Paved with Good Intentions begins a new, thrilling era in The War of the Rose Throne saga.

Eline is a common wife and mother who kills her abusive husband in a desperate act of self-defense. She is offered a choice: hang for murder or use her newfound skills and go undercover at a brothel to murder a high-value target.

Choosing between a life of whoring and killing, or hanging in the town square, is no real choice at all. But Eline gets swept into a much deeper, darker web of lies, conspiracy, and death than she ever dreamed, and she must adapt quickly or face consequences even worse than her own demise.

McLean deftly weaves some old characters and locations into this story, as well as provides a bit of aftermath of Tomas Piety’s story. You don’t need to have read the Priest books to follow this story, but there is enough crossover to delight the attentive reader.

Eline is a fascinating protagonist who learns wisdom through hard experiences. Her story is a story of transition, adaptation, and using all her faculties to fake it until she makes it.

As the story progressed, Eline started to resemble Tomas in several ways: figures of speech, alcohol preference, and treatment of peers. I’m not sure if this was an intentional message of “this is who you need to become to survive in this world,” but it felt a bit too close to Tomas Piety’s story, which detracted from Eline’s characterization.

Yet that is a small gripe in an excellent book overall. It is sharply written, with tight, efficient prose and brilliant pacing. I hope this story isn’t just a one-off, as there are many exciting paths it can follow.

For fans of McLean, this is a must-read recommendation. For those new to his work: if you enjoy bloody violence, escalating mysteries, and black humor, this story will have you glued from start to finish.

I have listened to all the Rose Crown books and enjoyed them immensely, safe to say I also thought this was a great addiction to that world, I will be buying the audiobook as soon as it’s released

I am a huge fan of Peter McLean's War for the Rose Throne series, so I was excited to learn he'd written a new book set in that same world.

I enjoyed this book, but I really wish it had been longer: I wanted to spend more time in that world & see more of Eline's journey.

This was such a powerful book! Not my usual genre but very exciting nonetheless. I greatly enjoyed Elaine’s story and how she stopped at nothing to protect her children and fight for justice. Highly recommend