The Hopeless Romantic’s Guide to Enchantment: Twelve Magical Romantasy Tales

The Hopeless Romantic’s Guide to Enchantment: Twelve Magical Romantasy Tales edited by Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan

’Tis Pity He’s an Elf by Jen Williams
Silver Dahlia, Golden King by Chloe Neill
Fool in Love Ghoul in Hate by Greer Stothers
The Brocade Prince by A. Y. Chao
Double Trouble by Kelley Armstrong
Unearned Luck by Alexis Hall
Speaker and Calligrapher by Vida Cruz-Borja
The Moonlit Pathway by Juliet Marillier
Warbirds by Rebecca Thorne
Every Rose Has Its Thief by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
The Last Train from Faerie by Olivia Atwater
Rose Bloom, Rose Bud, Rose Blood by L. R. Lam

I got this anthology solely for the Alexis Hall story, story set in his Mortal Follies world. But I read everything, because I do love a fantasy anthology. I’m only going to talk about the stories I particularly liked or that stood out to me, though I listed all the tales and their authors above.

’Tis Pity He’s an Elf by Jen Williams

An elf and a human have to fall in love to save the realm. So of course the kingdoms search for the “perfect” couple.

Despite seeing precisely where this was going (it was hard not to since it’s a romantasy anthology) it was fun.

You were in charge of the wild animals, we were in charge of the ambiance – rose petals, glowing dress, and whatnot.”

“Wait, did you say rose petals?” The manservant looked pained. “We don’t have roses in our realm. The unicorns are probably allergic.”

“Allergic bloody unicorns?”

Characters: Molly, Tristaine, Prince Eianor, Lady Amber Ironheart, Izolde

Rating: 7.5/10

The Brocade Prince by A. Y. Chao

A noblewoman is being forced into marriage, and tried everything she can to get out of it, so she can continue her life as a secret hero.

Still, Feifei did not give up. Setting termites on the wedding palanquin had forced them to cancel the first date since the whole thing had to be rebuilt.

Characters: Chi Hsiao Niang, Yang Feifei, Liu Xingzhou, Lord Cui, Fan Tong, Yiyao, Lord Yang, Lord Xingzhou, Lord Liu

Rating: 8/10

Double Trouble by Kelley Armstrong

Doppelgänger!

Characters: Marielle, Volkir

Rating: 7.5/10

Unearned Luck by Alexis Hall

The story I bought the anthology for.

Robin Goodfellow is again our narrator, and again is a delight.

Once you get beyond those parts of England that appear on conventional maps, navigation becomes less a matter of distance and bearing, and more a matter of plot beats. Which was a trifle inconvenient for our heroines but extremely convenient for me, because as we’ve established, I’m working to a tight wordcount.

And as we have Lizzie, you know things are going to be ridiculous.

Miss Bickle’s face fell for a moment then rose again like a backwards Rome. “Perhaps he’s here to take one of us as his bride.”

Miss Penworthy was well accustomed to her friend’s whimsies and, being no fool, knew that she did indeed live in a world where such things happened sometimes. Still, it seemed a patently absurd idea. “It’s a bear, Lizzie.”

Guess what.

“So you’re going to marry a bear?”

“Well, it’s that or a man,” Miss Penworthy pointed out. “And in honesty I find the latter prospect more galling.”

Characters: Robin, Miss Erica Penworthy, Miss Lysistrata Bickle, Bear

Rating: 10/10

Speaker and Calligrapher by Vida Cruz-Borja

This story was interesting, but was a bit confusing with the jumping back and forth in the timeline.

Characters: Verda, Agreha, Lin of Quarendell, Archivist Sormen

Rating: 7.5/10

The Moonlit Pathway by Juliet Marillier

The story was interesting, but I felt like I was missing a LOT.

Characters: Sophie Blair, Gabriel / Gavril Matheson, Marina, Amanda, Belinda, Suzie, David, Radu, Stefan, Ioana and Livia, Brigitte, Lidia, Liana, Madalina

Rating: 6/10

Warbirds by Rebecca Thorne

I liked this one a lot, even if I was occasionally confused by the world-building.

They made the mistake of plating a few of the rarer tomes in gold, and Korvi’s been smuggling them out for me.”

“Oh, that’s why the librarian scheduled a meeting with Raiden,” Cera mused. A massive raven sticking his long beak through a library window to poke out shiny books would certainly warrant the warbird-riding duke’s attention.

Characters: Cera Windswift, Tasi, Raiden Duke of Dalet

Rating: 8/10

Every Rose Has Its Thief by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

I liked the world and wanted to know more about it. The romance? Eh.

Characters: Leanna Dowen, Edward Lowen

Rating: 6/10

The Last Train from Faerie by Olivia Atwater

This has lots of fun elements, including preparing for the trickery of fairies.

Characters: Isaac, Emmeline Hawthorne, Simon Everly, Miss Catastrophe

Rating: 8/10

As I got the anthology solely for the Alexis Hall story, the other stories I liked were bonuses.

Publisher: Titan Books

Rating: 8.5/10