Not very fond of this story. I picked it originally because it was set in the Scotland of old, post the Rising, and I normally enjoy stories written in this era.
It starts off at Lochamben castle and through the story moves to various parts of Scotland and border England. Christina lives at Lochamben with her brothers, grandfather and father. She’s a girl so her only purpose is to make an advantageous marriage but she has different ideas. Her grandfather trusts her above any of his offspring, but through the story I felt that the character loses her strength.
The story also keeps going on like a history book, with events merely noted, all the wars and skirmishes and action have no personal touch so it got a bit monotonous after a while. I’d rather the story have less content but more detail from each war. I wanted to know more about what was going through each characters minds when events were happening around them but it didn’t happen that way.

I loved the atmosphere of this, but I found the characters disappointingly flat. I think there is potential here but I felt I was waiting for it to become the novel I had set out to read, which it never did.

I alternated between three and four stars while reading and ultimately settled on three. As a US American with a Scottish-born grandmother from the Wallace family, stories about William Wallace and the war fascinate me. And this was a good story with a unique angle. The Christina Bruce in this story is a badass - she schemes, she travels, she gets stuff done. It was a thoroughly enjoyable read that I think anyone who enjoys historical fiction will similarly enjoy.

My struggles with the book were mostly annoyances that distracted me from being fully immersed in the story. First, smirking seemed to be used as a plot device. There were a few scenes where multiple people were smirking. It's a rare enough word that when used so frequently and in this way, it's incredibly distracting. Secondly, there were a few awkward foreshadowing and cliffhanger attempts. Something would happen that had a direct impact on an upcoming event - it's based on history, we know it's coming - but instead of letting it play out, we would get something along the lines of, "little did Christina know just how much it would change." It felt clumsy and ultimately unnecessary.

My biggest issue and the reason I chose three stars over four was the brevity of the author's note at the end. With a historical fiction novel, I like to know at the end what was actually real and what was the author filling in the blanks. Instead, we got one paragraph stating we don't know much about her other than her parents, her husband, and another fact not within the scope of this book. I would have liked to know why and how the author chose to fit Christina into the events of the war and even which of the events are true.

Summary:
Scotland, 1295.
Edward I of England wants control of Scotland. A man named John Balliol wears the Scottish crown but not for long. Christina Bruce is a daughter of Robert Bruce. When the story begins he is in Norway with her older sister Isabel. Christina lives with her grandfather, also Robert Bruce. She’s betrothed to a man she doesn’t love. She avoids this arrangement. She is a woman of determination and rebellion. In an era when females were under the control of their fathers, Christina is not a woman who will obey.
Throughout the story, Christina seems to be in the right place at the right time to become involved with a strong historical figure involved in the Wars of Independence. For example, William Wallace. Without being said, she has a reputation as a wise person who can be counted on for planning and carrying out missions.
My Thoughts:
To Crown a King is my kind of historical fiction. I love Scottish history. I love this time period. And, to top it off, I read about an ancestral family member in the story. I’m not going to name him, because he made a history defining poor choice. I read somewhere else he later apologized.
Christina is a story hero I love. She has strength, maturity, boldness, wisdom, and insight. She’s an imperfect person and this makes her both enduring, likable, and believable. I do have a slight problem with her being in the right place at the right time so often. This seems staged. However, later in the story this “right place” ends.
I like the story, because it is a story that’s not been told until this book.
I like this story, because William Wallace is a character I enjoy reading. He is a likable fellow. He is shown not as a machismo type, but he’s shown as a thinking, observing, guileful warrior.
To Crown a King shows the Scottish noble families and who they aligned with; of course, sometimes they changed to another leader. This story told me people betray those thought to be trusted.
The story is in an era when the brutality of war and aggression is common. It’s also a time when vengeance and revenge is expected.
The Scottish people did not want their land to be controlled by the English king. They were ready to fight and lay down their lives for freedom. This is the number one theme.
The culture of women is shown. However, Christina is a remarkable character for this era.

This book was received from the Author, and Publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

From the award winning author, Raedene Jeannette Melin, To Crown A King is a rich empowering story of Christina Bruce, based on the real life sister of King Robert the Bruce, and her struggle between family loyalty and Scottish freedom. Scotland in 1295 and The Kingdom is on the verge of rebellion. This incredible book is based on the real life sister of King Robert the Bruce.
During this feudal and chaotic times, Scotland and its people are struggling under
the weight of King Edward of desire to conquer all the northern realm, at whatever cost. A deadly tribal conflict between Comyn kin and that of England, the Bruce family, the only noble house to rival the Comyns, sides with the English King. Christina Bruce is loyalties lie with her father and family, but at what cost.
This is a thought provoking, powerful dramatic historical fiction of one woman’s journey, and ultimately the freedom of Scotland


#ToCrownAKing

"To Crown A King" is the empowering tale of Christina Bruce and her struggle between family loyalty and Scottish freedom. This book helps readers discover her untold story and follow along as she takes her destined place in history.
Born into Scotland's influential Bruce family, Christina is expected to obey her father and side with England. But she believes that Scotland should be free, and her grandfather did, too, and challenged her to think for herself and follow her dream. A chance meeting with an outlaw named William Wallace brings her into the conflict, and she risks everything to get what she wants most – freedom.
Author Raedene Jeannette Melin does a good job writing in a descriptive, engaging way, The book contains tons of characters, though, and it's easy to get confused about who's on which side. Too much telling rather than showing bogs the book down in the last half, too.
Overall, this book is an interesting read. It prompted me to do more research on Christina and her country's history. I also drew parallels between Christina's world and our world today. "Inhumanity (from England's King Edward toward his Scottish subjects) was building rebellion." We can see the same thing happen today and must decide if we'll stand on the side of tradition or forge our own path on behalf of freedom.

I would suggest having some sort of pre-knowledge of the period in order to keep track of the characters in this fictional account of Cristina de Brus at the time of the Scottish Wars of Independence in the 13th century.

The book, for me, was a quick read. Whilst attracted to the premise of focusing on a rarely explored period in Scottish history and bringing to the fore one of the less-known Bruce women, I really felt no connection with the character of Cristina.

I could also not decide if this is a single story or part of something more.

Two stars is being quite generous.

As a fan of historical fiction, I was pleased to read this excellent book by Raedene Jeannette Melin. As the sister of Robert Bruce, Christina Bruce was an important player in the history of Scottish independence from Britain. Although finding herself in opposition to her father and brother, she maintained her ideals and fundamental belief to protect her family. Recommended reading.

To Crown A King is a story of Christina Bruce. Sister to Robert the Bruce she gets caught up in the struggles between Bruce & Comyns.

Her father's allegiance is to England - this causes issues in the family & when she gets involved with William Wallace -this complicates things further.

Torn between her family loyalties & her belief in Wallace's stance.

Quite a good read - characters were well rounded - but strayed a bit at times - especially when Christina rode off on her own

But overall - worth a read.

The setting is Scotland in 1295 and The Kingdom is on the verge of rebellion. Christina Bruce, an influential person during the Scottish Wars.
Her father pledges allegiance to King Edward of England and she is left to make tough decisions for her family and herself.
Will Christina and her siblings follow their father's orders as War descends?
The author did a wonderful job and I very much would like to know and read more about Christina Bruce, sister to Robert the Bruce, crowned the King of Scotland. Fast paced and I had to read to the very end.

Thank you to Publisher and NetGalley for the eARC

A fast paced book about Christina Bruce, sister of Robert Bruce of Scotland. This is an enjoyable book. It will have many mixed reviews because of the way it's written. Not for everyone.
Thank you,Netgalley for my review ARC!

To Crown a King by Jeannette Melin presents a well-edited and prepared book entrenched in the world of King Edward aligned with 1295 historical events. I issued the book with a five-star rating because I appreciated the quality of presentation of the historical information presented in the book. I relished the manner the author described the historical events in an informative but enjoyable manner. The historical fiction provides one with the ability to learn and gain an in-depth insight into challenges experienced by different nations, communities and lands. The book allows the reader to develop an understanding of the Scottish crown history and the extremes that people aspired to achieve levels of freedom.

I enjoyed reading about Christina Bruce, her role in the powerful family and relation to the Scots. Her strong character displayed in the book provided an interesting approach and highlighted the difficulties that women had during the time.

I appreciated the author's summary of Christina Bruce's historical background who presents a main character in the book. It makes the reader excited to read any further books that may appear.

In summary, the author invested time to research but also present an enjoyable book open for reading to all individuals interested in the British history of 1295. If a person appreciates the historical time and enjoys reading about the English versus the Scots, this book presents all you need.

I love historical fiction and although I know that this is fiction I still expect the historical parts to be believable. This one however just didn't follow along with that aspect of historical at least not with what I have devoured in the past. This book as very VERY fast paced. Within 3% of the title the MC was sent to collect the rents and killed someone that attacked her and then that person ended up being a spy. It was just way way over the top within the first few pages. I wished that the story would have taken the time for me to get to know the characters and then the story itself.

Other then what I learned while watching Braveheart, I know very little about the history of Scotland. This novel intrigued me as it focuses on a young woman from an influential noble family in 1295 Scotland. Christina Bruce, a descendant of Celtic & Norman kings, was an influential person during the Scottish Wars of Independence, however, very little is truly known about her. While her father pledges loyalty to England, she is left to make tough decisions for herself & her family.

What I loved: Christina 's character. She is brave, fierce & loyal to a fault sometimes. The author takes great detail in fleshing out Christina's life & her role in the Scottish War. And there is a lot of history & historical events that I really enjoyed reading about. And Christina's relationships with her family & the heads of the other noble families is full of drama. I also loved the special relationship Christina develops with William Wallace.

What I didn't: There are a lot of characters to keep track of. Some that disappear for a bit & then show up just when you've forgotten about them. The story struggles with pacing & can be a bit slow in parts (lots of riding back & forth.) It is also very heavy on the history which I actually enjoyed. However, there were parts where the events felt rushed through that should have been elaborated on more fully & character's motives detailed a bit more.

To Crown A King is rich on history and drama. What it lacks in pacing, it makes up for with a strong female character, an interesting family dynamic & leaves you wanting more.

I received an ARC of this novel through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

To Crown A King is a story of Christina Bruce. Sister to Robert the Bruce she is noble born in Scotland and finds herself embroiled in the rivalry between the Comyns and Bruce families. Her father has sworn allegiance to King Edward of England placing her and her siblings in a very difficult position.

On a chance meeting she meets William Wallace, a man who seeks the same thing as her, freedom!

As war descends, Christina finds she cannot follow her father's orders but will her siblings?

I quite enjoyed this but it did get a bit tiresome reading about Christina going off on her horse alone to all these different places.

I liked some of the characters like Cailean and Wallace ( I may be biased as I adore Braveheart) but I found myself wanting more from Christina and Seton. I wanted to know more of her thoughts and his. I think those two could have been developed a lot better.

That being said it was an enjoyable read and I would like to read more so I hope there's a sequel.

I am big fan of historical fiction but this one did not hit the mark for me. There were brief moments of intrigue, but overall I was mostly left wanting more. I believe more character and plot development was needed to prevent the story line from remaining stagnant.

Recipe of this novel: Christina rides somewhere, discussions are had, she rides somewhere else... throw in some expressions of tiredness and repeat.

Historically based on Christina Bruce, Sister of the Scottish Robert Bruce. Although based on historical facts I felt the character development had not been researched or written about well. Am sure a woman of such high standing would not have been without waiting women or at least a maid in constant attendance. She does a lot of jumping onto her horse and riding away with no thought to any of this. The book is a useful tool to investigate Scottish history - a period often selected, however I would have really liked to have gotten more into Christina's 'head'. There is little description of her everyday dress, feelings or female companions. It was a good read, could have been improved greatly had it really looked Christina's whole life, not just her actions going from one place to another.

To Crown a King by Raedene Jeanette Melin is the fictionalized story of Christina Bruce, the sister of Robert the Bruce, and the struggle of William Wallace to win Scotland's independence. Little is documented of Christina but Melin has taken what there is and made in into a wonderful story, reminiscent of many of the Wallace and Robert Bruce stories already written, but from a new perspective. Christina is unique among women of the time, and yet extremely traditional. She outlived many of her contemporary rebels, living to marry twice and support the cause courageously.

To Crown a King is an extremely readable book and Christina a very sympathetic character. The plot was what it was and Melin managed to uncomplicate it and make it accessible to a lover of history but not a non-fiction reader. The struggle is real and has been going on for a thousand years...still is today although not nearly as violently as in the past. I recommend this book highly for any lover of history or of Scotland.

I received a free ARC of To Crown a King from Netgalley. All opinions and interpretations contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #tocrownaking

This story focuses on the character of Christina Bruce, based on the real life sister of King Robert the Bruce.

This felt more like a middle grade or a very young teen novel rather than a full on historical fiction book. The writing was very basic and I felt that a lot of it would have been a little bit of a stretch for the times - I doubt Christina would have been left on her own for her to keep bumping into strange men left, right, and centre.

BUT! I would take this review with a grain of salt as I have been in a terrible slump for a little while and nothing has made me happy reading wise. By all means, if this summary catches your eye, please give it a go!

This story is a retelling of the history of the first war of Scottish independence depicted in Braveheart from the female perspective. Christina Bruce, sister to Robert the Bruce, is the central character and according to this version of the story was a pivotal character in history.

This story was action packed covering this time period in Scottish history from many different aspects. It depicts the stark violence of the time and how little influence women had in the time period. Contrasting that, Christina is a dynamo who is every bit as fierce and cunning as the rest of her family often going toe to toe with heads of rival Scottish families, English lords and even William Wallace himself.

I enjoyed the story, although I strongly doubt its probability, it was nice to reimagine the events as told. I appreciated that the story was told with conflict and emotion without being overly dramatic simply because the protagonist was a female. Melin’s approach to writing female-centric historical fiction reminded me of Phillippa Gregory or Alison Weir. This was a great read whether you know Scottish history or are looking to learn some more about it (this is an easy toe-dip in for those intimidated by heavy historical depictions). The only hitch for me was that the ending totally left me wanting more, hopefully a continuation is in the works!