Niamh Ó Conchobhair is leaving her home of Machland to travel to Aveland to design the wedding clothes of its prince. Surely a royal appointment would be the cause of celebration? But no, her grandmother is furious with her for leaving their homeland to serve the royal family that blighted their land. Despite her grandmother’s misgiving,s Niamh is excited to experience the dreamlike fairytale romance of a royal wedding.

Once she arrives in Aveland she discovers that the royal wedding is more of a nightmare than a dream. Prince Kit Carmine does not wish to be married, and does not wish for Niamh to come anywhere near him, stating that her magic, and she herself, are useless. Niamh vows to prove him wrong, devising clothes of such magic and wonder to win over the prickly prince. But her magic has a cost, will Niamh exhaust her powers before the big day? And will she be able to stand aside and watch the prince she has poured so much of her heart and magic into marry another?

A Fragile Enchantment is a delightful book full of intrigue, decorum, magic, and romance. Fans of Bridgerton who wish to have more magic in the Ton will love Allison Saft’s latest- I did!

"A Fragile Enchantment combines a Bridgerton ambiance (and maybe a little Ever After with Drew Barrymore feel) with enchanting magic. The book surpassed my expectations.

The author's beautiful writing style captivated me. While some might find the pacing slow, I appreciate character development, making the pace perfect for me. As someone with a chronic illness, I enjoyed the nuanced conversations around this theme. The author also adeptly incorporated aspects of mental illness and addiction, addressing all three thoughtfully.

The characters and their interactions, including the delightful banter, were a highlight. The love interest, initially a grump and onion, unfolds into a marshmallow. The book weaves loyalty, found family, romance, magic, and politics seamlessly. I wasn't prepared for the story to end.

One small critique is a desire for the author to delve a bit more into the main character's conversations with her family towards the end. Without giving away spoilers, the character's strong family connection influenced many decisions, and though briefly touched upon, a more extended exploration would have been appreciated. Despite this minor point, I genuinely loved the book. Eagerly awaiting its audiobook release for a re-listen.

Special thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC for an honest review.

Oh my gosh, why did this have to end? I loved Kit and Niamh so much. This book was magical, heart wrenching, and had so much tension. I loved the added details of Niamh's profession and the backstory of the two main groups of people. It added this "forbidden" nature to their relationship.

This was the first Allison Saft book I've read and I can't wait to read more!

This was a delightful read with heavy Bridgerton vibes and added magic. It turned out to be quite the page turner, with characters I cared about. You really get pulled into another world by the writing and I love that it was a standalone novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for access to this arc.

A Fragile Enchantment is one of the most magical, engrossing books I've ever read! The worldbuilding is incredible, detailed and unique while also paralleling our own. I was completely taken in by the culture and Niamh Ó Conchobhair's place in it as an immigrant from an Irish-esque land in Avaland. Saft does an incredible job at showing the tensions between the two countries with micro-aggressions Niamh experiences and terrible histories. Everything Saft included in the pasts of the two countries made me want to learn as much as I could about them.
As Niamh fought to earn respect and a better life for her family, I fell in love with her character; her determination to make a better life for herself, her gentleness, the way she handles her pain. Niamh's chronic pain was done so well and handled with great importance.
Kit was also such an incredible character; I loved his passion and anger and the way it manifested with his powers.
The magic in this world feels so beautiful while also so real. Saft has an incredible talent for weaving a feeling of enchantment all throughout her writing.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a DRC in exchange or a review.

A Fragile Enchantment is magical love story of a strong willed common girl and closed off prince.

I really enjoyed our main character Niamh. She had such a unique magical gift I have never read before. The ability to put emotions into the clothes she makes. I also really liked Kit. Their love was everything I want from a grumpy sunshine dynamic.

I will say the pacing of this book was extremely slow for me. I was engaged but felt that somethings dragged on for far too long.

Overall I really enjoyed this one. It was a solid fantasy romance.
3/5 Stars

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me an arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

4 stars.
A Fragile Enchantment is a regency-era, fantasy novel with chronic illness and mental health representation. Niamh, a magical seamstress, captures the eye of the King and is hired to create pieces for the highly anticipated royal wedding of the Prince. Niamh puts others' needs before her own and pushes herself too hard for the sake of others, even with her own chronic illness. She meets Kit, the prickly and stubborn groom, who makes it his job to make her job harder. As these two continue to encounter one another during wedding preparations, Niamh realizes that the wedding between the two kingdoms is merely a political move and Kit is being dragged to the alter by his King brother. A columnist reminiscent of Lady Whistledown, implies chemistry sparking between Kit and Niamh that finds them in the middle of a forbidden love, royal scandal, and political tension.

The story is magical and captivating with its regency-era charm, romance and fantasy. It is an enchanting escape into a magical world of forbidden love, grumpy royals, friendship, loyalty, family and sacrifice. Readers will enjoy this new Romantasy novel by Allison Saft.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for the e-arc of Allison Saft's newest novel, A Fragile Enchantment, in exchange for my honest review. I look forward to this release and getting my hands on a physical copy to reread.

DNF @ 45%

I was looking forward to this one since I love books about fashion and the idea of a magical dressmaker sounds so interesting, but unfortunately I'm struggling to get into the story. It feels like there's not a lot of plot so far, and the story is pretty slow-paced. I'm finding myself bored while reading, and I'm not invested enough to finish the book. However, there are many elements in this one that I'm sure others will enjoy more than I did.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC.

I've received an ARC of Saft's later 2024 release, so I'll be reading that, but at this time, that will probably be my last Allison Saft book. I can understand why people enjoy her books, so I'm not going to go into too much detail, but for me, this was not written/composed well in pretty much any way.

I felt like her writing was much, much weaker than it had been in her previous book, so much so that it read middle grade to me half the time. There were also countless tropes and cliches, which not everyone may mind, but the inclusion of the sassy gay best friend really irked me in particular. Every plot point of this novel was so predictable, which made it a lot less fun to read as well, because you knew the entire narrative from the start. The main character, Niamh, is such a nothing character. She's written to be a blank canvas for you to project yourself onto, it's clear. She's quirky, not-like-other-girls, oh-so-clumsy!!, overly naive and bubbly, hyper feminine, and really has no flaws or personality at all, making her extremely boring to read from. She also has an aspect of her character that is supposed to be a big twist but then is virtually forgotten about by the plot's end. What I <i>did</i> like was the character of Kit, but by the end, he seemed to lose a lot of his characterization as well and just fell into these flat tropes everyone was falling into.

I will also never understand why Saft makes such half-hearted attempts at her fantasy worlds. This was a problem I had with A Far Wilder Magic as well. When you barely change the names or details of groups, places, and historical events, so that any reader immediately knows what the real-world comparison is, it just feels incredibly heavy handed and pointless to me. She may as well just make the novels urban fantasy if this is all the world building she wants to do????

DNF at 36%. I'm bored and don't really care for any of the characters. I also can't get past Lovelace from The Tattler (Lovegood from The Quibbler).

This was a really cute romance! It was very slow burn for me which I’m not always a fan of. I did love the ending though! Kit was definitely my favorite character I loved his grumpiness and I loved the way his demeanor changes throughout the book and we learn more about him. Overall I really enjoyed it!

This entire book was a cup of royal magic with a touch of coziness that you'll find yourself completely submerged in. If you enjoy Bridgerton and books that give you butterflies, you will SWOON over this one. Niamh will do whatever it takes to protect those she loves, and Kit is the very definition of a prickly grump. I might just have not only a new favorite book couple, but favorite book, as well.

This was my first Allison Saft book but certainly won't be my last. Her writing is so rich and beautiful that you forget you're even reading; you're utterly transported into her story.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC and the opportunity to read and review this title.

Saft's prose continues to enchant. I adored the magic system in this book and Niamh is a wonderfully flawed and charming main character. Highly recommend.

This feels cozy and whimsical, like a true fairytale, it has vibes like Howl’s Moving Castle, Half Soul, and Jane Austen’s romances.

Niamh is a talented seamstress and also can stitch emotions and memories into the fabric; one day she receives an invitation to work at the royal wedding, this is an opportunity to earn fame, and money and help her family. But upon arriving at the palace, she will find a grumpy prince who is not interested in the wedding nor in making her job easier.

Niamh is a great main character, she is easy to love and understand, she wants the best for the family, and loves making unique clothes with what each client needs. All the cast, Niamh, Kit, Sinclair, Rosa, Jack, and Sofia are complex characters, and have their reasons for acting the way they do, they are smart and brave but also stubborn, I liked their character development, individually, and when they team up and talk. The romance was wholesome, but the friendship was lovely too.

I’m in love with the setting, living in a beautiful castle, wearing enchanted clothes, strolling through the gardens in bloom, and assisting in wonderful parties. It’s very charming and magical. The romance is a slow burn and sweet, kind of enemy to lovers, the story is more focused on romance, and although I love it, I would have liked it to develop a little more about the war and the differences between the two countries, the consequences of using magic, or what will happen with Avaland and his regent king, everything is mentioned but I think that in passing, even so, I enjoyed it a lot, and if you want a fantasy romance that is cute and a light-hearted and heartwarming love story, then this is for you.

Read it if you want:
Whimsical Setting
Regency Fairytale vibes
Magical Clothes and pretty gardens
Spring setting

My final read of 2023 was this little gem which releases tomorrow. A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft is a standalone fantasy romance that reads like Bridgerton with a touch of magic. Niamh Ó Conchobhair is a commoner with divine blood, able to weave her magic into the fabrics she makes. She can make the wearer beautiful to those around them, provide comfort or create a shield all with the clothes she crafts. Her magic comes with a price though, her own health. So when she is asked to the royal dressmaker for the younger prince’s wedding, Niamh jumps at the chance to make her dreams a reality.

Niamh is an interesting character. I enjoyed being in her POV for the entirety of the story. Everything she experiences in the Avlish court is her first time just like the reader, making it easy to connect to her and empathize with her as she navigates her way through the prejudices of the court. Niamh’s honesty and innocence (for lack of better word) paves the way for her to create relationships with those around her. These new friendships come easily to her, all but one: Prince Christopher, or Kit to his friends and family.

Kit is not an easily likable character. He’s closed off, disagreeable, and bluntly honest which isn’t always a good thing. While you never have to wonder what he is thinking, his honesty is often unkind. Niamh, who is so likable that most who speak to her like her instantly, is unable to connect to Kit, who often antagonizes her and angers her. While their relationship is an enemy to lovers trope, I personally didn’t buy into it. The chemistry just wasn’t there for me.

Despite liking Niamh, I really struggled with this one. I wanted to like it. I was excited to pick it up and dove in with such high hopes that I was really disappointed when it failed to live up to my expectations. Niamh is really the only bright spot for me. The romance in this fantasy was blah, and the story itself dragged on much longer than it should have. By the time I reached the 70% mark, I found myself skimming to see how the story would end. I just was not invested in the characters, their story, or the romance.

Then there is the fantasy portion of the book. I’ve read and really enjoyed Saft’s other books so I was excited to see how she wove magic into this story. Unfortunately, it felt like an afterthought. While Niamh, Kit, and his brother Jack, all have divine blood, meaning they control some aspect of magic, it isn’t explained. There are no rules to this magical world. The Blight that is mentioned multiple times which affects Niamh’s homeland and was caused by the Avlish is never resolved or explained. Really disappointing.

Overall, A Fragile Enchantment was an okay read for me. I think this was truly a case of “it’s not you, it’s me.” The romance, the fantasy, and the story itself was just okay. I didn’t really love any of the characters. Niamh’s naïveté wore on me, and by the end of the book, I no longer believed her so called innocent act. The surprises and twists were predictable. The only bright spot of this story is the regency era setting as the Avlish court is inspired by British court. If you are a fan of fantasy romance, specifically regency era, you may enjoy it more than I did.

In A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft, a magical dressmaker is hired to design and create the wedding wardrobe for a prince in the neighboring kingdom of Avaland. However, what was supposed to be a simple job is quickly complicated by scandal, political unrest, and Niamh’s attraction to the groom.

One thing Saft excels at is making each character feel like a fully developed individual, with their own personalities and mannerisms. All of the characters are motivated by their desire to protect and care for the ones they love, but each of them have unique ways of attempting to do so, which allows for their differences to shine. I loved the banter and playfulness in the dialogue with the side characters, especially Sinclair, Rosa, and Miriam. The dialogue itself is so realistic that it feels like you as the reader are right in the room with the characters, overhearing their conversation. There is also good LGBTQ, chronic pain, and (strongly implied) neurodivergent representation. I would add a content warning for homophobia for any future readers.

My main complaint is that I found it difficult to keep track of all of the different plot threads at times. The novel is extremely fast paced, and Saft drops you right into the action from the beginning. There is Niamh’s own work on weaving emotions into the garments, her desire to financially support her family, her attraction to and aggravation with Kit, her chronic illness, her investigation of the Crown Prince’s dealings, all over the backdrop of the protests of the Macklish workers and a politically-inflammatory gossip columnist. Overall, I enjoyed that Saft didn’t shy away from more complex topics or limit the plot to only the romance, but it was easy to lose the threads and get lost in the story, and I think the novel would have benefitted from having more focus.

While this isn’t my favorite book that Saft has written, I’m still a huge fan of her writing and am optimistic that I will like her upcoming novel, A Dark and Drowning Tide.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

𝙉𝙤 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨.

It’s been a while since a non-mm novel has grasped my attention so desperately I lost sleep because I just HAD to read more. Allison Saft is a phenomenal writer. Period. She weaves together tales of adventure and magic and romance, all while bringing to attention a variety of societal issues from class structure to sexual preference to expectations.

Niamh is a seamstress with the ability to enchant emotions into her fabric. She’s summoned to another kingdom to tailor the wedding of the youngest prince and his bride. Upon arriving, Niamh is introduced to the angry prince, Kit, and thrust into a world of political upheaval and secrets, all while navigating an illness and developing feelings for the surly man who is being forced to wed.

Vivid. The setting and pacing and descriptions are so colorful and detailed the only word to describe it is vivid. I could feel the warmth and chill. I could sense the turmoil and mystery. Niamh was an absolute delightful character with a perfect balance of vulnerability and backbone. And the side characters just added to the story so fluidly. I adored Rosa and Mariam and Sinclair the most. Wonderful additions.

“𝑰𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎?”
“𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘. 𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒅𝒂𝒘𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒆’𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕.”

And oh my, the romance was so well paced and swoon-worthy. It was passionate and electric and so beautiful. I can already tell you this will be one of my favorite reads of 2024!

𝘙𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘵𝘦: January 2, 2024
𝘼𝙍𝘾 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚. 𝙈𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙞𝙨 𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙮.

Romantic fiction is not my forté. Yet I fell in love with Saft’s tender, emotional writing in A Far Wilder Magic, so I was eager to enjoy more of it in A Fragile Enchantment.

Like the Bridgerton series, A Fragile Enchantment tells the forbidden love story of a prince and a working-class girl. Main character Niamh is devoted to her tight-knit family and her small village as well as her rare magical ability to evoke visceral emotions and memories from the clothing she designs. She is very practical in taking advantage of work opportunities despite her disagreement with the aristocracy’s politics, but she is also refreshingly imaginative, seeing the kindness in everyone and holding tight to her own dreams.

I love that there is no black-and-white sense of good and evil in this fantasy. Saft does not shy from themes of loneliness, disenfranchisement, and trauma, but every side character—from Princess Rosa, the prince’s arranged match, to Jack, a young ruler trying to keep his country afloat—is depicted sympathetically. Although romance remains the central force in this novel, it does not overwhelm other plot points but rather permeates and lightens them.

I would have liked more details regarding the magic system. There are mentions of the Fair Ones, magical lineages, and related religious beliefs, but I wasn’t able to get a cohesive picture of it all. None of this detracted from the story, though they could have made the regency-style world of A Fragile Enchantment even more immersive.

I was immediately intrigued by this book because the synopsis made it sound like Bridgerton meets magic. Niamh Ó Conchobhair is a seamstress from Machland who has been called to create the wardrobe for Avaland's prince Kit Carmine's wedding. Niamh can weave enchantments into her clothes in the form of emotions or memories. I really enjoyed Saft's writing style in this book. I feel like Saft really gets the Bridgerton vibes while also developing a world where magic is involved. I do wish there was more back story on how magic came to be in this world, but overall the world building was done well for a lighter fantasy read. The inclusion of the Machlish and Avlish conflict was good to add to the overall plot of the story and I loved the Lovelace pamphlets. I feel like it gave extra depth to the story in addition to the romance as the central plot.

The romance in this book was really well done! I was rooting for Niamh and Kit's romance the entire time. Kit was perfectly broody and I felt that Niamh really balances him out and calls him out when he was being difficult. The regency romance vibes were well developed and I enjoyed reading their story. The ensemble characters; Sinclair, Rosa, Miriam, and even Jack and Sophia added so much to the story. I loved the friendships portrayed in this book and the sibling dynamic was also interesting.

I do wish that there was some more resolution to the non-romance aspects of the book. Specifically, I was hoping for more from Lovelace and the Machlish/Avlish conflict. Overall though, it was a light fantasy read. I enjoyed the book and will definitely be looking forward to more from Saft!

2.5 stars, rounded up

This book had a lot of creative potential! Unfortunately, as it progressed, I grew increasingly (dis)enchanted with it.

Long story short, I really disliked the characters, esp. the FMC. Her inner monologue and her choices were so frustrating! I'm all for an unlikable female character, but Niamh was something else entirely and it grated on me for nearly the entire book. Also, Kit is mostly terrible, as is the rest of the cast. Except Sofia. Sofia rules.

But more seriously, I think this book had a really unique concept, but ended up trying to do TOO much, leaving many parts of it underdeveloped. I wanted more about the enchanted sewing! The complicated history of the kingdoms! And the synopsis talks about "an anonymous columnist [who] starts buzzing about [Niamh's & Kit's] chemistry," and I felt like that was not nearly as a big a plotline as the description indicates. It just felt like a shallow, rambling mess most of the time, which was a bummer because I really liked Saft's last book.

Not a winner for me!

But an extra half star for the "damn you" (exasperatedly fond) line that reminded me of The Artful Dodger, my favorite recent obsession.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. A FRAGILE ENCHANTMENT is out 1/2!