Wow. This book was beautiful. At moments I felt sad, happy, shocked and In love.

This book is a historical romance book that follows Niahm, a commoner and tailor who is offered a job by the prince regent to make the outfits for the upcoming prince wedding. Niahm is able to imbues feelings through magic in her work. She comes from a very poor family and decides to take this job to help them out even though the more she uses her magic, the sicker she becomes with an unknown illness.

The world building on this book is just perfect and we get to meet a number of amazing characters from Kit, the prince who seems to hate Niahm, Jack, the prince regent who seems to be hiding secrets, Sofia, his wife who seems unhappy. We also meet Sinclair, the prince’s best friend and Rosa, the soon to be bride and Miriam, her helper.

We watch as Niahm and Kit seem to slowly build this friendship and love that is forbidden and the challenges they face. We get insight on the lives of all these amazing characters and what love and politics can do to people.


This book is truly amazing and the romance is beautiful. We also see lgbtq+ in this book that just adds dimension to the story.

I felt myself so captivated in this book and by the end, I was truly sad it was over.

Thank you Wednesday Books for an early copy for review!

I love a good fantasy book, and was super excited to get a copy of this upcoming read for review. A Fragile Enchantment Niamh, a Machland girl who has the ability to stitch emotions and memories into the clothing she creates. Not coming from much, when offered the chance to create the wardrobe for the royal wedding of the Avalon prince and his future bride, Niamh takes the opportunity to provide a better life for her family. However, when she arrives, she finds a grumpy (spare) prince, Kit, political unrest that is being ignored by the crown prince, Kit’s brother, and an anonymous gossip columnist who is there to stir the pot in favor of their political agenda. However, as time goes on, Niamh develops a friendship with Kit and others within the castle, and soon some royal family secrets are on the precipice of being exposed, with Niamh in the middle of it all.

I honestly adored this book. I loved the combination of fantasy and Regency England royalty. I thought the characters were simply divine and so engaging, and the relationships were exceptionally done. I loved Kit and Niamh, but I especially loved the friendship between Kit, Niamh, and Sinclair. There were so many moments where I found myself smiling and giggling about their shenanigans.

But, on top of a wonderful love story, there was a lot of depth to this book as well. It dealt with issues of class and nationality, as well as more personal things like self care. Niamh’s story was one which pushed readers to see that you cannot live your life for everyone else, and that you cannot pour from an empty cup.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was funny, sweet, and romantic, which also bringing some real thoughts to the forefront beyond those things. I gave it a solid 4.75 stars.

I was super interested in the idea of this and wanted to love it but wasn’t able to get hooked. DNF at 20% but I’ll probably try again at a later date because I partially think I wasn’t in the right mindset going into this book.

Thank you to the author Allison Saft, St. Martin’s Press, and Netgalley for providing me the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Release Date: January 02, 2024

3.5 STARS

Niamh, a seamstress with magical abilities, leaves home when she gets a commission to create designs for the upcoming royal wedding. Upon entering Avaland’s royal court, she encounters unfamiliar aristocratic expectations, prejudice, and her own unexpected attraction to the grumpy and soon-to-be-wed prince, Kit.

It seems the author has woven English-Irish relations (here, we have the Avalish and Machlish) and particularly the Great Hunger (i.e. Irish Potato Famine) into the history of this world. Such a (albeit light) context for the story enriches the cultural immersion or clash of cultures experience our protagonist undergoes. Our heroine responds to her new environment in what feels like a realistic way. Niamh does her best to fit in and present herself “respectably” by court standards so that she can complete the job, make a good impression for (future) business, and go home with plenty to feed her family. On the other hand, Niamh maintains her convictions and personal views. She doesn’t let the glitz and glamour of the palace cause her to forget the starvation and hardship her own people have suffered at Avaland’s hands.

A Fragile Enchantment left me feeling conflicted and a little disappointed. The first third was top tier setup. The last third was all fireworks—high drama veering on melodrama. The middle was just a bunch of NOTHING.

Although I love the ballroom aesthetic and spectacle, this book let the ball drop on the political plot it set up. An anonymous gossip columnist for The Tattler by the moniker Lovelace criticizes the crown prince and reaches out to Niamh as a possible ally. We do see that plot point pose temporary risk to Niamh’s peace of mind and position at the palace; however, the external plot fizzled out until its hasty resolution at the end of the book.

Then the romance is slow burn. It starts out with Niamh’s attraction. Long stretches go by without any progression of the romance. There was even a point in the book where I wasn’t sure if I even knew what the HEA pairing was. We definitely get less interaction between the pair than is needed before the relationship has advanced to true love and marriage.

I needed more civil unrest, court intrigue, and romantic sizzle in the middle third of the book. The end result was that I thought this book was poorly plotted. Neither the romantic or political tensions gradually heightened over the course of the book to my satisfaction.

I do appreciate that the author avoided ruining her FMC with tired tropes. Niamh doesn’t come out of the gate overconfident, OP, and ready to slay. Her character does not match the typical YA sci-fi/fantasy protagonist with an all-too prevalent snark, defiance, and superwoman abilities.

Comparisons: Regency England with a society gossip columnist was serving a hint of Bridgerton. Due to the young woman caught in the midst of power politics and treacherous royals, I also got a dose of Reign (my shameless CW fave series back in its day).

Okay, this was absolutely delightful. I was pretty much sold at the promise of a regency-era fantasy romance and this did not disappoint in the slightest. I was roped into the story from the very first page and was pleasantly surprised when each chapter got better and better. There was romance, magic, and so much drama. The magic system was fascinating, and I would've have enjoyed a deeper dive into it, but it was perfectly sufficient for a standalone book. I wouldn't be opposed to another book by Saft in this wonderful little world she's created. I loved the romance (classic grumpy/sunshine, rich/poor, prince/commoner) with tropes that just never get old. There was a little mystery going on that was pretty obvious to me but was still great for tension and had a climatic reveal. And the characters! I truly do not want to let them go. I think my only complaint would be that the language and vibe didn't necessarily fit the regency era, but since it's fantasy it didn't bother me so much.

Overall, highly recommend to all of my fantasy readers. With so many long fantasy series' surrounding us, it's also satisfying to find a good standalone.

This was my first book by Allison Saft and I can't wait to read more!

dnf at 17%.

the fmc in this book acted so dumb i simply could not continue. she gets this great opportunity to make some money in order to help her family out and what does she do, she was blatantly rude and insulting to her own customer. and don’t get me wrong the customer was the prickly mmc but for goodness sakes is the fmc wants to provide for her family why would she be blatantly rude to her own customer, several times.

the fmc even had the audacity to think “even though he started it.” like are you kidding me right now.

maybe this was just too low of a ya book for me but the characters were 18, i’m not saying they should be at the height of their maturity but i was expecting a little more.

RATING: 3/5 STARS

Based on the beautiful cover and sewing magic I thought this would be a slam-dunk fantasy read for me... but I lost interest a while in. I can see YA fantasy fans enjoying this one though!

3/5 Stars

A very charming book. My first novel of manners, and while I can say it’s not my favorite genre, I did enjoy myself well enough. There was a bit too much telling-vs-showing for my taste, and not enough deep exploration of character and emotion, but that’s just my particular tastes. The plot was slow and the climax wasn’t all that climactic, but again, that's just my personal preferences. If you like soft magic, capable heroines, slow-burn romances and Regency-era vibes, I think you’ll enjoy this.

A young adult appropriate Bridgerton meets fantasy and magic in this historical romantasy book!

We get a glimpse into the world of Niamh, a young and magically talented seamstress who can stitch emotions and memories into fabric. Our fmc is invited to create the dress for the kingdom’s upcoming royal wedding, and so she travels to the magical court, ready to risk everything to help support her family. But what she encounters is not what she expected- a rude but enticing groom with a wild magic and dangerous draw.

I really enjoyed the concept of this book, but as an avid fantasy reader, I was left wanting. I had been hoping for a little more when it came to the magic system and world building. We got a glimpse into it, seeing how the characters could manifest their magic, but never got more than that.

I also felt Niamh was too much of a cliche female lead from a 2000s romcom. She was overly clumsy, which lead to the MMC having to step in, which lead to mutual swooning. I don’t mind mutual swooning, but I would have liked to see other ways to go about it.

I did enjoy the banter between our two leads, though! While I felt it was a little insta love, that may be a plus for other readers.

If you’re looking for an easy, light, whimsical read, then I would suggest this! The story, characters, and romance are good- I just felt everything stayed on a surface level, which may just be your cup of tea for a nice light read!

A Regency fantasy for Bridgerton & Austen readers.

A Fragile Enchantment is a book best served with tea, biscuits, and fairy dust. It has a generous amount of sweetness to balance out the scandals of the royal set. The world's magic is a strong note to the blend but never overpowers such lovely characters.

• Star crossed lovers
• Fish out of water
• Subtly steamy
• Colonial critical
• Have a proper cry
• Queerly beloved
• Eldest daughter syndrome

Niamh is 'cursed but doing it anyways'. She inherited her family's ability to imbue enchantments into her stitching - a gown may inspire delight, a waistcoat instills confidence, a veil could compel woe. The magic is a gift & a curse as it slowly eats away at her lifespan the more she works. Yet its the demand for her work that drops the opportunity that could set her family up for life - design & tailor a wedding collection for the young prince.

I loved Niamh as an emotional & hard working lead. She is dutiful to a fault, sees goodness in others without being naive, and cries her feelings out (same girl, same).

Her relationship with Kit is a standout whirlwind romance from their first meet-disaster and every opportunity to set aside their emotional armor that follows. They banter from one coat fitting to the next engagement party. Yes and oh my, add 'betrothed to another' to the trope chart. Dun dun dunnnn.

A delicious read start to finish. Perfect for young adult romantasy readers.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press / Wednesday Books for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced e-book copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased and honest review!

Pitched as Bridgerton with some fantasy, this historical romantasy fell a bit flat for me. I didn’t reach for it and get sucked into the story as I would hope to. I have liked Saft’s previous work (I gave “A Far Wilder Magic” five starts last year) but the stakes in this story never seemed high enough or insurmountable enough - I was never wondering how the characters would get out of their situation.

Some thoughts while reading:
- This story banks on the Clumsy Female Protagonist trope a bit too much. It felt like every other chapter, Niamh was tripping or stumbling at some key moment so that Kit has to physically catch her/carry her to safety. There’s no reason for Niamh to be clumsy…it’s just used as a device to get her in the love interest’s arms.
- The magic system - the fantasy part of this romantasy - was surface-level at most, with characters using their powers for show every now and then, and magic used to illustrate some disparities within the class system. But mainly Niamh just sews feelings into clothes and Kit makes plants grow when he’s horny or frustrated.
- Speaking of Kit: as a romantic lead, he remains curmudgeonly with every person - including Niamh - even in moments of tenderness so that I don’t root for their relationship or swoon over him when romance is half the reason for the story.

Overall, this was a sweet if forgettable read for me. I still love Saft’s writing, but neither the characters nor the plot in this one made it memorable or singularly special for me.

I'm incredibly biased as a reviewer of this work as I absolutely adore everything Allison Saft has ever written. The stories she is able to craft, the depths she is able to create in the settings, her deeply human characters, they are all the best of what you want in fantasy romance stories.

As always her craft follows not only innately interesting main characters, she also delves deep into some of the most critical historical and cultural conversations. It is clear what conversation is the overarching one in A Fragile Enchantment.

If you have room still on your TBR, add an Allison Saft title for 2023. Make sure A Fragile Enchantment lands on your 2024 TBR.

2.75 stars - I feel as though the story started off with so much promise but fell a bit lackluster after about the 30% mark for me. Though I did enjoy aspects - and I would definitely give another Alison Saft book a try after this.

I’m a sucker for a grumpy/sunshine trope - so the initial tension between the two main characters was very much enjoyable. However, as the romance played out I felt the dialogue between the two, and their proclamations of love for one another, felt a bit cringy.

The Characters were really what did it for me, I felt they were nicely built up, and I genuinely enjoyed their banter and the relationship that unfolded amongst the group. I feel I will not be alone in my love for Sinclair.

While I understand this was a YA novel - the justification and explanation of morality felt overdone. With one character in particular, I felt the writing was extremely heavy-handed - instead of letting the reader decide for themselves how to feel about the character, the writing constantly needed to justify their moods or seemingly awful and harmful decision-making patterns. Even with it being aimed at a YA audience, there were times it still felt a bit too juvenile.

And lastly, I felt a bit disappointed with the ending - it left much to be desired in the way of resolving its main pot points/holes. While I think leaving some points open for reader interpretation can at times be a useful writing strategy - this just felt rushed and unfinished. 


A massive thank you to St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books and NetGally for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

“She is common, but she is divine-blooded.”

Fragile Enchantment was a fantasy re-imagining of the historical way the United Kingdom treated Ireland that lead to the Great Famine in the 1800s. Niamh Ó Conchobhair is an eighteen year old Machlish (Irish) girl who was born with the magical ability to infuse the clothes she sews with emotions. When a dress she sews for a common girl is seen to help her capture a member of the nobility for her to marry, Niamh's designs become popular. So popular, the Prince Regent of Avaland (England) invites her to come and sew the wedding clothes for his younger brother's wedding. Niamh sees herself responsible for her grandmother and mother's well-being and knows this to be the opportunity to make enough money to secure their futures. However, the more Niamh uses her magic, the more life force drains from her but Niamh is a martyr and thinks it's her duty to sacrifice herself for her family, the way her ancestors fought against Avaland's rule.

She had grown up on horror stories of the Avlish royal family’s power. How it had caused the Blight by depleting the soil. How during the War of Machlish Independence, briars had torn from the earth and skewered men like living bayonets. Niamh had always suspected those legends were exaggerated. Now, she wasn’t so certain what the Carmines were capable of.

When Niamh gets to Avaland, she's amazed at the opulence (it's a very Regency England setting) but realizes quickly that something itsn't quite right. The castle seems to be running on a skeleton crew and there's obvious unrest with the working class protesting and demanding reparations for how the Avlish have treated the Machlish. There's also the obvious arranged marriage feeling with the Prince Christopher (Kit) sullen and angry that he is being forced to marry the Princess Rosa. The Prince Regent, Jack, seems to constantly be harried and keeps refusing to meet with Helen, the leader of the protesters. It's a tense situation and it gets complicated more when Niamh and Kit start to notice each other more.

He had chosen her not for her skill or her craft, but to make himself look enlightened. To slither out of any accountability. She was nothing more than a novelty to point out to her fellow countrymen and say, Look, not all of you suffer here.

Since the world-building borrows and relies heavily on Irish and English historical relations, it's kind of already built in, as long as you the reader are knowledgeable about such things. The magical components also borrows some from Irish mythology, which was a fun additive but Niamh's personal plot of her magic draining her life force didn't feel quite filled out right. Without scenes with her grandmother and mother, we have to go on her word that she's forced to do this and the reasoning never had me truly buying into it. Since she's a seamstress, I thought there would more scenes of her sewing and fabric descriptions but they were fairly few, even though the story has Kit constantly telling her not to overwork herself. I just felt it needed to be a bigger discussion that while she sews, she's taking years off her life??

A girl like her wanting Kit Carmine would not—could not—end well.

This is all told from Niamh's point-of-view and I thought it took until closer to the midway point for her and Kit to show anything of their relationship. They share a kiss in the second half and get a closed door scene but I'm not sure I really felt or understood the claim that they have a burning romance, the emotions just weren't there for me. This does read Young Adult, with the occasional curse word and even though it's historical fantasy, the vernacular reads modern (leading to an uneven feeling with the supposed to be Regency England). The angst comes from Jack making Kit marry, for political reasons, but Kit and Niamh starting to want to be together. There's some secondary character friends on the side, helping and hurting the cause, a quick jaunt to a country house of the royal's that felt added in for the requisite country house scenes, and a little political intrigue.

“I am so afraid, Kit. I am afraid that I will fail, despite all the pains I have taken. I am afraid I will let everyone down. And deep down, I am afraid that I am horribly, irredeemably selfish because I am so afraid that I will die without having let myself live at all.”

I read an early ARC copy and I hate to say it, but it read more like a beta, Niamh's magical story thread needed more shoring up as it only seems to get weaker and weaker as the story goes on. The ending gave a last thirty percent third act breakup, and again, not fully constructed right with the stopping a wedding, a duel that felt madcap thrown in, and revelations that were a bit obvious regarding the political aspects. It all wraps up with a HEA and relations between the countries hopefully taking a right step toward working together. The elements were there but lack of refinement had this more of a struggle to get through than enjoyable.

This is a fantasy romance set in regency England. Alas, I didn't love the romance parts, and I have some problems with the Regency parts.

This book is utterly lacking the feeling of being a historical romance. There is no charm of the regency period. The book fully embraces modern ways of speech and manners, and the regency period culture only pops up occasionally. The rules of the period typically only pop up in order to be dismissed by the characters as something that they're not going to do.

I never felt the chemistry of the romance. It fell very flat.

There is a larger political plot. The Irish-coded people living in London are protesting the working conditions. It was very boring. Though the plot was constantly brought up, it never really affected the protagonist's plot.

A video review including this book will be on my Youtube channel in the coming weeks, @ChloeFrizzle.

Thanks to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.

2/5 ⭐️
I’m so sad that I could not like this book. I LOVED A Far Wilder Magic and the premise of this book was 1000% up my alley, but it sadly fell short me. In complete honesty, it almost felt like the author’s writing retrograded. It felt like an early draft of a first attempt at writing. The worldbuilding was sort of dumped on us and then the characters, especially the main two, felt forced and too much. They lacked the nuance her main characters had in A Far Wilder Magic. Honestly, I DNFed this book back in the summer around the 15% point but with the hope of coming back and trying again. I barely could get through another chapter three months later before I was skimming again cause it made me cringe.
However, I recognize that I’m in the minority when it comes to my opinion. I also am not giving up on this author yet. I know she’s releasing another book soon and I’m equally excited to see if her new one captures the same sort of magic her A Far Wilder Magic did. And no, I did not walk into this book expecting it to be identical to her previous one I read, I did expect though for it to match the same level of writing. I think this was just a flop for me personally.
Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Publishing for providing an advance reader copy of this book for my honest review.

This was my first Allison Saft book and I enjoyed it! A Fragile Enchantment is a romantic, whimsical book following Niamh, a young and talented tailor hired to make the wedding clothes for the upcoming royal wedding. Niamh is especially talented for her ability to weave memories and emotions into her work, a wonderful piece of magic in this world of people with or without "divine blood." She arrives in the capital city to work for the royal family, where she meets a closed-off prince regent and a prickly younger prince, realizes the castle and city are unraveling amidst political unrest, and learns there is an anonymous gossip columnist who is also paying attention to her. As she navigates the discriminatory society, Niamh gets drawn in with the prickly prince and falls for him in a star-crossed-lovers romance.

Niamh is easy to root for as she works to succeed and support her family, and Saft peels back Prince Kit's layers to allow him to grow and be seen for once. The banter and regency-inspired setting were quite fun to read, and I really enjoyed seeing how Saft combined the tropes of historical romance with a fantasy framework. I could easily read another book in this world, exploring another place or facts of this magic system.

Unfortunately, there were two notable drawbacks to me. First was the tone or intended audience: the book felt torn between young adult and adult, and likely would have benefited from being just a tad older, between the relationships it focused on and the politics involved in the story. The second drawback to me was that it was simply trying to do so much: romance, family issues, trauma, political intrigue (based on quite serious fictionalized history and ongoing discrimination). If there had been some streamlining and some aging up, I think it could have focused on these topics more deeply and effectively.

I wanted to love this book so much but it just wasn’t quite there for me. I think it was a case of right book, wrong time because I LOVED A Far Wilder Magic.

I think part of the problem was that I guessed all the plot twists and turns before they happened which greatly impacted my reading enjoyment.

I will definitely be trying Allison’s other and future books though!

Allison Shaft's "A Fragile Enchantment" enchants readers with a mesmerizing tale that seamlessly blends romance, fantasy, and political intrigue. Set in a Regency England-inspired fantasy world, the novel follows the journey of Niamh Ó Conchobhair, a young woman with a magical ability that weaves emotions and memories into fabric, a gift that is both a blessing and a curse.
The world-building in "A Fragile Enchantment" is rich and immersive, transporting readers to a fantasy realm where royal weddings, societal unrest, and clandestine secrets intertwine. Shaft crafts a vivid setting that captures the elegance of candlelit balls and the tension simmering beneath the surface in the working class. The juxtaposition of the fairy-tale-like royal events and the brewing unrest adds depth to the narrative.

Niamh is a compelling protagonist whose determination to secure a better future for her family is both relatable and admirable. The complex nature of her magical abilities and the impending threat to her life add a layer of urgency to her character arc. Kit Carmine, the reluctant groom, is equally well-developed, with his prickly demeanor and the political machinations surrounding his impending marriage.

The romance that blossoms between Niamh and Kit is tender and well-executed, providing a heartwarming anchor to the story. The evolution of their relationship from an unlikely friendship to something deeper is portrayed with sensitivity and authenticity. The chemistry between the characters is palpable, making their love story a central and engaging aspect of the narrative.

Allison Shaft's skillful storytelling and the enchanting world she has created make "A Fragile Enchantment" a worthy read for fans of fantasy romance. With its well-drawn characters and intricate plot, the novel earns a solid 4-star rating for its ability to transport readers to a world where love and magic collide against a backdrop of political unrest and societal tension.

Thank you Allison Saft, NetGalley, and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book!

This is my first time reading an Allison Saft book and I absolutely adored this one!! I'm also new to the regency romance genre and I'm so glad A Fragile Enchantment was my intro into it!

This story is so precious!

I felt immersed in the world and found myself caring for the characters and wanting to know more about them.

The dynamic between the social classes of the main characters with the politics of the worldbuilding's magic system was so intriguing! The twists and mini mysteries also had me wanting to know and learn more about what was happening behind the scenes of each characters' lives.

The emotions that Allison Saft has written for her complex characters to experience really helps make them feel more real even if they do have magical abilities.

The characters themselves and the interactions with each other felt so well developed and natural. They were all misfits in one way or another who were brought together by duty and circumstance and who all gain some sort of sense of belonging and completion by the end of the story.

This book is an absolute gem!