Book Tour and Review: Queen and Conqueror by Isabelle Olmo @RRBookTours1 #RRBookTours #QueenandConqueror #fantasy

Welcome to the book tour for Queen and Conqueror by Isabelle Olmo! Read more about this stunner below!

How does one conquer a kingdom without spilling blood? You offer your hand in marriage to the king who killed your husband.

Almira’s father raised her in political cunning. Since childhood, she’s prepared for this moment. She lays out the players one by one like pieces on a board.

One. King Alton, the brother-killer. The spare heir who killed his brother for the throne.

Two. The perfect seamstress. The people must admire a queen and welcome her with open arms even when she arrives with a deadly armada behind her.

Three. The Queen’s Red Guard. These warrior women have one purpose; to protect the queen at all costs. Even from her husband. Even from herself.

Queen & Conqueror is the first book in an epic feminist fantasy series told from the perspective of the women who rule and shape the future.

“Men will never be ready for women like us and it is not our job to ready them.”

He cleared his throat. “The High Lord seeks aid from Istok. Your native country hasn’t been plagued with war like we have. Perhaps if your father–“

“Istok did not begin a war. My father will not risk Istokian lives because my husband has a vendetta against a king that toys with our Suidian forces. We should retreat and regroup. Sit with King Alton and negotiate,” she said with a steady voice.

She surprised herself. She’d never challenged a messenger as such. But she was damn tired of sitting like a protected porcelain plate, while the world crumbled.

He looked at her incredulously. “My lady, forgive me, but shouldn’t you let your father decide that?”

His words filled Almira with sudden anger, but she controlled and subdued it. She moved slowly as she stood and faced the captain. He was a large man, and she was small even for a woman. That mattered little.

“Captain, your job is to deliver news of the front. You’ve done that. But to presume I would take advice on state matters from you is insulting.”

He stepped forward and opened his mouth.

“Apology accepted,” she said and raked him over in disapproval. “You didn’t mean to insinuate anything. You have, after all, the utmost respect for my house. However, you will deliver a message from me, captain. Each day I sit in this room while my husband fights a war that drags on and continues killing our soldiers. Each day more lives are lost. At first it was fifty. Now, you tell me 2,000. Inform High Lord Edgar that I want the number.”

He blustered. “The number?”

“Yes. I want the number.” She pressed her index finger against the map. “I want the exact number of deaths we must reach to determine this cause is folly. It’ll give me something to look forward to while I practice my half-stitch.”

She sat and pushed her dinner plate away with disgust. The time had finally come for her value to be placed on the table. Even at a young age she knew he married her because of her connections to Istok. Her father wisely kept their country out of the squabbles and in the years since the war started, her home country grew rich with trade. 

“That means you’re dismissed, captain,” Sanaa said.

Clearly astounded at being addressed in such a manner, he left. Not before his helmet slipped and rolled about on the stone floor. It caused a great deal of noise. He rushed after it, while the women watched the display.

This is the first book in a multi-POV fantasy romance story.  In this first installment, you get four different POVs.  I really enjoyed seeing from all four perspectives we had in this book.  When you have multiple POV’s it is not uncommon to dislike at least one of them, but in this case, I really enjoyed all of them.    I am really curious about whose POV’s we will get in book two.  If we keep with these four or add more, I can’t wait to find out.  

Almira decides to marry herself off to the king that killed her husband in order to bring peace to the lands.  Yep, all her decision because she is tired of the number of people that died in a senseless war, which by the way her decision to do this went against what all the men around her wanted.  She definitely forges her own path through this story.  

What’s better than one strong woman MC?  One that decides to surround herself with an amazing all-female guard.  I loved the characters that made up Almira’s Red Guard and how they answered to no one but her, not even the King.  I mean, women saving the women and the men were such a refreshing change.  Yes, more than once they had to save the men folk too.

As you probably already guessed, this book has an enemies-to-lovers trope, which let’s be honest I loved.  There was something about Alton in the beginning and I just couldn’t hate him.  Being able to watch their relationship grow was just amazing.

There was some excellent banter in this book, more than once I found myself laughing out loud at some of the remarks that went back and forth.  

The only downfall for me was that it took me a little over 100 pages to become invested in the story.  I don’t know why, but after that point I finished the book in two days.

If you are craving a good feminist fantasy, you really need to pick this one up.

Isabelle Olmo was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and was raised on a steady diet of 80’s fantasy films and Sweet Valley High. Her love of literature was developed at an early age when her grandmother gifted her a poetry collection. Queen & Conqueror will be her first published novel. 

She graduated with a degree in English Literature and a minor in Political Science from the University of Central Florida.

When she’s not writing she loves to travel, cook, and drink wine. One day she hopes to live in Barcelona, her favorite city in the world. 

January 9th
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January 11th
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January 12th
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January 13th
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