The Midnight Bargain

Definitely a 3.5 but I can't make myself round up to 4.

I haven't read any of the author's previous books even though Witchmark has been on my tbr for a while now and I really wanna get to that trilogy. But when I saw the gorgeous cover of this book, I couldn't resist and I was so happy when I got the ARC. And while I did find it entertaining, it also let me down a bit.

The writing is easy to breeze through, and the descriptions are quite beautiful, and once I put my mind to reading it, I could finish it in just a few hours. This maybe a fantasy world but it's very similar to the Victorian England setting we are so used to reading in historical romance, with traditions like debuts, seasons, courting, attending balls, women's fortunes and most of their rights being tied to either the father or the husband - all with different names and a slightly magical twist that women here are prohibited from becoming Mages and are collared as soon as they get married so that they can't practice magic. And this is exactly where I felt let down. While the similarity of the setting was a comfort, the magic system itself felt like a plot device. We get to know some of the procedures and rituals involved in how to summon spirits and how people become Mages, but there's absolutely nothing about how this magic is used in this world, what roles do Mages perform and what roles do the spirits play once they become companions - it all feels like an afterthought.

The characters are okay to follow along. I kept liking and disliking most of them at different parts of the story, but I mostly did enjoy getting to know them. Beatrice's struggle in wanting to be both a sorceress and with the love of her life, Ysbeta's yearning for freedom and knowledge, and Ianthe's sparkling love for both the women, were all quite lovely to read about and also pretty relatable. But Ianthe was definitely my favorite of the lot because he was open minded and did what he could to protect both the women. I also loved the dynamic between Beatrice and Ysbeta because they started off on an antagonistic note but it transformed into such a wonderful friendship. But I definitely had problems with Beatrice and Ianthe's instalove - I usually don't have a problem with the trope but it came on too quick in this one and I couldn't believe she was thinking about giving up her ambitions after meeting him only a couple of times.

The side characters didn't really leave much of an impression, probably because I hated most of them. Except Nadi who was the best part of the whole book and I would love a delightful spirit companion like him too please, who would threaten to hex anyone who made me sad.

Overall, I did have a good time reading this book but I know it's not gonna be a very memorable one. Maybe if it had a slow burn romance or if it had expanded on its magic system, I could have loved it more. But currently, it feels like a historical romance with feminist themes which also has some magic as an aside - and if that feels like something you'll enjoy, do pick it up and have fun.

3 stars for the theme.

This book discussed women subjugation, marriage, family, magic, women who want to become sorceresses and still get married, women who don't want to marry, women who want children and those who don't. The discussions were well done. I enjoyed listening to this. I did feel a lot of second hand anger for Beatrice. Overall, this was an unusual read and liked that it was set in a fantasy world.

The writing was good but it didn't hold my attention much and I just wanted to get through this quickly.

The Midnight Bargain is a fun fantasy of manners novel that kept me turning the pages wanting to know how Beatrice's attempts to make it through Bargaining Season with lots of magic and no betrothals went???especially after she fell for someone in spite of herself.

The romance was a bit closer to insta-love than the slow burn I tend to prefer, but I was rooting for them to get their HEA from the start. But my favorite relationship was the friendship Beatrice forged with her love interest's sister, who was every bit as determined as she to become a sorcerer despite the constraints on women with magic. I especially appreciated that this had both a romance and a major character who just didn't want to marry, regardless of whether or not it had any effect on her own magic.

This is the sort of book that I found fun to read one time but didn't stick with me enough that I expect to reread it, although I really appreciate C. L. Polk's skill at writing a book that distracted me from the world in 2020!

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