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tobereadbookshelf 's review for:
Queen of Roses
by Briar Boleyn
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Thank you NetGalley and Starwater Press for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.
“You could tell a great deal by what a monarchy chose to remember about its own history–and even more by what it chose to forget.”
I am pleased to say that I loved this book! Queen of Roses is a loose retelling of the Arthurian Legend and initially I was honestly a little put off by this. I still feel that the plot and characters were strong enough to stand on their own, but the idea did grow on me a little. The quote above really set the scene for the reader to learn what “really” happened in the kingdom of Camelot. Since most readers are familiar with the Legend of Arthur, the author was able to skip over lengthy explanations and world building and jump right into the plot. The beginning of this book was a little slow, but once they headed out on their quest, the pacing was perfect and I was hooked.
For the most part the author wrote her characters extremely well. I loved our hero’s and hated our villains in equal measure. If I could change one thing, it would be to give Morgan a bit more backbone at the beginning of the book. We did see her step out in a small show of defiance, but I think the author could have developed this more. I would have preferred her to have been defying Arthur and helping her people in a more long term way to show that she is deserving of their loyalty. I think we are heading towards her ruling as the true Queen so it would have been nice to see more evidence that she is deserving of that title.
Draven on the other hand was the perfect hero. This is a slow burn enemies to lovers romance. We have yet to see things truly develop between our two MC’s but I have no doubt that it will be an epic love once it gets going. Always happy to find a new book boyfriend! The next installments are already available on kindle unlimited. Thrilled that I won’t have to wait to continue the series! They have quickly become some of my most anticipated reads!
“You could tell a great deal by what a monarchy chose to remember about its own history–and even more by what it chose to forget.”
I am pleased to say that I loved this book! Queen of Roses is a loose retelling of the Arthurian Legend and initially I was honestly a little put off by this. I still feel that the plot and characters were strong enough to stand on their own, but the idea did grow on me a little. The quote above really set the scene for the reader to learn what “really” happened in the kingdom of Camelot. Since most readers are familiar with the Legend of Arthur, the author was able to skip over lengthy explanations and world building and jump right into the plot. The beginning of this book was a little slow, but once they headed out on their quest, the pacing was perfect and I was hooked.
For the most part the author wrote her characters extremely well. I loved our hero’s and hated our villains in equal measure. If I could change one thing, it would be to give Morgan a bit more backbone at the beginning of the book. We did see her step out in a small show of defiance, but I think the author could have developed this more. I would have preferred her to have been defying Arthur and helping her people in a more long term way to show that she is deserving of their loyalty. I think we are heading towards her ruling as the true Queen so it would have been nice to see more evidence that she is deserving of that title.
Draven on the other hand was the perfect hero. This is a slow burn enemies to lovers romance. We have yet to see things truly develop between our two MC’s but I have no doubt that it will be an epic love once it gets going. Always happy to find a new book boyfriend! The next installments are already available on kindle unlimited. Thrilled that I won’t have to wait to continue the series! They have quickly become some of my most anticipated reads!