Review: The Lily and the Crown by Roslyn Sinclair |

As I mentioned last week, I’m taking a semi-break this summer from hosting guest posts, giveaways, and interviews to recharge my batteries and to enjoy the surprisingly nice weather in London. I’m not completely on a break since I’m still putting the weekly new release newsletters together.

However, I don’t want to leave all of you hanging, so Rachael from Les Rêveur has stepped in to help out and has given me permission to repost her reviews here. I’m super excited to share Rachael’s reviews with all of you.

Here’s her review of The Lily and the Crown.

This book was truly exceptional. Truly.

Ariana lives on a space station where her father is the stationmaster. She keeps to herself and spends most of her time in her vast living quarters where she tends to her plants and trees that she has come to see as her children.

When Ariana’s father gifts her a slave woman that he has just been captured from a pirate ship, she is overwhelmed with 1. sharing her space that has always been her solitude and 2. her growing attraction to the slave. Ariana begins to rely on her slave and the simple life they share is one to be admired. But when Ariana’s life is tipped on its axis will she be able to keep the woman she loves? Or will she, like everything in Ariana’s life, be taken away?

What a truly wonderful story. Beautiful actually. It’s written solely from Ariana’s point of view, which I’m not normally keen on but I understood why Roslyn Sinclair wrote it in such a way, as it gave much more angst by not having both protagonists thought processes. This being said, the character of Slave/Assistant was so forthright that it was never an area where I was left wondering. I actually think it would ruin the big surprise for the reader if they read her POV.

Assistant, who is actually the slave, but Ariana doesn’t believe in having slaves, so she calls her Assistant, instantly changing the dynamic of there relationship to a more equal footing. Assistant is formidable, strong and incredibly sexy. She has the ice queen/ older woman trope down to a tee and this reviewer was more than a little fond of her character. She’s also the complete opposite of young, quiet and shy Ariana, who just wants to please her.

The sex between these two is uber hot. I was not expecting it to be as erotic as what it was but oh my, it made me happy. It was very sexy indeed.

My favourite part was definitely the last few chapters, including the epilogue. It just filled my heart with so much more love for these characters. I’m secretly praying for a sequel because damn, I want more.

I don’t normally pick up sci-fi novels but this one was worth every second of reading it. I really would recommend this to any romance lovers, sci-fi or otherwise.

5 stars.

THE LILY AND THE CROWN

Release date: December 20, 2017
Romance / Science Fiction

Ariana “Ari” Geiker lives an isolated life on an imperial space station commanded by her father. The skilled, young botanist rarely leaves her living quarters, where she maintains an elaborate garden. When an imperious older woman is captured from a pirate ship and given to her as a slave, Ariana’s perfectly ordered life is thrown into chaos. Her nameless slave is watchful, intelligent, dangerous, and sexy, and seems to know an awful lot about tactics, star charts, and the dread, marauding pirate queen, Mir. What happens when the slave also reveals an expertise in seduction to her innocent mistress?

The Lily and the Crown is a lesbian romance about daring to risk your heart with someone you shouldn’t.