Are you looking for the story of two small-town American sisters at the turn of the 20th century? What if we told you that it's also a story of the Fae, without fated mates or prophecies or internecine politics? Alaine and Delphine are two sisters who grew up in Prospect Hill. Their family farm was earned in a "fairy bargain" two generations ago, and they were raised to consider minor bargains - red ribbons for sunny days, pearl buttons for finding a lost shoe - as everyday occurrences. As the book opens, Delphine is getting married and Alaine is facing financial trouble on the farm.

The book builds slowly. Delphine gradually realizes that the man she married with the help of her fairy bargains might not be the fairy tale prince she imagined. Alaine is able to stave off foreclosure on her farm with the help of more serious fairy bargains. As the sisters' lives grow apart, they seem to purposely misunderstand each other, and how they can help. The book slowly builds to the climax of a "traditional" fairy bargain. On the one hand, the experience of reading the book is like the apologue of the boiling frog: you don't realize how serious the trouble is until you're in it. On the other hand, the slow movement of the book can make you wish there was more narrative momentum.

We ended up appreciating the progressive build more upon reflection than in the moment. Looking back, this is an adult exploration of the Fae, without flashy magic or wild romance. We recommend it for people who enjoy gaslamp fantasy with slightly lower stakes than saving the world.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

Genre: fantasy
Midwest, turn of the 20th century

Years ago, Papa Horatio met a fairy and made a bargain in exchange for a parcel of fifty acres on Prospect Hill. Two generations later, his granddaughter Alaine runs the orchard on the hill with her husband and daughter, making small bargains with the fairies, which is all she’s ever wanted. Delphine, her younger sister, dreams of leaving their small country town, which she’ll get to do upon her marriage to Pierce Grafton, son of the owner of Grafton Glassworks and a man with political ambition. As Pierce’s character is revealed though, Delphine becomes more desperate for Alaine to help her with more bargains, until the sisters are forced to pay a price higher than they imagined.

Fairy Bargains is a thoughtfully slow moving fantasy, set in at the turn of the 20th century in the American midwest. It has everything I love about this time period - a blending of the old traditions and the fresh modernity and hope of technology in the early 20th century. Except here, progress means bringing the iron of the railroad lines closer to Prospect Hill, muddling the veil to the fairy lands and making bargains more difficult, pushing Alaine and Delphine towards the brink of desperation, as Del’s husband shows his cruel side.

I really loved Alaine - she’s strong, capable, loves the orchard, and will do anything for her family. Delphine begins as a bit spoiled - she does want to be a society lady - but her character really grows in the face of adversity. Even our villain, Pierce, has multiple dimensions to his character.

My only word of caution is that this story takes its time to unfold and while the pace increases in the last third, it does take some time to get there. It took a third of the book for the conflict to begin to develop. And yet, there is no part of the book you’d want to edit out - each moment is integral to the development of the story.

If you are looking for a mature fantasy that focuses more on the mechanics of the trickiness of fae rather than an epic war-torn fae fantasy, I recommend picking up The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill.

Thanks to Redhook Books and Netgalley for an eARC for review. Fairy Bargains is out 3/28/23.

So much fun, so delightful. Miller presents a tale of sisters who grow apart and then find their way back to each other. The tensions feel palpable and threatening. An elegantly crafted mingling of the frightening magic of fairies and the mundane horrors of humans. Even when you are screaming at a character to not do it, you understand their motivations the whole time. Such a tricky line to walk, empathy while someone makes mistakes, but Miller has a deft hand and pulls it off.

2.5/5 stars DNF’d at 22%

Digital ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for honest review.

I thought this would be a cozy historical fantasy and instead I got a boring, predictable “save-the-farm” story that just so happened to mention fairies. I wanted to DNF earlier, but decided to keep going. After reading some reviews here that confirmed my suspicions about the plot (is it really a spoiler if you saw it all coming?), and finding out I’d have to read over 200 pages to get any momentum from this story, and then read 200 more, I decided I did not want to further waste my time.

Is this book poorly written? On a technical level no. I found the characters’ motivations to be understandable. Delphine and Alaine’s insecurities, love, and misunderstandings were intriguing. Rarely do you see characters who make the attempt to be self aware, yet still so human.

However, I found the pacing and plotting to be poorly done. Idk why the wedding needed 7 chapters of buildup when we don’t even get to see it from Delphine’s point of view. This should be an emotionally charged day for her, but we only see Alaine’s POV.
The slowness of everything became even more infuriating when having to sit through multiple pages of how women were treated in the late 1800’s / early 1900’s. I understand it’s a historical fantasy, but if the only fantasy is the fairies and they’re not really involved in the plot until halfway through, then I’m just left with an underbaked historical fiction.
It feels like the narrative is trying to make a commentary on women’s oppression in society; but the lack of nuance, intersectional incorporation, and the mustache twirling of those antagonistic to women/our main characters left me with nothing new, and nothing done better than things I’ve already read. There could also be a commentary on capitalism, capitalists, industry, etc. but once again I was only provided with shallow observations.

This book seems to want to be an intimate character study of our two sisters, but its observations of their lives are so flat and empty, and the sisters so single minded that it just feels like a waste of time.

The first 50 to 60% of this book was a slog. Too much introduction, not enough story.
i did enjoy the time in fairy but did not care what happened to theses two selfish characters.

I really enjoyed reading this. I really enjoy reading historical fiction, and this is historical fantasy. I would definitely recommend this one.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill.

I love stories about the Fae, and I was excited when my request was approved.

I've never read this author before but I'm glad I was given the opportunity to read this book because she writes well.

She describes Prospect Hill as both a beautiful yet dangerous place to live, a place to respect and be wary of, not unlike the Fae world.

I also enjoyed the folklore and rules of bargaining with the Fae, as well as how these stories are handed down through the generations.

My issue was how the narrative dragged. It was incredibly slow.

I appreciate exposition as much as the next person but there's a lot to get through; Del's wedding, the bargains Alaine makes as her financial woes increase, the disappearance of Alaine's daughter, Emily. It all read as filler to me. I don't need to know every little thing that's going to happen before the wedding; what everyone is wearing, what the dresses look like, etc.

There's no urgency or excitement; no suspense since you know how terrible Del's husband is and where their relationship will end up.

As a sister, I was looking forward to a story about sisters, but character development for Alaine and Del is lacking.

I didn't like Alaine or Del. I wasn't unsympathetic to Del's predicament but I didn't care for either of them.

I get why Del wanted to make a bargain but Alaine's bargains began to get bigger and more self serving, as she wanted desperately for certain events to go her way, which I get.

But, her reasons for making these bargains are also incredibly selfish and foolish. And it's not like she doesn't know what she's doing is bad.

She's grown up with stories of the Fae, her own grandfather was gifted his land as a fairy bargain, Alaine knows not to ask for things she can't bear to part with, and the Fae are tricky.

My favorite parts were with the Fae, but overall I didn't like this as much as I thought I would.

This was a pretty decent read. Kept me interested and was paced well. I can imagine it gets some negative reviews for being longer than it needed to be, there was quite a bit of unnecessary fluff. But overall it worked out ok. The story goes right where the reader expects, but is still a fun read.

It's only been a year or so since I have gotten into reading fantasy and it's because of books like this that I decided to do so. The beautiful writing hooked me. There was such a feeling of time and place, even though neither is mentioned, that takes talent. I knew the location was the midwest in the early twentieth century. And then there is The Fae, oh my word, Rowenna Miller had so many details and made it sound so lovely and scary at the same time.

The relationship between sisters Alaine and Delphine is a highlight of the book, they both take advantage of the fairy bargains but it is Alaine who uses them to save her cherished farm and beloved sister. There were a lot of touchy issues throughout the book such as spousal abuse, women's rights and classism. It was surreal reading about them as we still have these issues in the modern world.

I admit that the book was a tad slow to start, but don't let that deter you from continuing to read, it is very important to the story and when the pace picks up it is well worth the wait. All in all a magical read that I found enchanting. I must also mention the gorgeous cover, it perfectly matches the beauty that is inside the book.

I was really excited to read something new from Rowenna Miller, especially one that dealt with the Fae. It reminded me a lot of The Once & Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow.
I do think the first 50% or so of this book was a little slow, heavier on the historical elements and lighter on the fantasy elements. Neither sister was really as...interesting as I thought they would be, although I did like that the perspective alternated between Alaine and Delphine. From the synopsis, I thought it would just be Alaine's perspective.
After the first half, things really sped up and I enjoyed getting a closer look at the nature of the Fae rather than just reading descriptions of bargains that the sisters made and what was given in return. I'll admit I wasn't quite hooked until Alaine found the chicken in the fairy ring.

Thanks to Redhook and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill is about Alaine and Delphine, two sisters who grew up on an orchard on Prospect Hill (somewhere in the Midwest, presumably near Chicago), which has been in their family when their grandfather bargained with a fairy. Delphine's marriage to Pierce Grafton is supposed to be a good thing; he's the heir to the Grafton Glassworks business and lives in the much more fashionable Perrysberg, and it's a match the girls' mother has always dreamed of. Alaine, meanwhile, is a businesswoman in the Gilded Age, and thus is not taken very seriously by anyone except her family despite her ambition and skill at being a farmer. The two sisters have bargained with the fair folk their whole lives, but have been told there are strict rules they can't break because it's dangerous. Of course, when Pierce turns out to be an abusive husband, Alaine starts getting more and more reckless with her bargains, and things to about as well as you'd expect, and things go down hill very quickly.

I would say the first 55% of this book is a 3 star read and the last 45% was a 5 star read for me. There's a lot of buildup to the turning point in the book, and it's quite slow in terms of pace and heavy in terms of content. Delphine is bullied by her in-laws and abused by her husband, and Alaine is constantly belittled by her male peers. The behavior is all very era-appropriate, but it feels more like historical fiction than fantasy. However, after you get past the halfway mark, the story picks up significantly and the fantasy becomes very clear as the fae take a more prominent and active role in the story. I really liked how Miller interpreted the fae and their Court, and how she approached bargaining and how the changes in the world (i.e. an increase in railways) have affected them. I liked both Delphine and Alaine's character arcs as well, especially since I found Alaine to be a bit frustrating in the first half of the novel, as she ignores everyone's warnings to not underestimate the fae and their pleas to not involve the fair folk more than necessary into their own lives.

Overall, this was a pretty fun historical fantasy, and I'm really glad I saw the story through. While the first half wasn't quite what I'd been expecting, it pulled together and by the end I was glued to the pages. I'd take caution with any potential trigger/content warnings, as their is abuse on the page (ranging from belittling Delphine to hitting her, which happens once). It was worth the read and by the time I finished I had a deeper appreciation for the things that didn't originally work for me in the first half.

The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill was a delightful read for me, I enjoyed the slow building of the story, the characters, and the setting. This is one of the best books on "fairy bargains" that I have read and gives the phrase, "more than what I bargained for" a whole different meaning for me!

Well done, and next time I am on my grandma's farm, I may just try one myself! I appreciate the nostalgia, the importance of family, and the reminder of what women in the late 19th century had to deal with.

Thank you to NetGalley. Orbit, and Rowenna Miller for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Fairy bargains of Prospect Hill by Rowenna Miller, an interesting premise that breathes fresh life into a fun area of writing. I enjoyed it.

Be careful what you wish for or bargain with a fairy for.....
Alaine and Delphine were taught by their grandmother how to bargain with fae. Their grandmother had always warned them not to bargain unless you knew exactly what you were asking for. They'd used it to bring fair weather for picnics and weddings, help finding lost items, and bring rain for needed harvests, but the sisters slowly start delving deeper into bargaining to help solve their adult problems. When Delphine's marriage issues drive the sisters to bargain once again with the fae, it turns out to be more than they bargained for.

I really enjoyed this book. The lore of the fae along with well written characters has me hoping for a sequel. Maybe with Emily? I will be looking at Rowenna Miller backlist to see what else she has to offer.

This book would have been much more enjoyable for me were it not so slow moving. I really liked the dynamics between the two sisters, and the folklore woven into the narrative. I also don't think I've ever encountered a fairy story set during the Gold Rush/Gilded Age, so that was a clever spin on the traditional tropes. I think I would have liked this book a lot more if the first 50% more closely resembled the second 50% in terms of pacing.

Gorgeously written tale of family and the love between sisters. I loved the characters and their connections not only to one another but also to their home. Miller's take on the Fae and their world is lovely and she does an amazing job of blending them into the real world in such a way that it feels believable.

3.5/5

I've been on a cozy fantasy/historical fantasy kick lately cause I'm too busy to commit to a multi-book fantasy series and The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill really fills that spot. Alaine and Delphine are country girls with a relationship with the Fae that has span generations, creating bargains with them for good harvest and love. But eventual the bargains have a higher cost that is more than the women could pay.

Loves: I love that the two main characters are both sisters who aren't pit against each other and want the best for one another as it could have been easy to have the relationship fall apart as the story progresses.

Mehs: Hated that I couldn't pinpoint what time period in the US this was. I figured it was Gilded Age by the descriptions of wealth, railroads, and political movements, but would have loved to have a year mentioned once as this book did time jumps often

Fans of The Night Circus will really enjoy this historical fantasy
tw: spouse abuse

A family receives land after a bargain with a fairy, which is then passed down to the next generation. Two sisters in this family have been warned to deal carefully with the fairies and bargains. Alaina uses the bargains for better crops, but everything changes when her sister marries into a wealthy family. Delphine later admits to her sister that her husband is cruel and abusive, but is trapped in her life. Alaina, who runs the family orchard, tries to help her sibling. Alaina was a strong woman with a supportive husband and daughter when women had few rights, including voting. Her devotion to her land and family led her down a path where she had been cautioned not to travel, and it made me very nervous that she was doing so. The book’s first half focuses mainly on the sisters and their relationships. It was a slower and more thoughtful pace as Alaina found ways to help her sister. The book’s second half deals more with the consequences as it picks up the pace and veers into another realm. This story has many layers, including family relationships, magic, folklore, woman’s rights, trust, and love. A good read that held my attention, especially at the end.

Oh, I am so disappointed by this book. You all know how much I love Fae stories, and unfortunately, this one just did not work for me. Though, it really wasn’t the Fae part of this book that bothered me. It was literally the main two characters — Delphine and Alaine. But we’ll get to them in just a second. I have some more complaints I want aired first.

First of all, the first…half? of this book? is a total slog. It is so slow — you are basically dragged along for no reason. I think some major editing could have maybe saved most of this book, but it’s too late now. Almost nothing really happens until about 50% of the way in, and then the story finally kicks off. Ugh. I wanted to like this book so much. I love stories about the fae — bargains, trickery, and general magic all included. All of that is present here, but it’s told in such a roundabout, slow way that I almost found myself DNFing this book more than once. I hate to say that. I really do — there was so much potential here that is disappointing that it just wasn’t used.

Delphine and Alaine are sisters that grew up together on the orchard that their grandfather bargained for from the fae. They grow up knowing about the fae, about the set-in-stone bargains they can use to tweak the luck of the world to get things they want or need. Alaine wants to be seen as capable of running the orchard on her own. Delphine wants to marry into society and be seen as important that way. This much I followed, this was fine.

But then they — mostly Alaine — start sticking their noses into things they shouldn’t. Alaine starts bargaining for bigger and bigger things, starts trying to really change things, rather than tweak, and well, soon enough she bargains for something she shouldn’t. The entire book I found myself basically screaming at Leslie and Julie. No, that’s a lie, we were all screaming at each other! None of us liked what we were reading, and all of us knew this was going to end badly. Delphine at least had a good reason for her bargains. She marries a rich, powerful man only to discover that he’s horrible and abusive. (The abuse we see on page is — she gets slapped, pushed into a wall, and her arm held very tightly.) She wants out of her marriage, so she tries to bargain. Makes sense.

But guys. Guys. I didn’t like either of these characters. They both are extremely selfish. They’re both unlikable. They both make stupid decision after stupid decision. And we’re left to follow as the consequences of these decisions make themselves known. Fortunately, this book does end in a way that I at least tolerated. I don’t want to spoil anything, but ugh. This entire book was underwhelming. I’m rating this three stars simply, because the time spent in Fae was interesting.

I recieved an ARC from netgalley for my honest opinion.
Wonderful, heartfelt story of 2 sisters and their bond. Went in thinking it would be a easy read and was pleasently surprised with how much character development and drama is created. The book reminded me of a lifetime movie in a good way and had me invested in the character outcomes. Love that it's dual pov from the sisters so you understand what they are thinking and how they feel. Very well written and does start off a bit slow but does pick up the pace.
5/5 stars loved every minute of the book.