The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven

Loved this! It had many wonderful and interesting characters and I love a retelling. It’s only book one and I’ll definitely be reading the second one. The story jumped off the pages and I think this author as a unique way of writing. Everything thing about this was well developed and satisfying.
I highly recommend this one!
Thanks Wild Rose Press via NetGalley.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this arc. This story was well written and entertaining. It is a great addition to the world of Camelot. I loved most of the characters with the exception of the step mother.

This was an interesting read that I enjoyed. It follows several people throughout the book and the switch in who was being written about actually flowed pretty well. The book starts with a princess who is coming to terms with her father getting married. When she meets her future step mother she is rocked at her core by an icy, almost evil, feeling. She would quickly discover that her sensing of evil in her step-mother was quite correct. Reminiscent of Snow White the step mother does try to kill the princess and a hunter does spare her life telling her to flee and taking back the queen the heart of an animal instead. Once the princess is on her own she makes it to the house of a woman in the forest who is to help her. Unfortunately, all involved will be betrayed to the evil queen.
After the princess escapes the grip of the queen for a second time she will find herself traveling to the fabled island of Avalon.

A second perspective in this book is that of Tristan, a young man destined to become one of the knights of the round table for King Arthur. In this perspective we also meet Lancelot and learn some of his story.

All of the views and sections end up coming together to wrap this book up. I did feel it was quite dry and many points and I had to force myself onward. There are a couple of chapters that seem to be never ending with way too much unnecessary filler.

The book was more or less enjoyable. 4/5

This book is filled with magical beings, both good and evil; lush forests and medieval castles; knights in shining armor mounted on noble steeds; kings and queens and those who covet their thrones; and love of family, friends, and future mates. Jennifer Ivy Walker writes so descriptively that you can smell the salt air coming in from the ocean as waves roar on shore and feel the wind blow your long hair streaming behind as you race your favorite horse across fields and through forests. Her characters become friends and her villains are hiss-worthy. This very adult fairy tale captures your imagination and makes you eager to see what happens next. I'm definitely continuing the story with the next book. I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This recommendation is strictly my own.