G. A. Aiken

When a prophesy brings war to the Land of the Black Hills, Keeley Smythe must join forces with a clan of mountain warriors who are really centaurs in a thrilling new fantasy romance series from New York Times bestselling author G.A. Aiken. The Old King Is Dead With the demise of the Old King, there's a prophesy that a queen will ascend to the throne of the Black Hills. Bad news for the king's sons, who are prepared to defend their birthright against all comers. But for blacksmith Keeley Smythe, war is great for business. Until it looks like the chosen queen will be Beatrix, her younger sister. Now it's all Keeley can do to protect her family from the enraged royals. Luckily, Keeley doesn't have to fight alone. Because thundering to her aid comes a clan of kilt-wearing mountain warriors called the Amichai. Not the most socially adept group, but soldiers have never bothered Keeley, and rough, gruff Caid, actually seems to respect her. A good thing because the fierce warrior will be by her side for a much longer ride than any prophesy ever envisioned ... Praise for The Dragon Who Loved Me "A chest thumping, mead-hall rocking, enemy slaying brawl of a good book." --All Things Urban Fantasy "Aiken aces another one." --RT Book Reviews, 4 Stars

The Blacksmith Queen

G.A. Aiken

When a prophesy brings war to the Land of the Black Hills, Keeley Smythe must join forces with a clan of mountain warriors who are really centaurs in a thrilling new fantasy romance series from New York Times bestselling author G.A. Aiken. The Old King Is Dead With the demise of the Old King, there’s a prophesy that a queen will ascend to the throne of the Black Hills. Bad news for the king’s sons, who are prepared to defend their birthright against all comers. But for blacksmith Keeley Smythe, war is great for business. Until it looks like the chosen queen will be Beatrix, her younger sister. Now it’s all Keeley can do to protect her family from the enraged royals. Luckily, Keeley doesn’t have to fight alone. Because thundering to her aid comes a clan of kilt-wearing mountain warriors called the Amichai. Not the most socially adept group, but soldiers have never bothered Keeley, and rough, gruff Caid, actually seems to respect her. A good thing because the fierce warrior will be by her side for a much longer ride than any prophesy ever envisioned … Praise for The Dragon Who Loved Me “A chest thumping, mead-hall rocking, enemy slaying brawl of a good book.” —All Things Urban Fantasy “Aiken aces another one.” —RT Book Reviews, 4 Stars

Gabriela Gorgoni

Loved the MC, she's definitely entertaining along with her sister and cousin. The plot was good, not great but good. It didn't dazzle me or anything like that, but I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it.

Joycelyn Ghansah

The book started with a bang. So much happened. The villain....idk I needed more. I love Keeley tho

Amanda

Stellar story! Funny, exciting, great fun! Loved every moment of the story. 

Unfortunately, the audio narrator is not good. Recommend reading it visually if possible.

Sheena

Rating: ★★★✬☆ (3.5/5 Stars)
Title: The Blacksmith Queen
Author(s): G.A. Aiken
Character(s): 
― Keeley Smythe: ―
― Caid: Brunette/Grey, Brown Eyed
Setting: Black Hills
Tag(s): Romance, Fantasy
Content Rating: R
POV: Third Person
Smexy Level: Hot
Favorite Quote(s): 
― “That, like it or not, my heart belongs to you.
Overall Opinion:
The first installment of this trilogy, I immediately became immersed in this fantasy world which was story filled advertising of good versus evil, epic battles, heartwarming romance and characters that kick some major ass. I will notate that it did start start slow which almost prompted me to drop the series but I persevered and was immensely become fascinated by Keeley journey to becoming the Queen. "The Blacksmith Queen" was an overall enjoyable read and I look forward to future editions of this fantasy series.

Micol Scalabrino

Ebook provided by NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

I saw a lot of myself in Keeley, outspoken but in need of her own space; I like to think myself as a strong woman, so it was refreshing reading about her. I loved Keeley and Caid’s relationship, I found it to be real, not like most of the ones in books where there is not one thing people would actually do in real life.

The world building is definitely one of my favorite, really well created and described. Characters in general are very well described and I could imagine being in their place. The Amichai are the real turning tables, amazing concept, very well developed. 

I am not giving the full 5 stars because I hope to see more in the next book.

Final vote: 4/5

Ahaana Bhargava

Now, it's very rare that I give a book 5/5 stars, (I usually give them 4.-) but I completely devoured this book. I loved it for so many different reasons. The sudden plot twists, the well-described and 100% relatable sibling relationships, the romance, the amazing world-building, the descriptive settings and characters, I could go on FOREVER. I would have loved to see a lot more from Quinn's, and Laila's perspectives, because they both seem like characters I would die for, but it wasn't lacking information about these 2, nor were they underdeveloped, so I guess it's fine. I loved how this book was both plot AND character-driven. What I mean by this is that the characters were super entertaining, and we COULD have had a book that was mainly character-driven, but the plot is so strong as well, that you could have done without the characters (don't judge my explanation skills, I have literally no words, I swear the writing's flawless).I can't wait to get started on the next book, which I've heard is written with a lot more of Gemma's perspective, so I'm super excited for that! Hopefully, we see more of Quinn and Laila as well, and the next book lives up to its expectations - because those are super high (:

Nicola Sarah Brooks

I love this series! It really brings back great memories of Terry Pratchett's Discworld. A blend of magic, mayhem, mythology, and the weirdest courtship in history LOL. There are enough earthlike shenanigans that you actually forget it's not really based here, only when mention is made of 2 suns does your brain register it's not on home turf!

when the previous Old King pops his clogs and his malevolent sons quickly turn on each other, you know there is drama ahead. But how does the prophecy of a possible queen from the Black Hillsplay into their plans?

Keeley Smythe is the eldest of the Smythe tribe children. She is a Blacksmith with a talent for organising her squabbling siblings, taking care of everyone and everything in her vicinity and if you diss her "wolf" friends she will cut you off at the knees! When one sister is prophesised as a possible futures queen and another turns up after a decade away, Keeleys problem escalate at an exponential rate! Add in some Centaurs, a vengeance filled mare and a plot that will twist your brain, all laced with a wacky sense of humour and a caustic family feud and you have a superb read!

Action, adventure, and the weirdest courtship in history all blend seamlessly into a very well thought out plot. Bloodthirsty siblings and a creepy, psychotic, machiavellian queenmaker will keep you on the hop!

Judy Hudgins

I can't wait to read the next book. Quirky and fun to read. Loved every minute of the read.

Alicia Haws

I guess this just wasn't my kind of book. I love a good fantasy and a good romance, so I had high hopes for this one, but I almost immediately did not like it. While the plot is interesting and the dialogue witty, this book was just completely all over the place. The writing style wasn't for me, I personally think it was not that great. Every other paragraph switched character POV, which made it quite confusing to read and made the story choppy at best. There was way too much dialogue, and the cursing was awful. I don't mind well-written dialogue or expletives, but these were all extremely modern, so they sounded weird in context, plus there were just a lot of REALLY crude ones which I'm just not a huge fan of when they are in EVERY paragraph and bit of dialogue. I would have loved if the author could have been more creative and selective with the expletives. Maybe come up with some funny and new curse words for the specific universe? It just felt off. 

The characters also just didn't resonate with me and instead of getting to know our characters better, we are just automatically thrust into the thick of violence and gore at the beginning of the book. This immediately kept me from feeling the least bit invested in the characters and I could not have cared less about what happened to them. I am about 75% in and I still don't really care what happens to them and am frankly quite bored. I may or may not finish if only to see how the plot veers, because the plot and the sometimes witty dialogue are the only things that have kept me around this long.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.