The Rose Bargain was a book I had on my TBR and is my first book from Sasha Peyton Smith. What intrigued me most of all was the description The Cruel Prince meets the Selection and I just knew I had to read this.

I rate this book a 4.25 ⭐️ .

I was immediately engaged in the story and loved the work building- it felt familiar (real places in England) but unique . This was a fast paced easy read for me and the last part had me on the edge of my seat (I'm just sad I have to wait for the next book).

The competition elements and the banter and tension between the two main characters had me wanting more.

I can't wait to read more from Sasha Peyton Smith. (I have this.a few versions of this book).

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-ARC of The Rose Bargain. I though this was a solid start to a series(?). I enjoyed the regency setting, the forbidden love, the secretive magic and (extremely) morally gray faeries. As a fan of Holly Black's faeries, and The Courting of Bristol Keats, and the Emily Wilde books, this was a fun exploration of similar worlds and lore. This book is definitely YA and the main character, Ivy, makes a lot of questionable judgement calls and there were several plot points and drama that could have easily been prevented. I personally found this frustrating, but to be fair, I have kids closer to her age than I am. I do feel though, that there were some miscommunications that could have been easily prevented at any age. I had a hard time staying engaged through parts of it, and the ending was predictable, but also what I was hoping for. Overall the plot moved quickly though, the pining was perfect, and I really liked the ending and how it set up the rest of this series.

I found this book very easy to read quickly, but everything felt very surface level. I read maybe 60% of it on a plane ride home, then when I took a short break from it, it all sort of drifted from my head. The plot and world building are interesting, but the characters and romance feel one dimensional, which detracts from the overall reading experience. I would have liked to see more development from all the characters to make them more complex.

This book is everything I have ever wanted in a Young Adult fantasy novel. Sasha Peyton Smith checks ALL of the boxes! Amazing heroine, fun love triangle, mystical and magical world and story. I cannot wait for the second book in this duology!

This book was SO FUN. It reminded me of The Selection with trials to win the hand of the prince, but darker with magic and a dash of fae. I read a review that said The Selection + Bridgerton + The Cruel Prince. And I’d AGREE! 👏 Definitely a fantasy book I’d recommend!

I received an advance review copy for free from the publisher via Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I THOROUGHLY enjoyed Sasha Peyton Smith’s The Rose Bargain. I devoured this book and read it in 24 hours. The Rose Bargain is a unique look on the current fae phenomenon. My favorite aspect of this book was the focus on all of the female characters. The other women competing for the prince’s hand were fully fledged characters with their own personalities and desires. This is especially due to the inclusion of chapters from their points of view. The other women were not side characters with the only purpose of furthering the plot. The stakes are high in this book and I could not be more pleased. The plot was very compelling and had me on the edge of my seat.

I cannot wait for the sequel!

Thank you Epic Reads, Harper Collins, and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

I absolutely loved this one - such a fun alternate universe/romantasy take on Victorian England. In a world full of romtansy, pick this one up.

OKAYYYY. It’s been awhile since a twist shocked me. I did not see the end coming. I will be reading the sequel. My only gripe…the romance was kinda instalove which isn’t my fav, I didn’t necessarily 100% but the romance- and twice they had the line “aching clavicles” to which I could NOT get past. BUTTTTT this was fun and original

DNF @ 39%
This started off SO strong. I was absolutely invested and then it went downhill in my opinion. This story moves so fast. Is that a bad thing? Not always, but with this story, there are so many characters and it is hard to connect (let alone remember who is who) with any of them when the plot is full speed ahead. It just started to feel quite messy and I couldn’t keep up. This ended up not being for me, but you could enjoy this! It felt like Bridgerton but with Fae and make it YA.

This book had it all. The most adorable sister dynamic, a grouchy MMC with a soft heart, female friendships, ballrooms and tiaras, only one bed, and kissing practice lessons. I couldn’t put this down. If you like Bridgerton, the Selection, faeries, witty characters and a plot that has you on the edge of your seat, you won’t be able to put it down either.

Also that ending?? I need the sequel in my hands NOW.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC!

4.5 ⭐️ Books like this are why I love YA fantasy!! This book very much gave The Cruel Prince x The Selection x Bridgerton and I ate up every page. The world was fascinating, whimsical, and magical and I loved being in this setting. The political side of the story was also engaging and low key had me stressed. The premise was fun and entertaining and I was never bored. The story was constantly entertaining and I was on the edge of my seat wondering where things could be going. I absolutely loved the female friendship dynamics and their character growth together. The romance 😭 the romance was so good with the tension and the yearning and the secrecy of it all. I was rooting for them so hard and was so scared of what could happen. Maybe I should’ve expected the plot twist at the end but I didn’t and it has me ACHING for book 2!!! I’m so distraught that I thought this was a standalone. Loved every aspect of this story and can’t wait to continue.

pitched as bridgerton x the bachelor x the cruel prince, there was a lot going on in this one. i think it had some really interesting aspects, such as having a group of 6 girls vying for the hand of the prince, and seeing friendships form among them. i do think it should have just been an adult novel, as it has an on-the-page sex scene... pretty bizarre IMO.

what worked for me:
the pacing, the chapter lengths, the intermittent chapters of other character's POV
the bargains and prices of them

what didn't work for me:
foreshadowing was like.. rubber hammer to the head BONK
the aforementioned scene
essentially insta-love dynamic

are faeries played out?? im kind of over them but i am evil and contrarian so idk. i will still be reading the second book.

thank you to netgalley & harper collins YA for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Holly Black's The Cruel Prince and The Selection are perennial faves in our library, so I'm quite excited to find another book to recommend to our readers that have the best parts of these two books. Sprinkle in a bit of Bridgerton as well, and you have a hit of a book! It's fast paced, and engrossing, and perfect for readers who are just wanting to get into fantasy (but might be feeling a little intimidated). Highly recommend.

I devoured The Rose Bargain! A good combination for fans of The Cruel Prince and The Selection, this book will be so easy to book talk to my Fantasy and Romance readers. Unexpected plot twist and likeable characters makes for an amazing ride! Will be looking out for book 2!!

This is what a fantasy is made of…… the perfect amount of magic, plot, romance, heartbreak and it just left me wanting more and more!!!!!! The ending left my heart torn in two and I need more as soon as possible!!!!!

The Rose Bargain was one I knew I was going to love just by the description.
Even though we've seen a lot of royal competitions and fae bargains, here's what made this book stand out:

1) Ivy's competitors were not two-dimensional. Typically you have one character that's sweet, one that's mean, one that is secretive, basically just concepts of different character types. The chapter we get for each girl adds so much depth and explanation as to why they're all there and I appreciated it a lot. There was more to them then what you first saw.

2) I thought this was going to be a stereotypical FMC who just has every guy fall in love with her. For most of the book, this seemed to be the case. While I suspected Bram at times, I was NOT ready for how this book ended. That being said, I loved the twist. They were using each other and in a lot of ways, it's so poetically just.

3) Ivy makes the hard choice of letting Emmett go. Sure, this has little consequence by the end of the book, but I admired her resolve.

All I can say now is that EMMETT BETTER BE OKAY. And also I really hope this will be at least three books long!!

I think the concept of this book is really good. The Selection meets The Cruel Prince.

I was mostly enjoying this story, but somewhere in the middle the pacing got really slow for me and I felt like it was dragging. There’s some really good scenes with the characters and some of my favorite parts are all the girls!

I love how in the end all the girls are working together. I also really loved that we got multiple POVs to see things from their perspective and learn their back stories and motivations!

But the ending!!!! The last line, it made me absolutely want to continue with the next book.

Audiobook is very well done! Definitely would recommend this audio. 5/5.

I really loved this. I was feeling so tumultuous about the world and everything, but this book was such a sweet and well done romance with an interesting world and compelling characters. The BN edition is also stunning, and I had to get my own. I think that this is going to be a really popular YA book this summer--it has everything my teens at the library are always asking me for!

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for the chance to read the ARC. Really loved the beginning and the world building! It had such a strong intro, and the first trial had me hooked. Interested in seeing where the series goes next.