First, I would like to thank the author briar boleyn & NetGalley for the eARC opportunity. Like always, this review is voluntary & honest.

Once I started reading I didn't want to stop. I was so captivated.
This book has everything I love to read
- fantasy retelling
- plot twists ( lots of excellent ones )
- secrets and lies
- lust
- jealousy
- forced proximity
- slow burn ( but very fitting to the storyline )
The world building and characters kept me intrigued and wanted more.
This was one hell of a rollercoater book, very nail biting and stomach dropping. I can't wait to read the next book!!

First and foremost I want to thank NetGalley and Starwater Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

That said, if you've ever wondered what would happen if you crossed Camelot/Arthurian legend with Fae lore this is the book for you. I honestly wasn't sure what to expect but the premise of the series sounded different from anything I'd previously read so I was eager to give it a try. I can safely report I am SO glad I did.

The first half of this book moved a little slow for me. I'll admit it. I don't think it was through any fauly of the book's, though. New-to-me fantasy series almost always start off slow for me simply for the sheer amount of information and world building I need to become acquainted with. Queen of Roses has that in spades. I genuinely felt as if I were right there alongside Morgan on the training grounds or in the bailey during some of the passages and loved every second of it. Yes, there was a lot of information to file away in my brain to better understand this world, but it was worth it in my opinion.

And the second half of the book... the second half of this book had me on the edge of my seat, guessing what might happen next and desperate to find out. Once Morgan set off on her journey the pace really picked up and I felt like things I questioned earlier on started to tie together while new questions popped up. The plot twist at the end of the book had me reeling. I thought I knew what was going to happen but I was surprised when certain pieces of the puzzle were actually revealed.

Intergral to this story, though, is the cast of characters and I'd be remiss not to mention them here. Morgan was very endearing to me. Strong, yet insecure, loyal to those she cares for most and yet lonely. I'm so eager to see her grow as the series continues. And Draven... Draven, Draven, Draven. Mr. Surly, Sarcastic, Secretive, and Morally Gray has already earned himself a spot on my life of future favorite MMC's. I can already tell.

The main characters were wonderfully rounded out with the list of supporting characters, too. From Lancelet and Galahad, Arhtur and Kaye, Florian and Vesper-- no two supporting characters were alike and each felt very well written and three dimensional. They truly added to the story (even if some were truly devious); none of them felt redundant or as if they were simply there to fill out space. I can't often say that, so it was a really enjoyable discovery.

The only "critique" I could really make is that there were a few (and I mean very few) instances where I felt as if something in one chapter contradicted something that had already happened. For example, early in the book Morgan acknowledges that she takes the same medicine that her mother had taken. Later she seems shocked when someone informs her that her mother also drank it every other day. It didn't take away from the book overall, but whenever I caught something like that it did interupt my reading process and "took me out of the story", so to speak.

All in all, though, I think Queen of Roses is a great first book in a series and I have really high hopes for the future books that follow.

Okay first off, the plot and the idea itself is absolutely amazing. It is a hardcore slow burn so if you don't like that I wouldn't recommend. It's a King Arthur retelling, plus fae and magic. I loved the amount of lore and detail that was in the magic and the world itself. My only criticism is how slow it is to get into, and that the two main characters felt a little underdeveloped but from the end of the book I think that'll be fixed in the next book. But overall I really did like it and I'm excited to read the next one. It is on kindle unlimited so if you have that I'd recommend checking it out if you like fantasy!

I have mixed feelings about this book, so I'm gonna divide it into what I liked and didn't like.

Firstly, the story as a concept is very interesting. I loved the world, the characters, the plot etc.

I liked that the focus was on the story, rather than just smut for smuts sake, then the story kind of happens in the background. Don't get me wrong though, looking forward to smut in the sequal.

I liked the in depth descriptions of characters which made me feel like I could actually see them.

I liked that our mc was naive and made mistakes due to her sheltered life.

I liked the sibling dynamics, but won't say more due to spoilers.

Now on to what I didn't like...

Despite liking the overral concept of everything I felt that the execution fell a bit flat.

Firstly, the build up of the story felt very strange, there was no real conflict that was resolved. The book read like the first half of a book, like it never finished, leaving us in the middle of the main conflict. A clif hanger is fine, but the book just didn't seem finished. There were too many hints at things that never got resolved. Also the reveal at the end was a bit too predictable, though I won't write why due to spoilers.

Like I said I loved the descriptions of the characters, but I wish these descriptions could be as good when describing the world. Sometimes I struggled to truly envision places as the descriptions weren't vivid enough. This also happened with the fight scenes, everytime a fight scene happened I struggled to follow along as the flow of the scene felt wrong, making me confused as to what was happening.

Lancelet could have been utilized differently, again spoilers prevent me from saying more. I hope I have misunderstood things.
I wish Arthurs character had been fleshed out more, and I hope this happens in the sequals. I find his character fascinating, and like the way he was written.

There is too much dialogue explaining the world and its history all in one go, this made the conversation seem unnatural to me. I also wish the mc would have asked some of these questions earlier in the story.

The way the mc's critical thinking is just shoved to the side several times just dragged me out of the immersion. I understand that she's naive and not particularly bright, and thats ok, but she was already questening things. She was a bit too trusting, too fast, for it to make sense.

Despite my critiques, I liked the story overral and I would like to see where the author takes it.

Okay it took me a second to get over the hump of reading about Morgan and Vesper. I thought it was Daven and Morgan against the world. Vesper really through me for a loop, worse when Morgan’s naive butt clearly fell for his thinly veiled “flirting”. Daven really changed as the booked progress and was still somewhat my grumpy MMC. However, the plot twists were the best part. Arthur clearly has a larger plan than Morgan thought, who was the purple haired fae, who really is Daven and who is Morgan? What happened to Lancelot?! All good questions I hope to read in the sequel. No smut, but the bonus scene was wonderful. Read the book, and buckle in! you’re in for a ride!!!

A twisted new retelling of King Arthur with magic, betrayal, lust and power at its center. Each page was a surprise and made the love for Morgan I have grow. A powerful girl who has never believed in that power starting to fight for the sake of her heart and what’s important. I enjoyed this and can’t wait to read book two

Let me start off by saying I was an instant fan when I was able to get a good image in my head based off of her descriptions. Really good world building to me in fantasy stories is really important for me. It definitely leads me into liking the story a lot more than without it. I am so happy that this story had that.
I actually liked Morgan. I tended to not be fans of the female lead in stories just because they come a cross indifferent about wanting to be strong or play into their weakness. Morgan owns her strengths and understands her place but also state her curiosity to wanting to know more about things she lacks. Love that about her!
I also am happy that the romance wasn’t set up in the traditional way of how a slow burn romance normally goes. Truly there are so many moments were you’re thinking, “who is it going to be” or “wait what made this happen” and it’s still so hindered even at the end you’re wondering. I would have loved to learn more about Draven and had more moments between him and Morgan but I’m hoping we get that in the 2nd book since how things left off. With that said the story does leave on a cliffhanger. I’m so excited to see this new fae world we are going to be exploring with Morgan and Draven. But also to see what comes of the Kingdom she’s left behind. I highly recommend giving this book a read. It’s very engaging and has really great character progression when it comes to Morgan!

Definitely not what I expected to discover when reading about Camelot and King Arthur. This book has some triggers which are listed in the table of contents for those who aren't expecting a dark read. Otherwise this story was excellent!!

Morgan Pendragon was the first born child to the evil King of Camelot. Her mother had fae blood in her that she passed onto her daughter which only enraged her husband. After Morgan witnesses her father brutally murder her mother when she was only 5 years old while she was hiding under the bed, her life changes for the worst. The King's mistress, who bore him a son, Arthur, replaces her mother as the queen and Morgan is passed over as the heir to the throne. Leaving it open for Arthur to be the future king. Her father then dictated her fate and promised her to the Goddess Temple for life when she turns 21 years old. She's an outcast from her own family. Her youngest brother, Kaye, was born after Arthur's mother died. Kaye adores her, but Arthur hates her. She looks nothing like them, she has long gray hair from her fae side, and she tries to be invisible avoiding the court whenever possible. Arthur has had a special medication created for her to ingest every other night to suppress her fae heritage.

When the King demands that she travel to extract a fae weapon of extreme power that only she can touch, she's eager to please her brother, the King. She needs to find the lost sword, Excalibur. Arthur sends her alone with only with two guards for the task. That's when she realizes that she won't survive the trip. Her medication is doubled on the journey, she's forced to drink it every night. It's making her so ill that it's killing her. Draven, the Captain of the Royal guard, makes her stop drinking the medication after he finds out it's poisoned. The other guard ends up dead when he tries to kidnap her in the middle of the night. Without her nightly "medication" her true fae heritage emerges, and she's beautiful. Her once dull gray hair, is now silver and she has runes all over her body; she no longer hides her true self.

Morgan stumbles upon a half-fae, Vesper, at a festival while he plays his pipes, she's lulled in by his music. Days later, he finds a way to run into them again at just the right time to be a hero in her eyes. Draven's doesn't trust him, Morgan's too naive, having led a sheltered life as a Princess in Camelot. She just thinks that Draven's jealous. Vesper slowly seduces her with his music and his body to win her trust, and Morgan thinks that she's finally found true happiness; but she's so wrong.

After Morgan retrieves Excalibur, she figures out Vesper's real intentions. King Arthur isn't expecting his sister to return home after she retrieves the sword. He hired the half-fae thief to follow them through their travels and seduce Morgan with his magical pipes. He needed to win her trust to get the sword, kill her, and return to Camelot. When he stabs her in the stomach leaving her to die, her fae powers come to her defense and she turns Vesper to ash. But a powerful Fae woman appears and takes the sword when she sees that Morgan is traveling with a creature like Draven. Morgan doesn't understand what the woman means before she collapses from blood loss. Apparently, Draven has secrets that she's unaware of.

Can she trust Draven with her life now? Because she doesn't seem to have a choice anymore.

A must read.

I am obsessed with this one! I love Camelot retellings. This one is so different. It has fae and I love all things retellings and fae. I was hooked from the start. I could not put it down. Morgan is such an awesome character. That ending though! I need the next one right away. Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Gives FBaA and Wildenstein vibes. Starts strong but gets a little overwhelming early on with character name info dumping.

I love Arthurian legend and I loved this take on it. I’m fully invested in the morally grey mmc and the sheltered but strong fmc. I can’t wait to see more growth from both of them in the next book!

Thank you NetGalley and Briar Boleyn for this opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book is available on KU and I recommend the read if you like Arthurian legends, the fae and lovable creatures!

Briar Boleyn's "Queen of Roses" offers readers a captivating journey through the realm of one of their favorite TV series, Merlin. This novel brilliantly incorporates a fresh perspective on the Pendragon rule while introducing the main characters in different genders, personas, and more. With its expert storytelling and immersive world-building, "Queen of Roses" has already earned a spot on my Amazon Wishlist, and I eagerly anticipate owning it as a paperback.

The setting of "Queen of Roses" within the realm of Merlin is a delightful treat for fans of the TV series. Boleyn successfully captures the essence of the show, transporting readers to the magical world they fell in love with on screen. The familiar backdrop of Merlin serves as a rich foundation for a new and exciting exploration of the Pendragon rule, providing a unique and engaging experience that leaves readers feeling right at home in this beloved universe.

What truly sets "Queen of Roses" apart is the exceptional way Boleyn introduces the main characters in different genders, personas, and more. This creative approach breathes fresh life into familiar characters, allowing readers to see them from entirely new perspectives. Boleyn's skillful execution ensures that these changes feel seamless and organic, enhancing the depth and complexity of the story. The imaginative exploration of these characters adds a layer of intrigue and novelty, keeping readers invested and curious to discover the nuances of their transformed roles.

"Queen of Roses" has already earned a place on my Amazon Wishlist, a testament to the profound impact it made on me as a reader. The desire to own this book in paperback reflects my love for the story and the intention to cherish it as a valuable addition to my collection. Boleyn's remarkable storytelling and the immersive world they have created have left a lasting impression, making "Queen of Roses" a book that I am eager to hold in my hands and revisit time and time again.

In conclusion, Briar Boleyn's "Queen of Roses" is a captivating journey that delights fans of the Merlin TV series. The incorporation of a fresh perspective on the Pendragon rule, alongside the introduction of the main characters in different genders, personas, and more, is executed with exceptional finesse. The book's ability to transport readers to the magical world they love, coupled with its imaginative exploration of beloved characters, makes it a must-read for fans of the series. "Queen of Roses" has secured its place on my wishlist, and I eagerly anticipate adding it to my collection as a treasured paperback.

Morgan should be queen, but her father's prejudice against the fae blood she inherited from her mother ruined her chance. Instead her brother Arthur is on the throne and she's promised to the goddesses under the tutelage of Merlin, the high priestess.

Her brother is a cruel king and he sends Morgan on a fool's errand with two dangerous men: one man, Draven, miraculously climbed the ranks to make Captain of the Guard, while the other works for the family of the man who's been torturing her behind closed doors.

Queen of Roses is an Arthurian fantasy complete with court intrigue, hidden identities, a morally grey hero (?maybe a villain?), and a perilous journey. I'm not a huge fan of gender-bent retellings, but it worked well in this book. Both Lancelet (not Lancelot) and Merlin are female in this one, and Arthur is far from a nobel king.

Morgan is just the right mix of stabby and sheltered. She isn't afraid to protect herself or her people, but she's unpracticed in terms of her sensuality. Draven makes a jab about not gagging women unless they ask for it that goes completely over her head, and I may have snorted water reading it.

The journey Morgan, Draven, and the obvious Red Shirt go on took up most of the book. It was great seeing the different landscape of the continent and encountering some new creatures. Along the way, they meet a romantic interest for Morgan which ticked me off. I wanted my morally grey heartthrob to hold her heart! But alas...it made since for the plot, and it taught Morgan a few valuable lessons, so I'll be patient while I wait for Draven to make his move.

Be warned: there's a big plot twist at the end. It was PERFECTION!

Thank you, NetGalley and Briar Boleyn, for the copy of the book to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Ahhh!!! I cannot wait to start the second book!!! This was an awesome romantasy that was a twisted version of Camelot. Morgan, a Princess who witnessed her half-fae mother be killed by her father, has been given a potion to prohibit any fae tendencies. Her brother, the king, is wicked and she is sent on a quest to retrieve a sword, with mysterious warrior Draven leading the hunt. I absolutely devoured this book!!

Thank you @netgalley for the chance to review this book!

Thank you to Briar Boleyn & NetGalley for this ARC or Queen of Roses.

4/5 stars.

This is the second Morgan Le Fay / King Arthur retelling I have read this year. Yet they manage to be completely different. Briar Boleyn's version throws in some human/fae conflict & gender-bending.

This book provides almost everything you could ask for. strong women, talk-dark-and-handsome men, mythical creatures, lust & betrayal, and a few plot twists. I couldn't predict where the book was going, and appreciated that.

I have just finished this buddy read with a group of girls and safe to say I loved it! It was magical, dark, slow burn, and wow what an ending! I can’t wait to dive into book 2! Thank you so much to Briar Boleyn and NetGalley for the opportunity to dive into this fantastical series.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for proving a copy in exchange for a review!

Queen of Roses is a dark fantasy retelling of Shakespeare’s Camelot with a sprinkle of romance. In this version, the author chooses to make King Arthur the villain and his sister Morgan, who is part fae, the hero who receives the quest to find the sword. Morgan must complete this mission with the help of Draven, an infuriatingly handsome, cocky royal guard who easily gets under her skin. After avoid assassination attempts, growing their band of allies, and facing monsters in the dangerous lands leading to the legendary sword, Morgan must face betrayal and choose whether or not to bring back a weapon of destruction to a power hungry king in order to protect those she cares for. The setting and plot taking inspiration from Camelot is something I haven’t seen in a fantasy, but everything was still fresh and unique with the fae and magical elements. I really enjoyed Morgan as a character and I’m very invested in Draven’s further character development. The ending was super intense and begins to reveal some potentially interesting plot points for the next book. Overall, Queen of Roses is a great dark fantasy but I wish there was a little bit more romance.

That ending was so harsh!!! I need to dive straight into the next book now!

I wanted a faster pace for the first half of the book but when things picked up, it all kicked off! I thought certain character actions were a bit predictable but I enjoyed the read and definitely want to know what happens next!

3.5 stars

"The Queen of Roses" by Briar Boleyn is a captivating and imaginative retelling of the Arthurian legend, focusing on Morgan le Fey. In this enthralling tale, we follow Morgan Pendragon, a princess who has been cast aside due to her fae lineage. When her brother, King Arthur, issues a royal decree, Morgan is entrusted with a crucial mission—to retrieve a fae weapon of unparalleled power. Throughout her extraordinary adventure, Morgan finds herself accompanied by the enigmatic and occasionally exasperating royal guard, Kairos Draven. Together, they navigate a world teeming with mystique, peril, and unexpected twists, forging an unforgettable narrative that seamlessly combines magic and destiny.

I was absolutely captivated from the very first chapter. The portrayal of Morgan's heartbreaking past, particularly the profound loss of her mother, instantly captivated my attention. It masterfully laid the groundwork for the entire plot, evoking a sense of intrigue that compelled me to delve further into the story. The unique and captivating aspects of this retelling were a true delight. I especially enjoyed the clever twists on the Arthurian legend, such as the intriguing portrayal of an evil King Arthur, the gender swap of Merlin and Lancelot, and the inclusion of the enchanting fae. These elements added an exciting and fresh dimension to the narrative, keeping me engrossed throughout.

The romance in the story was exceptional, delivering a delightful slow burn that had me squealing with joy on multiple occasions. The morally grey nature of the male main character (MMC) added a fascinating layer of depth to the story, which I absolutely adored. The banter between the MMC and the female main character (FMC) was brilliantly witty and immensely enjoyable to read. Moreover, the pacing of the narrative was flawlessly executed, never once feeling sluggish or dragging.

The world-building in the book was great, with a particular highlight being the intriguing exploration of the Three and the other gods. However, I must admit that there were instances, particularly towards the end of the book, where the world-building felt like a bit of an info dump. Additionally, I noticed a few grammar and spelling errors that went unaddressed. These instances briefly disrupted my immersion in the story, but overall, it did not significantly diminish my enjoyment.

Overall, I found this novel to be a thoroughly enjoyable read, and I am eager to continue the series, especially after being left on an unexpected cliffhanger. The book was packed with betrayal, intrigue, and surprising plot twists. I wholeheartedly would recommend this book to those seeking a unique fantasy romance with intriguing world-building and captivating characters.

Posting on Goodreads: @bookswithdanica 7/9/2023
Posting on Instagram: @bookswithdanica ~7/10 - 7/15

I immediately put my kindle down to write this review, but right now the only words I can think of are WHAT THE HECK?!!
This book is a Camelot, Excalibur dark romance fantasy retelling.
The first part of the book was a little slower, but I feel like most good fantasies require some sort of world building. The amount of detail was just enough to make you get drawn in without getting overly confused.
The amount of times I was flabbergasted in the second book is ungodly. I had so many questions running through my head. You’d think the story is going one way and then BOOM! Just kidding, plot twist. Also…I don’t appreciate scenes making my eyes water, it’s rude lol.
I still have so many questions, so I will be starting Court of Claws now.
#QueenofRoses #NetGalley

This book was written well and had a decent plot line that I would be more interested in if it wasn’t heavy on the romance. There has been a major shift recently from fantasy books to romance with fantasy elements, and sometimes I feel like the books are lacking the originality that comes from the fantasy genre. This was a good romance novel, just not exactly what I’m looking for when it comes to a fantasy romance.