About the Book:
Newly crowned King Gabriel is having panic attacks in cupboards in-between council meetings. He can’t tell Arthur just how not okay he is – so he’s set him free, to find love with someone who can get through the day without breaking down.
Bridget has lost her spark for sparring, forfeiting again and again in the lists. When she’s invited to join Gabriel’s round table, she hopes it’ll be the change she needs. But trying to navigate the post-happily-ever-after reality of a relationship with Gwen, when Bridget no longer feels like the dashing knight Gwen fell in love with, feels impossible.
With the kingdom still reeling from an attempted uprising, and rumoured sightings of the holy grail, the questing beast and the green knight happening across the country, the gang depart on a PR tour destined for disaster. Can Gabriel be the king his country deserves? Can Bridget get her jousting groove back? And will they find their way back to the courtly love that once seemed fated?
Find on Goodreads. Find on Bookshop.org UK (affiliate link). Find the first book HERE (affiliate link).
About the Author:
Lex Croucher is the New York Times, Indie & USA Today bestselling author of GWEN AND ART ARE NOT IN LOVE. With a background in social media for NGOs, Lex now writes queer historical rom-coms and fantasy for both adults and teenagers from their flat in London.
Interview:
Pitch your book in 10 words!
Gay road trip full of yearning, second chances and swords.
As the title suggests, this book follows Gabriel and Bridget. The previous book in this series, GWEN AND ART ARE NOT IN LOVE, has different narrators. What was it like returning to this world but through new eyes?
Fun! I missed Gwen and Arthur’s perspectives, but it’s equally fun to see them from the outside and catch glimpses at their inner worlds instead of being immersed in them. They’ve done quite a good job of sorting themselves out; Bridget and Gabriel are the ones floundering this time, so I needed to take them on a journey (physically and emotionally!).
This story explores what comes after the great battle, looking at anxiety and PTSD among other effects. Why did you want to explore these consequences?
I’m always interested in what happens after the end of a book and how the events would have changed the characters. I think a lot of people don’t like it when characters aren’t happy in sequels, but that’s life, baby! A LOT happens very fast at the end of GWEN AND ART, and
there wasn’t much time for the characters to process it before the ending—their hearts have been put through the meat grinder, and I wanted to honestly portray that alongside the fun and nonsense.
Bridget and Gabriel’s relationships with Gwen and Art respectively have suffered due to the characters’ struggles with their mental health, meaning that this is a book that looks at the difficulty of maintaining a relationship. Why do you think it’s so important for teens to have books that look at relationships beyond getting together?
I wanted these characters to have realistic relationships that require work and compromise,especially as they’ve been through so much at a young age and wouldn’t necessarily know how to deal with it all perfectly. Teenagers today might not be fighting battles at the Camelot castle gates (although, maybe! I’m in my thirties! I don’t know what the teenagers are doing!) but I think a lot of people can relate to having a rough time with mental health and finding it difficult to be a good partner or friend, and I wanted to explore that and make it clear that you don’t have to have it all figured out to be worthy of love.
Do you have a favourite moment between either couple?
There’s a moment between Gwen and Bridget that challenges their established dynamic and who Bridget thinks she needs to be, and I really enjoyed writing that. There’s also a remembered scene from Gabriel between him and Arthur about a time when their cat was sick, and even though they’re going through a rough time in that memory, I loved that they were both in total agreement about how important it was to call for every medical professional in the castle to help a cat.
Gabriel, Bridget, and the rest of the gang head off on a quest to investigate rumours of Arthurian legends returning. How did you pick which ones to include? Are there any other legends you wish you’d had space to include?
I went for the big guns! I think we’re all vaguely familiar with the green knight and the lady of the lake—the questing beast is a bit less popular, but it was one of my favourite moments from T. H. White’s version of events. I don’t want anyone to need to have a deep knowledge of Arthurian
legend to enjoy these books, so I try to stick to things that feel recognisable even if you’ve never actually read about them.
Gabriel (with help from his head of PR!) creates a new order of the round table. Some of the members are to be expected (Gwen would not be happy!) but there are new cast members too, such as Gabriel and Gwen’s cousin Florian. Who was your favourite new character to write?
I really enjoyed Sirs Leonard and Bowen. They’re older, so they have a bit more world-weariness about them, especially Bowen, who’s had to put up with Leonard for years. Putting them alongside these twenty-year-olds with barely any real world experience was delightful, and having them around to guide Bridget through her new celebrity.
The world is a very deliberately anachronistic fantasy version of England. There are hints of how their history has differed from ours. How much of the divergent history did you work out? What research did you decide to do when creating the world?
I just do whatever feels right. I try to keep food, settings etc. accurate, although I usually add potatoes because I can’t imagine life without them. My more diligent research is about things like armour, weaponry, the particulars of tournaments and the different iterations of Arthurian
legends. The most fun part of research was going jousting to get a feel for what it’s like and how it might go wrong! I was very bad at jousting.
Please recommend a UKYA book you think readers will love
SAD GIRL HOURS*by Anna Zoe Quirke, which is a witty, touching exploration of seasonal affective disorder.
Thank you, Lex!
*Affiliate link
#UKYASpotlight 
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