London, 1848—For four hundred years, England has been under the control of an immortal fae queen who tricked her way onto the throne. To maintain an illusion of benevolence, Queen Mor grants each of her subjects one opportunity to bargain for their deepest desire.

As Ivy Benton prepares to make her debut, she knows that not even a deal with the queen could fix what has gone wrong: Her family’s social standing is in shambles, her sister is a shadow of her former self, and Ivy’s marriage prospects are nonexistent. So when the queen announces a competition for Prince Bram’s hand, Ivy is the first to sign her name in blood. What a bargain can’t fix, a crown certainly could. Ivy soon finds herself a surprising front-runner—with the help of an unexpected ally: Prince Bram’s brother, the rakish Prince Emmett, who promises to help Ivy win his brother’s heart…for a price. But as the season sweeps Ivy away, with glittering balls veiling the queen’s increasingly vicious trials, Ivy realizes there’s more at stake than just a wedding. Because all faerie bargains come with a cost, and Ivy may have discovered hers too late.

The Rose Bargain is a wonderful combination of the Victorian era and fantasy. Smith's writing is beautiful, and the plot is engaging. The romance subplot felt rushed in spots, but for me, Smith did such a great job with secondary characters like Ivy's sister Lydia. Excellent book! 5⭐

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!

The Rose Bargain was just an okay read for me! I requested this ARC because the blurb of The Cruel Prince and The Selection drew me in! I have never read The Selection series but have heard great things about it, while The Cruel Prince is one of my all-time favorite ya fantasy romance series! I do think this comparison set unrealistic expectations for me in my mind when I started reading The Rose Bargain. I loved the premise but the ploy just felt a little predictable throughout the whole book. I couldn’t connect with the romance because it felt really rushed and lacked the emotional depth that I always need to love a book couple. My favorite part of this book were the scenes where Ivy was interacting and bonding with the other girls. I also liked that they each had their own POV chapters so we could really be in their head and understand their reasonings. I do think people will like this but it was just a so/so read for me!

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC!

4.5 stars

This book has so many things that I love in a fantasy - fae royalty, a brooding love interest, courtly intrigue, strong female characters, and a competition to win the prince’s hand. It definitely has elements from other popular series like The Folk of the Air and Bridgerton, but it stands perfectly well on its own.

While I enjoyed it from the start, the second half is what really had me hooked. The end had me holding my breath and anxiously flipping the page. There were some mysteries that I was dying to find out the whole time and the reveals did not disappoint! The characters were all really well done and had a lot of hidden depths to them, and I appreciated the brief POVs we got from each of them. The only thing I don’t like is the idea of waiting for the next book!

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

4.5 stars

If you are a romantasy lover who enjoys watching The Bachelor then this book was written for you!!

The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith is a fast paced YA romantasy that follows Ivy Benton (as well as giving us some other POVs which I loved) in London during the mid 1800s where the faerie queen has invited the mortal girls to join a competition where the prize is to marry her son and become a princess of the land. Ivy’s family has fallen on some hard times and this would be a great way to redeem their standing in society. The catch is that the girls have signed in blood that whomever is not chosen will never marry, dying a spinster.

The competition starts with 20+ girls but after the first competition we are left with the final 6 ladies over the next several weeks who will participate in outrageous scenarios in order to win. During this time we get mostly Ivy’s POV along with single chapters from the other girl’s POV and a chapter following her sister in the end. Of course, things are not as they seem and Ivy ends up hitting it off with Prince Bram’s step-brother, Emmett, who has quite the reputation with some of the other ladies…. What could go wrong?

This book was so much fun and the last 25% was full of twists that I did not predict at all and craziness that I was not expecting. Throughout the entire book we are trying to figure out the bargain that Ivy’s sister Lydia made with the queen - as part of the yearly rose bargain ritual is making a deal with the queen in exchange for something…. Lydia can’t remember what her bargain was, but I promise you that by the end of the book the puzzle pieces come together and you will be shocked.

Thank you so much to NetGalley & HarperCollins for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I look forward to continuing this series & reading more from Sasha Peyton Smith!

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC.

Comparing this to The Cruel Prince potentially sets up unfair expectations. The protagonist Ivy completely lacks the cunning and utter unhingeness that TCP's Jude exhibits. Ivy is a perfectly serviceable main character, if a little on the safer bland side. And overall, that's exactly what The Rose Bargain is. The ~forbidden~ romance between Ivy and Emmett AKA the Obligatory Bad Boy With A Heart of Gold in a YA Love Triangle was pretty clichéd, down to the Only One Bed trope. But the crime for me was how fast Ivy went from Annoyed to Fallen In Love. If only that part came AFTER their most meaningful interaction, when they talked about their tragic pasts and actually bonded better. But no, Ivy had to feel jealous over a boy she barely knew at that time when he got cushy with another girl.

The main romance might've made me roll my eyes, but the interactions and growing friendships between Ivy and the other girls were the highlight. While Ivy's POV is the bulk of what we get, I do appreciate that each of the other girls got one-off POV chapters as well for me to better get to understand their motivations. And! Sapphic representation!

The final 20% is actually quite exciting, and the closest I feel matches TCP. So if one didn't DNF by then, you're in for a treat at least in the finale. I probably won't continue with the sequel though because I wasn't as invested.

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

What a delightful read! I loved how the story effortlessly blended magic, mystery, and emotion. The characters felt real and relatable, and I found myself rooting for them throughout the book. The writing style was captivating, with just the right balance of detail and action to keep me hooked. I particularly enjoyed the way the themes of love, sacrifice, and resilience were explored. Overall, it's a beautifully crafted story that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for an enchanting and heartfelt read.

4 stars

The Rose Bargain has so many wonderful elements in it. It’s has fantasy, romance, competition, mystery, and rebellion. I loved the main character Ivy, but I wish she was smarter. Actually, I wish all the characters were smarter, since there were many parts of this book that I thought were obvious but the characters were blind to. Other than that, this was an enjoyable and quick read.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an e-ARC of this book!

The Rose Bargain takes all the elements you know and love from Powerless, Once Upon a Broken Heart, and The Selection, except, say it with me…

!! it does it better !!

Intermixed between everyone’s favorite tropes (and maybe some you think you’ll hate at first) is alternate regency era England and hints at an ‘otherworld’ and mischievously evil Fae ala The Cruel Prince.

YA Fantasy, or Romantasy in general, hasn’t made me feel like this book did in absolute AGES. Sasha Peyton Smith may not have reinvented the wheel with the tropes or plot progression, but the way it was executed made it the perfectly digestible amount of escapism.

If you see reviews talking about a love triangle, don’t let it deter you from picking up this book. If you’ve ever read a single fantasy romance book in your life, you’ll know it’s not a true ‘love triangle’ anyway ;)

It’s fast paced, lively, and the side characters are interesting and developed past the point of being filler. I want more from them all, even Joseph (iykyk)

A very strong 4.5, especially for the first book in what I’m sure will be a trilogy. It set up the world well, and left me at the edge of my seat for what happens next! It’s so incredibly unfortunate that this goes on sale in February of 2025, and god knows how long I’ll have to wait for the sequel! I’m willing to wait though, if not to return to this world, but to see how things end up with our Six girls, Emmett, Lydia, and Bram.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for access to an early copy for review!

And thank you Zoe for forcing me to request this, I’m not sure if I would have otherwise!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishing for providing me with an ARC Kindle copy of "The Rose Bargain" by Sasha Peyton Smith! I really enjoyed this book! I really liked the competition for the queens son and it has been a minute since I read a good YA romantasy!

Wow, I flew through this book and it was so good!!!🤩🌹✨

The Rose Bargain is a historical fantasy, and it’s like a mix between The Cruel Prince, The Selection, and Powerless with a Bridgerton/Victorian England setting. I honestly just loved everything about this book - the strong female lead, the bad boy love interest who’s actually better than everyone believes him to be, the slow burn romance that includes him teaching her how to dance and kiss and an only one bed scene😏 I also enjoyed all the dangerous trials and the found family between the competing girls. And that last 25% of the book was so twisty and had me on the edge of my seat! So much happened and was revealed, and I’m just sad that we have no idea when the second book will release!🫠 I will be preordering it as soon as it’s available so I can find out what happens next! (And I hope it includes spending more time in the Otherworld)

This book did have a handful of mild curse words (no f-bombs). There is a short open door scene in chapter 29 that can be easily skipped.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for sending me an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions above are my own.

Stunning. Absolutely fantastic. The story catches you right from the start and draws you through. The interspersing of chapters from other characters POV is wonderfully deployed, sprinkling in tiny bits of info you would otherwise never know in a first-person book. I truly didn’t see the twist coming. I thought I had it but I was only 25% right and that made it SO much better because I wasn’t wrong but I still got to be surprised. I was not 100% prepared that it was a duology (my fault for being too excited from friends’ excitement) and now I am floundering wanting the next one so I can know what happens.

4.75⭐️ The only reason this book isn't getting an official 5⭐️ from me is because I was a little confused in the beginning (that could totally be a me thing). Overall, this book is fantastic & all I'm saying is there better be more coming!

I received an arc and am giving me unbiased and honest opinion.

I devoured this novel! It has it all, bargains, betrayals and a great romance. The author helps develop a love for the characters by doing select chapters from their point of view. The MMC is swoon and I cannot wait to see more of him. I do think it went from friendship to love really quickly but it doesn’t matter because it worked out really well. The only thing I hate is now I have to wait for the next book because that cliffhanger ugh.

Summary:
In the London that Ivy Benton lives in, a young girl ready to set into society goes and makes a bargain with the Queen. Mostly they bargain for more beauty, but Ivy wants to help her sister and save her parents. When the Queen tells she cannot help Ivy takes a chance to earn the Fae prince’s hand in marriage hoping that his hand would help solve her problems. The big problem is not winning the hand of the prince but staying away from his handsome brother. Ivy must try to become the princes bride, help her family, but also try not to lose her heart. Will she triumph?

I cannot wait to read the next book. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollinsPublishers.

I was going in with the expectation that I would love this book.

I'll read anything that can give me The Selection vibes AKA a competition to marry a prince. I felt the story started off promising but faltered later on. I almost considered DNFing but kept reading in case something might've grabbed my interest (wish I didn't now).

My main issue was I don't really like the love interest. I can't say much on that without spoiling. I did like the other girls. They were the most interesting characters in the book. They were actually a lot more fleshed out than the male lead(s).

A lot of other readers will like this. It'll make some noise next year for sure. It just wasn't what I hoped for. <3

It does seem like there will be another book judging by that ending but I'll have to pass.

The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith was just a decent read for me. What initially drew me in was the blurb comparing it to The Cruel Prince and The Selection, two favorites of mine, which set high expectations. While the concept of the story had potential, the plot felt overly predictable, leaving little room for genuine surprises or tension. The romance felt rushed and lacked the emotional depth needed to make it believable or compelling. While the writing itself was fine and the premise intriguing, the execution fell short of delivering a truly memorable or engaging experience. It’s an okay book if you’re looking for something light, but it didn’t quite stand out.

If you smashed together The Selection with every mediocre fae fantasy from the last 10 years, you’d get “The Rose Bargain.” Ivy’s older sister Lydia regrets the deal she made with the queen of England, who grants a boon to every young woman in exchange for memories or experiences. When Ivy arrives for her turn to make a bargain, the queen announces instead that women can choose to enter into a competition for the hand of her son Prince Bram. Ivy enters a series of trials to prove herself a suitable match for the prince, but quickly finds herself embroiled in a plot to overthrow the queen - a plot started by her stepson, Prince Emmet, who Ivy hates (obviously). I found the worldbuilding very thin, the characters one-dimensional, and the plot just a convenient vehicle for a very generic enemies to lovers romance that generally didn’t make much of an impression.

“The Rose Bargain” combines all aspects of a fantasy romance that I love. Taking place in faerie-ruled England, Ivy must make a magical bargain and compete to marry the Fae Prince. Ivy’s sister has ruined her family’s reputation with a secret bargain and now Ivy is their only hope to rejoin society. Upon joining the competition for the Prince’s hand in marriage, Ivy agrees to help the Second Prince with his secret ambitions. I loved every minute of this story. I was enraptured with Smith’s storytelling and the atmosphere she created. The ending is torture and I cannot wait for the sequel!

For those who love:
🌹 Royal Courting Competition
🌹 Ballgowns and Castle Setting
🌹 “The Selection”
🌹 Faerie Bargains & Lore
🌹 Love Triangle
🌹 Secret Alliances

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a highly-anticipated ARC!

The Rose Bargain is a fast paced YA romantasy that reads like The Selection meets Bridgerton with trickster fae in an alternate history version of London.
In the 1400’s during The War of The Roses a fae Queen stops the bloodbath wars by striking a bargain with one of the sides. Almost immediately she becomes Queen of England and after more than 400 years she still rules with an iron grip over her subjects. Bargains are made between the Queen and the citizens and during the debut of the newest batch of debutantes she announces that her son the Prince finally wishes to marry and this seasons ladies are in the running.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the opportunity to read and review this book which I am giving 3.5⭐️.
I enjoyed this book and thought it was fun and fast paced. As a YA romantasy book, I think it will appeal to a good range of readers. I was pleasantly surprised that the ending was unpredictable and look forward to posting about this book on my social media (TikTok and YouTube) closer to its release date.
If you are in the most for a quick romantasy read this is a good option for 2025

I don’t have much to say about this book. It was an alright read. I mostly picked it because of its comparison to The Selection, but it also felt like it was meant for a younger audience than me. I probably would’ve adored this book in middle school (around my peak Selection obsession), so I would recommend it to middle grade readers or those who like younger YA!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the arc

Thank you to Sasha Peyton Smith, HarperCollins Publishers, and NetGalley for the e-print ARC of The Rose Bargain!

4.5 stars

This book was a masterpiece. While slightly slow in its beginning, the middle and ending easily compensated. The last one hundred pages I read in an intense, emotionally-invested sitting. Already, I want a sequel.
If you enjoyed Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber or The Selection by Keira Cass, this book has to be added to your TBR, immediately. Faeries, trickery, a contest for a charming prince’s hand? High stakes, a compelling main character, all set in the royal setting that is nineteenth-century England? What more could you want in a book?