Gwen and Art are Not In Love by Lex Croucher (spoilers in review)

Gwen, the quick-witted Princess of England, and Arthur, future lord and general gadabout, have been betrothed since birth. Unfortunately, the only thing they can agree on is that they hate each other. 

When Gwen catches Art kissing a boy and Art discovers where Gwen hides her diary (complete with racy entries about Bridget Leclair, the kingdom's only female knight), they become reluctant allies. By pretending to fall for each other, their mutual protection will be assured. But how long can they keep up the ruse? 

With Gwen growing closer to Bridget, and Art becoming unaccountably fond of Gabriel, Gwen's infuriatingly serious, bookish brother, the path to true love is looking far from straight ...

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So here's the thing with this novel. You can either take it as a fun, light, fluffy story; or you can take it as a weird mishmash of ideas that don't quite work. As one, it's fantastic. As the other? Not quite so much...

There is a fluffy, funny, romcom vibe to a lot of this - it would make a great movie (which I would definitely watch) with sniping enemies-to-friends, supportive siblings, a really clever twist...the pluses are many and I definitely recommend this if you want a fun, light read.

However, if you want a read that makes sense, maybe not this one. (Let me be clear, these are just my issues, other people probably won't care and, since I'm reading a proof, these may be fixed in the final product!)  For one, I have no idea when this is set; Arthur, who probably died in the 6th century, is a historical figure in this, but we also have Catholics (and Arthur Cultists) but no Protestants, unless I missed them. So we're sometime before 1500. Of course, the royal family is completely made up and there's no indication of when it diverged from the 'real' history, so it could all be complete fiction and not really be set in any time. (Which might also explain why no one seems remotely concerned that both the king and the crowned heir are gay and thus won't be producing heirs of the bloodline, despite the bloodline apparently being very important earlier.)

As I said, I adore the fluffy read, the characters...I was legitimately laughing at a lot of the lines! I just couldn't quite turn off my analytical side, and that did hurt a bit as I read.

Gwen and Art are Not In Love published on the 11th May, 2023 in the UK from Bloomsbury (top image) and will publish on the 28th Nov, 2023 in the US from Wednesday Books (lower image). I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.