About the Book:
Title: Into the Bargain
Author: Colleen Cowley
Series: Clandestine Magic
Publication Date: Jan. 31, 2024
Synopsis: A young lady with no income—and shortly no home—must be in want of a wizard husband.
Pen Novak has two weeks to find someone to marry. Otherwise, she’ll be spirited off to live with her awful uncle. Fortunately, her town’s omnimancer is on the market, and he plans to choose someone at a ball in thirteen days.
Unfortunately, he’s not the type to appreciate cleverness, persistence or anything else Pen has to offer.
Enter the wizard’s intriguing assistant, who makes her a bargain: a magical brew that could virtually guarantee her selection, in exchange for a favor. Which he won’t specify. Nor will he tell her his name.
Of course she shouldn’t accept. Especially as she starts to notice his fine eyes and tempting lips.
But with all the job openings in town meant for men only, what other choice does a young lady—or, rather, a not quite so young lady—really have?
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Review:
Happy release day to INTO THE BARGAIN by Colleen Cowley!
I first read a shorter version of this story in the Once Upon a Forbidden Desire anthology, and it was my favorite story of the collection. Of course, I jumped at the chance to read the expanded novella. The story, which takes place in an alternate America where women are subordinate to men and men with magical power rule, highlights the gender inequities and the women’s suffragist movement, as well as one woman’s fight to control her future.
Influenced by the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin, Into the Bargain follows Penelope, who has two weeks to find a spouse before she is shipped to live with a despised uncle. Pen decides to approach the local omnimancer who is looking for a wife. But the omnimancer isn’t home when Pen arrives, and instead, while waiting, she strikes a bargain with the omnimancer’s assistant.
I enjoyed this novella as much as I did the original short story. Pen is a delightful FMC. She’s intelligent and stubborn, and she’s determined to decide her own fate. This proves difficult in the male-dominated society in which she lives, but she finds more than she ever expected when she meets the omnimancer’s assistant, even though he won’t reveal his name.
The mystery surrounding the assistant is intriguing, and the slow-building, chemistry-laden love story between him and Pen is fantastic. There’s so much sexual tension between these two, and I love how their romance unfolds. Super swoon-worthy.
Considering this is less than a hundred pages, it really packed a punch. With thought-provoking themes, unique characters and setting, and a fabulous love story, it’s a fabulous addition to the Clandestine Magic series.
Rating:
About the Quest!
The book Into the Bargain has a lot of fairy-tale references, some direct, many more hidden. How many can you find?
Fill out this form, and if you correctly identify at least seven fairy tales, you’ll receive an exclusive digital Into the Bargain bookmark and a bragging-rights social image to share.
And if you fill out the form between Jan. 31, 2024, and 11:59 p.m. Eastern on March 1, 2024, and you will be entered into the giveaway for a Cinderella pin. One reader will be randomly selected, no purchase required. U.S. residents only.
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Find out more HERE!
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