Court of Claws ARC Review :)

Thank you to NetGalley, Starwater Press and Briar Boleyn for ARC copies of Queen of Roses and Court of Claws!

I love a deadly competition and got so excited when the book started with one. I really liked the first book in the series but I LOVED this one. The pace was great and there were a lot of unexpected twists that had me determined to find out what happened next. Draven is a captivating morally grey MMC with a filthy mouth. The side characters were all wonderful, especially the fantastic beasts and Beks. Sometimes I struggled with Morgan and didn't understand her points of view at all, but I'm hoping that changes in book three. I can't wait to see what happens next!

Enemies to lovers ♥️
Slow burn 🔥
Gore and Action ⚔️
Forced proximity 😏
Praise 🙏🏼
Spice 🌶️
Touch her and 💀
Unexpected power 🪄

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Publication date: June 30, 2023

Court of Claws is the second in the Blood of Fae series by Briar Boleyn. I reviewed the first book earlier this month and managed to get approved for the second right away.

This second book begins almost immediately after Queen of Roses ends. Morgan has come into her full Fae powers but suffers a life ending injury at the hands of her lover.

Morgan wakes in the court of Siabra with Draven the guard sworn to protect her. It’s clear immediately though that Draven is who he says he is as the members of the court refer to him as Prince.

As Draven finds his way back into court 20 years after leaving, Morgan is furious with him for dragging her along and keeping her from finding her little brother. Morgan spends her time exploring and training and doing her best to avoid Draven.

There is an unmistakable bond and attraction between them that they can’t seem to ignore. While Draven prepares to enter the competition that will allow him his rightful position as emperor, their relationship continues to grow until Draven pulls the ultimate move that pushes Morgan away….maybe permanently.

This book was slightly better and more engaging than the first one. I will say the use of the word “fuck” was excessive. I have no issue with swearing or bad language, in fact I’m guilty of peppering my own conversations with it often. I understand the need to show Morgan’s strength and differences in her Fae form but this was not the way to do it. This was a 3.5 star read for me. I’ll stick it through to read the next one, the cliffhanger was enough to keep me intrigued.

#NetGalley #courtofclaws #briarboleyn

You are here because you read book 1, and boy did book 2 have an amazing kick to it. I just fell in love with this world even more. Getting to see Morgan's relationship with Kairos change and adapt was the biggest highlight for me in this one, it was keeping me on my toes. The different setting really gave this second book a good kick and made me want to know more and read faster.

Book two was devoured almost as fast as book one and I enjoyed Morgan and Draven’s interactions and the constant world building of the story. Was very impressed.

Thank you netgalley, starwater press and Briar Boleyn for this ARC. Enjoyed this book, and would definitely recommend to friends. Enemies to lovers, magic, mythical creatures, some spice and everything nice. I really enjoyed this book.

Dark fantasy romance with a loose inspirations of King Arthur. I just can’t say enough about this book….just go read it.

It was nice to get the second book as well through Netgalley, thank you.


This had really good potential, but. Unfortunately I could not get over the MFC being immature, laked growth, seemed too ignorant to her own world, was way to unforgiving and whiny. Also, I'm not a fan of miscommunication trope. Almost DNF it.. sorry.. The story has potential, but the characters need better personalities.

Thank you to NetGalley and Starwater Press for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Queen of Roses is a dark fantasy romance with a loosely inspired King Arthur retelling. The story has a slow burn romance with the enemies to lovers trope. I do feel like the character development fell to the wayside a bit, but overall I enjoyed it.

Because it is a dark fantasy romance-check trigger warnings before reading!

Thank you netgalley victory editing for allowing me to read this book. I loved book one and was so excited to read book 2! I was not expecting all the twists that come with book 2. I loved Bek and crescent so much! I didn’t like this book as much as the first one I will say. I didn’t like Morgan at all in the second book and felt like Draven deserved better. I don’t feel the need to read the 3rd book much. I felt like things dropped off for me in this book. The games were very interesting but other parts lost me.

This book was even better than the first. Seeing Draven in his home and with his people was too good. The enemies to lovers is immaculate. The way Briar Boleyn feeds us the lore and history is so refreshing and kept me on my toes the whole time. This book also ripped out my heart and stomped on it multiple times. I throughly enjoyed this book and it’s probably in my top 5 reads for the year. I absolutely cannot wait for book 3!

I enjoyed this sequel a lot. The new world Morgan is thrown into and the premise of the games occurring made for a very captivating story. I also enjoyed watching how Morgan's relationship with Kairos grows despite the negative feelings she originally had for him. The whole family dynamic really helped build Kairos's character which made him into a multi-dimensional character for me. The friendships and relationships Morgan built left me excited for more when she is finally able to take on her brother. Overall it left me really wanting more, especially with how much Kairos came to truly care and support her. Morgan is definitely strong-headed to the point of blindness sometimes which is frustrating but you can't help but root for her. This was a great read! Thank you to Net Galley and StarWater Press for access to this title.

Well this book upped the tempo from the 1st one (queen of roses)
The ending of the 1st left us waiting to see what was next & where the tale would go.
Cripes it went!
It took us into another part of the world and just dragged us deeper into it.
There’s going to be a book 3!
Bring it on I say.

Court of Claws is the second installment in the Blood of a Fae trilogy set in a dystopian world with a mythical altered Camelot twist. This novel cannot be read as a standalone as there are many references to the first book. I embarked upon the second book somewhat hesitantly as I had reservations with the first. My major issue is sadly with the Morgan, the lead female protagonist, she is downright infuriating. I had high hopes this second book would find Morgan coming into her own and emerging into a solid female powerhouse, but it was not to be. Ultimately her character faults are soooooo deeply rooted in passive aggressiveness making her entirely unlikeable and unrelatable. However, and this is big…there are pockets of complete magic within this story involving a host of other characters who are downright fascinating.

Morgan awakens to find herself held hostage within the Court of Umbral Flames by none other than Draven, aka Prince Kairos. Having saved her life, Draven sets Morgan up as his paramour under auspicious means. Their on-again and off-again romance is awkward. Honestly the romance scenes were way over the top for two protagonists that didn’t seem to like each other ALL of the time. Lyrastra, Hawl, Rychel, and even Sephone kept my attention far more, especially with the Blood Rise tournament. Pieces of Morgan’s backstory with the Valtain are revealed and this is the real magic of the plot. I need far more story and far less romance in book three.

Ultimately, my speed-reading abilities came in handy for getting through Morgan’s long self-deprecating monologues to get to the good bits. The epilogue set the story up nicely for a return to Camelot, but hopefully with a far more capable heroine.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

Oh my goodness I love this series! I absolutely cannot wait for the third book!

This book is so much different than the first. We have a different setting and different characters. This time Morgan isn’t in her court or even her kingdom…she’s been whisked away to Dravens court…or should I say Prince Dravens court. The court of Umbral Flames. And let’s just say the stakes got a lot higher!

I seriously could not put this book down!

For me Briar Boleyn will go down as one of those authors that I will read whatever she writes.

5/5 stars and have already recommended this book to so many people.

This is the second in the series and I can’t help but say how much I loved this book , I devoured it and didn’t want it to end, it’s so faced paced , full of fascinating characters and world building, its enemies to lovers, fae, forced proximity, strong FMC and MMC what more could you want, the next book if you’re me, can’t wait until November for the next

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

GOODNESS GRACIOUS!!! Thank you NetGalley, Starwater Press and Briar Boleyn for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

GAHHH!!!! FABULOUS!! INCREDIBLE!! OBSESSED!! ADDICTED!! MASTERPIECE!! PERFECTION!! I AM STRUGGLING TO FIND ENOUGH WORDS TO ADEQUATELY DESCRIBE THIS PHENOMENAL BOOK!!! BRIAR BOLEYN HAS DONE IT AGAIN!! THIS SERIES JUST GETS BETTER AND BETTER!! HANDS DOWN MY FAVORITE FANTASY ROMANCE READ SO FAR FOR 2023!! 🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀

The story has your enemies to lovers trope and is filled with magic, mythical creatures, romance, sexual tension, witty banter, forced proximity, sizzling chemistry/spice, bonded mates, love, found family, friendships, betrayal, secrets, heartbreak, adventure, action, unexpected twists and turns and a blood right trial! In my review of the first book I mentioned needing a little more fire and spice and boy did the author deliver in this book ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥!! I absolutely loved Draven with his touch her and you die vibes! Seriously, the world building, plot and character development is top notch!!

Court of Claws is a dark fantasy romance with a loosely inspired King Arthur retelling with a Fae twist! It picks right up from the cliffhanger in Queen of Roses with Morgan awakening in a bed that's not hers in an unfamiliar court as Draven's paramour. Umm, she definitely did not sign up for all of this but she quickly realizes that she must go along with the games in order to return home to help save Camelot from her treacherous brother, King Arthur.

ALRIGHT, ANOTHER HUGE CLIFFHANGER!! When I finished the epilogue I kept trying to flip for more pages because I just knew there had to be more!! Consider yourself warned! Now I have to wait for book three of the trilogy😩!!

Overall, I was completely captivated from start to finish! If you love ACOTAR and Hunger Games then this is the book for you! I highly recommend this series and it deserves a gazillion stars!! 💫💫💫💫💫

✨Because of the nature of this being a dark and twisted fantasy story please check the trigger warnings before reading this book.✨

Thank you to netgalley and the author and publisher for an ARC.

This is the second in the trilogy. This one was much heavier on romance with som interesting action. I was excited to get more Draven, but he didn’t seem the same character from book to book? Morgan remains whiny and dumb. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel invested in the characters or the relationship for this one.

Has some detailed, raunchy scenes which are good if you just want a quick read with some smut. But after the constant “Morgan is so innocent” thing from the first book, her sudden turn to expert was unbelievable.

I am mad, i am mad at Morgan for not letting Draven talk or explain himself for like 60% of the book; i am mad at Draven for not telling Morgan what he did in order to save her; i am mad Lyrastra lost an arm and at the fact that Sephone is still alive.

I knew we were gonna be set straight about Morgan's actual father, the amount of power she presentes in the first book had to come from two fae, not just one.

I am mad at the fact that Kairos SHOWED Morgan the love he has for her by cutting his horns and a piece of his heart as a "that's everything you'll get and stop asking for her life", and she just forgets like that was nothing. I agree with her that consent is the way, but girl... what will it take for you to see that there is nothing, not one person, more important for him than you???

I am mad at how easily Morgan says it would have been better for her to die like she wasn't reminding Kairos every chance she got that all she was doing was to save Kaye from Arthur.

I am furious at how she still doesn't realize that all she has to do is not only for Kaye or Lancelet or Galahad or Merlin, she needs to stop Arthur for Pendrath, and Lyoness and Reged.

Hawl, Odessa, Crescent and Gawain, Beks and Javer, Lyrastra and Nightcrawl, and of course Rychel were such nice and insightful characters, i enjoyed them so so much and cannot wait to read more of them. Hawl has a special place in my heart.

Morgan made it incredibly painful for me to read, but the rest of them made me want more which is why it took me so damn long to fininsh the book.

Miss Boleyn, can I jump inside in the next book to slap some sense into our dear Morgan PLEASE?

I absolutely loved this book, I’d even say I enjoyed it more than the 1st book in the and I am looking forward to reading the next one. Romance - fast read - and super engaging! Loved it.

3.5⭐️ 2🌶️

Big thanks to Starwater Press, Briar Boleyn and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions!

Okay so after that slight cliffhanger of an ending on the first book… we are thrust back into this fantasy world of a Arthurian legend retelling. The first book did a great job of introducing us to the world-building of the tale, the MCs and gave us some action throughout. It did promise dark romance themes which didn’t seem to have happened in the first so I figured there would be more in this one… more on that later.

Well all that world building we got for Camelot? (I think that’s the name of the land where Morgan was from? Honestly I forget) - but all of that… right out the window. New world (continent? land?? I need a map here!) , and ALLL new characters besides Morgan and Draven. So whatever you retained from the first book is irrelevant to this new city. But honestly new city has some wild stuff going on so it’s fine.

What I didn’t expect was for Morgan to be so stupid for the first half. She was was all “You kidnapped me. I hate you.” When this man literally SAVED HER LIFE. Like I get you’re upset but get over it you are alive and can use MAGIC. There’s a whole ACOTAR like trial going on for the title of Emperor of this kingdom and there’s a lot of new characters.

The first half of this book dragged a little but then at the 60% mark it starts heating up and by that time I was HOOKED. There’s romance, a little spice (nothing I would consider crazy or really even that smutty - it’s giving The Love Hypothesis amount of spice), and a whole lot of action. There were parts that had my jaw dropping with things I didn’t expect. So here again I am left with so much information and CRAZY THINGS happening and now I’m ready for the third book!

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 since I was almost over it in the beginning but then it managed to reel me back in. I do wish Morgan wasn’t so stupid at times and there was more of that dark romance vibe that I was promised. But the plot twists that had me gasping more than made up for it.

Loved this, I enjoyed it more than the first book in the series and I can’t wait to read the third book when it comes out. Fast paced, lots of adventure and the slow burn romance got burning! Ended on a cliffhanger so desperate to see what happens next to Morgan and Draven. Five stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️