book releases