The Bard’s Bargain is a really fun retelling of King Thrushbeard. It follows princess Alexandra, who is forced to live as a commoner with Tom, a bard who is not quite what he seems. It was nice seeing Alexandra grow from self-absorbed to self-aware and her chemistry and romance with Tom was great.

The story’s fairy-tale vibe was charming and fun. I will be reading the sequel if it comes out.

If you love lighthearted romantasy with some personal growth, this book is for you.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book!

The cover of this book is absolutely gorgeous!

Overall, my reading experience was pretty enjoyable. I almost always enjoy romantasy books. I liked the development of Alexandra and Tom’s relationship. However, I wish the book was a bit longer. I would’ve liked the conclusion to be further drawn out.

I think this book would be good for lovers of fantasy, retellings, and spice!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this. I wasn’t able to finish it due to technical issues with the app, but enjoyed what I read. Still recommend!

In this classic retelling of King Thrushbeard, the novel follows our heroine, Alexandra, an insufferably selfish princess who is ordered by her mother into an arranged marriage. After spurning many suitors she is sent, as punishment to live as a commoner with Bard Tom. What follows is a story of personal growth and realising privilege.
I found it difficult to get into the story but quite enjoyed the novel in the end.

A retelling of King Thrushbeard about a spoiled princess and a charming bard.
Romantic fairytale for fans of historical settings and great chemistry and good character growth.
Easy but captivating read.

The Bard's Bargain puts a spicy twist on the classic King Thrushbeard tale. With that knowledge going in, I knew that the princess would grate on my nerves and be a bit... insufferable. When spoiled Princess Alexandra is forced to live among commoners with the mysterious bard Tom, what starts as a punishment becomes an incredible journey of self-discovery. I knew that I wouldn't connect with the privileged princess, so don't expect that if that's what you need in your FMC, but watching her transform from a pampered royal into someone who is truly compassionate had me completely invested. Though some spicier scenes felt a bit jarring against the whimsical backdrop and rushed in their relationship, and I wished for deeper insight into some side characters, Alexandra's emotional journey from palace to village life made it an enjoyable read.

This book started off really slow which makes sense with the world building that needed to take place the first chunk of the book it just made it hard to get into it once I got past the world building and got to see Tom and Alexandra together it was so enjoyable I loved the slow burn and the yearning they both had for each other before they finally got together

The Bard’s Bargain is a fun, whimsical retelling of King Thrushbeard. It follows spoiled Princess Alexandra, who’s forced to live as a commoner with Tom, a bard who isn’t quite what he seems. Watching Alexandra grow from self-absorbed to self-aware felt genuine, and her chemistry with Tom was great—though their romance did feel a little rushed.

The story’s fairy-tale vibe was charming, but the explicit scenes didn’t quite fit and felt out of place. The ending wrapped up too quickly, especially with Alexandra’s mother and Bryan, but the epilogue hints at a sequel, which I’d definitely read.

If you love lighthearted romantasy with a touch of personal growth, this is worth picking up. Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This book was not good, it was amazing, I knew I was going to like it after I saw the cover and I wasn't wrong, The spoiled princess and the promised bard, it's very easy to like this book, I know I did despite some spoiled princess situations but it's also easy when we are used to a certain type of privileged life to not know what the real world is like and I loved that critic part.
Tom and Alexandra were just amazing and the "he falls first" chef kiss

I read the Bards Bargain as a digital book and gave it 4 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review. I was super intrigued to read this book by the blurb and so when I was accepted I was really excited to delve into this new adult fantasy multi/dual pov book. When you are first introduced to Princess Alexandra, her character is quite ignorant and childish especially as we continue throughout her years in the palace, but one of the things I personally enjoyed about this book was Alexandras character development and the ways in which you can see that she has actually changed. There was definitely some plot twists that I didn't see coming and so was shocked when they finally happened. One thing that I wasn't very fond of was the ending, I don't know if there will be a second book or not (but I'm assuming there might be with the way things left off) but some parts of the ending felt rushed and there was a lot of unanswered questions. There was a couple phrases that I felt added no value to the story (I can't currently remember what it was word for word, but I do remember and know that It made me question why this was there and how it was useful). Overall, I did enjoy this book and the plot and would recommend and read another by this author.

I loved this! a lovely, raunchy period romance that is filled with perfectly executed tropes I can't get enough of!

I enjoyed this, however, the pacing was off at times. It clearly needed some more editing in terms of the writing, but the concept was super interesting!

This was a proper retelling, but I think I need to hold off on them for a little while. I read lots of fairytales when I was younger, so I am quite familiar with a few of them, and retellings very often don't do the originals justice. This one tried, and I enjoyed it, but it didn't fully deliver for me. I started out not really liking the main character, but as the story progressed, I started feeling better toward her.

Tale as old as time, honoring the big name European storytellers this book is set in the times where kingdoms fall if truce and allegiance and forced marriages were not made to happen.
Alexandra the crown princes is full of herself and she wants nothing to do with marriage but she wants to rule her kingdom alongside her brother after her father passes away due to battle wounds.
The queen is unable to get her in line and to break her spirit she makes a plan with the enemy kingdoms heir, who just inherited the throne from his father.
He must disguise himself (*cough* king Mathias from Hungary used to do this often to see peoples character and their true opinion about the rule of the monarchs) and he must life with the princess for a year and break her spirit to humble her in order to make her out to be fitting and obedient wife.
I liked the aspect of it that it meant to serve you the message of someone self absorbed having to think of someone other than herself for once, and slowly knock her down a peg and learn some empathy. but sadly didn't bring out the empathy for her from me.
I loved the very real , very humble, very honest representation of trade that is useful, the message that knowledge cannot be taken from you even if you get robbed of your money.
I liked that the crown prince was not only a spoiled heir, but a battle worn soldier and a man who was comfortable using his hands in manual labor.
Their romance was slow burn and I felt at the beginning her lust was a bit misplaced and as it was played out I think the author did deliver the message she was set out to do so .
I'm giving it 3 stars because in my opinion the writing could use some more editing but it is not the fault of the author but the next chain in the publishing process'.

Okay, so this King Thrushbeard retelling was a bit of a rollercoaster for me. Alexandra starts off as this royally unlikable princess – very bratty. But eventually she begins to grows as a person. She did have trauma in her childhood which I'll bet anything is why she is the way she is..shocker.. It does kinda feels like she’s being "fixed" by the men around her, which made me roll my eyes a bit.

The MMC Tyram, our male lead, was a solid guy – sweet, patient, and all-around decent – but honestly, he could’ve used a little more oomph in the character department. The writing style also started out feeling YA-ish and cute but quickly went into some spice and I would have liked a little more buildup.

That said, I still had fun with this one. It’s a breezy, character-driven read with some romantic flare, perfect if you want something light and easy.

Dual POV, Spicy, Fairytale Retelling, Slow Burn

This is slow to get into as Alexandra is a spoiled princess who is hard to connect to however over the course of the novel as the plot picks up and she spends more time with Tom she becomes more like him, sweet and caring. The whimsical, lyrical feel of the novel made the explicit scenes and a little jarring.

I thought that this was such a fun fairytale retelling! I really enjoyed reading this. It was a good read with good plot and good character development.

The romance is both tender and fraught with tension, while the central bargain adds layers of suspense and drama. While some elements might feel familiar to fans of fantasy, the emotional depth and well-crafted characters make this a memorable read. If you love stories where magic and love are intertwined with high stakes, The Bard’s Bargain is a book you won’t want to miss.

The Bard’s Bargain is a wonderful retelling of King Thrushbeard!

I had so much fun in this fairytale with Tom and Alexandra; their relationship was so believable and their chemistry was incredible. I particularly adored seeing their connection with the wider village and Alexandra had a fantastic character arc.

Tom had some top level yearning: “…Tom found himself closing his eyes and inhaling her. Her smell had taunted him for days. It lived in her hair and even her sweet breath, and in the few moments he was close to her it made his heart pound with desire.” Reminded me so much of Anthony in Bridgerton Season 2 in the best way!

This is such an enjoyable story and I would highly recommend it to lovers of romance and fairytale retellings!

While I did enjoy the book there was parts of it that moved slower and I would lose my interest a bit to the point where I wouldn't read it for days. On the flip side there were also parts that I just couldn't put the book down.
It's an easy read although I will say the writing is a bit misleading, initially I thought this was more YA but then there's explicit scenes and I think that sudden jump in tone and maturity could've been handled a bit better, idk it just felt out of place to have such explicit scenes in something that initially came across as a nice easy lighter read.
I loved the cold open the way it builds up and you're trapped in her mind wondering why its curious this stands out and then boom <spoiler> the entire opening takes place while shes at her fathers funeral </spoiler> yea I just really liked that moment since it made me stop reading for a second to like recompose idk if that makes sense.

One of my favourite quotes <spoiler> "It had never occurred to her to fear life itself" </spoiler> idk why but I just love it.

As for the characters Alexandria is a brat in the beginning and not very easy to like, she does become more likeable as she gets humbler later on in the story though.
The mother was annoying at times especially in the beginning since she seemed to over react to every single thing.

My only other complaint is that the start is very slow and then the middle slows and speeds but the end it just whizzes through and not in a good way, it doesn't speed up in a way that's you enjoying the story so much you're just reading page after page after page its more there are sudden jumps in plot and you're left confused at points. It was still an enjoyable book I just don't think it's my cup of tea.

Thank you Netgalley, Joan Anderson and Vanessa Green for this arc!