I really enjoyed this! On the one hand it's a Regency-era story with magic, but on the other hand it has some really good and interesting things to say about the role of women and female power.

The Midnight Bargain by C L Polk

A reasonable story but I found it very slow going to get into the story the main characters fairly mediocre.

The magic system seemed to be where the author invested most into the story . Expected a better balance to the story and characters fairly disappointing . 2.5/5

5/5 stars

Well-executed. Blended lots of genres that I typically enjoy (History, fantasy etc.). Good pacing--was a light and fast read. Really enjoyed.

(i received an e-arc from the publisher and netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)

c l polk certainly has a way with words, spinning them like fine silk and holding me close with every page.

Great book! Wonderful characterization, great love interest, and a genius magic system.
I loved every bit of this story

Loved the blend of romance, fantasy, literary, and historical genres in The Midnight Bargain. You really get a sense of the world through the female lead's perspective: her interest in magic, struggles with her family, and even the process of falling in love.

This was a very quick and light read. Just what I was looking for. The book had a very interesting concept, and I thought the author executed that concept very well.

I thought this was a beautiful fantasy with fantastic world building and a great plot and characters. I will definitely be looking out for more from this author

I love history, and I love fantasy. Marry the two and you have a book I cannot put down. The writing was absolutely beautiful, and I felt that the world was created in a way that felt thoughtful but accessible. I got a little lost with the magic system and the insta-love, but I'm going to let those pass since I enjoyed the rest so much. For a plot that seems fairly unoriginal, I would still encourage you to pick this one up as it completely exceeding my expectations, took its own plot and totally ran with it. Such a great historical fantasy to get lost in!

I have very, very little time to read these days, and it typically takes me literally months to finish a novel, yet I read this book in about 3 days flat. That's how absorbing it was. The writing is just beautiful. There are SO MANY satisfying moments that thrilled me (like the scene in which a secondary character launches a violent attack against the heroine, Beatrice – her response to the attack literally gave me goosebumps and made me cheer aloud for her!). The love story is so sincere and fulfilling. I read some other reviews that took issue with the "insta-love" nature of this aspect of the novel, but I disagree. The heroine & hero's love is well founded and explored; it's clear why they fall for each other so deeply. I can't wait to read the rest of C.L. Polk's books! So happy to have found a wonderful author who is brand-new to me!

Fantasy, magic, romance and historical make for a highly entertaining read. I think this would also be a great audiobook.

DNF - Did not finish. I did not connect with the writing style or plot and will not be finishing this title. Thank you, NetGalley and Publisher for the early copy!

Thank you Netgalley, Author and Publishers for giving me this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I had a certain level of expectations when I requested an e-arc of this book. The cover is pretty, even though the novel’s premise was pretty typical, it still managed to catch my attention and i decided to try it. I would say that this book mostly delivered what it promised.

The writing is beautiful, the world building is substantial enough although the magic system isn't explored deeply, it highlighted some good points and issues (albeit mostly heavy handedly)...but it falters badly when it comes to its characters and the main romance.

Beatrice and Ianthe have a cliched insta love without any of the electrifying chemistry or practically anything. This won't have bothered me that much if the characters were themselves well developed and it was harder to sympathize with Beatrice and her choices than I had originally expected.

The Midnight Bargain had its charms but it failed to capitalise on them.

Oh, I liked this! I just recently reread The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk because I wanted to write this review but couldn’t find my notes on the book anymore. I only knew I enjoyed reading it and after finishing it for a second time now, I can say with absolute certainty that I actually really liked it a lot. Maybe even more than C.L. Polk’s magical Edwardian fantasy trilogy, The Kingston Cycle.

The stand-alone novel The Midnight Bargain is a Regency-esque fantasy romance, set in a world where the elite negotiate marriages with the intent of securing not only titles or trade agreements but also making sure that the match will produce children with vast magical powers. Magic, however, is a matter for gentlemen only. While it is important for genteel women to have magical ability, they are not trained in it and are actually downright forbidden from using it – because magic in this world, at least the higher, more complex kinds, rely on making deals with spirits and letting those spirits into your body and since unborn children don’t have fully formed souls yet, the spirits can take them over. To avoid that, women in Chasland are forced to wear marriage collars – metallic constructions that keep them from accessing their powers and spirits from entering their or their unborn children’s bodies.

Protagonist Beatrice Clayborn has prodigal magical abilities but she is also expected to marry and secure her family’s future and solve their financial troubles. What little resources they have left have been spent to give her a chance to secure a husband during this year’s Bargaining Season. But Beatrice has no interest in marriage, instead she wants to become a Magus and use her abilities to help her family’s business.

What follows is a fantastic feminist romance as Beatrice struggles with trying to figure out her future, meets the love of her life (and yes, it’s insta-love, which is yuck but still fun), makes a friend and uncovers magical secrets. It’s fun, it’s intense and it’s sometimes a bit of a bumpy ride but I enjoyed it thoroughly. Beatrice is a great character, despite the insta-love, whose struggles felt very relatable and while I’ve seen some people call her selfish, I felt like she really was just trying to get the rights that have been kept from women in Chasland. The other characters, Beatrice’s family and the Lavan siblings, Ianthe and Ysbeta, unfortunately remain a bit flat but are intriguing nevertheless – and I really wish there was a spin-off about Beatrice’s sister Harriet and her sister-in-law Ysbeta, both of whom could be really interesting.

All in all though, I very much enjoyed The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk and it’s fantastical take on Regency romances. The magic system in Chasland is intriguing, the societal implications that come with it make for a great backdrop for this feminist love story. As I said, I’d love some spin-offs to learn more about the other cultures that exist in this world but the novel works perfectly well as a stand-alone.

I have to admit I was surprised by this book but in the best way. This was an excellent example of two genres working well together to create something new and unique feeling and overall, I enjoyed this quite a lot.

The Midnight Bargain is part historical romance and part fantasy. The world within the novel closely resembles what one would expect the Victorian or Georgian eras to have been like and there are a lot of familiar tropes and patterns that one finds in historical romance novels however, there is the added complication of magic also being a part of this world. Not only is magic real, but there's a large disparity between how men and women are allowed to use magic and it creates a fascinating story that addresses issues of sexism in a way I don't often see in fantasy or historical romance novels while still being fun.

Beatrice is the main character who doesn't want to submit to the patriarchal rules of her society and while she can be annoying at times, overall she was likeable and the supporting characters really helped to create a balanced cast. There's one character in particular who I absolutely loved but I won't say which one because of spoilers. There were some laugh out loud moments as a result of this character though and I felt they really helped lighten the tone of the book which otherwise might have gotten a little too heavy. Even the unlikeable characters still demonstrate excellent writing and added to the overall story.

I've seen quite a few people calling this book young adult but I really don't think it was. To me, it very much read as a historical romance with magic thrown in and even though it's a pretty "clean" romance I think it still reads as an adult novel. I think my only complaint about the book would be that it did seem a little slow at the beginning but once it picked up I got really immersed in the book and sped through it.

This is my second novel by Polk and while I didn't love the first one I did really enjoy this one and would recommend it to anyone who likes historical romance, fantasy, or both.

<i>Thanks as always to NetGalley and Erewhon Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and feelings expressed here are my own</i>

This book is harrowing, and very emotionally engaging. I really liked the idea and concept behind this book, and I love the dark themes in this book!

A fantasy of manners! Absolutely delightful. A regency set fantasy novel with magicians. I loved the way the author used magic to be critical of the patriarchy, the regency setting in particular really highlighted the point very well. The characters were well rounded and likable, I loved the female characters and their dynmics together. The romnce was also very cute.

In a world strikingly similar to Regency England, Beatrice Clayborn is torn between her desire to become a full-fledged Magus and her deeply indebted family's need for her to marry well. Marriage would require her to be locked in a stifling anti-magic collar, lest a malicious spirit inhabit her unborn child, and so married women are forbidden from practicing magic. After conjuring a lesser spirit to aid her magic, Beatrice finds herself forced to navigate the annual Bargaining Season with a terrible secret, forced to find a way to somehow save both her family and her own prospects at future happiness. (While certain encounters with the wealthy, foreign-born Lavan siblings upend her life in ways that any romance fan will find, ahem, somewhat familiar.)

The Midnight Bargain is, in essence, a Regency romance. If you love regency romances, you will likely love this; if you hate them, then the opposite. I happen to love Regency romances--hence the 5 stars. I'm a huge fan of fantasies of manners for that same reason, and I've always enjoyed the subgenre most when such books lean more to the "manners" than the "fantasy". (Not that I prefer them fantasy-less; more that I think the strength of the subgenre likes in the 'manners' portion, and leaning too far to the 'fantasy' element strips the subgenre of what makes it interesting and unique.) And there is a strong fantasy element here--it's just that I felt the manners and romance factors were incredibly strong, which I saw as a plus.

I really enjoyed the author's choice to have the whole "women can't practice magic or demons inhabit their babies" thing be true. It would've been easier, and a bit more pedestrian, to have that turn out to be patriarchal propaganda. That Beatrice cannot easily have her cake and eat it too put meat on the plot's bones. The writing was vivid, the characters were well-drawn, and the plot moved at a good clip. (And Ianthe, of course . . . Ianthe was a treasure.)

There were a few discordant notes, but not too many. By the end, for example, I though the author was striving a bit too hard to introduce conflict, and it led to some absurd situations---the boat scene had me nodding along with Mr. Clayborn, and I really don't think I was meant to. And Beatrice's mother having no role in the social scene was just bizarre; Beatrice would just get dropped off at parties with no chaperone, which really doesn't happen in these types of books.

But overall, I thought this was an excellent feminist romance, well-recommended for anyone who enjoys clever, well-written fantasies of manners.

There was so much in this book to enjoy, but I really wish that it was about 100 pages longer. A lot of the plot felt a bit rushed and some of the dialogue was a bit clunky because the characters weren't given enough time to grow organically. With that being said, I loved the characters in this book and thought that the author did a great job making us care for them so deeply. I also really loved the message and themes discussed within the narrative - I just wish it had had a bit more space to breathe. I would definitely recommend the book to anyone who likes magical books...or Jane Austen!
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I've loved discovering C.L. Polk's works and the Midnight Bargain was no different.
The world building is as lush as that of Witchmark (another that if you haven't read you're in for a treat.) Beatrice is a wonderful and compelling character that I enjoyed spending time with. Stuck between love and her passion for magic, is a situation many of us can relate to. While I didn't care for how quickly she fell in love with Ianthe, I did still enjoy the tension.

Thank you #NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The only thing that surprised me about this book was finding out that some people classify it as a YA book.