This was well worth the listen!! I'm a sucker for a properly built and thought out Elfame/Elphame saga and I love a duology. This hit everything! Slow burn enemies to lovers with secrets and betrayal in spades, sign me up!!

This book showed some promise but wow, that ending was a choice. Considering it’s over 500 pages, the lack or climax in this behemoth of a book is pretty much unforgivable. I gave it three stars based on my enjoyment of the journey and our main character actually having a brain, but i can’t believe the publishers cleared the last 10% of this

This book was a 4 star book for me. I loved the main character, she was strong minded and sassy. I enjoyed the hidden identities and secrets plot line with Bristol’s parents. I love how descriptive Mary was with the writing because the description of the world of elfhame was done so well. I felt like I could picture the world in my mind. The MMC is dark, broody, and mean to hide his true feelings and who doesn’t love that?! There are CREATURES in this book! I love that cause it makes the story unique compared to other fae/ fairy stories. I also liked the narration. I think the narrator did a fantastic job with giving each character their own voice. Over all I highly recommend this read to everyone who will listen!

3.75 stars - I definitely enjoyed this story and love both the FMC Bristol and MMC Tyghan, but I felt like for a 540 page book, I expected more to transpire plot-wise. That being said, the world building was done really well and had me invested DEEP, so we are definitely set up for the next book and all the activity I hope to see! I was also shocked that the story ended the way it did, and it definitely had me giggling. I am definitely going to read the next book in the series!

I listened to this on audiobook and loved the narrator. She kept me engaged with her inflection and diff voices for characters. I appreciated she didn’t try to go too dramatically deep for Tyghan!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the ARC audiobook of this book. I am leaving my honest review after listening to the full book.

Review time ✨

I had the pleasure of the reading The Courting of Bristol Keats by @maryepearson and really enjoyed it!

This book was a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 star read

This book had many elements that I loved. Particularly the combination of a modern world and a fae world. I really loved that Bristol comes from a modern world and works as a pizza delivery man and then ends up in a fae world with kings and castles. The author also described these places very well and I felt like I could picture them and see them so vividly.

The magical system in this book was fantastic and I can’t wait to see more of what Bristol Keats can do in the next book, however seeing the variety in her friend’s powers was really neat.

I feel like there could’ve been a little bit more development between Tyghan and Bristol in the beginning. To me it felt like they were just King and recruit one minute and then he was in the love with her the next and I feel like I kind of missed where that relationship changed. They were just not together one minute and in love the next.

I personally loved how the chapters changed character POVs as I’m a sucker for those types of stories however it would be nice to maybe have a title of who’s POV we are reading so things don’t get to confusing. There was one particular moment towards the end where I recall a change from Bristol’s to Tyghans POV mid chapter from one paragraph to the next and I was pretty lost.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and the ending as it ended in a pretty pleasant moment for our characters. I’d recommend this book to anyone to enjoys the tropes listed.

I took me a minute to get into this, but I should have known better than to doubt the writing prowess of <u>thee</u> Mary E Pearson. I really enjoyed this story, and thought it was told in the perfect way. I loved reading all the different points of view, and the pacing of the plot and twist reveals was perfect. And of course, the romance was beautiful. If you're a fan of the Folk of the Air series, you'll definitely enjoy this book. It has a similar set up of a woman from the modern world being whisked away into the alluring, yet dangerous world of Elfhame. I cannot wait for book 2!

I first found Mary Pearson through the Dance of Thieves duology. I absolutely loved them and have been meaning to re-read them. As I was about to, I found this book and jumped right in. The Courting of Bristol Keats had a complex world to be thrown into. I liked the duality of the modern times mixed with a fae world. It almost made the world seem more realistic and like this could happen to you (which don’t we all want 😅). There were a lot of characters and backstory that was covered throughout and though I would have to re-read at times, I felt like it was worth my time to invest in the characters. My biggest criticism is actually the spice and progression of the relationship between Bristol and the MMC. I felt that the intimate scenes felt a bit too forced and while this is more of a personal feeling, I don’t enjoy when the characters profess their undying love weeks into meeting each other. The world building is wonderful and I liked the magic system. I look forward to the next book in the series and look to the further development of Bristol’s magical abilities.

The Courting of Bristol Keats follows Bristol into a fae world after she learns her father might be alive. I spent the first third of this book SO confused. It felt like a lot of characters and info dumping. I also thought the end was a little underwhelming. Despite all of that, I am a total sucker for a fae fantasy and am intrigued enough with the plot and the characters to continue the series.

Narration by Brittany Pressley was outstanding as always.

I received an ALC from Macmillan Audio via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E. Pearson is a fae themed fantasy romance with plenty of intriguing elements, but it didn’t quite live up to all of they hype for me. The tricky, slightly evil nature of the fae was one of my favourite aspects of the world-building (think fae from The Cruel Prince). They added an edge to the story that kept things interesting but the pacing felt slow for a book with a high amount of action, and the ending came so abruptly that it left me a little unsatisfied.

The relationship between the two main characters was different from other enemies to lovers books I’ve read. They didn’t take that long to acknowledge their feelings and it went from distrust, to reluctant allies to lovers pretty early on in the book. The relationship and what other characters in the story thought of it was a pretty central feature of the plot, so much so that I felt other elements were lost. Some plot lines like the training and the overarching mission felt like they took a backseat and were underdeveloped.

The book gives off strong “special girl in a special world” vibes, which isn’t my favourite theme. It can be done well but here it just came off as the main character can do no wrong even though she’s new to the world and magic in general. I felt like a lot of things (besides the relationship between the two main characters) were left undeveloped. To my understanding this is a duology so theres definitely a lot of action leftover for the second book. I’m interested enough to continue the series but its not a priority for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC that I chose to read and review.

A new work of Romantasy filled with Fae, romance, betrayal, action and secrets. This is the story of Bristol who struggles to pay the bills after the losing her parents. Bristol and her sisters are barely scraping by when mysterious letters begin arriving promising to help. Bristol doesn’t really trust the sender but she is desperate to help her family and agrees to meet the stranger. When she meets this women that says she is her aunt she is immediately thrust into a world that she only thought existed in fairy tales. As she learns more about this other world full of creatures and magic she discovers secrets about her parents that surprise her and but also give her hope that her father may still be alive.

This was a great story filled with all of the best elements of a Romantasy. I loved Bristol’s evolution as she becomes more entrenched in the other world. The romance was filled with the right amount of tension, spice and swoon worthy moments. The characters were diverse and intriguing. Knowing this is the first in a duology I expected a cliff=hanger but was left scratching my head at the end of this one. It was odd. Regardless I am looking forward to the next book to see how it all ends.

4 ⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the copy! I was able to also get an early copy from my library on release day!

The overall story definitely intrigued me in the beginning. The air of mystery lingered over the disappearance of her parents, and their mysterious/ dangerous background, to the sisters trying to survive and move on. As we moved further along, we get the interesting magic school (reminds me of Hogwarts), but with actual fighting/ battle lessons.

I really wanted to like the story, but as an avid fantasy reader, there was a lot of loose ends in this book. The magic system, the characters, and overall flow of the different POVs could have been worked out more. It felt very choppy. The romance in itself was very subpar for my liking. There was no actual build up, tension, or even a traditional enemies to lovers setup. It felt like one minute the characters hated each other, and then the next they loved each other. For a long book as this, my expectations, after reading several long high fantasy novels, is that the story has to flow very smooth throughout.

This story transports you into a magical world right under your nose! I loved the world building and the combination of fantasy, adventure, and romance! There is a lot uncovered but also a lot unanswered that has me on the edge of my seat for book 2! There were parts that dragged on a bit but in true Pressly fashion, she made it all come to life and had me so invested!

If you are a fan of One Dark Window, I think you’ll enjoy this one.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
🌶️.5

✨Romantic Fantasy
💕Secret Identity
✨Found Family
💕Fae and Gods
✨Morally Gray Characters
💕Magic

This book was slow to start off but once main story point approaches it was hard to put down. I love secret identity trope especially in fantasies!

The truths that are revealed are very big moments in the book! Her true identity! Her father! Her mother!

I loved the world building and the magic system.

I listed to the audio book! I thought the narrator did an amazing job voicing multiple characters. You can feel all the emotions from the narrators voice!

The ending had me a little nervous. I was hoping to get by without a big fight and or a third act breakup. There is a little heartbreak at the very end.

The book does end in a spicy cliffhanger.

The beginning and middle were great and full of world building, relationships, and becoming who Bristol was meant to be. The ending had a few good discoveries but felt very disappointing. It didn't feel like a cliffhanger, more like a belly flop. I am assuming there is a book 2 and hopefully it picks up the action in that one.

From the first line this book feels like a hug pulling you into this world. Full of mystery and characters you need to know from the beginning this book is a journey that is well worth joining them on. It is also beautifully written making the audio book a perfect listen for anyone wanting to escape our world for a while.

This book is an approachable welcoming any reader and it is a perfect introduction to adult fantasy for someone looking to step up from YA or looking to explore the genre for the first time branching out from fiction.

I am sorry but I never could make it past 15% of this book without falling asleep. I don't know if it was the narrator or the book itself. I tried multiple times on multiple occasions. I feel like this audio is not for me.

No one does slow burn / enemies to lovers quite like Mary E Pearson. This book was everything I wanted it to be and more. Cannot wait for the sequel.

I liked and thought this storyline was interesting, but I was disappointed with the first half of this book. It was just very slow and, for me, made everything seem to drag. After that, it seemed to pick up and grabbed my interest more, redeeming itself. The audio narration was well done, and I would like to see where the next book takes us.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for this complimentary audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I'm conflicted by this one. Final rating 3.5 stars.

To start with the positives. I was sucked into this book. I was thinking about it while at work and listening to it constantly when I wasn't. I can't say I didn't enjoy listening to it.
The narration was also fantastic. Brittany Pressley did an incredible job.

On to some of the negatives. The writing style was disjointed. It seemed like Pearson took a risk and it didn't quite pay off. There were so many moments in the story where I wasn't sure what was happening. Sometimes, like in Sci Fi, this is intentional, adds to the story, and all makes sense at the end. But in this case, it just seemed like something was missing from the writing and we were on our own to try to figure out what was happening. There were many POV jumps and I am not sure that they were really necessary. There were POV jumps in the middle of chapters. I am not sure about the print book, but it wasn't super clear in the audio. Pressley did change her voice and that was done exceptionally well, I just wish the different POVs were separate chapters, or were cut from the book. Or maybe they could be prologues at the beginning of chapters even? There were a ton of short chapters in this book as is, so I wouldn't have minded having extra, very short chapters for the sake of clarity.

Also, I don't think I liked the ending? It really caught me off guard. There is a cute quip at the end that I suppose makes a good button, but it happens so suddenly and there is no closure. I understand this is the first book in a duology, but I do believe that each book in a series should have its own beginning, middle, and end.

Whole not entirely my cup of tea, this epic faerie fantasy is definitely full of adventure and romance, intrigue and betrayal. I’m just not a huge fan of the full-on faerie land setting. I did like the brooding but lovable MMC and the tortured family dynamics, but the holes left for book 2 were a bit too big. I think there are others who would really enjoy this new story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy. These opinions are my own.