The Midnight Bargain

By: C. Polk

Narrated by: Moira Quirk

From the beloved World Fantasy Award-winning author of Witchmark comes a sweeping, romantic new fantasy set in a world reminiscent of Regency England, where women's magic is taken from them when they marry. A sorceress must balance her desire to become the first great female magician against her duty to her family.

Beatrice Clayborn is a sorceress who practices magic in secret, terrified of the day she will be locked into a marital collar that will cut off her powers to protect her unborn children. She dreams of becoming a full-fledged Magus and pursuing magic as her calling as men do, but her family has staked everything to equip her for Bargaining Season, when young men and women of means descend upon the city to negotiate the best marriages. The Clayborns are in severe debt, and only she can save them, by securing an advantageous match before their creditors come calling.

In a stroke of luck, Beatrice finds a grimoire that contains the key to becoming a Magus, but before she can purchase it, a rival sorceress swindles the book right out of her hands. Beatrice summons a spirit to help her get it back, but her new ally exacts a price: Beatrice's first kiss...with her adversary's brother, the handsome, compassionate, and fabulously wealthy Ianthe Lavan.

The more Beatrice is entangled with the Lavan siblings, the harder her decision becomes: If she casts the spell to become a Magus, she will devastate her family and lose the only man to ever see her for who she is; but if she marries - even for love - she will sacrifice her magic, her identity, and her dreams. But how can she choose just one, knowing she will forever regret the path not taken?

©2020 C.L. Polk (P)2020 Recorded Books

The feminist fantasy you need to read!

This book was amazing and I am speechless. Polk delivered the first true feminist fantasy novel that I’ve ever read. I hadn’t even realized until finishing this book how lacking the fantasy genre is in feminist novels that show strong women who don’t bow to a man or lose themselves because they fell in love. This book is honesty so good I was addicted and could not stop listening. Thank you C. Polk I will sing this book’s praises to anyone that will listen!

LOVED IT!!!

I found this story to be so relatable, the characters very much likable (save for a few), and the narration was terrific!
How is it relatable, you ask? Going against the flow of what is socially acceptable to remain true to yourself. It’s not easy, most just go with the flow to avoid conflict, but those who choose to push for what they believe in/desire have many obstacles to overcome. This story struck me deep down as I found myself connecting with the main character’s emotions as she fought for what she desired most. It also made me think about, with great appreciation, what the women before us went through to carve the way for the women’s rights that we now have.
Moira Quirk did an amazing job, I was never confused of who was speaking and I actually forgot that she was the only narrator. I was able to just immerse myself into the story, which was nice.
This was my first time with this author and I’m very pleased, I’m going to go look right now at their other titles. Thank you, C. Polk!

Cute but

You can’t have a proper feminist book like this without any mention of birth control that frees women’s pleasure from childbirth. I wanted to like this but the love story is so absent you can’t quite get invested in there supposed struggle.

Jane Austin meets Magic

I enjoyed the story and it kept me interested most of the time. However, much of the plot was driven by pomp and social proprieties, which felt at odds with a world of magic. If you like Austin, this book would be your cup of tea for sure!

Altogether lovely!

Premise was brilliant. The way they portrayed magic with the spirits was in a way I have never encountered before.

Performance: A+ honestly one of the best narrators I’ve encountered.

The character development was a little lacking towards the end but if one takes in consideration the age of the character, her behaviour does make sense.

Overall, I binged the book in a day. It was lovely.

Fabulous narrator! Entertaining story

Sweet but gripping story, slight steampunk edge, romance (0 spice), strong female protagonists. Strong feminist elements but nicely woven into the story. Character developments are core to the story (esp. for main mc & fc.
And I love the narrator! She’s particularly great at this genre.

What a ride!

This story is amazing. The language lyrical and compelling. The character arcs are rich and complex and satisfying. Loved it!

good characters. good storytelling.

Enjoyed it thoroughly. it's getting harder to sift through the sludge of poorly written tales flooding Amazon. this one was well written, with good characters, good plot.

Seriously amazing!

One of my all time favorite books! loved loved loved it! highly recommended, 10/10 !

Entranced

I absolutely loved this book. I use audible books to lull me to sleep and get my mind off the day. However, this book was amazing yet the same that is what kept me intrigued. Thank You for such a lovely book Ms. Polk! You are such a gifted storyteller. You chose the very best reader too! I was absolutely entranced.