this was like Bridgerton with a dash of magic. I loved the banter and the soft flirtation between the main characters. Definitely a sweet little romance if you are new to the fantasy genre.

“Give me some credit here. It’s like watching an entire opera play out
every time you two so much as make eye contact with each other”

This story crafted by Allison Saft has the feel of a historical romance while weaving in a magic system that really creates the fantasy vibe of this novel. The witty banter between our MCs is top-notch. Niahm is a magical seamstress, with a power passed down through generations to weave feelings into fabric. Kit is the outcast prince of Avalon whose brother, the king regent, has prearranged a marriage to a princes of a nearby kingdom. Niahm is hired to create the attire for the prince and princess for their upcoming nuptials and although using her magic is slowly taking years from her life, she can not turn down the opportunity to make enough money to support her family. Our FMC soon learns that secrets are being kept and the royal court has more to hide than she first imagined. What’s most unexpected is how the prickly groom-to-be prince is slowly working is way into her thoughts more and more.


Sometimes, it felt as though she’d threaded all her family’s wounds onto a string and hung them around her own neck. But she could not complain… Besides, it was a comfortable weight by now. If she did not carry it, then who would?

The internal struggle Niahm and Kit both have while balancing loyalty to uphold their families’ legacies versus also wanting literally anything for themselves is felt through the pages of this book. They are both strong willed characters who feel a duty to uphold their family’s needs over their own. Along with this is a brewing slow-burn romance that must be kept in the dark. Tabloids abound at any sight of the prince stepping out of line and Niahm must save her reputation if she wants to become anything more than a poor seamstress. When things start to heat up, decisions must be made and we find out who has been honest and who has more to hide than we ever thought possible…


She floated in a haze of pleasure and exhaustion. “Is this a dream?”
“I don’t know,” he said huskily, his eyes aglow. “Let me kiss you until dawn, and I suppose we’ll find out.”

A Fragile Enchantment is as enchanting as the title suggests and I really enjoyed it!

extremely slow start to a highly anticipated fantasy novel. couldn't get into the story no matter how hard i tried.

First and foremost, thank you to NetGalley for the e-arc of this book!

I have to preface this review to say that I started this book and life took a curve and so early into reading, I lost touch with it and my flow through the book suffered.

We open with Niamh O'Connor being selected to sew Prince Kit Carmine's wedding cloak. I initially struggled a bit with the opening of this book. It's harder for me to read in third person, so that's always a little bit of a shift; but also... I found the difference in language (suited to the time period, and also the names I didn't know how to pronounce) set me off on the wrong foot. I chose to try my best at pronouncing them, and moved through the story fairly quickly after that. I did find that it dropped us off quickly into the action of the story.

Niamh can weave feelings, memories, or enchantments into her sewing, and I just found that interesting. Kit also had a bit of magic to him, and it was done in a nice way that it complimented the story and characters without feeling fake.

It was interesting to watch the interaction between Niamh and Kit. I felt Niamh to be quite relatable - lost to her own thoughts and struggling to speak her true feelings, but growing in strength and self conference. Kit was also interesting, it was satisfying to peel back the layers and discover his true personality despite the facade he kept.

I realized that by 60-80% in it felt somehow like not much had happened. It felt like it was trudging along by then - though that's also when all the action started. It was slow going until then, and worth hanging in til the end. I did like the emotional progress and felt the angst between the characters - being a sort of forbidden love was done really well.

Ultimately, while I struggled with this book in some ways, I would still definitely recommend it - I just realize I may not be the target demographic.

If you like snarky interaction, an old time romance, and a hint of magic, than this book is for you!

This was an interesting read and not my typical genre. I do love a good YA romance but historical isn't for me. However I liked that there was a fantasy/magical aspect to this one.
I didn't always feel the love connection between the main characters, but the intrigue of the story kept me reading.

I am not a fantasy girl, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was so interesting! I loved the Bridgerton feel of it, and the characters were so easy to fall in love with.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First off, thank you to #netgalley and #wednesdaybooks for an earc in exchange for an honest review.

If you are looking for a soft, sweet romance with dashes of the fantastical that has regency England vibes, you've come to the right place.

Niamh Ó Conchobhair has never let herself long for more. The magic in her blood that lets her stitch emotions and memories into fabric is the same magic that will eventually kill her. Determined to spend the little time she has left guaranteeing a better life for her family, Niamh jumps at the chance to design the wardrobe for a royal wedding in the neighboring kingdom of Avaland.

But Avaland is far from the fairytale that she imagined. While young nobles attend candlelit balls and elegant garden parties, unrest brews amid the working class. The groom himself, Kit Carmine, is prickly, abrasive, and begrudgingly being dragged to the altar as a political pawn. But when Niamh and Kit grow closer, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more—until an anonymous columnist starts buzzing about their chemistry, promising to leave them alone only if Niamh helps to uncover the royal family’s secrets. The rot at the heart of Avaland runs deep, but exposing it could risk a future she never let herself dream of, and a love she never thought possible.

4.5 stars

This was a soft cozy gentle fantasy (I mean, look at that cover. It’s just dripping with soft gentle romance) that held a little bit of edge, and it was extremely clear that “Bridgerton” had a heap of influence on this book. There is a Lady Whistledown-style character sharing gossip and opinions on what is going on in Avaland.

There is a little political intrigue that brings some tension and drama to things, especially as Niamh and Kit grow closer. My main issue is that I thought some of the romance and world-building was a bit lacking at times. While I enjoyed the descriptions of the scenery and the wedding preparations, I wanted more detail about the magic of the world, especially Niamh’s magic. To me it felt like we were just scratching the surface of detail about it, and just expected to move on with the story. But I love understanding the magic. Niamh knew that stitching emotions and memories into her designs had a cost, but it was like she herself felt trapped and obligated to keep using her magic, even though it was clearly killing her.

Honestly, from the beginning, I just expected Niamh and Kit to be together and so following their story was a little less exciting for me. I wanted to know more about the side characters…and some were given more focus than others, which felt a bit disappointing.

Wow, I feel like this review is making this feel less like a 4.5 star rating, but I promise that I was swept away by this book overall, and I did read it fairly quickly. And honestly one of the most fun mysteries of the story was discovering the identity of the gossip columnist. I thought I had figured it out, and I ended up being completely wrong, and that made things really interesting.

Oh, and the relationships/romances of the side characters…or rather the tension and build-up and longing of some of the side characters for other side characters….I wanted more of that because it was delicious.

Allison Saft is one of my absolute favorite authors and her latest installment did not disappoint. The blending of Victorian London, the Bridgerton-esque gossip columns, world building and slowly built romance was brilliantly done. I truly wish this book had been longer because I didn’t want it to end!

This book had me glued to each page from start to finish and got me out of a reading slump. What a darling story!

An angst-filled, forbidden love, grumpy/sunshine romantic fantasy.., what more could a girl want?

I loved all of the supporting characters and the queer rep in this book, so much! The banter between our main characters and their counterparts was *chef’s kiss*.

For a YA fantasy read, I really enjoyed this one!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, and author Allison Saft for this eARC to read and review.

I loved the banter and the tensions in this YA Romantasy. I loved the magical twist of her stitching emotions into the clothing. It made me instantly intrigued. The love story between Niamh and Kit.

This was a beautifully written YA fantasy/ romantasy. It felt like a magical Bridgerton!
The pacing was slow for me, which is why I gave it 4/5 stars. However, I would still highly recommend it if you are looking for a beautiful, angsty slow burn YA romantic fantasy.

Allison Saft is incredible at taking history and historical fantasy and combining them to make an entirely new world that’s deeply rooted in the history of our own, and ultimately really fascinating to enter. She does just that in A FRAGILE ENCHANTMENT, along with crafting a really interesting magical world that I almost wish we’d gotten to explore further. On top of that, there’s a good deal of political intrigue and a strangers-to dislike that’s not quite enemies-to lovers threading throughout that I enjoyed despite the fact that it felt like they fell in love over approximately five days. It was a really engaging book overall and even when I wasn’t specifically head-over-heels for whatever plot point was happening, it still felt like the book flew by. If it sounds at all interesting to you, I’d definitely recommend checking it out!

In terms of pacing, I don’t think there was anything really wrong with this book except for the aforementioned feeling of everything happening over about 5 days. I don’t know if it’s because I read this book relatively quickly, but there wasn’t a lot of clear denotation of any passage of time besides it suddenly feeling like it was about a week before Kit’s wedding, and suddenly his relationship with Niamh became a thing. Overall I’m actually a fan of their romance as I think it was a great way to display nuances of their characters and their development as well as playing well with the elements of court intrigue throughout.

Honestly, I think the best thing about this book is the relationships throughout and the way they explore the characters making decisions that personally hurt them for other people or the greater good. The overall plot is decently interesting, especially if you’re looking for the overlap with historical moments, but the moments that stick out after the fact are the slow unwrapping of a character’s layers and an understanding of why they made the decisions they made, painting everyone a little grey instead of simply black or white. It ended up being a pretty interesting read that I had a hard time putting down, and one that I think was worth the read!

First I would like to thank Netgalley and Wednesday Books for sending me this E-arc in return for an honest review.

I quite enjoyed the premise of the world, the politics, the bravery that Niamh feels as she sets out to give her family a better life and stand up for her people. I love the magic system, the secrecy of the courts, the appeal of the regency era, and the banter between Niamh and Kit.

One of my favourite parts was the growth of Kit Carmine, seeing how his character evolved and opened as we explore his history and what has caused him to shut the world out. For a part I feel like something is missing from the book, and I am not quite sure. As much as I enjoyed the book, at parts I felt that something was missing to make it even better.

I wanted so much to like this more. I think something about the proper nature of things just didn't work for me. Also, I found Kit to be an asshole and not in a loveable way. Like, he would say stuff to Naimh and I would start waving red flags. He has trauma yes. Cool motive, still asshole.
The plot pacing was also a bit hard to hang with. Things proceed after unspecified lengths of time, our leads never feel like they have much time to develop as a couple and my God the ending is rushed. There was also never going to be a perfectly nice way to wrap up the end drama but this felt like a situation where multiple options went at once and it was just a bit muddied.
I think the political nuance got lost in the renaming and plot as well. It's based on real places/people groups but it did get a bit tough to hang with sometimes. And admittedly, this could absolutely be my lack of political and international alliances and drama.
I did enjoy the side characters and honestly probably would’ve preferred the story be about Rosa and Miriam. There are going to be those who love this and I hope this finds them.
I still think Saft’s writing is lovely and she is great at creating a specific vibe with her words. This was one was just more of a miss for me.

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

It's been a while since I've read fantasy, and this was the perfect book to get back into the genre. I only want to read fantasy now, especially if it's written by Allison Saft.

AFE follows a common seamstress with a magical ability and the grumpy prince who needs clothes for his upcoming wedding. What could go wrong? Absolutely nothing because these characters were made for each other. They have amazing chemistry together that jumps right off the page. There were so many sweet moments and an angsty moment or two that made my heart do all sorts of weird things.

I recommend this book for fans of grumpy/sunshine, strong characters, and vivid storytelling. I also recommend this book to anyone branching out into fantasy.

*DNF @ 47%*

Thank you to Wednesday books and Macmillan Audio for my review copies.

Based on the cover and blurb, I was expecting a lush, romantic book that was light on the fantasy. I expected a lot of ballgowns and longing glances.

One of the major elements of the book that was missing from the blurb was that this is loosely based on the Great Famine of Ireland. Our female lead is from fantasy Ireland and is going to fantasy England to sew the prince’s wedding outfits. He seems to also be her love interest, but I didn’t get that far. I think there is a big difference between calling something a “forbidden romance” and making it a romance between an oppressor and someone his family has oppressed.

(And to completely split hairs, it said it was Regency inspired, which ended well before the famine.)

But I think that’s something that deserves to be in the blurb, since it featured a lot in the book. Niamh goes to balls and is looked down on not for being a seamstress but for being Fantasy-Irish. There are a lot of awful stereotypes thrown at her and her people.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having those elements in a story, but when you market it is as a “romantic fantasy of manners” I expect some snark, but I don’t expect to see this level of racism.

I deeply dislike when characters have to go through a long period of isolation, so while at the point I quit Niamh was starting to find friends and allies, having to wait until this point of the book was way too long for me.

This book might be for you if you can handle that level of loneliness, but it was not for me.

First of all, a big thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, for gifting me this eARC! Second, this is not what I was expecting for this book at all. That said, I really enjoyed what it turned out to be! For some reason, I expected the book to be darker than it was, and that it somehow involved the fae (hence the expectation of it being darker than it was)? Regardless, it was a pleasure to read, and I very much enjoyed it! It's the embodiment of a soft, high, and magical romantasy! All of that said, I didn't love it and likely won't reread it. (Too many books, too little time, and all that. It takes something good for me to reread it!) However, I would recommend it to the right person! It has, in my opinion, good LGBTQ+ representation and a good portrayal of family conflict mixed with royal expectations. The MC's medical condition felt almost more like an afterthought rather than a deeply motivating aspect of their life, but that's my only big "complaint", really.

While this started off pretty slow, the romance did eventually make me feel some stuff and I enjoyed the rep. However, the treatment of classism was a bit tone deaf, and I feel like this book could have done so much more with the topic. Ultimately, this one will go down with the likes of Ava Reid as "just not for me." I'm sure this will go over great with tons of romantasy folks though.