The Blacksmith Queen (The Scarred Earth Saga, #1)

by 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

• ISBN10: 1496721209
• ISBN13: 9781496721204
• Publish Date: 27 August 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Kensington
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 304
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781496721204

Reviews

[FranJessca @ A Book Lovin' Mama's Blog]

The Blacksmith Queen is the first book to G.A. Aiken’s The Scarred Earth Saga. This book is a Fantasy Romance, so it’s full of action-packed scenes and adventure, but it has some romance elements. This happened to be the first book I read from G.A. Aiken and won’t be my last. 

Storyline: The Old King has died, so his sons are battling and killing each other for the throne. There’s a prophecy, though, that a queen will ascend to the Black Hills throne, which is terrible news to the sons fighting for the throne. The centaurs set out to find the future queen and protect her from the King’s sons. They never expected to see the queen with the Blacksmith family. Now the family has to fight off royals and whoever else wants to kill the future queen in their family. I don’t want to give away too much of the storyline. I’m moving onto my thoughts of the story of what I did like and didn’t like.

My Thoughts: I loved the main characters in the story, and I also loved the secondary characters. G.A. Aiken not only had the main characters have a POV, but the secondary characters had one too. I loved getting all the different POVs because there were more angles to the story. Although, I wish I had less of the bad guys/gals points of view. It made me despise them even more. I loved the main character Keeley because she was strong and determined. She was one kick-butt heroine who could take care of herself. She also came off as rude and violent, so some readers may not like her. They may not even like the other characters too. Keeley’s family is much different from other characters I read before. This was the first book that I read from G.A. Aiken, so I had nothing to compare to, but I plan on reading her other books now after reading this one. I loved the humor in this book, especially with particular scenes that involved Keeley’s cousin, who was different from the other characters. There was also Keely herself and how she saw the world. It drove the Centaurs crazy how Keeley put herself in danger at times. I mean, she does have ‘demon’ wolves in this story that everyone is scared of, but her. I loved her to take in the world and how much she loved animals.

Here are the things I didn’t like, though, in the story. There are certain words in the book that was overused in how characters described each other. I won’t type them in my review. It got annoying at times. There was also the ending that left me in shock. I felt like there needed to be more, but I know that G.A. Aiken will continue it in the next book. I was not prepared for the ending, though. Overall, this book gets 3.5-stars from me.

Another thing that bothered me was the villain(s) in the story, but that is because G.A. Aiken wrote them to be hated, if that makes sense.

Would I recommend this book? Yes. I recommend it to readers that enjoy the Fantasy Romance genre and are looking for a book that has a lot of fighting in it. It has a lot of action-packed scenes, which is why I love this genre. The romance element is not a priority. The storyline, main characters, and even secondary characters take center stage in this book. I can’t wait to dive into the next book.

I love G.A. Aiken/Shelley Laurenston. Her books are always hilarious and full of action and fluff. I loved all the characters and the plot was insane.

I had two issues with this book though. The first is that, I often felt I was reading a redone version of Hot and Badgered. It made it feel a bit predictable. Keeley, Gemma and Keran are very similar to Charlie, Max and Stevie in temperament. I mean, the plots were different in many ways, but it mainly felt like Charlie, Max and Stevie were transplanted to a different world. On the other hand I loved Charlie, Max and Stevie so it wasn't a huge issue, just a noticeable one.

The second issue I had though - and was the same issue I had with Hot and Badgered, was the language. At one point the c*** word is used and I hate that word so utterly much. It's so unnecessary - it adds nothing and jolts me out of my enjoyment of the narrative.

Beyond that, this story was really good. Although I'm not sure it's as good as some of her other books. I loved the humour, G.A. Aiken is a master of witty dialogue and quick banter. I loved Keeley and Caid - their relationship was sweet and enjoyable. They just made sense. There was no unnecessary drama just a plain romance that moved along at a decent pace with swoon worthy moments. I can't wait to read Gemma and Quinn's story - I'm sure it will be just as insane and adorable.

Overall 3.5 stars. It was really good but it was just not quite as good as some of her other books and it loses one star for the language.

[Ashley]

This book was like 80% bickering. The main characters are all in their mid (or late) 20s, but all they did was bicker like children. Some other characters even talked about needing to separate them so they could have some peace and quiet. Then a 26 year old whined to her dad that she thought her mom liked her sister more. Geeze. Frankly all the yelling was just exhausting.

That was a huge bummer because it actually really affected my enjoyment. Once the action started the bickering did die down and then it was quite good. But god.... The bickering got so, so old. I feel like it was supposed to be "cute" or funny, but it so wasn't.

[Beth C.]

More fantasy, less romance (which I liked), but it felt very...tropey. I know, not a word - but it works. I finished because it was so-so and I was just curious enough, but I won't be reading any further.

[EBookObsessed]

A wonderful new fantasy adventure from G.A. Aiken.

Keeley Smythe loves two things: her family and being a blacksmith. But no matter how much she loves her younger sister, Beatrix, she just doesn’t believe it when words spreads that the witches of Amhuinn declared that Beatrix will be the next Queen. While Beatrix is very book smart and well read, she is still only a farmer’s daughter. Really, who wants to get in the middle of that blood bath to replace the Old King?

But when centaurs arrive at their farm to escort Beatrix to the witches for confirmation of the prophecy, Keeley knows she will not allow her sister to travel without her protection. So Keeley grabs her battle hammer and heads out with their odd party including the centaurs, a war monk and her apprentice, a pack of hell wolves and a horse set on revenge.

Yet when their party finally reaches the witches and their soothsayer actually confirms that Beatrix will be Queen, she also indicates that Keeley will be Queen. Beatrix might be very excited but Keeley has no interest in becoming Queen. Really, how can she and Beatrix both be the Queen? Stupid soothsayer!

But Keeley finds out there is much more plotting going on than she would have ever believed, and if her family is to survive this royal bloodbath, it seems she is going to have to pull on her big girl panties and fight the dueling royals for the crown.

This new series by G.A. Aiken bares a lot of similarities with her Dragon Kin series and also with her Shelly Laurenston alter ego’s Prides series as far as family dynamics and non-stereotypical characters. While I am not saying that this new series is a re-hash of old characters, I will say that if you don’t like the bickering siblings or the quicky dynamics between the hero and heroine that you find in her other series, you probably won’t enjoy this series.

Aside from those feeling of deja vu, this story focuses on only the three oldest sisters out of twelve children: Keeley, Gemma and Beatrix.

Keeley has such a laid back attitude about life and love just about all thing, but especially animals. Rescuing a pup is how Keeley ends up being followed around by hell wolves who usually just see people as yummy snacks. Whether her calming way with beast has anything to do with charming Caid, the Centaur who can become human, isn’t addressed, but his siblings are confused by his interest in Keeley.

G.A. Aiken takes her usual, unusual characters and drops them into a fun, High Fantasy story which is definitely worth investing in since I am definitely in it to see who walks away with the crown.

Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[stacey_is_sassy]

I want more...NOW!!

The funny thing about listening to audiobooks is that you can lose track of where you're at. When you hold a book in your hand, you can see how many pages are left. You know by how many pages are left whether you're going to get a rushed ending or, heaven forbid, a cliffie. A few times, I can admit to getting to the end of an audiobook and sitting up in shock in a *what...what...what...where's the rest* feeling. The end of The Blacksmith Queen felt a bit like that for me. Sure, it ended off well with a happy for now vibe, but it definitely left me hungering for more.

G.A. Aiken is a wonderful storyteller and I was sucked in from the very first word until the last. The characters were original, funny and a wee bit uncouth. The amount of swearing was a wee bit OTT but I did get a laugh out of it. I am a huge fan of this author's Dragon Kin series and I feel like this had a similar vibe.

I absolutely loved Keeley and found her completely refreshing. She's strong, capable and very protective of those she loves. When one of her family is in danger, Keeley will do whatever it takes to keep them safe...even if they don't deserve her loyalty.

Caid is Keeley's love interest but, to be honest, the love story is not the focus of The Blacksmith Queen. In some ways, this made Caid even more appealing to me. We get to see him when he's not leading the battle or taking control. His appeal is in how he observes Keeley and is on hand to help and support her when needed.

I've always wondered how I'd go with having a hero that's a centaur. I mean...four legs and a big butt does not make me shiver in delight. I'm not saying horses aren't beautiful animals because I've always loved horses but stick a human torso on one, not so much. Well, somehow, it worked for me and I had no problems finding their appeal.

Again, I'm completely baffled why a male and a female narrator are cast when the majority of the story is narrated by a sole narrator. In this case, Mia Barron does the majority and I think she did a fabulous job. Her voice was easy to listen to and I had no problems working out when the characters changed. Even when a conversation happened with Keeley, her sister, mother and cousin it was easy to differentiate between them all.

I really enjoyed listening to The Blacksmith Queen and I will definitely be going on in the series. Whether I listen or read? I can't decide. In some ways, it was at times hard to follow because we are introduced to a lot of different characters. I did have to backtrack a few times because we had jumped scenes and I had to try and work out who was who and what was what. But...it was really good. I'm almost tempted to read it first and listen to it after.

If you're looking for a new para-fantasy romance, don't mind a wee bit of swearing and enjoy seeing the heroine take charge, I highly recommend giving The Blacksmith Queen a try.

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of The Blacksmith Queen through Goodreads Giveaways in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Blacksmith Queen is the first novel in a new series by G.A. Aiken, the Scarred Earth Saga. This is admittedly a very evocative name. Between that and the cover, I just knew I had to give this series a try.
The series itself fits into Aiken’s Dragon Kin series – but you honestly don’t need to be familiar with that world in order to understand or appreciate this tale. I had no troubles, and G.A. Aiken is new to me (clearly I’m going to have to check out the rest of her works now).
The novel follows Keeley Smythe – a brilliant blacksmith and a woman unceasingly loyal to her family. Keeley is a rare gem. She’s strong, confident, and always willing to do whatever it takes to protect her family. Even if that means picking up a crown and going to war.


Warnings:
The Blacksmith Queen has a few heavier moments, including some animal death (one most notably, and you can almost see it coming). There are also some hints to rape and sexual assault, but nothing overly detailed.
The Blacksmith Queen was a fun and fast-paced read. I ended up losing an entire night to this novel, having made the mistake of picking this one up at eight pm, and not putting it down until I was finished. But it was worth it.
I absolutely adored Keeley and (most) of her family. She was such a unique character. She didn’t fit into the stereotypical fantasy female description – and that was fantastic. Keeley was her own character, through and through. Her toughness was balanced out perfectly with her love. Her love for being a blacksmith. Her love of her family. Her love of animals.
As for the plot, she found herself thrown into? I loved that as well. The Blacksmith Queen takes the idea of a prophecy and turns it upside down, resulting in chaos. Though there were some amusing times as well. The plot was intense at times. But it also allowed for breaks in the tension – laugh out loud moments that I really appreciated.
G.A. Aiken used repetition to help solidify the characters, and give a semblance of order to the world. It was quite clever. There was one reference in particular (involving Keeley’s cousin) that I swear got funnier every time it came up.
Everything about this novel was slightly atypical, from the main character right down to the romantic subplot. And honestly? It was so refreshing, I can’t even put the proper words in place to explain how it made me feel. I love how different and unique this telling was, while not straying too far from what I was hoping for.
I haven’t read any of G.A. Aiken’s other works, so I can’t really make any comparisons here. Nor can I say how well it fits in with her Dragon Kin series. But I will say that I loved this novel, and am looking forward to digging through her back catalog of books. So I hope that says something to her fans about The Blacksmith Queen.


For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks