CL Polk is a master of transporting readers to a different time and place -- in this case, a regency era setting with lots of big dresses, some fanciful magic, and a whole lot of misogyny. I enjoyed Polk's Witchmark quite a lot, but didn't feel like it completely landed the ending -- and I think that Polk improves on that in The Midnight Bargain which weaves a pretty tight story with compelling characters, If you don't like instant romance or neatly resolved endings, this might not be the book of you, although I found both things to be quite nice in terms of reducing my overall stress reading a book that deals with so much blatant sexism.

The protagonist, Beatrice, is secretly studying to become a mage, which is prohibited for women who are meant for childbirth only in this world. She meets Ysbeta and Ianthe Lavan, one an ally and the other a love interest, both of which are hiding their own secrets and struggles in this world. Beatrice binds a lesser spirit to herself named Nadi, a spunky, joyful creature that brings luck (both bad and good) that leads to a lot of trouble during the Bargaining Season in which Beatrice must find herself wed to save her family from ruin.

While the book started slow (and I'm not a big regency reader), I ended up reading the last half all in one sitting and found the magic to be a delightful escape. Thanks to NetGalley for the early review copy, all opinions are my own.

Debutante balls! Regency fashion! Card parties! Swoon-worthy gentlemen callers! Reproductive rights and feminist manifestos! All with the gleam of magic sparkling over everything!

If that sounds like a laundry list of your favorite things in a book (can you tell it's mine?), you're in luck. The Midnight Bargain, by C.L. Polk, hits all the right notes in a fabulous, earnest, enchanting fantasy-romance.

Beatrice Clayborn is beginning her Bargaining Season - the time when young women are put on display to be wooed and won, their hands in marriage coming along with a dowry, the promise of plenty of magically gifted babies, and a (literal) collar that will prevent them from wielding magic for the duration of their married, child-bearing years. But Beatrice wants nothing to do with the life that's been planned for her, a life of submission to a wealthy husband, constant pregnancy and child-bearing, and worst of all, giving up magic. Already something of an adept at sorcery, Beatrice has a plan to make a pact with a spirit, restore her family's fortunes, and prove to her father that she's worth more as a spinster sorceress than as a bride.

The Midnight Bargain combines the froth of exquisite lace fluttering in a candlelit ballroom with the bleakness of an imprisoning collar and societal reality. It's an absolutely enchanting Regency-inspired magical romance, as Polk once again shows off the considerable world-building skills and swoony-romance-writing skills displayed in the as-yet unfinished Kingston Cycle; but it's also a grimly realistic approach to the issues of reproductive rights, feminism, and women's agency - over their bodies, over their lives, over their futures. All done up in the loveliest ballgowns, glittering like a Georgette Heyer romance, but it's a Heyer with magic - and with teeth.

Thank you to NetGalley and Erewhon for the advance review copy!

Available October 13, 2020

This is so good! So, so good.

Set in a world where magic is studied and practiced, The Midnight Bargain introduces us to a secret world of women who defy social standards to become powerful sorceresses.
The Bargaining Season is just beginning and instead of focusing on pursuing a powerful marriage, Beatrice Clayborn is on the hunt for grimoires. When her latest find lands in the hands of the wealthy and regal Ysbeta Lavan instead of her own, Beatrice knows that she must use any means to get the book back. When the two women eventually discover they are pursuing the same goals, they work together to increase their magical skills and avoid the marriage mart as much as possible. What Beatrice isn't expecting to find, is an ally in Ysbeta's brother Ianthe. In Llanandari, Ysbeta's and Ianthe's home country, women are trained in sorcery and treated more as equals to men than they are in Beatrice's home of Chasland. As the three become close friends, Beatrice makes her case for equality and Ianthe slowly begins to realize why his sister and Beatrice are so resistant to marriage and the dreaded magic-dampening warding collars they will be forced to wear until they have left their childbearing years. Set amid glittering ballrooms, extravagant picnics, and acres of silken ballgowns, The Midnight Bargain is a gorgeous story of friendship, romance, and bringing the patriarchy to it's knees.
I absolutely loved this book! I read it in a single sitting and was thrilled to discover that it's the first in a new series. Polk has set her characters in a world similar to Regency England but with magic as a known element. It is filled with young women being used as bargaining chips to create powerful alliances through marriage but without any benefits to the women. Beatrice discovers that her father's business losses are far greater than she was led to believe and her marriage is crucial to saving her family's finances. Instead of listening to Beatrice's astute business advice, she is criticized for discussing "men's business" and is reminded repeatedly, that she is a silly woman and no one will ever listen to her. What her family doesn't know is that she has been pursuing sorcery to increase her chances of becoming her father's business partner instead of being forced into a world where she will be forced to wear a warding collar and do nothing but bear children. Beatrice is a really interesting character. She is both a powerful sorceress and intelligent, but so focused on her goals that she doesn't notice much of what goes on around her. She often comes off as naïve, but she is incredibly driven.
Beatrice and Ysbeta develop a close and powerful friendship throughout the book. They both have the same goal-become a sorceress and avoid marriage, but for different reasons. Ysbeta is used to freedom and has seen her own mother become incredibly powerful in society and create the family great wealth. But if she agrees to the marriage of a wealthy Chasland man, she will loose all of her rights, property, and power she has worked so hard to obtain. Beatrice truly loves magic and wants to learn all she can. She truly believes that there must be a way to solve the problem of spirits overtaking the unborn children of a sorceress. Beatrice also really has a head for business and as a wife, no one will ever take her seriously. The way these two take on smashing the patriarchy is a beautiful thing to behold.
As the two friends are working on their schemes, they are forced into following the social calendar of the Bargaining Season. This book is teeming with balls, dinners, charity picnics and dress fittings. Beatrice is constantly reminded how important it is that she move the family up the social ladder and her younger sister is always quick to point out the expense the family has gone to make Beatrice alluring to a wealthy man. Beatrice is constantly reminded what high society thinks of her social climbing family-and she's quick to put some arrogant men in their place. It's great.
I truly loved this book and I am so excited that there will be more books! This book has a great ending and really sets up book two to be really exciting.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

It is a fabulous feminist fantasy that had me rooting for the strong female characters like I was at a football game!

Beatrice Clayborn struggles to choose between submitting to a marriage that will strip her of magic, or following her magic and becoming a pariah. Her family’s fate and her own happiness hang in the balance. And what about Ianthe, the handsome bachelor who stirs her heart? Can Beatrice give up her freedom to follow her heart?

Polk’s witchy adventure is like Jane Austen meets the Bachelor at Hogwarts. I was enchanted by the clothing, the firey heroine and of course, the magic.

I highly recommend giving this book a try!

The Midnight Bargain // by C.L. Polk

This is a book that I have been looking forward to for several months now. I’ll be honest: Sometimes I judge a book by its cover. Whaat? And this was one of them. I know I had to read it as soon as I saw it and the blurb solidified it. Since then, I have heard so many good things about it. I finally picked it up on a whim yesterday morning and was not able to put it down until I finished it completely that same day!

As is so often expected in other books as well as real life, women in The Midnight Bargain are expected to set aside their own dreams in order to fulfill the wishes of men. The imagery of the collar was so repelling to me that I immediately grabbed at my own neck when first reading it! Even when there is already a perfectly fine way to do things differently or when there are people willing to search for alternatives, those ideas are suppressed or deemed unimportant because there is no obvious benefit to the men of the society who always find themselves more important than their counterparts. While the feminist focus was definitely the strongest theme of the book, there were also others, such as power, privilege, and social norms, that were effortlessly woven into the story as well.

Without wanting to give too much away, I just want to say that this book pulled me in completely right from the start and didn’t let go until I finished it that evening. There are many things I enjoyed about this book but, aside from the themes, some of the other highlights are that books are an integral part of this story, friendship is as important as the romance, and the difficult choice the main character is asked to make has no obvious answer and will find your struggling to make it yourself the whole way through. Also, while it’s always fun to have complex bad characters in novels, it was also a nice change to have one that you can so effortlessly hate the entire way through this time. While I definitely wanted to throw my kindle at the wall at one point, I admire the way the author played with a wide range of my emotions with this book. I don’t know right now whether this is supposed to be the start of a series or a standalone, but she cleans up rather nicely in the end in a way where it could be either one.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Midnight Bargain is the first book I’ve read by C. L. Polk. It’s a stand-alone fantasy romance in a historical setting, with magic and automatons.

This is a fairly good book. The stakes are high: Beatrice Clayborn has to choose between living a life as a sorceress, which she desires, and marrying, which her family wants. First choice will ruin her family economically, plus she won’t be able to marry and have children. The second will put her under the direct rule of her husband and completely rob her off her magic, as it could damage her children. The choice seems clear to her, until she meets Ianthe and falls in love.

It’s also a really exhausting book. Everything is stacked against Beatrice from the start, the society, magic and all the people around her. There isn’t a single character that is on her side, not even those who seemingly are. There’s no room for her to breathe—and consequently no room for the reader to breathe. The unfairness of the society is brought up repeatedly, with same arguments, as if everyone, the reader included, hadn’t understood after the first couple of times. The repetition bogs down the narrative and takes room from the plot, like the romance, which feels glued on and not romantic at all. The focus is mostly on Beatrice’s attempts to escape her fate. I ended up skimming through most of the book, but I was curious enough to learn how it ends, so I didn’t put it down.

The world is fairly interesting. The magic especially is well-developed. I liked Nadi, the spirit of luck Beatrice summons to help her. There were some things that puzzled me, like why was everyone forced to speak a foreign language? Was the country conquered by a wealthier one, or was it purely fashion? And why was a young woman thrown into the hostile society without any help or escort from her parents and just told to deal with it, when all the other debutantes had large support groups? If it was to allow Beatrice to escape parental notice for plot reasons, she managed just fine on other occasions, and only made the writing seem lazy.

The ending was good. It had a slight ‘deus ex machina’ feel to it, but not so badly that it would’ve disappointed. Beatrice is basically saved, not actively saving herself. Again the romance took a side-line for Beatrice’s self-actualisation, but it was given a moment too. The epilogue wraps things up nicely. I was left satisfied with it.

It took me a couple of chapters to figure this one out. It's a strange mix of a historical romance novel with a strong feminist twist and a story about a magical world that treats its females horridly. I struggled to figure out where to place it. But once I really got to know Beatrice and figured out the rules of the world she lived in, I was hooked and didn't care to categorize it.
Polk manages to create a world that is both foreign and familiar, and then populate it with women who are fighting both to make the best of it and to find a better way. It has a very strong, positive message that flows brilliantly along with the fantasy and romance.
Even with all the magic and the spirits and all the fantasy elements that are expertly crafted, what made this book a joy to read is definitely the love story. Seeing the steps that Beatrice takes as she tries to make the best choice for her and her family, and the way that Ianthe treats her and helps her is truly what made this such a great read for me.
The strength of this book lies in its characters' relations and how they evolve and change as they interact with each other. You could skip all the fantastical elements of magic and it would still be a great love story. The magic only adds an extra bit of delight to the story.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and Erewhon Books for the early read!

A love/hate going on with this title for me. I loved the idea behind this story and sadly I think I had set my hopes a little high. What I loved was the main character. I felt that she was strong and was forging her own path in a world that was against her. Then the instant love happened and I felt my strong forward thinking female fell back and didn’t get back up. It wasn’t just Beatrice’s character that falls short. Her love interest felt one-dimensional and was lacking in personally all together. Hello character creation. Lastly, the world fell short for me. All this talk about magic and it wasn’t really shown as much as I wanted. I wanted to see more of the “big” magics that man are only allowed to learn, etc. It was well explained but in a world that magic was a big part of the story I would have thought I would have read more moments with it being used.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an Advance Reading Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a book I suddenly saw one day on my twitter, and immediately looked up. The cover was lovely, and when I saw the word ‘regency’ my interest was piqued. I adore regency themed romances, and when I’m not reading, or writing, can often be found crocheting whilst watching Pride and Prejudice or anything else written by Austen. To combine magic and regency romance was as if C. L. Polk had looked into my mind to see the exact thing I wanted to read. I’d just finished ‘Like Home’ by Louisa Onome (review coming soon) and wanted something with a bit of magic and mystery after two very grounded, true to life books.

Lets talk about the magic, because oh boy this book has it. It’s a muted system, purely because women aren’t allowed to practice magic within this timeline – which slots perfectly into the time the book is set. Have I ever mentioned that one of my favourite things is to see underdogs suddenly show that they’re incredibly powerful? Because that right there, that’s my jam. As a teen I’d watch Naruto show that nine tailed demon on repeat. And this book – it has that magnificent energy. She’s headstrong, and at times absolutely foolhardy, but no protagonist is perfect and Beatrice is a woman on the edge, desperate and willing to risk things to get what she wants. She’s also sheltered – having no formal training means she’s never been warned of certain risks, and this shows in some of the big mistakes she makes throughout the book.

This does lead me into the characters quite nicely. As much as I’ve defended it above, I got frustrated at times with Beatrice. That isn’t necessarily a negative though, I think it’s important to disagree with the choices an MC makes during the book. The people she surrounds herself with are strong, individual characters, though at times feel a little 2-D. Her sister is annoying, and Beatrice is ‘Selfish’ and Ysbeta is headstrong and impatient. Ianthe is a little too perfect, and I kept waiting for him to have some kind of character flaw that never occurred. Her father never quite has the character development he could have benefited from, and the mother could have been used far more, as she was excellent.

The romance in this book is sweet, and flutteringly cute…and instant. I can’t tell you when it turned from friendship to something more, considering their second encounter essentially ends with him basically leaving a floral proposal at her door. It doesn’t hinder the book, but I wish we’d had a few chapters where say, he was a bit teasing but the sister was very insistent on Beatrice being close and kept asking him to drive her home and he falls for her based on what she’s saying – I think a small change like that would have enhanced both his character and the book itself.

The book is beautifully written in places, with poetic bargains and wonderful descriptions. It was written in a way that really flowed, and I found I finished it in roughly a day, maybe just more. If you’re looking for a fun romance book with historical themes and a great magic system, I’d really give this one a go. You’re in for a treat.

I had the very unexpected pleasure of receiving The Midnight Bargain weeks after requesting it, so I dropped my regular TBR to finish this before its release date of October 13. Thank you, Netgalley and Erewhon Books, for this ARC. I finished it in one day, so you know it was engaging, even if I had mixed feelings altogether about it.

What I Loved:

The Female Relationships. Something that I notice is often missing in SFF is strong female relationships, both familial and friendship, that show depth and complexity. Either they are all good or all bad. In The Midnight Bargain, Beatrice has a small group of people she associates with. She finds an unexpected and fulfilling friendship with Ysbeta Lavan that is both loving and contentious, and her relationship with her sister Harriet is tumultuous but still deep for two girls so diametrically opposite. Beatrice’s mother is one of those women of hidden strength, and it is awesome seeing how she supports her daughters from behind the scenes. I would love to see more female bonds like this.

(Some aspects of) the Magical System. I am not going to say it is perfect (see below), but I loved the bond between the spirits and humans. Nadi is one of the most fun characters in the book despite being a spirit, and I loved the characterization of spirits being capricious and curious that don’t know the scope of their power. The hidden grimoires written by an underground group of sorceresses was a really great way to tie in real history, since women throughout the ages have been finding subversive ways to support other women and find strength. I also loved how the right to practice magic is tied to the patriarchal society, since this is exactly how it would be in real life. The magical system was interesting and easy to understand without losing its complexity. Lastly, I loved how in other ways (specifically race), the magic is egalitarian.

The Comparisons to Regency England. I have a not-so-secret love of Regency England bodice rippers (whoops) and also of historical fiction of the tamer kind, so I loved the parallels here. The calling cards, the rented homes on fancy streets in (fake) London, the balls and coming out parties were all beautifully written. Harriet teaching Beatrice the finer points of society and interactions were some of my favorites between the sisters.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

The Pacing. This is probably the biggest issue I had with the book besides its heavy-handedness. There are some times when this book goes excruciatingly slow (think first 20%), then the end was a rush of deus ex machina proportion. I almost put it down in the beginning, but was so happy to continue. However, it is unfortunate to feel that way.

The Romance. This book suffers from “insta-love,” where Beatrice falls so in love with Ianthe so quickly, she can picture giving up her dreams of being a sorceress after the first kiss. Ianthe, for his part, is willing to throw away his future for her, and this book only occurs over the course of a few months at most. I liked Ianthe and loved how progressive he was, but this trope is so tired. These two children don’t know what love is. Given the pacing issue, I wish some of the faster paced areas showed a blooming love instead of infatuation. Given how important the romance is to the plot, it should have been given room to grow.

(Other aspects of) the Magical System – aka performative feminism. While I really did enjoy the spirits and the secret societies of magic, I disliked how heavy-handed the magic suppressant collars were. Maybe I am reading too far into this, but it felt like it equated marriage and babies to actual slavery. In this book, it essentially was. I am wary of that comparison as a whole, and while this is supposed to take place in Regency England, I felt as though the narrative did more to tell instead of show the plight of women. The vitriol that Beatrice received for considering practicing high magic was a little too universal, and made Ianthe look even more like a savior mage instead of like an ally. Can we also mention how the poor woman that had a spiritborn baby was mentioned once or twice, but then nothing was done to address income and social inequality, just gender inequality?

Very enjoyable Victorian vibe book laced with magick and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Just the right touch of plot and romance, female independence, and comraderie that left me feeling utterly satisfied by the end of the book and the way it climaxed. I'm eager to read further works by the author for sure.

This book screamed everything that I love in a novel.

Feminism, magic, historical fiction, romance.

As much as I enjoyed this novel, there were parts that I struggled with and wanted more from. Although the overall story kept me engaged and interested in what was going to happen next. I felt that this was an interesting premise that women weren't allowed to use magic and so she had to look for the grimoire. Normally when I think of magic I think of witches so this was a refreshing idea about magic.

A great read!

What a pleasant surprise! I admit this one took me a bit to get into, but once I was in it, I was hooked. The only reason I'm giving this 4 stars instead of 5 is because it took about 20% for me to really get into it.

This one is one of the more creative books I've read this year - a world where both men and women can be born with magic, but women are expected to bind theirs with a dampening collar when they get married. The "reason" is so that any babies they have won't be possessed by evil spirits, but that's clearly not all it is. This is a very patriarchal society where husbands and fathers get to dictate what women do with their magic and it seems the only thing women are good for is breeding.

I loved how this book entwined magic and spirits with feminism and women's rights. Even highlighting how the good guys may be taking a woman's power without realizing it. And how those same guys can be feminists too without shame. There's honestly some really good stuff in here and it's clear to see the point the author was making. And I also just loved Nadi - she was the cutest happy-go-lucky spirit.

I thought I was just going to read a book about magic and I got magic plus a heavy dose of feminism instead. Loved it.

The Midnight Bargain takes place in a world reminiscent of regency England, where women who are born as sorcerers are forced to give up their magic upon marriage due to it having complications during pregnancy. Women are given a ‘warding collar’, however depending on which country they are from, they are permitted to remove it after childbirth. Our MC, Beatrice, is from a country where women are very much assigned to a gendered role, and are controlled by their husbands using the collar.

This book was honestly wonderful. It was FULL of drama, and I ate up allllll of the romance which doesn’t happen often for me (maybe I’m becoming soppy???). There was a strong message of friendship, of breaking the boundaries of gender roles and becoming your own person.

I absolutely adored the characters. Beatrice took no shit from anyone and she refuses to stay where society places her. The friendships she forms in here were lovely, and I found myself laughing, tearing up and also being angry in parts. Some scenes were hilarious just because of how ridiculous the image of the scene was in my head 😅.

The book definitely wasn’t perfect, and I found the internal monologue’s a little over the top and annoying. But overall, a solid read and I really enjoyed it!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Midnight Bargain is a standalone side project from CL Polk, but shares some of the similar elements of her writing with her ongoing Kingston Cycle, namely a charming mix of period drama flavor and fantasy magic, with this one feeling like an homage to Austen-esque Regency tales, joining the likes of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and the works of Zen Cho in their magic-infused takes on the time period.

While there isn’t a lot of complex world building, I like how the story utilizes the patriarchal elements of real life history as a basis for magic, and have the story center a woman fighting back, in a similar way her literary sisters in non-magical Regencies have, resulting in an engaging story and fairly unique take on a tried-and-true concept.

I loved that Beatrice taught herself magic, in spite of it not being allowed to her, and she did it for a noble reason of wanting to be the one to provide, while her parents were determined to see her follow convention.

And there are some other lovely characters too, like the Lavans. She forms a romance with Ianthe, who I found fairly likable, although the relationship is very insta-love-y. His sister Ysbeta is also a great character I’d like to see more of if Polk were to write more within this world. However, the most charming was the spirit character, Nadi, conjured by Beatrice, especially for her fun and witty dialogue!

This is a wonderful gem of a book, and, as much as I’ve liked her Kingston Cycle, I hope this isn’t the last book of this style Polk writes. And if you’ve liked her previous work and are curious to try something else from her, or are new to her work, but love both Regency romance and magic, I think you’ll enjoy this book.

This is a feminist fantasy romance set in a regency era patriarchal society and focused on a woman's right to control her own body and power. And what a woman is willing to give up for this right and power.

I would've absolutely loved it when I was younger as to me it read a little YA, with a in-your-face message and love-at-first-sight romance. As it was, I struggled with the main character and the romance. The main character's motivations and struggles seemed based on the depthless romantic relationship aspirations.

That being said, I burned through the second half, where the stakes get higher, the wealthy frippery is less, and the presence of our spirit friend becomes more prevalent. And I accepted the main character/romance as it is. There are some really great scenes with the mothers, but I would've loved to learn more about the magic and spirits. So for me it was uneven. But its a light quick read, especially if you like regency-era fantasy romance.

Thank you to Erewhon Books and Netgalley for a copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review.

The Midnight Bargain uses an alternate-world Regency/Victorian-romance setting to examine modern feminist issues. As an avowed Austen fangirl and occasional Regency reader, I enjoyed it a lot. (Points for the Meryton references.)

The female characters were interesting, and both Beatrice and Ysbeta were appealing protagonists. The male characters unfortunately suffered by comparison. Beatrice's father and her unwelcome suitor Danton were somewhat 2-dimensional. The hero Ianthe was too perfect to be true -- he falls instantly in love with Beatrice, but the reader never gets a scene from his POV to explain why he likes Beatrice best out of all the girls on offer.

The magic system was unique -- the spirit Nadi was by far my favorite character.

My biggest issue with the a Regency-like world for this story was that it was then limited by Regency tropes. Beatrice and Ysbeta won themselves some measure of marital freedom and (for Beatrice) a more equal partnership in marriage, but they are still in a world where sexual and financial freedom is still unequal for men and women. (Beatrice's mother told her about the warding collar before the wedding ceremony, but she didn't say a thing about the wedding night.)

Instead of having Beatrice return in the epilogue and present her case for joining the mages' academy, I would have preferred to see her gather up all of the hidden female mages to start her own academy. (Burn down the patriarchy, Beatrice!)

The author left herself plenty of opportunity for sequel material, so I hope we see more of this world and these characters. I would love to see Ysbeta sailing all over the world in pursuit of magical knowledge, or seeing what Harriet's courting season would be like after the changes that Beatrice brings.

This book takes us to a world of wondrous magic with strict social structures and rules designed to keep women in lesser roles. Beatrice hopes for so much more than what her country’s laws will allow her and she will make any bargain that helps her, whether with a human or Spirit. Polk takes us on a rich journey of two women doing their best to change their world for the better no matter the cost. Even if it means losing their true love but gaining their freedom. I enjoyed this book immensely and loved the magic system. It does end rather neatly but even just skimming some passages again for this review had me enthralled. Definitely give this midnight bargain a try, you’ll find its worth the cost.

The Midnight Bargain was a beautifully imagined and poignant new novel full of magic and intrigue that walked a complicated line between historical fantasy and modern socio-political themes. From the beginning of the story, readers are faced with the essential question, "What would life look like if men controlled women's magic?" Beyond the historical reality of being traded as valuable property to be bartered and exchanged between male powerbrokers within a woman's family and class, C.L. Polk creates a world where her talented and strong-willed heroine, Beatrice Clayborn, faces not only a season of being paraded around in search of a wealthy match and an alliance that would save her family's finances but also the bitter fate of being literally collared by a husband who will limit her power and filter out her magical instincts.

While Beatrice searches for a grimoire that contains the knowledge necessary to avoid the collar and fulfill her dream of becoming a mage, she meets a handsome young man and his striking sister, Ianthe and Ysbeta Lavan. The Lavans quickly become the stars to whom Beatrice hitches her magical wagon. However, as she throws her lot in with the differing desires of the Lavan siblings, Beatrice is pulled away from her own plans and forced to make difficult choices to preserve her freedom.

Reading this book felt like I was following an Austen-esque heroine through a dystopian costume drama as she attempts to magically undermine an Atwood-esque, patriarchial, sociopolitical regime through a uniquely imagined fantastical feminism. I felt the romance in the story was a little too love-at-first-sight, which clashed with the fierce feminine voice the author was simultaneously developing in her heroine. That said, I found the storyline compelling and the action built to an exciting crescendo. I read this book in one day, as after only a couple of chapters I couldn't put it down.

For fantasy and historical fiction fans, as well as chick-lit readers, Polk's Midnight Bargain is a thoughtful and satisfying story that feels both entirely relatable and like an escape to another place and time.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me an eArc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I love reading Regency romances, despite the era's major issues with women's rights. The world in The Midnight Bargain, takes the concepts of those rights and twists the screw to make them even more impossible. Set in the fantasy country of Chasland (a Regency-era England clone, basically), upon marriage you not only lose your property and become property of your husband (as per actual history) but also lose the opportunity to do magic. Not just that, you're bound to it. Big stakes!

I enjoyed this story and the characters, and though I wouldn't call it a romance outright, there was a definite romantic subplot which I enjoyed. My only criticism is that it finished up a little too pat and too quickly. Suddenly in the last chapter everything wrapped up like boom-boom-boom, and then the epilogue had more story that I wish could have been told in a more fuller sense. By the second last chapter I feared it would be a cliffhanger, but instead things just wrapped a bit quickly for my liking. I feel this could have been served better as a multi-book series (trilogy perhaps?) to flesh out all the sub-plots, wrapping up only the main threads in this one.

That said, it's a unique magical take on Regency England and a story with likeable characters moving through the world. I'd recommend to other fantastical history fans, or Regency romance fans for that matter.