I don’t know about you guys but I am the worst when it comes to downloading free books and then never reading them. Recently, I’ve been going through my Kindle so that I can actually read some of the pile that I’ve acquired. I came across Queen’s Honor Episode One Betrothal by Mande Matthews. I honestly don’t remember downloading this novella but it looked interesting so I decided to read it. It’s written in a unique, episodic style that will be explained more in the synopsis below. This review will be spoiler free.

Synopsis

Seventeen year old Lady Guinevere holds the crown to a ancient kingdom. Without brothers to ascend the throne, marriage to her will assure any man the right to rule.

Arthur Pendragon has won his power through battle. His legions have elected him their king and protector but he seeks to legitimize his claim to High King through marrying Guinevere.

Lancelot, a valliant knight with a broken past, is driven by his desire to protect those in need. He’s joined Arthur’s forces because he believes in Arthur’s dream of peace for a war-torn country.

But Lancelot possesses something that Arthur can never win…Guinevere’s heart.

QUEEN’S HONOR is told from the point of view of a young Guinevere as she is caught between the responsibility of her crown and the desires of her heart. This fantasy romance is imbued with celtic lore and magic, as Guinvere discovers she holds an ancient power–a power of the old ones, the Druids. But without any one to guide her to develop her power, she finds herself caught in a web of the ambitions of those more powerful than her. Queen’s Honor puts a fresh spin on an age-old tale of love and honor.

Betrothal is a novella (about ½ the length of a novel). Queen’s Honor will be told in episodic books meant to be read in a few hours each. What’s an episodic book? It’s formatted like your favorite television show or a miniseries where an overall story is broken down into smaller, self-contained stories. Each novella is a story by itself, yet the continuing characters will return for new stories that tie to an overall story-line. For those who don’t have time for longer books, this is a great shorter read, while those who love longer books will get the benefit of more episodes and a deepening story through multiple episodes.

My Thoughts

I know next to nothing about Guinevere, King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, etc. I’m a lover of all things historical but I just haven’t did much digging into them or that time in history. I was intrigued after reading this story’s synopsis because it combines a period of time that I would like to know more about with fantasy. Historical fiction is my favorite genre to read and I also love fantasy so this novella sounded like a perfect fit for me.

Overall, this is a good story but it is SHORT. It’s about half the size of a regular novella. From what I understand, part two (Queen’s Honor Episode Two Quest) is the other half of the story and both combine to make one full novella. That’s fine with me but while the story was well written and had a lot packed in, the character development left something to be desired. However, that isn’t a critique of Matthews writing; the story simply wasn’t long enough to fully flesh out the characters or the world that they’re in.

The character’s weren’t the most developed but they were developed enough to catch my attention. I’m really invested in the story now and I’m excited to read part two.

Final Thoughts

This story may be short but it’s also free so you really can’t argue with that. Queen’s Honor Episode Two Quest does cost $3.00 so I hope that it’s a little longer. I’ll be reviewing it next week. Does this novella sound interesting to you? Let me know! Thanks for reading and have a great day!