Briar Boleyn’s "Queen of Roses" is a spellbinding fantasy novel that weaves together elements of magic, intrigue, and romance into a rich tapestry of storytelling. Set in a lush and immersive fantasy world, the novel follows Elara, a young woman with a mysterious past and a burgeoning gift for manipulating roses—a power both feared and coveted in her kingdom.

Boleyn’s prose is lyrical and evocative, painting vivid landscapes and intricate courtly politics that draw readers deep into Elara’s journey. From the opulent palace to the enchanted gardens where roses bloom under Elara’s command, the world-building is both enchanting and immersive.

At the heart of the novel is Elara herself—a compelling protagonist whose strength lies not only in her magical abilities but also in her resilience and compassion. As she navigates the dangers of courtly intrigue and the complexities of her own powers, Elara’s growth is palpable, making her journey one of self-discovery and empowerment.

The romance in "Queen of Roses" is woven delicately into the fabric of the plot, adding an element of tension and emotional depth to the story. The dynamic between Elara and the enigmatic Prince Lysander is nuanced and captivating, filled with longing, misunderstanding, and ultimately, a deepening connection that resonates with authenticity.

Beyond its engaging characters and romantic intrigue, "Queen of Roses" explores themes of identity, destiny, and the consequences of wielding power. Boleyn deftly examines the moral implications of Elara’s abilities and the choices she must make as she comes into her own as a leader.

Overall, "Queen of Roses" is a captivating debut that will appeal to fans of lush fantasy worlds and strong, complex heroines. Briar Boleyn’s mastery of storytelling, combined with her ability to blend magic and romance seamlessly, makes this novel a compelling addition to the genre—a tale as enchanting as the roses that bloom within its pages.

What an ending!

Queen of Roses follows Morgan Pendragon as she navigates Arthur's palace while finding her place in the world. She is tasked to find a sword to bring back to Arthur.

The book was quite slow with not much action until the end. While the ending left on a cliffhanger with so many unanswered questions, the book seemed rather anticlimactic. Scenes seemed forced and lacking. I thought the idea was good though. I'm hoping the next books are a little better

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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The Gist
An enemies-to-lovers King Arthur inspired fantasy where Morgan Pendragon has to go on a quest to protect her kingdom.

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What I Enjoyed...
The world was easy to dive into. I appreciated that the author took the time to establish the many facets of Morgan's character - her relationship with her close friends, her determination, her standing in court, her desire to fight for and protect the people of her kingdom, and her innocence when it comes to the greater world. All of these were things that grew and developed during the course of her journey. But, in order to really appreciate the growth of Morgan's character, one needed to really understand where she was coming from to begin with. Boleyn gives us time to see Morgan in action before we're whisked off with her on her quest.

Thoughts & Critiques...
I wanted to see Morgan gain more agency over the course of the book, particularly because many of the men in her life are quite terrible. At the beginning of the book, we see moments where Morgan showcases a quiet kind of strength, and I had hoped that that would turn into something more. There was one moment in particular towards the middle of the book where I really thought Morgan was going to take control over the situation but then Draven stepped in and took the choice away from her.

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Other Things
*This book ends on a cliffhanger.
*Mind the slow burn tag. If you're looking for fast flame spice, you're not going to get it. I enjoy slow burn and can say that the "enemies to lovers" tag is well-earned here!
*I think I expected a little more worldbuilding when it came to the fae and their lore. I’m not entirely familiar with the King Arthur legends, so I’m sure there were little nods and Easter Eggs I missed. I think someone who really loves the King Arthur legends would be pretty happy with this book.

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Final Thoughts
3 stars. Unfortunately, while I definitely think there is a readership for this book, this one just wasn’t for me. I liked the main character at times and was proud of her when she was able to stand up for herself, but I got a little annoyed that she continued to be damsel-ified during crucial moments that could have pushed her to break out of her shell. I don’t mind the MMC coming in to save the day, but I just think I personally need the FMC to have a little more agency as the book progresses.

The first book in the Blood of Fae series and I am here for it! You get all the best tropes. It was fast paced. If you are looking for your next fantasy romance read and love books like FBAA and ACOTAR you will love this!

Overall I really enjoyed the premise of the story and I was definitely kept interested throughout trying to work out the secrets behind both Morgan and Draven’s characters. I had early predictions and some were right, some were wrong so having surprises throughout was good.

I enjoyed the world building in this book, we spent a large portion of it travelling due to the mission Morgan is sent on. We’re very slowly introduced to the ideas of a lot of creatures which though most don’t feature in book 1 likely means we’ll see them in future books. The world building itself also has a lot more to go in future books, I can tell we’ve only just scratched the surface. But please be aware this is quite a slow book.

I did enjoy the characters, though I did find Morgan frustrating once she had left Camelot. She proved herself to be more naive than implied early on in the book and she asks a lot of questions. But I can tell this is intentional and I look forward to follow her character development. This is a slow burn book, in fact there’s literally only 1 scene with a little bit of spice and I did find myself wanting, however this is a 4 book series so I’m biding my time for the romance to enter later in the series - I just hope it’s worth it!

Overall this feels very much like a usual book 1 set up book, I’m definitely invested enough to continue the series and see where it’s going. My biggest issue was with the chapter length, most are 20-30 min reads so it did feel like a slow book, because of this I didn’t find myself wanting to continue too long and that’s a big contributor to my 3.5⭐️ rating which I’ve rounded up to 4 for the purpose of this review and on Goodreads.

I love arthurian tales, especially those with a twist.

For me personally, the chapters were a little long, but that didn't detract from the story itself. The beginning was a little slower than I would usually like but I really enjoyed it from about the 40% mark. The adventure Morgan goes on really ramps up the tension and that ending definitely makes you want to continue the series.

Overall, I felt this was a 'beginning book' i.e. something you have to read in order for the rest of the series to make sense but a lot of it could have been cut to make it more fast paced. However, I have high hopes for the rest of the series. Will definitely be continuing.

Loved the world building in this book as well as the start of the slow burn romance. I can’t wait to see where the rest of the series will go!!

Thank you to netgalley for the advanced copy!

The world building was so good and each characters are pretty interesting. I love the slow burn and I love a good struggle. Though there are some things that wasn’t explained well enough for me to grasp but then I still love it. The romance, the fantasy, and the story literally makes me want more. Thank you Netgalley!

Found a new obsession with Briar Boleyn. I love story-retellings so this seemed right up my street.

A likeable protagonist in Morgan and your new literature bad-boy over protective man in Drazen within my favourite Romantasy genre and a lot of the tropes that are going wild on bookstagram and booktok at the moment: spicy romance, slow burn, enemies to lovers and more all set in a world based on one of my favourite legends OMG I will be continuing the rest of this Saga. Now eagerly anticipating the next installment.
Thankyou @BriarBoleyn for my new character obsessions. I would love to be considered for your ARC in the future.

For a more in depth Synopsis and further conversation. Check out my blog in future for a further review...
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Thank you Netgalley for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review!

The book started off a bit slow, but as I continued I really began to enjoy the story and look forward to continuing the series. The characters were amazing and super interesting. I loved following Morgan and Draven throughout their story and watching them grow closer during this mission. I definitely was not crazy about Arthur, Florian and Vesper. Awful characters, but then I guess the author succeeded there because that was the point. I loved Morgan's relationship with her friends Lancelot and Galahad as well as her relationship with her half-brother Kaye who she cares so much for. Morgan is such a strong character, she's experienced so much in her life from her mother's death, her step-mother's death, her father's rejection and then death, and her brother's continued rejection as well. He treats her as if she is the smelly sh*t on the bottom of his shoe due to her lineage.

Kairos Draven is a sweet and caring man under all of that "evil killer/murderer spy" stuff. When in danger he goes into full badass mode and works well with Morgan. He protects her every chance he gets (touch her and ****) and his character is really seen during the times he is presented with the creatures of Eskira. Really recommend this to all who love a good princess warrior and fierce male protective love interest.

It took me a little bit longer to start reading this book because of my mood reading, but I thoroughly enjoyed it

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the arc of this book!
3⭐️ - didn’t love but didn’t hate. Would recommend to the right reader.
Check trigger warnings before reading the book.
Queen of Roses by Brair Boleyn. This is my first time reading one of her books. Enjoyed the concept of the story line: princess who was first in line for the throne has her life set out for her due to her part fae heritage. Her younger brother becomes king and rules strictly. Morgan (MFC) is made to journey to fae lands to retrieve an artefact for her king but will she be successful? Can she trust those with her? In the time she’s away from the kingdom she uncovers secrets about herself, those in her company and the lands she travels through.
I felt like it was a slow read. Personally it took me until reaching 80% through the book to become more interested and that’s when I felt the story began. The book was left with me both confused and wanting to read more to understand what just happened.
I enjoyed the imagery throughout the book and was able to visualise the setting and characters very clearly.
Themes/trigger warnings:
Abduction, abuse, death, assault, domestic violence

I enjoyed the story overall, and the world in which was set was intresting and new. But at times somewhat confusing. nothing major but frustrating nonetheless.

In terms of characters, they were all fairly well-built but lacked some depth, however that might be because there is more further on in the series.

I will definitely continue this series.

As the discarded firstborn princess of Pendrath, Morgan Pendragon’s life has never been her own. When her older brother offers her the opportunity to pick between two different fates, Morgan begins her quest for a fae weapon of legendary power. The journey is dark and treacherous and the unearthed secrets make Morgan question what is more important: duty or desire?

Rating: 4/5 ⭐️s - As the main character, Morgan is just enough parts damsel in distress and fiesty, stabby, warrior princess to keep me happy. I love the world building and magic of this world and am totally looking forward to a deeper dive. Then there’s the political intrigue and the various characters. Morgan’s brother is the kind of villain you love to hate while her best friends are diehard.

Spice Rating: 1/5 🫑s - Possible enemies to lovers slow burn. Don’t expect a lot outright spice but the scenes with spice are tingly delicious. Looking forward to some more.

one of the best fantasy romances that i’ve read in a while! the darkness vibes, plot twists and turns kept me so engaged and wanting more!

I really enjoyed this romantasy book filled with a slow burn and an enemies to lovers romance, fae, secrets, and betrayal, and just the right amount of action and adventure to balance it out.

I really enjoyed the beginning of the story, even if, at first, I thought it was going to be too dark for my liking (please, read the trigger warnings before reading it!), but, unfortunately, I was not completely hooked with the plot. Even if I really enjoy all the Camelot vibes and Morgan's character development, I feel that, for me, it was just an OK book, but I also feel that it's because it's the 1st book on the series, so I would like to read the second one to build a more solid opinion about it.

Thank you Netgalley for the e-arc!

I was surprised when I started this book. Surprised on how much it was easy to read and also how much I was enjoying the story.
This Camelot re-telling was what I needed. I liked a lot the new representations of the characters, Merlin as a woman and Arthur as the villain. I liked a lot the add of the fae to the story, it makes so much sense.
The world building is really great, but the magic is still a little too weak for now, so I’m really looking forward for book two when it will come out, mostly after tat ending!! Luckily I’ll not need to wait too much since book two is coming out in June.
Also, I would like to see a bit more of characters development, but the rest was so much enjoyable.

Thank you NetGalley and author Briar Boleyn for this ARC and all the opinions are my own.

Unfortunately, this was a big miss for me. The FMC was annoying, the plot felt like it was a direct copy and paste from a couple of the big romantasy novels of the moment, and it just did not inspire me to continue with the series. This is supposed to be a retelling, but I don't think there was enough of the plot for it to be a retelling.

I loved this book! What a wonderful introduction to a series. The characters were engaging, the world was lush and the banter was snapping. Would highly recommend and can't wait for the next installment.

Thank you to Starwater Press, NetGalley, and Briar Boleyn for the ARC
📚THE PLOT:
Queen of Roses follows Morgan Pendragon, who’s grown in the shadows of her brother because of the tainted fae blood in her veins. Now that her kingdom is on the brink of war, she is forced on a journey to seek out a legendary weapon that’ll save them from their doom.
💭MY THOUGHTS:
I am fully obsessed with this book! I love stories about fae and the legend of King Arthur. The characters are great and lovable, and I sense a fantastic story with immense potential. I hope it meets my expectations. This book is brimming with romantasy, twists and turns, betrayals, and an epic quest. If that's your thing, this book is for you.

As for my favorite character, it's definitely the morally gray Kairos Draven! That man was everything🤌🏼 and not just visually😉 He respected Morgan and her decisions, and still cared for and loved her! Though I found Morgan a bit frustrating at times, her character added depth to the story.
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice 🌶️.3/5

Tropes
🌹 Slow-burn romance
🌹 Enemies to lovers
🌹 Morally gray MMC
🌹 World Building
🌹 Epic Quest
🌹 Found family
🌹 "Who did this to you?" With a hint of Touch her and ☠️
🌹 First person POV