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lilybonilla's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
3.5⭐️/5⭐️
That this was a solid book and a pretty fun read. I think the authors twist on King Author was interesting and entertaining. This is a VERY slow burn enemies to lovers with little spice, but I’m excited to see the development of the main characters relationship in the next book.
I loved the story building in the book. The author took a lot of time to explain and give proper backstory for this fantasy world. I think the downside to this was that it made the book feel a little slow paced. The plot does move along and is entertaining, but I think the first book lays down a lot of ground work for the rest of the series which is why it feels slow.
One thing I really liked about this book is the characters themselves. The way they were written invoked a lot of emotion. I deeply hated a lot of characters and also really loved others. Each character had depth and a purpose. Until the end, I didn’t know who to trust and believe. I also loved how diverse the characters were!
Overall, it’s a pretty solid book and I’m already planning on reading the next book! Happy reading🫶
That this was a solid book and a pretty fun read. I think the authors twist on King Author was interesting and entertaining. This is a VERY slow burn enemies to lovers with little spice, but I’m excited to see the development of the main characters relationship in the next book.
I loved the story building in the book. The author took a lot of time to explain and give proper backstory for this fantasy world. I think the downside to this was that it made the book feel a little slow paced. The plot does move along and is entertaining, but I think the first book lays down a lot of ground work for the rest of the series which is why it feels slow.
One thing I really liked about this book is the characters themselves. The way they were written invoked a lot of emotion. I deeply hated a lot of characters and also really loved others. Each character had depth and a purpose. Until the end, I didn’t know who to trust and believe. I also loved how diverse the characters were!
Overall, it’s a pretty solid book and I’m already planning on reading the next book! Happy reading🫶
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Stalking
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Death of parent
soniajoy98's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Infidelity, Slavery, Kidnapping, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
lexkazokas's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder
Minor: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent
reading_historical_romance's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Arthurian mythos x bodyguard romance trope = ❤️❤️❤️ OMG YES PLEASE
Princess Morgan Pendragon is 20, and the older half-sister of King Arthur, ruler of the Rose Court of Camelot and the kingdom of Pendrath. Her late father feared that Morgan inherited fae blood from her mother, so he named Arthur heir to the throne, and dedicated Morgan to serve as an acolyte to the goddesses beginning on her 21st birthday. Morgan chafes at the idea of being shut away in a temple to perform religious rites, and she fears her brother as she observes his increasingly cruel machinations to grow his power.
Kairos Draven is a mercenary soldier who arrives in Pendrath to join Arthur’s Royal Guards. Morgan soon learns, however, that Kairos’ true mission is to protect her on a dangerous quest. Arthur commands Morgan to locate and extract the mystical sword of Excalibur from the legendary, abandoned fae kingdom of Valtain. Morgan is sickened by the idea of Arthur obtaining a weapon of untold magical power, but she learns that she has no choice but to comply when she is threatened with the lives of her younger brother, friends, and innocent Pendrath citizens should she disobey his wishes.
This is the first book of a medieval fantasy romance series that remixes a number of different tales from the Arthurian literary tradition. Building on this foundation, the author has created her own mythological fantasy realm and original characters. To this point, I disagree with those reviewers who have criticized the author for not being faithful (or faithful enough) to canon in the narrative. This is because there isn’t any such canon in the first place. The Matter of Britain, in which King Arthur figures, is a body of literature created over the 12th-16th centuries. The tales changed throughout that time period, and many of the characters (e.g. Uther Pendragon, Lancelot, Galahad, Merlin) and stories (Excalibur, Lady of the Lake) that appear in this novel were developed in Europe centuries after Arthur first appeared in British text. Arthurian legend continues to be reimagined today, as is the case with this novel.
And I loved it. Absolutely loved it from beginning to end.
Morgan has been a victim of physical, verbal, emotional, and psychological abuse throughout her entire life. She has been conditioned to question all of her thoughts and emotions. What other reviewers have perceived as being weaknesses in her character, I saw as self-doubt, disassociation, and emotional capitulation resulting from years of persistent victimization by her family of origin. One of the main themes of the novel is the development of Morgan’s emotional intelligence and self-awareness.
I love Kairos. We are not supposed to know everything – or really anything of importance – about him as far as his backstory in this novel. For the romance tropes to work over the course of a series, we need to learn who he is as slowly as Morgan does. The fact that this author makes us want to know him, thereby feeling frustration that we don't, is a testament to her writing ability. She is able to intrigue us by seeing Kairos only as Morgan herself sees him. Morgan wants more. So do we!
This is not really a criticism as much as it is curiosity to know why this book is targeted as an adult romance and not as a YA. All of the characters except Kairos read as older teenagers to me. I did not think that the sexual content was spicy enough to warrant "spicy romance" or "only one bed" descriptors. If the sexual content in only a couple of scenes was toned down, this would fall squarely in the YA category, and I think I would have enjoyed it even more going into it with that expectation. The coming-of-age storylines (Morgan, Lancelet, Galahad, Kaye, and even Arthur) are not what a reader of adult fantasy or spicy romance is typically looking for. I think that might be the primary reason that some of the reviews have been more lukewarm than I believe this novel deserves. I am downloading book #2 as we speak!
Romance tropes: bodyguard romance, slow burn, enemies to lovers, hurt/comfort
TW/CW: Thank you to the author for your thoughtful consideration to provide this for the reader. The page number is located in the ToC.
Thank you to NetGalley and Starwater Press for the opportunity to read and review this novel. All opinions are my own.
Princess Morgan Pendragon is 20, and the older half-sister of King Arthur, ruler of the Rose Court of Camelot and the kingdom of Pendrath. Her late father feared that Morgan inherited fae blood from her mother, so he named Arthur heir to the throne, and dedicated Morgan to serve as an acolyte to the goddesses beginning on her 21st birthday. Morgan chafes at the idea of being shut away in a temple to perform religious rites, and she fears her brother as she observes his increasingly cruel machinations to grow his power.
Kairos Draven is a mercenary soldier who arrives in Pendrath to join Arthur’s Royal Guards. Morgan soon learns, however, that Kairos’ true mission is to protect her on a dangerous quest. Arthur commands Morgan to locate and extract the mystical sword of Excalibur from the legendary, abandoned fae kingdom of Valtain. Morgan is sickened by the idea of Arthur obtaining a weapon of untold magical power, but she learns that she has no choice but to comply when she is threatened with the lives of her younger brother, friends, and innocent Pendrath citizens should she disobey his wishes.
This is the first book of a medieval fantasy romance series that remixes a number of different tales from the Arthurian literary tradition. Building on this foundation, the author has created her own mythological fantasy realm and original characters. To this point, I disagree with those reviewers who have criticized the author for not being faithful (or faithful enough) to canon in the narrative. This is because there isn’t any such canon in the first place. The Matter of Britain, in which King Arthur figures, is a body of literature created over the 12th-16th centuries. The tales changed throughout that time period, and many of the characters (e.g. Uther Pendragon, Lancelot, Galahad, Merlin) and stories (Excalibur, Lady of the Lake) that appear in this novel were developed in Europe centuries after Arthur first appeared in British text. Arthurian legend continues to be reimagined today, as is the case with this novel.
And I loved it. Absolutely loved it from beginning to end.
Morgan has been a victim of physical, verbal, emotional, and psychological abuse throughout her entire life. She has been conditioned to question all of her thoughts and emotions. What other reviewers have perceived as being weaknesses in her character, I saw as self-doubt, disassociation, and emotional capitulation resulting from years of persistent victimization by her family of origin. One of the main themes of the novel is the development of Morgan’s emotional intelligence and self-awareness.
I love Kairos. We are not supposed to know everything – or really anything of importance – about him as far as his backstory in this novel. For the romance tropes to work over the course of a series, we need to learn who he is as slowly as Morgan does. The fact that this author makes us want to know him, thereby feeling frustration that we don't, is a testament to her writing ability. She is able to intrigue us by seeing Kairos only as Morgan herself sees him. Morgan wants more. So do we!
This is not really a criticism as much as it is curiosity to know why this book is targeted as an adult romance and not as a YA. All of the characters except Kairos read as older teenagers to me. I did not think that the sexual content was spicy enough to warrant "spicy romance" or "only one bed" descriptors. If the sexual content in only a couple of scenes was toned down, this would fall squarely in the YA category, and I think I would have enjoyed it even more going into it with that expectation. The coming-of-age storylines (Morgan, Lancelet, Galahad, Kaye, and even Arthur) are not what a reader of adult fantasy or spicy romance is typically looking for. I think that might be the primary reason that some of the reviews have been more lukewarm than I believe this novel deserves. I am downloading book #2 as we speak!
Romance tropes: bodyguard romance, slow burn, enemies to lovers, hurt/comfort
TW/CW: Thank you to the author for your thoughtful consideration to provide this for the reader. The page number is located in the ToC.
Thank you to NetGalley and Starwater Press for the opportunity to read and review this novel. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
plush's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
I struggled with this book. The first 100-150 pages especially. I cannot comment on this being an Arthurian retelling because I do not know the original story well enough. I found the book a tad confusing. The book seems to make the assumption that you know these characters, or at least a version of the story, so I think my confusion would be remedied if I knew the original better.
I thought the premise was interesting. The end of the book was dramatic. I think it struggled with pacing, which I understand is difficult, but the end had a lot happening with too little pages. I also wish that Morgan and Draven’s relationship was better fleshed out. I’m assuming that is going to be a major focus of book 2.
My absolute biggest issue with the book, and had this not been an ARC I would have DNF’d, is the fact that trigger warnings are included, but DO NOT include sexual assault/rape.
Spoilers-ish from this point on:
There are explicit scenes that HEAVILY insinuate that Morgan is raped. Nearer to the end of the book, she comments that “it didn’t go that far” but her assailant literally drugged her, tied her to a bed, cut her clothes off, and carved his name into her chest. This is how the chapter ends, and technically no rape occurs on-page, but the implication of the final paragraph seems to heavily insinuate what is about to happen.
“I watched as Florian positioned the dagger over my left arm. As he began cutting away the fabric of my tunic, I closed my eyes, praying to the Three that whatever drug he had slipped into my drink would take me far away again.”
Minimally that is sexual assault. It was very jarring to read, because I did check triggers prior to starting the book, and was extremely surprised that this did not make it into the warning list. I actually stopped reading the book, read a couple others, before deciding to come back to it.
I understand this is supposed to be a darker Romantasy, and I have read The Plated Prisoner series which follows a similar darker vein. I didn’t have a problem with that series. My main issue was that a list was provided, and this very glaring moment was left out. This is not at all a small, throwaway scene. It leaves large ripples in the story, and understandably the main character suffers from it. So, it really isn’t something that was *missed* and not put on the list, rather it seems to have been intentionally left out; either for shock factor or because it is later revealed he “didn’t go all the way” so perhaps the author didn’t think it counted.
I struggled with this book. The first 100-150 pages especially. I cannot comment on this being an Arthurian retelling because I do not know the original story well enough. I found the book a tad confusing. The book seems to make the assumption that you know these characters, or at least a version of the story, so I think my confusion would be remedied if I knew the original better.
I thought the premise was interesting. The end of the book was dramatic. I think it struggled with pacing, which I understand is difficult, but the end had a lot happening with too little pages. I also wish that Morgan and Draven’s relationship was better fleshed out. I’m assuming that is going to be a major focus of book 2.
My absolute biggest issue with the book, and had this not been an ARC I would have DNF’d, is the fact that trigger warnings are included, but DO NOT include sexual assault/rape.
Spoilers-ish from this point on:
There are explicit scenes that HEAVILY insinuate that Morgan is raped. Nearer to the end of the book, she comments that “it didn’t go that far” but her assailant literally drugged her, tied her to a bed, cut her clothes off, and carved his name into her chest. This is how the chapter ends, and technically no rape occurs on-page, but the implication of the final paragraph seems to heavily insinuate what is about to happen.
“I watched as Florian positioned the dagger over my left arm. As he began cutting away the fabric of my tunic, I closed my eyes, praying to the Three that whatever drug he had slipped into my drink would take me far away again.”
Minimally that is sexual assault. It was very jarring to read, because I did check triggers prior to starting the book, and was extremely surprised that this did not make it into the warning list. I actually stopped reading the book, read a couple others, before deciding to come back to it.
I understand this is supposed to be a darker Romantasy, and I have read The Plated Prisoner series which follows a similar darker vein. I didn’t have a problem with that series. My main issue was that a list was provided, and this very glaring moment was left out. This is not at all a small, throwaway scene. It leaves large ripples in the story, and understandably the main character suffers from it. So, it really isn’t something that was *missed* and not put on the list, rather it seems to have been intentionally left out; either for shock factor or because it is later revealed he “didn’t go all the way” so perhaps the author didn’t think it counted.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship
bees_books_lemons's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism and Physical abuse
pjc5355's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
A big thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for granting me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
“Queen of Roses” is an Arthurian-retelling with fae mixed in— it follows Morgan, a part-fae princess of Camelot, as she fights to to help out her struggling kingdom while coming to terms with the fact that her brother, King Arthur, is frankly Not A Good Dude.
If you’re looking for a pretty standard “romantasy” book, I’d suggest this one. The plot and tropes aren’t necessarily unique, but the quality of writing is definitely a step above what I normally see in this genre. The first half felt a bit slow compared to the second half, but the ending really captivated me and I honestly can’t wait for the next book— I’m especially looking forward to learning more of the fae-lore as the series goes on.
This one’s got just a dash of spice— it’s more of a slow-burn start with an expectation of the spice increasing as the series goes on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
katielou26's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
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