# A Deal with the Elf King by Elise Kova

### A Deal with the Elf King

**Elise Kova** · Married to Magic, book 1 of 4 (complete) · [https://houseofareader.com/books/a-deal-with-the-elf-king](https://houseofareader.com/books/a-deal-with-the-elf-king)

Every hundred years the elf king takes a human bride, and this time it is the village herbalist who has been quietly preparing for it. A short, contained fantasy romance that resolves entirely within its own covers.

- Spice: 3/5 — Hot. Two or three explicit scenes, moderate in length and clearly signposted.
- Romance prominence: 5/5
- Plot: 3/5
- Worldbuilding: 3/5
- Darkness: 2/5
- Writing craft: 3/5
- Burn: medium
- Tropes: fake-dating, forced-proximity, fated-mates, touch-starved, he-falls-first
- Creatures: fae, humans
- Setting: Midscape, the elven realm beyond the human world
- POV: first person
- Ending: happy ever after
- Audience: adult
- Content warnings: grief, peril, arranged marriage
- Best for: Readers who want a fae marriage plot that finishes in one book.
- Last verified: 2026-08-28

## Sources

- https://openlibrary.org/search?q=A+Deal+with+the+Elf+King+Elise+Kova

## What to read next

- [These Hollow Vows](https://houseofareader.com/books/these-hollow-vows) by Lexi Ryan — spice 2/5. ACOTAR readers who want the fae courts at a much lower spice level.
- [A Court of Thorns and Roses](https://houseofareader.com/books/a-court-of-thorns-and-roses) by Sarah J. Maas — spice 3/5. Anyone who wants to understand what the entire genre has been arguing about since 2015.
- [Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries](https://houseofareader.com/books/emily-wildes-encyclopaedia-of-faeries) by Heather Fawcett — spice 1/5. ACOTAR readers who want the fae bargains with wit instead of spice.
- [The Bridge Kingdom](https://houseofareader.com/books/the-bridge-kingdom) by Danielle L. Jensen — spice 3/5. Readers who want a marriage-of-convenience spy plot and a series that is finished.

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Ratings are editorial judgements applied against a published scale at
https://houseofareader.com/lessons/spice, not aggregated reader scores. Editorial policy:
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