Ahhhhhh let me melt 🫠. Allison’s books are truly captivating.

This story has forbidden love, chronic illness, and magical fantasy wrapped into a pretty bow(really a book). Niamh has magic that thrums through her. She uses it to weave emotions and memories into fabric. All she wants is a better life for her and her family. But where she lives is far from it. A world full of nobles and politics… which Niamh will soon find herself wrapped up into.

This book was such a fun escape. It had everything I love; romance and magic and adventure. Sort of reminded me of a new twist on Beauty and the Beast. A girl finding herself in a new world which she doesn’t belong and a man who shouldn’t fall for her but does. Kit is in your face “I’ll tell you how it is,” yet has that cinnamon roll character who hides his true worth.

I can’t wait to read Allison’s next story and get

Thank you so much for sending me an ARC
I am so obsessed with this book . Now I’m going to go read more of this authors books!

Here is my review on Goodreads

For everyone taking it day by day.

I needed those words. They hit home in more way than one. Thank you.

A period piece with a bit of magic made this a pleasure in reading. I saw myself Niamh as I am one to make sure all is okay with everyone else before myself. Kit stubborn and moody I disliked him until he started opening up and you definitely felt for him. I loved all supporting characters and definitely found interesting the politics each once cared about. I would highly recommend picking up this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy! All opinions are my own.

Allison Saft is easily becoming one of my favorite authors. Every book she writes is so magical and brimming with personality and her writing style is so beautiful while still being approachable. The concept of magic that allows emotions to transfer into stitching is SO interesting. Niamh is a delight and watching her relationship with Kit bloom was so rewarding and fun. There's no premise she could write that I won't be absolute chomping at the bit to devour.

This was a cute book that gave regency vibes with a dash of magic.

Niamh's magic was really interesting and unique. I loved how it was her emotions and feelings that imbued her stitching with magic. I thought it was funny that her first garment for Kit made him look imposing, unapproachable, and broody because she was upset with him and it translated into her magic on the garment. However, how amazing was it that she could make someone almost "invisible" (not truly, but your eyes would kind of skip over them) if that's what she wanted. Or give you sunshine and happy feelings of summer. It was really clever.

I thought hers and Kit's relationship was a good progression. I liked how we got to see Kit's personality and vulnerability come out through the book. He's very closed off in the beginning and Niamh works on interacting with him and learning who he is.

I enjoyed all the characters we met and got to know like Princess Sofia, Princess Rosa, and Sinclair. Jack was less enjoyable, but I like him a little bit by the end.

The book also gave a little bit of Bridgerton vibes with Lovelace, which I was surprised and not surprised by who that ended up being. I liked the intrigue and political point in the story, but it's by no means the main plot of the story. This is very much a story about Niamh and Kit more than anything else.

Cute book for any regency loving fans and another solid book from Allison Saft.

This story was not the type of story that I was expecting. I felt like this book mainly focused on the romance aspect of Kit and Niamh's relationship, but it lacked the magical elements. Personally, I struggled immensely to get through the book because I was expecting more fantasy to it and I wasn't invested enough in the main characters to care about where their story was going. This book focused so much on just Kit and Niamh that I'm more disappointed than anything about the conclusion. The side characters were more interesting and I would have loved to see more of them throughout the story as well as learn about where they stood at the end of the book. I don't think I saw enough of Kit and Niamh together to care about their relationship so I wasn't too interested in the romance aspect of this book, which was pretty much a majority of it. The characters didn't have much development to them and the plot itself felt very familiar in a regency setting. There was definitely potential, but overall it fell just a bit short; there was just no excitement to the plot or characters and there were some parts of the plot that never really got addressed.

I am becoming a big fan of Alison Saft’s work! I read A Far Wilder Magic last year and had to request this one when it came out. This was a perfect blend of things for me: excellent worldbuilding, an interesting plot, and characters that felt real to me.

I absolutely ADORE the cover of A Fragile Enchantment, and once I read the synopsis, I knew I needed to read it.

I was easily drawn in at the beginning of Niamh and Kit's story, and I loved Saft's writing style.

Right around the 40% mark, things started to fall apart a bit for me. The pacing slowed to a standstill, and nothing relevant seemed to be happening.

I also felt Saft tried to fit too many concepts into the story, and as a result, none of them got the focus they deserved. It was somewhat slap-dash.

Furthermore, all the loose ends tied up too easily and quickly to feel believable to me. I was hoping for better conflict and resolution.

I really would have liked Kit's perspective as well. It's a rare author that can completely satisfy me with a single POV.

***I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advance Reader Copy generously provided by the publisher via NetGalley.***

Thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for the early copy in exchange for an honest review. DNF'ed at 20% of the way through.

I really don't even know what this book is going for. Enemies to lovers romantasy with political intrigue sounds nice and all but the political intrigue really takes over the entire book and everything else is secondary. It's not really what I was looking for.

It also doesn't help that the main love interest, Prince Kit, is a self-centered idiot who has a vile attitude toward everyone we meet in the book except for his best friend. The main protagonist works herself to death making silly outfits and the royalty, including her love interest, do not care a whit about her. It's just depressing, frankly.

The colonialism/racism/sexism/etc in the book was really shoved in your face which is fine but it made it emotionally harder to read. It also didn't feel like the book was going to have a happy ending where things are solved as best as they could be since even if the one brother died, the other brother (Kit) was still "me, me, me" and wouldn't be of much help in solving the issues in the society.

I think I'm going to avoid the author's work in the future since it doesn't seem to be for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Allison Saft for an ARC of this book!

A Fragile Enchantment is a cute soft novel with some Bridgerton-esque elements that will appeal to fans of historical romance and fantasy alike. I enjoyed Niamh’s power to imbue her tailored creations with enchantments and memories - something I haven’t seen as a “power” or magical element in any other fantasy book.

I wish there had been a few plot points that were better developed - Niamh’s condition, the world-building, and the future of the kingdom and the world they live in. I think this would have made a really good first novel in a series, with the plot a bit more distributed through a duology or trilogy with more room to develop plot. I still really enjoyed it and thought it was a cute book!

You can expect: fantasy-lite, magic, enemies to lovers, seamstress/tailor FMC, prince MMC, historical romance elements, closed door romance, familial conflict.

A Fragile Enchantment follows Niamh Ó Conchobhair—a young seamstress who can infuse her pieces with magic—as she leaves behind her homeland to design a prince’s wardrobe for his upcoming wedding.

Set against a historical backdrop reminiscent of the Victorian Era, Niamh believes that by agreeing to work for the royal family—a family responsible for the hardships, oppression, and racism her homeland faces—she can provide her family with a better life.

But Niamh’s task becomes complicated when she develops feelings for the recalcitrant groom, Kit Carmine, and for the first time in her life, Niamh is tempted to dream of more.

As Niamh and Kit’s relationship evolves, Niamh’s life as a working-class seamstress drastically changes. A scandal sheet, political and social unrest, and her growing friendships within the castle all challenge her to question both her own beliefs as well as the people she’s growing closer to. Niamh continually tries to snuff out her voice, her wants and desires, all for the benefit of those around her, but Allison Saft weaves the tale in a way that forces Niamh to confront the misbeliefs that she carries.

I picked up this book because I love the Victorian Era and the tropes of grumpy x sunshine and forbidden love. Allison’s premise is gorgeous and easy to escape into.

What I appreciated:

-A Fragile Enchantment was very much a cozy read. I appreciate the depth that Allison gave to Niamh by showing her insecurities, such as her misbelief that her role in life is to be a caretaker and that she needs to prove her worth.

-Allison also incorporated complex issues such as marginalization, trauma, racism, chronic illness, and addiction, but I felt like most of these didn’t get the time they needed to make them feel real or to help develop the world and characters. If Allison dove deeper into these topics it would have made her already great characters even stronger. These are very much real and prevalent issues in our real world but unfortunately, it wasn’t developed enough so it felt rather shallow.

-Allison could have played the cliche part by pitting the women against one another but she didn’t. Thank you!

What didn’t work (in my opinion)

-Allison’s characters kept me reading but I would have appreciated it if they varied a little more. She could have incorporated more tension between the characters.

-More time could have been spent explaining the magic system (The Fair Ones), and how the political conflicts were going to change at the end of the book.

-The addiction mentioned in the book wasn’t fully explained. Why did this start, how old were they when this started, and despite being in remission how is the character still struggling with this?

-Niamh starts with the sole purpose of helping her family and by the end of her character arc she appears to have a healthier view of this belief but what exactly is her belief? I don’t want to include any spoilers but the decision about her family at the end seems at odds with how she started and it didn’t ring 100% believable because her thoughts weren’t explained.

-I also would have liked to have seen the B-plots wrapped up. Many were left ambiguous at best.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A very fun and adorable romance, it does give off Bridgerton vibes in the best way, but what I found I loved the most was the magic that the main characters have and how understated but important they were to the story. Very fun very good.

4.5⭐️ This is my favorite magical, enchanting YA romantasy thus far. I wasn’t sure this specific area of the genre was for me, but this book was so good. I was hooked on the beautiful world from the start and the enemies-to-lovers was fantastic. The only reason I didn’t rate it five stars was I felt it was a little slow at a few parts, but don’t let that deter you from reading this one.

I am also so so happy to have found a great STANDALONE! While I was left wanting to more, I was also satisfied with the ending. I cannot wait to see what Allison has in store for us in future books!

This was a delightful tale of a penniless nobody with the ability to make gorgeous, breathtaking magical garments who falls in love with a prince and changes the fate of a kingdom. It was romantic and fun and heartbreaking and heartwarming in turns.

I loved Niamh's endearingly clumsy charm and the way she befriended everyone she met. All of the characters were compelling and made me love them. I especially enjoyed the trio of Niamh and Kit and Sinclair. I would have loved even more scenes of the three of them getting into mischief. I also loved Rosa and Miriam and Sophie and wish they had had more screen time with Niamh.

I also loved that Niamh has a chronic illness that causes her to sometimes be bedridden for days at a time and has no cure and that she expects will one day kill her. I really identified with her because of this. Chronic illness rep is rare to find in books (though becoming a little more common) and I always love it when I find it.

If I were to choose one word for this book it would be romantic. Kit and Niamh's developing relationship is incredibly romantic. I like the way it all resolved (although there are certainly a lot of questions left at the end about how the kingdom is going to recover and pay its debts). It ends with hope though, which is always my favorite.

The audiobook was performed wonderfully. It was easy to listen to and each character had a unique and recognizable but still easily understandable voice. I was swept away in the story and I think the audiobook aided that (not least in keeping me from getting distracted in questioning how to pronounce Niamh's name).

*Thanks to NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and Macmillan Audio for providing an early copy and early audio copy of this book.

This book...was not what I thought it was going to be. And I'm really disappointed because I was looking forward to it on my TBR for a long time.

What I thought I was getting, even based on the first about ten chapters of the book:

A Regency-tinted fantasy world with a dose of Irish mythology, a fairy-tale, bit of grumpy/sunshine romance, some amazing sewing magic (I am a seamstress myself so the idea of magic sewing/embroidery was a BIG draw for me), and some beautiful royal court action.

What I got was...a bit of a messy hodge-podge with some things that feel like they are shoehorned in because "reasons". First - I quickly realized there was going to be a lot of politics in this book. While I appreciate the references to the Irish-English issues during this period of time (although apparently this "Ireland" achieved their independance at a heavy cost)...with all due respect to the author, if I wanted heavy-handed political commentary, I could read a newspaper or a million other books besides a fantasy romance.

Second - there were a lot of convenient contrivances and the world-building felt subpar due to the author's constant attempt to shove in so many subplots. We have the subplot of the anonymous gossip columnist, the subplot of the Machlish (Irish) people and their grievances, the romance subplot, the convenient illness that's never explained subplot...etc. Also...the author spent a long time in the book with the characters behaving like normal English regency characters only to suddenly and literally proclaim that all the main characters and side characters are gay. She doesn't leave any wiggle room, having Niamh proclaim that she "fancies girls" a side character say that he doesn't want to "court women," the prince say that Niamh is "like him" when he finds out she's gay, and the intended betrothed of the prince be in love with her ladies' maid.

After all this doubling down on everyone being queer, it then feels weird to have Kit and Niamh fall for each other and by then, the romance had completely fallen flat for me. If the only people they've been attracted to up until this point were of the same sex, why would they suddenly find someone of the opposite sex attractive? It makes very little sense.

On top of all this, the language is far too modern, the prince curses like he's a modern teenager, there's a VERY explicit sex scene at one point, and the abundunce of subplots mean nothing gets fleshed out thoroughly. I feel like a well-written fantasy romance would have been fine without everything else. Or perhaps if the author wanted the English/Irish commentary, she could have had the lead female character be the prince's guide into the suffering of her people, annd help him adjust his point of view. Instead everything feels confusing and flat, despite the author's writing talent.

I just feel so disappointed and let down by this book. I'm sure judging on the multiple 5-star reviews here on Goodreads that I'm in the minority, but I wasn't a fan of this book, and it will make me cautious of this same author in future.

I found A fragile Entanglement to be an absolutely lovely read. The author’s writing style draws you in and makes it hard to put the book down. I do wish there had been more concerning the world itself rather than just the romance but I could see it being a nice side story or jumping off point for more in depth storylines. I found the emotional turmoil to be beautifully written.

This book was pure magic! This book hit the spot itching for some whimsy.
This story did have some Spin the Dawn vibes, which I also really enjoyed. So, if you did too, then here’s a new one for you. Niamh can imbue thread - she threads her creations with enchantments. She is summoned to the kingdom of Avaland to make the wedding gown and cloak for the upcoming wedding. Neither bride nor groom is particularly keen on their upcoming nuptials, but they are going through the motions. Kit is the very reluctant prince, but bound by duty. There is much chemistry between him and Niamh, their forbidden relationship grows in secret. Not only is he royalty and she a commoner, but she is from a neighbouring kingdom where the people are considered lesser people. There is a good amount of political intrigue here, with one kingdom trying to forge an alliance through marriage and the other kingdom trying to get reconciliation for its people for current and past wrongs. The reluctant bride, Rosa, has aspirations and secrets of her own as well.
This is an enjoyable grumpy/sunshine, forbidden romance - I could also throw in that it probably falls under forced proximity, since they can’t really avoid each other either. I hope this book can provide your reading experience with the magic that this book gave mine.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for a digital arc of the book. The opinions expressed are honest and my own.

This was such a cozy, warm and intricate historical YA romantasy. The story follows Niamh, a seamstress who can enchant clothing as she makes them & Prince Kit, who’s following his duty to follow through on a marriage his brother has arranged for politics and status. Niamh is hired to design the clothing for the wedding between Kit and Rosa, but Niamh is immediately annoyed by Kit’s grumpy attitude towards her. However, as the time passes they are continuously thrown together, and a connection begins to grow and bloom into feelings.

Niamh and Kit give off vibes of Anthony and Kate in Bridgerton and I was so here for it. They have a rough start with arguing, witty banter, and animosity but slowly begin to catch feelings and fall in love and everyone can obviously see it except them. And one of them is gonna go through with an arranged marriage even though they don’t want to because they feel they have a duty to do so. Now add in a gossip column, magic, loveable side characters, lgbtq rep, and chronic illness rep and you get A Fragile Enchantment.

I wish there had been a little more world building as some parts felt like they lacked the required explanation. I also would have loved to see more moments of Kit being gentle and soft with Niamh but that’s just selfish of me because I loved those moments between them.

This is my first Allison Saft book, and I was enchanted by her vivid and whimsical writing. It felt hopeful and like springtime personified. And the cover is by far one of the prettiest I’ve ever seen.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

If you like:
⟡ bridgerton like setting
⟡ grumpy x sunshine
⟡ hates everyone but her
⟡ forbidden love (royal x commoner)
⟡ anonymous gossip in a column in the paper
⟡ enemies to lovers-ish
⟡ magic in a regency inspired world

This book, simply put is delightfully wonderful.

I fell in love with Allison Saft's writing in Down Comes The Night so it's no surprise that I ADORED A Fragile Enchantment.
I find it hard nowadays to find auto-buy authors (at least for me) and yet, I have found just that.
The world building is whimsical, the enemies to lovers is incredibly well done, and the side characters are just as interesting as our main characters. The dialogue, the chemistry it was all just so perfect, If a Fragile Enchantment doesn't become the new Divine Rivals of 2024 then just lock me up and throw away the key!
An all around 5 stars from me! I cannot wait for her next book. Because yes I checked and she has another one coming next year as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for the ARC. My opinions are my own.
A Fragile Enchantment comes out on Jan 2 2024 so go pre-order a copy RIGHT NOW! I know I have!

A Fragile Enchantment is a YA romantasy that is as sweet and enchanting as this cover. 😍
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I enjoyed the magic system. I love Niamh’s magic, she is able to stitch emotions and feelings into fabric. It also has a gossip column, much like Bridgerton.
This book has all the favorite tropes.
🧵regency-era romance
🧵grumpy x sunshine
🧵royalty
🧵forbidden love
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I think this book will appeal to YA romance fans.
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Thank you netgalley and Wednesday books for the opportunity to read this book!
3.5 stars