I did not finish this one because I could not get into the regency vibes or the romance. I thought it was okay but I just had a hard time relating to the characters. I think it was supposed to be a grumpy/sunshine, but that wasn't quite the vibes I was getting from the story. I did enjoy the magic and how it was expressed through sewing. I lacked a lot of motivation to read and finish this one.

This book was a start for me. I almost stopped reading it but I am so glad that I kept at it. The last 1/3 of the book was so engaging. I was rooting for the main characters.

Niamh is hired as a seamstress for the royal family, specifically for the prince to be wed, Kit Carmine. Her magic makes it so that all the she weaves gets filled with emotion, but it also comes at a cost.

I liked the regency romance, but felt that the magic system wasn’t that well explained. It was a quick read that reminded me of Howls Moving Castle mixed with Bridgerton. Except Howl is more broody than dramatic, that is to say Kit is dealing with lots of stuff emotionally that he keeps bottled up inside.

This is definitely one of my favorite books of this year. The world building was so beautiful and intricate and the writing style that this author uses is always so up my alley. I loved the main characters who were so complex and had faults and flaws and were so human. I adored this book and am so happy I got to read it early.

This book started very slow and I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it or even finish it. But once the plot kicked up and the characters started getting closer I became completely sucked in. The romance had me swooning and giggling, the friendships gave me warm fluttery feelings. The plot had me hooked and excited to see what would happen. But unfortunately the plot then derailed and descended into confusion right at the end and I went back to being quite underwhelmed. I’m really upset because I love Allison Saft’s beautiful writing and compelling characters. The magic was also interesting and the world building made me eager to learn more. It’s just that by the end, all she had set up felt like it was thrown out the window. The character’s motivations kept changing and their actions were contradictory. The plot felt like it just tumbled off at the end, no finalized ending. It was disappointing. I read A Far Wilder Magic by this author and really liked it so I will defintiley read from her again, I just hope her other works don’t resemble this one. The middle of this book being as good as it was earned the 3 stars, though.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3 stars

I wanted to like this one. I was so excited when i got approved for this. But i could not get into the story, i kept skipping over It and coming back to It. The first half of the book is unbearably slow. I think it’s supposed to be world building but I’m still confused by a lot It, especially their magic. I thought most of the characters were annoying. The book is very YA and not in a good way.

I liked the bridgerton vibes. I got through the book. The romance was cute. But that’s about all i can offer positively.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. Out now!

"She supposed she was forever cursed to long for things she could not have."

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It's been a little bit since I managed to read a fantasy-style novel that simply takes me by the hand into its own world, and just lets me enjoy it.

There's always something so magical about a book that you can forget you're reading, and be completely enveloped in the prose, characters and world that you barely even recognize you're only holding printed pages.

Allison Saft certainly has a gift for weaving the most gorgeous of stories filled with magic, folklore and a cast of lovable characters. If you're looking for a Bridgerton type story (specifically Anthony & Kate), you'll simply fall in love with this world and the magic it creates.

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A Fragile Enchantment was published in January of 2024. Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, NetGalley and the author for the digital advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Niamh is a magical fashion designer and seamstress from Machland. Machland is struggling to rebuild itself after a failed war against Avaland that left it one of its subordinate kingdoms. Seeking a better life for her mother and grandmother, she pursues and wins a job as the designer for the upcoming royal wedding of the younger prince of Avaland, Kit Carmine, and the princess of Castilia, Rosa. Shortly after her arrival, she discovers that other nationals from her country are staging peaceful protests to request an audience with the older prince, Jack, who is serving as the regent for the king. Getting nowhere, they are assisted by a mysterious author named Lovelace (who is along the lines of Lady Whistledown from the Bridgerton novels but with a political aim) who asks for Niamh's help in exposing whatever corruption or weakness lies at the heart of the regent's refusal to meet with the Machland nationals and address their grievances.

By this time having become friends with Kit and his best friend Sinclair as well as creating tentative relationships with Jack's wife Sofia, the princess of Castilia, and her chaperone Miriam, Niamh finds herself torn between her love for her fellow citizens of Machland and the friendship (and potential love) she has found in Avaland's royal capital. Meanwhile, an illness tied to her magic, the progression of which can be tracked by the color of a lock of her hair, is leaving Niamh weaker and weaker. She fears that she will fail in her task of designing the clothing for the royal wedding and, without this job, a future in Avaland with her friends and a better life for her family both look unlikely.

I liked the premise of this book a lot. It needed more work on the world building, especially the system of magic. It was also not entirely clear what the nature of Niamh's illness was except that it was tied to her use of her magic. Still, it was an enjoyable read with just a bit of steam near the end of the novel and there were a number of engaging characters that make it worth your time if you like fantasy and romance. There is significant LGBTQ representation in this novel, including major characters.

This book was a mixed bag for me. I loved the magic and the world-building. The characters were mostly interesting and fun. I think I was most challenged with the plot. It just didn’t feel like very much happened… I wasn’t pulled along other than by the love story. There wasn’t enough action to make me want to keep reading. This one is definitely heavy on the vibes.

Thank you to the publisher - I received a complimentary eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A fragile enchantment is a Bridgerton inspired fantasy following a young magical seamstresses journey to her first ever “season” in the kingdom of Avaland. Niamh has been commissioned by the crown prince to create a magical wardrobe for his brothers wedding season, but as she works to weave these enchanted outfits, she begins to develop feelings for the Prince, all while political unrest boils in Avaland.

While I loved the atmosphere, and the aesthetic of the book, for me it just felt like it went at a really slow pace, which is bizarre for a book that is actually pretty short. Towards the end it started to pick up a lot more, but still because this book wasn’t long, there didn’t feel like there was enough time to develop relationships and characters.

I think honestly, the book tried to do a little too much, with the magic system, the romance, and all the political intrigued, that it all kind of got muddled in the end. Maybe if this was part of the series and not a standalone, there would have been more time, but towards the end, it felt like the author just wanted to wrap up as many loose ends as possible.

This started out really great; I actually thought it would be a 4 star at min. I was reading it non-stop, turning page after page to find out what was going to happen, then suddenly I got really bored. Not only was I bored but I couldn't see the attraction between Kit, Prince of Avaland, and Niamh, the tailor who weaves magical enchantments into her designs. Yes, it's a Grumpy x Sunshine, slow burn (way too slow) romance) but they don't like each other for so long that the romance part just suddenly happens in a way that seems almost ludicrous. I do love "the if Bridgerton were magical vibe", the LGBTQTA+ rep, the chronic illness rep portrayed. I would have given the book 4 stars if it hadn't dragged on for as long as it did without anything seeming to happen and for what seemed like a too-quick resolution to everything at the end. Overall, the beginning to almost mid-point was really great!

Thank you, NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

“You may be the only good thing I’ve ever wanted.”

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books for an eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

This book is full of color, laughter, love, friendship, and magic. Niahm is a tailor, a commoner from Machland, a former colony of the kingdom of Avaland. Her talent for sewing emotions, feelings, and other magical traits into her designs has caught the attention of the Prince Regent, who hires her make his younger brother coats and wedding designs for his upcoming arranged marriage. The younger prince, Kit, is a reluctant pawn in a political game. With a checkered past and a surly attitude to match.

This story unfolds glittering with magic and longing. Niahm is a people pleaser, and she only knows how to give all of herself to everyone, most often to her own detriment. I appreciated the overarching theme of duty throughout the story. Duty to family and country vs duty to yourself and your happiness. I also LOVE a grumpy as heck man who, until now, hasn’t cared about much anything in his life, and is absolutely struck silly by his unexpected love interest. That gets me blushing and kicking my feet like nothing else!

Niahm is also such a fun FMC to lead this story. Lately I have been reading a lot of strong, badass, unapologetic fantasy FMCs lately, and I adore and LOVE them for who they are and who they inspire me to be. But Niahm is soft, she is kind, she is clumsy! She is for the pathological people pleaser, mirrorball, eldest/only daughters out there who take on way more than they should. Her softness is not weakness, and I really appreciated her as our leading lady in this story.

Overall I am rating this book 4.5 stars! Just short of 5 for me because there were some parts of the 3rd act that were a bit shaky to me, but not enough to dampen my joy and love for this book!

This book is out NOW! Add it to your TBR for when you’re in the mood for something magical, but with less swords and war, and more scheming, longing, and a little scandal.

A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft was my first book by Saft but it certainly won’t be the last. This was just the YA romantasy I wanted! “A magical dressmaker commissioned for a royal wedding finds herself embroiled in scandal when a gossip columnist draws attention to her undeniable chemistry with the groom.” This has everything you want in a magical love story and the audiobook narrator was outstanding. Loved it!

I was ✨enchanted✨by this story.

A Fragile Enchantment was everything I wanted Caraval to be. It has a quiet magic that is ingrained in the world, almost to a point for it to be mundane. Our MC, Niamh, has a very unique gift - She can embroider emotions into her gowns. I will physically fight anyone who says a bad thing about Niamh. She is the softest marshmallow. She is sunshine ☀️ and happiness, but written in such a way that doesn’t come out as super annoying, more like quietly genuine. On the other hand…

Prickly Kit is the grumpy counterpart to our sunshine MC. He is basically catnip for me, I love a good grumpy romance interest. He is not perfect in any sense of the world, he is not accidentally rude he is flat out rude. He wants to keep people at arms length, so what better way than to insult them? My toxic trait is that I find this swoon worthy.

Niamh is not here for Kit’s rudeness, and she is honest to a fault. She will let Kit know exactly what is on her mind, specially if a certain prince is throwing himself a pity party while her people suffer due to Kit’s father’s actions. Cue the trumpets, the sweet bickering, and bonds being built.

The world of Avalon is interesting! I felt at home while reading it. It loosely resembles the battle between Britain and Ireland, and some of the historic slights they have suffered, but add magic reasons. It goes into talks of reparations, casual racism, using of Niamh’s people’s culture and magic without providing them the respect (and pay) they deserve… Quite honestly Allison Saft added a ton of commentary that added gravitas to the story. She made it part of the world and something that is true and that demands to be addressed.

On that note, we get a columnist that sends newsletters that combine gossip with political commentary. A lot like Bridgerton, if Penelope actually wrote about politics like Eloise wants. The identity of the columnist is of course a sub plot, and a juicy one at that.

I am so hoping that we get another book in this world! It would be quite a waste to not follow the story of this world, and its many colorful characters.

I will have to pick up all of Allison Saft’s previous books now! SO looking forward to them now 😍

This book is romantic and beautiful and filled to the brim with magic. I loved getting to see the characters develop and grow and come to care for one another. I had a blast with this story every step of the way even as it was breaking my heart.

First a thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the eARC!
I will give this book 4 stars. I enjoyed Niamh, Kit and the other characters a lot. The regency setting, political tension, worldbuilding was all done very well. It touches all the current popular boxes: chronic illness rep, mental health, queer main/side characters, enemies to lovers, Bridgertonesque, oppressed peoples rising up etc.
I enjoyed the themes in this book even though a few made me uncomfortable. I am an immigrant and for the first part of the book I found it a bit difficult because the oppressed underclass of people brought up some feelings in me (not related to book). So I kept picking up and putting this book down.
In conclusion it is worth a read and there are several special editions of this book out (Owlcrate, Fairyloot) that are just gorgeous.

Fragile Enchantment introduces Niamh, a seamstress who has magic in her blood, which allows her to stitch emotions and memories into the clothes she designs. When she receives an invitation to serve as the tailor for the royal wedding in Avaland, she sees it as an opportunity to guarantee a better life for her working class Machlish family. She arrives in Avaland to find Machlish workers striking, the groom Prince Christopher (Kit) alienating everyone around him, and Lovelace, a gossip columnist, wreaking havoc at court. Niamh pierces Kit's thorny defenses with patience and persistence, as she creates a calming wardrobe for the upcoming nuptials. Neither he nor his fiancé, the Castillian Infanta Rosa, want to marry, but are being coerced by forces beyond their control. Complicating matters are the political upheaval created by the rebellious workers, the tenuous marriage agreement between the kings of Avaland and Castille, Lovelace's column exposing the growing intimacy between Niamh and Kit, and Niamh's deteriorating health which is being depleted by her use of magic. The narrative satisfyingly works its way toward a resolution of all the complications in this sweeping Regency romance.

This is a slower, regency style fantasy, and I didn’t know that was a genre I needed more of until I read this book! This was the perfect blend of magical and historical, bringing in the events of the real world and adding just a touch of a beautifully delicate magic system.

The romance was captivating and I never wanted this book to end. Saft has quickly become one of my favorite authors and I will continue to pick up everything she writes.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books, and Allison Saft for an advanced copy of A Fragile Enchantment in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3 ⭐️

I really wanted to like this book. I’ve heard great things about Allison Saft’s writing and people were really excited about this book.

This book felt like it should have been gone over a couple more times to flesh out storylines and characters. The pacing was slow and some scenes just seemed chaotic.

Niamh, the MFC, came off very bland. It might be because her backstory wasn’t explained so we really knew nothing about her. Kit, the MMC, was a run-of-the-mill misunderstood grump.

The romance was okay. There were some cute scenes between the main characters, but there just wasn’t enough to make me really believe in their romance.

I feel like we saw more of Sinclair than we did of Kit which took away from Kit’s character development.

The magic aspects were confusing. Niamh enchants emotions into what she makes, but she can also add invisibility? I couldn’t quite understand the extent of Kit’s power. I would have liked to see a bit more explanation of the magic system in this world.

Nearly every character is on the LGBT+ spectrum. I’ve never read anything by Saft before so I don’t know if this is common in her writing. What didn’t make sense about this is that they made it clear that society didn’t approve of same-sex relationships, yet nearly everyone seems to have been in one. How can something so common in this world not also be accepted in the world? One would also think that some of the advertising for this book should have mentioned the LGBT+ representation at some point, but in everything I saw there was absolutely no mention of it whatsoever.

If you are looking for a light read without too much depth, you will likely enjoy this book. I personally think it’s a book of wasted potential.

**Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.**

Thank you for the opportunity to review this title. This was a sweet regency-esque fantasy that fits perfectly on the shelf with Half a Soul and Ten Thousand Stitches. I really enjoyed the youthfulness of the main character and her arc to come into herself. Parts of this story were predictable, but in a cozy way. I enjoyed the embroidery magic and how feelings could be sewn into the garments. The storyline of doing what’s right when it goes against society was well done. This is a great YA fantasy.