CUTE! FLUFFY! LIGHTHEARTED! MINIMAL ANGST AND MAXIMUM HUGS! LOTS OF WOMEN BEING SUPPORTIVE AND KIND TO EACH OTHER WITHOUT PASSIVE AGGRESSION OR JUDGEMENT! Just how I like my novellas.

After reading this book I definitely wanted to go out and find the rest of the series. Stephanie Burgis is extremely skilled at fleshing out historical fantasy worlds and this book was no different. The relationship was well built, even within the short space of the novella.

Great novella exploring the relationship between two confident young women who'd popped up in the previous books as supportive characters. They added an interesting element to the series, and it was nice to explore their characters and relationship in further detail in their own short story.

This novella can be read as a standalone. I only read the first book in this series so far, but technically, one doesn't even need that much background.

This was a nice quick romance bursting with magic and tricky fae.

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Moontangled is a novella in Stephanie Burgis' Fantasy Romance series, "The Harwood Spellbook," and is technically the fourth in the series (after two short novels and a prequel novella). I hadn't read any of the prior works in the series before reading this novella, and that wasn't really a problem: the novella gives you all the details you need to know in its short text. I've seen writers I like tweet out Burgis' work before, and I've grown to like fantasy romance, so it was an easy request when this novella showed up on NetGalley 2 days before its release date (today). And Moontangled turned out to be a really lovely (F-F) fantasy romance, rewarding my decision quite a bit and making me want to go back and check out the rest of this series.


Plot Summary: Juliana Banks, aspiring mage and brilliant student of the Thornfell College of Magic, is desperate to have everything at the upcoming Outdoor Ball go right. For her secret fiance and love of her life, Caroline Fennell, is attending the Ball, and for the last few months, Juliana has felt Caroline get more and more distant - but Juliana is sure she can win Caroline back over. Yet Caroline's distance has been deliberate, as Caroline's political career is in disgrace, and Caroline doesn't want to drag Juliana, the person dearest to her, down along with Caroline. But when their encounter at the Ball leaves both their hearts broken, the two find themselves caught in a Fey trap that will require them to sort their feelings out, or be trapped forever....

Thoughts: The thing about romantic short fiction, especially one in which the narrative shows us the perspectives of both characters, is that it's pretty easy to see where things are going from early on, meaning what really matters is the execution of the story: how well the story makes you care about the characters and how it winds up getting them together in a way that makes the reader smile (or even tear up). Moontangled doesn't quite pack the punch to make a reader tear up, but it definitely made me smile, as both of its protagonists are such charming individuals: Juliana is a mage desperately learning magic so as to fulfill her promise - and to be the best possible spouse for her beloved - and has never thought of saying not to any of her beloved's requests, even when they secretly hurt, while Caroline is a woman who always felt like she was expected to be a successful politician, so she always thought Juliana needed that of her and that Juliana wouldn't want her without it, hence her willingness to hide her love. It's a pretty natural way for misunderstandings to occur and forms a conflict that is frustrating to read because I liked the characters....and was lovely to see get resolved, with a little help from the fantastical elements.

If you don't like romance, this novella won't turn you towards liking it, mind you. But if you do enjoy it, this is as a result an absolutely lovely and charming short romance, and is worth your time.

This was a short and sweet novella and I had a blast the whole way through. There was a bit of the miscommunication trope but it didn't bother me at all. The world and the magic was really interesting and whimsical. I was a bit confused at times about events that happened in previous stories since I jumped straight into this one. I'd probably recommend reading the story in order if you can but it didn't ruin the story by any means. I still had lots of fun and the friendship in the story was heartwarming :)
The romance between the leads was so sweet! I wanted more.

I'm planning on checking out the other novellas in the series soon!

I received and e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Nice little novella. I haven't read any of the other books in the series, but it does seem like they would be interesting. I wasn't sure I'd be able to figure out the backstory, but the author did a good job filling it in so you don't need to read the others first.

Thank you to the publisher, NetGalley and the author for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Moontangled is a novella falling between book 2 and 3. There is however enough information to read this on its own. You get just enough information to get an understanding. Even so, I felt a disconnect from the story. I really didn't connect with the characters. #Moontangled #NetGalley

This was just what I was looking for: a well-written, well-edited, fun book (but not pure fluff and nonsense, either). Having struggled recently with a run of books that did not meet the criteria just mentioned, I enjoyed it very much.

It's part of a series, and I haven't read the earlier books; there's enough backstory given that I wasn't confused, but clearly I need to go back and read those books. If they're anything like this one, I'll enjoy them quite a bit.

Magic users, romance, challenging of traditional gender roles, a bit of tension and danger, people working out their problems by actually talking to each other (when forced to do so, admittedly) - it's all good stuff.

A novella, which meant there wasn't a lot to it and I was left wanting more, but if the other books are novels, I am definitely in.

This novella is a nice little bonbon for fans of the Harwood Spellbook series.

Even though magic is central to the story, I’d say the emphasis in this romantic fantasy is really on the romance. Caroline and Juliana yearn for each other, even though Caroline feels she must end their secret betrothal when she is caught up in scandal. The actions of a dangerous fey cause them to realize that their love is more important than anything else, though, and they decide to pursue their happily ever after.

The story is fairly simple and quite short, and I wished at the end that I had gotten to spend more time with the characters. It’s very sweet, though, and worth reading if you love the world Burgis has created in this series.

A copy of this book was provided by NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

Hmmm? This was cute. I think I should have read the other 2 books before this as I would probably have had a better connection with the characters. THAT BEING SAID (!) I will be reading those 2 books now because I want to know more!

When I picked this book up, I didn’t realize it was part of a series or that it was a novella. I just got it on a whim because it sounded interesting and I felt like a light-hearted book. I generally don’t like novellas and would probably have enjoyed this more had I been familiar with the series, but since that was my mistake in being so hasty, I decided to just try and enjoy it anyway.

Ultimately I was a bit surprised with this book given my above reservations. Even without knowing the world and characters, I found the story pretty easy to follow, even with the scarcity of background details the shorter novella format necessitates. The characters are succinctly established and reinforced throughout the brief introductions and events of the novella. About the only thing that I felt was missing was for a romance, I didn’t really get much of an idea of how these characters met and how their relationship started, but I assume that’s elaborated on in the novels. I liked the occasional humor and tone of the story and generally found it a very easy read. Probably the best thing I can say for the book is that despite jumping into the middle of a series I knew little about, I’m interested in trying the full novels in this world and seeing what they’re like.

My only real criticism is that there is a good number of minor characters referenced in such a short book and it’s hard to keep track of them and even left me a bit mixed up on who Caroline and Julianna were in the beginning. This is another thing that’s probably easier had I read the other books that introduced these characters, but I at least don’t think so many minor characters were really needed for this story. More physical descriptions of at least the main characters might have helped as well. Despite the main girls checking each other out and fretting so much about what to wear and all, I didn’t ever feel like I really had much of an idea what either of them looked like. I know some authors intentionally avoid specific character description, but I think it would have helped me distinguish characters here.

All in all, the book does pretty well what it’s aiming to do and tells a short and sweet romance story that fleshes out a couple characters in this world as while demonstrating their relationship from the inside. I can definitely see how this likely adds to the world already established, but I think the book was pretty good in itself as well.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. All opinions herein are my own.

I thought this book is well written. It sure didn't take me long to read this one because I couldn't stop reading this one.

I do highly recommend.

Moontangled is a novella in the Harwood Spellbook world featuring two of the minor characters: Miss Banks and Miss Fennell. If you don’t remember them, they’re the two who had a clandestine relationship while Juliana attempted to learn magic and Caroline attempted to become a high-flying politician. In this world, women do politics and men learn magic, and ideal partnerships for political women are with men who can do magic. Juliana is one of the first women to learn, and Caroline… well, she’s now in disgrace because of her mentor’s failings, and she thinks it’s time to end the relationship with Juliana before it brings her down.

I’m not a big fan of the kind of misunderstanding that drives this novella: just sit down and communicate, people. It’s not that difficult, I promise you. (As I frequently joke, I am the Relationship Advice Dalek: COMM-UN-I-CATE! COMM-UN-I-CATE!) There’s ample room for it in the letters they send each other, for goodness’ sake. It doesn’t help that it’s exactly the same kind of misunderstanding as in the previous books I’ve read in this world: “I’m going to do things to protect you, including end our relationship, regardless of what you might actually want and oh, wait, what do you mean you didn’t want what I thought you wanted?”

Still, even if their misunderstanding is completely daft, their care for each other is sweet. I found the plotline a little obvious, but it’s fun to watch it play out anyway. Highly original this isn’t, but a sweet escapist romance with a touch of magic? It delivers. I read it all in one gulp when I should probably have been doing something else; it doesn’t need to be more substantial than this.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. While this is part of her Harwood Spellbook series, this book can stand alone, and I’m glad this was my intro to such a fun series. I loved Juliana and Caroline, and hope to read the rest of the books to see why they’ve become such fan favorites. It’s also great to see a same-sex relationship in a fantasy story in a pseudo historical world, especially one that isn’t so caught up in the “historically accurate” conventions, but rather has them deal with issues that any other couple would face, such as a rift leading to a broken engagement, while otherworldly things with fey are also going on.