Hi friends, happy Monday! I hope you’re all doing well. Today I’m going to be posting my review of C.L Polk’s novel The Midnight Bargain.

I read this for my Canada Reads project (reading all the nominated books for #CanadaReads).

The Midnight Bargain by: C.L. Polk: Beatrice is a sorceress who practices magic in secret, fearing the day where she will have to marry and wear a collar to protect her unborn children from spirits. The last thing she wants is to marry, she would rather become a mage. Bargaining season has come and she must participate in order to negotiate the best marriage possible to appease her family. But when her wants outweigh her obligations, she may be forced to choose a future. Full of magic and women empowerment, this novel was so enchanting and charming; from the lush writing to the magical story, it was such a pleasant reading experience. There were many emotions that the reader felt within the span of the novel and most of the time they were rooting for the main character and hoping she got what she wanted. The pacing at times could be really slow, and then there would be moments when it would speed up leaving the reading a little inconsistent and took the reader out of the story slightly, but aside from that this story was captivating. The plot was so well thought out and put together. The reader didn’t care for the insta-love between the main character and the boy she meets, it could have been better, but at the same time it also worked for this novel in this context. The characters were all so well developed and Beatrice, our main character, was a force to be reckoned with; she was so strong-willed and independent; the reader was in total awe of her. As for the secondary characters, they were great; some were light and added humour to the story, while others were heavier and added a sinister edge to the story, which really balanced the whole novel out. Overall, this was a fun, yet tense read that was as beautiful inside as it is on the outside.