King of Envy by Ana Huang

A Forbidden Romance Filled With Obsession, Loyalty and Desire

King of Envy by Ana Huang is the fifth novel in the bestselling Kings of Sin series, an interconnected collection of contemporary romances centred on powerful, wealthy men and the women who challenge them.

This installment follows Vuk Markovic and Ayana Kidane, two characters whose attraction becomes increasingly difficult to ignore despite one major obstacle: Ayana is engaged to Vuk’s oldest friend.

Sourcebooks officially describes King of Envy as an adult contemporary romance combining billionaire glamour, intense chemistry, morally grey devotion and a suspenseful undercurrent.

Vuk Markovic

Vuk Markovic is dangerous, powerful and deeply private.

He is known for avoiding unnecessary social interaction and keeping his circle extremely small. Scarred and intimidating, he rarely lets people close enough to understand him.

There is one exception.

Ayana.

Vuk noticed her long before she became engaged to his friend, and his attraction has only become more difficult to suppress as the wedding approaches.

His conflict lies between two competing loyalties: the friendship he is expected to protect and the woman he cannot stop wanting.

The official publisher description positions Vuk as a reclusive billionaire whose emotional restraint is tested by his growing attachment to Ayana.

Ayana Kidane

Ayana appears to have everything.

She is beautiful, successful and internationally recognised as a supermodel.

To the public, her engagement looks like another part of her glamorous life.

In reality, the relationship is a business arrangement.

Her fiancé needs the marriage to secure his inheritance, while Ayana needs the financial independence that will allow her to leave an abusive modelling agency.

The agreement is supposed to be straightforward.

Then Vuk becomes impossible to ignore.

Ayana is both drawn to and unsettled by him. His intensity frightens her, but he also becomes the person she feels safest with when her carefully controlled life begins to fall apart.

Forbidden Attraction

One of the strongest romance elements in King of Envy is forbidden attraction.

Vuk believes Ayana should have been his from the beginning, but pursuing her means betraying one of the few people he considers family.

Ayana, meanwhile, knows that acting on her feelings could destroy the arrangement protecting her career and future.

This conflict gives the romance a strong tension between desire, loyalty and self-preservation.

Beauty and the Beast Dynamic

The story also uses a noticeable beauty-and-the-beast style dynamic.

Ayana is a glamorous public figure whose beauty is part of her professional identity.

Vuk is scarred, intimidating and uncomfortable with public attention.

Their contrast extends beyond appearance.

Ayana’s world revolves around fashion, public image and carefully managed perception, while Vuk prefers privacy, silence and control.

This makes their attraction feel unexpected even before the complications of Ayana’s engagement are taken into account.

Kings of Sin Series

King of Envy is officially Book 5 in Ana Huang’s Kings of Sin series. Sourcebooks and Ana Huang’s official reading order confirm the sequence.

The current reading order is:

1. King of Wrath
2. King of Pride
3. King of Greed
4. King of Sloth
5. King of Envy
6. King of Gluttony
7. King of Lust

Ana Huang confirms King of Envy as the fifth book, featuring Vuk and Ayana.

The novels are designed as interconnected standalones, meaning King of Envy can be read on its own. However, reading the earlier books provides additional context for recurring characters and relationships. Sourcebooks explicitly confirms that the novel works as a standalone.

Romance Tropes and Themes

Readers can expect elements including:

• Forbidden romance
• Billionaire romance
• Best friend’s fiancée
• Beauty and the Beast dynamic
• Morally grey hero
• Obsession
• Fake / business engagement
• Forced emotional proximity
• High society
• Supermodel heroine
• Protective hero
• Loyalty versus desire
• Contemporary romance
• Suspense elements

Adult Romance

King of Envy is written for an adult audience.

Sourcebooks describes it as a high-heat contemporary romance with emotionally charged power dynamics and strong sexual chemistry.

It is therefore best categorised as adult contemporary romance rather than YA romance.

Who May Enjoy This Book

This novel may appeal especially to readers who enjoy:

• Ana Huang’s Twisted series
• Billionaire romance
• Morally grey heroes
• Forbidden-love stories
• High-society settings
• Darker contemporary romance
• Interconnected romance series
• Possessive or protective heroes
• Glamorous New York settings

About Ana Huang

Ana Huang is a bestselling romance author known for the Twisted, Kings of Sin and Gods of the Game series.

Her official website confirms that King of Envy is part of the Kings of Sin reading order and highlights the novel as one of her major bestselling romance releases.

Her stories are known for alpha heroes, ambitious heroines, strong romantic tension, interconnected characters and guaranteed happily-ever-after endings.

For readers already following the Kings of Sin series, King of Envy continues the world with one of its most intense forbidden-romance pairings.