I adored the whole thing.

Ainsley shows up, and the bickering between the family members definitely put a smile on my face just the same way it did in the previous two books. I was delighted to read more of their family's tale. I received a review copy from NetGalley and have left my opinion.

This series is so delightfully bonkers and I love it so much. I laughed out loud several times because of the banter which Aiken writes so so well. It's very slow burn romance wise and I'd say it's romance light but you should still read it because it's just fun.

Thank you to Net Galley and G.A. Aiken for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.


To be honest, I did not finish this book. I haven't read book 1 or 2 so I felt totally lost (which is understandable since this is a series). The book started out epically so I am excited to go back and read book 1, 2, &3. The writing felt very in depth and that the different plotlines rich with story.


Looking forward to reading the entire saga

What I liked most about the story: the humour. Sometimes snarky, sometimes mean, but always with a sense of timing. What I liked the least: trying to keep all of the characters straight. There are a lot of players in the story and without having a compendium, it was tough to know whether they were human, mage, centaur, dragon (etc) and how they related to one another. Ainsley and Gruff are the main players. Ainsley is looking to both protect her family and also to stop the evil Beatrix in her tracks. Gruff (love the name) may not want to have anything to do with humans, but is somehow fascinated with Ainsley's boldness. This is a fantasy read with a small side of romance. Book 3 in the series, and while it is readable as a one-off, I would highly recommend reading The Blacksmith Queen and the Princess Knight first.

3.5 but yes I round up stars

This is the third book in the Scarred Earth Saga but really, it's a bridge book - a bridge between G.A. Aiken's Dragon Kin series and this one. Like alot of bridges, it's fun to look at but since it's not the beginning or the end, you just feel in between, or say....middle of the road. I still liked it, but I'll tell you why it's not rated higher.

First, nothing really happens except the positioning of characters. This book centers on setting up the next phase of the battle between Keeley and Beatrix, sisters both claiming to be the next Queen of this realm. Really Beatrix is a see you next Tuesday with no soul, and Keeley is inherently good, and potentially easily duped because of her goodness. This book lays out their differences but doesn't resolve anything. It does introduce the Mad Queen Annwyl of the Dark Plains and her dragon kin to the Farmerson-Smythe clan, and spends a good amount of time moving these characters into position for the next phase of the story...but mostly that's it. If you're not familiar with the Dragon Kin series (which I do highly recommend), you'll probably spend the majority of this book trying to keep them all straight because there's ALOT of them.

Now, I enjoy both series, and I love GA Aiken/Shelly Laurenston's writing of the action sequences, and the banter between characters, which is inherently snarky and slightly mean but with heart. I don't mind a book that focuses more on the family/friend relationships and building the intrigue for the overarching storyline. But there's one thing that I adore above all else, and that's romance, and THAT part of the story is almost non-existent.

I've noticed that this has become a habit with these books as the series have gone on, and IMO it's because there's SO MANY characters to weave together. Since I'm familiar with both series, I loved getting a chance to see all these characters that I've loved for many years get to know the new family and I'm really intrigued to see how the big battle is going to play out since that epilogue was a big ole warning shot for future conflict.

Did I enjoy the bits of romance I got? Yes, but this story is pretty firmly in the fantasy realm for me, as a romance reader. Fun, but not exactly romance-forward.

However, that doesn't mean that I don't recommend this, but I would temper expectations accordingly, and rec it more for fantasy readers who want just a little romance with their epic fantasy tale.

GA Aiken is back with a new Scarred Earth book. Ainsley is tired of being overlooked and dealing with family drama but her desire to hide away from her family is put aside to keep her family safe.

I really enjoyed reading about Ainsley. Her desire to hide away in her tree yet still protect her family resonates with me. Gruff was…well, gruff. Drawn to Ainsley and not sure why, his pursuit of her was fun and sweet. And of course having the Dark Plains crew joining in brought laughs galore.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

The Heretic Royal is the 3rd installment in author G.A. Aiken's The Scarred Earth Saga. The saga of the Farmerson clan pits sister against sister with divided loyalties making for inherently high stakes drama. It has become apparent to me, that the author intends to write a story about the entire Smythe-Famerson Clan. Well, maybe just the sisters. The first installment featured blacksmith Keeley, who is now Queen of her own realm. The second installment featured Gemma, who is a former War Monk, now raised to the position of Princess Knight.

Now, this third installment seems to focus most of its time split between Ainsley, Gemma, Keeley, younger sister Isadora and the evil sister, Beatrix who has no soul. Ainsley Farmerson has always planned to break free of the family business—and the family drama. But what was once farming, smithworking, and bickering over the dinner table has turned into open warfare between sisters. Sides have been taken, lives are on the line, and Ainsley has no doubt which sister must be queen.

Gruffyn of the Torn Moon Clan of Centaurs has no time for human beings. And yet there is something about the uncontrollable princess Ainsley that he can’t ignore. Maybe it’s the way her eldest sisters Keeley and Gemma underestimate her. Especially Gemma. Or her bravery facing down dragons and mad queens from distant lands. Whatever the reason, Gruff is willing to fight by this human’s side. Not only for the entertainment value, but because she’s right. Beatrix must never be queen.

Ainsley will do whatever is necessary to take down the soulless Beatrix. Even if that means joining forces with angry battle nuns, irritating monks, and overbearing centaurs as well as newly arrived dragons led by Annwyl, the Bloody who from passed over the Amichai Mountains to encounter the person who has been stealing children. Griff will also do whatever he has to do, whoever he has to destroy, Gruff will battle beside Ainsley. Fast. Hard. And with absolutely no mercy.

Even though this book is more or less filled with snark and some romance, it is the Dragons and Centaurs that once again carry the weight of the story with their antics, and desire for bloodshed. While this story focuses on Ainsley and Gruffyn; Keeley and Caid plus Gemma and Quinn do feature in the story too, and readers are introduced to Isadora, yet another sister/daughter. But, never forget that sister Beatrix, who nearly killed Keeley, is waiting patiently to make her move.

I am curious about one thing however. The author's Dragon Kin series made to 6 books. Are we to expect the same of this series as well? If you have read the Dragon Kin series, expect to see not only Annwyl, but Fearghus, Briec the Mighty, Gwenvael the Handsome, Dagmar Reinholdt aka the Beast, Ragnar the Cunning, and Ghleanna the Decimator and others. It is fair to say that my rating was for the lack of action. While there is some towards the end of the story, it's more or less a game of chess where the players are putting all their pieces into place before moving ahead.

This is the third book in the series and you really need to read the first 2 books to understand fully the relationships between the siblings and the reason for the war. There are a number of characters in the story and at times it is hard to follow what's going on with everyone. I did love to see the dragons introduced into this book and it will be interesting to see where the author will take us next.

GENERAL INFO

Year Pub/Re Pub: 12/27/22

Book's cover: beautiful emerald green

Format: Net Galley arc

Source: "Thank you Net Galley and (publisher) for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own."

Page Length: 407 kindle

Book's Price: $9.99 kindle

Price I'd Value: same

Setting: Forgetown-Queen Keeley's queendom

Genre: UF/Sci-Fi

Tropes: interspecies romance, religion-nuns/monks/gods, bodyguard romance

Standalone/Cliffhanger/Part of a Series: Book#3 The Scarred Earth Saga

HEA/HFN ending: HFN

Epilogue Included: yes, dragons help the centaurs where Beatrix can now attack.

Character(s)POV Spoken: changes throughout every chapter as more characters are introduced

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Synopsis/Plot Summary: Queen Keeley needs allies and behold, the dragons' arrival uninvited. Princess Ainsley is trying to find purpose, but trouble finds her. Centaur Gruffyn of the Torn Moon Clan is charged with protecting Ainsley, but things become romantic. Queen Beatrix is still scheming to create her empire, pulling in her own allies. A lot of dragon high jinks, blood battles, and family drama.

M/F-M/M-M/M/F-etc: M/F

Representation: religion-the believers and fanatics

Contains Cheating: no

Contains Children: yes, Keeley has a lot of siblings, but I liked 6-year-old little sister Endelyon with her forged hammer the best. note: she has different name spellings throughout book

Flashbacks: a few but I liked Annwyl's the best. She tells about her father and brother's cruelty and how she got the name Annwyl the Bloody.

Jealy/Possy/OTT H/h: Gruff is jealous of Gwenvael the Handsome talking to Ainsley.

Amount of Sex In The Book: 1 good cave scene

Overall Smex Rating: 4

CHARACTER DESCRIPTION

Hero: Gruffyn of the Torn Moon Clan

Hero Description: Centaur who only speaks when necessary. Grudge holder of his people that collects debts. Warrior form of antlers, eyes, and hooves to climb hills and mountain sides. Watches Ainsley's antics, helps with her family, and gives her advice.

Hero Likability Rating: 5

Heroine: Ainsley Smythe (honorable mentions: Annwyl and Isadora)

Heroine Description: Lives in trees, master archer. She is looking for purpose, learning how to be independent. She tries to prove her usefulness to sisters Gemma and Keeley.

Heroine Likability Rating: 5

Secondary characters:
Emma and Angus Farmerson-Keeley's parents, blacksmiths and farmers
Gemma-Ainsley's sister, very critical of her, a war monk and leader of her order
Isadora-18 years old, takes charge of family finances. Organizes the dragons' stay and volunteers to go with them as a show of good faith.
Annwyl-The Mad Queen of the Dark Plains. Mated to dragon Fearghus. Hates those that enslave others, kills at will.
Ivan the Mystic-knows witchcraft, trained as a monk, worships the power of god Athanagild.
Queen Beatrix-Keeley's sister who wants to be an empress. Out to destroy her family and anyone who gets in her way.

H /h RELATIONSHIP INFO

Endearments: none

OW/OM/Exes: Ainsley had a brief affair with a lieutenant, but no one special.

Cheating Before/During/Outside H/h Relationship: no

CONTENT WARNINGS/TRIGGERS: gory, bloody deaths, religious discourse

AUTHOR OVERVIEW: G.A. Aiken

New author or read before & any favorites: Read the first 2 books in this series. I recommend reading her Dragonkin series to get to know all the dragons mentioned.

PERSONAL OVERVIEW

Technical/Editing Quality: 4

Writing/Content Quality: 4

Overall Rating: 4*

Do You Recommend This Book: yes

Will You Re-read This Book: maybe

Would You Read More Books by this Author: yes

COMMENTS/NOTES

Favorite line: "That being said, my mother and sister are both witches and expertly deal with many gods, which has taught me not to judge those who choose to worship such power as long as they bring harm to no one." -Gwenvael to Ainsley about religious fervor and insanity

New Vocabulary/Beautiful words: halberd-combined spear and battle axe

The Heretic Royal - Review

I am shooketh again! G. A. Aiken can do no wrong; this is another great story! I absolutely love reading this author! Okay, now that I’ve gotten the fawning out of my system here’s my review.

One of the best abilities about G. A. Aiken as an author is her character building. Characters are fully fleshed out, even those that are only around for a paragraph/page or two. You know everything you need to know and understand about the characters in just a few sentences. That is a sign of a gifted writer.

Ainsley Smythe-Farmerson, the constantly forgotten/ignored sister is the center of this book. She is smart, talented and determined. And needs to find her place in her sisters new Blacksmith queendom. This is a great read; a wonderful book of characters. The Smythe-Farmerson clan is wonderfully entertaining and funny. Also, to truly appreciate this novel I suggest you read the two previous books in this series, The Blacksmith Queen and The Princess Knight. Don’t miss out on these entertaining books.

The Heretic Royal is a smart, funny totally manic romp that will have you thinking, giggle snorting and rooting for the most unlikely heroes. I recommend reading The Blacksmith Queen and The Princess Knight prior or you’ll get lost trying to figure out what in the world is going on. I love that the author brought in characters from her Dragon Kin series to add to the mayhem. Bring on Isadora.

Let me be clear about 1 thing, this gets 5 stars from me because I have read the DragonKin books and loved them and this is a continuation in many ways so if you have NOT read them, you should or you might get lost in all the characters. OK, with that out of the way I loved this book, ultra-violent, hugely funny and just overall wonderful with this cast of insane and memorable people/dragons/etc. This book moves the story along well, giving us plenty of violence and a bit of romance which was missing from the last book. Bottom Line: I could crow about why I loved this book for pages but if you love the insanity of all the GA Atkin books you will love this one and as always, she pretty much polishes off the current plots and starts a new one right at the very end to make you thirst for me and make you wish it would never end.

I voluntarily read an advanced copy of The Heretic Royal by G.A. Aiken. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for this ARC

The Heretic Royal was so much fun! I love how G.A. Aiken combined the characters from her dragon series with her blacksmith queen series. It has provided all kinds of new bantering character combos and really moved the story forward. Gruffyn and Ainsley were very entertaining and I loved their journey. I highly recommend this book if you enjoy G.A. Aiken's writing style. I give The Heretic Royal 4/5 stars.

3.5 stars

While I really did enjoy this one, I wasn't really feeling the relationship being built here between Ainsley and Gruff. I was thrilled that the Dragon Kin crossover happened so soon and was such a big part of it though. Because boy do I laugh when they're around. But maybe that was also part of why this new relationship didn't work as much for me. There was so much more going on away from these two that we didn't really see it happening. Just Ainsley being stupid, Gruff calling her out on it and trying to protect her, and then BAM we're told that Gruff is in love with Ainsley? I mean....really?

Honestly, I didn't really like Ainsley. She was constantly starting fights with Gemma and complaining about how she was treated by her sisters. But she doesn't actually do anything that would make anyone want to trust her with a more active role. She hides in her trees and saves a hideous, poisonous bird. And every chance that she gets, she throws Gruff under the bus that is her sisters' anger. And that's what really got me. How often she used Gruff as her scapegoat without even saying anything first. And he took it every single time. As for Gruff, I didn't really care for him one way or another. I liked him, sure. But he also never held my attention all that much.

Truly, the most entertaining parts of this book are with Annwyl. You get to see all sides of her here. Add in the dragons that came with her and you're guaranteed many good laughs. Keeley and Annwyl are practically polar opposites personality wise, but I really think they will make great allies because of it. Neither one of them are sticklers for how a queen should act, but they both are determined to protect their people. Unfortunately, It takes Annwyl's brutal bluntness to show Keeley that she won't be able to protect those most important to her if she continues on the way she is.

Beatrix is still going about her plotting for world domination. Only now she has found a demon god that she is willing to ally herself with. Which is definitely not a good thing when a certain dragon queen shows up at Keeley's town for a surprise visit without telling anyone and gets trapped there because of them. But while that sounds like it would be something super exciting, it ends up really not being so and is practically glossed right over. Even when a legion of demons show up to attack, while what does happen is kind of fun, it's also anti-climatic and over super quick. Does that mean I didn't like it? No, but I guess I expected more.

The epilogue was pretty great with Beatrix definitely incurring the dragons' wrath. I'm very much looking forward to the next book whether it's this series or the Dragon Kin. Because at this point, it could be either one.

Look, I’ll be completely honest, this entire series feels like a mess. There are so many characters (like, I swear we never even hear the name Ainsley in the first two books!! And she’s the main character here!) and different POVs, the use of modern language throws me off, and the constant bickering and fighting between these GROWN ADULTS drives me up the wall, but… I can’t stop reading. I’m invested, I have to know what happens, and I need Beatrix taken down!

Anyways, the third book focuses on Ainsley and Gruff… But also a million other people and it was hard to follow the story. These books are all fantasy action, the romance is secondary, or honestly, at times, it feels like it isn’t happening at all. Maybe that’s my main issue here, I want more romance and less sibling squabbling.

Slight Spoiler—
I haven’t read the author’s Dragon Kin series, so the crossover didn’t mean anything to me, but if you’ve read that series, you’ll probably enjoy revisiting that world.

Unfortunately, this won’t get a high rating from me, but if you want a fast paced, action fantasy with squabbling siblings, centaurs, dragon, elves, and a war for the crown, maybe check it out?

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my opinion.

I just finished reading the ARC of The Heretic Royal by G.A.Aiken!❣️✨ This was book three in The Scarred Earth Saga and I actually binged the first two books before getting to this one as I found them on KU😆 And I really enjoyed them! I loved The Dragon Kin books and these were equally fun(and bonkers) with more focus on the action.⁣
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These books are centered around a family of siblings, who get pulled into a political conflict when two of their sisters are prophesied to be the next Queen - one who is a blacksmith who puts her family first and the other who is basically a soulless psychopath who doesn't mind killing off her whole family to gain power. I guess you can understand what would happen 👀😂 ⁣
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Ainsley is the fourth oldest among their brood, but she's often overlooked unless they need her to shoot something as she's a talented archer. And it doesn't help that she likes to climb up trees and hide there lol 🤣 With the increasing fights between the different factions the stakes keep increasing and unexpectedly Annwyl, who has a reputation for being crazy, shows up with the dragons. And this might be dangerous or a good opportunity for an alliance.⁣
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Among their centaur allies is also Gruffyn who is just as grumpy as his name would suggest 😂 But he makes a nice pair with Ainsley. ⁣
This one was just as action packed and chaotic as the first two books and filled with bickering and moments of humor! As much as these sisters love each other they're always bickering too lol🤣 And I loved the crossover from the Dragon Kin series with Annwyl and the others! But one thing that was pushed aside would be the romance as I wanted more interactions between them!⁣
In the end, it was a great read and I'd definitely recommend this one if you're in the mood for an amazing fantasy series with kick ass women and bickering families(with a touch of romance of course 😆). Can't wait to read the next book!❣️

I have never been disappointed in this author.
Her writing style, characters and storylines are a joy.

Thank you Netgalley and Kensington Books for the chance to read an advance copy of The heretic royal by G.A. Aiken (Scarred Earth saga #3). This is definitely a book you need to read the first two books in the series to know what is going on...you also might want to read G,A. Aiken's Dragon series as she crossed over the characters in this book. I always enjoy the author's over the top hilarious fantasy which has strong kick-ass women, and sexy men. The action is sometimes violent and bloody, but mixed in with snarky dialogue from the both the main and secondary characters you know its just good fun! This book ends a bit abruptly, so I can't wait for the next in the series.

This is my bad I didn't realize it was the third in the series when I requested it. I'll. need to go back and read the first two before I get to this one, but I'm not ready to take that one yet. 5 Stars because I did enjoy what I read!

This book keeps with GA Aikens funny yet truly ridiculous fantasy series following a family with two warring queens and a lot of wonky magic. I loved the first two, but I do believe this was the weakest in the series. The jumps between characters were not the clearest and it led to a lot of confusion. I think the fact two major characters were both unique names starting with A didn’t help. But it set up well for the next book in the series and opened up the world for more characters. Overall- I give it a solid three stars. Necessary for the series but not my favorite.