Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.

3.5 star. This book was a cute read. It focuses way more on the romance than the magic. I wanted more out of the fantasy aspect. There wasn’t much magic display at all. It does make sense with the story since women aren’t really supposed to use magic, but I was always craving more action. The instant love annoyed me, but the relationship was cute overall. I really liked the message of the book in how women should be equal and not the only ones to sacrifice. Great messages. Cute read.

It's bargaining season and Beatrice must attract an eligibile suitor and marry if she wishes to save her family from financial ruin. Can she give up her desire to become a mage and marry as she should or will she keep pursuing magic? I have to say initially I was sceptical on whether or not I'd like this book. But the beautiful cover drew me in. I was pleasantly surprised from the start and couldn't put the book down. I loved the relationships that were built between Beatrice, Madi, Ysbeta, and Ianthe. I thought the pace of the story flowed well and it kept me engaged throughout the whole story. I highly recommend this story to anyone who loves stories of magic and romance.

Thank you netgalley.com, Erewhon Books and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Ths was an exciting ride!
We're reading about a world where married women can't practice magic. Although some of the men and women of this society are born with a gift for magical practice, when it comes to women, their only use for this gift is its passing to their children. The idea of a girl wanting to practice magic is atrocius in this society. Even the lower born women are precious for their magic and they'll be able to find a good match in a wealthy family without the gift in their bloodline. All the magical secrets are being kept hidden from women who are to marry and then wear a collar that takes their powers away.
When Beatrice finds a grimoire that will help her summon a higher spirit and become a true Magi she thinks all her problems will be solved. Problem is that Ysbeta, an other young and wealthy sorcerss, wants the same grimoire for her own reasons. Ysbeta's kind and handsome brother, Ianthe, suggests they should read the book together. From now on things spiral into a crazy story with feminist under- and overtones, love stories, heart-wretching decissions, frenship and magic.
I really liked the approach in this one: love, adventure, magic and freedom. The magical system makes me think of the arabian stories for some reason . The pacing is pretty good, I found the story interesting from the start but after about 30% i was hooked.
Let me talk about something I've been aching to see more in any fiction book: female friendhip. Both Beatrice and Ysbeta are great characthers, living in a regency-like world where women don't get much of a voice of their own. But oh how they defy this very society they live in! I might've enjoyed their relationship more than anything in the book since it's so rare to see a well-written friendship between two girls.

Book Review- The Midnight Bargain by C L Polk
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Thank you @netgalley and @erewhonbooks for this digital copy to read and review.
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Beatrice is now old enough to get married but all she wants is to learn about magic and become a female mage. The problem is women are expected to give up their magic to get married.
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I really adored this book! Beatrice’s plight really got to me. The injustice of it all, the uncertainty of her future, I needed to know how it all turned out! I got very emotional about the story in the last quarter of the book and was sobbing. This book had me feeling all the feels and I loved it.
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I gave this book 5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What an amazing story! I enjoyed reading it from the beginning to end. The characters, the story setting and the plot is sublime and very engaging.

The story follows a lady named Beatrice Amara Clayborn who needs to find a suitable and wealthy husband during the bargaining season. Her father, Mr Henry Clayborn, who lost their fortune on a business venture had no other options left to save the family’s reputation but to let her daughter secure a favorable match for marriage.

Beatrice is a sorceress who practices magic secretly. Unlike her mother who chose to wear a marital collar to protect unborn children and became a submissive wife to his father, Beatrice would like to become a mage so she can practice magic like any men in their society. She would also like help her family gain a great fortune so that her younger sister, Harriet, will be able to attend the Bagaining Season when she is of right age and to help her father in his business ventures.

When Beatrice found a grimoire that will help her summon a great spirit to become a magician, another sorceress named Ysbeta Lavan was also attracted to the grimoire. Since the grimoire has only one copy, Ysbeta’s handsome and compassionate brother Ianthe, suggested that they should read it together.

The more Ysbeta and Beatrice spend time together, the more they realized that they would like to become full fledged mages and follow their dreams. Entering into a marriage and bearing children like any other women in their society is what they are willing to sacrifice to pursue magic.

Of the three main characters, I sincerely liked Ysbeta. She has a strong character, very independent and knows what she wants regardless of the outcomes of her actions.

I love that the issues of inequality, sexism and and women’s rights were fully described in the story. I’m glad that the main characters were able to fulfill their dreams and succeeded in their goals at the end of the story.

The Midnight Bargain is a fun and delightful read! It’s a story filled with sorcery, romance, friendship and perseverance.

I’m grateful to the author, to Netgalley and to the publisher, Erewhon Books for allowing me to read and review the free ARC.

I would recommend this book to you and to my friends who love to read fantasy novels. I look forward to reading more of C. L. Polk’s books! 😊

Beatrice is a young sorceress who would rather find grimoires to become a Magus than prepare for her Bargaining Season, where she would be married off, locked in a collar that would block her from using her magic. Wearing the collar also prohibits a spirit to inhabit and possess a woman's unborn child in the womb. Husband's are the guardian of their magic, and hold the key to their collar's.

First, the world building is beautiful and has a Regency/Edwardian feel to it. The authors description of fashion, courtship, society, it was all alluring and I found myself immersed in the world. This event called Bargaining Season, where young men & women come together to negotiate marriage contracts was very intriguing.

Beatrice is a sharp minded and forward thinking woman of her time. Early on in the story, Beatrice finds a rare grimoire at a bookstore. There she meets the Lavan siblings, Ysbete and Ianthe. Eventually, the two women come together and have a common goal: free will of their magic, their bodies and to have equal standing in their misogynistic world. The practicing of conjuring spirits, bargaining and the implications of doing so was very nerve-racking, it was risky and so many things could go wrong.

I enjoyed the romance between Beatrice and Ianthe, I felt they were both drawn to each other the moment they first met (not love at first sight) but drawn to each others strengths. Although their courtship was short, their relationship still felt right to me. He knew she was intelligent, capable, and was open to her progressive ideas and he was willing to change his own views. At some point there were moments where I wasn't sure how their relationship would end. Would Beatrice choose magic over love? Is it possible for her to have both?

I did think the ending had a dramatic flair,overall not what I expected in a good way. Sorcery, conjuring of spirits, grimoires, women rights, and a Regency inspired romance, this was an enchanting and spellbinding story.

In Polk's newest novel, women who wield magic are forced to make a brutal decision: live as unmarried and scorned "thornbacks," or wear a magic-sucking collar for all their childbearing years of marriage to prevent spirit possession of their unborn children. Beatrice Clayborn is torn between following her dream of becoming a mage and making a brilliant marriage to keep her family solvent and time is running out. An absorbing read for fantasy and romance lovers.

This book was a really pleasant surprise! The plot has everything from strong female characters, magic, historical setting, and even a quite sweet romance. The beginning of it it's a bit confusing, because it's mix of historical fiction and fantasy, and it's really hard to orient in its complicated world-building. But you don't have to be afraid of it, because this feeling will disappear after a few chapters.
The historical setting of this book is really accurate in every single aspect, especially in position of women in society. It was amazing to see, how it developed in the story. I cannot say that the character were perfect, but I really liked both Beatrice and Ysbeta, but except for them, there wasn't another character with interesting personality. Overall, good book. Worth reading.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing this free book in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks to #Netgalley for providing this free book in exchange for an honest review!

In a regency inspired world where women have to lose their magic when they get married, Beatrice has been secretly practising magic and hoping she could get married to her beloved, and keep her magic.

This premise holds such potential and I was so excited to read it. I'm sure so many reads will be captivated by Beatrice and her fight for freedom.

I loved the main characters individually, but also seeing their dynamics between each other and within the society they live in. I absolutely adored Nadi throughout and feel like she definitely provided some of the best moments in the book.


The Midnight Bargain draws some interesting, but painfully relevant, parallels between our world and Beatrice's world inrelation to sexism, misogyny and womens autonomy.

Polk has such a wonderful way making me feel like I was fully immersed in Beatrice's world and life. Between the magic system and relationship between characters, this feels like a solid book either stand alone or to start a series. The only downside to this book is that I felt the pacing was a little bit off in places, but I adored the plot and the characters which is why this is a 4 ☆

The Midnight Bargain synopsis promised romance, duty and sorcery. And oh boy did it deliver. C.L. Polk did an amazing job with this novel. I loved the way the magic and fantasy mixed with women's rights. I loved the re-imagined double standards of the sexes, as well as the oppression of women through family values and “duties”. Romance v.s. Career. Although the novel is fantasy, it still spoke true to the past and present strife of women in today's society.

The novel follows Beatrice and her choice between doing what is best for her family or herself. Beatrice is a strong, smart, talented, vocal character, who knows what she deserves in life. I love that this character always stayed true to herself, even when life throws her a curve ball in the form of the Lavan siblings. Polk did an amazing job with all of the characters. The characters had depth and reasoning for their actions.

I would definitely recommend this novel. Especially to those who are fans of Fantasy, YA, romance and feminism.

"The Midnight Bargain" pleasantly surprised me. The best description I can conjure is part magic system, part political system, part regency inspired, and two parts romance.

My brain feels an immense amount of subtext is layered beneath the story which gave me pause from time to time, because in the end this book just succeeded in reminding me of the blessings I have living in today's world. A world where I can make decisions freely, own my life's decisions, and have no repression for the sake of my gender. I don't know that this was the message the author was going for, but it was my takeaway. And I am grateful for the reminder of a daily blessing I can take for granted. Let's just say, I would not do well in Victorian England.

I loved the friendship dynamic between Beatrice and Ysbeta. Stories need more wholesome, go-to-war-for-one-another female friendships. I also loved Nadi. What a well written, endearing character. And Polk was able to write a male character who loved and supported our female lead without turning him into a quivering emasculated puddle. Their relationship was a tandem one which was refreshing.

A few spelling errors and a host of punctuation errors which I'm sure will be corrected before final release. Also, several times throughout the novel a spirit would invoke a hex or a curse. These felt underwhelmingly capitalized on, especially the hex. I'm not sure what the outcomes were.

Three out of five stars. For me, three stars is a solid rating so don't let that deter you from picking this one up. This would be a good read for fans of a well-developed magic system, regency period inspired romances (such as a twist on "Pride and Prejudice"), and possibly Grace Draven fans (although a PG version of her writing style).

I'd rate this book a PG.

Thanks so much, NetGalley and Tor, for this review copy!
I loved this so much! CL Polk what do you put in these books? I always think "I'm not sure I'm going to like this" and then I fall into the book and when I come out I'm terribly disappointed that I'm no longer in the book and WHEN IS THE NEXT ONE COMING OUT? This was just delightful, from the characters to the great feminist story.
Highly recommended.

Marriage, love, and a stifled life, or magic, freedom, and spirit. The choice isn't easy, and Beatrice may not have the time she needs to make her decision.

This is a tale of two women, both of whom are fighting to avoid a marriage and the subsequent required loss of their magical powers and freedoms. Beatrice lives in a strict regency era type of society. Women are only useful for marriage and childbearing purposes. Having a mind of one's own is the worst crime imaginable. Women are forbidden from using their innate magical abilities. Their powers are suppressed after marriage and only released once they can no longer bear children. In such a society, Beatrice has one desperate rebellious hope of breaking free. To do so, she hopes to offer her father an advantage that will benefit him more than her potential marriage to a titled man would. But her efforts are thwarted by another woman with similar goals.

For fans of regency romances mixed with fantasy, this book hits the spot. While this book is set in a different world, the rules of the regency era are very similar. Young eligible ladies are to capture the attentions of eligible rich men, and enrich their families by marriage. But what happens when a woman wishes to pursue her own dreams and doesn't want the slavery of marriage? And is there any escape for her when her parents arrange with a young gentlemen for her marriage, as if it were just another business transaction for her already rich family. Or what if a woman would accept marriage to the right loving man, but lives in dread of being collared and having not just her magic, but a good part of her spirited nature and freedom locked away to keep her potential unborn children safe from possession? Is love and marriage worth giving up a major part of one's self for?

This is romance with a mix of women's rights to freedom, magic, and the right to their own bodies. One reads this and can't help but hate the men who rule the world and force women into subordinate positions. I wanted to hurt the men who controlled the women and tried to force them to obey. I'm glad Beatrice gave me the opportunity to do so vicariously.

Beatrice went into her first Season thinking that magic would be her escape. She didn't expect to fall in love, or for her sister to betray her. She didn't expect to meet another girl with similar goals, or to befriend her.

I really admired Beatrice's mother and her efforts to help her daughter, notwithstanding the great loss it would cost her and her family. This book was certainly not short on fantastic and complex characters.

One thing that did annoy me - for a book centered on the theme of the rights and freedom of women, I was really annoyed every time a ship was referred to with a male pronoun. Maybe it is demeaning for women, but it felt wrong to me. I like to equate the freedom of a ship, which can sail all over the world, with the right of a women to that same freedom. Go anywhere, be anyone. We can do whatever we want, and no man should control us.

I highly recommend this book. It was very well written. The characters are easy to connect to and hard to forget. There's lots of magic and a fight for women's rights. This book is for every woman, and will be very enjoyably educational for men as well.

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

The day I started reading this, I stayed up till 1 AM before sleep forced me to set it down. I was excited to read this one and the opportunity of an advance copy absolutely made my day. One of CL Polk’s other novels, Witchmark, entranced me when I
encountered it earlier this year and I was practically chomping at the bit for another taste of her writing.


At the start of this novel, Beatrice is being pressured to make an extraordinarily good match. Her family had fallen on hard times, mostly due to a failed orchid trading venture her father had suffered (this situation bears a strong resemblance to the real life 1637 Tulip fever, which was one of the first recorded instances of a speculative bubble collapse). Beatrice has bigger plans for herself than to be locked away in marriage and away from her magic.

In this world, all married women of childbearing age are forced to wear a sigil encrusted collar that saps them of the ability to use magic, out of a societal fear for the effects of magic on their potential unborn children. (In some ways this framework comes across as a bit of a heavy handed metaphor for some decidedly non-magical social issues facing our own world today)

Fans of Jane Austen will likely be delighted by the aesthetics of manners that are portrayed in this Regency-adjacent magical romance. So much of the drama is carried along by intricate social cues that perfectly evoke a pseudo-Edwardian society, But With Magic! This deeply embedded sense of almost-historical fiction is something that Polk does extremely well; Witchmark manages a similar feat in the way it neatly embodies the atmosphere of a post-WWI society without ever crossing the boundaries into real world locales or conflicts.

The magic of the Midnight Bargain’s world is as intricate as its social dances, and is often extremely poetic. One of the first spells we see is a simple one, but beautiful in a quiet sort of way: Beatrice charms a candle, by asking that it “Give light and bring no harm to anyone.” This magic is as much about loopholes as it is about precision, and the world operates on a system that hides as much of the knowledge as possible behind barriers of class and gender.

This is an almost difficult review to like. On one hand, I love fantasy and I love the Regency time period, so this book checked off both of those. On the other hand, character development is key for me and I thought that was lacking a bit.

The magic system was interesting. Even with the restricted role women had in it. That made the idea of Beatrice trying to avoid this intriguing to me. However, characters felt uneven - at times Beatrice was starting to develop then it would be two steps back. Ianthe wasn’t a very well fleshed out character and the insta-romance was a bit too unbelievable.

Even with that, the actual writing style was engaging and kept me interested enough in the story. Overall, while this fell a short of what I would have liked, there were definitely good parts to it and it kept me interested enough to keep going until the end.

I knew after the first 10 minutes of starting "The Midnight Bargain" that it was a wonderful book, and I wasn't wrong about my first impression. I was hooked all the way through, couldn't put it down, and read the whole thing over two days.

Beatrice as a character was extremely relatable. She's torn between her responsibility to do what's best for her family, doing what she wants to do with her own life, and giving up her dreams for the man she falls in love with. As a woman it's a very familiar theme and watching her struggle to make her decisions was very realistic.

Character development was outstanding, and Beatrice's character really made me feel that I knew her, and cared about what happened in her story.

I'm hoping this is a series, because I'd love to read more about all of the main characters. Maybe Harriet could have her own adventures.

The Midnight Bargain

This was a surprisingly delightful book.

Being a woman with magic powers isn't easy in this version of Regency England. If you have magic powers and marry then you'll have wear a collar that cuts off your powers so your baby's soul won't be taken over by a spirit. Beatrice has a plan on not getting married. This plan is put into disarray when she falls in love with Ianthe.

The book makes it clear that Beatrice is very much stuck and no one wants to help her. Either because they can't or don't understand the problem. You want Beatrice have it all: magic and Ianthe (who is perfect for her).

The story is fast paced. Every time Beatrice might find a solution to her conundrum, she's denied. I really enjoyed everyone and even some of the antagonists grow as people. I'm hoping for a book about Ianthe's sister.

This review based on an advanced copy provided by Netgalley for an honest review.

The midnight bargain
Beatrice Clayborn is a sorceress who doesn't want to get married. She wants to be a mage and help her father with his business. Sorceresses in her world have to give up magic after their marriage. They have to wear a warding collar to protect their unborn children from being possessed. Beatrice was was going predictably until she met Ianthe and Ysbeta Lavan. Ianthe was immediately enamoured by her and made her question her ambition. Ysbeta was a sorceress herself and they embarked on a mission to bind a great spirit. Soon Beatrice found herself torn between her ambition to become a mage and marrying Ianthe and giving up magic.
The writing is beautiful, it immediately pulls you in. Beatrice as the lead character is delectable to read about- she is headstrong and ambitious, she doesn't want to give up magic just because she's a woman. She cares about her family and believes she can do more to help her father. She loves her younger sister Harriet and plans to make her bargaining season without any hurdles.
Unfortunately her ambition makes her short-sighted and selfish. Her sister has to repeatedly remind her that her family's future rests on Beatrice finding a good match. That marriage is the only way to secure your future in this world.
She has feelings for Ianthe but can't get married and lose her magic forever. Ianthe is progressive and understanding but still a product of his times- Beatrice doesn't want to marry him, lose her magic and end up hating him.
Ysbeta, too, is someone who doesn't want to get married. She wants to travel the world and spread knowledge of magic to women. Beatrice and Ysbeta strike up a friendship early on and promise to help each other to bind a greater spirit. Their friendship was a refreshing change from all the rivalry and girl-hate in books.
The book tackles so many serious themes and still manages to be funny and irreverent in tone. The lesser spirit Nadi, who helps Beatrice win the occasional card game is like an adorable talking cat.
The magic system was on the softer side. I had trouble understanding and caring about what was happening.
This book started feeling slow and long drawn after one third of the book. It would have benefited from more editing. The pace became slow, with parties and dances. Otherwise this would have been a 5 star read.

I had really mixed feelings about this book, and I will be honest: it is getting a three star rating on the basis of its incredibly unique premise, wonderful worldbuilding, and the fact that it is a fairly interesting treatise on feminism, the sort that you rarely see in fantasy literature. It's an incredibly crafted book. ...and I really couldn't stand any of the characters. Beatrice? I spent half the book really wishing she'd just shut up and marry Ianthe. Ianthe? Character depth of a cardboard cutout. Ysbeta? I mean, I felt for her, but she was generally so reckless that I found her to border on selfish. The romance between Beatrice and Ianthe was basically instantaneous. Literally they have one conversation and are suddenly madly in love. Really, the only functional character in this entire book was Nadi, a spirit, whom I adored. She was great. But overall, it's worth reading sheerly for the awesome worldbuilding, but don't expect to be crazy about anyone involved. Aside from Nadi. Nadi is awesome.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC; I received it in exchange for my honest opinion.

I thought I would relate to Beatrice in The Midnight Bargain more than I did.

Beatrice is a sorceress and, in The Midnight Bargain, the only use for a sorceress is as a broodmare. Upon marriage, sorceresses are no longer able to access their magic - for the safety of their unborn child - and are very much the property of their husband. The Midnight Bargain is about the struggle Beatrice has between choosing her sorcery, which she loves, and getting married to pay off her family debts.

I really think that Polk has lot of interesting things to say about how women's power - with which they could do so much good - is completely taken away by their husbands. There's a quote early on in the book, "So the device women have to wear for the safety of their children is an instrument of punishment to men in the chapterhouse" , which I think describes much of the messaging through the book. This book is a bit heavy-handed when it comes to the theme and the discussions that it has surrounding women's bodily autonomy and ability to enter into all professions as equals to men.

I wish this was a book club book, because I would like to discuss with others about whether or not Polk added anything new to the discussion. I found a lot of Polk's arguments difficult to separate from the setting, which made them difficult to discuss in a real-word context and the issues that women face with bodily autonomy and entering professions today. As a female engineer, I wanted to see something new. I wanted to relate with Beatrice and come out of the book knowing and understanding more about my current situation. I just couldn't untangle the messaging from the bridal season that takes place throughout the book.

The writing still does leave beautiful and thought-provoking gems throughout, like the following said by the love interest "“Absolutely. It’s utterly tragic,” Ianthe said. “She had to marry for advantage, not love. Look how unhappy she is. Look at the groom, who cares nothing for her distress—I’m furious just looking at it.” I would love to be able to have a full conversation with people about the depths of that quote because I just don't get it on my own.

I think a part of the reason that I didn't get as much of this book as I would have liked is because I didn't click with the characters until I was 25% of the way through the book. Part of the issue is that I recently read another book with a main character named Beatrice, written in the same tense, and I struggled to tell the two apart. Since a large part of the set-up and motivation is done in that 25%, I didn't really connect with Beatrice and her choices. I really enjoyed the middle, but at the end, when inevitably decisions have to be made, I was not as invested in any of Beatrice's choices as I should have been. The writing was nice, but not distinct enough for me to tell it apart from another Beatrice also going to the city for the first time as a grown woman.

I'm very glad that the writing was good in this, as I have to read Witchmark this week for my book club. The characters were distinct, and I enjoyed them in the middle of the book when I could see them as distinct characters. The historical research was pretty accurate to my understanding - Beatrice and the women did not wear corsets, but stays - and from my understanding of historical fashion YouTube, this is a correct impression. I think that I will thoroughly enjoy the next book of Polk's because I believe I will have that opportunity to connect with the characters and their wants and desires at the beginning of the book.

I recommend The Midnight Bargain to people who want to think about their books, and not to people who have just read a book about another Beatrice.