Arthurian, Time Travel Adventure

Gwen traveled to King Arthur's time and became his queen. In this fourth book in the series, we follow Gwen and Arthur as they navigate the challenging times in which they live. There is treachery, battles to fight, and dangerous adventure. There are two more books left in the series after this one, so we won’t know Gwen and Arthur's destinies. Will the Arthurian legend be true, or will Arthur and Gwen have a different future than the legend tells? I look forward to reading the rest of their story.

This is book 4 in the Guinevere series and so far my favourite.
I came into this series blind I didn't read the blurb and I don't know a lot about the dark ages or King Arthur.
But I am glad I picked up these books.
Guinevere is from the future and Merlin brings her back in time to fulfil a prophecy to unite
Britain.
These books must be read in order as there is lots of information and relationships that you need to keep track off.
The characters are well developed and so is the story, the amount of research this author must have done absolutely boggles my mind.
This book is ultimately a love story but the accounts of what every day life and war was like in the Dark ages is what brings this book series alive for me.
I have just finished book 5 in the series (review to follow soon) and the series is far from over.
I would highly recommend this series.

This is a first time read for me by this author, but it is I believe the fourth book of the series. My recommendation would be to read the books in order, as it was a bit hard for me to get into it in the beginning, having not read the previous books. But once I did I really enjoyed it. I had never really given thought to King Arthur and Guinevere, other than hearing about the legend. The author did a wonderful job of telling the story and I was pulled in from the beginning. She did a nice job of bringing the story and the time period to life and I was engrossed till the end. It's fast paced story full of plot twists that kept me turning the pages, anxious to see what happens next. A great action and drama packed romance that was a thrill to read!
I received a complimentary copy from Dragonblade Publishing and Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

I have to admit that I have never given King Arthur and/or Guinevere much thought. Of course I've heard the legend of King Arthur and his sword and I know Guinevere played a big part in all of it, but until I read this book, I didn't realize just how important she was. There are doubts that either Arthur or Guinevere even existed, so to think that they did made for a lively story.

Legend or not, I loved King Arthur. He was strong, handsome, a good and faithful husband who loved his wife and family (stepbrother excluded), and a fair and honest High King. Guinevere was most definitely his right hand. He knew she was from another time and respected her point of view on many topics and treated her as an equal rather than property. She angered him a few times, but it never lasted long.

Guinevere was the warrior queen. She was able to defend herself and lead men probably as well as her husband, but she never let it go to her head and she never usurped his authority. Even if she was a warrior, she was a mother, a wife, a friend, and loved Arthur with so much passion that it leaped off the pages, even with the closed door scenes.

I gave this book four stars for two reasons and both due to the blurb.

1. I hate it when I pick up a book that's in a series only to find out that I needed to read the previous books. There was no mention of that in the blurb. The author did a pretty good job of trying to bring the reader up to speed, but I know I missed so much. I missed Guinevere doing the time travel, meeting Arthur, the two of them getting married, and how was it she was so close to Merlin? I know she was madly in love with Arthur, but I got the feeling she may have been a little in love with him, too. I wasn't totally lost, but I would've enjoyed the story much more had I read the first three books.

2. Quote from the blurb:

Can there be a happy ending for Gwen and Arthur, or is it written in stone that he must die?

Why ask the question if you aren't going to answer it? The story ends with a bit of a cliffhanger, but it has nothing to do that question. I kept reading because I wanted to know and now I never will.

This really was an amazing book. There was war, angst, grief, and love. I chuckled a few times, cried more than I thought possible, and cared about the characters, especially Merlin. I want to be his friend.

This would have been a five star read had the blurb not been disingenuous and misleading. The previous books in the series really should be read before reading this one. Writing the blurb is harder than writing the novel itself, but so much lies on it and I feel a little cheated that I didn't get the answer to that question.

Still a great read!

Warrior Queen by Fil Reid is the next installment in the story of Queen Guinevere, wife of King Arthur. It is years now since Merlin had arranged to have Gwen transported from modern day to the 6th Century. Gwen and Arthur have been married for years and in addition to their son, she has given birth to a daughter. It is two years since Arthur had been elected High King and things are going relatively smoothly. The Saxons (Yellow Hairs) have been attacking the coast and Arthur and his army have gone to help deal with them. Gwen is left at home and worries as she watches Medraut (Mordred) become a more and more unpleasant child. His mother, Arthur’s sister, Morgawse is blind to it and given the legend as well as her son’s safety, Gwen is concerned. Merlin, who had been bewitched by Morgana has yet to see his daughter, but wishes so mightily. Gwen is about to prove herself the Warrior Queen as she, Merlin, and 60 men try to follow Arthur to request his assistance against the Yellow Hairs in another direction.

It is an exciting read, full of battle as well as deceit as the time draws nearer that legend says Arthur will be cut down in battle. Gwen knows just enough to be dangerous, as the old saying goes, but not enough detail to be truly helpful. Merlin is despondent about his daughter and his supposed relationship with Morgana. He is not the Merlin we know from legend, but an intriguing character none-the-less: younger and more powerful in many ways. This is a dynamic story, filling in many of the blanks from the legends we have all heard. It places Gwen in a role of supremacy, along with Arthur and is so much more than the Gwen we’ve all known. Reid has done the fiction reading populace a service with this fully fleshed out version of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, giving us all a story to love.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of Warrior Queen by Dragonblade, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. #Netgalley #Dragonblade #FilReid #WarriorQueen

Wow wow! I just stumbled upon Warrior Queen. Usually I read the description and pass because if its a book in an already established series. But not this time! I was very intrigued by the cover, description, and also that it was the fourth book. I immediately started reading Dragon Ring and was hooked! I finished all four books in five days! Normally I do not like retellings, but this one was way different than I thought it would be. It adds so much historical information to the story, which makes it so different because of the differences in the Arthurian legends. I initially thought this was going to be some knockoff Outlander, but it was so good!. I love the relationship between Arthur, Gwen and Merlin, they really have evolved as characters. Gwen thinks she knows how King Arthur's story goes from her 21st century knowledge, but there is so much more to it. She lives in fear of changing the future but she also does not want Arthur to meet his end, this confliction continues through the series and I am curious to how this ends. This book does leave off on a cliffhanger, but each one in the series has ended similarly. I will be eagerly awaiting the next book. and am super excited for a reread of the series when it is released. I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A riveting plot, compelling characters and a heart wrenching and suspenseful historical romance. A can't-put-down read!