Synopsis:
Wed to one brother.

In love with the other.

Bridgerton, The Selection, and The Cruel Prince collide in this Victorian-inspired romantasy; the sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller The Rose Bargain.

Having won the hand of the faerie King Bram, Ivy is now Queen of England.

But with his ascension to the throne, Bram unleashed the fae into the human world. After hundreds of years of being kept from their favorite playthings, the Others are looking to make up for lost time—and they do, with wicked revelry that sweeps through the country.

To survive, Ivy acts the sweet, devoted wife. Behind the smile, she plots to banish her husband, save her sister Lydia, and reunite with the love of her life, Emmett.

Yet Emmet and Lydia are trapped in the Otherworld, where fae games are deadlier than ever—and a queen must play most viciously of all. Or see herself dethroned.

Forbidden romance, deceptive bargains, and lethal court intrigue intertwine in this mesmerizing, fae romantasy sequel that will captivate fans of Once Upon a Broken Heart and Belladonna.

Review:
This book had so many layers of heartbreak! While Ivy was working in the modern world to keep society from crumbling, she had no idea what was going on with Emmett and Lydia. There were times when I really disliked Lydia; yes, she was thrust into a world she didn’t want to be in/hadn’t dreamt of, but her actions directly effected Ivy and she didn’t seem willing to empathize with her. While Lydia may have experienced more time/life than Ivy given the difference between how fast time goes in the two realms, she had already been the older sister and should have been more understanding that Ivy did have to deal with a lot, suddenly, in the modern (regency) world. I did really enjoy how the fae were depicted. Perhaps because audiences are after whimsy and the hope that they could have magic and adventure just by knowing other races with inherent magic, most of said races have been depicted as if they were human but with magic, whereas folklore and fairy tales tell a very different story about the proclivities of the fae. All magic comes with a price, which seems to be missing in most popular fae/magic based novels–but not this one!

This book left you wondering whether or not there was going to be a happily ever after and if the ending you hoped for was even possible. I absolutely loved the ending of this novel, and I thought it was the perfect end to this story. I would highly recommend this book to any who love faerie tales about creatures that care more about their amusement than making nice with humans, like resilient heroines, and believe that people can change, evolve and learn to coexist within other communities/with other races.

As a big fan of the Once Upon a Broken Heart series, I would say this is certainly a high recommendation. In terms of fae/fairy tale esque books, I would put this series along with both the Emily Wilde series by Heather Fawcett as well as Olivia Atwater’s Regency Faerie Tales and Victorian Faerie Tales. I quite enjoyed this book, but there was much more romance in the first book of this series than most of the recommendations listed here.

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯✯