It’s been hundreds of years since King Arthur’s reign. His descendant, Arthur, a future Lord and general gadabout, has been betrothed to Gwendoline, the quick-witted, short-tempered princess of England, since birth. The only thing they can agree on is that they despise each other.
They’re forced to spend the summer together at Camelot in the run up to their nuptials, and within 24 hours, Gwen has discovered Arthur kissing a boy and Arthur has gone digging for Gwen's childhood diary and found confessions about her crush on the kingdom's only lady knight, Bridget Leclair.
Realizing they might make better allies than enemies, they make a reluctant pact to cover for each other, and as things heat up at the annual royal tournament, Gwen is swept off her feet by her knight and Arthur takes an interest in Gwen's royal brother. Lex Croucher's Gwen & Art Are Not in Love is chock full of sword-fighting, found family, and romantic shenanigans destined to make readers fall in love.
I love Arthurian adaptations. Very original of me, I'm sure. It's one of the most enduring stories of all time. But this was a fun twist for sure.
Gabriel and Gwendoline prince and princess of England. Gwen is betrothed to Arthur, a descendant of King Arthur. But she has had a crush on the lady knight, Bridget Leclair, for years. Arthur is one of my favorite characters in a long time. He's absolutely hilarious. He's also the disaster bi of Gabriel's dreams. Unshockingly there was quite a bit of angst and queer panic in this book. It's YA and the prince and princess are fully in the closet. Bridget and Arthur being out and open was refreshing.
The intrigue was good. You know, royal plots and wars and betrayal, all of that. Then you've got the backdrop of the tourney of Kings. Which really made me want to go to a Ren Faire.
The best part was Gwen's character arc though. Being unable to speak to save someone's actual life, and then fully able to make real time battle decisions. We love a story about female empowerment in the middle of actual war. It does sound like I'm minimizing it, but it was a good arc.
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