RITA Finalist Royal Enchantment by Award-Winning Author Sharon Ashwood @RowanAshArt #paranormalroman
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  • N. N. Light
    • Jun 7, 2018
    • 3 min read

RITA Finalist Royal Enchantment by Award-Winning Author Sharon Ashwood @RowanAshArt #paranormalroman


Title: Royal Enchantment

Author: Sharon Ashwood

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Book Blurb:

She married the king. She wanted the man.

Guinevere’s marriage to Arthur was a political partnership, never a romance. Merlin knows that the king’s court, newly restored at a medieval theme park, will only be complete if Arthur has his lady. Little did anyone suspect that once Guinevere gets a taste of twenty-first-century freedoms that this ancient queen would lose interest in belonging to any man—even a royal one.

It takes a dragon, and some passionate nights spent in each other’s arms, to lure her back to her husband’s side. Arthur is willing to accept Gwen’s help in protecting the new Camelot from a fae menace, but the bigger challenge will be wooing back Guinevere for a second chance at love…

Enchanted Warrior, the first story in this stand-alone series, is a 2017 RITA Finalist for Best Paranormal Romance.

My Review:

Camelot is reborn in the modern era and thanks to Merlin, Queen Guinevere is reborn in the present. The fae are on the verge of attacking the human realm using a feisty, independent dragon and the last thing King Arthur needs is his queen meddling in his affairs. Old arguments threaten to drive a wedge between king and queen, not to mention the knights. Can King Arthur see his Queen for the woman she is and make her his equal or is the royal enchantment a faint memory?

I’m a big fan of all things Camelot and while this was an original take on King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, I found it hard to relate to the characters, especially King Arthur and his knights. Arthur is a ROYAL JERK and a pompous one at that. The conflicts between him and Gwen were never-ending, making me sometimes wish the dragon would just light King Arthur’s body on fire and be done with it. The belittling of Gwen in modern times got so old. I’m elated the ending was a happy one but boy, it took a long, long time to get there.

What I loved most was Guinevere. She’s regal in all regards but the more she’s in modern times, the more growth happens to her. She’s an intelligent woman whose search for knowledge makes her astounding, even by today’s standards. She could run the world and I’d like to be her advisor! Gwen is the best part of this book, hands down.

If you’re looking for a modern-day feminist Camelot story, I highly recommend Royal Enchantment. It’s a great series and kudos to Ashwood for bringing a fresh approach to the King Arthur lore.

Many thanks to Harlequin Books and Sharon Ashwood for giving me an ARC via Netgalley in the hopes I’d review it.

Favorite Character/Quote: “Battling monsters was a man’s business. Never mind that it was the women, left at home, who had the most face time with whatever horror was tearing the village apart. They typically had the beastie on the run by the time Sir Whatever showed up to poke it with a sword.”

My Rating: 4.5 stars

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Author Biography:

Sharon Ashwood is a freelance journalist, novelist, desk jockey, and enthusiast for the weird and spooky. She has an English literature degree but works as a finance geek. Interests include growing her to-be-read pile and playing with the toy graveyard on her desk. As a vegetarian, she freely admits the whole vampire/werewolf lifestyle fantasy would never work out, so she writes paranormal romances instead. Sharon lives in the Pacific Northwest and is owned by the Demon Lord of Kitty Badness.

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Reviewed by: Mrs. N

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