A FRAGILE ENCHANTMENT, by Allison Saft, Wednesday Books, Jan. 2, 2024, Hardcover, $20 (young adult, ages 14 and up)
A magical dressmaker herself in the middle of a royal scandal in A Fragile Enchantment, a YA romantic fantasy by Allison Saft.
Niamh Ó Conchobhair has never let herself long for more. The magic in her blood that lets her stitch emotions and memories into fabric is the same magic that will eventually kill her. Determined to spend the little time she has left guaranteeing a better life for her family, Niamh jumps at the chance to design the wardrobe for a royal wedding in the neighboring kingdom of Avaland.
But Avaland is far from the fairytale that she imagined. While young nobles attend candlelit balls and elegant garden parties, unrest brews amid the working class. The groom himself, Kit Carmine, is prickly, abrasive, and begrudgingly being dragged to the altar as a political pawn. But when Niamh and Kit grow closer, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more―until an anonymous gossip columnist starts buzzing about their chemistry, promising to leave them alone only if Niamh helps to uncover the royal family’s secrets. The rot at the heart of Avaland runs deep, but exposing it could risk a future she never let herself dream of, and a love she never thought possible. —Synopsis provided by Wednesday Books
Set in a Regency England-inspired fantasy world, A Fragile Enchantment is a page-turning romance that should appeal to fans of Bridgerton.
Niamh and Kit are compelling characters on their own, but what really makes them shine is their magic — Niamh’s ability to weave emotion into her work and Kit’s hold on botany. And their magic feels like very real parts of them, not something that’s just tacked on.
Author Allison Saft has a very comfortable writing style that really captures the essence of the Regency period that’s romantic but not romanticized.
At 384 pages, A Fragile Enchantment is a self-contained novel that is a great escape.
Sensitivity note: A Fragile Enchantment features themes of chronic illness, alcoholism, classism and LGBTQ issues. It features a lot of romantic tension and a scene that may be too intense for some readers.
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