Faerie tales all have the same lesson, really: don't go searching in the dark.⟡₊ ⊹

🌸 Marriage Competition
🌹 Love triangle
🌸 Fairy bargains
🌹 Victorian era
🌸 Royalty
🌹 Only one bed

Thank you to @netgalley and @harpercollons for the arc copy! I devoured this lush fairytale in two days! A delicious blend of The Selection, Bridgerton, The Cruel Prince and Once Upon a Broken Heart. It was fun, whimsical and frilly with a dark edge. There’s delicious yearning and pining which I adore in a YA romance. I really enjoyed that each girl got a chapter from her POV to explain their motivations and inner thoughts. It’s going to be a duology and after the ending I need book two as soon as possible.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5 stars

➸ 3.5 stars

“When one makes a faerie bargain, one must be prepared to pay the price. There is one silver lining. I have nothing to lose.”

𓍢⊹ ࣪ thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the advanced readers copy!

✨ marriage competition
🌹 minor trials
✨ forbidden love
🌹 faerie bargains
✨ high society 1848 london

this was such a fun read! it was really easy to read and i flew through it! immediately from chapter one i was utterly obsessed with the banter between ivy and emmet and it was such a promising start to the book!

overall, things kind of just fell from there for me. i still don’t know what to think of ivy, the fmc, i just don’t have much thoughts there! i did like emmet, mostly because of the dynamic between him and ivy HOWEVER i felt like there was no build up which made me not really see a connection between them!

ALSO, authors and getting quite bold these days sneaking in fully detailed smut chapters in YOUNG ADULT novels!!! what happened to fade to black???? a warning of explicit content at the start would be nice to have for the younger readers out there at least!

i also felt like the stakes weren’t so high; the trials were boring and overall i felt like nothing exciting was happening… UNTIL THE END!!!! i did like the twist at the end and i kind of saw it coming but it was nice having a oh my god this really just happened moment and im definitely looking coward to book two!!

i wish we could’ve gotten more of the side characters and their stories! i absolutely loved their povs and i found them all so intriguing!! GREER DESERVED BETTER. anyways, i hope to see more of them as they have some amazing stories for their characters and i really loved the friendships they found with each other!!

I'm completely obsessed! This is my first book by Sasha Peyton Smith, but it won't be my last! I loved every page of this rich, indulgent world, and I just know this book is going to take the world by storm.

I love, love, loved this one! An intriguing and uncanny magic system + the mystery of Ivy's sister's missing memories + the high stakes competition for Prince Bram's hand = me not being able to put this book down. An instant favorite. I cannot wait for the sequel!

3.75/5 stars

This is a book that perfectly falls into the good, but not quite great category for me. It has a lot of things that were done well and has potential for it to be even better, but just lacked a little bit of the depth and excitement that I think it could have had to be a really excellent book. That being said, I still was entertained the whole time and will be reading the next one! I just wanted a smidgen more from it.

The book premise is a lot of fun, with a fae Queen of England in a human world who grants the citizens one bargain each. The girls of High Society are granted their bargain on their debut day, often asking for beauty or traits that will make them more desirable on the marriage mart. The start of this book has our FMC, Ivy, looking for her sister, who has been missing for some time. When her sister re-appears, it causes a scandal, so Ivy’s debut is tainted with familial disgrace, and while she is still invited to present to the queen, she doesn’t have any hope for an actual marriage proposal this season. But this year, there is a twist. The Queen’s fae son is looking for a wife, and this year, the debutantes can choose to join the competition for his hand. But it wouldn’t be a YA novel without a little love triangle, in the form of Prince Bram’s step brother and the human Prince of England. This second prince has a rogue reputation and is the exact opposite of Bram in every way. As the competition continues, Ivy discovers a secret mission to overthrow the Queen and take back England for the humans.

As I said, the book overall was entertaining and I always love a competition and secret love triangle with a forbidden love angle. The story was an entertaining mix of historical fiction (similar to Bridgerton), fantasy elements, and an upper YA love story. The characters were intriguing, if lacking a little depth, and I enjoyed the side characters and their relationships.

I do wish that there was a little bit more excitement with the competition and a little more rivalry with the girls, although them all coming out as friends was a nice touch too. This is a YA story, but I do think that the romance could have been developed a little bit more for some depth to really see them falling in love, but I still was rooting for them to get together, even though we know it isn’t good for either of their goals.

I do think the book got the most exciting at the end, with some twists I wasn’t expecting. It makes me really excited for the next book to see where this is going!

Thank you NetGalley for the copy of this book!

REVIEW: The Rose Bargain 🌹💍

Author: Sasha Peyton Smith
Genre: YA Historical Romantasy
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.25

💬 “I think it was always going to be you for me.”

About the Book: In an alternative England ruled by a deceptive fae queen, Ivy Benton knows that not even magic can fix her family's ruined reputation. Desperate for security (or at least freedom), she enters a competition to win the hand of fae Prince Bram. With the help of his charming human brother, Prince Emmett, Ivy rises as a frontrunner, but the queen’s trials prove more treacherous than she imagined.

💭 This was a super quick and easy read! It hooks you immediately with its prologue and wastes no time diving into the story. It’s a fun mix of The Bachelor and The Selection, set in an alternate England ruled by a fae queen who grants magical bargains. I did wish there was a bit more magic overall though.

The competition to marry Prince Bram has some wild high-stakes moments (including a hedge maze reminiscent of Goblet of Fire). I loved the occasional POV from the other contestants (Marion is prob my fav). I didn’t absolutely love Ivy as our main character, but I didn’t love Emmett. He kinda has my heart.

While the story starts strong, the last act takes a bizarre turn that left me more confused than captivated. Still, it’s a fun, slightly chaotic read that feels very Valentine’s Day season-coded.

💌 Read this if you like The Bachelor, YA fantasy, love triangles, 1800s England, forbidden love, and Bridgerton.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collin's Childrens Books for the eARC.

This book was so fun to read. While I was unsure of a fantasy based in a historical setting, I ended up really enjoying this.

The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith is a romantasy that’s like Bridgerton meets The Cruel Prince meets The Selection.
 
I absolutely loved the concept of this book, and the writing was so vivid and kept me hooked from the first page. I liked the historical elements and that in combination with the fae and Underworld made it even better.
 
Our protagonist is Ivy who is about to make her debut in society. But she doesn’t want to end up an old aristocrat and so she takes the opportunity to win prince Bram over in a competition. Ivy is intelligent, fierce and she fights for what she wants and she’s the strong type of heroine I exactly like, and I adored her.
 
Prince Bram is the heir, and he is the one all swoon over, and he is very liked. He is a bit unapproachable at first but that changed later on. Then there’s also his brother Prince Emmett who is more of a wild child and he helps Ivy to win over Bram. The story is a slight love triangle and that added so much angst and delicious tension and I was here for it. But I quickly started to root more for one of them.
 
The plot was so engaging as well from balls, the competition, the only one bed scene to amazing plot twist. I honestly never wanted to leave this world and was so immersed in the characters and the world. And don’t even get me started on the ending that changed everything and I’m beyond excited for the next book.
 
The Rose Bargain is a new favorite book and I’m obsessed with it and highly recommend it. 5 stars.
 
(Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an arc.)

Dates read: 1.26-2.04
Star rating: 4-4.5 stars
Review: Think Bridgedrton than put the bachelor and sprinkle a little magic. Overall, the book was very good at keeping it classic and having a historical feel to it. I enjoyed the feeling of it being YA and not having to worry about if there would be any close-to-explicit scenes. I found it refreshing and thought that this ended on a positive note leaving me wanting just a little bit more.

Wow I am not exaggerating, this was EVERYTHING I wanted and more in a YA Romantasy! Definitely for fans of Cruel Prince, Once Upon a Broken Heart and Half a Soul! It is set in a lush rose-colored regency era mixed with the magic of Fae-- but underneath the glamour is a dark and twisty plot that had me binging this book in two days! AND THAT ENDING I totally went in thinking this was a standalone! This was my first book by this author and it won't be my last-- I will be thinking about this book and very much impatiently waiting for the next one in this series!

Thank you SO much NetGalley for this ARC. :)

The beginning of this book felt very YA, but around the 50% mark it really picked up. I’m not usually into love triangles but this one was done extremely well and OMG the pining was excellent, so well done! The trials and the games were very well written. I’m sad to be done and now must wait a year to finish the duology!

Thank you so much for the NetGalley!

Perfect for fans of Bridgerton & The Cruel Prince, The Rose Bargain is a historical Romantasy that centers around the time of the War of Roses but with Fae.

Ivy was a strong FMC and I adored her relationship with her sister.

This book was so good & I can’t wait to meet Sasha on her tour!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC! I went in with no expectations, and found that this was delightful! The Selection x Bridgerton x the fae. A great YA fantasy with romance, bargains, and female friendship. This was an easy world to jump right into and an emotionally layered narrative. I was even surprised to find that I enjoyed the mini POV chapters sprinkled throughout to get to each of the other ladies. It leans into the tropes of the genre and executed them wonderfully. My only regret is that getting an ARC means I have to wait waaaaay too long to see what happens!

A fun fae fantasy that is reminiscent of the cruel prince without a mix of Bridgerton. This is a strange one but hear me out, the whimsy of the characters lend themselves to a plot wherein the fae characters are feeling as if they belong in another era that is similar to this world. The modern aspects of the cruel prince are heightened as the human world these fae, non human or have some humanistic elements make the worldbuidling seem as other and yet still fantastically, the rose bargain is a fantasy with some romance on the side.

I don’t know that I have the words to accurately describe how much I loved this book. First, it felt like Bridgerton with Faeries and well that was a perfect combo that I want more of immediately. The rose bargains between the Queen and the girls entering the season was so addicting, I wanted to know the costs of every one of them especially the six girls running for the Prince’s bride.

Ivy is looking for the reason her sister went missing and runs into the King’s son, who’s she quickly ends up in a master plan with to take down the faerie queen. It’s a whole don’t fall in love with me scenario and it worked perfectly for these two cause Emmett fell faster and harder. I loved the six girls in the competition and the darkness of the trials, it was so dark and twisted but kept me hooked from start to finish.

Finally the ending, without spoilers, but wow I was shocked. I would have given the books all the stars if I could. I predicted like one thing out of the many and the rest shocked me to the core. I’m still sitting here just shell shocked, I can’t wait for the next book and hate that this book just came out. But it’ll be a February fav that’s for sure!

4.5⭐️ rounded up.

The Rose Bargain is the closest thing to a fantasy based Bridgerton that I've come across. I was completely engrossed from the beginning and just fell more and more in love with the book as I read on.

I thought the trials were unique, appreciated the camaraderie amongst the girls, and even found myself swept away by some swoon worthy moments. The ending landed the perfect punch by leaving us eager for more.

Thank you Netgalley and Harper Collins for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.

This book is such a fun read! I loved the world that was created, as well as the characters. This is an excellent YA book for romantasy lovers, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed The Selection or The Cruel Prince, and to anyone who has always loved stories of faeries.

This book is Bridgerton meets The Selection WITH FAE.

Every citizen gets one chance to make a bargain with their queen, something they want in exchange for something they lose. At first it seems great, anything you want in exchange for something like your happiest memory, your fingernails, your ability to smell flowers. However, I think this book did a great job showing the negatives of the bargain, how it never really seems quite worth it. Losing your childhood memories in exchange for better business dealings ends up coming back to bite you because you can no longer relate to anyone or join in while reminiscing about the 'good old days,' slowly rendering your bargain a net negative.

I loved the world-building, how it would feel like 1800s England, with promenades around the park, modistes, garden parties, debutante seasons, etc. and then all of a sudden something would happen that seemed perfectly ordinary to the characters but makes you as the reader stare at the page in shock and you remember you're in a dark fantasy world.

Our main character Ivy enters a competition for the prince's hand in marriage, with the stakes that the ladies who lose may never marry for the rest of their lives. She quickly realizes that it won't all be tea parties and etiquette lessons, with the fae queen arranging brutal and painful tests for the women competing, all while threatening them and their families if they don't go through with everything she asks of them. I wish the trials had been slightly more high stakes, with more eliminations occurring than just the initial whittling down.

I did feel like the pacing was a bit slow but at the same time I feel like it reflected what was actually happening. The characters had to keep attending balls and parties and sporting events, all while the painful trials and death threats and schemes were going on at the same time.

I did NOT see the ending coming. I figured there was more to Bram than met the eye, like maybe he knew what Emmett was planning and was on his side, but I was not expecting him to be the king of the Otherworld!! I guess I was right that he wanted to take down the queen but I did not expect the twist of WHY.

I feel like the ending set things up to hear more about Lydia or even get Lydia's POV in book 2, which I'm extremely excited for. I also hope we see more of Faith, Greer, Marion, Emmy, and Olive. The friendships formed between the six ladies was an unexpected but lovely part of this book.

I knew I was going to love this book, but I had not idea how much. This was such a wonderful read that gave me all the Bridgerton x These Hollow Vows. I dare you to not fall for both princes ❤️‍🔥

This book had me talking to the book and kicking my feet the whole time. It is rare to enjoy a read this much!! All the swoon, all the betrayal, all the mess in a proper society 🔥 The competition for the Prince’s heart was wild and dangerous and I didn’t know whether to be horrified or laugh.

This will pull all your heart strings and give you all the feels. Did I yell “What?!?” out loud and have my whole family staring at me? Yes, I definitely did hahaha so many times that my husband even said “I’m going to need to you to quit talking to that book.” 😆 I have read so many books that it’s hard to shock and surprise me and this book did just that. I didn’t see that twist coming!

👑 Princess Competition
👑 Evil Fae Queen
👑 Royal Brothers
👑 Fae x Human
👑 Political Intrigue
👑 Rebel MMC
👑 One Bed
👑 Regency Romantasy
👑 Fae Bargains
👑 Love Triangle

5+⭐️ 🌶️ (low spice, open door, only slightly descriptive) read

It’s been a while since I’ve read a Young Adult Fantasy book so I was ready to enjoy this one. It’s a cross between “The Cruel Prince” and “the Batchelor” with a cruel Faerie queen and a wronged prince trying to overthrow her with the help of a stubborn debutante. I really enjoyed the mix of English history and the faerie realm. I also loved the interplay between the girls competing for the faerie prince’s hand in marriage. Otherwise, there wasn’t anything super unique about this book and I’m one the fence about continuing the series. I received a digital copy of the book from the publisher through NetGalley.