Tournament of Losers (Legacy of Charlet Book 1)

So we've got a fantasy set in a make-believe land, where sexuality is all equal but economics is not. I really love the hero, his friends and found friends, and adore his love interest.I think we know early on where this story is going, but read it yourself. It's so fun that the good guys win!I give this 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5. I'd have liked a little more world building, but at the same time, I had a hard time putting the book down.

As with all Megan Derr's books, I could not stop reading. Predictable, but it doesn't really matter because it's an interesting read anyway, and so sweet :)

Now, it's not a story with the highest of heat, but it is a well written yarn, full of affable characters and some truly touching emotion. Anyone who has ever been entrenched in or brushed by true poverty, will FEEL Rath in their bones.

I will be honest - normally when I see the book that employs the trope that reminds me of "Bachellor/s" reality shows I give this book a side eye and keep walking past it. But this was Megan Derr's book and I rarely pass her longer works and reviews by my buddies seemed to be positive, so I clicked. It was very entertaining, so I am glad I did. Yes, the premise for this book that once every seventy five years this kingdom conducts a Tournament which gives poor a chance to compete for marrying lots of nobles in order to add fresh blood to high classes - there are like seventy or more chances to get oneself married (barrons, dukes, and even royal family participates). Legend says that one of the previous Queens (Regent Charles) established the tournament in honor of peasant woman who saved the kingdom when it fell on bad times and Queen fell in love with her.Of course the obvious question I had what happens if noble families do not have marriage age candidates when the tournament year comes, but I handwaved it and moved along.Our main character Rath (aka Rathatayen but unsurprisingly he prefers to go by Rath) just wants peace and quiet. He works all kinds of jobs for very little money in order to survive but he also has a no good father whom he constantly needs to save from the situations man gets himself into. Now his father owes a lot of money which he cannot pay back. Rath's attempts to get that much money is not quite successful. Till friend suggests he tries participating in the Tournament because if he gets in the second round he will get a stipend which maybe enough money to save his father again, for a little bit anyway.Rath is not eager to participate at all - he may have dreamed about the Tournament when he was much younger (he is thirty three when the story begins ), but now he thinks Tournament is rigged throughout and nobles usually make sure that winners are those whom they want their sons and daughters to marry anyway. Rath ends up signing up however because he does not think he has a choice - whether you would find that convincing I do not know. I could have come up with more choices for him, but once again it was easy enough for me to believe in this development.For the most part I really enjoyed the Tournament - the challenges and how participating in those challenges made our hero shine. We see street smarts and a noble heart of somebody who may have gotten beaten up by life, but who surely was not as cynical as he pretended to be when push came to shove.I will let you to find how well Rath did in the Tournament and what reward he got if any, but I will tell you that at the same time as our hero is playing in the Tournament, surprisingly he is finding out that one of his casual hook ups may be somebody he may want to give his heart too - it is a lovely slow burn romance and I enjoyed how the writer managed to move this storyline along together with the Tournament one. Once again, I will let you find out the end result on your own .I thought the world building was not detailed, but for the purpose of this story it was enough for me. Once again I liked how the author put matter of fact touches here and there in the story which shows for example that none of the main characters are white. I loved that "intersex goddess" is casually mentioned, men and women fall in love with each other without anybody blinking an eye as it should be. I liked that world even if I may want to learn more about it.

This is the story of Rath, who is a general laborer and sometimes whore living in the poorer side of the city. When a loan shark comes calling on him to pay back a truly absurd sum of money that his deadbeat father owes, Rath tries his best to come up with as much of the money as he can, when a friend of his comes up with an idea… he can enter the Tournament of Losers – not its real name, of course, but as far as Rath cares for it, it’s pretty accurate. The idea is that the nobility of the realm holds a tournament every set number of years in order to marry off some of the nobles to common blood in order to mix things up a bit. Rath thinks it’s rigged, either way, as some of the people who enter train for winning the tournament from a very young age.It’s somewhat like the Hunger Games in that respect, only there’s less death and these people are anywhere between the ages of 20 and 40, and not, like… teenagers killing each other.Rath enters the tournament, and ends up doing well enough to pay off his debts. Then he plans on losing so that he doesn’t have to keep competing for no reason, but keeps on going anyway, despite his life being threatened a few times. Meanwhile, he and a…. ehhhhhh…. we’ll go with mysterious (not very mysterious) nobleman named Tress have started a relationship which Rath is regretting and yet so not regretting more and more as it goes on.It’s obvious from the beginning of the tournament who Tress really is, but I couldn’t have cared less, because I still needed the story leading up to the happily ever after here. This story wasn’t about the ending for me, it was about the getting there. Tress is an adorable character who just wants to spoil his lover and make him feel better, and I wanted all of the goodness for him. Rath is a character who was very, very easy to root for, and so my heart of hearts wanted nothing more for a happily ever after for the both of them.Admittedly I’ve spent the last couple months reading stuff that is far steamier than this one. All of the sex in this one is behind closed doors, but regardless, it was still full of the feels, even if it wasn’t as full of the touchy-feels, so to speak. :DThis is an adorable, slow burn, fun and often funny novel with a romance between two characters who I wanted to see reach the end of this story happy. It was fast paced, it took me an afternoon to read, and I was enthralled from beginning to end. An easy 4.5/5 stars from me!~

Rath enters the tournament of losers in order to earn enough money to pay off his father's debt although I didn't understand why the payment was his responsibility. All he wants is to last long enough to earn the money needed to clear the debt. He has no desire to win and wind up married to some noble and everyone knows that the tournament is rigged. Right before the tournament starts Rath meets Tress, a noble of mysterious lineage who is willing to provide aid and encouragement. The story is predictable but the characters are engaging. A recommended read.

I am new to this author and I have to say this is a very good read. Amazon recommended this book to me and I am happy with my purchase. The story is told by Rath the hero of the story, a poor man who makes a living anyway he can. The story begins with Rath owing a lot of money to a character called Friar because Raths father killed Friars best Griffin and the debt falls to Rath to pay. Unable to do so in the 3 days he has to pay it would mean Raths death. A friend suggests Rath enter the Tournament of Losers which is held every 75 years. Basically the Tournament is a series of challenges and the winner will marry a noble person. The Royal Family have a Prince called Isambard who is to marry the champion of champions and Rath finds himself competing for that title even though he doesn't want to be a hoity toity and is very reluctant through the whole tournament. The characters are well developed and you can't not like Rath the reluctant hero of sorts and Tress is a done what naive and silly but loveable Nobel who develops a crush on Rath. A very fast paced book with plenty of humour doses of drama and the sex is behind closed doors and not described. Recommended

A good if predictable story. I liked the characters but would have liked to see more of the friends. I also thought that there should be more of a satisfying ending, as it felt rushed and I personally would have preferred a better focus on how they were going to help the poor.

Ok it's megan derr so that's a good start. I love the way she gives a lovely fairytale feel to her books - escapism at its best. Only in one of this author's books can the main character be a part time prostitute and still in effect be the Cinderella of the story. There's even chapters where Rath is off to earn money in the brothel and yet as normal sex is not a big part of the story - it's the fairytale -I've no idea how she achieves that but I'm always so pleased when she does. It's escapism,it's interesting, the MC s are lovable and you get a great HEA - perfect and another to add to my 're read often pile. It's so good I will even ignore the strange cover (is it just me who has no idea why it looks like a guy with a ribbon around his head?)

Quality wise its probably closer to 3 stars, the characterisation is a bit lacking in places and the narrative skips various points. But it was cute and fun and it made me laugh. I loved the concept, it could have been better delivered but I had a fun afternoon reading this.

As always Megan Derr delivers an excellent read. fast paced and driven by characters you just fall in love. or hate if they're the bad guy. The lead is a noble everyman fighting for his place in the world and the the story delivers trials and tribulations galore. you really don't know what's around the corner for the poor guy. she is a woman of talent. I eagerly await her next work. haven't made a bad purchase yet. I would recommend anything this author writes.