Better than I expected! I didn't think I was going to love it after just finishing a 5 star read but am super happy that I did. The characters were great and I thought the pacing was well done! Definitely will be reading more by this author.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.

Morgan’s destiny has never been her own to choose. She is the cast-off princess who was removed at the true ruler of her kingdom due to the mix of fae and human blood that runs through her veins. Morgan is sent on a dangerous mission to find Excalibur by her brother King Arthur who despises the anything to do with fae which includes his older sister. Along the journey, Morgan discovers who she truly is while uncovering the dangers beyond her greatest imagination.

This book is an Arthurian retelling with a twist, obviously the Fae part but also gender twist from the original characters. This author does excellent with the world building where it doesn’t just feel like a massive dump of information all at once but explains the world in great detail at the same time which is something I truly enjoy. Queen of Roses is a slow burn and it feels like this series is just going to get pretty spicy. It definitely covers some pretty heavy topics so be sure to check your TWs if you have any concerns in that aspect. Overall, I thought this was a good book and will definitely be picking up the next book in this series.

I really enjoyed this! The characters the world, it all kept me enthralled.
I’ll definitely be looking forward to other works by this author.

I really enjoyed Queen of Roses by Briar Boleyn! I loved the concept of a fantasy retelling of King Arthur / Camelot. I’ve never read anything like it and thought it was a super unique concept to a well known story. The story was well paced and kept me hooked the entire time! Once I started it was really hard to put down.

I overall really liked the female MC. I thought she was well written and had good inner dialogue. She was a character that you could really immerse yourself in and root for! I wish we had gotten a chance to learn more about the male MC, but I feel like that is coming in the second book. Their connection was also well written but not over the top. I liked the slow burn, low key enemies to lovers. I am really excited to see where their story goes. I’m also excited to learn more about their individual history which I feel like was hinted at the end of the book.

Overall, loved the story concept, pace of writing and characters. My only wish was that we knew more about the magic system / fae, but I’m really hoping that we get more of that in the second book!

This was such a delightful and interesting fantasy read! A very unique take on a retelling of King Author and Camelot. There were enough twists to keep the plot interesting, the pace I found was just perfect as it kept the reader intrigued but still left enough time to fully understand all the intricacies of the world building. This was a darker read than I had expected, however I found that the darker parts were not just for shock value, they were properly placed and made sense in the context of the story. I would consider this a dark fantasy romance. I am so excited to read the rest of this series!!

This. Was. Awesome!

A totally new take on the sword and the stone but so much juicier, more magical, and way sexier. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

A sad princess manipulated by her cruel family is forced on a mission. Only to discover a secret of power within her and perhaps a sultry love interest of questionable character and incredible muscle? 😋

The plot development was top notch, I didn’t find myself lost in the adventure…instead I found myself guided and fiending after each page. The whole book really takes it to another level at the end when you’re left with a head pounding cliffhanger.

All in all I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys tasteful romantasy, ACOTAR, rhapsodic, and a touch of darkness. I absolutely loved this and will be purchasing the next one!

This was read as an ARC thank you to netgalley and the author for allowing me the read and review!

A unique retelling of King Author and Camelot.

Book 1 of Blood of a Fae.

Morgan's life was never hers especially being in the shadow of her brother. She has to go out on an adventure that the King has requested her to go on.

This book isn't my cup of tea and I wanted to broaden my horizons with different genres which this story does.

I just wanted to say thanks to NetGalley, the author Briar Boleyn and the publishing company Starwater Press for sending me this book.

Queen of Roses was a delight to read! While I could guess some of the plot points, I found myself still shocked every time one of the twists happened. I didn't realize how much I needed to read a dark retelling of the Arthurian Legends or how much I truly enjoy twists on them (Legendborn, Mists of Avalon, Silver in the Bone). I want to consume it all. Out is the Beauty and the Beasts retellings, I'm here for the Arthurian Legend ones.

Queen of Roses is certainly a Dark Romantasy, leaning harder into darker territory than many other romantasy titles. The final scenes were full of body horror that I wasn't quite prepared for but wasn't something that felt out of the blue. I'm excited to see where the author takes this series, knowing where we've started.

Thank you, first, NetGalley for the eARC. I loved this book SO MUCH! it took a second to get into it but once I did i went from 15% to 60% complete in a matter of an hour or so. I could not digest this book fast enough! I cannot wait to see what comes next but this book was even more than I expected. If you love history mixed with adventure then this book is for you! Camelot, Excalibur and the Fae all mixed into one book !! WOW.

What a great retelling ! Just say Morgan, Merlin and Arthur, and I'm in. If you mention also magic and Fae world, I'm a gonner.
I really enjoyed diving into this story : Morgan, Arthur's sister, is half fae. And her brother is not far from a tyrant. She lives in Camelot, and at 21, she will have to become a priestess. Wish of her belated father. But Morgan could be the queen. And yet, she doesn't rebel, too afraid to do something against him.
And one day, he sends her on a journey, to get a sword. A magic sword, which name is Excalibur ! This sword will give him power, but Morgan isn't sure this is the best for Camelot.
She travels with a royal guard, Draven, who appears to be an assassin. Has her brother decided to eliminate her ? But why is Draven so careful with her ?

Great rhythm, reaaaaaly slow burn, amazing mix between history and magical world, sickening cliff hanger at the end of the book, I can't wait for the sequel !

SPOILERS!!

omg this book.. i went from happy to angry and everything in between. first that jerk florian. I'm so glad she killed him. then I was all team Draven but nothing happened. then came vesper and at first I thought no I would like to see her with Draven but okay vesper got a chance. all super cute. AND THEN HE STABS HER. i was so angry. and then the end omg poor morgan.. i hope she gets some happiness in the 2nd book because this was mostly suffering.

A fast-paced and fresh Arthurian retelling, perfect for fans of Jennifer L. Armentrout and Elise Kova!

This book surprised me in so many ways! It was a refreshingly interested take on Arthurian legend, a concept I have always been interested in but am not such an expert that I found the changes jarring. I absolutely adored the new take on beloved characters, particularly Lancelot and Merlin.

In regards to plot, it certainly followed familiar plot beats and was a rather comfortable read - fans of FBAA and ACOTAR will find themselves in familiar territory. Despite that, the book did manage to keep me hooked and even surprise me at points. The characters and concepts were inspired enough that I didn't feel like I was reading the same YA/NA fae-fantasy I've read hundreds of times before. The plot points was familiar enough to be inviting but unique enough to keep my attention. And keep my attention it did. After a slow start, I absolutely ploughed through this book.

I would have loved more character development between the two MCs, but considering the interplay between them and other characters, I do understand why we as readers received the level that we did. Considering the direction of the second novel, I fully expect (and hope) to receive more there. The female MC swayed between 'I'm a badass' and 'I'm helpless' a few times but most of these fit within their context and are understandable - but I would still love to see her continue to develop over the next novel to new levels of capability and independence. The secondary characters were compelling, believable and had a refreshing amount of depth. All that aside, I think my absolute favourite parts of the book were the MONSTERS - good and bad. They had me absolutely enthralled the entire time.

I will say I found one or two instances were a closer edit may have been necessary - a word missed in a sentence or accidentally written twice. However, those are easy fixes in the editing suite. The writing was smooth and engaging, the author has a wonderful way with words and describing things without getting too bogged down into detail.

I absolutely need to have a copy of this book on my shelves and that should be testament enough to how many I enjoyed the ride. Can't wait for the sequel.

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3.5/5 ⭐
1/5 🌶️

I received this book as a netgalley arc and was very excited because I liked the blurb.

It's a good storyline and I liked the writing style, but it was very slow and most of the plots were predictable.

There were a lot of side characters that deserved a big punch in the face and I would've liked it if Morgan stood up for herself a little more.

The last third definitely made the whole story. Nonetheless, I think I'll continue the series because the last chapter was kind of crazy and I need to know what happens next.

Read if you like:
✨ fae world
✨ morally grey characters

I THOROUGHLY enjoyed this book! The world building was good, the MC was rather enjoyable with good amount of sass! I did lose a little bit of interest with Vespar, I thought him to be a "charming" creep and super sus. But the ending hooked me right back in!

Overall: 3.5 / 5

“I hated him at first. Perhaps a part of me still did. But one thing was certain... He was the air I breathed. I could not live without him”

I went in blind reading this book, thanks to the free e-book I received from NetGalley. This book is a King Arthur / Camelot retelling but add some twists, Fae and spice! Similar vibes to FBAA! I loved the world building and plot but I wished there was more chemistry between the MCs.

The ending though!! It ends on a major cliffhanger and it makes you want to read the next book asap!!

I received an ARC of Queen of Roses from Netgalley for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

What a grand adventure that synopsis promises, a grand adventure that I feel was not delivered upon, unfortunately. The makings of the great adventure were there, but I think most of it will come in the following books. Hopefully.

Because the story was intriguing. As an Arthurian lore retelling, one expects King Arthur to be the most upstanding, moral character. However, this isn't the case in Queen of Roses, which is an exciting new twist. What if King Arthur is actually the bad guy? A curious thought and one the author seemed to be trying to explore.

However.

Morgan. I will not refer to her as the "bane of my existence," but ... no. That's probably unkind, but Morgan had absolutely no agency. Everything that happened happened to her. She made no real decisions, and the decisions she did make were so spontaneous that I had a hard time even believing she made them. I kept waiting for the chapter's last sentence to be, "and then she woke up," after some of those decisions because I couldn't understand how she had even gotten to that point. Not to mention her constant denial that anyone could do any wrong, specifically Arthur. I get wanting to believe the best of your siblings, but the things she kept writing off? Girl, no.

I also won't be touching on the romance because, yikes. That was one of those decisions. I'm sure some people thought it was romantic. I did not. Enough said.

In any case, despite my reservations about Morgan and her nonexistent decision-making skills, I actually did enjoy the story. For the most part. Enough to finish it and be curious enough to want to read the next book. Not to mention the ending was a giant cliffhanger, and now I need to understand all the bombs that were dropped. So, I'll probably be reading the next book, if only out of curiosity.

I am completely in love with this book. It has now become my newest obsession. I’ve always been a fan of this genre but Boleyn manages to breathe new life into it. Everything about this was well done and left me wanting more.

A solid beginning to a new series. I will definitely be watching for the next one! But while the names suggest that this is a new take on the King Arthur story, I honestly didn’t see that many parallels with the traditional version. I think I would have preferred it if it was just a wholly original idea.

A unique take on Arthurian legend full of magic and romance. Although this was slow to start I felt immediately hooked and I loved the dark face element which made the twists and turns that much more exciting. The slow burn enemies to lovers was *chefs kiss*, I couldn’t wait to see what happened next and I can’t wait for the next instalment.

I received an arc of this from netgalley so thank you!

A little slow to start but good enemies to lovers. mostly predictable twist but a fun take on arthurian legend
this is definitely the first book in the series in that most of the action is right at the end and leaves on a cliffhanger so i'm totally invested in the series and looking forward to book 2!