2.5 stars. A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft is set in a magical world where Niamh is called to make wedding clothes for the prince's wedding. Niamh has a gift that allows her to stitch her clothing with feelings and emotions that transfer to the person wearing them. Once she gets to the palace, she meets the grumpy prince and realizes that she has her work cut out for her in a place where dark secrets lurk just behind the surface.

This premise of a magical dressmaker was interesting, and I was intrigued with Niamh and Kit's relationship at first. But as the story continued, it began to drag for me and I struggled to maintain interest. While I liked Niamh and Kit, everything else that was happening in the plot just didn't grab my attention. And there seemed to be a lot different plot points in play. A lot going on, but at the same time there were chunks of the book where nothing significant seemed to happen? I think the pacing was off for me and it was hard for me to stay engaged.

I do seem to be in the minority with my review, as many others loved this one!

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book. This book was a great read. It contained all of the makings of a great book. Great main characters, a little bit or mystery, a little magic, and a little romance. If you enjoy books that combine fantasy and romance you will enjoy this book.

4.75 stars!!

Never have I ever related so much to the FMC. Niamh is me in so many ways, which made this book very emotional for me. I was ATTACHED to the characters and to the story. The last 20% left me on the edge of my seat and biting my nails...I was stressed!! Allison Saft did such an incredible job with this book and with these characters. It was beautifully written and touches your soul in a way you wouldn't expect. There's plenty of laughter and good times too, don't worry! The romance is full of magic, hope and wonder. I LOVED IT. YOU SHOULD READ IT.

I really enjoyed this book! Perfect for fantasy lovers who also enjoy Jane Austen! This book took me a bit to fully become invested in, but once I was in I was IN! I’d recommend this! Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC!

Absolutely 5 stars. A grumpy prince x sunshine commoner love story, with a solid amount of world building and external conflict. The characters have excellent chemistry, intimate moments were charming, and both mcs create meaningful friendships outside their romance. This was a stayed-up-til-midnight-to-finish book that I will definitely end up buying a copy of.

This one definitely wasn’t for me. I had high hopes going into this - a stand alone fantasy from a reliably good author? Sign me up! But the end product wasn’t what I envisioned at all. There’s just way too much going on in this book for me. Between feuding brothers, a hot mess of a country, love triangles that aren’t triangles, and plot lines that get picked up but never actually resolved, this book was a mess. I honestly had to skip a few chapters because I just couldn’t take the drudgery anymore and just wanted the pain of reading this to be over. Maybe I missed some things during that skip (like the aforementioned never resolved plot lines), but I doubt it.

Saft had some great ideas, but really, there’s too much going on to give any of them the justice they deserve. Add on to that the fact that the protagonist only seems to have one character “trait” of being clumsy, and this is a book I wish I passed on.

This was a WONDERFUL book. Set to release on January 2nd, 2024 this book is a fantastic fantasy-romance that you will want on your shelf.

Niamh is a magical seamstress that is commissioned to leave her countryside home and make the Prince’s wedding wardrobe. Her magic allows her to stitch emotion and memory into her gowns, but it comes at the price of slowly bringing her closer to death. The palace is a wonder she never allowed herself to dream of, constantly working to support her family. In the bliss of it all, things go south when a gossip column begins writing about her undeniable chemistry with the groom. The groom (Kit Carmine) is a brooding character with as little control over his magic as he has his life, while he serves as a political pawn for his Prince Regent brother. Conflicts within the court and royal family secrets begin to unravel, as Niamh and Kit’s relationship becomes more and more complicated with every passing day at Court.

The characters in this book were so well executed and intricate. Despite the number of characters, I never became confused or overwhelmed while reading. I LOVED the dark and fantastical setting Saft created throughout the story. The magical aspect of it felt so unique and I would KILL for one of Niamh’s dresses. It was a WONDERFUL read that I cannot recommend enough. I will definitely be reading Allison Saft’s other novels and will be anxiously awaiting my chance to get a physical copy of this amazing book.

I was really excited about the whimsical, magical, regency version of England in this story description. I love a classic story about a young woman leaving her small town for a bigger, more complex adventure and growing in selfhood and independence. One of the threads in this storyline that I liked best was Niamh's attitude shift about the mysterious illness she's carried with her for her whole life, and the way she unlearns to constantly take on suffering silently in order to make others happy. It's always rewarding to see a female character begin to prioritize herself, her dreams, her needs and her future more.

I’ve never read a book by Allison Saft but I’ve heard such good things about this book that I just had to see what all the excitement was about. This book was an utter delight. Her writing is so good and addictive. She set the tone so well and this book had such a gothic feel to it. The author also does a great job of setting the pace. It was to the point and I didn’t feel like she wasted time on other plots that didn’t really impact the story. All the characters had such great depth and I was intrigued by every one.

A very fun read, I finished it it in two days! Saft's world building is immersive and you truly care about each of the characters.

Somehow this author has managed to get away with blatantly stealing plot lines and characters from existing stories. Take the anonymous gossipmonger of Bridgerton, the small-town seamstress for royalty from Dragon Slippers, throw in a discount April Ludgate, and you’ve got “A Fragile Enchantment.” To add to the issues, it’s extremely inconsistent and poorly paced. The aforementioned gossip columnist is introduced as a major plot point early on and then left unmentioned for almost half the book. Similarly, our main character Niamh seems to routinely forget that she does in fact have a family, and for such an accomplished dressmaker, seems to spend an astonishingly little amount of time actually working in the few weeks leading up to a royal wedding. She’s also dying slowly as a result of using her magical abilities, which is another plot line that’s frequently dropped. It was painfully easy to predict Lovelace’s true identity. I also found only one of the three romances depicted worth rooting for, and that one was pushed so far to the side that it barely even present.
While there was a plethora of queer representation, it was all done without real nuance. Similarly, the author’s attempt at telling stories about power dynamics and political oppression was half-baked at best. I don’t think a single detail about sewing or dressmaking made sense. This whole book was poorly researched, executed, written, and paced. It really felt like it was so bad I couldn’t look away.

A Fragile Enchantment is best described by the term romantasy, as it is equal parts fantasy and romance. This novel focuses on Niamh, a magically-gifted seamstress from a conquered country who is hired to create the wedding garb for the prince of Avaland, the country that conquered her own, and the princess of Castilia - a political marriage between royals, neither of whom is particularly interested in the other beyond the political alliance their marriage will bring. After arriving in Avaland to begin creating the appropriate garments - imbued with her own special form of magic, which enhances the appearance and appeal of the clothing - Niamh finds herself rejected by one man well above her station, while she is attracted to another, all while remembering the young woman she left behind in Machland, her home country, where such relationships are more accepted.

The relationships in this novel get a bit complicated, as everyone appears to attracted to at least one person considered to be unacceptable for at least one reason - station, gender, societal expectations, and so on. Niamh's attraction to her own gender is important to the plot in the beginning, but appears to be forgotten - or at least discarded - as the book progresses, without any explanation; it is simply discarded, which creates discontinuity in the plot and undermines her support by a different character, another issue that is never mentioned once it's passed, despite its importance in the early portion of the book. Despite these issues, this is an entertaining novel that I enjoyed reading. Recommended for high school and adult readers.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an earc of this book.

A Fragile Enchantment is optimal cozy fantasy, with added romance and regency to spice it up. And obviously we can't forget the wonderfully delicious pining that seeps into every page. Reading this book felt like Niamph had woven her enchantments into the book itself to provide feelings of comfort and to make you long with the characters.
Speaking of characters, they all had so much depth and were intriguing to read about. The development of Kit and Niamph's relationship was done beautifully, and the slow burn of it really just made it feel more rewarding at the end.

All of the characters are flawed in ways that don't make you dislike them, but rather understand them. They're all human and therefor make mistakes that any human would.

I described this book on instagram as "Bridgerton if the people had magical powers and daddy issues".

Review publishes on January 17th, 2024

A FRAGILE ENCHANTMENT is an emotional story of complicated paths to happiness, featuring a seamstress who falls in love with the prince whose wedding clothes she's designing. With much to prove and everything to lose, Niamh tries to hide her feelings in order to not make a volatile political situation even worse by upending the upcoming wedding. But, as they spend more and more time together, her feelings become impossible to hide, and his protectiveness is starting to include her wellbeing.

The worldbuilding is excellent, working with the characterization to set up a fantasy version of regency England (Avaland), complete with a magic-fueled but no less terrible history with fantasy Ireland (Machland), including calling out this fictional version of the potato blight and contributing policies as genocide. One of the core tensions in the book is that Kit's brother and current regent, Jack, is ignoring the frustrated calls for better treatment and redress of concerns from the Machlish. Niamh is a Machlishwoman, invited to Avaland for her magic and skills as a seamstress. She finds herself falling in love with Kit when she's supposed to be making the clothes for his wedding and the formal appearances leading up to the bit event. Rosa, his betrothed (from what I'm pretty sure is fantasy Catalan or perhaps Spain), is as personally uninterested in the wedding as Kit is, but they are both going through with the political union for the sake of others. This leads to a very fun narrative space where Niamh is trying to navigate her feelings for Kit, but isn't automatically breaking someone else's heart in pursuing her own happiness. The mysterious gossip columnist, on the other hand, keeps having something to say about it, driving the threats of scandal even if the parties directly involved don't see it that way.

I love Kit and Niamh's chemistry. I'm a sucker for most variants of grumpy/sunshine, and especially for brooding (masc) characters who get pulled out of their shell, and this one is excellent. As the story unfolds, Kit's initial combativeness and disdain makes much more sense. I laughed and laughed when I got to the part with the very first item Niamh made for Kit. It's such a fantastic bit of characterization and plot, just the idea of that coat as his first real introduction to her skill in a public-facing setting. They've both become used to putting aside their own wants and needs in order to sacrifice for others, but each of them has been going about it in different ways. Kit has been floundering and frustrated because none of his direct attempts make it through to his brother and he's oscillating between desperately trying and abandoning all hope. Niamh is using up her time and body by being reckless with her energy when she has a hereditary chronic illness which will eventually turn terminal. They've both been trading pieces of themselves to help other people, and their relationship is the first positive and selfish thing either of them has attempted in a long while.

I'm very pleased with the ending, it's even better than I could have hoped for and more than any of the characters dared to dream. I'm looking forward to what this author does next.

This book was lovely and delightfully queer! From main characters to side characters! I really liked the magic system as well as the politics, though I could have used a little more detail about the politics in general.

I think standalone fantasies are hard to do in terms of world building and plot/resolution but I was really satisfied by this book!

It did get a bit YA-dramatic in the third act but I loved the ending - there are a couple of times in the last act that you wonder how our characters are going to get their happy endings, but rest assured that they do!

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I was initially interested in this book for a few reasons: 1) the cover is beautiful (yes, I judged the book by its cover); 2) the plot sounded interesting; 3) it's fairy tale-like. I'm usually a fan of YA fantasy, but unfortunately, I couldn't really get into this one. It was a did not finish for me. Considering what I read though, I appreciate the details in the fantasy elements.

Just because this wasn't for me, doesn't mean that other readers will not enjoy it. Maybe I'll try to give it another read in the future.

(4.5 stars)
thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for sending this book for me to review. all opinions are my own!

this is a cozy, whimsical, and low stakes political fantasy stand-alone, with a grump x sunshine romance AND bisexual rep! (we love to see it) and i would definitely recommend to fans of Stephanie Garber and Margaret Rogerson

the romance is quite slowburn, and it's very character based! if you love Stephanie Garbers' writing in ouabh, and adore Evangeline Fox, the heroine in this book reminds me a lot of her.
our main girl can stitch memories and feelings into fabric, which is something i have never read before, and it added a lot to the story! the magic system is not very thoroughly described, especially our heros' but it's not complicated magic so it works out.

like i said above, this fantasy romance is VERY character based. it's more focused on the romance rather than the "fantasy" aspect of things. our hero is a very grumpy and awkward prince, and our heroine is a hopeless romantic trying to keep her family well and taken care of.. and their banter was perfect. this book was so so cozy, and the characters our heroine meets along the way are all very unique and intriguing. it's also very descriptive which leads to a very vivid read (which are the best kind)

this is my second book by this author and both of the books i've read have given such a cozy warm feeling <3

Bridgerton with magic. It drew me in, twirled me around in strong arms and ended with all the warm fuzzies I needed. A great romantasy story!

A sweeping fantasy full of magic and romance! I loved the world building, and can't wait to see more from this author! Will absolutely add to my list of recommendations.

This was a sweet story full of all kinds of love and romance, balanced by hardships, secrets, and a kingdom on the edge of ruin. I really liked Niamh with her magical seamstress gifts. I would love to be able to see one of her creations and feel the emotion she put into it. I liked that there were no real villains, just people who didn't always make the best choices. That is part of what made this a nice cozy fantasy love story. I got to see the characters learn to rely on each other and see love blossom with a sweet and happy ending.

This was a fun read and I am thankful NetGalley and the publisher gave me a chance to savor this story!