Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and Briar Boleyn for providing me an e-copy of this book in return for my honest review.

Court of Claws continues Morgan’s story, of finding out who she is, of grief, of love, of betrayal. There’s tournaments for the crown, there’s Horns. Reptilian-esk people. Subterranean, hidden palaces. Enemies-friends-haters-lovers. Forced proximity. One bed. Political intrigue. Bear chefs. Exmoors and their bonded exmoor riders, the second challenge had me in tears and the plot twist at the end, the announcement- though I knew something was coming - was heartbreaking and warming all in one. My heart hurts for Morgan and Draven. I know their story is not over yet, but how can he come back from this?

Briar has written another spellbinding story. It’s captured me from the start and I’m incredibly excited to see where this story goes, what becomes of Morgan, Draven, Camelot and the Fae.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this book….

As for Briar Boleyn, WHAT THE HELL! But like in a kinda good way?

While this story did have a lot of world building, comparable to book one, I found this to be much more interesting and didn’t want to stop reading! My sweet Beks, I love you dearly. Draven, I love you dearly also and I forgive you… Morgan get your shit together and accept the love YOU DESERVE TO BE LOVED!

I loved seeing Morgan finally learn to use her powers. I loved the friendships we saw form. I love Crescent, not just because I love crescent rolls… but he’s like the Suriel when it comes to tea and I love that about him.

I cannot wait to start book 3!

Thank you again, Briar Boleyn, for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this series. Court of Claws was a great continuation of Queen of Roses.

***SPOILERS***

For those just joining, the Blood of a Fae series starts with the book Queen of Roses. The series is a different take on the traditional King Arthur and Camelot. It's told from his sister Morgan's (or Morgana) POV.

Court of Claws picks up after Morgan is stabbed and almost dying.

I loved the new kingdom. I LOVED how it was built into a volcano. Like, who does that?!? I enjoyed learning the truth about the fae. Both sides. And how all is not what it seems.

I thought the fighting/arguing between Morgan and Draven went on a bit too long for my liking. It started to become repetitive. I will say her reasons for being angry and upset were justifiable. But it went on for a bit too long.

When Morgan started learning the truth about who she was and where she came from, I felt the whole story shift. It was no longer something I could predict. I definitely did not see Draven “trick” her into becoming the Empress.

I can’t wait to continue the story with Empress of Fae.

* Thank you NetGalley, Victory Editing NetGalley co-op and Briar Boleyn for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review *

"Court of Claws" by Briar Boleyn is a captivating fantasy romance that swept me off my feet from the very first page. Boleyn masterfully weaves together a thrilling plot, complex characters, and an undeniable romantic spark, creating an immersive and unforgettable reading experience.

The story plunges us into the heart of the Siabra, a world teeming with intrigue, danger, and the promise of forbidden romance. Morgan Pendragon, our protagonist, finds herself thrown into this treacherous realm, where political machinations and deadly trials await her. The author’s vivid descriptions and engaging prose transport us into Morgan's world, making every moment feel real.

The Hunger Games-inspired element of the story adds an extra layer of suspense and excitement. The competition, the duels and the constant threat of elimination kept me on the edge of my seat and hearts pounding with suspense. Boleyn deftly balances these high-stakes moments with tender moments of emotional depth, creating a narrative that is both thrilling and romantic.

But it's the undeniable chemistry between Kairos and Morgan that truly makes this story shine. Their relationship unfolds in such a slow-burn way, gradually building tension and unspoken desires until it explodes in a blaze of passion and longing.

"Court of Claws" is a must-read for fans of fantasy romance: you will find a lot of tropes that we all love, and it’s perfect for those who crave a captivating narrative, complex characters, and an exciting love story. So grab your copy and prepare to be swept away by the captivating world of the Siabra.

I appreciated the content warning. This book is more explicit than the first but also contains less animal cruelty. Think The Serpent and the Wings of Night meets Jennifer Armemount's books.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. This review is voluntarily written and the thoughts and opinions contained in this review are my own.

Court of Claws (Blood of a Fae Book Two) by Briar Boleyn
This is an ARC ebook, provided in exchange for an honest review. Big thank you to Netgalley, Starwater Press, and author, Briar Boleyn! Currently these books are my whole personality.
Book Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️/5

“I'm in awe of you, every part of you. Can't you tell? I'm spellbound. You've awakened something in me I thought was long dead. Something I never thought I'd ever come close to feeling again. And now I live for your presence. For the hope of your laugh, your smile. All of this. The court. The throne. Bringing you here. I know I can never convince you, but it is all for you. What I do is for you, always.”

What I Love:
-I love all the new characters we get to meet
-forced proximity trope
-Draven! BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER
-The ending! Holy plot twist ✨
-the folklore and foreshadowing connecting in book two

What I Didn’t Love:
-Low key hated Morgan at parts of the book. She makes every excuse for why she can’t love Draven, meanwhile he pours out his heart and blood for the girl
-I might actually die if they don’t get back together on the same continent in the next book.

Where Queen of Roses felt like an Arthurian retelling to some extent, Court of Claws takes off in a very different direction, as the only recognisable theme with Arthurian legend is limited to some characters' names. Another big difference is the format of the story: where the first book in the series is a conventional fantasy adventure with the plot based around a journey for a quest, Court of Claws is static, with its story taking place around the closed quarters of the Siabra court. Briar Boleyn's descriptive writing still shines through and locations are vividly described, though this book is a lot more character driven than its predecessor.
Lots of new characters are introduced, some genuinely delightful, some others unfortunately felt a bit lackluster. There were times when as a reader, I felt like I was being told someone is good/ bad because this is how they are perceived by Morgan, and I didn't feel particularly comfortable about being expected to take Morgan's judgement at face value; after all, if Queen of Roses told us anything, it's that she is not actually a particularly good judge of character. Her relationship with Draven felt frustrating at times, mostly due to Morgan's perception of his actions, which reinforced her viewpoint as an unreliable narrator.

As well as Morgan's developing acquaintance with the new characters, the plot is mainly driven by the challenges for the Siabra throne, to which Morgan is a passive spectator for a significant proportion of the book. The pace of the story picks up in the latter part with some interesting action, however I felt a bit short- changed by events surrounding the loss of one of the more significant supporting characters. It all felt too rushed and dropped in there with a 'blink and you'll miss it' approach, in an unfortunate example of wasted potential and a slightly pointless turn of events.

The ending promises a complete change of scenery and of events, and I'm curious to see whether the alternative characters' point of view that is offered will develop further in book 3.

Holy hot damn… Thank you NetGalley and Starwater Press for this ARC!

Book two of the Blood of Fae series was FULL of action, twists, and surprises; I couldn’t put it down!

You might like this book if:
+ You’ve read book one in the Blood of Fae series
+ You’re into the forced proximity // arranged marriage tropes
+ You like dark fae fantasy books

Short review because I am sprinting to read book three.

Genre: Romantasy, fantasy
Tropes: Mine, Bonds, Forced Proximity
⭐️: 5/5, new freaking favorite

When last we left our heroine at the end of Queen of Roses, Morgan Pendragon was almost all the way dead. It’s more than a little disorienting to the reader (and to Morgan!) when she finds herself in Draven’s bedroom, in a castle, underground, on another continent.

The revelation that Draven is a Siabra, a dark Fae, was hinted at by the woman at the end of the first book. His appearance has changed and he and the other supporting characters we are introduced to are much like those “other, strange Fae” depicted on the lower sections of the temple in Camelot.

Also, he’s royalty.

And due to “reasons” Draven can’t explain why she’s really supposed to behave like his royal consort.

This was a fabulous second book in the series. The world building was jarring because it was literally an entirely new continent and location, but just like the first book, the author weaves it in seamlessly as she moves the plot and character development forward. A new kind of court intrigue is introduced, and some deadly competition comes into play with this book, new characters, and she finds new ways to explore and strengthen herself and her magic.

Also, there’s some serious PTSD exhibited from our strong leading lady. She’s out of her element, she’s confused, Draven can’t tell the whole truth about anything, yet she keeps feeling this gravitational pull to him. She’s angry and rightly so, and it’s a process to take everything in and make sense of herself and where she is and why and she really wants to get back to Camelot and she’s upset with no true knowledge about what happened to Lancelot or what is currently happening to Kaye. So.Much.Angst.

Will Draven explain himself and his reasons for secrecy? Will Morgan tell him about her dreams? Can she trust the allies she’s made in the palace? What do the cursed children have to do with the Siabra? Will Morgan get back to Camelot? What doesn’t she know about her own story?

If you enjoyed the first book, I hope you’ll give book 2 a chance to introduce you to the real Draven, see our strengthened and emboldened Morgan, and to continue the wild whirlwind that is the Blood of a Fae series!

I love the world building!! So many interesting characters and I really love Draven!! He's so interesting and I can't wait until everything unravels and really comes together. It started at the end and I'm sure the third book is just going to be wild. Hawl is so cool too and I love the exmoors. It would be cool if we got to hear their inner voice kind of like the dragons in Fourth wing. Now for Morgan herself.. man I hope in the third book she grows up a bit. She's so immature and defiant. It was fine in the first book but now she's got shit to accomplish I'm hoping she starts to get her shit together.

Thank you netgalley for the earc in exchange for an honest review.

#bookreview || COURT OF CLAWS (Blood of Fae 2) by Briar Boleyn

▪︎⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
▪︎🌶🌶🌶

Just finished devouring this book and I'm still in bed, crying the living sh*t out of me 😭

I don't know if I have the power to read the third book of this series without seeing my favorite little boy. I am so heartbroken right now 😭💔

I seriously have a hard time writing this review because I'm left speechless. The whole story was just phenomenal. It has more action and there are a lot of things happening. It was just perfect!

3.5 ⭐

This was much better than the first book; even the dialogues and style has improved although it still needs more editing.

In this book, Draven's world is explored more which I liked since I get to understand his fierce demeanor and why he seems to hold many secrets (because he does) and how he truly feels about Morgan is expressed here.

Morgan, on the first few chapters, somewhat annoyed me because I don't understand how she's all mad with Draven when he'd all nice to her. She's very stubborn. Other than that, she is not naive which is one of the things I like her for. She also discovered more of herself, including her past and how it affected her present.

The plot itself is okay. What got me was that ending because that character was my favorite and I am just glad that the character was mentioned again. It is a cliffhanger so I am definitely heading to read the 3rd book of the series.

🌸 Thank you Netgalley and Briar Boleyn for the copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own

I really struggled with the first book in this series. I decided to give the second one a chance because I had seen people say it was better. It did start off more interesting than the first in the series. But I still just couldn’t get into it and ended up not finishing it. I had a hard time connecting to the characters and some actions. The main character feels much younger to me than what she’s supposed to be.

Overall these aren’t my cup of tea and likely will not try the 3rd book, but I’m hoping others enjoy them!

I have ALWAYS struggled with Camelot retellings/stories based off of characters from Camelot and I truly could not tell you why, but when I say Briar does it well, I meant they do it WELL! The slow burn truly starts to ignite in this book which makes it all the better! The only thing I will say that I didn't really like was how Morgan seemed to care less for Draven than the did for her - or maybe care is the wrong word and I should say respect. Sometimes I just felt like she was upset/mean for kind of poor reasons and Draven just took the brunt of it.

Additionally, I think that Morgan as a character needs to step up. I LOVED when she vowed that she would never let anything stop her from accepting her fae self but then in this book there were times when I felt like that depth of her character just didn't exist. On the other hand, I appreciated seeing more of the Draven's background and how that influences who he is as a character.

Constantly recommending this to my friends and so grateful for the eARC. <3

Morgans journey continues in a new land. While the plot of this one was slightly more predictable it was a great continuation for our heroine.

I gave the first book a 4 and would give this a comfortable 3.5-3.75, still an easily engrossed in series, never boring and new characters to learn and love.

This book was sooo much better than the first one. I love that it didn’t suffer from second book syndrome and it had so much plot! I also love the relationship that develops between Morgan and her love interest with a very enjoyable amount of enemies to lovers, forced proximity etc. Made for such a fun read with some excellent banter.

Thoughts and Feelings
5 stars

About... Court of Claws is the second book in Blood of a Fae. Morgan our FMC finds herself in a strange place with only her favourite, or hated, morally grey MMC Draven. Does Morgan have what it takes to return to her dear brother or will the intrigue surrounding Draven keep her within the Court of Claws?

What I loved... absolutely everything. I struggled initially with the first book in the series “Queen of Roses“ - however this book had me hooked immediately. I stayed up to 4am reading and finished the book the next day. Draven our morally grey MMC is as usual a walking mystery box with fine abs. The spice in the book heated up significantly compared to the initial book, Briar Boleyn writes many phenomenal scenes that will have readers blushing and wishing they had their own Draven at home.

As the story has developed I find myself more intrigued and eager to get on to the next book. The story is clean with no obvious plot holes or flaws in the story telling.

Draven, I love you.

What I didn't love... I‘ve nothing at all to say about this bit haha. Please make the books longer!

This book grabbed me more than the first! I think the second is so far my favorite.

I think I read this in a span of almost two days. It read so smoothly and had so much action! It reminded me of the trials from ACOTAR.

Morgan finds herself in a new continent forced to live with Draven. He is trying to protect her from his people, doing what he thinks is right. Morgan doesn’t quite agree with his “rules” but follows along. I love this forced proximity, enemies to lovers style!

I really like how the author gives swift deaths to the different characters. Sometimes lengthy deaths can just drag on but this was well done in my opinion.

I am loving this series! I will definitely be suggesting it to others.

Court of Claws is the second book of the Blood of Fae series. Following the cliffhanger in the first book, Morgan Pendragon awakes in Kairos Draven’s home- the court of the Siabra- to people that hate her. She must play Draven’s game in order to stay safe by pretending to be his mistress. Draven partakes in a deadly, action-packed trials to become the new Emperor of the Siabra.

While I did enjoy the pacing of the book and the action during the trials, I felt Morgan lacked any character development in this book. While she was justified to be upset with Draven about miscommunication and information being withheld from her, his actions and words (as well as those from his loyal group of friends) should have been enough for her to be able to forgive him. It was incredibly frustrating to read her thought process.

Overall, this was a fun book that introduced a lot of interesting characters that I am excited to follow in the next book. Thank you NetGalley and to Starwater Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this book so much! The second in a series can sometimes have a rough go of it, but this one did not disappoint. I really enjoyed the first book, Queen of Roses, and the story just continued to get better throughout the second installment. Morgan and Kairos WILL BE perfect for each other, even though (RIGHT NOW) Morgan can't always see it and often doesn't deserve Kai. Kai has what seems like an unending amount of patience for Morgan. He sees her as a queen, or rather empress, when she just can't see that for herself at this point. Sometimes I feel like Kai (aka Draven) has, perhaps, too much patience with Morgan, who oftentimes acted childish and even disloyal towards him. I know that this is necessary for her character to show growth, but she really did seem to take a step back in this book from a strong start in book one. In many ways, I feel Morgan betrayed Kai with her tendency towards immediate anger and distrust of him when he has done nothing but attempt to protect her and lift her up. All of this did make for an enjoyable read, though. Readers need that tension to really become invested in the story, and I was definitely invested. (I'm currently reading the third book!) I picked this book up on a whim on netgalley, even though it was past the publication date, and I'm very glad I did. This is a series I'll be buying hard copies of for my collection!