After her parents, the king and queen are murdered, Rosemund goes into hiding with her parents trusted advisor Jacob. The man her father appointed as regent is who she suspects of having them killed, and now he is the acting leader of Anduron. Jacob uses this time to teach Rosemund how to defend herself, how to survive in the wild, and getting to know the people of her country.
Sir Jake is becoming more bold and dangerous in his time as regent. He is forcing heavy taxes on the people and not providing help during a drought. Rose and Jacob, known in town as Grandfather Arthur and Silas, take the surplus they have to the people of their village. Rose has determined to take back the thrown and is waiting for the right time. Unfortunately, that time comes too soon when Rose has to leave suddenly with Maxwell, a friend, and ultimately watches the life she's known for the past year or so destroyed.
Harnessing her anger, training, and love for her country, she forges ahead with her plan. She is able to call upon the skills she learned from Jacob as well as memories she has of her parents to gain the people's trust. Once they recognize her as the future queen, they are willing to do anything to see this plan succeed.
The Crown of Rosemund is a skillfully crafted story. It takes place during 1498-1501 in the fictional country of Anduron. While this is a fiction story many of the situations are plausible enough to have happened. Rose is a strong character who has faced immense hardships. The growth that we see in this story is wonderful and realistic. There are references to atrocities that happen in war, and as such would probably not be very appropriate for anyone younger than 16.

This is a great YA book. It tells the story of Rose whose parents the King and Queen are killed and she goes into hiding until the time she can take back the throne. I enjoyed reading the growth she goes through to prepare to be queen and fight to take back the throne. Jacob, Maxwell and Rickler are also great characters and really make the story great. My only complaint is that I felt like they were too many fight scenes. That is just a personal preference. Overall I enjoyed reading the book. The storyline was well paced. The characters well developed.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

The Crown of Rosemund is a historical fiction novel about a young princess who goes into hiding after her parents are murdered. It's an enjoyable and interesting story with plenty of action. It suffered a bit from too much exposition, especially at the beginning. The flow of the story felt staggered from the constant interruptions the commentary made. This is something that does improve after the start of the book. Some of the character development that the characters go through doesn't feel earned. Other characters also feel a bit one-dimensional or don't develop as the story goes on. The book is still quite enjoyable and fun to read. The adventure was exciting throughout. It could have been a bit longer to expand on some characterization and details, but it still had a satisfying ending. I recommend The Crown of Rosemund for readers looking for a short and easy to read young-adult historical fiction story.

This was a quick read with an entertaining story. I was a little confused at first, because I'd assumed from the cover (I know, cliché) that it was historical fantasy for adults, but the writing style and language used make me think now that it must have been written for a younger audience. Princess Rosemund as a character was a little hard to read about at first, as she was very timid and tended to overthink things, but by the end, it was good to see that she'd become more confident in her own abilities. I especially liked her relationship with her "grandfather", Jacob.

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC.

I enjoyed the engaging, well thought out plotline in this adventure story.  The characters are steady and developed well.  There is a dash of romance, but the adventure of Rose finding her place and becoming a strong, capable woman and preparing to be a wise, generous monarch takes center stage. 

I received a complimentary copy of this book.  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Crown of Rosemund drew me in to the story from the start. I loved the time period, the challenges she faced, and the journey from beginning to end. I liked the supporting characters, especially Maxwell and Ricker, and how the friendships developed through the book. The only thing I did not like was the abrupt jumps mid-chapter to different times or events. I think if the book is formatted correctly, with a break in the page and some symbol, this would be less disorienting. I would be reading along and suddenly things wouldn't make sense, until I realized the author had moved forward in the story timeline.

The Crown of Rosamund is a wonderful story about a princess in a fictitious kingdom trying to regain is after she comes of age. But before she can claim it, she will have to learn how to be a strong leader. With the guidance from Jacob and the people she meets while in safe keeping she will learn lessons and build relationships to help guide her in the future.

This is a fantasy novel, probably aimed at teenagers based on Rose's age. I had a hard time liking Rose because she was timid and fearful, though she was generous and meant well. She kept telling people that she needed to claim the throne before the Regent killed everyone off through his policies, then the next chapter would happen (which was a jump of a month or three months later) and she'd done nothing. That happened again and again. She only tried for the throne when the option of staying as a peasant was taken away from her. But, hey! The people had nothing to lose anymore so were willing to fight the Regent, so it turned out to be perfect timing.

But she acted impulsively and made poorly thought out plans, so she lost supporters. She was more intent on declaring herself Queen than getting her small army into the castle when the enemy was vulnerable, so she only won because one of her smart supporters saw the flaw in her plan. About the smartest thing she did was fall in love with a well-educated merchant's son who had better training to be king than she ever received.

That's the other thing. The beginning involved a lot of telling rather than showing. We're told she's taught this, that, the other, so that she would know how to rule. She's always been the heir, though, so why wasn't she learning this her whole life? The only things she seemed to have actually learned was how to farm and to fight, and she tended to punch her allies for being more concerned about her safety than she was. She was constantly letting "her emotions get the better of her." This led to impulsive, foolish decisions that should have ended up with her dead but somehow always worked out well. So at least she's lucky. There was no sex or bad language.

I was really intrigued by Rosemund's story because we really don't see a lot of Medeival historical fiction right now. I really loved how Rosemund grows so much over the course of this book. She starts off as a painfully shy girl and grows into the strong, kind woman she was born to be.
Parts of this book did feel slow and a bit repetitive, particularly in the beginning.. Once Rose met Maxwell and Ricker, I was sucked into the story and in wondering how Rose was going to succeed in her quest.
3.5 stars.

This was an intriguing adventure story about a young princess whose parents were murdered and the throne stolen by the enemy. The princess survives and hides among the town's people disguised as a boy. From her parent's trusted advisor she learn fighting and self defense techniques, the wisdom of ruling a kingdom, and skills of survival in the wilderness. The story line was unique with well written descriptions. The book reminded me of writings by Melanie Dickerson's so lovers of those books and similar fairy-tale type stories will especially enjoy this one!!

I really love any medieval storyline! Give me a Princess learning to lead and grow strong in the process, and I am hooked! This was an awesome adventure for Rosemund! I really enjoyed the character development and interaction between all of them!! The description of the surroundings were lush and beautiful! The only thing I would have added was more romance... but there was enough to keep me wanting! Thank you!!

This book kept me reading to find out how everything would work out in the end, and I think that is a sign of a good book. This book isn't my normal genre of reading (I would classify it as YA). but I did enjoy it. I did think the beginning was a little slow, but once I pushed through it did speed up. I think the beginning helped you get to know. If you've read and enjoyed Jody Hedlund's Fairest Maidens series you would enjoy this book.

This book was amazing! The storyline flowed with intense and beautiful moments. The characters are easy to relate to, and easy to look up to. The power in this story and the love that Rose has for God is truly inspiring. Thank you, Michele Ashman Bell.

The Crown of Rosemund is an outstanding historical fiction read filled with adventure! I absolutely loved this story. The details written surrounding the setting, time period, location, characters – wonderful. I could see this being a movie or tv show – it was THAT good! If you love the medieval time period and historical fiction – you will love this! I also love that we have some aspects of faith and discussions surrounding prayer, God, heaven etc.

I especially enjoyed the relationship between Jacob and Rosemund. His loyalty to her and her family – truly inspiring and beautiful. The scenes between them were some of my most favorites. They have a true grandfather – granddaughter relationship style and it truly made you love them together.

Rosemund’s growth and character development was truly heart warming to witness. While she struggled, she never gave up. She constantly fought for the people she cared about – whether it be Jacob, Maxwell or people of Anduron.

Wonderful story and ending. I couldn’t put it down and thank you Covenant Communications and NetGalley for providing this free advanced copy for me to review. This is one of my favorites I’ve read in a long time!

This book held my interest and was pretty darn good! I liked the characters and enjoyed the setting (middle ages) and the romance was believable and sweet. I will probably be buying this in paperback so I can have it for my own!

When 15-year-old Princess Rosemund's parents are killed in an attack on the family castle by the corrupt Sir Drake, she must flee with one of her father's most trusted advisors. Disguised as a boy, Rosamund adopts the name of Silas and secretly trains to take her rightful place on the throne. Together with the aging advisor, Jacob, Rosamund (as Silas) settles into life as a country peasant, and is joined in her training by two teen boys from the nearby village., Maxwell and Ricker. When her beloved country is plagued by drought, starvation and the brutality of Sir Drake's soldiers, Rosamund knows it is time to act. Will Rosamund succeed in her attempt to overthrow Sir Drake? How will her friends respond when they find out who she really is? Find out in this compelling tale of action and intrigue, with a little romance added in. Middle school and high school fans of royal dramas will enjoy this fictional peek into life in the middle ages.

Just ok. I thought the storyline had a lot of promise. The young princess trying to take back her throne from the man who killed her parents. But I found the pacing to be slow and the characters shallow. I really liked that Rosemund was a strong female character and enjoyed reading about her training but the whole story lacked the detail it needed to give it depth and emotion. I would say this is more geared towards a younger audience and the insta love connection rose felt for maxwell seemed very forced.

#thecrownofrosemund #netgalley

I love Michele Ashman Bell's books, they're really good. This one was tough for me to get into, it just didn't engage me like her other books have.

Overall, I liked The Crown of Rosemund. It was well written and engaging. I really enjoy reading historical fiction and sometimes they can all blend together however The Crown of Rosemund takes a different route in order to get the main character from where she was in the beginning to the end. I liked that it did not have a love story and that it showed Rosemund as a character unto herself without a man behind her. The one thing that I will say is that initially I had a hard time getting into the book but the pace does pick up as the story goes on.

In the beginning of the book, we meet Princess Rosemund and her caretaker, Joseph who are fleeing their castle after her parents, the King and Queen, have been killed. They take shelter in a old cottage where Joseph grew up and become friendly with the locals that live there. Rosemund pretends to be a young boy, while Joseph plays her grandfather and while Joseph tells her about what she will need to do in order to get back her throne, she meets two other boys, Maxwell and Ricker who end up being her friends for the long haul. The rest of the book goes through the trials and tribulations that lead her eventually back to her parents’ castle and the fight between her and the man who she thinks killed her parents.

I like the idea of this book as secret identities (especially when a girl pretends to be a boy and kicks but (hello, Mulan)) is one of my favorites. The execution however...I don’t know. I couldn’t ever find myself completely immersed in the story. I couldn’t feel the characters emotions or imagine myself right there beside them.