I thought this was fine. I didn’t love the writing style, at times I got a little lost as to who’s POV we were reading. I think only having one narrator (although I did like the narrator) made that part a little more confusing.

The plot was interesting and I liked the characters, and I will definitely read more by this author.

I’ve read a lot of romantisies at this point, and I’m afraid this one was fairly basic without plot, worldbuilding, or character elements unique enough to make this interesting. Having said that, I can see this being popular with what I suspect is the book’s target audience (women in their late teens and early 20s).

Brittany Presley is a great narrator as usual, able to clearly distinguish many characters by their patterns of speech (and even accents in some cases).

I was instantly pulled into this book. There is not a lot of initial world building which was nice. It gets straight into the plot and you learn about everything along with Bristol. The story is full of interest and intrigue. I liked that it was up to me to try and figure out who was good and evil in this story.

My main issue was the romance. I didn’t feel the chemistry between Bristol and Tiguan. The romance felt unbelievable. They have a few moments together but the chemistry and spice seemed lacking.

I also wish there were more on the friendships, like with Rose and the other recruits. They seem to be such a big part of Bristol’s life and it would have been nice to get to know them more.

The book ends at a weird spot. I wish it was more of a cliff hanger in order to make me want to read the second book. I didn’t love or hate it. It was interesting but I didn’t really like the characters and have no desire to continue with the series.

A dark fae romance with an enemies-to-lovers trope, sign me up. I enjoyed the stories that led up to the actual plot and events. It will keep your interest and have you trying to figure out what will happen next.

What I didn’t like was how fast it went from enemies to lovers. There was no buildup, no good tension. It happened all so fast, and then they were head over heels for one another. This is just my opinion, but throwing in school, university, or classes in fantasy books is just starting to get so overdone for me. I would love more world-building and character descriptions. I had a hard time trying to image the characters. There were little descriptions sprinkled throughout the story, and it made it hard to remember what went with who. The POV of each chapter made it hard to figure out whose scene it was throughout the book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ACR in exchange for an honest review.

Very nicely surprised!

So, when I began this book early this morning, my breath was taken away when I realized it was 17 hours long! But, honestly, it went by in a flash!

Bristol Keats has two sisters, and no parents.
Her father was recently killed in a car accident, and her mother left them many years ago. Bristol and her older sister are just trying to keep their little family going…
A roof over their heads, bills paid, etc…. But they’re having such a hard time…

Then ,one day, she gets a note from a long lost aunt who says she wants to help them. It seems fishy…. But when her sister loses her job, she figures she’ll reach out.

She has NO IDEA what’s in store for her, and this is where the story really starts building up steam!

Bristol meets Tyghan, and is less than impressed but, he ends up being a key player in the book!

And, everything Bristol believes that she knew about her parents, well, it’s wrong!

Other worlds. Faeries. Demons. Shapeshifters… This one had it all!

4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫stars for me, rounded up to 5.

#TheCoutingOfBristolKeats by #MaryEPearson and narrated beautifully by #BrittanyPressley.

Thanks so much to #NetGalley and #DreamscapeMedia for an ARC of the audiobook.
**** This is due to be released in just a few days on 11/12/24! ****
So, look 👀 for it then.

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A new romantasy duology with The Courting of Bristol Keats being the first novel. Bristol and her sisters have lost their parents and are struggling to make ends meet. They receive a few letters from an "aunt" of their father's, stating they have artwork to bequeath them. Bristol is skeptical but takes the meeting. She finds out that things are definitely not what they seemed in her small town and the "aunt" is none other than the Fae court her father betrayed. As Bristol gets pulled into a bargain with Tyghan, the king, she also discovers her father may be alive. she travels to Elphaim to find out what happened.
This is a typical enemies to lovers trope. Although I enjoyed it, it's a good thing there will be another book because this ended in a "ahem" situation.

*Special thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio e-arc.*

Mary Pearson’s writing/storytelling is captivating. Having read her other works, it was so refreshing reading another book from her. Although, about halfway through the plot started to lose me. Partially due to the flip in tone. The romance turned way up, the characters shifted quicker than expected, there was so much repetition with certain scenes and dialogue. The ending wasn’t even a good cliffhanger. Ending the book with characters in bed felt way too abrupt, especially given those same characters had quite the conflict not that long before so it felt jarring.

Bristol Keats and her sisters recently lost their parents. When she agrees to meet with a long lost aunt, she realizes her whole life was a lie. Her father was alive and she travelled to a magical fae kingdom to find him.

Overall the Courting of Bristol Keats was fine, but I felt like the pacing was off and the story ended very abruptly and seemed incomplete. I also found it confusing at times to follow the story, especially with the changing POVs that were not always clear. I liked following Bristol on the adventure and enjoyed the world, but it felt like a lot of good ideas not quite executed well.

My favorite part was the narrator. They did an excellent job with different voices.

3 stars

I was really surprised and enjoyed this story a lot. The narrator kept me interested and I would love to read the finish copy when it comes out.

This book was a RIDE. I’m going to be totally honest and say that the first 50% of the book was a true struggle to get through. I truly think that if I did not have the audiobook I would be DNF’ing the book. It was a lot of world building and set up that just felt repetitive. I understand needing to set the scene and build up the plot but in a 17ish hour audiobook, having to spend the first 8 hours bored is not it. 



Moving into the latter 50%… I still enjoyed the book, but felt that the POV it was written in gave SO MUCH away. I felt like as the reader I knew all of the plot, secrets, and what was to happen, and was only there to watch the FMC discover the truth. Again, thats not to say that the writing wasnt good and the actual concept of the book wasnt a good idea… I just felt like a story like this would have benefitted from a first person POV in which we got to discover the secrets and feel the emotions WITH the character instead of watching her discover them. 



The sex scenes also felt a little out of place and disconnected. The book ENDS with them having sex? After Tyghan just battled demons for an entire night? AND after they had a blowout argument? it just felt a little forced and rushed, like trying to get one more good moment into the book to leave readers or listeners with a ‘positive’ punch when in reality it was tacky, forced, and felt like it discredited their entire relationship (which, if you ask me, was already a bit of rocky and had little foundation).



Overall, I did enjoy the book, and it did pick up a bit at the end and I will continue to read the next book as I want to know how the story ends of Bristol and Tyghan. I just hope that it’s not another 50% build up and a slight let down of a plot.

2.5 Stars
This was the worst ending in a book that I've come across in a long time (like I absolutely hated the way this ended and how incomplete it felt). I also was not a huge fan of Bristol (she felt very ACOTAR coded to me lol) and found some of the random POV chapters confusing and unnecessary. I feel like even though I just listened to 17 hours of this I don't love that I'm still left with so many questions (that I'll have to wait to be answered in the sequel). I will say that I did enjoy the world building and how things worked in this universe and the side characters were fun additions to the story. I listened to the audio version of this and it was narrated by Brittany Pressley, who did a great job at keeping me engaged in this story (I loved her work on The Unmaking of June Farrow so I was intrigued the moment I heard her voice in this one lol)!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC!

The Courting of Bristol Keats is an exciting new novel set in the curious world of Elfhame. Bristol Keats is barely getting by and holding it together for her sisters after the recent death of both of their parents. They are behind on their bills and even with her and her sisters combined income they can barely keep the lights on. A mysterious estranged Aunt writes to Bristol offering her priceless art, and the sisters are suspicious, their father grew up in foster care, and they have no extended family that they are aware of. Down on her luck with a day of work cancelled, Bristol gives in and meets with the Aunt, which results in her making a deal with the Fae. She will help them with what they need, if they help her find her Dad, who may not be as dead as she originally believed.

This story was so engaging and intriguing and had such a fun spin on Fae and court politics. I came for the premise and stayed for the enemies to lovers and all the twists and turns. I can't wait to see what happens in the following books in the series. The mistrust between Bristol and Tyghan that develops into trust is so well done, both pacing wise and tension wise. The audio narrator captured all of Bristol's feelings and expressions so well. You can feel the hope, longing, tension, and anger in her voice. It was so well done!!

If you love fantasy with romance, intriguing premises, and anything Fae I absolutely recommend you pick this book up. It was such a fun and enjoyable read/listen. Thank you to Macmillian Audio and Netgalley for an ALC to review

This was so good wow!

It’s full of world building and magic. The characters are dynamic and the storyline has some nice twists and turns. It gives strong Cruel Prince vibes so if you’re a fan of that series, you will most likely enjoy this.

We have a middle child having her moment, and we love to see it. Bristol is flawed and it makes her feel so real and relatable. She acts before she thinks, she argues when she probably shouldn’t but she’s fiercely loyal and devoted to her friends and family. She’s a FMC that’s learning, growing and evolving but at a realistic level, and I love her for it.

Tyghan is as lovable as he is infuriating. Stubborn but still a sweet cinnamon roll. Our MMC has been through it, but I feel like there’s more coming and I can’t wait to see it.

Overall I enjoyed this read and the narrator was very good. She did accents and inflections that helped bring the story to life.

On the con side, there were moments that lost me. It would get slow in some places but the overall storyline kept me the whole time. There was also some instalove vibes that I wasn’t a fan of. I felt like the flip between dislike to love gave me some whiplash. It wasn’t a graceful change in my opinion. But I’m rooting for them nonetheless.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an Audio Arc.

Super good, a bit confusing but I loved it. Except what is that ending?! It literally makes absolutely NO SENSE. There were so many different ways that it could have ended.

I am not a fantasy reader. Have never been interested in it either. This book is labeled Romantasy and I was blown away by how good it was. I listened to the audiobook version narrated by my favorite narrator Brittney Pressley. Had she not been the narrator I would have missed out! I will be open to more books in this genre from now on.
Life was always a mystery for Bristol. Moving around from city to city always feeling like her family was running from something. Unfortunate events leave Bristol and her siblings alone in a world they all thought they understood. Suddenly nothing is really what it seems. Bristol is thrust into another world, culture she doesn’t understand and a king she can not resist.
Her life slowly unfolds as she searches for answers.
The book ends on a HUUUGE cliffhanger. I actually yelled NOOOOO!!! I can’t wait for the next book in this captivating story. I am not sleeping on this genre ever again!!

I really liked it. It’s nothing wildly complex, but just really solid romantasy. Everything I love about Pearson’s writing and story-telling is here.

Way too many short chapters for my personal taste. It makes the book seem like it’s a lot longer than it is.

Otherwise, a super solid read. Highly recommend to fans of Rebecca Yarros.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the gifted ALC!

Gosh I just love a book narrated by Brittany Pressley! She's so talented and absolutely brought this book to life.

About the book: Bristol Keats lost both of their parents and is struggling to provide for her two sisters in her small town. She receives mysterious letters from her "aunt" she's never heard of promising help, so she agrees to meet and discovers that her father may still be alive in another realm. Bristol then makes a deadly bargain with the fae king, as she sets out to find her father.

My review: I have such varying thoughs on this book. The first half could've been condensed a lot and really made the book feel long overall... but that second half was great! The last 25% were action-packed and drama-filled and just what I was looking for from this book. I got similar vibes from ONE DARK WINDOW. Overall, this was a "like not love" book, and I think I'll give book two a try when it comes out!

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc and an alc!

2.5 stars, which is supremely disappointing for me, considering i absolutely adored mary e. pearson's the remnant chronicles and dance of thieves duology. i was expecting the same thrilling read from her previous works, but perhaps a little more amped up and mature due to the new adult rating.

a few issues i had:
1) way too many supporting characters to keep track of, that i inevitably, did not keep track of.
2) while i enjoyed the conflicting goals that the two mcs had, at times the world building/character development dragged so much that i forgot bristol and tyghan even HAD conflicting goals...
3) there's a scene later in the book where tyghan and bristol's father are discussing her and her relationship with tyghan in an extremely crude way... if my father and/or partner ever spoke about me in the way pearson has her two male characters speak, i would be enraged and embarrassed.
4) while the chapters were short, there were over 100 of them? and they all dragged?

overall this was just a very disappointing start to the series. maybe i'll relisten to the audiobook and give it another chance at a different, less chaotic time?

as for the narration - i just personally feel that romantasy series should have a male and female narrator, but the narrator for the alc was fine!

A lovely debut to adult fiction for Mary E. Pearson. I enjoyed the overall plot of the story and how Pearson does so well with character development. While this was a different world than her other books, the writing style had some similarities. I already want to begin book 2, however, that will probably be a 2025 read.

I really tried with this one. I even set a goal to at least get to 20% before DNFing. But I couldn't even get that far.

With The Courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E. Pearson I couldn't bring myself to care about the characters or the mysteries that were being set up. When the story took a turn into another world, it was so unbearably dull despite what sounded like an interesting premise. I also didn't like how short the chapters were since they created the illusion that I was getting through the book faster than I saw, only for me to realize that a mere five minutes had passed.

Maybe I just wasn't the right audience for this.

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