Cover of The Once and Future Queen: Deluxe Special Edition (The Lives of Guinevere)

The Once and Future Queen: Deluxe Special Edition (The Lives of Guinevere)

by Paula Lafferty

4.4
Published Dec 16, 2025

About this book

Twenty-two-year-old Vera lives a life of aimless uncertainty, serving tables and nursing a broken heart until a mysterious stranger reveals a startling truth: she is the reincarnated Queen Guinevere of Camelot. Offered a chance to reclaim a past she has long forgotten, Vera leaps through a portal in Glastonbury, trading her modern life for the perilous, magic-drenched landscape of Arthurian legend. She arrives to find a kingdom in decline, crippled by a curse that drains the land of its vitality.

As the new queen, Vera is woefully unprepared for the rigid expectations of the court and the whispers that follow her budding connection with Lancelot. Her marriage to King Arthur is equally complicated; he is a man of contradictions, alternating between cold, forbidding distance and secret acts of profound tenderness. With her memories locked away and the kingdom’s future hanging in the balance, Vera must navigate a web of political intrigue and ancient magic.

To save Camelot, she cannot rely on the legends she once knew—which the stranger insists are fundamentally flawed. Instead, she must forge her own path, demanding that her enigmatic husband trust her as she fights to rewrite a destiny that has already failed once before.

Available Formats

Kindle: $0.00 Hardcover: $22.95

What readers are saying

Heather Willis

Coming off a book high...so much love for this book!

"OMG, OMG, OMG. I'm so thankful I saw someone post about this book in a Facebook group I'm in. I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately and this book snapped me out of it. Thank God it's going to be part of a trilogy! Praying for flowing ideas and fast typing fingers for the author so I can jump back into this adventure! The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I don't love "potty language," but I loved the characters and the creative writing and ideas the author came up with. This is the kind of book that makes you want to shirk all responsibilities, call out sick from work and wish some of that magic from the book would jump through and feed and entertain your children so you can just hibernate and read straight through! So much love for this book ♡. ["

January 27, 2026 Verified Purchase
AllHis

Is Book 2 out yet???

"Am I a fan of King Arthur rewrites? Absolutely not. But I LOVE this take. Do I enjoy reading stories set during the Dark Ages? Not really. But this one has time travel in it, which, in this case, makes up for that in my mind for some reason. I picked up what I thought I was a spicy-ish standalone novel as a winter-vacation-on-the-beach read based on a random recommendation from social media. What I got was an intense sunburn, because I couldn't spare the time to peel my eyes away from the book long enough to apply more sunscreen and save myself from skin cancer in 20 years... and to be honest I'm okay with that. The relationships, the twists, the magic, the questionable side characters... I kept thinking I knew what was going to happen and then being completely wrong. This is the best. I was beside myself as I realized this was not a standalone, but the first book of an unfinished series. (I've done this to myself a lot lately... I should research more. Lesson learned? Probably not.) The good news is that I get to return to this fabulous world a few more times before the actual end. There was enough of a cliffhanger to make me sad it was only the first book and to want to read more to find out what happens... but not so much that I experienced that uncomfortable feeling that my life literally is unfinished until I have the next book in my hands. Paula Lafferty - Thank you for this amazing book. It was the sweet surprise I didn't know I needed this winter. I will continue to sit, not patiently, for the next round table tale. Spice: 2-ish. When I picked it up, I understood it was a 3... Maybe my spice-o-meter is skewed, but I felt like there were only 1.5 scenes that I'll be blocking out from my daughter's eyes. I'd say the one is relatively explicit.. so I guess it depends on which Spice scale you're referring to if it's a 2 or a 3. ["

May 7, 2026 Verified Purchase
Rhiannon Green

Perfection!

"I cannot state enough how much I loved this book. It has immediately secured itself as a favorite read of the year and we're only 5 days into 2026. I'll admit that I was drawn to the stunningly beautiful cover and sprayed edges and the fact that it was a Guinevere retelling with time travel definitely piqued my interest. This story did not disappoint. It had me from the beginning and kept me through the entire book. I simply loved it. The story is a fresh take on the Authurian tale while also holding much original lore throughout. The changes felt natural and appropriate and time travel aspect brought a modern feel to a very old story. Have I mentioned I loved it??? The found family was a delight and brought so much to the story. Vera's story is heavy and sad yet she still brings both levity and strength to the plot. There's some hilarious scenes, and some dark scenes, and I didn't want to stop listening to the well done audio. The ending is a cliffhanger, but not near the devastating ending I thought we were going to get. I cannot wait for book 2. This is an absolute must read! ["

January 30, 2026 Verified Purchase
Ashton Bryan

Great story telling

"Really this book is 4.5 stars I’m about 70% of the way through and it’s so good. The story telling is remarkable. I also love a good time travel/transmigration story. I love the story of King Arthur, in college I was obsessed with it and now we get to see this from Guinevere’s perspective which is refreshing. It gives quest for Camelot meets outlander. This would be 5 stars but some of the language to me is a turn off and is unnecessary. ["

January 11, 2026 Verified Purchase

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