This was a really good read that drew me in from the start and was hard to put down! I enjoyed it a lot, and hope to read more from the author soon.

This book bugs me so much but in a GOOD way. If you aren't bothered by Chasland putting collars on women and taking away their natural magic when they marry, giving the key to their husbands and not letting them out until they are beyond childbearing years, then well this book is not for you. Women who practice magic need to do so in secrecy, and they are not allowed to advance to the degree men are able with the same skills.

This book screams women's rights, feminism, and body autonomy, which was right up my alley. This regency inspired fantasy world is cleverly thought out and well built. It takes a while to understand how it works, the different roles men and women are meant to have, but then you're drawn in and along for the ride. This world is intriguing with a mix of magic and romance within a society that the main character Beatrice doesn't agree with (rightfully so, in my opinion).

Beatrice wants more out of life than being a wife and having children. She wants to practice her magic and become more than her society allows. I enjoyed the many different aspects of this book and how the characters evolved throughout the novel. The growth and character development are lovely, and all of the characters experience it. I did enjoy the romance in this book, though it wasn't the central aspect, and I liked that. It felt very well matched with Beatrice's development and her choices about her future and life.

I would recommend this book for fans of historical fiction/fantasy lovers and anyone wanting a book about strong women and women's rights.

Thank you Erewhon Books and Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.
Wow! I’ve never read any of this author’s work but I’m considering it now. I devoured this novel. I read it in a single sitting over the course of a few hours.
So a fantasy book about how people have magic and consort with spirits and how, if women with magic get pregnant, their children are filled by malevolent spirits and are unsafe. So women and only women are never fully trained with magic and are cut off from their magic completely with an anti-magic metal collar from the moment of their marriage to a year after they go through menopause.
Our protagonist is a young woman named Beatrice who is about to go through the marriage bargaining season. She desperately wants to become a great mage, which women are not allowed to do, but she is also desperate to not let down her family and ruin their lives (which will surely happen without a wedding dowry)
But she finds a spell book that may be the key to unlocking the most advanced magic to make her a great mage and potentially change her future, but it’s snatched out of her hands by Ysbeta and Ianthe Lavan, wealthy heirs to a vast company. To retrieve it, Beatrice makes a deal with a spirit of fortune, Nadi, and so ties the fates of all the characters together. She becomes friends with Nadi the spirit, she strikes a deal to teach Ysbeta magic, and she starts courting Ianthe.
Beatrice is intelligent, she’s capable, she’s driven, she’s likable. I loved all of the characters I was supposed to like: Beatrice, Ysbeta, Ianthe, Nadi, Claire, etc. I really have no complaints about characterization at all! I especially loved Ysbeta and Nadi!
The book had quite a feminist message behind it. Why women are required to give up their magic just for childbearing and how they are seen as only good for it. Beatrice and Ysbeta both long to break out of the societal expectations. Ianthe is a surprisingly forward-thinking, accommodating, and sincere man (as well as ridiculously rich and handsome and popular).
One big thing about the book that I personally didn’t understand or relate to was the inherent desire to have children so badly. I know it’s so different for others, but I have zero interest in such things so those parts of the book didn’t resonate with me.
The Midnight Bargain had me gasping and roaring and laughing and all in all it was a great, quick read. I would highly recommend this to someone looking for a fairly happy and quick fantasy read.

A young woman fights to escape the hierarchy of men in a magical world, where women must give up their magic to have children only to complicate her fight by falling in love.

Most novels that focus on magic and other worlds tend to ignore injustices to focus only on a romance so I was glad to see that it was not the case with 'The Midnight Bargain'. It is an easy to read, feminist take on a world of mages, family expectations and women's struggles.

I don't usually read fantasy (even though I enjoy them) so it took some getting used to. The first half of the book was kind of slow for me. However, the second half was more action packed and entertaining. The romance between the main characters happened too quickly and easily for my taste, but they were a really cute couple.
Overall an entertaining fantasy book. I give this book 3.5 (4) out of 5 stars.

I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and author C.L. Polk for providing me with an ARC of this novel.

This was an absolute delight to read! Anything involving magic or witchcraft, I am so game for! I definitely found this thought provoking, and the writing was fantastic. The character development and world building were also great. I could have done without the romance; I would have rather just seen the continuation of feminist/go women power. Overall a good read, though.

This book was..... a wild ride. I enjoyed it, and the premise was promising, but a few parts definitely fell short. I was frustrated by the character wanting to be a strong woman who was badass and amazingly with magic, but I really didn’t feel like I got that. Not to mention that she literally INSTANTLY fell in love with the love interest. I really wished that the book had spent more time focusing on the EXCELLENT female friendships (Beatrice and Ysbeta are you KIDDING ME????? Love them) as opposed to focusing on the romance. I was super intrigued by the magic, though, and I really did want to see more of that, which is what kept me going. 3/5 stars- I didn’t hate it, and I’m fact I did quite enjoy the middle, but it wasn’t a fave.

The Midnight Bargain was an absolutely delightful book that I couldn’t put down. It was a Regency romance meets fantasy meets feminist novel (so essentially three things I adore all in one novel).

Beatrice was a fantastic heroine and her journey was so fun to watch. While her determination did make her single minded at times, she felt all the more realistic because of that. And while I enjoyed the romance with Ianthe, I kept reading because of Beatrice’s friendship with Ysbeta. Ysbeta was such a fierce character!

The plot was fast-paced and the comedic relief was timed perfectly. In fact, I challenge you not to chuckle at some of the antics. Plus the magic system felt so fresh! While the ending was a bit abrupt, the epilogue made it worth it. Also, I loved how Polk presented so many different valid ways to be a woman. Polk plays with the reader’s idea of a “strong female lead” and it worked so well. It’s okay if you don’t want children and want to go on swashbuckling adventures. It’s okay if you want children and want to start a revolution. It’s okay to be whoever you want to be because there are so many different types of strength.

I absolutely loved this standalone and, even though I don’t know how Polk could do it, I really hope we get another novel in this world one day. I highly recommend The Midnight Bargain if you’re looking for a fantasy novel that will sweep you off your feet.

*Disclaimer: I received a digital advance copy of this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Anything to do with magic and I’m there. I love magical books, I love books about witchcraft; Anne Fine being a particular favourite of mine.

I was disappointed with this story. The magic wasn’t as magical as I’d hope. It reminded me of discovery of witches at the start with the grimoire and the challenges Beatrice faced but for me it didn’t fulfil the excitement Harkness did.

The love story element was cringe for me where she fell head over heels....it contradicted with her strength as a female character. It feels as though this has been slotted in to capture another audience but it didn’t work.

It did get better and I was behind Beatrice the whole way but the ending really bored me and I found myself hurrying the ending because I was frustrated. I think making the love story realistic would improve this.

regency era AAA i love it as someone who has watched the 2005 pride and prejudice hundreds of times and the worldbuilding in the standalone is amazing. i love how ianthe was open to learn the way the beatrice thinks with her progressive worldview and he was willing to change even though the romance was shortlived. this is one of those books next to acotar that i just could not put down until i got to the ending which was also very satisfying

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Dear author and strangers bothering to read my review, 2020 has been a difficult year, and July a difficult month. So when I saw a fantasy book, with regency romance elements, a beautiful magic system and a feminist agenda, where the heroine has the same name I do, it felt like someone hand-made me a book from goddesses’ perfection realm. And said – Bia, you have to read this sh*t, it’s so f-ing good (goddesses swear a lot :D)! And it would still be underestimating The Midnight Bargain.

The metaphors are so perfect and powerful! And the world was so beautiful - makes you want to explore it forever (it reminded me a little of Christelle Dabos ‘La Passe-Miroir’ series, entrancing and magical, yet familiar)…

I highlighted so many passages that my kindle bugged a little. It’s just THAT GOOD.

Thank you for writing this, I’m forever happy for having read it, and stranger reading this analysis for some reason – you should read this too.

This quickly became one of the best books I’ve read this year!! It was so good and so thought provoking. The main character and the love interest really balanced each other out and had great conversations that I think would subtlety teach someone sexist into seeing the woman’s POV.
The writing was fantastic, the plot was great, and the characters were sublime. The story had great ties to the real world and past, as well as current issues women are facing.
One thing I think it could have done better was including other minorities. In this world, do the rules change when the woman is black instead of white? What about women in love with other women? Overall this book made me laugh, cry, and everything in between. Definitely a worthwhile read!!

Thank you @Netgalley for providing this ARC in return for an honest review!
The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk is a delightfully-written tale of the pursuit of freedom and the sacrifices one has to make to get there. Beatrice lives in a country where all sorceresses are put in a collar that binds their magic when they get married, but all she wants in life is to become a full-blown Magi. When another sorceress swindles a grimoir right out of her hands, Beatrice summons a spirit that sets her on a path of defiance, romance, adventure, and soul-searching. Now, it would have been so easy for Polk to turn the other sorceress, Ysbeta, into Beatrice’s rival for the whole book, but she doesn’t. Beatrice and Ysbeta become fast friends despite their differences. It would also be easy to villify everyone involved in the magic-binding tradition, but even that isn’t the case, as themes of culture and oppression are explored in shades of gray. Beatrice is feisty, flawed and relatable, wavering between her dream of becoming a Magi and the fact that her family will fall into financial ruin if she doesn’t marry well. Ysbeta and her brother, Ianthe, are characterized beautifully, sometimes clashing and sometimes defending each other, but always their own distinct characters. Ianthe, as Beatrice’s love interest, is flawless. He’s respectful, he listens, and he’s so heart-achingly romantic that you almost swoon whenever he comes onto the page. The writing itself is beautiful and detailed, making amazing use of all five senses to immerse you fully in the plot, which is well-paced, exciting, and defies being put down.

This book took me on a ride. I cried. Twice, I think. It's kind of a blur. I read it fast.
**Typical disclaimers about being given this arc for free in exchange for a fair and honest review**

I'll start off right out with the hardest truth: the first quarter took its time engaging me, which may be a result of this not being my typical reads and therefore new waters to tread. I didn't have any difficulty meandering with it, but once i sat down and dedicated time I read that last 75% in /two hours/. I fled through it. I cared so hard about our main cast, about what they wanted, about the fact that Beatrice is swimming in self-loathing for being just as selfish as her male counterpart gets to be without thinking about it. And I see Ysbeta's declarations of not loving a man nor woman, despite being very aware of their attractiveness. I see the ace rep in there. Melts my heart a little.

I also found Beatrice difficult to understand at times. She can't decide whether she wants to be selfish or whether she hates herself for it, and that can make her seem unpredictable at times. I think having Nadi around saved Beatrice's character for me quite a bit, because it gave me good insight into the person she could be, if she was only given the chance. That's a long way of saying I like that Beatrice was capricious, although it did make her frustrating at times.

The romance--I'm not sure. I think we get quite a lot of time with Ianthe and their courtship, more than the set up is expecting of them, and I think the addition of Ysbeta's friendship went a long way in solidifying the fact that I could see them being happy together.

I have a lot of thoughts about a lot of things so to keep it brief: this is a Romance book first and foremost, It is a Feminist book second, and a Fantasy book third. If the order of operations there confuses you, you may find yourself adjusting to the pacing and the character arcs until you're strapped in for the ride. I loved it. There was an extremely bumpy second-act-turn there for me, where I was unhappy with some of the events, but it wrapped up better than I could have asked for.

When this book was good, it was very good. And when this book was bad, it was very bad. That made reviewing it on a star level relatively difficult. I enjoyed the world and the mythology in it quite a lot. The rules around sorcery and how they controlled women's magic but still used them to create strong mages was really interesting. The characters had depth and interests beyond superficial ones- they wanted to be powerful mages all for their own reasons.

Because the characters were so good and the world concept so fun to read, this was a 3.5 out of 5 star read for me.

Full Review: 8/5/2020

Hmmm stuck in my inner evaluation purgatory: Another book gave me mixed feelings and I couldn’t decide if I hated it or loved it.

There are so many things I truly enjoyed: having equal rights between men and power to hold and use magic, to have rights to be Magus parts are thought provokingly well established.If you are a woman, you have to sacrifice your potential to have and hold the magic because when you get marry, you may put your unborn children’s lives into danger( they may be corrupted by vicious spirits)

Overall: The world building, bargaining system to choose yourself a wealthy, charming husband, rules of magic were the original, well developed and most interesting parts of the book.
But... yes... here comes the parts which bothered me a lot:

Firstly let’s talk about characters:
I found the characterization a little flat, superficial. MC Beatrice carries feminism vibes to fight for her rights to use her magic and become a Magus as like the other men do. But she was mostly too annoying, irritating, acting selfishly. Those facts made her unlikable. Her character suffers from lack of emotional depth. Poor, charming Ianthe shows his feelings from the beginning and I wanted to scream at her face and tell her “ get marry with this guy, what are you waiting for!”
Thankfully even though we suffer from heroine’s obnoxiousness, Nadi, lovely spirit she summoned to help her get back the grimoire, was my favorite character.

Romance parts are haphazard, instantaneous, too. I couldn’t get the part how they suddenly fell for each other. I really thought maybe I missed some pages and returned back to find them. Oh, no. I didn’t skip or miss any pages!

And the pace was a little bumpy. It gets slower and something happens to captivate your attention back. But a few chapters later the boredom comes back!

Fantasy parts and creative world building were truly amazing. I wish there would be less romance and more magic in this book with more tolerable characters. I’m so sure with this formulation: I would give it five stars.
So I stayed in Switzerland territory: it was not great but it was okay read so let’s meet in the middle by giving it three stars.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Erewhon books for providing me this unique ARC in exchange my honest opinions.

*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review *

3.75 stars

Beatrice is sorceress. Sorceresses in her time and country are locked into 'warding collars' once they are married, to avoid any unborn babies being possessed by spirits, and women remaining unmarried and pursuing sorcery is very unusual, and frowned upon. She, however, wants to pursue the magical path, and when she meets the Lavan siblings, one becoming her ally in trying to find a way to pursue magic as a woman, and the other becoming her suitor, she is torn between the two and the pain it will bring her family if she tries to go against the system.

Overall this was an entertaining, cute read, while a little cliché at times. I did enjoy the themes of female empowerment and trying to break the cycle of female opression.

The magical system was rather interesting as well, with the mages harnessing powers through summoning and binding spirits, and becoming full mages only once they have summoned a greater spirit and bound it to themselves. I loved Nida as well!

However, I did feel that the pacing was a little patchy, and especially the romance between Beatrice and Ianthe felt a little too insta-love for my taste, and could have been more developed!

This is a hard book to review because on one hand I liked what it was trying to say but it was so slow I couldn’t read but a chapter or two per day.

“The Midnight Bargain” exists in a world where women lose their right to magic once they marry out of fear that their unborn children will be at risk of having their souls corrupted and when Beatrice enters her Bargaining season to find a husband she meets a pair of siblings in need of her talents to read a grimoire and save each other from a life of misery.

So the best parts of this book is putting the fantasy element on top of the real world issue of the unborn having more rights than the women expected to carry them and how the choices surrounding their bodies are dictated by their male counterparts. By having the collar act as symbolism for that restraint on women was very clever especially at the end when the weight of responsibility is shifted and how the men react offers a lot to the conversation and it was nice to see two women who were set up to be rivals make a strong team.

The romance here was rather blah I didn’t feel it at all but I’m not sure if that is the point so we could spend more time focusing on the task at hand. I liked the idea of the bargains with the spirits and learning more about their magic as a whole but like I mentioned above I could not stay interested in this book at all. I looked up how many pages were here and seeing such a low number compared to what I’m used to was shocking I felt like it was at least 800 pages trying to drag myself through it.

I hope others are able to connect with it with more ease than I could but as of right now I think the message was lost for me as I spent too much time just trying to keep my eyes on the page.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.

3.5 star. This book was a cute read. It focuses way more on the romance than the magic. I wanted more out of the fantasy aspect. There wasn’t much magic display at all. It does make sense with the story since women aren’t really supposed to use magic, but I was always craving more action. The instant love annoyed me, but the relationship was cute overall. I really liked the message of the book in how women should be equal and not the only ones to sacrifice. Great messages. Cute read.

It's bargaining season and Beatrice must attract an eligibile suitor and marry if she wishes to save her family from financial ruin. Can she give up her desire to become a mage and marry as she should or will she keep pursuing magic? I have to say initially I was sceptical on whether or not I'd like this book. But the beautiful cover drew me in. I was pleasantly surprised from the start and couldn't put the book down. I loved the relationships that were built between Beatrice, Madi, Ysbeta, and Ianthe. I thought the pace of the story flowed well and it kept me engaged throughout the whole story. I highly recommend this story to anyone who loves stories of magic and romance.