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

I really enjoyed this spicy fantasy romance. It had slow burn, enemies to lovers, one bed, forced proximity, found family, and other tropes that I love. This book really had it all and I ate it up!

I never thought romantasy would be a genre I would enjoy so much, but I tried this series by Briar Boleyn and I loved it even more than ACOTAR! The FMC development is remarkable and a “shining” example of what a strong and feminine female can be. This series is currently my favorite recommendation to share with friends and acquaintances! It does have a couple of spicy scenes in each book, but I would say they are easily skippable if that isn’t your vibe. The books are smart and sassy, and skipping the spicy parts doesn’t detract from the story in any way.

I don’t know how I’d never heard of this book before. It’s so good. The author retelling is perfect. The FMC is lovable as is the MMC. I love the twist of the love interest at the end. I knew something had to happen, but I liked how it plays out. I can’t wait to see what comes with this series!

ARC Review

Scale information:
1: terrible, awful, I cannot stop ranting about how bad it was; 3: this is exactly what I expect from a book of this genre; 5: I cannot stop thinking about this book, I must own a copy, I will tell everyone to read it.

Re: TW: Animal Death: from my recollection, no domestic animal death, though there is wild cat death (mostly off-page).

In general, this was a good book, averaging out to be what I would expect from the "romantasy" genre. The first third of the book was a slog, holding none of my interest. I was regretting signing up to review all four books in the series. But it does turn around before the halfway point, and I did end up staying up far too late to read (I literally fell asleep reading at one point).

The storyline, while slightly formulaic, is predictable enough without being a rehash of other books in the genre: no twists for shock value, no "gotchas" that don't make sense, and overall the book flows in an expected way (less "the author used foreshadowing effectively" and more "full of romantasy tropes"). There was foreshadowing and it was subtle enough to not be "whack the reader over the head with this", and still be obvious (personally I think there shouldn't be too much heavy thinking required for this genre).

I do wish this was an original story and world than a "retelling" of Arthurian legend. I think the story would have benefitted from having it's own names, countries, lore... even more than it already does (it seems to be very loosely based on Arthurian lore).

The formatting of the ebook was non-standard, and not in an artistic way. Just in an annoying marketing email way. It was less grating as I went, but definitely affected my star rating and enjoyment of the story. Overall very few typos or grammar mistakes (other than the paragraph formatting), so that was refreshing and pleasant to read.

Excited to finish this review to move onto book 2!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

“Queen of roses” is a King Arthur retelling that I got the chance to read thanks to NetGallley, to whom I thank the opportunity.

Unfortunately, this was not the book for me. I’ve been more and more into fantasy lately, so I always feel sad when a fantasy series does not work for me, specially if it’s a retelling, which I usually enjoy.

“Queen of roses” is part of a four book series, which might help explain the extremely slow beginning, given the necessity to build this new world. However, I felt the world building was not so well achieved and the first 60% of the book was extremely repetitive. Additionally, Morgan was, for the majority of the book, the kind of main character that I don’t like, that does virtually nothing to guide the narrative, being taken by the events.

The book failed in getting my interest, hence, unfortunately, I will not continue with this series.


This review will also be available in my Goodreads profile and in my instagram account.

Saw this on Netgalley a few times and decided to apply for an arc because I'm still in my fantasy/mythology era lol. Plus, seeing that this was based on the legend of King Arthur/Excaliber etc, it reminded me of the old BBC show, Merlin.

This has taken me longer to get through because I've just not been getting time to read these last few months *cries* and I won't lie, the writing is a bit haphazard/flows more clinically throughout. Although, I did find that the 'Book 2' part seemed to flow better than the first part of the book, so it made the story easier to get through.

Whilst there are also plot holes/areas where the information should have been picked up better by certain characters, I was more and more intrigued by the storyline. In particular, what Arthur's over-arching plan is because he's initially made out to seem like a tyrant who doesn't really listen to reason or can't necessarily put 2 and 2 together. But, as the story continues, we see that he's been doing his research and plotting behind the scenes too.

I actually finished this yesterday, and have been eagerly checking my emails to see if I'd been approved for the other books in the series. Which I have now been, so looking forward to reading them!


*ARC received in exchange for an honest review.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲, 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫, 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐫 𝐁𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐲𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞-𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰.

OK ! So this review took a while, because honestly, I just HAD to read all of the books, I couldn't put them down and I felt like my review wouldn't be complete without a total overview of the story.

When I first picked up this book, I wasn't excepting much, not that I had any idea what I was getting into. And at the start, the first few pages got me so confused, especially as I started to recognize the names of characters of Camelot, and I had no idea that this book was a whole new spin of the Pendragon story. But after that, it was so easy to get caught up in the whole story, and the author's personal spin on each of the characters.

Concerning this specific book, I'd say that it was too short, I was barely getting into it and getting to know the characters that it was already over ! I was so excited for the rest and it did not disappoint.

"The Queen of Roses" by Briar Boleyn is set in the enchanting world of Eskira and follows the story of Morgan Pendragon within the Rose Court of Camelot. The novel centres on Morgan, a strong and complex protagonist, as she navigates the intricacies of court life, political intrigue, and her own destiny.

Morgan's journey is fraught with challenges as she grapples with her family's legacy, her magical abilities, and the power struggles within Camelot. As she strives to protect those she loves and secure her place in the court, Morgan must confront dark secrets, dangerous alliances, and her own inner demons. The novel blends elements of Arthurian legend with fresh twists, creating a rich tapestry of romance, mystery, and adventure.

Briar Boleyn crafts a vivid and immersive world, with well-developed characters and a plot that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. The lush descriptions and emotional depth make "The Queen of Roses" a compelling read for fans of fantasy and Arthurian tales.

I thoroughly enjoyed the character development, especially Morgan's evolution throughout the story. After a bit of a slow start during the world building, the novel had me completely engrossed and I immediately began reading the next book in the series. "The Queen of Roses" is a must-read for anyone who loves rich, character-driven fantasy stories.

Thank you to Netgalley, the Author and The starwater press for providing me a free e-copy of Queen of roses.

"Queen of Roses" starts with an intriguing premise and a lush, well-crafted setting that promises a rich and immersive fantasy experience and providing a vibrant backdrop that initially captivates the reader. Unfortunately, the novel fails to deliver a satisfying story.

From the outset, the story relies heavily on overused fantasy tropes that quickly become tiresome. The lack of originality in the plot progression detracts from the initial allure of the book's premise. The writing is another significant drawback. Dialogue between characters lacks authenticity and fails to convey the intended emotions, making it difficult to engage with the story on a deeper level.

Coming to the protagonist, who is meant to be a strong and inspiring figure, comes across as weak and bland. She is depicted as a passive character, reacting to events rather than driving the plot forward. Her lack of backbone and agency makes it challenging to root for her or become invested in her journey. Despite being positioned as the titular "Queen of Roses," she rarely demonstrates the leadership, courage, or determination one would expect from such a central figure. Instead, she often fades into the background, overshadowed by secondary characters.

Overall, the story had the potential to be a compelling addition to the fantasy genre, with its promising premise and richly imagined setting. But as mentioned above, the overreliance on clichés, subpar writing, and the weak portrayal of the female protagonist ultimately undermined the story.

Book Review: Queen of Roses by Briar Boleyn

⭐⭐⭐⭐

*Queen of Roses* by Briar Boleyn is a captivating read featuring Morgan Pendragon with a fae twist. The rich, immersive setting and compelling plot kept me hooked. Some pacing issues aside, the unexpected twists made it worthwhile. Thank you to NetGalley and the author for this free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A Camelot reimagining with Fae! Yes, please. This is book one in a series, and I ate it up. I loved the premise and story line, I’m so invested in the characters and see a ton of potential for their character arcs. We’ve got romance, a quest, badass females, a dark mysterious MMC, unrealized powers. I’m ready to dive into book 2 immediately!

Hey Book friends! 📚✨ I just finished a fun romantasy and had to share! It started off amazingly—I was hooked from the get-go. The slow-burn romance gave me all the feels, and the fae twist added a unique touch!

The main storyline had so much potential, but it could use a bit more depth and character development to really shine. Some parts were a little predictable, but it was still an enjoyable read overall. One critique is that the relationship between the two main characters could have used more development.

Big thanks to NetGalley, Briar Boleyn, and Starwater Press for the ARC!

Just finished a reread of "Queen of Roses" by Briar Boleyn and wow, what a ride! Briar has created a world where dark magic and Arthurian legends come to life, and Morgan Pendragon is right in the thick of it. I remembered quickly how I got sucked into this series the first time I read it.

The chemistry between Morgan and Draven? Off the charts! Their banter is both hilarious and intense, keeping me on the edge. Each twist and turn in their story adds layers of intrigue and emotion.

Wrapped up the book and now I’m desperately moving on to the next one! Briar, you've got me hooked. If you love a good dark fantasy with strong characters and an epic love story, you need to dive into this series. It’s a must-read!