Review: Gary of a Hundred Days by Isabel Murray

Title: Gary of a Hundred Days

Series: The Unwanted King: Book One

Author: Isabel Murray

Length: 172 Pages

Category: Romantic Fantasy

Rating: 4 Stars

At a Glance: Gary of a Hundred Days is categorized as Fantasy, but it’s more so a Fairy Tale. That is unless the next book builds a more fantastical, magical world around its characters. Whatever the case, this book is charming, and there wasn’t a single bear in sight. Well, unless you count Magnus, I guess.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: The Kingdom of Estla is in turmoil. Power plays, intrigue, and plots seethe in the corridors of power. And Gary of a Hundred Days, Last of the Tyrant Kings is . . . well, he’s pretty offended, actually?

Tyrant? Seriously? Who is making this up?

Gary said no thanks, don’t want to be king, and they dragged him away from all he’s ever known and stuck a stupid crown on his head anyway. As far as Gary’s concerned, all that political intrigue can go ahead and keep seething without him. He didn’t know or care a thing about it when he was the unwanted son of a backwater lord. He definitely doesn’t care about it now they tried to kill him and he’s on the run.

Minor problem: he managed to escape, but he’s all out of ideas. It’s dark, it’s raining, he’s in the middle of nowhere, and there might be bears. In fact, he’s pretty sure one is following him. Luckily for Gary (it’s about time he had some good luck) his ex-stable master tracks him down, and it turns out that Magnus has more than a few interesting ideas about Gary and his future. More specifically, about their future.

Somehow, despite an entire kingdom wishing him dead, it’s starting to look like Gary might just end up with a happily ever after?

Unless that really is a bear following him.

Review: Gary. Gary, Gary, Gary. What an absolute biscuit. What a cinnamon role. He has such a soft heart. Gary should come with a warning label that cautions he may spread casual joy and exude extreme amounts of sweetness. Gary is a such a mensch.

Gary was removed from his home against his will, not because he’d done anything wrong but simply because he was next in line for the throne. It’s a dangerous undertaking, that, ruling the Kingdom of Estla. You see, all the previous kings kept getting themselves murdered. That’s not why Gary didn’t want the title, however. He didn’t want the job because being bossy and noticed isn’t his cuppa. Little did Gary know that a knife in the back would change his life for the better. Once he quit fainting, of course.

Magnus has been Gary’s shadow, protector, and guardian angel for the last one hundred days. He’s slipped in and out of shadows, greased palms, and done everything possible to ensure Gary’s safety. Until Gary was stabbed and ran away from Estla, hoping an unexpected escape would further his longevity. There’s a reason Magnus has worked so hard on Gary’s behalf. Watching Gary try to cypher it out in that thoroughly guileless mind of his is adorable.

Gary of a Hundred Days is categorized as Fantasy, but it’s more so a spicy Fairy Tale. That is unless the next book builds a more fantastical, magical world around its characters. Whatever the case, this book is charming, and there wasn’t a single bear in sight. Well, unless you count Magnus, I guess.