Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this audiobook!

This was my first experience with an audiobook. The Courting of Bristol Keats was a complex, emotional story of a young woman trying to figure out her mysterious parent’s history and herself; while also actively searching for her father in a new land.

If you’re interested in faeries and their lore, this is the book for you. It has it all. All types of faeries, the superstitions, the rules, the magic. Everything you could possibly want.

The narrator was insanely talented and did an amazing job with her accents and voice changes to help you better tell the MANY characters apart. A true feat.

The story was good as well. It lost me a few times but I think I would have kept up better if I had the actual book, that way I could’ve gone back to reference things or see what I had missed. The story took you on a wild ride: from a small town with a strange cast of characters and her sisters, to faerie with its strange creatures and rules. I found myself tensing with Bristol as she encountered innumerable dangers and details about her parents. The love story was good as well, but sort of strange to me. They seemed to go from hate and cold to in like then love pretty quickly. But it did work for the story. Overall I do recommend this book, the story was new and interesting and the narrator pulls it all together seamlessly.

This is essentially a story about a girl named Bristol Kets who travels to a distant land in search of her father who she presumed was dead. In this land she learns she’s not just a regular girl and her father is not just some regular man. There’s a sexy, but annoying, king a war, and tons of mythical creatures.

I’ve only ever heard good things about Mary E. Pearson’s books so when I heard his was her fist adult book, I was intrigued, but for a majority of the book, it didn’t feel adult. The writing felt very juvenile. The only thing adult about it were the spicy scenes.
Going into this, I expected it to be an epic romantasy adventure. It feels more like a Harry Potter story than a rescue story. Bristol goes into this world determined to find her father ASAP and bring him back to her sisters, but she takes her sweet time finding her father. The story is in the same setting for over half the book. It doesn’t feel like she’s in a rush to save her father. She spends most of her nights dancing and falling in love with a king. In the end, she doesn’t even technically find her father. Her father finds her.

Another problem I had with the story was the romance itself. There is no question that there was chemistry between the kind and Bristol, but their love basically happened out of nowhere. Their development was nonexistent. I know why they start to fall in love, but its more told instead of shown. So, the reader doesn’t get to feel the romance blossoming. It kind of just happens. A scene about their love that I thought was just ridiculous was when her friends ask her if she’s in love with the king she has absolutely no idea. She’s very clearly conflicted and doesn’t know if she does or not, but literally the very next chapter he asks her if she loves him and without hesitation, she says that she does????? What happened to the conflict a literal chapter before. There was just no development there. I would get it if he was near death and she suddenly realizes she can’t live without him, but that doesn’t happen at all.

I have one last complaint and then I’ll say the things I like about the book. The ending. The ending was so random and abrupt that when I flipped to the next page, I was kept going back and forth to make sure I was at the ending. I knew that this was going to be a series, but I thought maybe it would end on a cliff hanger or a clear resolution for that part of the story. The ending felt lazy. It was as if she didn’t know how to end it so she just gave us what we got.

Even though I clearly had a lot of complaints about this story, I did rate it 3 stars. 3 stars is a good rating in my book. There were some aspects of the story that I did enjoy. Even though I thought Pearson’s writing was juvenile, that doesn’t mean I thought it was bad. The prose was quite good. It was easy to understand, and the imagery was beautiful. I love the character of Tyghan. The king was sexy and sweet and funny and everything a girl would ever dream of, and his romance with Bristol was quite sweet. Closer to the end of the book there were several moments when I was swooning. There was also a plot twist like 80% into the book that had me screaming. It was nothing I could’ve expected. It brought the story to another level. I was also lucky enough to receive an audio copy of the book, and genuinely, without the audio I don’t think I would have enjoyed the story as much as I did. The narrator was truly impeccable. The voices and tones she created brought the story to life.

3.5 ⭐️ A generous round up, in hopes that the second book will be a lot stronger but a solid adult fantasy novel that had me hooked by the end. I didn’t really get into this book until 50% into the audiobook and for a 15+ hour audio (560 page book), it was a long time of boring(ish) world building and mediocre backstory that I am still a little confused by… but once I got into it I sped through the ending, until it just ended… like in the middle of a chapter. No big cliff hanger or story development it just ends. So that was a little disappointing but I am throughly invested in the story and can’t wait to read a book two.

This story is about Bristol Keats, one of 3 daughters born in the mortal world and she makes a bargain with the a fae King and magical world (see I can’t even recall what it’s called) to help find and close a portal to help their realm in exchange for help locating her father who she presumes is still alive even though evidence in the mortal realm point to his death in a car accident. Of course there is a brooding King who dislikes Bristol at first and she him, but we know what happens in romantasy. This is akin to reluctant allies (not quiet enemies to lovers but close). This is a semi-open door, think 0.5 chili peppers out of 5, so don’t expect ACOTAR spice. It has magic, faeries, all sorts of creatures, lore and the threat of another King trying to take over. It was an okay start to a story I know I want to finish.

The audio was great, I loved the dialects, voices and tension Brittany Pressley brought to the story and I think I will definitely keep up with this series via audio as I don’t think the story alone would hold my attention.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for the gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book is set to publish November 12, 2024.

thank you to macmillan audio & netgalley for this audiobook arc!!

i was excited to start this bc mary e pearson’s remnant chronicles & dance of thieves duo are some of my fav books so i was highly anticipating her 1st adult fantasy book !!

i was left feeling a bit disappointed though ..

i think when fantasy books involve the real world & then “portals” to go to a fantasy world it’s super hard to do correctly .. fantasy books seem to have such different characters & writing styles that incorporating that w/ the real world can come off a bit cringey & unfortunately that’s what i felt in this one

i would say the beginning was hard to get into & the end made me sooo angry but the majority/middle of the book was definitely enjoyable!! i liked getting to see bristol grow as a character & i loved her other trainees she met throughout .. that was probably my favorite part of the book

now the ending …. it had me so annoyed it was actually unenjoyable .. to keep it spoiler free i will say bristol has every right to be very angry at something that happens & the way the majority of the side character reacted to her had me FUMING… & to go off of that i also did not like the romance aspect of this book .. tyghan was very unlikeable to me & by the end of this he gave me a tamlin (acotar) & dain (fourth wing) vibe more than anything .. & then the final scene … why???

i will say i’m not sure if listening to this on audio instead of physically reading changed the experience .. maybe i didn’t love the characters as much because the same person was narrating the whole time so i felt more disconnected? i’m not sure & i’m definitely curious to see how other ppl who physically read it respond!!

overall i’d say it def had moments i enjoyed & also had moments i could’ve done without !! A 3💫 for sure!

I really enjoyed this book! I thought the plot was interesting and it’s different to have part of the mystery be about the parents of the main character which I enjoyed. I also LOVED that it wasn’t an 18 year old and a 500 year old Fae but a 22 year old and a “26” year old Fae. Refreshing. I do wish that at the start of the chapters or at the start of the new POV it stated who’s POV it was starting from, you just kind of had to figure out who’s it was as you went along based on context clues and when it was “this person said” I’m not sure if this is different with the physical book or not but the audiobook was like that and it did make me have like a 15 second delay while I figured out who was talking some of the time. But otherwise I really enjoyed the story and am looking forward to the next book and to find out what happens!

I really enjoyed this book and, despite the length, felt like it was a fairly quick read. The pacing was good, and I really enjoyed the world it was set in (both human and Elfhame). It reminded me of a mix of ACOTAR and The Cruel Prince, and honestly I liked it more than ACOTAR. It stuck closer to the folklore, like The Cruel Prince, with its fae and their rules. I kind of wish Bristol had more conflict with the whole situation between her dad and Tyghan (not sure if I spelled that right). The ending felt a little neat, which I don't hate, but I was expecting a cliffhanger. Overall, I'm looking forward to a sequel! And if my book subscription happens to be doing a special edition of this one, I won't be skipping it.

I was intrigued by the premise, it seemed like a story I’ve heard, in a good way. I liked the beginning and the shift into the alternate world. But that’s when it lost me.

I really like world building, but there didn’t seem to be any information given except “this happened” and no explanation or boundaries to the magic. I felt like the romance went from enemies to lovers in the blink of an eye, no build up. It also felt, for lack of a better word, icky, especially when you know the background between Tyghan and her father.

It didn’t feel like much happened in the story, there was some building to a possible conflict that never came, the story ended abruptly and very strangely. I don’t think I’ll be continuing the series when the next book comes out.

The narration was ok, she did a decent job of distinguishing who was speaking with her change in voice.

This wasn't my favourite of Mary E Pearson's. I listened on audio book which I think definitely affected my opinion so I might have to pick it up later when the physical book comes out.

I was on board with this book until the ending. If you’ve read it you will understand. Honestly that wasn’t even an ending. I am not a huge fan of cliffhangers but that isn’t even what this is…..when the ALC I got ended i just sat there thinking…..who thought this was a good idea to end it now. Especially since this book is extremely long.
Characters aren’t described very well nor is the world. Conversations seemed mundane and the spice didn’t really seem to fit into the story. I think this might be the case of a YA author trying to move into the adult Romansty world and not getting it quite right. I would like to see how the author brings it all to an ending in the next book. Hopefully it will be redeeming.
I received an ALC of this book, all opinions are my own.

4.75 ⭐Okayyy hear me out - ACOTAR & Cruel Prince had a baby - with all of the best characteristics of each. This is the perfect romantasy book for seasoned faerie readers who understand the basic lore and want an easy to digest world - in the best way. Super easy to follow audiobook with a phenomenal narrator! I need book 2 please and thank you.

Posted on GR and Storygraph 9/26, posting on IG early october

3.5 stars*

This had such a great premise and set up but it just fell a little flat for me. The characters didn’t feel very fleshed out, even the two main characters felt a little one dimensional. The romance was very insta love. The MMC and FMC had interactions that were semi off screen so that we didn’t really get to see the build up and they didn’t have much of a report. The ending was a little abrupt and I feel like a little more of the story could have been told considering this is only a duology and it feels like very little happened.

The story overall was interesting and it was not definitely not a bad book, it was just not what it could have been.

The audio and narrator in this book was excellent. The narrator was very good at giving the characters distinct voices which always helps and it was very easy to listen to.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ALC of this work. All opinions in this review are my own.

I really enjoyed this book. It made me cry, laugh, and gasp out loud. It hooked me in and took me for a ride. I was absolutely screaming at times. It cut me raw in ways other books haven't. The relationships were so real, and the emotions portrayed so well, I knew exactly how Bristol felt at times.

The audio version was very well done and the narrator had a great range of accents and inflections. There were A LOT of characters and they all had different voices and were easy to follow along with. I *will* say that this book is heavy, and it was difficult to follow at times in audio version because of scene jumps, and POV jumps. By the time my brain would figure out what was going on, I had missed some context. If you are like me and enjoy physical copies, and audiobooks, this is certainly one that is better suited to be read on the pages, and maybe listened to in conjunction.

Mary Pearson is a master at world building. I was so immersed in this world and all of the different kinds of fae, monsters, and hybrids. I *still* don't understand all of the different powers and creatures. It was beautifully done, and will probably make the next few books I read feel especially lacking in this department.

The CONS: I feel like even though I was sucked in and enjoyed this book... nothing happened. While a lot *did* happen, nothing large happened and everything was left open. So I suppose the next book will have to be non stop action? There is just so much that was talked about and didn't happen, or hinted to and never happened. My biggest complaint however? THE ENDING. It's not a cliffhanger per say, because really the whole book is a cliffhanger. But I seriously thought something was wrong and I was missing chapters. It just *ends*. As infuriating as that was, I cannot wait for the next book!
Thank you so much for the opportunity to read(listen) this book!

Quite different from her previous books, The Courting of Bristol Keats is the perfect book for fans of The Cruel Prince and other Fae stories. The narrator gave a great performance and the audiobook made it easy to fly through this book. The romance wasn't as compelling as her other books for me, I'm not entirely sure why (but it might just be because I'm not a fan of Fae princes in general) but the two characters still had plenty of chemistry. The book does end in quite the unexpected spot, so be prepared for kind of a cliff hanger!

The story follows Bristol, the main character, and her sisters who live in the small town of Bowskeep. After losing both parents, they struggle to make ends meet by selling their father's art and working low-wage jobs. Everything changes when a mysterious aunt appears, and Bristol learns her father might still be alive. Soon, she’s receiving strange letters from this unknown aunt, which lead her to discover that her life has been built on lies. Bristol embarks on a journey to a magical realm filled with magical creatures.

The audiobook narrator was great. I enjoyed listening to her. She had distinct accents and tones for the characters, which made the story enjoyable.
If you’ve read a lot of fantasy then I wouldn’t say you’d find anything groundbreaking about the plot, but it was enjoyable and a classic troupe. It’s a portal fantasy where a human girl is thrust into a magical fae world. The writing and world-building are good which makes it a good book 1.
The book blends romantic and epic fantasy, with magic, whimsy. It features a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance that stays in the background while the story focuses on adventure and intrigue. I recommend it to readers looking for a fantasy romance that’s easy to follow and not overly focused on the romance aspect.

Key elements include reluctant allies, royal court intrigue, past betrayals, found family, and hidden magic, with a morally gray male lead who falls first.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced audio copy.

The cpurting of Bristol keats was a pretty good read
I didn't find myself lost at certain points. Over all the story was interesting, but the characters and world building felt a little lacking. The ending also felt abrupt. I feel like I missed a chapter lol. Overall kept me interested foe the 500+ pages. Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC copy :)

Very, very rarely do I DNF (Do Not Finish) a book, but this is one of those rare occasions. The story is appealing enough and I want to complete it in a physical version; the version I was given was audio and therein lies the problem. I listen to audio books regularly, nearly every day, but I simply could not get through this narrator's intense vocal fry and repetitive voice lilting (starting off normal, shifting to breathy mid-sentence, and dropping to a painful croak at the end). Coupled with the overdramatic pitch of character dialogue, I am not entirely sure how I managed to get through a quarter of the book.

However, I am interested in seeing where this story is going and I will be looking for the physical copy, so please only consider this view if you are considering the audio version.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC of the audiobook.

Audio: The narrator did a fabulous job. When it is mainly a dual POV, but there’s only one narrator, it can be a bummer, but the narrator did a great job for all the multiple POVs this book ventures into.

Characters: The dynamics and relationships between the characters of this book are fascinating and carry your interest throughout the entire story. Bristol our MFC is strong but hesitant and her character development is good. Ty our MMC is mysterious and still remains so at the end of the book but we get some recent history that we see slowly unfold.

World Building: This is a portal fantasy that isn’t heavy on the world building like a lot of Pearson’s other works. It plays off a lot of things we know about the common Fae worlds and focuses more on the characters but still has intriguing court politics to follow.

Writing: I really enjoyed the writing style. It flowed well, wasn’t overly descriptive, but was beautiful and really helped you stay in the moment.

Romance: The dynamics of the relationship are fascinating and leave you wondering the whole book how this is going to work on multiple levels. I wanted it to be a little more believable, maybe it was a little rushed, but I still enjoyed it and I’m interested in what the relationship will go through in the next and final? book.

Ending: I personally enjoy more of a punchy cliff hanger than what was given but it was a sweet one. Book one was wrapped up nicely enough to make you feel good but left most of the plot and relationship statuses unresolved so that’ll carry you into wanting to read book two.

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars for me. I enjoyed it all and felt immersed in the story, the characters, and the world. I always found myself wanting to see what would happen next. I definitely can’t wait for book two!

Wow, folks – this is one of those books that you start recommending to people even before you finish it!

The Courting of Bristol Keats is the newest book from Dance of Thieves author Mary E. Pearson. I liked her previous series a lot, but this one was even better than I expected. It’s perfect if you love stories of a mortal woman getting pulled into dark faerie worlds, like The Cruel Prince or Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries.

What we love about those series is present here to a T, plus a bunch of other things that us fantasy romance girlies are craving in our reads:
- a mysterious plotline that needs unraveling
- political intrigue and secrets
- lots of danger and betrayals
- an enemies to lovers romance (okay, it’s more of dislike-to-lovers but it’s done very well!)
- discovering magical powers
- fantastic female friendships

The only thing I didn’t love was the ending – it’s the start of a new series and the cliffhanger ending hits abruptly. I’m now dying for the next book!

This book publishes November 12th and I predict it’s going to be a huge hit. I listened to the audiobook, thanks to a free audio arc from macaudio and I highly recommend it. The narrator is fantastic and the world building is clear and simple so I was immediately immersed in the story fully.

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ 3.25 Stars ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

We follow our FMC, Bristol. Her and her sisters live in the small town of Bowskeep. They have lost both of their parents, and are struggling, but trying their best in life. Trying to make ends meet by selling their father's artwork and working minimum wage jobs.

A mysterious aunt surfaces out of the blue and the news of her father being alive sets Bristol on a new path that’s quite literally out of her world. Bristol starts receiving mysterious letters from an aunt that she’s never heard of before.

Against her better judgment, Bristol goes to meet with the aunt and soon discovers that significant parts of her life have been a lie, and her father may not even be dead. Bristol travels to a magical land, full of danger, fae, and monsters, and things get even more mysterious.

I've gotta be really honest - the audiobook narration by Brittany Pressley really gave me the nudge a few times which really helped get me through the book. She delivers great voice and pitch changes, with fun accents thrown in, that make the story pleasing to the ear.

This would have taken me much longer to get through if I didn't have the audio to pull me through. It's not that it was boring, but there were some areas that felt drawn out and I found myself not staying as engaged.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ While there's really nothing new that an avid fantasy reader will find in this story - it's comforting and enjoyable. I love a good portal fantasy featuring a human girl tossed into a magical fae land.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ The writing and the world building is excellent - I think this is a very solid start to a new series.

This book is full of secrets and betrayal and fae and gods and shifters. It's got hidden identities and enemies to lovers that try so hard not to fall for each other. It's romantic fantasy, but it's also epic fantasy. Its full of magic and whimsy and it's got a morally gray shadow daddy who likes to make himself invisible and sneak around with our best girl.

I do recommend this to readers who are looking for a fantasy romance that isn't over the top with spice or romance since it's a subplot and a world that is easy to keep up with.


╰⪼ˎˊ˗ Adult Fantasy
╰⪼ˎˊ˗ Reluctant Allies
╰⪼ˎˊ˗ Enemies to Lovers
╰⪼ˎˊ˗ Morally grey MMC
╰⪼ˎˊ˗ Slow Burn
╰⪼ˎˊ˗ Forbidden Romance
╰⪼ˎˊ˗ Royal Court Intrigue
╰⪼ˎˊ˗ Past Betrayals
╰⪼ˎˊ˗ Found Family
╰⪼ˎˊ˗ He Falls First
╰⪼ˎˊ˗ Hidden Magic

🌟 Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio (ILY 🤗) for the advanced audio copy- all thoughts and opinions are my own. 🌟

I really enjoyed this. This had all my favorites, fae, magic, royalty and spice! The narrator was perfect, as I enjoy her every time she narrates. I will be recommending this one and eagerly awaiting book 2!