Queen of Roses is a dark fantasy romance that is very slow burn with enemies to lovers trope and a love triangle (sort of). While there was a lot of action and adventure as you got further into the book, it took me a while to get into it. The character development and individual story arcs are interesting but the writing style wasn’t necessarily my favorite. I found that there were a lot of details that were repeated. I think this would be a great book for someone who was new to fantasy since it can be hard to know what details are important. Overall, this book definitely picked up for me in the second half and the cliffhanger makes me want to read the second book.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Starwater Press for access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

★ ★ ★ | 🌶

check TWs 18+

Note: I try my hardest to not include spoilers in my reviews. However, spoilers and how you define a spoiler is subjective. Proceed with caution.

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I wanted to love this book so much.

I went into this pretty blind, so I had no idea that this was a Camelot retelling. (Though not my first, which is funny). I love that idea for a fantasy, even more so for a fae based fantasy. The storyline and the incorporation of the myth and fae was so interesting. It wasn’t too on the nose, which I liked.

What I had an issue with was the pacing and the execution of the story. The first 50% of the book is kind of slow. And I felt like there was a lot of showing and not a ton of telling. I’m a firm believer that there needs to be a relatively good balance of both.

That being said, I’m not sure if I will read the next book.

This is my first NetGalley read/review. The story was good & I do plan to continue it with Court of Claws. I did struggle to pick it up to read, as some of the chapters are very long and I dislike stopping in the middle of a chapter. Readers will have no problems imagining anything in this book, as the descriptions of everything are very detailed. The world building is top notch. I do feel like it took a healthy amount of time to get to what one would call the “climax” of the story. (And no, you smut readers, I speak of a different kinda climax) Often, I was a bit lost, as I was trying to figure out different characters and what their roles were when referring to past events vs present. I’m hoping with book two, things become more clear.

After reading all the popular fantasy/romantasy books currently out, I decided to give this book a chance. I was honestly blown away. It was well-written and the story was amazing. I fell in love with the characters quickly and absolutely love the main character!
I have the other books in the series in my Kindle and I can't wait to start the second book and see where the story goes next!
Thank you so much for you hard work writing these books!!!!!!!!!!!

I’ve been sitting on this book for quite some time. With the upcoming release of book 4, I finally decided to delve into this series! And, I’m glad I finally did!

I knew the premise of the book going in as I am a huge fan of King Arthur and Camelot; but I was pleasantly surprised by the unique twists Boleyn spun. This series is an Arthurian legend reimagined with a fae twist and dark undertone. I was captivated almost from the beginning. The world building was beautifully done in a way that made me feel like I was right there in the midst.

I especially enjoyed the liberties the author took with some of the legendary characters. I was intrigued that she chose to portray King Arthur as evil and morally grey. And the gender role reversals for Merlin and Lancelot were inspiring.

Morgan Pendragon (think Morgan le Fey) has spent her life in the shadows, deemed as being not good enough, with her half fae, blood to rule Camelot. Her story starts quite tragically, having witnessed the death of her mother as a young child. Her half brother, Arthur, essentially rises to become King and he is no better towards Morgan than their father was.
Arthur, I’m sure for quite nefarious reasons, sends Morgan away from court on a quest for a magical fae relic with unimaginable power - Excalibur. She is sent off with two guards, one being Kairos Draven. Their journey is full of peril with twists and turns around every corner.

The romance, or lack there of, between the FMC and MMC was full of angst and the slowest of slow burns. The relationship dynamic between the MCs was full of witty banter and so enjoyable to read. I’m actually anxious to see where it goes in the 2nd book.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writing was different, but not in a bad way. The book was filled with intrigue, family betrayal and plot twists that had my head reeling. The book does end on a bit of a cliffhanger and includes multiple trigger warnings.
I’m immensely grateful that I can dive right into book 2!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Briar Boleyn for the opportunity to read this!

Thank you NetGalley and Briar Boleyn for a chance to be provided this arc!

This book was fabulous! It has FBAA vibes but with a twist.

Magical creatures! Yes!
Protective MMC! Yes!
Badass FMC! Yes!
Slow-burn! Yes!

and the twist at the end was unexpected and we were left off on a cliffhanger.

A good fast read as is the entire series!

Want a Camelot retelling but always felt that Morgan got a raw deal, or at least she needed more of her story told? This book is perfect for you. The only (minor) thing I disliked was that its such a slow burn, but seeing how its a 4 book series, I'm ok with knowing there is more to come. Very tropey (is that a legit word?) at some points but there's enough going on, so it doesn't feel stale. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC opportunity.

I couldn’t get enough of this book! It was filled with action, adventure, and romance. I look forward to the continuation of the story!

I really enjoyed this but it did take me a while to feel fully immersed and into it. Overall this was a great read. Thank you for the opportunity to read the arc

Morgan is a princess that will never be queen. Her father made sure of that. Now her brother, Arthur, is on the throne and he will do anything to keep it. He sends Morgan to the lost realm of the fae to retrieve a mythical sword that is said to have the power to vanquish all enemies. But he hasn't been honest about this quest, nor Morgan's birthright. Now the quest begins.

I don't know where this series came from but, boy, have I been missing out. It's so funny that this year I have run across two VERY different Arthurian/Camelot retellings or reimaginings (however you want to describe it). This series centers around Arthur's half-fae sister Morgan and the acquiring of Excaliber. I adore Morgan and Draven (the sexy assassin). I can't wait to see what this relationship develops into. Arthur is giving Jofferey Baratheon vibes really hard here. I've never read an Arthurian story where Arthur was the villain. This is exciting. I'm so glad that I was gifted the whole series of this. Onward!

This was the perfect series to cure my ACOTAR hangover!! If you like Romantasy and Fantasy re-tellings, I encourage you to give Briar Boleyn your attention. I can't wait to finish the rest of this series!!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book, as well as the entire series!
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I wasn’t sure about this one at first, I’m not going to lie. The formatting of the Kindle edition I received rubbed me the wrong way, but I did my best to not let it bother me too much. Something I did like was the TWs being at the end, with a hyperlink available, to avoid spoilers.

As for the story itself, I enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to reading the following books! I loved the banter between Morgan and Draven once they set out on their journey. Once I hit around the 35% mark I was pretty hooked! I’m not actually super familiar with the original Camelot story so I don’t know how it compares to this book. There were several scenes, particularly at the end, that I absolutely loved.

I do think that the book suffers from a bit of over-explanation. There was a section at the beginning that went into quite a bit of depth describing the temple and the three goddess’s statues, but they weren’t really mentioned throughout the rest of book 1 so I’ve already forgotten what they mean. I think a brief description followed by something more in-depth when it mattered would have been better and less confusing. This happens a few more times and makes certain scenes drag out more than I think they needed to.

4 stars rounded up!
It started out a little slow but the slow burnnnnn. OMG! If you like some beauty and the beast retelling this is the book for you! Some of the twist I felt coming but the way in which they’re written and played out still surprised me. There’s so much to uncover in this world that by the end of the book you want more! Morgan did erk me at random times but it was easy to get over with by the end of the book. Like I mentioned the first about 50% took me a little bit to get through but world building is always a drag for me. The other 50% I ate up in two days!
Thank you to NetGalley, Starwater press publishing, and Briar Boleyn for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

Absolutely loved the world building and the characters! I really loved the mixture of myth and legend with a twist! Can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

My review:
The other night I stayed up super late to finish this read, and couldn’t wait to share more about it!

It’s the first in a fantasy romance series, and it felt so different from a lot of the fae reads I’ve read lately.
It was true hate-to- friends-to-lovers, slow burn, stabby heroine, & King Arthur retelling all rolled up into one.
And we all know how much I love a good retelling😍
I do recommend looking at the content warnings first, there was child abuse, child death, and alcohol abuse that I remember for sure off the top of my pregnant brain that forgets stuff lately 😅 So so good though if you can skim past those parts, and I can’t wait to snatch up book two!!
It reminded me a lot of acotar and From Blood and Ash, however I will say I enjoyed this one more than the latter personally.
It felt very refreshing and wonderful to read!!
I gave it 4.5 stars!

Below are the links to where I posted the review, for my blog the post is scheduled for May 26th. When I share the blog post I also share it to Pinterest at the same time because I have the accounts linked.

What a brilliant fantasy escape into a very unique retelling of Arthurian legend! Whilst it was a little slow starting - by the end I was hanging on every twist and turn, and it left me very excited for book 2 in the series!

Often times with fantasy reading it can become quite cumbersome and confusing - however Boleyn’s world building and narration were in equal parts compelling and pretty easy reading.

I really enjoyed the (mostly) single POV of strong willed Morgan on her journey of unravelling self-discovery - and really enjoyed the wider characterisation too. I loved her friendships, and also the slow burn foundations for what feels like it will become a very complex love story in the coming books!

A very special thank you to Starwater Press, Briar Boleyn and Netgalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my review.

Morgan’s father killed her mother in a drunken haze. Morgan was a child and he murdered her because she had fae blood, the same blood that flowed through her veins. But no one’s going to hold Uther Pendragon accountable- he’s king after all.

As the first born, Morgan should’ve been queen. Instead, the honor went to her younger brother, Arthur, who has he same mean streak their father carried. Camelot is rife with famine and food insecurity. While Arthur and his court feast overnight, the citizens are starving and being slaughtered when they try and hunt food. Something isn’t adding up, but Morgan isn’t in a position to ask questions. Sure, she’s a princess, but she has fae blood and in Camelot, that makes her dirty.

The king’s advisor’s son, Florian, has taken a liking to Morgan. He’s tormented her for years but has decided he wants to marry her. Arthur is partial to his case and makes sure Morgan knows that. When he drugs her and carves his name into her chest, Morgan knows she needs to flee

Draven is a ridiculously attractive knight that comes with a nasty reputation as a man who gets things done. Even if it involves slaughtering children. He quickly rises to head of the guard and earns Arthur’s favor.


Arthur wants to wage war and tells Morgan she’s to travel to a very very far land and retrieve Excalibur or die trying. Draven will accompany her and ensure she completes the mission (or again, die trying).

The night before she leaves, Florian stalks her back to the stables and attempts to assault her. Draven finds her covered in blood, tells her to grab her pack and meet him so they can leave.


Together, they embark on this journey and Morgan begins to come into her powers. She meets Vesper a hot faerie and the attraction is instantaneous. Does she make it to Excalibur? Can she resist Draven and Vesper?


Queen of Roses was a 5 star fantasy that pulled from King Arthur, Merlin, and Camelot lore. It's not a retelling but uses the world to build this incredible book.

This wasn't one of those books that I devoured in a day. I took my time to enjoy it and read it over the course of the week. But it was still addictive and I still found myself thinking about it whenever I wasn't reading just wondering what would happen next

Thanks Netgalley!

Overall: 4 stars
World Building: 3 stars
Plot: 4 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Spice 1 pepper
Ending: 4 stars

Tropes: Sword & The Stone retelling, Enemies to lovers

First off, I suspect that this will turn into a true enemies to lovers in the next book of the series. This one is suggested towards the end.

This was well written and well thought out. I am super excited to read the next 3 books in the series. A beautiful fictional world filled with magic, creatures, and gods. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is into fantasy or romantasy. There are two spicy scenes, and both are mild. I suspect spice will increase throughout the series.

Overall, Briar Boleyn does a wonderful job weaving a fictional world that you can immerse yourself in and believe is real for just a bit while you are reading. This is not like other books I have read in the genre and I am really impressed. Definitely pick this one up!

This was a great introductory book, though I did find that the 'twists' were so trope-y as to be unsurprising. That being said, there's nothing wrong with tropes! It did entice me enough to keep me reading the full series.

Thank you Netgalley for an ecopy for review.

This series is inspired by the King Arthur legend. Morgan Pendragon is a captive by the duties forged by her oppressive former father’s rules and now her oppressive brother who is now King, King Arthur. As requested by her brother, she is on a mission to obtain the legendary Excalibur, the tool that will be the key to his brother winning his war. The secrets she keeps may be the key to getting this legendary sword. The party she is riding with to obtain this sword includes a dark warrior, Kairos Draven, who has secrets of his own. The pace is fairly quick, a great story for young adults. Not a bad start to a series! This ends in a major cliffhanger.