I really enjoyed this one, it was a great retelling of King Arthur from an angle I have not seen explored yet.

I did really like the main character Morgan, although she was very naive, and made for an unreliable narrator which at times was frustrating.

There is enough action that I never felt bored reading it, and I am already invested in the next part of the story!

It is marketed as a slow burn romance and this is sort of taking slow burn to the level of almost watching paint dry (at one point I had even given up with the idea they could be more) I can see the potential of it though and would be intrigued to see where the plot heads next.

WOWOW!!! What a fantastic debut novel from Briar Boleyn.

I have never read any fantasy retellings of Camelot, King Arthur, and Excalibur so I was SUPER excited to get my hands on this one.

What I loved:
🗡️ the premise
Camelot, King Arthur, Lancelot, Galahad, Morgan Le Fay, and Excalibur with some gender twists… and why not make them FAE
🗡️the world building and magic and lore
super original lore alongside a great story and very natural world building with some awesome magic
🗡️ nail-biting, stomach-dropping, fear-inducing, heart-pounding action and plot twists
🗡️spice 🌶️
The romance was slooooow burn and honestly it kinda took me by surprise (IYKYK) but it picked up nicely a little over halfway through and she set it up to be super spicy for the next book!
🗡️ good for her moments 💪🏼
Because, yes, he usually deserves it
🗡️ banter
You cant go wrong with enemies to lovers in a one-tent trope 😉
🗡️ the descriptions and imagery
I was totally transported to Camelot and all the other places along the FMC’s quest
🗡️inclusion
Tons of sexualities and races represented
🗡️ A REALLY CUTE SIDEKICK 🐯
(I need 20 exmoors delivered to my house immediately)

🤷🏻‍♀️ My only “criticism” is that the FMC sometimes wondered about things or didn’t see things that were fairly obvious to me. But truthfully I don’t even care. This was an amazing book and it’s getting all 5 stars.

✨ I only wish I knew more about Arthur and Camelot because I’m sure there were so many amazing connections I missed. I recognized some of the names but will have to look them all up after I finish the series!

⚠️ Trigger Warnings ⚠️
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There are so many 😂
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May contain spoilers
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- alcoholism
- domestic abuse
- watching a parent die as a child
- biases and speciesism against fae
- misogyny
- execution of a child
- death in childbirth
- insinuation of rape (none actually occurs)
- abuse and bullying
- homophobia
- murder of children (off page)
- violence and murder
- beheading
- enabling of abuse
- victim blaming
- hunting of endangered species
- physical abuse from father (on page)
- animal on animal violence
- public whipping (off page)
- hanging (off page)
- tyranny

3.5 stars. i read this one a couple of weeks ago and forgot to write a review! i remember being really confused most of the book. the first 50% i was a little bored, but i did enjoy the last half. i unfortunately didn’t like the fmc, she was really naive and she even felt a little dumb sometimes🫠 but i can say, since i’m 70% into the second book, i like her a lot more in the second one

Thank you to @briarboleynauthor @netgalley for the opportunity to read and review Queen of Roses (Blood of a Fae, Book 1).
This is a dark romantasy Arthurian retelling with a Camelot theme. It follows Morgan on her quest which I enjoyed to a great extend. It was great to have a slower world building because you're able to grasp all aspects of it. It's definitely a slow burn but trust me, you will not regret it if you keep reading.
There's forced proximity, magic, fae, plot twists, adventure and you'll be on roller coster ride.
Make sure to check trigger warnings and I'm eager to find out what occurs next!
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice level: 🌶️🌶️

3.5 ⭐️ Okay this was way better than I expected! A fun fae twist on the lore of King Arthur. I just wish more happened in this book, and that we got to see some more romance scenes happening. I’m keen to read book 2 as I’m thinking it may have more of the action and romance that this one was building up to. I feel like this series has great potential!

Thank you to Victory Editing and NetGalley for sending me a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

A fun spin on a beloved story of Camelot, Arthur, and those that dwell in his shadow. Easy to read, curiosity of where this story is going, despite a certain level of predictability.

Utterly addicting, I can’t wait to dig in to book two!

I absolutely loved this book, it had all of the things I love dearly in a book: magic, finding your inner strength, and a smoking hot assassin!

Thank you #netgalley for this book! #queenofroses is highly, HIGHLY recommended by me :)

By the Three! I don't think there are enough words to describe Briar Boleyn's book Queen of Roses! This book, while slowly leading up to the second book in the Blood of A Fae series, has everything to keep the reader on the edge of their seat. And the emotions Ms. Boleyn uses, the reader is right next to the characters, feeling all of the self doubt and uncertainty the main female character feels throughout this book though she tries so hard to hide it by acting brave in parts by playing the role of princess she was born into, though it's obvious that's not a role she's comfortable with.. Queen of Roses will keep the reader up all night, begging to know how the book ends. Just make sure you have book two handy.

This was an enjoyable fantasy read. I love me a world with Fae, villians who might actually be the hero and heros that might be the villian, or just generally morally gray characters. This definitely gave me that. Some fun gender swaps on your typical Arthurian characters, and a very nasty King Arthur (hate that guy!)

Thank you, NetGalley, for sending me a copy for review!

I really liked the premise of this book, but for some reason, I really struggled with getting through it. Part of it I think is because the plot moves very very slowly that I had a hard time getting invested in it. I love that we're getting a different kind of King Arthur retelling, but I feel as though the world-building was a little too long and tedious. I wasn't at the edge of my seat until the last few pages, and I think a lot of the middle could have been much more condensed. Overall, I still really enjoyed the story and will eventually move on to the next in the series!

The story was a good one, though the journey dragged a little in places, and the ending was a little confusing though that has fuelled my desire to read the next book. I feel like it has been set up well for a series. Overall the character building and storytelling was very well done and I could clearly see the story in my minds eyes.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Victory Editing for this ARC!!!

First of all there are some trigger warnings in this book so proceed with caution.

Queen of roses in the first book in the blood of fae series, a dark Romantasy with a loose Arthurian retelling.
In this, Arthur is a bloodthirsty king, Lancelot becomes Lancelet, a female knight. Merlin is a female priestess…
Our heroine, Morgan is set on a quest to retrieve a magical weapon, said to have been forged by the gods themselves and in her journey, she is accompanied by Kairos Draven, a newly enrolled royal guard who’s lethal and said to be cruel….

If you love the « who did this to you  » trope, morally grey MMC, one tent/ horse trope then this is the perfect book for you! It truly did it for me. Plus I loved the fae version of the Arthurian legends. As we embark on the journey we also slowly discover what Morgan truly is and I’m so excited for it !
Kairos is a mysterious, secretive shadow daddy
and I feel like there’s so much more to know about him so much so that I feel he’s bound to become a new book boyfriend and I am already diving into the next book because I can’t wait to read more of them!
The only thing to complain would be Morgan’s naivety. I wish she was a stronger character and wouldn’t let other people step on her so easily but I guess that’s part of her character development so I really hope to see her stand her ground in the next books.

A twisted new retelling of King Arthur with magic, betrayal, lust and power at its center. Each page was a surprise

The world that this book created in my mind was incredible. I felt like I was part of this book.
The poetic language used was so beautiful.

I would have liked the ending to be more concluding, although I'm aware this is a series. So much will probably be answered in the next book. Which by the way, I can not wait to read!

I loved Dravens character, I feel like he really does care about Morgan.
Morgans's character was equally as amazing, she was brave, caring and so kind.
I'm exited to see where their characters end up in the next book.

The Queen of Roses was written so well. The only critique I have is that the beginning was very slow, although after around 25% it started to get a lot more interesting.

Thankyou to Briar Boleyn and Netgalley for providing me with the e-copy of this book to read and review.

**Queen of Roses** is an Arthurian-inspired dark romantasy that had me invested straightaway! From the first chapter, I was hooked on this rollercoaster of a story. The grumpy male main character (MMC) would do anything for the female main character (FMC), Morgan. Their relationship unfolds through one of my favorite tropes: hate to friends to lovers.

Morgan's character development was phenomenal. Watching her grow and change throughout the story was a delight. The world-building in this book is exceptional, painting vivid, immersive landscapes and a rich, magical society. Despite being a slow-burn romance, the story captivated me from the beginning and never let go.

Evil, magic, action, trauma, heartache, tension, and the perfect amount of romance—this book has it all. The balance of these elements kept me on the edge of my seat, eagerly turning pages to see what would happen next. It's a story brimming with depth and emotion, ideal for fans of Holly Black, Jennifer L. Armentrout, and Sarah J. Maas.

As the first book in the Blood of a Fae series, **Queen of Roses** leaves me with so many questions - I can't wait to dive into the sequel and see where Briar Boleyn takes Morgan and the rest of the characters next.

Thank you so much to Briar Boleyn, Starwater Press, and Netgalley for this ARC copy! I cannot wait to read the next book in this series.

OOOOO this was GOOD. I thought the plot was quite original for being a knights of the round table and fae inspired book! I ate up all the twists, ESPECIALLY the very last one. And the last chapter was so cryptic, I loved it!!! The atmosphere was immaculate, the writing style was great, and the characters were *chefs kiss* Can’t wait to read book 2!!

This was quite a slow book which I appreciated as this was a first book in a series. So there was a lot of introducing the characters and lore as well as world building. Initially I wasn't sure how I felt about the rewrite of Arthurian legend just as that was not something I had read in a book before (probably says more about books I read rather than anything else), but once I started to get into the book I really started to enjoy it. Parts of it reminded me a bit of the TV show Merlin (which is a show I loved so was a bonus for me).

I really liked the world. The world felt really tangible, probably because it was drawing on mythology from the real world so it made the world seem more accessible and didn't take too much imagination to see the world. I did struggle with some of the magic side of things, but again I think this is because it is a first book in a series and by the end of the book I did have a much better understanding of the magic system in the world (I think the reader learns alongside the FMC which is nice as again it makes elements of the book feel more tangible).

I am a sucker for dark haired brooding male love interests. So when the love interest was introduced I was already sold on his character. I liked that we get to see the FMC grow throughout the book. However, there were times I was a little bit confused by the personality of the main character, but again I think this is because we are just starting to know the FMC and see the world through her eyes. So I am looking forward to seeing how the character grows into herself in the next books. I also really enjoyed their relationship dynamic and am interested to see where it goes!

I think my main issue with the book was the pacing. I think this is something that happens a lot in first books in series is the heavy focus on world building, introducing lore and characters which can make the first half to 60% of the book quite slow as you have to get to know the characters and the world. But to me the pacing made it hard for me to get into which made me take a long time to read this book as it needed a lot of brain capacity to get my head around things, but once it did pick up around the 60 - 65% mark I did really start to enjoy it and my reading pace did speed up.

Overall, I would give this a 3.5 stars and would recommend to anyone looking for a new romantasy series!

Thank you to net galley for providing an ARC of this book! I look forward to reading other instalments in this series!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great start to a series and I am in love with the world and characters. I am really looking forward to the next book in this series.

Queen of Roses is an Arthurian-inspired dark romantasy that had me invested straightaway! The book was a rollercoaster with a grumpy MMC who would do anything for the FMC, Morgan and there was the with hate to friends to lovers trope which I love!

Morgan’s character development was amazing and the world building was exceptional. It was a slow-burn book but I was sucked into the story from the first chapter.

There was evil, magic, action, trauma, heartache, tension and perfect amount of romance in this book. I enjoyed this book. It is perfect for fans of Holly Black, Jennifer L. Armentrout, and Sarah J. Maas.

It’s the first book in the Blood of a Fae series and I am left with so many questions. So excited to read the second book💖

Thank you so much Briar Boleyn, Starwater Press and Netgalley for this ARC copy!

I went into this book blind and was not expecting a spin off/ re telling of King Arthur but I really enjoyed it. I am a big fan of stories around the fae so it was a good addition to the book. I enjoyed that the book was fast paced and kept me engaged throughout the story. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series to see where Morgan’s journey takes her.