Looking for a cosy fantasy book? Olivia Atwater's Regency Fairytales series definitely fit the bill. The three stories are set in the same world and if read out of order, cameos from characters could give mild spoilers, however they can very well be read individually.

Ten Thousand Stitches tells the story of Effie, a maid, who considers herself in love with the dashing Mr Benedikt Ashbrooke, whose family she serves, after he shows her some consideration and kindness. However, maids are not meant to marry gentlemen, and so Effie makes a deal with the fairy Lord Blackthorn, who promises to help bring about her engagement in exchange for 10,000 stitches of embroidery on his coat. Unfortunately, despite good intentions and genuinely wanting to help, Lord Blackthorn more often than not complicates things for Effie.

I really enjoyed the setting - the views belowstairs gave me strong Downton Abbey vibes, and the plight of the servants was dealt with well. Lord Blackthorn was refreshing due to his unique motivations - wanting to genuinely help the powerless - which set him apart from fairies in other tales, who are more often than not out to cause trouble. It was entertaining that, despite good intentions, the end result was often not very different.
Effie's embroidery was also a nice element - I won't say more about it because it would spoil an element of the story best discovered while reading.

Looking forward to finally picking up the third in this series, and I'm curious to see what Olivia Atwater writes next!

This was such an interesting read! I found myself so engrossed in the story, the characters had such incredible arcs, and I can't wait to follow this author's journey!

An enjoyable whimsical instalment in the regency faerie tales series! I will admit this isn't my typical genre, and I did find my attention wandering at some points, but overall it was a pleasant read!

Ten Thousand Stitches is such a beautifully written fantasy. The world-building is outstanding. The story is well written with an enchanting storyline and well-developed characters that engage from start to finish. The world is atmospheric and feels real with vivid descriptions and rich imagery. I cannot get enough. Highly recommended. Be sure to check out Ten Thousand Stitches today.

I adored Half a Soul and I was so eager to the second book Ten Thousand Stitches and unsurprisingly I loved this just as much just as magical and wonderful as Half a Soul. I have to admit to being slightly in love myself with Lord Blackthorn , he’s such a wonderful and brilliant character. Effie is so sweet, but also very feisty is great too, I just loved Blackthorn so much. I love the focus on trying to do the right thing, even if things keep going wrong and I loved the romance. Gorgeous

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I absolutely loved Half a Soul, the first book in this series and so jumped at the chance to read the second book.
Ten Thousand Stitches is just as fun, magical and fantastical as the first!
This time we follow Effie, who is in love with one of the gentlemen of the house that she serves, although of course he would never fall in love with a housemaid.
Effie becomes acquainted with Lord Blackthorn, a faerie, and he offers to help her win Mr Ashbrooke’s heart. The price?… ten thousand stitches on his coat.
Will Effie win the gentleman’s heart or will she choose another path?

Thoroughly enjoyed this lighthearted read and can’t wait to read the third book! 🌟🌟🌟🌟

At first I wasn't sure about this book as the style was not what I had been expecting, but after persevering for a few more pages I was hooked. A great read for lovers of fantasy everywhere.

2⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much to Little Brown Book Group/Orbit and NetGalley for an e-arc of this book.


I am so disappointed.

After reading the first in the series I had a few things I wanted to see in the rest of the books, alas, no.

For me the main issue is lack of worldbuilding. The reader still has no idea about this alternate England. Characterisation was poor, and the romance (whilst obvious) had no real lead up, it was not plotted well. I had no investment in these characters. The book was also very repetitive.

I will read the next book in the hopes of improvement, otherwise I may have to give up on this series.

This was honestly a delight to read. I love that Atwater is going back to the roots of faerie stories and making them dark again. In this one, the faerie is not as cruel as the last one. His intentions are always the best! But the cruelty lies in that he honestly hasn't a clue what he's doing or what is good or ill. It was the perfect way to make a faerie into a good love interest without completely abandoning the dark side of the fae.

I haven't heard any talk of this book, so I don't know if the regency setting has improved at all since Half a Soul, which apparently had some really bad errors. But as someone who doesn't read regency that much at all, that didn't bother me. In this one, we got a look downstairs in one of the big houses and took a look at how the servants lived! I love how in these books we get to see rights being fought for.

I loved the characters and the magic we saw in this book a lot. Effie was perfect, just the right balance of anger over the situation and the way she and the other servants are treated and friendship and loyalty towards the other maid and her brother. She wasn't full of bitterness, just righteous anger and it made for a good character.

I just had such a good time with this book. I love the series and hope the next one is just as good!

I was worried that I wouldn't enjoy this second offering in the Regency Faerie Tales as much as the first, but I am happy to say that I think I enjoyed it even more! These books are so comforting to read, while also dealing with class concerns and the plight of the poor without belittling the experience. This is such a fine balance to strike, but Olivia Atwater has done it with great skill. I ADORE Lord Blackthorn and thought that the relationship between him and Effie was so sweet. Effie was a feisty, if somewhat deluded, protagonist and I enjoyed the focus on anger throughout the narrative. The plot was simple (a loose Cinderella re-telling) and the whole book had a real 'Downton Abbey' feel to it, apart from the fact that the family occupying the house were unpleasant. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read the third book.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

trigger warning
<spoiler> domestic abuse, classism </spoiler>

Effie is too polite for her own good. When the maid goes out to the fresh air because it is either that or burst into tears, she gives the nice Lord who talks to her her name - only realising to late that he is one of the folk.
They wind up doing a bet: Either Effie recieves a marriage proposal by the man she loves in 101 days, or she'll become Lord Blackthorn's servant for lifetime.

Yes, this has heavily romantic themes, but it was also <i>funny</i>.
Right at the beginning of the novel there is a scene where the housekeeper looks for a certain maid because her ladyship wants the piano dusted. <i>Again.</i> She swears she can still hear the dust. The lady of the house is young and inexperienced and narcicisstic while the family has been living above their means, the consequences of which is taken out on the servants. And they don't like it, but normally, they'd have to bear their cross.
But then this faerie appears, and he wants to be kind to the powerless and cruel to the powerful, which is kind of perfect.

Apropos perfection, we had a scene in which a classic 100 years of sleep curse had to be lifted. How did the protagonist manage that? <spoiler> She grabbed the cursed one's pet dog, because there is nothing more pure or selfless as the love of a dog towards their people. The dog licked the face of the sleeping woman, and she was sleeping no more. </spoiler>

This is the second regency era fairytale I read by this author. We meet some people we know from other tales, but this is a standalone story. And I really like this, and will look up further installments of the series once my tbr is... somewhat more manageble.

Please, don't let the description of this novel put you off if you fear it will be too lovey-dovey. A big topic is how to wield power, and how to improve your life. Use the cards you've been dealt. In short, classism. The contrast between poor and rich is but one, we also have magic-users vs. normal people, non-humans vs. humans.
The love story is more the starting piece to get them all in position.

Already recommended this to a friend I met offline, can I say more?
The arc was provided by the publisher.

🪡Ten Thousand Stitches🪡

By Olivia Atwater

I loved Half a Soul when I read it a few months back so I jumped at the chance to review the next book in the Regency Faerie Tales series. I read them out of order due to the timing of them being released onto NetGalley so I actually read the third book before this one, but it wasn’t an issue as each book is a separate story, featuring a different main character, although they are linked.

Description:

Faerie godfathers are supposed to help young ladies find love. Unfortunately, no one told Lord Blackthorn that.

Effie has most inconveniently fallen in love with the dashing Mr Benedict Ashbrooke. There's only one problem; Effie is a housemaid, and a housemaid cannot marry a gentleman. It seems that Effie is out of luck until she stumbles into the faerie realm of Lord Blackthorn, who is only too eager to help Effie win Mr Ashbrooke's heart. All he asks in return is that Effie sew ten thousand stitches onto his favourite jacket.

Effie has heard rumours about what happens to those who accept help from faeries, but life as a maid at Hartfield is so awful that she is willing to risk even her immortal soul for a chance at something better. Now, she has one hundred days - and ten thousand stitches - to make Mr Ashbrooke fall in love and propose. . . if Lord Blackthorn doesn't wreck things by accident, that is.

🪡🪡🪡🪡

Ten Thousand Stitches is a Cinderella retelling, but our Cinderella is not a lady brought low by a wicked stepmother but a working class woman who needs to earn a living in a world where house staff are invisible at best and treated terribly at worst.

I had slightly spoiled things for myself by reading Longshadow first, but it didn’t affect my enjoyment. Like Half A Soul, this is an enchanting read, set in an interesting world. Although this was probably my least favourite of the three books, I still really enjoyed it, and it fits very well between the other two.

Ten Thousand Stitches is available now.

A lovely read. I enjoyed this book so much. It was really interesting and kept me wanting to know more. Thank you.

Such an amazing series and I am glad there are already a few out! I loved the mix of historical Britain and faerie land. Can't wait to read the next ones in the series!

3.5
Utterly charming. But I wish the language was regency accurate. Also, I am not sure if maids helped in the ballrooms, I thought it was a strictly male-servant dominated area? I wish there were more cute moments afterwards instead of a third person omniscient epilogue. We deserved a kiss at least!!

I have not read a Olivia Atwater book I did not love.
Effie, a mistreated housemaid falls upon a chance encounter with faerie Juniper Jubilee. Making a bargain with the faerie will change her life in ways she most definitely didn't bargain on.
Olivia manages to write about such important topics but still keeps the story easy and a lightness and hopefulness to it that I haven't found with many writers.
A regency fairytale that teaches us what it is like to be human.
Now excuse me while I take up needlework and put all my emotions into it

Ten Thousand Stitches is the second book in fantasy standalone book series where every book is set during the Regency Era (approximately between 1810s and 1820s), so you can read every book on its own, for example I only read this one but I had no difficulties to understand it because the story begins and ends with this book.

The main character is Effie, a simple maid good at stitching who falls in love with one of her lords and, against her good judgement, she decides to accept a covenant with a fairly, named Lord Blackthorn, in order to conquer the object of her affection. Obviously, not everything goes as she planned and the fairy is a very peculiar one and different from how Effie thought the fairies are.

The plot is quite simple, almost naive because quite predictable, but there were some unexpected turning points and I liked being surprised by them. It's a sweet, dreaming love story and nevertheless I found myself curious and eager to keep reading.

The character I liked the most is without any doubt Lord Blackthorn because he's funny and stands out for his dissimilarity from not only the other characters in the novel, but also from other fairies that convince human to make deals with them.

The setting is both the peculiarity of this book but also it can be its weak point. In fact, the author doesn't really take advance of the historical aspect, it mainly serves to add color to the story and set it in a fascinating but far and little detailed context. At the same time it gives to the story a fairy aura really suitable to the plot that makes pleasant the reading experience.
Considering that this is not an historical fiction, I don't think that something is missing because the author chose not to describe in detail the Regency Era.

I really liked how the theme of stitches, that gives the title, has been used throughout the whole book. It is not only the trigger for the plot, but it also has a purpose and an explanation.

A note for the non English speaking readers: I didn't find understanding it difficult, even if there are some technical words related to stitching, the more difficult parts are indeed the ones with the dialogue between servants and maids: it's still a understandable English, but the author chose to differentiate their language with some slang and abbreviations so it can be a little be more challenging.

I was lucky enough to read three books in this series, one after the other. Although the timeline is not direct, it is more fun to see the world develop this way.
This was my favourite of the three, even though I rate it the same as the first. We have a hard-working maid in a very typical rich household of the 1800s. A chance encounter and the slightest consideration have her obsessing over one of her employers. It felt very realistic, given her life, that a minor action has her putting the man on a pedestal. The turns the story takes from there felt obvious only after I followed them. They were not unexpected in a surprising fashion, making it harder for me to place my own reaction.
Although this follows the events of the previous story and has some repeating members make their appearance, it can be read as a standalone. Our faerie in this one has developed a curiosity for humans and ends up wanting to help Effie. Unlike other fairy tales where either the fairy has evil intentions or helps her entirely, this teeters on the boundary between the two. It felt refreshing and new. It also came at just the right time for me. I was looking for something emotional but not draining to read, and this fit the bill.
The romance here was sweet and not perfect, making it even more endearing.
I think this was the book, on the heels of the previous one, that solidified my appreciation of the genre in which the author has chosen to write.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

I really enjoyed Atwater's Half a Soul and was in the mood for some more light-hearted fantasy and this looked like it would fit the bill. As with Half a Soul, the book is a Regency romance with fae elements which considering the popularity of Bridgerton and fae books in general, is very much on trend.

The book follows the story of Effie, a very put-upon maid who falls in love with a rich man. In order to win his heart, she makes a wager with a faerie and well...let's just say the course of true love never runs smoothly. My main issue with this book was that I didn't really connect with Effie. In Half a Soul it made sense sometimes that the main character seemed a bit flat as she literally had half a soul, but Effie doesn't really have an excuse. The supporting characters felt quite opaque too and I struggled to get a handle on any of them.

The story itself plays out as one would expect in a typical romance novel. I didn't really get the sense of yearning or angst that I would expect in a novel of this genre though and the social justice theme just fell on its face a bit.

I did enjoy reading it for the most part, but it was definitely a mild like as opposed to a love.

This is such a lovely series! Light, fun and sweet. I loved the way the characters interwove through each other's stories. Beautiful romances. Reading these books just made me so happy.

While they are regency romances, they don't centre on typical 'regency novel' characters. Atwater likes to put her own twist on the era she's writing in.

Ten Thousand Stitches gave me Eva Ibbotson vibes, with a fantasy twist. It explores what happens when you're trying to do the right thing, but it keeps going wrong and had a romance I enjoyed every bit as the one in the first book. I really love this world and would happily read many more books set in it.