4.5 stars

This was a soft cozy gentle fantasy (I mean, look at that cover. It’s just dripping with soft gentle romance) that held a little bit of edge, and it was extremely clear that “Bridgerton” had a heap of influence on this book. There is a Lady Whistledown-style character sharing gossip and opinions on what is going on in Avaland.

There is a little political intrigue that brings some tension and drama to things, especially as Niamh and Kit grow closer. My main issue is that I thought some of the romance and world-building was a bit lacking at times. While I enjoyed the descriptions of the scenery and the wedding preparations, I wanted more detail about the magic of the world, especially Niamh’s magic. To me it felt like we were just scratching the surface of detail about it, and just expected to move on with the story. But I love understanding the magic. Niamh knew that stitching emotions and memories into her designs had a cost, but it was like she herself felt trapped and obligated to keep using her magic, even though it was clearly killing her.

Honestly, from the beginning, I just expected Niamh and Kit to be together and so following their story was a little less exciting for me. I wanted to know more about the side characters…and some were given more focus than others, which felt a bit disappointing.

Wow, I feel like this review is making this feel less like a 4.5 star rating, but I promise that I was swept away by this book overall, and I did read it fairly quickly. And honestly one of the most fun mysteries of the story was discovering the identity of the gossip columnist. I thought I had figured it out, and I ended up being completely wrong, and that made things really interesting.

Oh, and the relationships/romances of the side characters…or rather the tension and build-up and longing of some of the side characters for other side characters….I wanted more of that because it was delicious.

Allison Saft is one of my absolute favorite authors and her latest installment did not disappoint. The blending of Victorian London, the Bridgerton-esque gossip columns, world building and slowly built romance was brilliantly done. I truly wish this book had been longer because I didn’t want it to end!

This book had me glued to each page from start to finish and got me out of a reading slump. What a darling story!

An angst-filled, forbidden love, grumpy/sunshine romantic fantasy.., what more could a girl want?

I loved all of the supporting characters and the queer rep in this book, so much! The banter between our main characters and their counterparts was *chef’s kiss*.

For a YA fantasy read, I really enjoyed this one!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, and author Allison Saft for this eARC to read and review.

I loved the banter and the tensions in this YA Romantasy. I loved the magical twist of her stitching emotions into the clothing. It made me instantly intrigued. The love story between Niamh and Kit.

This was a beautifully written YA fantasy/ romantasy. It felt like a magical Bridgerton!
The pacing was slow for me, which is why I gave it 4/5 stars. However, I would still highly recommend it if you are looking for a beautiful, angsty slow burn YA romantic fantasy.

Allison Saft is incredible at taking history and historical fantasy and combining them to make an entirely new world that’s deeply rooted in the history of our own, and ultimately really fascinating to enter. She does just that in A FRAGILE ENCHANTMENT, along with crafting a really interesting magical world that I almost wish we’d gotten to explore further. On top of that, there’s a good deal of political intrigue and a strangers-to dislike that’s not quite enemies-to lovers threading throughout that I enjoyed despite the fact that it felt like they fell in love over approximately five days. It was a really engaging book overall and even when I wasn’t specifically head-over-heels for whatever plot point was happening, it still felt like the book flew by. If it sounds at all interesting to you, I’d definitely recommend checking it out!

In terms of pacing, I don’t think there was anything really wrong with this book except for the aforementioned feeling of everything happening over about 5 days. I don’t know if it’s because I read this book relatively quickly, but there wasn’t a lot of clear denotation of any passage of time besides it suddenly feeling like it was about a week before Kit’s wedding, and suddenly his relationship with Niamh became a thing. Overall I’m actually a fan of their romance as I think it was a great way to display nuances of their characters and their development as well as playing well with the elements of court intrigue throughout.

Honestly, I think the best thing about this book is the relationships throughout and the way they explore the characters making decisions that personally hurt them for other people or the greater good. The overall plot is decently interesting, especially if you’re looking for the overlap with historical moments, but the moments that stick out after the fact are the slow unwrapping of a character’s layers and an understanding of why they made the decisions they made, painting everyone a little grey instead of simply black or white. It ended up being a pretty interesting read that I had a hard time putting down, and one that I think was worth the read!

First I would like to thank Netgalley and Wednesday Books for sending me this E-arc in return for an honest review.

I quite enjoyed the premise of the world, the politics, the bravery that Niamh feels as she sets out to give her family a better life and stand up for her people. I love the magic system, the secrecy of the courts, the appeal of the regency era, and the banter between Niamh and Kit.

One of my favourite parts was the growth of Kit Carmine, seeing how his character evolved and opened as we explore his history and what has caused him to shut the world out. For a part I feel like something is missing from the book, and I am not quite sure. As much as I enjoyed the book, at parts I felt that something was missing to make it even better.

I wanted so much to like this more. I think something about the proper nature of things just didn't work for me. Also, I found Kit to be an asshole and not in a loveable way. Like, he would say stuff to Naimh and I would start waving red flags. He has trauma yes. Cool motive, still asshole.
The plot pacing was also a bit hard to hang with. Things proceed after unspecified lengths of time, our leads never feel like they have much time to develop as a couple and my God the ending is rushed. There was also never going to be a perfectly nice way to wrap up the end drama but this felt like a situation where multiple options went at once and it was just a bit muddied.
I think the political nuance got lost in the renaming and plot as well. It's based on real places/people groups but it did get a bit tough to hang with sometimes. And admittedly, this could absolutely be my lack of political and international alliances and drama.
I did enjoy the side characters and honestly probably would’ve preferred the story be about Rosa and Miriam. There are going to be those who love this and I hope this finds them.
I still think Saft’s writing is lovely and she is great at creating a specific vibe with her words. This was one was just more of a miss for me.

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

It's been a while since I've read fantasy, and this was the perfect book to get back into the genre. I only want to read fantasy now, especially if it's written by Allison Saft.

AFE follows a common seamstress with a magical ability and the grumpy prince who needs clothes for his upcoming wedding. What could go wrong? Absolutely nothing because these characters were made for each other. They have amazing chemistry together that jumps right off the page. There were so many sweet moments and an angsty moment or two that made my heart do all sorts of weird things.

I recommend this book for fans of grumpy/sunshine, strong characters, and vivid storytelling. I also recommend this book to anyone branching out into fantasy.

*DNF @ 47%*

Thank you to Wednesday books and Macmillan Audio for my review copies.

Based on the cover and blurb, I was expecting a lush, romantic book that was light on the fantasy. I expected a lot of ballgowns and longing glances.

One of the major elements of the book that was missing from the blurb was that this is loosely based on the Great Famine of Ireland. Our female lead is from fantasy Ireland and is going to fantasy England to sew the prince’s wedding outfits. He seems to also be her love interest, but I didn’t get that far. I think there is a big difference between calling something a “forbidden romance” and making it a romance between an oppressor and someone his family has oppressed.

(And to completely split hairs, it said it was Regency inspired, which ended well before the famine.)

But I think that’s something that deserves to be in the blurb, since it featured a lot in the book. Niamh goes to balls and is looked down on not for being a seamstress but for being Fantasy-Irish. There are a lot of awful stereotypes thrown at her and her people.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having those elements in a story, but when you market it is as a “romantic fantasy of manners” I expect some snark, but I don’t expect to see this level of racism.

I deeply dislike when characters have to go through a long period of isolation, so while at the point I quit Niamh was starting to find friends and allies, having to wait until this point of the book was way too long for me.

This book might be for you if you can handle that level of loneliness, but it was not for me.

First of all, a big thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, for gifting me this eARC! Second, this is not what I was expecting for this book at all. That said, I really enjoyed what it turned out to be! For some reason, I expected the book to be darker than it was, and that it somehow involved the fae (hence the expectation of it being darker than it was)? Regardless, it was a pleasure to read, and I very much enjoyed it! It's the embodiment of a soft, high, and magical romantasy! All of that said, I didn't love it and likely won't reread it. (Too many books, too little time, and all that. It takes something good for me to reread it!) However, I would recommend it to the right person! It has, in my opinion, good LGBTQ+ representation and a good portrayal of family conflict mixed with royal expectations. The MC's medical condition felt almost more like an afterthought rather than a deeply motivating aspect of their life, but that's my only big "complaint", really.

While this started off pretty slow, the romance did eventually make me feel some stuff and I enjoyed the rep. However, the treatment of classism was a bit tone deaf, and I feel like this book could have done so much more with the topic. Ultimately, this one will go down with the likes of Ava Reid as "just not for me." I'm sure this will go over great with tons of romantasy folks though.

If you love regency romance but want it more ✨magical✨you might like this one. I liked the premise of this, magical tailor and magical prince? Yes please. I want all the magic. But I felt the author lacked an explanation for the magic. I wish I knew more about it. I didn’t find myself connecting to the characters or the romance. This is upper YA cause there is some smexy time happenings.. but a lot of times felt lower YA with character interactions and dialogue. I liked the side characters ok, and i liked that the women were friendly and not made into enemies. I did find myself questioning why was the low tailor hanging out with royalty all the time? That seemed weird. I just felt like the plot didn’t really know where it was going. Maybe this would have worked better with an extra pov. I don’t know. I have mixed feelings. But I really loved the magic.

This book just wasn’t for me. Not sure if it was timing or that it was more teen/YA, there also was a lot going on and the characters got lost for me. I did enjoy the LGBTQ rep and notes on the not-so-great parts of our current society.

Thank you for this advanced copy! I so enjoyed this book. It was sweet & easy to read. A perfect blend of magic and romance. I really enjoyed both of the main characters and cared for them throughout the book. It's something I've recommended many times since reading & will continue to recommend. Well done!

*I received a free ARC of this ebook from the publisher.*

Although I had high hopes for this book, I struggled to maintain my interest in it, mostly because of the characters. The idea was good, but I grew weary of the book pretty quickly and was impatient to finish it and move on to something more enjoyable. Unpopular opinion, but it's mine and I'll own it.

I don't recall if there was any real explanation of the magic system in this book, though I don't believe there was. Some people had magic, but the majority did not. Royals from various nations possessed magic (like the Carmines, Princess Sofia, King Felipe, and the Infanta Rosa), as did some divine-blooded Machlish (like Niamh). Were there even any others? Why royalty and some Machlish? And why does Niamh's magic take such a toll on her life while nobody else's seems to have any consequence? I feel like the magic element could and should have been explored more since it was such an integral part of Niamh's life in particular, but it wasn't.

My enjoyment of a book greatly depends on how much the characters draw me in. I found Niamh (18) to be somewhat weak willed (except occasionally when she suddenly wasn't), self martyring, and mopey. Yes, she as kind and talented, but overall, she was bland. Kit (19) was one of the least likable love interests I've ever read. He wasn't just grumpy--he was a sullen jerk to pretty much everyone, including Niamh, and I could never figure out what exactly attracted her to him. Add to that his habit of smoking pipes and cigars, which is absolutely repulsive. His best quality: He faithfully tends to his mother's greenhouse full of plants. Sinclair seemed like a good friend until he didn't. Rosa was closed off and bored. Miriam was a people pleaser. Jack was probably the most believable character of anyone, though he wasn't exactly likable, either. My favorite character was probably Sofia, who was smarter than she seemed and subtly contained her frustration and feelings of impotence throughout the book. I would have liked to see more of her.

After finishing this book, I saw one reader describe this as a "fantastic stealth read for a teen" because the description and cover give no indication that it contains LGB characters. So for anyone who doesn't want to be surprised, here's your heads up: All of the main characters fit into that category in some way. That said, with the exception of two characters in one brief scene, it's something that's only mentioned rather than displayed. In fact, in the cases of Kit and Niamh, it doesn't even feel relevant to the story; it comes across more as something that was included in order to check off a box. That's not my type of book, so I wouldn't have requested it from NetGalley had I known. (Skewer me if you wish--I also am not a big fan of biographies, literary fiction, most horror, or graphic novels. It's just not my thing. Everyone has their own preferences.)

Note: Some swearing, but probably 8-10 f words. One sex scene that's easy to skip but still more info than necessary. All main characters are LGB, even though the main couple is a MF relationship.

DNF at 16%

I fear Allison Saft's writing isn't for me. The main character felt very mid-00s "clumsy is a quirky personality trait" and multiple times said she was naive or head in the clouds or stupid. The court intrigue didn't hold up for me. The love interest lost me at the line “Kit raked his eyes across her face with the cruel fascination of a child watching an overturned turtle struggle.” and that was where I decided to DNF.

4 Stars!
This was a bit more of a slow burn than I initially expected. In time, however, I fell in love with the story and particularly with Niamh and her journey.

Arriving into a world of complex political intrigue that includes classism, racism, family secrets, and hidden attractions, Niamh at first seems so out of her depth I was worried she may not make it out unscathed. I really enjoyed how her story unfolded although at times it did feel that components of the this book were a bit borrowed from contemporary culture. In the end, however, Niamh’s path is distinctly her own. More than just romance, Niamh finds lifelong friends on her way to her (possible) happily ever after.

While this is my honest review of this book, I was gifted a copy of the book, free of charge, in exchange for my review. I am thankful to Net Galley, Allison Saft and Wednesday Books for the opportunity to read this book.

#ChronicIllnessRep
#MagicalRomance
#FantasyRomance
#IrishBasedFantasy
#CelticBasedFantasy
#AFragileEnchantment

Thank you, NetGalley for the privilege to read this enchanting ARC.

One thing about me, I love an enemies to lovers trope. Another thing about me, I love a duel.

A Fragile Enchantment is a romantasy standalone novel set in a fictional world of magic and charm. Niamh is a seamstress, sailed in from a faraway land, to create the wedding attire for the meanest, yet most beautiful, man she has ever met, Kit Carmine. While Kit is nothing but thorns and cold shoulders to everyone he meets, he seems to have a soft side for sweet Niamh. Niamh has spent her entire life making the people around her happy, at the expense of her own fragile happiness, until she meets Kit; Niamh tosses with the idea that maybe a life lived only for others, isn’t a life well lived at all.

I really, really enjoyed this book. I am Niamh and she is me. I felt her dissonance in every thought about what would it mean if she for once chose her own happiness at the expense of someone else’s. Would that make her a bad person? Would that make her less lovable? I spent the entire time I was reading this rooting for her to choose herself, and after a while I realized that maybe this is one of those books that is making me think about my own life’s patterns as well.

This story is really fun and flirty and has very pretty imagery. I would recommend this novel to any romantasy lover and especially enemies to lovers, lovers. Also the bonus trope of forbidden romance is always welcome.

The only reason this book is losing a star from me is that it started off pretty slow and at times was repetitive. Overall, I was excited to see what was going to happen next and my heart was definitely skipping while reading the banter.