Queen of Roses

Title: Queen of Roses

Author: Briar Boleyn

Series: Blood of a Fae

Rating: 4/5

~ Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review ~

This book was a little treat for my English degree. Arthurian legend but make it fantasy romance? I’m skipping with joy, I really am. And the story held up, too, it wasn’t just a thought the author had but they didn’t want to do their research or put effort into anything other than writing a retelling. This is more of an “inspired by” story that has all the research, but also unique ideas and I ate that up. Once I had a moment to actually read this book I went through it really fast, it was a very good read and also easy to get through (if you’re used to fantasy, world building can be a lot to take in but I feel it was done pretty well here). 

I love Morgan as the main character, she is so interesting and there is a lot to unpack with her. Well, it sounds like there is a lot to unpack with her whole family. But we don’t have time for that right now. Her father? Horrible. Her brother Arthur? Horrible. Her brother Kaye? My precious little baby. Lancelet and Galahad? I absolutely love it. Draven? My precious boy. I feel like that is a great summary of the book. 

But more specifically for Morgan herself, she has personality, she is into fighting but also isn’t just some gifted god

at it, she doesn’t immediately fall for the love interest, and she has flaws! I love flaws in a character- give me a young girl making silly little mistakes because she’s still a little naive. Morgan’s 20, I don’t expect her to know everything about everything, especially if she doesn’t have experience. For example, her romantic relationship throughout this novel is something new to her, she isn’t going to be the best judge of character or listen to what other people think of the guy- it’s the first time someone who didn’t hurt her showed interest in her, she’s going to have clouded judgment. 

I liked the plot, it kept me intrigued but also left room for some of Morgan’s personal relationships to grow how they needed to. There’s also so many different secrets being kept, but I’m loving it. I would definitely recommend picking up this book, it is worth the read!