Is there such a thing as historical-fiction-beach-read? That's what this is, if such a genre exists. This was fast, juicy, plot driven historical fiction. I enjoyed it! But didn't find the characters to be very deeply felt.

Thank you to Random House Publishing - Ballantine for the ARC of the Phoenix Bride in exchange for an honest review!

Natasha Siegel is one of the greatest writers of our time. Her books are like music, like a song that plays on your mind, like a symphony of perfect notes, and words, and feelings. I absolutely adored Solomon’s Crown and thus The Phoenix Bride became an immediate highlight of 2024, a must-read for me that more than earned its place. Poignant, meaningful, and deeply satisfying, the Phoenix Bride should be on everyone’s shelf this year. It comes out March 12th, and you should smash that pre-order button NOW.

TPB tells the story of romantics David Mendes and Celia Thorowgood, who meet by chance. Plague has swept through England, and left Celia a widow. Now distraught and diagnosed with melancholy, Celia lives with her sister and entertains the endless parade of doctors who prod her to resolve her incurable mindset. Her sister eventually hires David, a foreigner and Jew, to tend to Celia’s state. Unlike the others, he isn’t invasive, he respects her autonomy, and only makes recommendations, acknowledging that he or anyone is limited in their ability to “cure” her. As David and Celia begin to spend more time together, something unexpected overtakes them both, igniting something that simply cannot be.

This novel has a little something for everyone. It’s more romantic than steamy, living in the pining and the painful want of love. It contains queer characters and subplots, and explores the perspective of many different minorities trying to make their way in England in the 1600s. There are supportive male friendships and understanding husbands, and the bittersweet mixture of lost and found that makes up a life. It’s something beautiful, something rare, not unlike the bond that David and Celia have. There is no cure for melancholy, and there is no cure for love, but perhaps some things are meant to be felt rather than controlled. Siegel tells a masterful tale, creating the type of book that changes you as much as it thrills you. And maybe even opens you up to something new.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for providing me with an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley.
The novel is set in London in 1666, right after a plague and encompassing the Great Fire of London. Cecilia is a grieving young widow reliant on her sister, and David is a Sephardic Jew from Portugal who meets Cecilia when he is called to treat her in his capacity as a physician. A 17th century romance between a Jew and gentile is fraught with challenges and danger. Their tale is one of prejudice, love, grief, and self-reflection. The writing is lyrical, slow-paced, and descriptive.
Personally this book didn't do it for me. If you're at all familiar with 17th century England there will be places it seems obvious that the writer took big liberties. Had their been a longer authors note of explanation on why this was the case I could have been sold, but since there wasn't, to me it seemed like lazy writing where the author didn't bother to thoroughly research the time period.

It was hard to engage with this book because the characters were never developed beyond types. We have the waifish pale blond widow, the dark melancholy Jew, the upper class twit with a heart of gold, and, of course, the gay best friend. Further, in 17th century London, it would have been utterly impossible for David and Cecilia to even be on a first name basis, let alone consider each other as possible friends. Maybe if the characters had been developed more, I could have believed that, but David is uniformly depressing and Cecilia has spiraled so deep into her grief that she's one-note.

There is a fair amount of good period detail, which actually makes it harder to believe that the relationship would be possible. And what is with Cecilia not knowing how to greet nobility? Should would have been drilled in the peerage and courtesy since a young age.

In terms of recommending that people read this, it is two stars, but it gets a couple of half-star bonuses. First, for having characters seriously deal with loss and grief, though they don't have much success at dealing with it. Second, in order to get our couple back together, half of London has to be burned to the ground. Certainly that should count for something.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This is a great historical novel but this book deals heavily with grief. IF you like pining romances and don’t mind grief this book is for you.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating: 5/5 Stars
Published: March 12, 2024
Pages: 336

I’ve had this on my shelf for a little while and really wanted to take the time to read as the description captured my notice as a very interesting and possibly good read. What can I say about this book…that it was one of the best books I’ve read thus far into this new year.

“The Phoenix Bride” by new author, Natasha Siegel was a lovely story that sheds light on London during the 1650’s and of a young woman name Cecelia who is dealing with grief and loss. The plot of the story is wonderfully written and is told from the perspectives of Cecelia and David, a Jewish doctor that has been hired to treat her ailment.

Both characters have their obstacles to overcome. Cecilia’s is treating her grief and David is trying to look beyond prejudice and hate. The forced proximity allows both characters to grow closer to one another to the point that they fall in love. The pacing is great, interesting events and happenings and an authenticity of the feelings between the two main individuals. There are sub characters that brings a lighter side to the seriousness of the problems experienced by David and Cecelia. This story touches on history, healing, love and a few more. Wow to this new author and you won’t be disappointed with the read. Highly recommend

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

This book gives great insight into the social dynamics that existed in London during the 1650’s. Cecelia is a young woman who has suffered a great loss. David is a Jewish doctor hired to treat her. The author has created a really powerful plot with the story being told from both their perspectives. The dialogue is great and makes reading the story easy. Readers will love the characters and thoroughly enjoy the culmination book.

I absolutely loved this book. It was really well written and it was also surprising. Thank you for the arc. I really appreciate it.

Cecilia is a young widow living in her sister's home in London. the city took her beloved husband. She has been unwell for a while and her sister has insisted on bringing in a line of physicians to cure her. David Mendes is a Jewish physician, who left Portugal with his father. In Portugal, they were subject to prejudice and hate to the point they could not practice their faith. Though London is more accepting, there are still bigots to be weary of.

David is the last of the physicians that Cecilia has agreed to see before she will outright refuse any more treatment for her grief. When they meet, there is a noticeable spark. As they continue to fall for each other they must look at the reality of their situation and decide if their love can withstand the world they live in.

This was a wonderful love story. The writing is great and keeps the story moving. I love what we learn of David and that it is not made to be a major conflict. This is the first love story I have read that has introduced a character like this. There are really interesting events that happen and the affection the characters feel for each other feels authentic and makes sense.

There are some punctuation errors, capitalizing at the start of sentences, and spacing. Other than that there were not huge issues.

I would definitely recommend this book for a historical fiction romance.

Cecilia is a young woman devastated by the loss of her husband to the plague and left destitute and depressed. Her sister movers her to London to watch over her, but also to make sure she is upwardly mobile in 17th century society court.
David is a Jewish doctor who moved to London to escape persecution in Portugal. He has recently suffered the loss of a close friend, Miguel, whom he loved.
Cecilia's sister calls in David to help her sister with the physical symptoms of her grief, and Cecilia is taken by his kind, gentle spirit. As Cecilia feels better, she is desperate to escape the close watch of her sister and David introduces her to the sights and sounds of London. The story climaxes with the Great Fire of London in 1666 which dramatically alters London as a whole, but also puts their lives into perspective.

What I loved:
- This story is so beautifully written. It is such a pleasure to read!
- The secondary characters - Jan and Samuel in particular added a lightness and whimsy to contrast to the more serious, grief-stricken Cecilia and David
- The representation of queerness in 17th C Europe, especially the way David's love for both Miguel and Cecilia is described. It's not heavy handed, or even really explained, but it feels real that they are both the loves of his life.

I wouldn't call this a quick read, but it is worth reveling in each chapter!

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House, Ballantine Books, and Natasha Siegel for providing the ARC of this beautiful novel!

5/5⭐️

“The darkness here allows for impossible things: two moons, two sets of stars, and the two of us, together.”

“There’s no need to be loud, if you are with someone who can listen”

Thank you NetGalley & the author for selecting me to review this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Phoenix Bride releases 3/12/2024.

This book was such a fun historical fiction read. It managed to keep me sucked in the whole time and I absolutely loved the multiple POV’s with this story.
The story follows life after grief & navigating after the plague.

David’s character was such a sweet soul and a lovely person. I found his backstory to be interesting & refreshing from most historical fiction I’ve read.

Cecilia was a stubborn widow and I adored her “unladylike” behavior throughout. lol.

This book definitely flowed perfectly and didn’t ever feel boring which a lot of historical fiction can tend to do. The minimal romance was nice and sweet.

4 Stars! Thank you, to the publisher, for this eARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion!

The story touches on love, history, trauma and healing from it, the immigrant experience, and more all under a historical lens. We come to learn the story of two individuals who have come to know loss, in that they have lost the love of their lives. I really enjoyed getting to know Cecilia and David I also appreciated the uniqueness of the storyline. The novel was also well-written; a sweet yet sad story. After this, I will be taking a look at Natasha Siegel’s other works.

I would definitely recommend it to those who enjoy historical fiction and romance.

So this was so much more than I was expecting! A complex love story between two complex, flawed characters, this was beautiful it its intensity and detail and emotion. Natasha Siegel just adds so much depth in the relationships of her characters, and pulls you in. A beautiful, touching read.

I have voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this title given to me via NetGalley. Wow what can I say about this title it was just an awesome read. This book was just something so wonderfully different I’ve never quite read anything like this. You should read to find out you won’t be disappointed. I’m definitely going to read more by this author.

This novel was so devastatingly sad and beautiful. I couldn’t put this book down. I typically don’t like the romance genre, but I think I found the niche that works for me. Maybe one of the best books of the year.

Solomon’s Crown, Siegel’s debut novel, made it into my top five favorite books of 2023 so I was so excited to get an ARC of her newest one. I LOVED this book so much and Natasha Siegel is such an underrated author who deserves way more recognition. Her prose is truly outstanding- there are so many quotes I highlighted and kept returning to.

This novel is set in 1665 in London, England. Cecilia is a recent widow after her husband dies from the Plague which has spread throughout Europe. She goes and lives with her sister and husband where she spends her days laying in bed and not eating as she struggles with the death of her husband. One day her sister hires her a physician to help with her depression and this is where she meets David. David has struggles of his own as he lost his best friend to the Plague too. The two of them form an unexpected bond even though they can never be together since Cecilia is Christian and David is a Jew. This book is an exploration of grief, mental illness, longing and forbidden love and so so much more. I highly recommend! The reason I gave it four stars instead of five was since I just wish there were one or two more scenes with Cecilia and David so there could be a deeper connection.

The Phoenix Bride is a story of love from a place of loss. Cecelia, a newly widowed gentle lady, is dying of a broken heart when her twin sister in desperation hires an immigrant Jewish doctor named David to treat her. The story is told in first person from the perspectives of David and Cecelia in London in the 1665-1666 timeframe.

This book was an interesting read, but there was a lot going on which (personal opinion) detracted from the storyline. The story switches between David and Cecilia and their voices are similar enough I sometimes forgot who was talking. There is a very odd and honestly a bit of an unbelievable story arc between the twin sisters. The sister goes from loving and caring and best friend/companion of her sister to an abusive/possessive and mentally unstable jailer. From the description of their relationship in the beginning, it’s very hard to see how their story developed into something more like a nightmare. There were themes of infertility, plague, immigration, LGBTQ, trauma, grief, religion, antisemitism, arranged marriages, classism, and it was set in London at the time of the fire but right after the bubonic plague ravaged Europe, etc. this book had so many things going on that made it difficult for the story to sufficiently explore every thematic element fully. And then the story kind of just ends. I would have enjoyed a bit of an epilogue to see how the future was navigated.

I’d like to thank Random House and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.5 Stars rounded to 4

I will admit that this book took me a minute to sink into – I could feel my eyes glazing over just a bit within the first David POV and I was almost lulled into believing I would find this book just so-so. An enjoyable enough love story to pass the time, but not one that would truly resonate with me. It wasn’t until I reached around the 30% mark that I was well and truly hooked. I am very glad I continued to give this book a chance, because it really touched me. Feel free to skip to the very end for a very brief TLDR (too long, didn't read) if you find yourself interested in this book. I will break down reasons this may or may not be for you.

Cecilia is a lady of the British gentry and a freshly grieving widow at the opening of the story. With her deceased husband, Will (her elder twin sister’s ex-fiance), dead of the plague she is forced to move in with her sister and her husband in their London townhome. She suffers from depression, listlessly roaming the halls and garden for months on end. Margaret, at her wits end calls for David to cure her melancholia – a Jewish physician and the second lead of the novel. David is a Sephardi Jew who left Portugal with his father some years ago under the promise of being able to practice their faith openly. From a long line of physicians, David continued in his father’s footsteps, but has trouble finding where to fit his faith within his life in London. David and Cecilia’s respective grief over lost loves and the comfort they find in one another (and their respective communities/friendships) pushes the story and I personally felt it was well worth it. It’s near instalove and I felt this novel accomplished that exceedingly well.

It’s definitely a slow grower for me; I think this may come down to personal taste rather than pacing issues. Either way, the characters really begin to come off the page the deeper into the story you get. I really began to believe in Cecilia’s and David’s respective griefs, their friendships, their familial (and religious in David’s case) turmoil. I especially loved David and the grief he felt for his lost love and friend, Manuel. I think some of the best scenes in the novel come from his remembrances and the complicated feelings he has – deep love and admiration, shame and guilt. All of it was lovingly intertwined and there were points I felt this grief a bit deeper than I did for Cecilia and Will. This isn’t to say those scenes weren’t done well in their own right, but I think it goes to show you just how powerful the other scenes were by comparison.

The side characters were a joy as well, but the standout most of all to me was undoubtedly Sam. He was a really fun character who evolved beyond the sort of trope/role he was assigned within the story which I loved to see. The LGBT representation within this novel is done really, really well especially considering the restrictions of the period and setting. Overall, you can really see the love and craft that was put into this story and book and sometimes that’s all you can ask for.

This book is for you if you:

• Enjoy a pining romance
• Are looking for a Jewish LGBT main character/good LGBT representation in general
• Want a historical romance with a bit more thought and complexity

This book is not for you if you:

• Dislike instalove
• Dislike angst in your romance novels

This was such a beautiful story. I absolutely adored it and will be recommending to everyone I know.