Another charmer in the Atwater Regency fairy series. Effie was a pleasure to read, and Blackthorn remains a delight on the page. I enjoyed this even more than the first one.

3/5 ⭐️

ARC provided by the publisher Orbit Books US through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ten Thousand Stitches is a wholesome and tender fae romance fantasy that spins a new tale on faerie bargains.

Ten Thousand Stitches is the second book in the Regency Faerie Tales series by Olivia Atwater. The story follows Effie, a housemaid, that is madly in love with a gentleman named Benedict Ashbrooke. It is an impossible love story because of Effie's status, a maid can't marry a gentleman, it is simply scandalous. Effie's yearning and her magnificent stitching skills attracted the attention of a faerie named Lord Blackthorn. In exchange for Effie's incredible embroidery skills for Lord Blackthorn's magical services, Effie will enter society as lady not a maid.

When I started reading Ten Thousand Stitches it is really hard to immerse myself fully into the story. Since the story is set in the same universe as Half A Soul with some of the names having similar sounding names as side characters of said book, my brain has to go through a few adjustments to comprehend who is who. Atwater included a character sheet but it did not help at all I am still confused. In the end I just focused on the two main characters instead of focusing on connecting which character appeared in Half A Soul.

Following the story of Effie and Lord Blackthorn their relationship started off as a friendship that developed gradually though it felt one sided. Let me explain, Lord Blackthorn is a faerie, in this world faeries have their own rules and customs that are the total opposite to a human. But Lord Blackthorn is trying to be not like the other faeries, as unpredictable as he is, Blackthorn is trying his best to be helpful.

Effie's feelings for Blackthorn bloomed out of affection after seeing him try so hard to be a better faerie. I would say its gradual as she realizes the good parts of Blackthorn that stood out more than the faerie traits he is born with. For Blackthorn his feelings for Effie seems immediate as she becomes part of Blackthorn causing conflict and quite bit of denial on his part to finally realize it fully as love.

The dynamic between Effie and Lord Blackthorn is a slow burning one that is full of chaos, mistakes, and entertaining stunned horror. These two are quite dense, in my opinion, when it comes to feelings and the clear image that they are perfect for each other. Throughout reading the book I was entertained by their antics to "help" each other yet I wanted them to notice each other in a different light. The cameo of faerie Dora also made the story even more exciting as she is favorite character in this series.

What I would love to highlight is how Olivia Atwater incorporated a plot line about elitism and classism between the maids that work in house Ashbrooke. From the start Atwater has established that the Lord and Lady of the house don't treat their staff well. They treat them as objects that is easy to dispose of when they are human that have rights, feelings, and deserve to be treated fairly. I love that Effie became the catalyst that made the staff fight for their rights. They work together and unionized, even did a full walk out. This specific side plot intrigued me as I was trying to figure out where Atwater would take it.

Final thoughts, Ten Thousand Stitches is a fun fantasy romance that is cozy, low stakes, and filled with a lot of chaos. It is an easy fast read that is full of heart with good characters and a clear plot line from start to end. Though, I would say out of all the three books this one is my least favorite. Even though it was entertaining, it didn't give me the same buzz as when I read Half A Soul. Something about the original pair that pulled at my heart strings. But I do still recommend reading this series as it is a good one.

Ten Thousand Stitches is just as cute as Half a Soul, though I think I enjoyed it just a tad bit less. (Like almost miniscule amounts less.) To put it simply, I enjoyed Elias Wilder as a hero more than Lord Blackthorn. While I do love a gooey cinnamon roll of a hero, for some reason Lord Blackthorn read as more childish to me, than just pure innocence. Either way, I loved both books.

I thoroughly enjoyed that Atwater's version of Cinderella actually starred a maid, and not a noblewoman forced down into servitude by horrible happenstance. I also very much enjoyed that Effie was well and truly angry about her position. It is so rare to see or have a historical romance heroine who sees the injustice in her own life, and is PISSED about it. I loved it. I loved her anger, and I loved that she ended up being able to use it to better everyone else's (and her) life.

Though I had a slightly harder time with the romance in this one, I still very much enjoyed watching Effie and Lord Blackthorn fall in love. Especially since neither one of them appeared to realize that it was happening. I especially adored the scene when they were in faerie, and they were dancing the day away. It was incredibly romantic, and I loved the atmosphere that Atwater wrote in this particular scene.

Ten Thousand Stitches is a great entry into the Regency Faerie Tale series, and I can't wait to jump right into the next one.

With the Cinderella story told and retold as often as it is, it must be a daunting task for writers to find a new way to spin it. It’s one that’s told so often that the retellings become less about the overall story, and more about the details that will inevitably set it apart. In the case of Olivia Atwater’s Ten Thousand Stitches, its those details that make it one of the more unexpectedly romantic retellings out there.

Effie Reeves has fallen in love with Benedict Ashbrooke, the brother of the man in whose house she works as a maid. This poses just a slight problem since housemaids don’t tend to marry that far above their station.

Enter Lord Blackthorn, a faerie who is keen to learn all he can about the English, and to grow to be as virtuous as possible. He offers Effie a deal: she has 101 days to make Benedict fall in love with her and ask for her hand in marriage, with Blackthorn’s assistance. If she doesn’t manage, then she must return with him to faerie to serve as his maid.

Blackthorn is as good as his word, and really does do his best to help Effie out where he can. But his inexperience with the human realm means he usually winds up causing more harm than good.

Threaded throughout Effie and Blackthorn’s mission, much as in Atwater’s first book Half a Soul, is a particularly pointed commentary on the nature of class struggle and an individuals relative personhood. The staff of the household in which Effie works are seen as barely human by their employers: their names are interchangeable, if not outright forgotten, and the burden of work they are given is barely spared a second thought. Naturally this angers all of them, but helpless as they feel in their stations, the anger is turned inward at each other instead of outwards to the cause of their suffering.

This book might be set in the Regency era, but it’s hard to imagine Atwater didn’t have more contemporary examples and frustrations in mind, as anger so all-consuming is rarely aimed in the right direction.

Effie is rather angry herself, and she learns that heers is so powerful it affects others around her, infusing itself in the stitchwork she is so well-regarded for. But where she sees it as a burden, Blackthorn sees it for the asset it is, and never once faults her for it. Much like in Half a Soul, personality traits that would be dismissed as undesirable are instead taken as part of what makes someone who they are, and Blackthorn loves Effie no less for her fury.

Really, what makes a Cinderella story stand out to me is when Cinderella and her prince have more than 10 seconds to get to know one another. This is probably why I was rooting so hard for Effie and Blackthorn from the outset. They take the time to get to know one another, they appreciate the flaws in each other, and they genuinely seem to like each other? Wild, I know. I must just have a soft spot for a well-meaning dorky man and the angry, spitfire woman he loves who loves him back.

Ten Thousand Stitches is available now. Special thank you to Orbit Books for the advance copy for review purposes.

*sigh* I am so in love with these books!

Faerie godfather. Hehehe. I don’t know why that gives me the giggles but it does. I am absolutely charmed by this book series. It is very well written. It’s very easy to slip into the story and then quite hard to put down. This is cozy fantasy/romance but the stories also have a little bit of a serious edge to them.

Effie has trouble expressing her negative emotions. As a woman … you know how that goes. The pressure to always present a sweet, compliant front to others is significant. Especially as a person who does not have the privilege of being from a higher class. Don’t be mistaken. You are still reading and enjoying a regency setting, with all the pretty dresses, balls and charming gentlemen one could want. At the same time you also get a story about a young woman who is learning to use her own agency. Throw in a little bit of unionizing/worker’s rights and it’s a very fun way to look at modern issues.

I love these books so much. I am so looking forward to book 3 which I think comes out in a couple of months. I am on tenterhooks. I can’t recommend them to you enough. Five sparkly stars in the sky.

This book was just as delightful as Half a Soul, and this will largely be a repeat of my gushing about how happy both books made me, and the joy that they brought me. If you haven’t read book one, I’d recommend you start there, though I believe you could read either of these as a standalone if you wished.

In Ten Thousand Stitches Euphemia Reeves is a housemaid who has fallen for a high society gentleman. She is convinced that they will end up together and finds her help in faerie form from Lord Blackthorn. He claims he will help her woo and marry the apple of her eye in exchange for her embroidering his jacket. Seems like a good deal, what could possibly go wrong?
Unfortunately, Lord Blackthorn has no clue how to actually help Euphemia, and the story takes on a hilarious and charming turn from there.

Blackthorn trying to be as human and kind and helpful as he can as a faerie is both hilarious and endearing to watch, and I really developed a soft spot for him as the book continued on. I do wish there had been just a bit more nuance to the class issues, as there was seemingly zero gray area between those of high status, and those without.
I think my only qualm was personally connecting a little bit less to this one than the first one. That is by NO means a downside, just personal preference.

Overall (TLDR)
I really enjoyed this one and its predecessor! I can’t wait to read Longshadow, and love knowing that each time I pick up a new book by this author that it will bring me joy, some laughs, and leave me with a smile on my face. I really can’t recommend these more!

Thank you to Orbit Books for providing me with this ARC!

Ten Thousand Stitches is my first time reading a novel by Olivia Atwater, but it certainly won’t be my last. I didn’t read this novel’s predecessor in the author’s Regency Fairy Tale series, and thankfully, this did not lessen my enjoyment of Ten Thousand Stitches at all, which can be read as a standalone. I was happily surprised at what a charming, eclectic read this novel is, which is anything but a typical Cinderella retelling.

Ten Thousand Stitches follows Euphemia “Effie” Reeves as she makes her living as a maid in a noble family’s household. Rather miserable being a maid due to awful working conditions and treatment at the hands of the noble family, Effie is even more discontent after a run in with the family’s handsome son, Mr. Benedict, who initially mistakes her for a lady. In a moment, she has fallen for him, and realizing the sheer impossibility of a maid ever being with a young nobleman, she reluctantly seeks the aid of an eager faerie named Lord Blackthorn. 

"'There's really no need to make extra work for you, is there?' he said to Effie apologetically. He headed up the stairs before she could find the wherewithal to respond. As his figure disappeared, Effie was struck by a horrified realisation. 'Oh bother,' she said, "'I think I've just fallen in love.'"

I really loved the hilarity of Effie’s developing friendship with Lord Blackthorn, who she originally and rightfully suspects of ulterior motives due to the mere fact that he is a faerie. I was perplexed that Lord Blackthorn was described as both a faerie and an elf with no real explanation of the lore involving this apparently singular race. But Ten Thousand Stitches keeps things simple and assumes that you have read at least one previous story about the tricky nature of faeries. 

Likewise, the nature of the divide between servants and noble characters is remarkably plain black and white. This is not Downton Abbey where there are a few scheming servants trying to throw other workers under the bus to climb the ladder in the household, or where some of the nobles are great, and others are awful, entitled people. In the household where Effie works, all of the nobles are universally awful, and all the servants have hearts of gold, despite being apparently worked to the bone. 

"'I really can't sir,' she pleaded. 'I'm just a maid.'

'But of course you can!' Lord Blackthorn exulted. 'Why, I ask for your help especially because you are a maid! All of the maids that I have met have been the very best examples of English virtue, and so I consider it a high recommendation.'

I say “apparently” because the working conditions of Effie and the other servants were not nearly as bad as they actually were in regency England. Though Effie and her best friend Lydia bemoan their fates of having to wake up to tend to the fireplaces and complain of the sheer amount of tasks they have to do, it’s not quite realistic and certainly doesn’t do justice to the true circumstances of being a servant in Regency England, that were actually tantamount to slavery. We are only told about the work that has to be done, but not really privy to being shown it. There are no tales of sore fingers or burns from starting the fireplaces.

Lydia, though having her own supposedly endless amount of duties, is only too happy to help Effie with her scullery duties that she is assigned as punishment. She’s also never jealous of the fact that Effie essentially acquires her own faerie godfather and is eager to help Effie accomplish her goal of marriage to Mr. Benedict. She doesn't have any mixed feelings about using a glamour to appear as Effie's chaperone and being told not to speak, something that will expose her accent as indicative of her lower societal standing.

Though it’s absolutely lovely to see such an unmitigated supportive female friendship, I think it's almost ridiculous how unreservedly wonderful and secure Lydia is, without any misgivings about told to be seen and not heard, or about about her own fate when Effie becomes a lady. Though the girls do have one misunderstanding in Ten Thousand Stitches it's so inconsequential in comparison to all of the things Lydia has been willing to do to help Effie. This woman is purely made of steel to be mostly unbothered by the unfairness of it all. I couldn’t help but feel their friendship was a little too rosy, especially for two overworked young women without any kind of support systems, and came out far too unscathed for one friend literally getting a fairy godparent and expecting the other to help with no benefit to herself whatsoever. 

Despite the fact that Ten Thousand Stitches lacks any kind of nuance or complexity, it’s a purely fun and enjoyable read. Not to mention that there is the magic and glamours of the faerie, the lovely and unbelievable friendship between Lydia and Effie, and the fact that there is more to Effie’s sewing skills than meets the eye. It doesn’t hurt matters that the themes of kindness, anger, and social justice are spread throughout Ten Thousand Stitches as well. Plus, sometimes we all just need to read a novel where all of the characters get a happy ending of some sorts.

By far my favorite part of the story was everything involving Lord Blackthorn. Though I initially suspected his sincerity and earnestness, readers will quickly learn he is, in fact, just as cinnamon-roll-y as he appears. I would’ve liked to see a little more expounding on his development of feelings for Effie, complete with his confusion and revelation of his feelings, but Ten Thousand Stitches is just such a short and sweet novel, that there isn’t much room for a whole lot of subtlety, foreshadowing, and hints. 

"I wanted you know that I think the world of you, [Lord Blackthorn]. Whatever trouble you have caused, you have also made my life much better with your presence. I enjoy your company and your good cheer and you refusal to ever give up. I do not know if that is what you would call virtuous, but it is important to me."

Effie does get her happy ending and it’s sugary and cute, but one really has to wonder if the ending is truly happy when the heroine simply has so few choices in her life. I truly wish Ten Thousand Stitches had been longer, taken more time to show Effie’s burgeoning feelings for both Lord Blackthorn and the world of faerie, in order to make it seem like she was really choosing what would make her heart happy, and not just the most favorable option available to her. Because honestly, who would want to remain a house servant when they could live a life of leisure in the world of faerie? This is especially true as the novel makes sure to tell us under no uncertain terms that [spoiler] Effie will be ruined if she calls of her engagement to Mr. Benedict after having remained in his house without a chaperone. [/spoiler]

Plus, readers are never exposed to any of the downsides of faerie. There is no scene where Effie is lost in the woods and attacked by an evil faerie, or repeatedly shown her worst nightmares or something, with Lord Blackthorn to come to the rescue. All of the true horrors of the Effie’s universe take place in the human world, rendering her choice to be with Lord Blackthorn less of an actual romantic choice, as shown by her rather bland confession quoted above, and more as the best option for Effie’s survival. A part of me couldn’t help but wish that there was some other happy ending, like Effie becoming some sort of faerie godmother herself, using her magical powers to help other servant girls find their happiness under the tutelage of the ever-eager Lord Blackthorn, who simply loves learning more about humans. This is somewhat alluded to in the ending of the novel, but not specifically spelled out.

Though it’s admittedly unrealistic and requires a fair amount of suspension of disbelief, how much realism does one truly want in a romance story between a maid and her faerie godfather? I think this this is the perfect novel for those that love fairy tale retellings, romance, or the regency era. Personally, I found Ten Thousand Stitches to be a delightful and fluffy read, especially when I didn't look too closely at the lack of world-building, realism, and descriptions of love. In fact, even purchased the previous work in the series, Half a Soul, which I look forward to reading and reviewing.

Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Ten Thousand Stitches by Olivia Atwater is the second book in her amazing Regency Faerie Tales series. The story revolves around Effie, a housemaid who has fallen in love with a gentleman. Fortunately, Lord Blackthorn, a fae, is happy to help Effie with her love dilemma. The only problem is that Lord Blackthorn is unused to the ways of human courtship, and his ideas of helping may be more than Effie bargained for. Will this Cinderella Story end with a happily ever after or with a broken heart?

Here is a lovely excerpt from the Prologue, which introduces us to Effie:

"Euphemia Reeves was a very irritable young woman.
This would have surprised most of the other servants at Hartfield – in fact, if you had asked the esteemed housekeeper, Mrs Sedgewick, she might have told you that Effie was nearly the ideal sort of chambermaid. As far as Mrs Sedgewick was aware, Effie never shirked her duties and always conducted herself with perfect composure.
Mrs Sedgewick would have been shocked to hear the words that currently spilled from Effie’s lips.
“. . . no consideration whatsoever, none!” Effie hissed to herself, as she scrubbed down the wooden floors of the entryway for the third time that day. Mud caked the floorboards once again, as the men of the Family had come tromping inside one by one from the nasty winter weather outside. “Ought to be against the law to go out ridin’ when there’s mud an’ snow!”"

Overall, Ten Thousand Stitches is a lovely blend of fae magic, Cinderella, and My Fair Lady. One highlight of this book is the original concept. Just like the first book in this series, this book is so much fun. Who wouldn't want to read about Pride and Prejudice, except with fairies? If I had to complain about 1 thing, I would say that I wish there had been a bit more action. That's just a personal preference. I'm sure many readers will be happy with this romance as is. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of fantasy books in general, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in July!

I am really impressed by this author so far. The class critique/servant anger storyline is terrific. RTC.