Thank you SO much to Wednesday Books in providing me an arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

this book was FANTASTIC. i loved every second of it. the setting and writing was beautiful, there was so much magic, so much laughter, and emotions everywhere. i've read two books from allison saft and both have been incredible.

definitely will be picking up a copy when this comes out because it was absolutely incredible!

Thank you for the chance to ARC.
Honestly one of my favorite arcs so far!
If you enjoy these two tropes
Enemies to lovers
grumpy x sunshine
then do i have a PERFECT book for youuu
Allion Saft has brought me an amazing read that had me kicking my feet at times.

This book feels like a warm hug on a very cold day 100% recommend this book!

Roses: Regency hasn’t always been a go to for me because I found them to be incredibly slow moving. This one moved at a good pace and had the chemistry between the two MC start blooming early on but in a real organic way. I enjoyed the romance between these characters a lot and how they complement each other.

Thorns:
I didn’t like the illness troupe in this. The introduction to the illness seemed misplaced and as a reader I felt myself rooting for our main couple just to have it sightly darkened because of this troupe. The story would have been perfectly fine without it. It was just a weird thing to include to me. The family drama, a gossip writer and few of the stories big events felt like they were straight from Bridgerton. I was hoping for more magic to be involved in the kingdom which you didn’t get much of. So it was just lacking that piece for me.

I had a bit of trouble getting into this book, but I ended up loving it. I really felt connected to the characters and I found myself thinking about them long after putting the book down. This is a sweet, regency romance with political intrigue, found family, and a magical twist.

And for all the nerds out there... the characters wear BONNETS! Period-appropriate headwear!

WOW. I loved this book so much. It's a very character driven regency style fantasy which it three of my favorite things in one. I loved the main character Niamh and her thoughts and observations through the story. It's very low fantasy, easy to digest while still adding a lot to the atmosphere of the book. While the story dragged a slight bit in the first half I still devoured this book and fell in love with these characters. Fantasy, Regency era, found family, romance, this is the perfect romantasy read!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I had never read anything by this author before but now I must check out her other books. This one is beautifully written. I love how the relationship between the main characters develops. Kit is my favorite! Probably the best romantic fantasy book I've read this year.

I have really mixed feelings about this book. I've seen the story before a hundred times but it's a good plot.

This poignant fantasy romance casts a tender spell!

Wherever you fall on the Bridgerton love/hate scale, please do not pay attention to comments about comparisons! I am a Bridgerton fan, and this book does not have a Bridgerton vibe. It doesn’t share similar settings, time period, or themes. There is one plotline involving an anonymous society columnist. But Lady Whistledown and the mysterious Lovelace of this book do not have the same motivations for their actions. In sum, this novel really deserves to be read and reviewed without being tied into whatever expectations that have been set by Bridgerton and/or be lumped into the Regency romance renaissance.

The novel is set in the make believe kingdom of Avaland, which is undergoing societal unrest due to economic inequality. Jack, the prince regent of Avaland, has arranged a politically advantageous marriage between his younger brother, Kit (Christopher), and the Princess Rosa of Castilia, in an effort to restore stability. As part of the wedding preparations, Jack hires Niamh (an Irish name that is pronounced Neee-v in English) to design and sew Kit’s wardrobe, and Rosa’s wedding gown. What makes this world unique is the existence of magic. Magical abilities run in powerful families, to include members of the royal families. Less commonly, rank and file citizens, like Niamh, have inherited magical blood.

There are truly so many things to love about this novel. Niamh’s magical ability is to weave memories and emotions into the fabric she embroiders. The person who wears the fabric will then experience those emotions through their own memories evoked by Niamh's enchantments. This was a completely original plot for me so I really enjoyed reading about how Niamh uses her powers and how the enchantments work. The novel’s minor characters were incredibly well written. The author’s prose is absolutely lovely. The HEAs were satisfying, even if predictable. There is LGBTQ representation in the characters and plotlines.

The aspect that took this novel from a 5-star to a 3.5 to 4-star read for me was the romance arc between Kit and Niamh. It would be best characterized as a “grumpy/sunshine” pairing, which I typically like, but in this story our sweet, earnest Niamh did 100% of the work. By the end I was convinced that Kit did not deserve her whatsoever. It’s not that he didn’t meet her halfway. He was unwilling to do so much as meet her out on the front porch. At one point in the 3rd act, one of the characters outright asks Niamh: “You truly care for Kit this much? I don’t mean to offend you, but surely you could have chosen more wisely. You have unfortunate taste in men.” And I CHEERED because YES finally someone said it!

[SPOILER: The biggest cringe (and disturbing) part of the story for me was the final declaration scene itself, when Kit asks Niamh: “Don’t you get it by now, you fool? Are you really going to make me say it? Fine. Fine. Now listen carefully, because I’m not going to repeat myself. I love you.” Niamh answers: “What?” And Kit's response is: “I said I wasn’t going to repeat myself.” Honestly? That’s not grumpy. That’s straight-up a**h***e. Either because he's an actual a**h**e; or he's just as emotionally stunted and selfish as he was at the very beginning of the book, and he has not experienced an iota of character development. In that moment I was not squeeing. I was inwardly screaming: RUN, Niamh. RUN!]

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this novel. All opinions are my own.

4.25 stars
This book is a mix of Divine Rivals and Bridgerton and I devour it!

The story is about this kingdom that some people are born with magic, however the majority of the population don't. Our main character is a seamstress that has a very faint vein of magic in her family and allows her to imbue feelings to the garments she sews. Meanwhile, there is a royal wedding happening and she was hired to prepare the gowns of the groom and bride to be.
Although her people have been harshly neglected by the king, she sees this opportunity as her last chance of provide for gaining recognition for her work and providing for her family. She wasn't counting on starting having feelings for the groom to be.

I loved the several layers of the world. We have some class warfare going on, we have conflict between the king and queen as well as some secrets involving the bride-to-be, an anonymous columnist gossip... all of that aside from the reluctant forbidden love of the main characters.
Since this book is mostly focused on the romance aspect of the story I must say it was really nicely done. The pinning and angst were well built and I really just craved more Kit and Niamh!!

The only downside of this story in my opinion is that it left a couple of threads without a proper conclusion, and as it seems to be a stand-alone I thought these points should have been tied at the end, such the state of Niamh's health, Sinclair's position in relation to the king, and a proper ending to Rosie's story.

I loved the premise of this book: a magical tailor, an impossible Cinderella-esque romance with manners, and a brooding love interest. Oomph. Indeed, the story was fantastic, and I adored the plot. The pacing was great. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of queer characters, the book isn't promoted as LGBTQ, and both love interests were bi-sexual. While I loved the plot and setting, sometimes the dialogue was a bit cringy for me.

I recommend this to fans of "Romantasy', especially the Regency Fairy Tales series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Regency escapist fantasy romance involving royalty without justifying imperialism? Not something I expected to see, but here it is, and I absolutely loved it. This book really reminded me of Sorcery of Thorns, a book that I read about five times when it first came out, but with embroidery and sewing instead of books, (so in my case swapping out one interest for another) so if you like that book I would absolutely recommend this one.
We also have a very queer main cast of characters, with a group of five protagonists that do not have a single straight person among them. Both of our main characters are bisexual, and the book itself has no erasure of their identities. The book also has chronic illness representation– tied to the magic system and the fantasy aspects of the novel, without it being exclusively from the magic. That part is not really something I can speak about from my point of view, but I did really enjoy the way it was written.
I do think that the book would have benefited from the characters being at least a few years older, as Niamh is already cemented as having a career, and parts of Kit’s story do not make sense for someone who is barely an adult. However, I know that the Regency setting does make that difficult with the way that people in the upper classes were often made to get married so young, especially within the context of the plot, so the choices made sense eventually.

A Fragile Enchantment had all of the makings of a book I should have loved. Historical romance, forbidden love, bisexual leads, a fun magic system, and characters to root for. The issue became the fact that the most interesting people in the story were the side characters. Sofia especially was someone that I would have preferred be the main character. Every scene with her was so interesting, and every scene with Niamh or Kit had me rolling my eyes.

Simply not the book I expected.

A dreamy magic system, a kingdom on the brink of political ruin, a very grumpy prince and a magical seamstress: this book delivered all of the vibes. It’s giving Defy the Night meets Bridgerton with a sprinkling of Spin the Dawn too. Allison Saft strikes yet again creating such a comfort read for fantasy lovers.

Thank you so much to St Martin’s Press for my ARC of this book, I appreciate it so much 😍.

4/5⭐️

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This was a great fantasy historical romance. I loved it.

Niamh is a seamstress who gets invited by the prince regent to create outfits for the wedding of his brother, Kit, and kit’s fiancé. however things take a turn when Niamh and kit start to become fond of each other.

I’m giving this two starts because unfortunately i did not like it very much. I thought I was going to enjoy it more than I did because the premise sounded very intriguing and the cover is absolutely beautiful. However, I couldn’t really connect to the characters. Niamh was a very bland character to me. Kit was also a very bland character to me. Their dynamic was interesting at times but most of the time, I was thinking, “why do these two even like each other?” Towards the end of the book, I just wanted to finish it like i was no longer interested in the story.😭

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and netgalley for sending me an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was beautiful! If you like reading about royalty, forbidden love, and magic, check this one out! It was such a unique read. There were so many elements to this story. It was captivating. I loved all the complex relationships.


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4.5 stars.

This was a magical read with a Regency-inspired setting and lovable characters. With its fantasy-meets-historical romance vibes, A Fragile Enchantment should appeal to readers of Regency romance, fans of Bridgerton, and lovers of whimsical magic. Recommended for older teens or mature younger teens who enjoy comedies of manners and scandalous gossip.

Huge thank you to Wednesday Books for sharing this e-arc with me! The following review reflects my honest reading experience.

It has been a LONG time since I’ve written up a review (thanks a lot Facebook/Instagram/Meta for disabling my account for no reason) so forgive me if I’m a bit rusty.

A Fragile Enchantment is a new romance set in a regency inspired fantasy world from author Allison Saft. I was immediately intrigued by the absolutely gorgeous cover for this book. It is seriously stunning and one of my favorites I’ve seen this year. Unfortunately, A Fragile Enchantment fell flat for me. The plot did not hold my interest and I was never really able to connect with the lead characters. I will say that Niamh’s magic was so cool!

I think my biggest issue with A Fragile Enchantment is that there are parts that are blatant rip-offs of Bridgerton (the TV show, I have not yet read the books). Some of the things I noticed were: the anonymous gossip column, the game of croquet (pall-mall in Bridgerton), the MMC’s parent dying in front of him, and the MFC getting injured in the rain and needing to be carried back by the MMC. Now these plot points aren’t super important and may not bother everyone, but it was all too similar for my taste. I think it would have been better if the author left out the anonymous gossip columnist. I don’t think I would have noticed the other similarities as much if this was left out.

I am still obsessed with the cover of A Fragile Enchantment. It is absolutely beautiful! A Fragile Enchantment was just not for me.

Thank you again to Wednesday Books!

A FRAGILE ENCHANTMENT IS SET TO BE RELEASED JANUARY 30TH, 2024!

Set in the Regency era, a magical dressmaker named Niamh is commissioned to make wedding clothes for the second son of the royal family of Avaland. Kit Carmine doesn't actually want to get married but duty calls. As the two meet, they can't stand each other, until they realize they have other chemistry brewing under the surface. When a gossip columnist writes of their inappropriate chemistry, they must muake a choice between duty and love.

Oh my goodness. If you like Bridgerton, you will love this book. This is set in that era but with magical elements involved. I loved the romance portion of this book because it was slow burn. The political plot for me fell flat, but that's okay. The longing that was felt was so good, and definitely makes me want this book turned into a series. Lovelace is very Lady Whistledown too.

Cute book and the ending was sweet. The writing is very easy to read, and had a cozy element to it. It was bit slow at time with lots of inner musings and thoughts by our MFC. I would describe “angst” as the major plot drive and sometimes a bit too much so, which maybe is what makes it YA. The main characters are likable and very fleshed out, with strengths and weaknesses that felt realistic. I did like the theme of taking it one day at a time, that when things are out of control for the MFC, she still carried on with hope and joy, I feel that is a positive message you don’t see a lot in modern books.

The emotions and characters matched the YA category, but I did feel parts were a bit too spicy for YA and should be marked as New Adult instead. But maybe that what’s in fashion for YA these days, so I’m not the best judge.

I really enjoyed the tailoring aspects and how Niamh was an excellent seamless with magical abilities who can stitch emotions in her clothing — what a fun layer to the story! I just wish the magic system was fleshed out a bit more, it was only lightly touched on, but maybe intentionally so as to not be distraction to the story.