{"id":27860,"date":"2026-10-03T20:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T00:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=27860"},"modified":"2026-10-11T09:37:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T13:37:17","slug":"the-hopeless-romantics-guide-to-enchantment-twelve-magical-romantasy-tales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/27860","title":{"rendered":"The Hopeless Romantic’s Guide to Enchantment: Twelve Magical Romantasy Tales"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Hopeless Romantic’s Guide to Enchantment: Twelve Magical Romantasy Tales<\/em><\/a> (2026) edited by Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan <\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2019Tis Pity He\u2019s an Elf<\/em> by Jen Williams
\nSilver Dahlia, Golden King<\/em> by Chloe Neill
\nFool in Love Ghoul in Hate<\/em> by Greer Stothers
\nThe Brocade Prince<\/em> by A. Y. Chao
\nDouble Trouble<\/em> by Kelley Armstrong<\/a>
\nUnearned Luck<\/em> by Alexis Hall<\/a>
\nSpeaker and Calligrapher<\/em> by Vida Cruz-Borja
\nThe Moonlit Pathway<\/em> by Juliet Marillier
\nWarbirds<\/em> by Rebecca Thorne<\/a>
\nEvery Rose Has Its Thief<\/em> by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
\nThe Last Train from Faerie<\/em> by Olivia Atwater
\nRose Bloom, Rose Bud, Rose Blood<\/em> by L. R. Lam<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u2019Tis Pity He\u2019s an Elf<\/em> by Jen Williams<\/p>\n

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

Despite seeing precisely where this was going (it was hard not to since it’s a romantasy anthology) it was fun. <\/p>\n

You were in charge of the wild animals, we were in charge of the ambiance \u2013 rose petals, glowing dress, and whatnot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWait, did you say rose petals?\u201d The manservant looked pained. \u201cWe don\u2019t have roses in our realm. The unicorns are probably allergic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAllergic bloody unicorns?\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Characters<\/strong>: Molly, Tristaine, Prince Eianor, Lady Amber Ironheart, Izolde<\/p>\n

Rating: 7.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Brocade Prince<\/em> by A. Y. Chao<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Characters<\/strong>: Chi Hsiao Niang, Yang Feifei, Liu Xingzhou, Lord Cui, Fan Tong, Yiyao, Lord Yang, Lord Xingzhou, Lord Liu<\/p>\n

Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Double Trouble<\/em> by Kelley Armstrong<\/p>\n

Doppelg\u00e4nger!<\/p>\n

Characters<\/strong>: Marielle, Volkir<\/p>\n

Rating: 7.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unearned Luck<\/em> by Alexis Hall<\/p>\n

The story I bought the anthology for.<\/p>\n

Robin Goodfellow is again our narrator, and again is a delight.<\/p>\n

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\u2019ve established, I\u2019m working to a tight wordcount.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And as we have Lizzie, you know things are going to be ridiculous.<\/p>\n

Miss Bickle\u2019s face fell for a moment then rose again like a backwards Rome. \u201cPerhaps he\u2019s here to take one of us as his bride.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miss Penworthy was well accustomed to her friend\u2019s 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. \u201cIt\u2019s a bear, Lizzie.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Guess what.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you\u2019re going to marry a bear?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it\u2019s that or a man,\u201d Miss Penworthy pointed out. \u201cAnd in honesty I find the latter prospect more galling.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Characters<\/strong>: Robin, Miss Erica Penworthy, Miss Lysistrata Bickle, Bear<\/p>\n

Rating: 10\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaker and Calligrapher<\/em> by Vida Cruz-Borja<\/p>\n

This story was interesting, but was a bit confusing with the jumping back and forth in the timeline.<\/p>\n

Characters<\/strong>: Verda, Agreha, Lin of Quarendell, Archivist Sormen<\/p>\n

Rating: 7.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Moonlit Pathway<\/em> by Juliet Marillier<\/p>\n

The story was interesting, but I felt like I was missing a LOT.<\/p>\n

Characters<\/strong>: Sophie Blair, Gabriel \/ Gavril Matheson, Marina, Amanda, Belinda, Suzie, David, Radu, Stefan, Ioana and Livia, Brigitte, Lidia, Liana, Madalina<\/p>\n

Rating: 6\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Warbirds<\/em> by Rebecca Thorne<\/p>\n

I liked this one a lot, even if I was occasionally confused by the world-building.<\/p>\n

They made the mistake of plating a few of the rarer tomes in gold, and Korvi\u2019s been smuggling them out for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, that\u2019s why the librarian scheduled a meeting with Raiden,\u201d 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\u2019s attention.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Characters<\/strong>: Cera Windswift, Tasi, Raiden Duke of Dalet<\/p>\n

Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every Rose Has Its Thief<\/em> by Hannah Nicole Maehrer<\/p>\n

I liked the world and wanted to know more about it. The romance? Eh.<\/p>\n

Characters<\/strong>: Leanna Dowen, Edward Lowen<\/p>\n

Rating: 6\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Last Train from Faerie<\/em> by Olivia Atwater<\/p>\n

This has lots of fun elements, including preparing for the trickery of fairies.<\/p>\n

Characters<\/strong>: Isaac, Emmeline Hawthorne, Simon Everly, Miss Catastrophe<\/p>\n

Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I got the anthology solely for the Alexis Hall story, the other stories I liked were bonuses.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Titan Books<\/p>\n

Rating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Hopeless Romantic’s Guide to Enchantment: Twelve Magical Romantasy Tales (2026) edited by Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan \u2019Tis Pity He\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[191,27,18,292,2,6,204,33,148,26,56,35,39,34],"tags":[1003,227,50,1002,1000,1001,829],"class_list":["post-27860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-5-10","category-alternate-history","category-anthology","category-ebook","category-fantasy","category-folk-fairy-tales","category-good","category-historical","category-queer","category-romance","category-sexual-content","category-short-story","category-sword-sorcery","category-urban-fantasy","tag-a-y-chao","tag-alexis-hall","tag-boinking","tag-jen-williams","tag-kelley-armstrong","tag-olivia-atwater","tag-rebecca-thorne"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-7fm","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4613,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4613","url_meta":{"origin":27860,"position":0},"title":"Tales of the Otherworld","author":"Michelle","date":"May 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Tales of the Otherworld (2010) Kelley Armstrong Not knowing what I was in the mood to read, an anthology seemed just the thing. 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