Raven Kennedy’s Gleam is the third installment in the five-book Plated Prisoner series, which takes place in a fantasy setting of the Six Kingdoms. The Seventh was supposedly destroyed when the realm of the fae destroyed a bridge between their land and the rest of the world, with the fae disappearing for centuries afterward. The story follows the journey of Auren, a woman ensnared by the greedy King Midas of Sixth Kingdom. In the first book, Gild, Auren is introduced as Midas’s “favored,” a prized courtesan kept in a gilded cage in the castle of Highbell. Midas pretends to be able to turn things to gold with his touch, when Auren is the one who secretly has this power.

Manipulated by Midas, she believes him her savior for rescuing her from poverty on the streets of his kingdom; however, her romantic view of him crumbles when he sexually barters her to a political ally. Her life of insulated captivity is shattered when the army of Fourth Kingdom captures her during her travels. The second book, Glint, chronicles her time as a prisoner of the commander of Fourth’s army, Rip. During this period of forced proximity, Auren begins to question the nature of her relationship with Midas and learns to control her own latent fae abilities, which manifest as powerful golden ribbons protruding from her spine.

Her complex dynamic with Rip, who is also secretly fae, evolves from one of captor and captive to a tentative alliance, as he pushes her to acknowledge her own strength and confront the abuse she has endured. When Midas meets with Fourth’s army to negotiate his control over Fifth Kingdom, which he took through deception, Auren is returned to him. However, she rejects his attempts to cage her again. Rip comes to her rescue only to reveal he is Fourth’s ruler, King Slade Ravinger, commanding his own army in secret as a tactical advantage. This betrayal of trust devastates Auren and disrupts their budding romantic bond.